835 Reinforcements

Patricia’s screams echoed in all living beings’ ears. The moon, which was currently being devoured, gave everyone a most direct view of what despair really was.“Damn it, the star net!”

The moon wasn’t the Moon Goddess’s body or anything, but it was the Concept for her existence. For instance, if the Concept of Holy Light was deleted, then the God of Holy Light would naturally cease to exist. As Patricia was formerly an Order God, she had the same weakness.

As her “existence” was being torn apart, the star net that she gave up a large portion of her divine power in order to construct was also being torn apart.

Any dimensional invader would always be marked by the omnipresent star net if they invaded the mortal plane. This seemingly unimportant design had already shown its uses countless times on the battlefield.

Any marked dimensional invader would be hunted by the mortal plane’s residents. Having one’s own information and location permanently exposed on the battlefield would always make you into the hunted side, no matter how powerful you were.

This powerful forbidden spell maintained by two Hell Gods was still effective even after the Holy War had ended.

Recently, no matter what methods the other universes’ dimensional invaders used to enter our world, as long as they chose to enter the mortal plane, which was by far the richest dimension in the Eich universe, they would instantly be marked by the star net and hunted by countless individuals.

This forbidden spell of the star net had two parts to it. The God of Fate and the Moon Goddess controlled the two parts. The two Gods had hidden themselves in Hell after they weakened significantly from casting the forbidden spell. However, that Demon God who was currently devouring the moon seemed to have found a way around this.

“…The Moon Goddess! No, I absolutely can’t let her die here.”

Anxiety would be meaningless. I could already see the near future. If the moon really was devoured in front of everyone, then not only would Patricia lose her Concept for existence, she would also lose all her power of belief.

What meaning would there be to the Moon Goddess if there was no more moon?

The moment that one of the two core Gods of the star net died, the entire star net would instantly collapse as well. The Contract Hero system for defending the mortal plane would naturally become useless when this happened. Even if things wouldn’t instantly return to a chaotic generation where everyone was at war for themselves, it would still require a large amount of time and human resources to make up for.

As for stopping the Demon God who was currently devouring the moon? Where was I supposed to find another star to feed him?

“…Patricia, remember, you’ve long since stopped being the Moon Goddess. You’re the master of the stars in Hell, and that star net is your true Concept. The moon is just one star among many. You haven’t lost your existence. You’ve simply elevated your own existence.”

Since there was no way to stop the moon’s destruction, then I would first have to think of a way to protect Patricia.

Perhaps this was only wordplay, but it would provide a new way of thinking that the Moon Goddess was no longer the Moon Goddess ever since she joined Hell. If the moon was viewed as only one star [1]among many, then the Concept of the moon would become a subordinate Concept to the stars. Merely losing a subordinate Concept would still result in serious losses, but Patricia would at least still survive.

If this was a different God or Concept, it would be impossible to change the Concept like this, but Patricia was a Hell God. I was the creator of Hell and intimately connected to the Four Pillar Gods, so I basically had administrative privileges for changing something like this. As long as the other Hell Gods acted fast enough, it should be possible to protect Patricia.

“Patricia, we Four Pillar Gods promote you to become the lord of the stars…”

The Four Pillar Gods spoke up as Patricia’s screams finally stopped. Although she was still weakening, and the moon was one of her most important Concepts, she would no longer directly die from the moon being devoured.

However, she wasn’t the only one who would be hurt by the disappearance of Eich’s moon…

“As expected, the net is broken.”

Although the moon was only one star among many, Patricia had been a core to constructing the star net. Now that one of the two cores was greatly weakened, even though the net was still there, its functions had gone offline.

In a mystical realm that no physical eye could see, everything was losing its luster as the originally shiny silver star net now appeared to be withered and dusty gray.

But, as long as Patricia was still alive and the net was still there, it would only be a matter of time before the star net’s reconstruction… if the enemies gave us time.

Everyone in the world witnessed the moon being devoured by the Demon God. The remaining remnants of the moon floated in the air, just like cookie crumbs that were left after a meal.

However, that Demon God which was as large as a planet seemed to be hungry still. He now focused on the ground.

He started moving at a seemingly slow speed that was actually incredibly quick. He was trying to descend upon Eich’s mortal plane!

As he descended, countless small black dots descended together with him. However, if you looked closer, you would discover that even the smallest of the dimensional invaders was more than 10 meters tall.

“…I absolutely can’t let him descend on Eich!”

I was definitely not alone in thinking this right now.

In the upper planes, portals opened up as countless angels flew out under the leadership of the Gods. They intended on intercepting that Demon God intent on destroying the world.

In the Chaos Abyss, ancient Demon Lords and other such powerful existences opened up portals to the mortal plane as well. The demons and angels actually became allies in this battle.

Various forgotten powerful existences from the Nature Faction and the Elemental Planes also started jumping out of the woodwork. They were fighting for the sake of their own existence, as well as for the sake of the world.

Even though it might be nothing more than the useless struggles of a cornered rat, even a cornered rat would struggle to the last when pushed to the brink.

I shook my head as I got up and prepared to move. The entire Hell Faction was moving now, and Ayer and the Four Pillar Gods’ shadows were almost physical.

Just as everyone in the world was despairing, countless lights appeared as they attacked the incoming enemies in the air… This light brought hope along with it.

“We 350 Eternal Stars have received a dimensional request for aid from an individual named Karolan. When we learned that this dimension was being invaded, we have come to assist you as according to the Overwatch Contract between intelligent beings.”

Various dimensional doors were opened as ironclad allies arrived.

[1] ED/N: In Chinese, especially in compound words, star can also often mean a celestial body, not just a star per se (and that includes moons of planets other than Earth). Hence the wordplay.