Volume 33: The River of Death and the Pantheon

Chapter 655: A Life Full of Troubles

Just as Xuefula was about to complete the final ignition of the divine fire, Venlisa, the Goddess of Vengeance among the Undead, who resided in the Death Wasteland on the 113th layer of the Abyss, sensed something. This was because the divine power Xuefula had initially obtained pertained to the realm of curses. His past experiences had filled him with resentment toward humans, which led to the development of a divine force driven by a desire for vengeance.

Apart from her achievements in the realm of death, it was the power of vengeance that earned Lady of the Dead the most followers. It was her greatest advantage in seizing and attracting believers from the Spider Queen. With the return of the King of the Undead, Venlisa feared that her own divine role as the Goddess of Death might be taken away by him sooner or later. Thus, the power of vengeance became extremely crucial to her.

When a demi-god with potential to develop in her domain was born, even the true gods of the righteous faction intervened. How much more so would Venlisa, an evil lawful demon god? Therefore, she acted this time to crush this future threat at its inception.

However, this dark elf goddess clearly did not expect that beyond Ashtimos, the God of Demons, there were other powerful entities guarding Hell. After all, she and other strong figures like the Incarnation of the Destroyer King had previously besieged King Oscar of the Undead in the Pale Lands, so they were not very familiar with what was happening in Hell.

To their surprise, King of the Undead truly lived up to his name—he had such a contingency plan that the siege failed completely. After escaping from the Pale Lands, he returned to his domain just in time for this incident, prompting Venlisa to pay immediate attention.

Attacking across space was not a difficult task for Venlisa, a demon god, especially since it took place at the edge of the Abyss, not in the main world governed by plane rules.

Seeing a true god-level powerhouse attempting to sabotage Xuefula’s ascension, Donald growled in anger and immediately released a green natural divine light, which struck the gray giant hand in the sky like a meteor.

The giant hand, composed of forces from the realm of death, was struck by its natural enemy. Instantly, a layer of green appeared on its surface, and like shattered glass, it crumbled apart.

“Who is it?”

With her divine hand destroyed and a loss of will, Lady of the Dead became furious.

A flash of light, and the avatar stepped out of the space where its domain lay, appearing instantly at the edge of the abyss.
“It’s Princess Wenlisa. No wonder she would attack a demi-god who has just become a god!”
Donald revealed his true identity. The avatar stepped forward to stand in front of Xueflas.
As a guardian, Donald immediately recognized the divine power that Xueflas had gathered. He was somewhat surprised that an elven demi-god had chosen such a niche domain as revenge instead of a natural one, but not really astonished.
He also understood why Wenlisa, the Goddess of Undying Revenge, would intervene—nothing more than a conflict between divine roles, and that was the greatest conflict among true gods, one that could not be avoided. Donald thought to himself that he would likely do the same if he were in her place.
Understanding this aside, Donald had no intention of letting Wenlisa act. Out of respect for the Elven Lord, he was determined to protect Xueflas, this newly risen elven demi-god!
“Nature Guardian?”
Seeing the appearance of Donald’s avatar, along with its strong aura of nature and the destructive power it carried, the goddess was deeply shaken.
Donald had sent out his Punishment Avatar this time. Considering that the war between hell and the abyss might bring forth many powerful demon lords, he dispatched his strongest lower-tier divine avatar.
The strength of this lower-tier divine avatar far surpassed that of his demi-god avatar, and it was also the renowned Nature Guardian who could suppress his own deathly powers. Wenlisa immediately thought of retreating.
But at that moment, Xueflas, who had already completed his ascension and ignited his divine fire to become an immortal demi-god, did not rise. Instead, he began to gather divine powers, aiming to ascend to become a true god.
For the Lady of the Dead, who had mastered the domain of revenge for hundreds of years, as long as someone attempted to seize control of that divine role within the multiverse, no matter at what level, she would sense it immediately as someone holding the same power.
Thus, the goddess’s expression changed instantly.
Seeing this, Donald knew things would not end well today. He couldn’t believe that Xueflas, this elven demi-god, would try to ascend to become a true god at such a critical moment. It was hard to tell whether he was reckless or arrogant.

Yet Donald still greatly appreciated this. He let out a soft sigh and said to the Goddess of Vengeance, “Princess WinLisa, it’s better for you to go back! With me here today, even if the three great powers arrive, they won’t be able to harm this elven demi-god in the slightest. Besides, the conflict between you isn’t that serious.”

Hearing this, the Goddess of Vengeance sneered coldly, “What arrogance! Do you think you’re some mighty supreme god? As long as the Great Abyss sends a few more lords, your hellish realm won’t be able to hold on—let alone protect others when you can’t even save yourselves?”

Donald wasn’t angry; instead, he calmly persuaded her, “I’m doing this for Princess WinLisa’s sake. Leaving aside whether you can overcome me, even if you succeed, have you thought about the consequences?”

Donald was referring to Xuefula’s identity—as an elven god, she had behind her the Elven Lord, a being who was arguably the most powerful supreme god in the Pantheon.

Previously, due to the emergence of a demi-god with conflicting divine duties, WinLisa, in her anger, hadn’t considered such a possibility. Now, reminded by Donald, she felt a wave of fear. If the Elven Lord decided to deal with her, even if she hid in the World of the Bottomless Abyss, she wouldn’t have any chance of survival—unless she joined one of the three great powers. But it was obvious that the three great powers wouldn’t risk antagonizing the mighty Elven Lord for her sake!

While the Goddess of Vengeance struggled with hesitation, on the battlefield, Astimos had already pushed his two opponents into a difficult situation, where a single mistake could mean death.

“You have one last chance. Choose to pledge loyalty to me, and you may live. Otherwise, death will be your fate!” Astimos’s confident and powerful voice rang out within his domain.

But the two demon lords were no ordinary people, so they certainly wouldn’t submit so easily. Thus, Astimos swung his divine sword, the Sword of Demon Slaying. The vast domain began to shrink, with increasing pressure. Even though Zareel unleashed his legendary-level powerful spells, they only managed to break through part of the hellish domain, failing to completely penetrate it. Soon, the domain recovered on its own, eliminating any chance of breaking through.

The two demon lords linked their domains together to resist Astimos. Seeing this, they exchanged glances. For demons, relying on a stronger being wasn’t something shameful—it was actually a symbol of honor, depending on how powerful their master was.

This can be seen from the fact that many demons willingly submit to the control of powerful mages in the main world. However, just as the two demon lords were about to surrender, they sensed a powerful will coming straight from the abyss. The strength carried by this will was far greater than that of the Immortal Vengeance Goddess’s distant attack, and its target was Astymos’s hellish realm. Witnessing such a powerful will and force, at least on the level of a mid-tier god, Donald knew that while Astymos’s strength could solve the problem, he wouldn’t be able to contain the two demon lords within his realm if he went all out. This gave them a chance to escape, so he immediately produced a divine artifact, the Whip of Order, to intercept them across space. Even a mid-tier god wouldn’t be able to withstand the power of this mighty artifact, let alone just a will and force. That force was instantly scattered by the powerful forces of order. But what Donald didn’t expect was that within that force, there was another hidden force that took the opportunity to erupt under the attack of the Whip of Order, punching a large hole through the hellish realm. Seeing this chance, Baltzu thrust his sword at Zareel. Although it only wounded the demon lord and didn’t cause fatal damage, it trapped her in Astymos’s hellish realm, where she couldn’t escape. The cunning demon lord Baltzu abandoned his companion and fled back to the abyss alone. Seeing Baltzu escape, the Whip of Order paused briefly but, surprisingly, did not attack again. Instead, it vanished and reappeared in Donald’s hands, after which he smiled and glanced at the goddess ahead. When Donald was attacking, he couldn’t fully focus on the elven demi-god who was trying to become a new god behind him, which gave the Immortal Vengeance Goddess a chance. But WinLisa hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding not to act. Having witnessed her old rival Flora being severely punished by Donald, the true god, she, as an observer, was also deeply frightened. After all, Donald had started out as just a mortal mage, but now he was not only slightly stronger than her as a lower-tier god but also had many powerful true gods as allies—things she, being alone, could not afford to offend.

But what made her make the crucial decision was the existence of the Lord of Elves, the most powerful supreme god behind the other party. If it were just the Natural Guardian, a true god, she might still have considered taking action, but with the Lord of Elves involved, that thought had long since vanished from her heart, and she dared not harbor any further ambitions.
She comforted herself by thinking, “After all, the other party is just the God of Elf Vengeance, while I am the God of Dark Elf Vengeance. Both have domain limitations. Ultimately, who will obtain the complete title of God of Vengeance depends on one’s own understanding and luck!”
In reality, Wenlisa also knew she was just deluding herself. With the Lord of Elves and the entire elf pantheon supporting them, and herself alone, how could she compete?
She only hoped the other party wouldn’t make vengeance their primary divine role. Given the innate nature of the elves, this seemed unlikely, so she still had a chance.