PGVCW 61

Playing God in Various Catastrophic Worlds

Chapter 61: The Aftermath of the Divine Battle

Until long afterward, the majestic sight of a giant standing between heaven and earth, cleaving the darkness to protect all living souls, remained deeply etched in the lore of the magical world.

Now, having restored light to the realm, Xia Wang's divine incarnation slowly compressed and faded.

Ultimately, stepping upon her flying sword, the raven-haired maiden cast a final glance upward into the sky before turning away.

"Lux!"

With the crisis resolved and no longer physically restrained by limbs or waist, Lux eagerly took flight to accompany Xia Wang'an.

True to cinematic conventions, accompanied by brilliant sunlight breaking through the parting clouds, they soared into the distance under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

A Xia Kingdom director, recently recruited into the background research unit for his exceptional cinematic flair, gazed at the receding vista: "What a flawless conclusion."

"Wait!" The head of the background division suddenly reacted. "Wang'an just flew off?" "Where is she heading?"

Yuan Ning stood in place, watching the distant figures of Xia Wang'an and Lux: "Perhaps... she's going to see off her friend."

The Blessings of White Feathers

Unbeknownst when it began, countless pristine white feathers drifted across the sky.

Holy white feathers descended from above, blanketing the earth and merging into its landscape. As the drifting feathers scattered—some drifting into ancient forests, others brushing against human crowds—wherever they touched, the oppressive black miasma instantly dissipated.

A mage stared down in utter disbelief at the mana swirling around his limbs: "My mana... has it recovered?!"

That very mana, which had been ruthlessly suppressed and choked ever since the plague manifested, now surged freely and vibrantly around its master without a single shackle.

Nearby, a beastkin twitched his ears as they smoothly compressed and retracted into a human shape: "I can fully transform again?!"

Beside him, a massive male lion that had previously been collapsed on the ground shuddered; amidst a swirl of purified spiritual energy, the beast's massive form steadily shrank until it too transformed into human guise.

"Moose! You're able to shift back?!"

Overjoyed at regaining his full shape, the beastkin broke into a brilliant smile, though large tears immediately welled up and spilled onto his family members.

Over the years, an escalating number of beastkin had lost the ability to revert to humanoid form, forced to navigate the world exclusively in feral shapes. Crucially, lingering too long in beast form eroded cognitive faculties, gradually reducing them to unthinking wild beasts incapable of emotion, prone even to lashing out at their own kin.

To safeguard the rest of the tribe, these lost souls were traditionally banished to the deep forests; yet many relatives refused to abandon them, choosing exile to remain by the side of their feral loved ones—even knowing full well that such devotion could never call back a lost mind.

Yet now, before their very eyes, their kin had spontaneously re-emerged in human form.

Across wider horizons, scores of previously feral beastkin recovered their sanity, some surrounded by cheering friends and family, while others gazed around the forest in bewilderment before stepping resolutely onto the paths leading home.

Deep within the woodlands, watching the beastkin depart in joyful groups, the elves reached out with trembling hands to caress the ancient tree trunks.

The pestilence had inflicted varied torment across different races: while beastkin suffered corporal distortion and cognitive collapse, the elves—born directly from arboreal roots—had suddenly found themselves cut off from the answering echoes of the forest.

Yet at this moment, feeling the resurrection of pristine green vitality within their meridians and witnessing the beastkin reclaim their sanity, hope bloomed uncontainable within elven hearts.

Sure enough, an elder elf stroked a trunk and burst into tears: "It's back... I can feel the spiritual link to the trees once more." "Our elven lineage can finally return home!"

The Rebirth of a World

The lifespans of the dwarf clans returned to normal parameters, the merfolk raised their voices in triumphant song across purified oceans, and the agonizing afflictions plaguing humanity vanished without a trace.

Infants suffering from terminal sickness fluttered their eyelids open, bedridden patients crawled out of the pandemic quarantine pits, and frantic, violent warriors blinked with eyes of absolute clarity.

Seated upon a mountain summit, Xia Wang'an gazed at the descending shower of white feathers and the revitalized earth below.

"So the white feathers were a blessing." She smiled.

For once, 007 was struck entirely speechless; despite its mastery over sweet-talking praise, it found no words adequate for the moment. After prolonged hesitation, it managed a soft: [Host, please accept my condolences.]

Through endless twists of fate, the host had forged a profound friendship with the Light God, only to witness his tragic demise all over again. And once more... she had watched those falling white feathers.

[There is nothing to mourn.]

Xia Wang'an rose to her feet: [The epilogue volume of The Travels of Jenny should be ready for publication, shouldn't it?]

The Epilogue and the Divine Truth

The populace of the magical world experienced a thoroughly surreal twenty-four hours.

First came the extinction of the Light God and the descent of absolute darkness. Then materialized the immortal cultivators chronicled in popular literature, who single-handedly turned the tide and rescued the realm. Immediately following that, a deluge of white feathers purged every vestige of disease overnight.

Before anyone could fully process their celebration, the seven major mana-newspaper syndicates abruptly announced the release of an epilogue volume for The Travels of Jenny.

Everyone: "???"

Their god had perished, immortal cultivators had descended, and the world had narrowly cheated total annihilation before everyone was miraculously restored to health. At a juncture like this, you suddenly drop a new chapter of a travelogue and invite everyone to purchase copies enthusiastically?!

Who in their right mind would read a travelogue right now... Well, actually, they certainly would.

After all, detailed accounts regarding immortal cultivators had exclusively appeared within this exact literary work; with the world just saved by cultivators, readers naturally hunted the epilogue for further clues.

Yet to the universal shock of the readership, the epilogue featured no cultivators at all—it depicted God.

【I assumed that after traversing so many lands, including the legendary Immortal Realm of the Sea, no new destination could possibly shock me.】 【Yet somehow, I found myself standing within the Divine Realm.】

The Divine Realm?! Jenny had actually ventured into the domain of the gods?!

Before readers could recover from that revelation, an even more harrowing disclosure unfolded:

【I felt a mixture of awe and panic. Stumbling blindly into the divine abode—even after everything I had survived—filled me with trepidation. But reminding myself of divine mercy quelled my terror.】 【I am a child of the divine; surely the deity would not fault me. Clinging to that thought, I ventured deeper inward.】 【Anticipating serene tranquility, the moment I stepped into the inner sanctuary, my blood froze in my veins. You cannot possibly imagine what I witnessed.】 【Corpses. The lifeless remains of angels, strewn everywhere.】

Readers felt their own blood stiffening in tandem with Jenny's description.

Next, Jenny encountered a colossal, trailing iron chain. By this juncture in her travels, she had already deduced what entity was tethered at the opposite end—and the readership realized it as well, though every fiber of their being rejected the implication.

Until Jenny stepped before the celestial throne.

Their deity... was actually shackled to it.

"Impossible!!" "The gods are omnipotent! What manner of force could possibly inflict harm upon a deity?!" "This travelogue is nothing more than malicious fabrication!"

The Awakening of Faith

Upon reading those lines, devout adherents of the Light God flew into blind rage. Within their paradigm, divinity was absolute and unshakeable; how could a deity ever manifest in such a wretched, battered posture? Even regarding his apparent demise, they had comforted themselves with the belief that the god had merely withdrawn back into the earth.

Furious readers tore up their mana-newspapers, storming out into the streets with the intent of marching on the publishing houses to shred the blasphemous editors to pieces.

Yet stepping outside, they caught the sound of weeping echoing from the thoroughfares.

It was not a solitary voice, but a chorus of lamentation.

"O, our Divine Father!!"

Weeping citizens clutched mana-newspapers in their hands, crying with such profound heartbreak that they appeared on the verge of fainting.

The militant believer paused in confusion, assuming these individuals had fallen victim to the falsehoods printed in the papers. His anger flaring further, he prepared to charge past them.

Yet after taking two strides, another wail caught his attention: "So that was it! It was all for this reason! Our god endured such unimaginable humiliation purely for our sake!" "I even harbored secret doubts in my heart over these past three centuries, wondering why the divine abandoned us... I deserve damnation!"

The believer ground to a halt.

What did they mean, the god suffered humiliation for their sake? What truth had they uncovered?

Unable to restrain his curiosity, he slipped behind a weeping citizen and snatched glimpses over his shoulder at the fallen reader's mana-newspaper.

On this matter, Xia Wang'an had instructed the editorial division to maintain strict fidelity to reality; they fabricated nothing, presenting the sequence precisely as it had occurred.

Thus, Jenny had indeed beheld the dying, emaciated visage of the noble Light God, and comprehended why he remained bound to his throne.

【The deity could not depart; he was forced to anchor himself upon the throne, enduring endless torment solely to shield his mortal children.】 【Three centuries... He silently bore this agonizing torture for three hundred years.】

Tears welled and spilled down the believer's cheeks as he read.

So that was the reality.

Three centuries ago, malevolent entities sought to erase their world, triggering the sudden outbreak of pestilence. While mortals remained oblivious and insulated, the gods and angels residing within the divine realm had fought as the primary bulwark against the invasion. It was precisely because the deity suppressed the malignant miasma with his own divine physique that humanity managed its fragile, three-century survival. Otherwise, they would have perished collectively three hundred years prior.

The believer wept openly, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Had the text merely detailed the humiliation endured by the deity, he might have responded with burning wrath; instead, the narrative revealed that the god had chosen to stay—refusing to abandon them or flee to safety—merely to endure excruciating torment for three centuries to safeguard all creation.

—The deity I worship spent his final centuries sacrificing himself to protect me.

In that single heartbeat, absolute devotion catalyzed within the hearts of the faithful.

"O Divine Father!!"

Across all corners of the magical world, soaring cries of grief and reverence echoed through the air.

A Friend Named Wang'an

Xia Wang'an sat once again upon the mountain summit, listening to the thunderous waves of mourning echoing from below—a sonic scale that rivaled the lamentations witnessed on the day the Light God fell.

[Host, why insist that the editorial division publish the epilogue? You know full well the Light God would have preferred those expressions of gratitude directed entirely toward you.]

007 had even personally tutored Xia Wang'an on methods to cement herself as the supreme object of mortal faith.

[I prefer that they never forget him either.]

Felt by the gentle breeze brushing her cheeks, Xia Wang'an gazed down across the vast landscape: [No one else could ever replace the sacrifices he made for this world.]

Ultimately, the magical realm had been saved by her hands.

Yet had the Light God not endured three hundred years of seated immobilization, braving the agony of faith-pollution to buy time, this world would never have survived long enough to await Xia Wang'an's arrival.

The wailing swells ebbed and flowed as readers alternated between weeping and reading deeper into the travelogue.

Jenny naturally sought every conceivable method to rescue the Light God, exhausting countless strategies to no avail. She fell into utter despair—was the deity truly doomed to eternal suffering?

Yet the dying god offered a final response:

【"I have a friend named Wang'an."】

As it turned out, the deity had anticipated his own extinction all along.

As it turned out, the deity possessed a trusted comrade.

As it turned out, the immortal cultivators had—

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