CHAPTER 250: GODS WEREN’T VICTORIOUS

With the bothersome people dealing with, Carlotta returned to spend an enjoyable time with Amelia.

This time, no one came to interrupt them, so as time passed, Carlotta’s actions grew increasingly bold.

Gradually, she began removing the unnecessary fabric covering Amelia’s body, piece by piece.

"W-what... what are you doing?"

Amelia’s skin was flushed, her lake-like blue eyes dazed and hazy.

She seemed to sense what was about to happen next.

"Of course, doing what needs to be done."

Carlotta’s offensive capability was now fully unleashed.

As the aggressor, she quickly took action, causing Amelia to fall completely under her spell.

Many things, having reached this point, now felt natural and inevitable, everything flowed seamlessly as it should.

"Carlotta..."

Amelia’s voice gradually changed, carrying a softness never before heard.

She was still shy, instinctively offering slight resistance, but to Carlotta, that resistance felt more like cooperation, only heightening her excitement further.

Carlotta had never done this before and didn’t know the specifics, but certain things seemed instinctive for humans, something she could quickly grasp even without prior experience.

She was the top; Amelia was the bottom. Yet Amelia, due to complete inexperience, had already been utterly defeated in Carlotta’s hands.

An overwhelmingly intimate scent began to fill the air.

...

After a long while, Carlotta finally stepped out of the bedroom, her body feeling somewhat light-headed. She used a Cleaning Card on herself, and strange marks and scents quickly disappeared from her body.

Amelia was already asleep, her face filled with satisfaction. Carlotta, too, felt deeply content with what had just happened.

"If every day could be like today, life would be so comfortable."

Carlotta savored the feeling.

She slowly walked out of the house and glanced at the bloodstains remaining on the ground.

After dealing with Phiva and the other person earlier, she had also destroyed their corpses and taken their spatial items.

Seeing the bloodstains now, she remembered them again and retrieved their spatial items from her inner world.

As her strength continued to rise, Carlotta’s inner world had also advanced further. While not yet developed enough to become a vast independent realm, it was more than sufficient as a personal pocket dimension for storing items.

Carlotta inspected the contents of Phiva’s and the other person’s spatial items and found many valuable things inside.

As Weavers, their wealth was naturally substantial. Due to their background and origins, they were even richer than other Weavers.

Carlotta looked through them with mild interest, but eventually her attention settled on a notebook, a record of insights into the cultivation of Word Magic, taken from Phiva’s spatial item. It contained Phiva’s various understandings of Word Magic.

Although it didn’t detail the specific cultivation methods, merely reading these insights allows Carlotta to gain a basic understanding of Word Magic, how it was structured and how its power manifested.

"Not hard to understand."

Carlotta gave her assessment.

After glancing through it casually, she decided she might as well learn this magic someday. Not because it was necessarily stronger than other magics, but because it appeared more refined, after all, generating mysterious power simply by speaking was truly eye-catching.

Over the next few days, Carlotta spent her time playing with Amelia while continuing her studies of various magics, knight techniques, and other paths.

Until five days had passed, the High Priestess finally emerged from the area covered in drifting black ash.

After five days, she had finally heard the divine words she sought, leaving her expression slightly dazed upon exiting.

Noticing the High Priestess’s arrival, Carlotta immediately approached and asked, "How did it go? Did you learn anything useful?"

Hearing the question, the High Priestess snapped back to awareness and lifted her head. "We might still have enemies."

She began explaining slowly.

Long ago, the gods had indeed encountered an enemy, a formidable one. They had fought for an extended period with no clear victor, or perhaps even fell into retreat. This forced the gods to rack their brains for countermeasures.

"The enemy’s identity remains unclear, these divine words alone aren’t precise enough. All I know is that the enemy possesses a trait making them extremely difficult to exterminate. Even after thousands of years, they could revive."

The High Priestess’s expression was grave.

The gods’ encounter with this great enemy may not have ended in victory, perhaps they merely repelled the foe temporarily. The enemy might still exist, waiting for their chance to respond.

Carlotta couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

"The gods have nearly all perished, yet they didn’t achieve victory?"

She felt a chill run through her.

The High Priestess shook her head. "Probably not. Otherwise, the victorious side would have at least a single god alive."

"But the battle happened who knows how long ago. Our world still hasn’t been invaded. Doesn’t that suggest everything has already ended?"

Carlotta was confused.

If they were the defeated side, why hadn’t the victors pressed their advantage?

The High Priestess pondered and offered a guess, "Perhaps the victors didn’t win easily either, so they couldn’t continue their assault."

Carlotta said, "When the Earth Goddess left her divine words, it must have been before the final battle began. The Earth Goddess who left those words wouldn’t have known the final outcome. Maybe the ending wasn’t so grim after all."

Even though she said this, Carlotta’s heart still felt heavy.

The gods were gone. If enemies still remain, who would face them now? Surely not her?

Carlotta felt a headache coming on.

She wasn’t even Exalted, how could she bear such a tremendous responsibility? And expecting other Exalted to shoulder it seemed impossible too.

With no gods left in the world, a deep sense of integrity pervaded.

The High Priestess said seriously, "I need to learn more about what happened back then, so I intend to investigate the Forbidden Sea. The situation there suggests a god-level force erupted. But according to what you’ve said, the incident on the Central Continent occurred years, perhaps even centuries, after the gods’ fall. That discrepancy is suspicious and must be clarified."

"But that area is filled with many eerie things."

Carlotta warned.

The Forbidden Sea’s eerie nature was infamous across the Northern Continent, merely hearing its name would make anyone pale with fear. In many households, adults would threaten misbehaving children by saying they’d throw them into the Forbidden Sea.

The High Priestess nodded. "I’ve heard about the Forbidden Sea’s strange phenomena, but we cannot halt our journey just because there are anomalies there. Besides, with my strength, I don’t believe any anomaly could be beyond my control."

Carlotta agreed. Even if the High Priestess wasn’t at her peak, she was still a genuine Exalted, no ordinary being could stand against her.

Thus, the two decided to head for the Forbidden Sea.

As for the Central Ruins, although they hadn’t explored every area, they had already traversed many sections and discovered what could be found.

Most importantly, the Central Ruins had formed before the ancient Divine War, so the information left behind wasn’t "current" enough.

Both Carlotta and the High Priestess were more eager to learn the final outcome of the god War and its subsequent changes. Therefore, the Forbidden Sea might be a better place for exploration.

Carlotta turned back, tidied up the house, took Amelia with her, and departed with the High Priestess.

The journey back would undoubtedly take considerable time, as the Central Ruins were vast. They walked outward for a long while, encountering and clashing with numerous strange phenomena along the way, until they approached the city where they had previously discovered the Impression Entities.

"Come to think of it, the Central Ruins have plenty of strange phenomena as well, maybe even growing more frequent."

Carlotta murmured.

In the past, there had been rumors about the Central Ruins, but back then, the anomalies here weren’t nearly this numerous. When people think of places rife with oddities, the Forbidden Sea comes to mind first.

But now, the Central Ruins had grown increasingly strange.

Carlotta didn’t know the reason, but she felt that the vast Central Ruins might gradually become more dangerous and could one day become the next Forbidden Sea.

The High Priestess offered an explanation: "Residual divine aura, when left uncontrolled or unvented, can lead to such phenomena. In truth, this is a natural occurrence."

As the former foremost figure beneath the gods, her analysis was spot-on.

Precisely because of this, she was particularly curious, and even perplexed, about the Forbidden Sea, as such divine traces shouldn’t appear there at all.

The trio entered the city where the Impression Entities resided. After being away for some time, the city seems much calmer now.

"Something’s wrong."

No sooner had Carlotta stepped into the city than she froze.

It wasn’t that the city was too quiet, it was too oppressive, unnaturally still, with not a single sound.

Carlotta frowned. "Something has changed."

The High Priestess glanced at Carlotta in surprise. She herself had sensed the city’s odd atmosphere shortly after entering, but for Carlotta to notice it so quickly?

That level of perception wasn’t something a Weaver should possess.

"There’s something going on at the city center. Let’s go check it out."

The High Priestess said calmly.

Carlotta nodded.

The three flew quickly forward, approaching the city center.

Previously, this area had been shrouded in mist, visibility low, but now it was crystal clear, no trace of mist remained, evidently overlooked by a powerful force.

...

At the city center, the god’s dwelling place had been occupied.

Numerous figures stood or sat silently in the castle’s front plaza, motionless, for they had lost the ability to move.

Every single one had turned into stone statues, making the area resemble an exhibition hall displaying sculptures.

Upon closer inspection, these stone bore figures familiar faces.

Brady, ranked second in the world.

Sheena, ranked third in the world.

Lames, ranked fifth in the world...

One after another, individuals from different worlds had frozen here, becoming part of the statues.

All the Impression Entities had been sealed here.

And within the city, aside from the Impression Entities, all others had been driven away. Only two remained.

In midair, Elora Throne looked down and said, "This will easily cause serious conflict. Why do this?"

She appeared small and delicate, like a porcelain doll, anyone seeing her would assume she was just an innocent, adorable little girl.

Yet in reality, this cute girl was Elora Throne, one of the two Exalted of the Wendell Empire!

Beside Elora floated an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in white robes, exuding an ethereal, elusive presence.

This man was the other Exalted, Aldrich Suarez!

Aldrich said coolly, "I’ve already shown you enough respect, merely sealing these people instead of killing them. Isn’t that sufficient?"

Elora sobbed. "Ah, you know what your two students were like. It’s hard to blame others for this."

"But they were still my students," Aldrich replied.

The news of Carlotta killing Phiva and Leopold had naturally spread after the others left.

After learning about it, Aldrich decided to confront Carlotta and demand an explanation.

When he first heard that the Impression Entities here had submitted to Carlotta, he intended to come and wipe them all out, eye for an eye.

Although among these Impression Entities were figures like the world’s second and third strongest, their highest rank was only mid-tier Weaver, hardly a challenge for Aldrich, an Exalted.

Exalted was nearly divine, body, soul, every aspect elevated to terrifying levels, reaching a height so profound they could suppress any Weaver.

Of course, even so, Aldrich was greatly surprised when confronting Sheena and the others, feeling the terrifying strength of these individuals.

Later, Elora Throne arrived and stopped Aldrich from going on a killing spree, for if he truly did so, there would be no turning back.

"Let’s resolve this matter simply."

Elora said seriously. "Your two students often rely on you to act recklessly and oppress others, I’ve heard plenty about it. Their current fate is simply karma catching up. If you insist on defending them, what will others think of you? Aldrich, don’t let your students tarnish your name."

A flicker of emotion passed across Aldrich’s face.