At that mont, a sudden gust of wind blew past. A creature resembling a white dove appeared—yet its body was larger, different, adorned with radiant blue outlines. Its long, flowing tail curved gracefully like that of a phoenix.
It flew to Silvanus’s side, lowering its wings to cover his eyes. But clearly, its body was translucent—only the glowing outlines shimred faintly in the air.
Silvanus’s train of thought was almost completely interrupted. He muttered softly, "Fool."
The bird seed to realize its mistake and opened its beak, speaking in a distinctly human voice: "That’s rude, Silvanus. You’ve beco less and less adorable!"
"The system?" Silvanus lifted his gaze, expressionless, staring at the bird flapping its wings in front of him.
The bird seed genuinely surprised that Silvanus recognized it so easily. It screeched instinctively, "Impossible! How did you know?!"
Silvanus said flatly, "...If you don’t want to be recognized next ti, you could try changing your voice."
The system paused for a mont, then coughed twice awkwardly. "Because in this form, this is the only voice I can use..."
"What about your other forms?" Silvanus suddenly asked.
The system’s wingbeats slowed slightly. The two faced each other—the green in Silvanus’s eyes shimred under the system’s glow, reflecting a strange, mysterious light, at once foreign and oddly familiar.
After hesitating, the system finally seed to give up and said bluntly, "I believe you’ve heard of before."
"Oh? I wouldn’t know," Silvanus replied.
"I am Raphael."
Silvanus paused briefly, then said, "I don’t believe you."
The system almost imdiately roared in frustration. Its wings flapped furiously, scattering glowing feathers like a drenched chicken. "Then what do you want?! Why don’t you believe ?! You keep pressing with questions—don’t tell you already know sothing!"
Silvanus’s face darkened. "Raphael wouldn’t act like this."
This ti, it was the system’s turn to fall silent. After a long pause, it spoke again, curiosity lacing its tone: "Then what do you think Raphael should be like?" It paused for a beat, then quickly added, "Don’t overthink it—I’m just curious what kind of angel with ’noble virtues’ I appear to be in your eyes."
Silvanus didn’t respond to the system’s words—he asked again, "I’ll ask one last ti. What are you?"
The system seed so provoked by Silvanus’s tone that it actually laughed in anger, mocking him outright: "And why should I—"
But before it could finish, Silvanus’s hand shot out faster than the eye could follow, clamping tightly around its neck. A glowing circle of light flared from his fist, scattering radiant particles into the thick darkness. "Speak—or die."
The system froze. "...I never realized you were such a firecracker," it muttered.
Silvanus narrowed his eyes, saying nothing, the pressure of his grip only tightening further.
"Fine, fine! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, alright? What I said before is already divine truth—part of it, anyway! I am Raphael! Or, more accurately, a tiny fragnt of his spirit!"
"Then you must be so small you’re barely a speck of dust," Silvanus sneered.
The system felt deeply insulted. It hesitated, then asked in a wounded tone, "Now... would you mind letting go of ?"
Silvanus didn’t move. His voice remained cold. "Then where is the complete Raphael right now?"
The system’s tail drooped miserably. "I wish I knew, sir..."
Silvanus released it because the system didn’t appear to be lying. The system flapped its wings to steady itself but didn’t fly away, staying near him instead.
Silvanus continued, "Why was the Cosmic Tree frozen?"
The system seed to recall everything quickly, its tone becoming far more solemn than usual. "From Raphael’s perspective, when you tore apart the Outer God and fell, the world plunged into chaos. Michael and Gabriel used their lives to freeze the Cosmic Tree—to prevent outside forces from invading. The world that once held a path to the God Nation was already buried long before that. Raphael used his own energy to rebuild everything. He must still be in that world—but even I can’t locate him."
Silvanus frowned. "Michael and Gabriel used their lives to freeze the Cosmic Tree?"
Then... who was the Gabriel he t the other day?
He didn’t even need to think long to find the answer.
"And Lucifer?" he asked.
The system replied imdiately, "He’s still fulfilling his duty—protecting that world."
Silvanus almost laughed. He’d thought he was good at acting, but Lucifer had him beat. Well... he was his "teacher," after all.
The system spoke again: "It seems the Outer God has sensed your presence. It reached deep into the world, not just using the battles within the dungeon to invade. It’s desperate, urgent to kill you. However, after being repelled this ti, it will be more cautious, waiting for the right opportunity. Though it has weakened, so have you. You’re not even a god yet; naturally, you’ve never truly matured. You are still far too small to be a god. The Outer God is cunning, always targeting newly born Cosmic Trees and fledgling gods as prey!"
"Silvanus!"
The system suddenly shouted, because Silvanus unexpectedly collapsed. It flew frantically around him—though it knew he wouldn’t die, fear still gripped it.
Fortunately, Silvanus had only fainted.
The system looked at his pale face, his lips almost entirely colorless. Its wings drooped before it finally settled beside him, extending its wings to cover his hands.
The nightmare will leave you.
Outside the dungeon, a rain of luminous arrows descended from the sky, instantly annihilating every shadowed existence on the ground.
Everything felt cleansed. Even the dark clouds above vanished quickly, giving way to a clear blue sky.
It all happened so fast that no one had ti to react.
In the holding cell, Layla saw Frank’s body suddenly twist. Black smoke poured from him, pulling his flesh along with it. He now seed like a malleable lump of dough, able to be shaped at will.
"Lay... Layla..."
Layla’s eyes widened as she rushed to Frank’s side. "Frank! You’re there. Don’t worry—we’ll save you!"
Though she said it, tears stread down her face. From her perspective, Frank’s soul was being torn apart endlessly.
Suddenly, Layla’s hand was grabbed. She looked up at Frank—his face flickered between visible and vanishing, like smoke that could disappear at any mont.
And yet he was smiling: "I’m sorry... Layla... look... look at this world... peace... peace..."
Layla felt the strength in Frank’s hand drain away. Instinctively, she held onto it tightly, refusing to let it slip.
The entire holding cell fell into an eerie silence. Frank’s body gradually dissolved, dissipating... until even the hand Layla held turned to smoke, vanishing without a trace...
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