On the border of the Divine Realm, a colossal white fortress, previously imbued with an aura of sanctity and solemnity, was now stained crimson with blood. Countless silver-armored deities lay scattered across the ground, each bearing a distinct, narrow wound on their chest.
Evidently, they had been struck down by a sharp implement, a single blow proving fatal. Their vibrant divine blood dyed their chests a shocking red, sending a profound chill down one’s spine.
Inside the fortress, a lithe, blue-haired woman stood clad in light silver armor. In her hand, she wielded a gleaming silver rapier, its hilt intricately carved with illusory, dream-like images of the dawn.
She stood at the foot of a grand staircase, gazing silently upwards. At the top of those stairs, a square-faced middle-aged man in golden divine robes confronted her.
The middle-aged man spoke first. “Blue hair, silver rapier, the dawn’s radiance. A blood-stained Silver Radiance. So, it is the Divine Realm’s foremost executioner. Yet, I am curious: why slaughter this innocent, nameless fortress of mine? Where exactly have I offended your majesty?”
The woman remained silent, merely observing the middle-aged man. Then, a cold sneer touched her lips. “To still feign ignorance at this point… You must be one of those ‘Heaven Defiers’, too, aren’t you?”
At this, the middle-aged man’s gaze sharpened, losing all semblance of calm. He fixed his eyes on the blue-haired woman. “You… when did you learn of our existence?” This was a designation unknown even to the core members of their organization; only key figures like himself were privy to it.
The blue-haired woman’s smile turned mocking. “You didn’t actually believe you were well hidden, did you?”
“I apologize, but my master learned of all twenty-one thousand three hundred of your strongholds six hundred million years ago. Over twenty-one thousand two hundred of their locations were precisely pinpointed.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes grew unfocused, his voice hoarse. “What a madwoman. You sacrificed your life just to deceive us? To think our brilliant strategy of having no contact between strongholds became our greatest downfall. But tell me, how many of our strongholds have you already eliminated?”
The blue-haired woman answered him, knowing the man before her was already doomed. A hint of impatience laced her tone, for she was not a patient person. “Over nineteen thousand.”
The middle-aged man slumped his head, as if conceding defeat. Yet, in that very instant, a burst of holy light erupted from his body, and he transformed into a streak of light, darting into the distance.
The blue-haired woman, momentarily blinded, showed no panic. The moment the man became a streak of light, her rapier had already pierced his body. What fled into the distance was merely a corpse.
Her Divine Annihilation Tool, the Silver Radiance, was not the most powerful of its kind. In fact, in terms of its characteristics, it was quite weak, possessing no enhancements and only one ability: ‘Absolute Kill’. If the rapier penetrated a body by more than five centimeters, even a Divine Lord could not escape death, merely prolonging their agony for a short time. For an ordinary High God, like the one just struck, life extinguished the instant the blade found its mark.
The fall of a High God caused a dirge to echo throughout that space. The blue-haired woman paid no mind to the bewildered divine servants, sheathing her sword and departing.
****
In the academy, we made our way to the cafeteria. It must be said, this academy was truly immense. We walked for a full half-hour before reaching the dining hall.
The cafeteria was semi-circular and remarkably tall, roughly sixty meters high. From the outside, it was clearly a single-story structure, pristine white with golden patterns etched upon it. Its walls were incredibly smooth, yet completely non-reflective; no matter how hard one looked, not a single blemish could be found.
Stepping through the main entrance, the sheer scale of the cafeteria truly became apparent. While it had seemed vast from the exterior, the impact upon entering was unimaginable. The seventy-meter-high building contained no discernible floors, only platforms floating in the air, each laden with tables.
The floor below was inlaid with several shimmering azure metal plates. Along the upper walls, countless service windows were visible. Occasionally, students would drift past, seemingly standing on the metal plates, moving from above to collect their meals from various windows.
I peered curiously at the miraculous plates on the ground, wondering how they enabled the students to fly.
Noticing my fascination, Lavishly Karafar quickly began to explain. “Well, this is the cafeteria, and space is limited. If every winged deity were to spread their wings, imagine the chaos!”
I nodded in agreement. At this, Xilinka, who had been silent, added coolly, “Furthermore, these also act as barriers. Since our school uniform is a skirt, flying freely would allow those below to clearly see a classmate’s underwear.”
I stepped onto one of the plates. “Um, how do I use this?”
Lavishly Karafar smiled. “For winged divine races, it’s quite simple; there’s no need to learn. It’s the same principle as flying: connect your consciousness to the floating plate, inject divine power, and then activate it like you would the power of order. However, this is far less strenuous than direct flight.”
Upon hearing this, my small face immediately wrinkled. “B-but, I don’t know how to fly with wings…”
This time, even Xilinka, usually as still as an ancient well, and Mifeier, who had been deep in thought, looked surprised. Mifeier scrutinized me for a long moment, then stared into my eyes and said, “Sister, you are of the winged divine race, and a High God at that. There’s absolutely no way you can’t fly. That’s a joke even a three-year-old wouldn’t fall for.”
Lavishly Karafar and Xilinka nodded in agreement, but the problem was, I wasn’t lying.
I gripped a lock of my hair and tugged. “Well, actually, the reason I can’t fly is that I have a bit of acrophobia. Whenever I’m at a height, my mind just goes blank…”
At this, Mifeier looked at me with tear-filled eyes. “Poor Sister. Don’t worry, Sister, you’re so cute, someone will definitely want you.”
‘”???” What does that even mean? And I don’t *need* someone to want me! If I don’t return to my male body, I’ll probably be single for life.’
Lavishly Karafar also nodded. “I’m sorry, I brought up bad memories.”
“Actually, it’s not bad at all,” I explained. “It’s really nothing to not be able to fly.”
Mifeier still maintained her teary-eyed expression. “It’s okay, you don’t need to pretend to be strong. We all understand how ridiculous a god who can’t fly is. Go ahead and have a good cry, Sister, don’t be shy.”
‘I felt like I’d been stabbed in the chest. Young lady, you’re delivering such a heavy blow with that pitiful expression. Is that really alright?’
“So, I really am fine!” Though I had initially been indifferent, their onslaught left me utterly battered. Still, I had to feign strength as I spoke.
Lavishly Karafar confirmed, “Are you really okay?” After receiving my affirmative reply, she exhaled in relief, then cheerfully said, “Then, how about I give you a ride?”
“You can?”
“Of course! It’s just carrying one person, it’s no trouble at all.” She patted her somewhat regrettably modest chest, answering confidently.
She stepped onto the floating plate first, then gently beckoned me over. I scurried to her, stepping onto the plate myself.
“If you’re scared, just hold onto me.”
“Impossible! How could I possibly be scared?” ‘I’m a boy,’ I thought, a little lacking in confidence.
*Whoosh.* A ring of airflow jetted outwards from beneath the floating plate. Slowly, the plate gently ascended.
It was significantly slower than the *whoosh* of Xilinka and Mifeier’s ascent, likely out of consideration for me.
Soon, the floating plate was over ten meters off the ground. Although it remained incredibly steady, my legs were already beginning to feel weak, and my arms unconsciously wrapped around Lavishly Karafar’s waist.
Lavishly Karafar noticed my action and merely offered a faint smile, saying nothing to preserve my dwindling self-esteem.
“What would you like to eat, then?” Lavishly Karafar lowered her head, looking at me as she asked.
“Wh-whatever you choose.” I was already regretting this. It would have been better to let her buy it for me. Flying, it truly was too terrifying.
“Hmm…” Lavishly Karafar pondered for a moment, then swiftly glided past several windows before coming to a steady stop on the ground.
The moment we landed, I bolted off. “Phew!” Saved. That sensation of the ground moving was genuinely frightening. Let me clarify: I’m not afraid of heights; I’m just not very good at dealing with such situations.
“Here you go.” Lavishly Karafar handed me a tray, laden with a plate of rice and several stir-fried dishes.
‘They have rice in the Divine Realm, too?’
“The reason the cafeteria is built so large isn’t to accommodate more people—our school has many dining halls like this. It’s primarily to satisfy the palates of ascended deities from various worlds, which is why there are so many windows,” Lavishly Karafar explained.
‘I understand the reasoning, but couldn’t they have just added floors and stairs? However, adding floors and stairs would only be a pointless waste of time for deities who can fly; after all, there’s a significant difference between climbing stairs and flying directly.’