Gospel of Blood-Chapter 657 : Ascension and Awakening

A hundred years after the Day of Divine Grace.

The wheel of history rolled ever forward, and at last, the effects of that day bathed in divine radiance began to manifest.

Within that century, more and more elves broke through to higher ranks. Full Moon, Blazing Sun—even Legendary ranks—were seeing a veritable explosion in numbers.

Even at the Mythic rank, five new demigods emerged one after another. Each of them was an elder who had once personally witnessed the birth of the Divine Oracle Twins in the Holy City.

Unknowingly, the number of myth-level beings belonging to the elven race alone had already approached the threshold of twenty!

As for why it was only “approached” and not “surpassed,” the answer was clear: the war between the two continents had grown ever fiercer over the past century, and the elves had lost four Mythics in the divine battles.

Even so, the elves now possessed nineteen Mythics—one more than when the war first began.

Not only that, but their Mythics had rapidly grown stronger through their struggles against the Old Gods of Myria. The number of True Gods among them had increased from three to five.

And as the “Mother Goddess of Creation” revered by the entire elven race, Charlotte received an immense return of divine power. Her accumulated True Progenitor divine power had doubled compared to a hundred years ago.

What gratified Charlotte even more was that, as the elves pushed deeper into the Myria continent, their faith in her was carried along with them.

Across various regions of Myria, followers who worshipped the Elven Pantheon and revered the Mother Goddess of Creation as the source of all life had gradually begun to appear.

Though their numbers were still small, they were enough to establish a firm foothold for her future influence in Myria.

…

Holy City of the Elves, Central Temple.

The Divine Oracle Twins knelt before the divine throne, offering devout prayers to the empty seat above. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

They had already stood at the Legendary rank for fifty years.

Fifty years—enough time to reach the pinnacle of mortal power. They were only one step away from achieving godhood.

Yet, despite standing on the edge of the divine, they had long been unable to ignite their divine flame.

All elves hoped for the Oracle Twins to ascend to godhood. But as the years passed—year after year—even those elders who had reached the peak of Legendary rank after them had ignited their divine flames, while the twins still hadn’t found their path to apotheosis.

Without attaining godhood, they remained mortals in the end.

The elves went from hope, to doubt, and finally… to disappointment.

By now, most elves no longer held expectations for the Oracle Twins’ ascent to godhood.

“Even being the Divine Oracle’s children doesn’t guarantee one will become a Mythic.”

This was the conclusion many elves ultimately arrived at.

Even the elven Mythics were deeply puzzled. To them, the twins had long since met the conditions for godhood. And yet they still couldn’t ignite the flame—an anomaly that even the True Gods couldn’t comprehend, able only to sigh.

“Perhaps… this is the price of divine favor.”

Until today.

“They… are still praying before the divine throne?”

Within the Supreme Temple, Pallas, the current leader of the elven race and the first True God ever born among them—the God of Wisdom and Art—gazed softly at the world map carved into the wall.

“Yes, Your Grace Pallas. Artemis and Helios are still in prayer,” answered Kres, the God of Harvest and Celebration, standing respectfully behind him.

“Let them be,” Pallas murmured.

“Their divine path does not lie in themselves, but elsewhere. They are, after all, the blessed children of the Mother Goddess. If anyone can show them the way… it would only be the great Mother Goddess of Creation.”

The God of Wisdom and Art sighed deeply.

And at that moment—high above the skies—

Charlotte’s gaze fell on the Holy City below, taking in everything that had transpired.

Pallas was right.

Artemis and Helios’s divine path did not lie within themselves.

They would never be able to ignite their divine flame—because from the moment of their birth, their flame… had already been burning.

They were gods by birth, born with divine flame.

And a Mythic who already possesses divine flame—naturally—cannot ignite it again.

Their power had simply been sealed by Charlotte.

If she wished, she could release those seals at any time… and let them ascend to godhood.

But over the past hundred years, Charlotte had not lifted the seal.

Her gaze fell on other parts of the Western Continent.

In the remote regions yet to fall completely under elven control, faith in the Old Gods of Myria had gradually taken root over the century.

Even in the face of repeated purges by the Elven Pantheon—or driven by dissatisfaction with the current order, or beguiled by the Old Gods—there were always intelligent beings, elves included, who changed their faith and grew in secret.

The beliefs tied to the overflowing power of the Creator God, in the form of Old Gods of Myria, had thus managed to survive in the shadows of the Western Continent.

Faith is the gaze of a god. Wherever faith reaches, so too does divine perception.

And this—was exactly why Charlotte had kept Artemis and Helios's powers sealed.

In the end, they were sacred reincarnations—revived through the remnant souls of Lilith and Harald, enlightened by Charlotte. Though those remnant souls carried the divine essence, they were still incomplete and incapable of fully controlling divine power.

Moreover, even after the traces of Origin corruption were purified, the two still bore the aura of a Creation Divinity. And such an aura could not be perfectly concealed by an incomplete soul.

This trace alone was enough to attract the premature attention of the Creator God, and render all of Charlotte's efforts futile.

Worse still, due to their blood-bond with Charlotte, their return to the Mythic rank would signal the reawakening of the divine.

And since they had once been entangled with the Creator God, if full preparations weren’t made in advance, this process could allow the Will of Origin from before Charlotte’s transmigration to exploit a loophole—using their divine return as a vessel to resurrect itself.

That’s why, even though the two had long since reached the pinnacle of the Legendary rank, Charlotte had kept their seals untouched.

Until today.

Her gaze fell upon the twins praying before the divine throne.

Unlike before, the divine light of their souls now shone full and resplendent—indicating that over the century of growth, their souls had finally become complete.

This meant that even upon ascending to godhood, they could fully contain their divine power, and with the aid of Charlotte’s True Progenitor divine power, conceal or even eventually devour the lingering aura of the Origin divinity.

Their divine souls were no longer remnants—they were now complete divine spirits, no longer harboring gaps vulnerable to invasion from foreign powers.

And this also meant—they were ready to return.

At this thought, Charlotte looked toward the two elves and gently extended a finger.

“Return now… my disciples.”

A blinding brilliance descended—beams of divine light burst into the skies, illuminating the heavens.

In that instant, all the mythic beings across the Western Continent were shaken by the overwhelming surge of divine might.

“This… this is…?!”

Pallas, the God of Wisdom and Art, narrowed his eyes sharply.

One by one, awe-inspiring divine silhouettes manifested, attempting to approach the radiant temple.

But they couldn't even enter. As soon as they drew near, they were horrified to find that their divine power rapidly withered under that magnificent radiance.

In that moment—they felt as though they had become mere mortals.

At the same time, two dazzling divine flames rose into the sky like twin torches, lighting up the starry dome above and transforming into two shining stars in the firmament.

They were divine flames.

“It’s Artemis and Helios! It’s them! They’ve ignited their divine flame!”

Feeling the ascending surge of divinity, the elven gods were overwhelmed with emotion.

Within the temple…

Bathed in divine light, Artemis and Helios stood as divine flame roared across their forms—until it finally condensed into two noble and resplendent divine robes, one silver and one gold, draping over their shoulders.

They opened their eyes.

Within their irises, the divine flames of silver and gold slowly drew inward. On their beautiful, handsome faces appeared a depth of ancient sorrow, incongruent with their youthful appearance.

Yet that sorrow instantly melted away—transformed into radiant joy and warmth—when they looked up at the divine throne, where a silver-haired, red-eyed girl had appeared at some unknown moment.

“Teacher…!”

From atop the throne, Charlotte, cloaked in divine radiance, gave them a gentle smile.

“Welcome back, Lilith. Harald.”