142: Divine satisfaction

That pillar of purple light piercing through the heavens did not attenuate with distance like light in the physical world.

Instead, it was more like concentrated ink dropped into clear water, a highly infectious virus spreading crazily from the Cradle Star in all directions.

A psychic fluctuation, immense beyond description, swept across the entire planet in an instant.

This fluctuation caused no landslides or earthquakes, nor did it destroy any buildings; it was like a gentle spring breeze brushing against the soul of every Angel person, and like a mother's large hands gently smoothing out the wrinkles in everyone's cerebral cortex.

At this moment, the billions of living beings on the Cradle Star suddenly froze.

They felt that they had changed.

This change did not come from the flesh—their wounds would still bleed, and their stomachs would still be hungry; the change came from deep within, from the realm of consciousness called the "self."

A sense of "comfort" and "satisfaction" that defied survival instincts arose from nothingness.

Pain no longer seemed so unbearable, hunger seemed to have transformed into a meditative experience, and even the fear of death faded into an anticipation of a final destination.

They did not know what had changed within themselves, only that the world before them suddenly became beautiful, even though the world remained scarred and devastated.

And this fluctuation did not stop there; it ignored the constraints of physical laws, utilizing the psychic resonance network unique to the Angel people, spreading crazily across the entire empire's territory at speeds countless times faster than the speed of light.

...

At the center of the ruins of the Supreme Cathedral.

Frenzied laughter echoed within the purple radiance.

"Hahahaha! Is this... is this the power of a god?"

Archbishop Losanda spread his arms, looking up at the twisted purple vortex above his head, his entire being in a state of extreme excitement.

He could clearly feel a vast, deep, and unfathomable power pouring endlessly into his aging body along the channel of that contract.

His originally withered muscles began to fill out, his turbid eyes glowed once again with a captivating golden light, and even the wings on his back, which had already withered somewhat, grew anew under the scouring of psychic energy, stained with an eerie purple-gold luster.

This was part of the contract.

As the "gatekeeper" who guided the god's descent, he had received a reward that transcended the mortal realm.

Losanda clenched his fists; he felt the surrounding space trembling with his will.

He even had an illusion—as long as he wished, he could crush the starships in orbit into dust with a pure psychic shock, just as easily as pinching an ant to death.

The so-called Six-Winged Seraphim? The so-called Royal Guard? In front of the great power he possessed at this moment, they were nothing more than children waving toothpicks.

He was the chosen one.

He was the instrument of desire.

However, just as he was immersed in the pleasure of his surging power, that indescribable great will hanging in the sky had not forgotten the other half of the contract.

It was still watching Losanda.

That gaze carried no human emotion—no mercy, no anger, only a pure, cold indifference, and a craving for the "price."

"The price..."

A grand, deep voice, as if interwoven with countless desires, exploded directly in Losanda's mind.

It was not a language, but a concept imprinted directly into the soul.

The god was demanding payment.

Losanda woke up suddenly from his ecstasy; he felt the terrifying pressure brought by that gaze, a feeling like a mortal standing naked on the surface of a star.

He did not hesitate in the slightest, falling to his knees on the broken floor with a thud, tears streaming down his face, his voice trembling yet filled with a fanatical desire for sacrifice.

"Great god! the instrument of desire! Whatever you need..."

Losanda prostrated himself, his forehead hitting the ground heavily, blood flowing, yet he was completely unaware.

"We need your will to remain in the human world! We need your power to cleanse this filthy world! For this... for this we are willing to pay everything!"

"Our souls, our flesh and blood, our empire, even our future... as long as it is what you want, you can take it all!"

"We are willing!"

The moment the words "we are willing" were spoken, the purple vortex in the sky rotated violently.

That great existence seemed only concerned with the contractual validity represented by those two words.

Since the host had agreed, the deal was struck.

It did not descend in a divine body as Losanda had hoped, nor did it show any excessive attachment to this material world.

To the ancient deities dwelling in the depths of The Void Realm, the material world was nothing but a wasteland destined to be ended by reincarnation sooner or later; the only thing of value was the intense emotions and spiritual power generated by the living beings here.

It took away the "price."

The purple pillar of light connecting heaven and earth began to shrink, the anomaly in the sky quickly faded, and that suffocating great will returned to the depths of The Void Realm.

It was as if it had only come to collect a debt, and incidentally tossed a bone to a beggar.

"Did the... god leave?"

Losanda raised his head, looking at the sky that was gradually returning to calm; he felt no frustration at being abandoned.

On the contrary, his brain completed a self-logical loop of rationalization in an instant.

"No, the god did not leave; the god only returned to its throne."

Losanda felt the surging, powerful psychic energy within his body, a more fanatical smile appearing on his face.

"It left behind power, it left behind the contract."

"This means it trusts me! It has handed the authority of this world to me!"

"It is watching me! I am its only agent in this world! I am the Pope... no, I am the divine envoy!"

As long as the divine power remained, as long as that faint connection with The Void Realm remained, Losanda was convinced of his own righteousness.

He stood up, his movements as light as a youth.

He patted the red robe on his body, which had been shredded by the energy turbulence, turned around, and looked at the surroundings of the ritual site.

There, the other eleven cardinals who had once stood side by side with him were all lying on the ground.

They had no breath, no heartbeat, and even their corpses appeared eerily withered; the moisture and vitality within their bodies had been completely drained in an instant.

This was part of the price.

For a mortal to want to pry into the gods, someone must serve as a bridge with their own body.

Losanda looked at the corpses of his former colleagues without a trace of pity, as if to say, "You died for a worthy cause."

"Your sacrifice is worth it; you have become the cornerstone beneath the divine throne."

He stepped over the corpses and walked toward the eldest prince, Mika, who had been imprisoned on the side.

Mika Radiance was sitting on the ground, dumbfounded.

He had witnessed the entire process.

That terrifying pressure that made his soul tremble, that purple light tearing the firmament, and the astonishing transformation that occurred in Losanda—all of this had completely shattered his past understanding of psychic power and the world.

That was not any kind of power he was familiar with.

That was an irresistible, great power that transcended the mortal realm.

"Losanda... you..."

Mika opened his mouth, wanting to continue cursing, wanting to express his anger.

However, when his gaze met Losanda's purple-gold pupils, a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

The anger, humiliation, and worry about the future of the empire that had filled his chest suddenly faded away inexplicably at this moment.

Replacing it was an eerie "understanding" and "acceptance."

"Actually... isn't this pretty good?"

An absurd thought emerged in his mind.

Although many people had died, although the Emperor had been imprisoned, although the empire might be finished... but Losanda had become stronger.

Since he was stronger, he could defeat the Iof People, right?

As long as the enemy could be defeated, what did it matter who ruled?

Even looking at Losanda's face, which he had originally loathed, Mika actually felt that the other party had become kind and benevolent, like an elder worth following.

"Your Highness Mika."

Losanda looked down at the prince; he keenly perceived the change in the other's emotions, a satisfied smile curling up at the corner of his mouth.

This was the effect brought by the contract of [the instrument of desire]; the entire civilization would obtain [Sacred Fulfillment].

Under the influence of this civilization-level blessing, all negative emotions would be distorted, all dissatisfaction suppressed, and all desires guided toward "maintaining the status quo" or "obeying the divine will."

"Do you understand now?" Losanda reached out; without using a key, just by moving his thought, the anti-psychic handcuffs and chains on Mika shattered inch by inch.

"This is the path to saving the country."

Mika looked blankly at his hands, which had gained freedom, and then slowly raised his head; the anger in his eyes had been completely extinguished, replaced by a hollow obedience.

"Yes... Lord Bishop." Mika muttered to himself, "This might... actually be good."

...

Meanwhile, this eerie atmosphere was reshaping the entire Angel Empire at an astonishing speed.

In the underground mining area of a colony planet in another star system, a group of vassal race miners who were originally preparing to strike due to high-intensity labor and food shortages suddenly stopped their protest signs after the fluctuation swept over them.

They looked at the rough pickaxes in their hands and suddenly felt that this tool was so intimate, and the job of mining was so sacred.

"Although it's tiring, for the empire, for the god, what is this little bit of hardship?"

"Yes, as long as we can contribute to the god, even being hungry is happy."

The tense atmosphere dissipated instantly, and the workers had eerie, satisfied smiles on their faces as they returned to their posts, even working harder than before.

And in the power plants and factories on the surface, an even more miraculous scene occurred.

Engineers were surprised to find that the old psychic generator units had increased their output power by nearly 20% without adding any extra fuel.

The ore purification rate of the refineries also inexplicably improved.

Even the crops in the fields seemed to be growing crazily at a speed that defied the laws of nature.

This was the direct interference of the power of The Void Realm in the material world.

Although [the instrument of desire] had taken something away, it had indeed provided a gift—a comprehensive increase in resource output and a forced lock on public happiness.

The entire Angel Empire seemed to have been injected with a powerful hallucinogen; conflicts disappeared, resistance ceased, and efficiency improved.

In this purple fog, the Angel people felt they had obtained redemption and the happiness they had dreamed of.

But they did not know what they had actually lost.

They had lost their dissatisfaction with the status quo, lost the drive to change their destiny, and lost the most precious thing as an intelligent life—the right to pain and struggle.

They had turned into a group of happy, diligent, and tireless worker ants.

...

In the faster-than-light channel dozens of light-years away from the Cradle Star.

The battlecruiser redemption was wrapped in a blue warp bubble, speeding toward the imperial capital.

On the bridge, Amira Radiance was standing in front of the Star Map, her brows locked in a frown as she planned the next battle strategy.

Her original plan was to contact the loyalist armies everywhere, use the redemption as a spearhead, forcibly break through the Holy See's blockade, and rescue the Emperor.

This was destined to be a difficult and bloody battle, and her heart was full of anxiety and urgency.

However, just at that moment.

An inexplicable fluctuation penetrated the warp bubble and swept over the entire warship.

Amira's body trembled slightly.

The restlessness in her eyes suddenly disappeared.

She looked at the long journey on the Star Map, and the sense of urgency that had made her wish she could grow wings and fly back instantly dissipated without a trace.

"Your Highness? What is wrong?" Her adjutant noticed her abnormality and asked with concern.

"No... nothing."

Amira shook her head; her eyes became somewhat dazed, and a faint, relaxed smile even appeared on the corners of her mouth.

Soon, her adjutant became the same.

She reached out and swept across the Star Map, and the originally aggressive assault route was casually erased by her.

"I just feel..."

Amira turned around, looking at the crew members on the bridge whose expressions had also become relaxed, and muttered softly.

"Can we not be so urgent about going to the imperial capital?"

"Since everyone is still alive, since the empire has not been destroyed... then what does it matter if we are a few days late?"

"This feeling is so good, just like returning to childhood, lying in mother's arms..."

She did not notice that Major General Trier, the head of the Faleim observation team standing behind her, was staring fixedly at the energy reading detection displayed on the terminal in his hand.

The numbers on it were jumping crazily, indicating some kind of extremely abnormal high-dimensional energy interference.

A flash of vigilance crossed Trier's eyes.

"This is the power of The Void Realm!"

"It not only affected the material, but also distorted the will; all Angel people and their vassal civilizations should have been affected."

He quietly pressed the encrypted communication button to the Falem Homeworld.

"This is the observation team, a major abnormal situation has been discovered..."