The other elders landed beside Osko, their eyes severely sweeping over the countless Celestials who had slowly gathered around the scene—some followers of the powerful Rulers present, others drawn here after the ice scattered, hoping to get the spoils from whatever had happened here, but they were stopped by the strong warriors and Giants, ultimately ending up as mere spectators.
One of the elders cleared his throat.
"Well, even if it’s a mess, we need to give those around us a proper explanation—to calm the people who have been unsettled by the commotion for so many days."
Osko and the other elders nodded.
The woman, Mirabel, finally stood up.
Her eyes flickered with a trace of light as she fixed her gaze on Yizhe and the many elders and powerful rulers opposite her.
"Well, I do have an explanation."
"Does anyone wish to hear it?"
All eyes immediately turned to her.
A few days later, an unbelievable rumor spread throughout the entire Celestial Realm, shaking everyone to their core.
It was said that the undefeated Celestial—the silver-haired Ice Devil, whom many had respected and worshiped for his strength over the past few years—was the one who had caused the recent chaos. He, Kyle, had first destroyed the old temple and stolen a powerful treasure from Yizhe. Due to his formidable, icy power, the Rulers had been unable to stop him in time as he fled into the Layer of Ancients with the treasure.
When the many Rulers who joined Yizhe finally caught up to him, Kyle had already absorbed that treasure along with another powerful dark artifact he had discovered within the Layer of Ancients. Consuming these two different sources of power had driven him out of control, and Kyle sought to destroy the Celestial Realm. In the end, Nathaniel and Valance, two noble Rulers, along with their companions, fell to his hands while fighting him, attempting to stop him and protect the Celestial Realm.
Finally, after a long life-and-death battle, Yizhe, Mirabel, and many other powerful, righteous Rulers united and successfully defeated the mad tyrant, whose greed for power had driven him crazy, preventing the annihilation of the entire Celestial Realm.
When Draevor came out of isolation after healing his wounds, along with the Rulers who had left with him, and finally heard the absurd rumor, he screamed it was bullshit!
But no matter how many people Draevor and the Rulers who stood by him found to confirm Kyle’s name and recognize that it was actually him who saved the realm, no one would listen. Countless witnesses had seen Kyle’s deeds that day; however, in the end, only Draevor and the eight old Rulers who genuinely expressed gratitude to Kyle came forward in support of their claim.
As a result, the rumors only grew wilder with time. After all, most weak Celestials trusted the majority of Rulers rather than the few who opposed so many powerful figures. Even when some were inclined to believe Draevor’s account, few dared to voice it, unwilling to risk offending Yizhe and the countless other influential Rulers.
In the end, the rumor split the entire realm into two factions—one vast and one small.
Unsurprisingly, most believed Kyle to be a devil, while a minority believed that he was truly good and was the one who had saved them from whatever calamity had emerged from the Ancient Realm because of the evil Rulers. But by offending the wrong people, Kyle sealed his fate. Those in power killed him when he was powerless to ensure Kyle would never threaten their rule in the realm.
For an entire year, the entire realm buzzed with endless talk of it. The land ravaged by the battle that had raged between Kyle and Azazeal was so completely destroyed that it could no longer yield anything. Over time, people grew accustomed to its barrenness. They knew the land would eventually heal, but no one knew how long it would take.
Around that time, a new, baffling rumor emerged among the stronger Celestials:
The Rulers who had previously claimed to have killed Kyle together to end his tyranny were reportedly unable to call natural laws if those laws had not wholly submitted to them. It was strange—unbelievable, even.
Still, after another few years, most of the realm’s residents gradually began to shift their focus and pay less attention to these topics. Only Ruler Yizhe, Mirabel, Osko, the other elders, and those who were angered by their abrupt inability to use natural laws they had grasped but not fully understood remained agitated and gravely unsettled.
They all wanted to challenge nature for seemingly acting against them, as they could not comprehend why it happened.
But unable to fight nature—which had no true form—they swallowed their anger and resolved instead to master the natural laws so deeply that more of them would submit completely. After all, once a law’s essence entered their Celestial Lake, they could use and command it, even if nature interfered.
It was Ares, leader of one of the ancient clans in the realm—the Golden Guardians clan—who awoke and sent another great wave rippling through the Celestial realm.
He was shocked to see himself still alive. Though Ares had become a dark Celestial, his survival was what truly mattered. And Kyle—he hadn’t just saved his life; he had saved Zami, Silver, and everyone else who had been with them. Kyle had even saved Cassian, that bastard who had gone mad.
When Ares woke, he found that he, Zami, and Cassian—who was still frozen in ice—had turned into Dark Celestials due to the dark energy their souls had absorbed, but the souls of the rest were completely fine.
He was so relieved that he cried—only to hear from the librarian, who had watched over the clan in their absence, about Kyle’s supposed death and the numerous rumors tarnishing his name across the realm. One could hardly imagine the depth of his rage.
Ares’ cold words carried weight as he confronted Yizhe and his followers.
"I will fight all of you who had a hand in Kyle’s demise and spread the ridiculous accusations about him! He saved this realm, and this is how you repay him!"
"I will fight until all of you are dead!"
"You bastards don’t deserve to live!"