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

The ashen white flames had already risen, matching the fervor of life itself, colliding with the latter. Ash and red twisted and entangled into a vortex, also an ever-ascending spiral staircase.

"This can be done easily, absolutely can be done!"

"This is how it should be! Just like this, right in the face!"

And the Chaotic Citizens and Followers, their excitement reaching a fever pitch, celebrated madly, their pupils trembling incessantly, so thrilled they were nearly tearing flags, their voices quivering with jubilant cheers,

"This is how it should be! Not only should we do this, but we must record it for three hundred thousand people to enjoy!"

"Councilor Ansu, we adore you!"

Through the live broadcast from the Judgement Court's Magic-guided Giant Screen, that jubilant and lively beautiful scene had already spread out, and the Chaotic Citizens were the most frenzied of all. They had been pursuing pleasure and chaos all their lives, and the chaotic scenery before them was the miracle they had sought for a lifetime!

To witness this scene, they would die without regrets.

"Bliss! Bliss! Bliss!"

The Chaotic Cultists had long been displeased with the Followers of Life, and their conflict was deep-rooted, merely buried under the dazzling façade of the Avad Church Nation. Now, they had finally seized the opportunity. Moreover, some Chaotic Cultists directly mocked the kneeling, pained Followers of Life face to face, their mouths splitting exaggeratedly, their eyes curving like fangs as they jeered,

"I just want to see the expressions you have now! Quack!"

Ansu had offered the Curse Blood as a sacrifice to chaos. What he ignited was not just flames, but the contradictions within Avad, kindling the vortex hidden beneath the prosperity—the Avad Church Nation was after all a nation of Seven Religions. How could multiple religions coexist without trouble, if not for their concealment under a prosperous façade?

Like steel wrapped in cotton, once the breeze blew, the cold steel bones beneath the cotton would be revealed!

Ansu intended to tear through this veneer, to ignite all of Avad, from bottom to top, inside and out, with flames. Only by throwing everything into the crucible could he forge the sole staircase to climb upwards. By consuming all chaos, one could construct from the ruins a new Order and Radiance.

At that moment, Ansu heard the deep voice of the celestial body in his ear.

[Main Quest One: Fate's Staircase]

[Avad Radiance Level: 10%]

[Judgement Court District Approval Rating: 90%]

As a Radiant Follower, spreading Radiance and Order was Ansu's mission, he had never forgotten his calling,

So the more chaotic, the more people would die. The fewer the people, the more orderly it became. Hence, the more chaotic, the more orderly—no flaws in that logic whatsoever.

"Ansu Milton!!"

The Smiling Lady was all aflame, her luxurious and precious human-skin coat burned away, her entire skin covered in charred marks. She was, besides Mr. Demon, the only other Councilor still alive—Mr. Demon naturally could not die; he still had debts to repay.

Such deep fury had never before so thoroughly eroded the Smiling Lady's reasoning.

In such a dire situation, even if it meant breaking the taboos of the Seven Gods Ceremony, she no longer cared. After all, her death was certain; why not fight to the very end?

Even if it was meaningless, she would still fight for what was right to the very end!

Severely injured, she suddenly leaped from the flames, raising her smoke-filled fists. The Peak Saint's martial strength burst forth in an instant, gathering all her Magic Power into a single strike, unleashing it all towards Ansu.

This punch caused the sky to break and the earth to shatter, astonishingly piercing through the sea of flames before Ansu, instantly making its way to his face.

But what shocked the Smiling Lady was that, facing the threat of this punch, Ansu did not dodge or avoid it. His dark blue eyes showed only calmness, as clear as a mirror reflecting the Smiling Lady's face.

Ansu didn't defend himself, though he had time for Magic-guided Defense, he chose not to do so.

He barely even made a move to dodge.

He just stood calmly at the center of the Judgement Court, at the heart of thousands of Magic Screens. Time seemed to stand still at that moment, all the camera angles infinitely stretched in that second. The Smiling Lady saw Ansu slightly tilt his head; the bone-chilling and piercing fist wind grazed past his ear, splashing rings of fresh blood around. The blood droplets hung in the air, casting myriad ripples, and at the very end of that second, the Smiling Lady saw a pleased smile at the corner of Ansu's lips—

He did it on purpose. The young man had deliberately taken the punch with his flesh and blood!

The Smiling Lady screamed inwardly in madness, "This guy is doing it on purpose!"

Boom!

Everyone's breath halted, their eyes widened in shock as they stared intently at the scene unfolding before them.

Under the gaze of all, every punch had been delivered, creating a huge crater in the Judgement Court, with billowing dust rising with the wind, blotting out the sky. When the dust cleared, all the Chaotic Citizens saw the shadow of the young man standing at the end of the flames, as if he would never fall, as if he would never back down, as if he would never flee.

Ansu's face was half-drenched in blood, the blood continuously dripping down his cheek, soaking his entire being in bloody water. His white shirt had been stained blood-red, and within that blood, his navy-blue eyes were dim, murky, and somber, yet forever lofty, yet never falling.

"Why... why didn't you dodge?" the Smiling Lady asked tremulously, "You clearly could have retreated."

"Because behind me lies the Chaotic Candle," the young man's lips moved slightly, "Though the Church Nation is vast, I have no retreat."

All the Chaotic Citizens looked in horror at what lay behind Ansu; indeed, behind the young man were grey-white candles.

The reason the gaze of chaos could descend upon this world was because it resided within the candles. If the candles were destroyed, the Mother Goddess's vigil would naturally come to an end. To protect his faith, Ansu faced the Saint's heavy punch and chose not to take a single step back, defending the path with his body.

Whether it was the three hundred thousand citizens outside the Judgement Square who noticed this moment, or through the countless Magic Screens broadcasting the event, everyone in Avad witnessed this great historical instant.

At this moment, the people finally understood: when the flames of chaos burned behind Ansu, the Gods had already cast Their vote!

[Ansu Milton]

[Judgement Court approval rate: ninety percent, ninety-one, ninety-two…]

[National approval rate: ten percent]

It was his acting! It was his acting!

The Smiling Lady stared at Ansu, knowing she had been utterly defeated, whether in talent, policy, or the realm of chaos—she had been thoroughly beaten by the man before her. She crumbled to her knees before Ansu, her pupils gradually dimming.

In just an instant,

The blasphemous punishment for transgressing taboo and disrupting the Seven Gods Ceremony had descended upon the Smiling Lady.

Her soul was scorched by the Divine Fire, her shell baked by the Divine Fire, but death was not her end. She could no longer enjoy the last grace of life; she would continuously fall into Nether, tortured by the fire of limbo.

Yet, despite this, all the viruses in her body were burned by the great flames, leaving not a trace of impurity; her Rainbow Bloodline was steamed away, her political rights eternally stripped. She was left with nothing; she was left with mere emptiness.

Only at this moment did she finally understand.

In front of the true, eternal Sun—

"The rainbow is but a fleeting ripple of a myriad of rays of sunlight."

The Smiling Lady knelt before Ansu, dissipating into nothingness like a rainbow; and the people of Avad, not just the three hundred thousand citizens in the Judgement Court, but the countless millions throughout Avad, were now fixedly watching the Magic Screens, gazing at the heavy hewn, blood-soaked young man in front of the swirling grey-white candle flames.

His body was covered in wounds, his wrists and palms slashed, his chest pierced, dark blood oozing from the openings; yet the most severe injury was on his cheek, which had endured the Saint's sneak assassination attempt, half of his face bleeding profusely.

Still, the young man stood tall—Ansu, who was originally the last seat of the Judgement Court, a prisoner unjustly jailed, but now, he alone remained standing in the end.

Millions upon millions of citizens held their breath, lowered their heartbeats, witnessing with unblinking eyes.

The sky had dimmed, but had not plunged into complete darkness. It was neither day nor night, as the sunset clouds spread out in full, while navy-blue stars fell into the young man's eyes,

Before the nightfall, before the twilight slowly infiltrated the grey-white sky, amidst the silence of countless beating hearts, the young man finally lifted his eyes, clenched his fist and raised his hand, blood tracing his cheek as he cried out—

"Fight, fight, fight!!"

[Judgement Court election support rate: one hundred percent!]