Chapter 552: A Powerful Appearance
“This is the City in the Sky!”
An half-god warrior couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
His companion, another half-god, immediately nodded in agreement. “Indeed! Who would have thought that all of the greatest achievements of the once-great Arcane Empire were thought to have been lost? Yet it turns out that His Majesty, the Natural Guardian, actually controls one of them. No wonder this lord made such rapid progress as a mortal, achieving feats that even true gods would admire!”
“Yes! I had long guessed that he must have encountered some extraordinary fortune to achieve what he has today, but I never imagined he had inherited the great legacy of the ancient Arcane Empire—a treasure even the higher gods desire!”
Discussions like these among the half-gods were occurring simultaneously among all visitors to the Nodahil Plane, including those powerful incarnations of true gods!
By the third morning, the day of the funeral ceremony, all the main guests had arrived.
The wedding was held in the largest square of the City in the Sky, with marble benches and separate dining tables set at each end. True gods, half-gods, and mortal representatives from various factions sat there in descending order of status.
A few seats at the front were still empty, clearly reserved for several important figures who had not arrived yet!
It was customary in this world to hold weddings and celebrations at noon. King Charles of the North and Clinton were in charge of welcoming the guests. As a true god, Charles handled the true god guests, while Clinton, as a true god’s chosen one, took care of the half-gods and representatives from other factions. Their statuses matched those of the guests, and with the help of a group of excellent servants arranged by Donald, everyone was properly seated.
These servants were handsome male elves and beautiful female humans. Not only did they have striking appearances, but each also possessed at least bronze-level strength. To true gods and half-gods, this was nothing extraordinary, but for the mortal guests, it was quite remarkable—after all, even a king wouldn’t go to such lengths as to use only bronze-level servants in his court. The host truly was a great true god.
This was exactly the effect Donald wanted. In fact, this was the first time he had summoned a large number of humanoid intelligent beings from the Book of Truth and made them visible to the public.
Since the guests being entertained were true gods and powerful figures from various realms, ordinary mortal servants were useless—after all, even the unintentional aura exuded by a true god could intimidate a mortal, let alone expect them to serve the guests. To avoid service mistakes that might cause the guests’ dissatisfaction, Donald boldly indulged himself this time; since he was about to ascend to the throne, he no longer needed to worry about such trivial matters! The creatures summoned from the Book of Truth, though initially full of wisdom, had rigid behavior and focused solely on their master’s will, making them ideal servants unaffected by other emotions. This time, Donald summoned Sun Elf priests and human witches—both races excelled in both temperament and appearance, and more importantly, their strength and demeanor were highly consistent. Though each had a different look, they resembled twins, giving off a sense of rare harmony. Even some true gods, after receiving their service, nodded in approval, praising both the servants and their master’s careful arrangements. Soon, noon approached, and the three goddesses—Magic Goddess Euliana, Agriculture Goddess Eilien, and Elf Goddess of Moonlight and Night, Lauren—arrived together. Seeing this grandeur, all present, whether true gods, demigods, or representatives of various forces from the main world, stood up to welcome the three goddesses. After all, these three were the most powerful and prestigious figures present today; the highest-ranking guest among the others was merely the mid-tier god, God of Knowledge, Asten. Not to mention the two higher-tier gods, the Mysterious Lady and the Goddess of Abundance, even the Elf Goddess of the Moon Song, though a mid-tier god, had an entire elf pantheon behind her—no higher-tier god would want to offend such a force lightly! “Welcome, Your Majesties. Please forgive Donald, the groom, for not being able to greet you in person!” “No need to apologize. Today is Donald’s joyous day, and everyone is here to celebrate—there are no distinctions of status or power!” The King of the North personally welcomed the three goddesses to take their seats, but they did not sit in the foremost position. Instead, they sat starting from the second seat on the left: Euliana first, followed by Eilien, then Lauren, leaving the first seat on the left empty. The King of the North immediately realized something. “Could there be someone even more prestigious than these three goddesses arriving?”
As he was thinking this, a powerful glow appeared in the realm, clearly indicating the arrival of another mighty god. It turned out to be an incarnation of the God of Darkness, Rops. Although Donald had sent an invitation to this one of the greatest neutral supreme gods, according to Charlie, this lord had no close relationship with them—at most, a voter or messenger might come to represent them. No one expected him to descend in person as an incarnation. This wasn’t the goddess who was allied with the three mysterious ladies; their relationship wasn’t close enough for such intimacy, right? Could it be that this lord had other plans in mind?
“Welcome, Lord Rops!”
Ignoring the king of the North’s inner speculations, he respectfully welcomed the God of Darkness to the plaza of the Sky City.
Upon seeing the three goddesses, Rops exchanged greetings with them. However, he was surprised to find that Euliana, who was of equal status and power to him, didn’t take the seat of honor. Thinking of something, he sat down in the second seat on the right, facing the Magic Goddess.
With all the guests present, it should have been the three goddesses—Euliana and the others—who announced the start of the wedding and presided over the union of the couple. But the three goddesses remained silent, sitting there as if waiting for something.
Seeing this, Rops also waited quietly. With these four powerful beings silent, the other gods, demigods, and mortal guests didn’t dare to speak either, and the atmosphere became quiet.
Just as the king of the North and the organizers grew uneasy, the sky of the Nodahil realm suddenly brightened dramatically, with a spectacle even more powerful than the arrival of the previous three supreme gods. Even the World Tree swayed its branches, as if welcoming the impending presence.
“Welcome, great Lord of the Elves, His Majesty Ignatz!”
The voices of the three goddesses shocked everyone present, causing them to stand up in unison to greet him. Even Rops and the Magic Goddess Euliana, among the most prominent beings in the Pantheon, bowed slightly to show respect for this great arrival!
Lord Ignatz of the Elves appeared as a handsome middle-aged man. When his figure appeared above the City of Tianzhuo, all the plants in the Nodahil realm grew taller eagerly, with a strong natural energy spreading throughout the realm.
“There’s no need for formalities. I, an old man, am here today merely to serve as the wedding officiant for the young ones!”
As Ignatz spoke in his gentle nasal voice, everyone felt a sense of peace and comfort. It was then that they noticed a beautiful goddess beside the Elven Lord, dressed in a gown made of emerald-green leaves. Wasn’t this the rarely seen Forest Goddess Mekelly? All the true gods present recognized this rather reclusive goddess. By now, the three goddesses had clung to the Elven Lord like little daughters. Upon seeing the arrival of the Forest Goddess, Euliana and the others greeted her warmly. “Sister Mekelly, what brings you here to Donald’s wedding today?” asked Eilwen, the Goddess of Agriculture, affectionately, taking her hand. This Forest Goddess rarely attended various gatherings of the gods because she disapproved of races and civilizations like humans destroying natural forests. Mekelly smiled gently and said, “I happened to be visiting His Majesty Ignatz. I heard from him that today is the wedding of the Nature Guardian who proposed the theory of natural balance, so I came to take a look!” Eilwen nodded slightly. Given this Forest Goddess’s preference for solitude and quiet forest environments, only a theory like natural balance could interest her! After all the guests took their seats, the King of the North, acting as the wedding host, glanced at the Elven Lord at the head of the table. Seeing His Majesty Ignatz nod, he bowed and stepped forward, announcing loudly, “Now, let us welcome today’s main guests—the Nature Guardian, King of Invocations, and Demon Hunter, His Highness Donald, along with his fiancée, Lady Catherine, and Miss Cornelia!” As soon as he finished speaking, Donald appeared at the bottom of the square, dressed in a simple suit without any unnecessary decorations but still looking very dignified and refined, accompanied by his two fiancées. They walked toward the center of the venue to the sound of pleasant music. Donald, who had been waiting in the main building at the back of the square, had seen everything happening outside. Even without using the power of a true god’s consciousness, the virtual divine entity of the Sky City could exert influence at least on par with that of a mid-tier god. With a divine rank between higher and mid-tier gods, most of the other true gods present were essentially restrained, except for the three powerful goddesses—including the Goddess of Magic—along with the Lord of the Underworld and His Majesty the Elven Lord. However, Donald never expected the three goddesses to invite the great Elven Lord to serve as the wedding officiant! What an honor this was for him!
Without mentioning anything else, the fact alone that the Lord of Elves officiated their marriage would make all the major forces in the multiverse wary. The benefits of this are immeasurable; with this backing, at least no one would dare touch Catherine and the other woman as their wives!
So after appearing, he first bowed humbly to the officiant, then to the three goddesses and the supreme god Rops, and finally to all the guests.