The more they oppose, the more it shows that I am doing the right thing

In the spiritual world, Tai Rui spoke coldly, his mouth twisted in madness and justice, "Lowborn, kneel!"

"You are mistaken, I am not unloved by the Goddess—"

The young man looked at Tai Rui, his navy-blue eyes alight with the most dazzling radiance as he pointed the staff, symbolizing divine authority, toward the golden scepter, embracing that radiance, An Su spoke softly,

"She has already shared this scepter with me."

He had come to partake in this ceremony, having also prepared a backup plan, only to have it discarded.

This method he had previously used while still at the border church, leveraging the reusability of models to wear the title bestowed by the Mother Goddess of Life, 'Birther', under the name of the Radiant Goddess on his head.

For mortals, the effect of the divine gaze descending upon them is similar, and if the gaze of multiple deities converges together, even a priest would struggle to distinguish true from false. Moreover, this ceremony would not be held in the present world but within their spirits.

From the beginning, An Su had no intention of dedicating the ceremony solely to the Goddess of Radiance, just as Tai Rui had said, he admitted to being a vile creature.

In his past life, holding a grand blessing ceremony required unimaginable resources and effort, so An Su developed a heretical plan for blessings, dedicating one ceremony to several goddesses, thereby achieving maximum efficiency.

The same ceremony could attract the blessings of several deities.

Since the Ceremony Hall had never restricted to whom the rites were dedicated, given that the Royal Family and the Church had expended such resources to hold this grand blessing ceremony, with time, location, and people aligned, it would let the ceremony reach its zenith!

Tai Rui Milton, since you say the Child of the Curse is born evil, so be it as you wish.

An Su plunged the profaned radiance into his soul, the waters of the River of Life began to boil, countless star fires converging into An Su's eyes, the world's power and authority, its glory and grace had gathered entirely within the young man's scepter—

"I renounce the laws of Order and believe in the ladder of Chaos."

[You have attracted the gaze of the Mother Goddess of Chaos]

"I renounce the natural forests and believe in the River of Life."

[You have attracted the gaze of the Mother Goddess of Life]

"I renounce the halls of Radiance and believe in the path of Pain."

[You have attracted the gaze of the Mother of Pain!]

An Su's soul spoke blessings completely contrary to his physical being!

Madman, madman....

Tai Rui, his face pale with terror, looked at everything around him. Under the grand ceremony in the Ceremony Hall, An Su invoked the names of the three pillars of the Esoteric Sect, never having imagined such profane and manic actions, which were not merely blasphemous but a contempt, a denial, a revolution against everything.

An Su did not worship the deities, from the start, he placed himself on a pedestal equal to that of the gods; his arrogance had long seen himself as a deity!

And what frightened Tai Rui the most was that the three Mother Goddesses' gazes truly heard An Su's call and indeed descended here, solidifying An Su as the chosen of the Esoteric Sect. In the spiritual world, there were no longer just the Holy Light of the Radiant Goddess, and Tai Rui's soul had long lost the blessing of Holy Light.

Deprived of the Radiant Goddess's blessing as a response, the spirit of Prince Tai Rui began to burn continuously by the Star Fire. The pain originating from his soul deeply seared into his heart. Even though his royal authority also pressed down on An Su, the young man did not show the slightest flicker of hesitation.

As if such agony were nothing unusual.

Tai Rui couldn't understand why An Su's will could persist, why he could endure up to this moment... He was clearly just a vile commoner, a mere sixteen-year-old child, what gave him the right to persist!

He shouldn't have been contending with An Su in the spiritual world; he should have erased this Child of the Curse in reality a long time ago—it could have been easily done... Perhaps even now, it wasn't too late, to strike in reality and kill him, even if demigods like Merlin were to interfere, as long as the action was swift enough—

To kill An Su in reality, openly, during a live broadcast watched by all, would lead to the most chaotic outcome, signifying his utter failure.

But...

Even if this went against 'Justice,' even if this would utterly incite division at the borders, even if this would push the Empire's contradictions to their peak, even if this would lead to the complete ruination of the Milton Royal Family's honor, he must act.

Because Tai Rui understood, if he did not act now, his consciousness would hardly make it out of An Su's spiritual world again.

Yet the gaze of the Three Mother Goddesses now fell on the prince, rendering him unable to move out of fear.

In front of Tai Rui, the heavens were completely disturbed; the ritual felt like a vast breeding ground for gu insects, where the gazes of the Evil God and the True God intertwined, vying for domination. Souls were a chaotic mess, and in An Su's spiritual world, all rights and wrongs were inverted, with only that stairway stretching endlessly to the very end of the horizon, reaching into the sky.

In the spiritual world, chaotic stairways, the River of Life, pathways of pain.

An Su stood amidst all the blood and darkness, arms outstretched, his indigo eyes filled with madness.

In the real world, vast blessings, a magnificent palace, sacred steps.

The young man's form bathed in the endless glory of the Goddess, his profile ever so solemn, ever so holy.

"The gods have arrived—"

But whether in the present world or the spiritual, soul or shell, An Su lifted his eyes and looked towards Tai Rui. Milton, towards the royal authority that made all commoners kneel, towards the even further Imperial Capital, and towards the distant stars, An Su raised the ritual staff.

"Mortals."

He raised the staff, commanding the world—

"Prostrate."

Tai Rui felt the Star Fire scorching his soul, flames rushing into his nose, mouth, eye sockets, spreading from his veins and throat, then proliferating throughout the organs and entrails of his soul.

Deprived of the Radiant Goddess's blessing, his will could no longer sustain his Justice or endure this pain. The royal authority of the Golden Kite Flower continued to collapse, ultimately prostrate on the ground.

If he demands commoners to kneel, let the mortals prostrate first.

His soul was full of char, his bright golden eyes completely scorched away, reminiscent of the empty eye sockets on every state's, every city's, every town's Fire Execution Platform, each charred corpse.

'