Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 1072: Section 675: Art (5)_2

Chapter 1072: Section 675: Art (5)_2

"...With all due respect, ma’am, you are Fate." Jason had already identified the true identity of this lady through the divine database, which made him very worried—if even a deity like Fate, who doesn’t require belief, has become twisted like this, how much longer before the world’s final death knell is sounded?

"I am talking about the time before I became Fate, and before Malin became Malin." The girl smiled and sighed as she spoke, "You really aren’t a good listener."

"My apologies, ma’am." Jason instinctively apologized, then looked at the girl, wanting to hear her continue her story.

Whether it’s the story of Fate before becoming Fate or the epic of Malin before becoming Malin, they are stories Jason desperately wants to know.

And what intrigues him the most... is what it means to say Malin before becoming Malin.

......

In the distance, Malin saw the chapel, situated on the hilltop, with a bell tower next to it—being the northernmost high point of the city, having a bell tower made sense—to ring the bell on ordinary days, and a warning bell in times of trouble.

Quite a sound arrangement.

Leading Meng Quyi, following the stone steps leading upward, Malin noticed that there weren’t many pedestrians here... Perhaps today wasn’t a service day, or maybe the Thanan people don’t perform rituals, or perhaps everyone was having fun at the foot of the mountain today.

There were too many possibilities, Malin thought, as he brushed past a mother and daughter duo, noticing the child nestled in her mother’s arms, eyes squinting as if drowsy.

Having already passed by, Malin could only see the child. A glance at the sky showed it was afternoon; they must be tired from playing.

Malin thought of this as he finished the last stretch of stairs.

"I feel so tired," Meng Quyi said, making Malin laugh—how could a War Witch call such a short walk exhausting?

He continued to lead Meng Quyi toward the chapel.

As they got closer to the chapel, Malin finally sensed a trace of ominousness. He turned to cast a protection spell against evil on Meng Quyi, shaking the drowsy girl awake, nodding amidst her surprise and tremor, "Something’s wrong with the chapel. I’ve cast a spell formation on you, quickly go find someone."

"What about you?"

"I’m going to meet this... strange thing." Malin’s instincts told him there was great terror within.

Yet his heart told him something inside was calling to him.

What could it be?

Watching Meng Quyi leave, Malin turned around, looking at the chapel before him now transformed into a pitch-black coordinate, and he took his steps forward.

Each step made Malin’s heart rejoice. He reached the chapel door, where a man, whose only visible features were the whites of his eyes, opened the door for him.

"Please come in, sir. The lady has been waiting for you for a long time."

Malin stepped into the chapel, where it was as magnificent as a starry sea, and his footsteps felt wobbly as if he was in the deepest ocean. Looking at his own withered, aged hand while supporting himself against the wall, Malin seemed to understand something, slowly making his way through the vestibule and into the main hall of the chapel.

There he saw the stupefied Jason and Sostak No.3.

"Ma... No, no, you are Malin. What’s happened to you?"

"I think this might be my truest form from within." Malin said as he walked past the two youngsters, patting their heads like a true elder.

Then he walked towards the girl before him.

At that moment, everything he had forgotten surged back into his heart. He remembered to whom he’d vowed to see the sea and stars, and who had left him, remembered for so long.

"You’ve become uglier." Malin knelt on one knee before this shrunken girl, extending his hand to embrace her, ignoring the third eye on her forehead.

"So have you." She laughed while crying, "To grant you the power to become a deity, I’ve given much... I’m sorry, I thought this was a minor matter, but I hadn’t realized things would spiral out of my control."

"Is making me a deity really that important?" Malin softly asked, looking at the girl before him.

"Of course, only by becoming a deity can you succeed Nameless as the new kind presence of this world. Though he is powerful, he is an Outer Domain deity that this world instinctively rejects for his purity." The small Goddess of Fate before Malin replied.

This answer left Malin speechless. Wouldn’t the Lord of Justice suffice? Is his righteousness seen as a flaw in this world? "Must I truly become a deity?"

"Yes, I am the Goddess of Fate and have witnessed your future. Only by becoming a deity can you save this world." The Goddess of Fate’s voice echoed directly in Malin’s mind.

Only by becoming a deity can he save this world?

Only by becoming a deity can he fulfill his vow?

Malin pondered as he looked at the girl before him, "Do you remember our last meeting, eight thousand years ago?"

"The phrase ’doubt is the path to survival’ is what you taught me. Our last meeting was the day before the incident when we bid farewell in the courtyard; you were inside the door, I was outside." The girl answered with a smile.

Malin nodded, "What about that child named Susu?"