Chapter 419: Igniting the Divine Fire – The Three Radiant Reapers

The process of igniting the Divine Fire did not happen overnight; merely the preliminary preparations took King Celt I three days and three nights. Although one at his level could ignite the Divine Fire at any time, hasty actions were often forced and carried out out of necessity, resulting in a much lower success rate compared to when done with careful preparation at the optimal moment.

Over the past few months, the royal family had held numerous celebrations within the kingdom to honor the great founding monarch King Celt I, the ruler who revived the kingdom King Celt VII, and the current wise monarch King Celt XV. With the recent victory in suppressing the rebellion, the entire kingdom was in jubilation. Though some wise individuals sensed something unusual, ordinary people did not overthink it, as such grand national celebrations usually offered free food and exempted them from taxes. As a result, many genuinely developed reverence for the kingdom and its three monarchs, hoping to earn extra income during the celebrations to support their families.

That was the simple mindset of ordinary people—as long as they could eat and dress properly, it was already a great fortune!

These three days marked the peak of the celebrations. Not only was the statue of King Celt I in the royal square restored, but other areas around it also saw the construction of related structures. The abundance of faith energy made King Celt I’s preparations proceed smoothly. When he sensed a powerful gaze upon him, he knew he had reached his peak condition—and it was time to ignite the Divine Fire.

The ignition began at night. During these three days, Donald and the others had fasted and guarded King Celt I, waiting for this moment. When they saw a faint, mysterious spark rise silently from within King Celt I’s body, Donald immediately stood up.

“It’s time! Let’s prepare to welcome our guests!”

With that, Carlisle, Chikofield, Vincent, and Nozdormu rushed to the four corners of the palace’s sacred grounds, each taking charge of one corner and standing guard with full vigilance.

As a thousand-year-old ally of the Celt family—sharing weal and woe—King Celt I had long ago summoned the most powerful swordmaster of the current Ansel family, Marquis Vincent, to lend his aid.

With the help of the fragments of divinity, Vincent’s strength had improved significantly after over a year of dedicated training. At a mid-legendary level, coupled with the power of his sub-legendary longsword, his strength was now on par with that of peak legendary warriors who were nearly immortal.

After those four legendary warriors left the dungeon, only King Celt VII and Donald remained to guard the altar in the square.

Seeing King Celt VII, who usually maintained a composed and wise demeanor as a powerful monarch, lose his usual calmness, Donald tried to reassure him: “Your Majesty, there’s no need to worry. Though our enemies are strong, I’ve also prepared some powerful cards. Unless the Lord of Dawn sends his avatars personally without regard for shame, even if they’re semi-divine warriors, we need not fear them!”

Hearing Donald’s confidence, King Celt VII felt much more at ease and gave him a grateful look.

“I’m ashamed. I thought my centuries of experience had made my mind strong enough to withstand anything without changing, but it seems I was wrong!” King Celt VII said self-mockingly, realizing he was less composed and steady than a young man in his early twenties.

“Your Majesty, your concern shows how much you care. Whether your deification is successful not only affects the fate ofthe entire CeltCelt but also your loved ones. Although you were not born in the same era, I can sense that your relationship is closer than that between biological father and son or brothers!”

Donald’s words brought back memories for King Celt VII, who smiled warmly with nostalgia.

Just then, Donald suddenly reacted and said with a laugh, “Our guests have arrived!” Though there was no visible movement, Donald, who could monitor the situation within a hundred miles using his virtual divinity, was the first to detect the arrival of outsiders.

As the divine fire caused the laws of the area around the palace to fluctuate, countless invisible points of faith gathered toward the palace like a meteor shower, a holy pillar rose in the southeast direction of the capital.

Yet no matter how he looked at it, Donald sensed a hint of bloodshed beneath the holiness of that pillar.

Feeling this powerful presence, King Celt VII’s expression immediately changed.

He cried out in shock, “It’s the Reaper of Light…”

Seeing Donald’s puzzled expression, Celt VII explained, “The one who has come is one of the Lord of Dawn’s elect. His true name has been abandoned; he is known outside as the Glorious Reaper as a sign of his supreme reverence for the Lord of Dawn. However, other factions call him the Blood-Handed Butcher, because he never uses weapons in battle—only his terrifying hands to fight his enemies!” At this point, Celt VII couldn’t help but show a bitter smile. “I never expected the Lord of Dawn to send such a butcher. It seems he truly holds deep resentment toward us Celts!”
“How so? Is this elect very powerful?”
“Not just powerful—terrifying!”
Through Celt VII’s explanation, Donald learned that the Glorious Reaper was the Lord of Dawn’s third elect, second only to the Pope of the Church of the Dawn, who served as his earthly representative. It was said that before becoming an elect, he had been a penitent monk—a special class within the True God Church’s professional system known for their exceptional combat skills.
They dedicated themselves entirely to the True God, eating the toughest black bread and drinking tasteless mountain water. Pleasures such as fine wine, delicious food, power, and beauty were far beyond their reach. Only by doing so could one become a true penitent monk. For this reason, although fanatics were not necessarily penitent monks, penitent monks were always fanatics.
Such beings, who were just one step away from becoming saints, were highly valued by any faith in the True God and nurtured with great care. However, generally, the True God would not grant penitent monks the status of elect. Penitent monks, having shed most of their human emotions, had little use other than dedicating themselves to the god.
Apart from the Pope, the True God’s earthly representative who headed the church, these other elects functioned more like intermediaries between the True God and the secular world. They were usually descendants of the True God or outstanding mortals admired by him. They were both part of the church and independent of it, possessing semi-divine strength and immortal lives alongside the True God—beings respected by all factions!
But the elect chosen by the Lord of Dawn was clearly different. He seemed to exist solely for battle. Even before becoming an elect, the Glorious Reaper had already committed several atrocities.

They all went to distant places to purge those who openly rejected the worship of the gods or secretly harbored hostility toward the Church of the Dawn Lord. Thanks to their formidable legendary strength and the protection of the powerful Church of the Dawn Lord, they were able to evade legal sanctions from other countries. This Glorious Reaper was favored by the Dawn Lord for his fanatical devotion to it and his extreme methods against all other heretics; three hundred years ago, the Lord granted him the status of elect. That was during the period before King Celt VII ascended the throne. King Celt VII, then still a prince named Xize, was deeply impressed by this ascetic who posed a threat to all the forces on the continent. “After becoming an elect, this ascetic immediately abandoned his original name and used his former title. Whenever major events occurred within the domain of the Three Glorious Gods, the shadow of this Glorious Reaper would appear. Though he possessed strength equivalent to that of a powerful demi-god, he seemed to be under some restrictions. From my later analysis, it seems that the demi-gods and other true god churches behind various forces on the continent were dissatisfied with his arrogant behavior and jointly pressured the Church of the Three Glorious Gods. As a result, this third elect of the Dawn Lord became more secretive, no longer acting so openly, often disappearing for decades without a trace. I never expected that this time it would be this Bloodied Butcher who came to stop Charles from being deified. I’m worried…” “There’s no need to worry! If it were just this one powerful demi-god, their plans for today would surely fail!” Donald firmly interrupted Celt VII’s concerns. “The Dawn Lord did not send down its own avatar but only one of its elects—this is its mistake in underestimating us, but it’s a huge advantage for us. Once we overcome this challenge, they will never again have the chance to crush my rise from the start!” Celt VII also realized this. He had only focused on the power of the Dawn Lord and forgotten that once Celt I succeeded in being deified, even if the Dawn Lord was powerful, it would not openly confront them. Even if it wanted to act, the other gods would jointly exert pressure to stop it.

It should be noted that although the Lord of Dawn is one of the most powerful true gods in the main world and always considers himself the leader of the human gods, there are still many true gods who do not submit to him! If powerful true gods are allowed to oppress weaker ones, the main world and even the entire universe are likely to fall into chaos, which would have a significant impact on the interests of all the gods. The Third Godly Contract signed a thousand years ago was established precisely to address such situations. Due to the constraints of the contract’s power, even if two opposing true gods go to war, the scale of the conflict is limited. Battles in the main world can only rely on the strength of their respective churches, while intense battles involving beings above demi-gods must take place outside the main world. Any actions that damage the environment of the main world will be subject to sanctions imposed by all the true gods. This applies not only to the gods of the righteous and neutral factions but also to other dark or evil true gods, excluding the Lords of the Abyss and Demigods.