Has She Become a Goddess

Watching Laney cackle madly as she opened the Abraham family's sacred artifact box, Luo Wei suddenly felt an ominous premonition. He quickly turned to the person beside him.

"Teacher, why does she think this can kill you? What's the significance of your family's sacred artifact?"

Evelyn looked bewildered. "I only know that after the family selects an heir, they must display the artifact in front of everyone to legitimize the succession..."

"But it's just a broken crown—said to have been passed down since before the era of the City of Cain. It has never shown any special power. My father, and even the previous family head, never took it seriously..."

Despite her words, Luo Wei cautiously pulled her back, his gaze fixed on the artifact.

Inside the box was indeed a crown, adorned with intricate carvings of thorns and flowers, its design ancient. Once Laney held it in her hands, her triumphant grin at Evelyn widened, as if victory was already assured.

"Evelyn, you're wrong. The family artifact is far from ordinary."

A deep voice came from behind—it was Joe, an elder of the vampire clan. Evelyn turned to him in confusion.

"Have you ever wondered why it's said that our vampire ancestors are truly immortal?"

Luo Wei also looked at Joe, as this was something that had long puzzled him.

Logically, aside from beings at the level of gods, no species should possess true immortality. Yet the vampires were different. The legends of their seven great clans claimed that their founders were all immortal, and their absence now was only because they had fallen into slumber.

"The true sacred artifact contains the will of the Abraham ancestor," Joe explained. "It's said that the seven vampire progenitors were all masters of dark magic. Before their bodies withered, they stripped their souls from them..."

"What?" Luo Wei found this eerily familiar. Wasn't this so-called "soul and will" just a spiritual entity?

As he pondered this, his eyes instinctively darted toward the direction of the witch.

Outside the castle, a battle of titans was already underway. Streaks of blinding light flashed intermittently from the clash between Tilis and Feilin, illuminating the night sky.

Luo Wei knew he couldn’t intervene in that fight—he’d only be a burden to Tilis. Besides, he had full confidence in the witch’s strength. For now, his focus remained on the madwoman Laney’s actions.

What Joe had just described reminded him of Tilis’s "Soul Severing Art." Moreover, Joe had mentioned "dark magic." The ancient dark magic Tilis had once uncovered might very well trace its origins to the second-generation vampire ancestors.

"If that’s the case, this is bad!" Evelyn suddenly tensed up.

Joe nodded grimly. "Indeed. While it may sound like the ancestors are protecting us, the reality is far from it."

"When the Church’s allied forces attacked the City of Cain, one of the seven clans attempted to awaken their ancestor to counter the Church’s might. But summoning a god is easier than sending one away..."

"Their ancestor slaughtered that generation’s family head, stole his body, and had no intention of leaving its new vessel. Worse yet... the ancestor didn’t aid them at all. Instead, it went berserk and slaughtered most of its own descendants..."

"After that lesson, no other clan dared attempt such a thing, no matter how desperate their situation. No one was willing to gamble with their entire bloodline..."

Joe’s expression darkened further. "Those who have survived since ancient times are truly terrifying beings. These seven ancestors might as well be called true demons..."

"Then shouldn’t we evacuate the guests immediately?" Evelyn urged.

Joe shook his head. "No need to panic yet."

Evelyn studied him, puzzled. Despite his ominous words, Joe himself didn’t seem overly alarmed.

Joe explained, "I was referring to the true sacred artifact—not the fake in her hands."

"Fake?" Evelyn’s eyes widened.

Joe gave a faint smile. "Given how dangerous it is, successive family heads would never carelessly bring it out. That’s just a replica made for the succession ceremony. Since it’s just a formality, the real artifact’s location is likely known only to the Duke himself."

"So that’s how it is..." Evelyn finally relaxed.

"Wait a second." Luo Wei suddenly interrupted. "Mr. Joe, are you absolutely sure that thing is fake?"

"Of course—" Joe turned his calm gaze toward Laney, but his smile slowly faded as events took a drastic turn.

As Laney raised the crown high, an icy, malevolent aura swept over everyone present.

If the priestess’s divine magic earlier had felt like a warm spring breeze, this was the opposite—like being stared down by a venomous serpent. The atmosphere in the banquet hall grew even more chilling than the blizzard outside.

Joe’s voice trembled with disbelief. "Impossible! How did she get the real artifact?"

Laney’s hate-filled eyes remained locked on Evelyn. Luo Wei sensed an inexplicable, deep-seated loathing radiating from her.

"Ancestor! Kill her! Slaughter all those traitors who side with humans!"

A hazy, indistinct shadow materialized high above the hall. Luo Wei couldn’t make out its form—only a grotesque, ancient face. Its gaze swept the room before finally settling on Evelyn.

"This is bad..." Luo Wei tightened his grip on Evelyn, pulling her back. This thing didn’t seem interested in purging "traitors." Instead, it looked like it wanted to seize Evelyn’s body for itself.

He glanced toward Tilis outside, but she was already locked in a fierce battle, unable to spare any attention for them.

If they were to face the true "Abraham," they’d have to rely on themselves...

---

Meanwhile, Tilis noticed the shift in Feilin the moment she invoked "Divine Descent."

A holy radiance enveloped Feilin as her demeanor turned utterly detached. She ascended higher into the sky, gazing down upon the earth like a true deity.

Tilis frowned. The situation had grown more complicated—Feilin seemed to have developed resistance to her magic. Multiple high-tier spells struck her but failed to leave even a scratch.

It felt like her magic was being swallowed by a bottomless void, as if her strongest blows were landing on cotton.

"How is this possible?" Tilis muttered in disbelief. "Did she actually summon a god?"

But that couldn’t be. Divine magic, like regular magic, had long been tainted. The God of Light, Bader, had either fallen or encountered some other catastrophe—that was the main reason for the Church’s decline...

Which left only one possibility...

Tilis thought of the resurgent Church, and an idea sprang to her mind.

When Feilin prayed, she didn’t just chant the name of the God of Light, Bader—she also added "Lady Elya Christine" in the latter half...

Elya, now the Saintess of the Church, was once one of their own...

"Has Elya become a god?!"

Elya and her followers had established such a system, and Tilis knew what this meant. Just like the Wegener royal family and Nodens, the chosen ones could beseech their deities for a portion of their power...

This outcome was even harder for her to believe.

After all, the research on divinity had cost her and her mentor so much effort and sacrifice, yet they had never succeeded. Yet Elya, in just four short years, had transformed from an unremarkable, clumsy healer who could only wield blunt weapons into an actual deity. This was something Tilis simply couldn’t accept...

"Something’s wrong... This doesn’t make sense..." Tilis braced against the divine light of holy punishment descending from the sky, her mind racing.

If Elya had truly ascended to godhood, then victory was impossible. She might as well grab Luo Wei and flee.

Because if she lost here, the next step would likely be Feilin dragging Luo Wei to the Church overnight—and then everything would be over...

As the initial shock faded, Tilis calmed herself and tentatively cast a 9th-tier spell.

The pure holy light dimmed for a moment before quickly recovering, the radiant mass still hovering in the sky like a second sun.

"Strong, yes, but not on the same level as those from that day..." Tilis mused.

During the chaotic battle in the town that day, she had witnessed the Ancient God Nodens and that God of Chaos who took a liking to Luo Wei. Those beings were terrifying even with just a glance—but Elya wasn’t at that level yet.

At most, she was a demigod, similar to that giant black dragon, still bound to a mortal body.

With this in mind, Tilis relaxed slightly. She soared into the sky, intending to confront "Feilin"—or rather, Elya—face to face.

"A fight like this will inevitably affect Thornflower Castle. Aren’t you afraid Luo Wei might die by your divine magic?"

Tilis chuckled, playing the emotional card first.

Sure enough, after these words, the divine indifference on "Feilin’s" face faltered for a moment, and the white radiance surrounding her quickly dissipated.

Tilis sneered inwardly but pressed on.

"I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I know you must have felt the same way I did back then—regretting your lack of power, helpless to stop him from leaving."

"But now he’s returned. Why are you still hiding in the shadows, pretending to be a god, too afraid to even speak to him? He never blamed us. If he saw you now, he’d be happy and proud. You don’t have to keep clinging to this obsession."

Tilis had expected "Feilin" to at least heed her words enough to hold back, avoiding collateral damage to the castle.

But instead, the holy white light suddenly flickered violently.

"Feilin" stared at her with a mix of conflict and panic, but the emotion lasted only a moment before the cold detachment returned to her expression.

The sacred glow grew even brighter, so dazzling that Tilis could barely see. She sensed the condensed power of countless believers’ faith—a light capable of devouring everything.