Chapter 817: If God Doesn't Care, Why Should You Care About God?

She opened her eyes, her fists clenching almost instinctively.

"But the heavens never leave you without a way out. Perhaps it was some twist of fate that led me to encounter that Raven."

It was like a dream.

Or rather.

It had been in a dream of hers, where she saw that pitch-black crow landing on her shoulder, saw those jet-black plumes one by one.

She didn't know what it was, nor who it was.

It was only in its presence.

That she completely broke down and wept for the first time, and she didn't even know why she had suddenly become so fragile. Or perhaps it was that string, which had remained taut through the deaths of countless sisters, that had finally given out.

She only remembered that in that dream, she had spoken to that Raven at great length, crying incessantly, asking endlessly.

Where was their Monarch?

Did he truly exist or not?!

If he truly existed, had he ever heard their prayers? Had he ever seen the death stretching endlessly beyond that door!

But she was destined to receive no answers.

Because it was merely a Raven in a dream.

And those questions...

Were they truly directed at that Raven, or at herself...

She knew that once she opened her eyes, all of reality would come crashing down upon her again. She would learn how many more sisters had died this time, how many younger ones had charged forward only to be annihilated in the tide of this war.

Yet what she had never imagined was.

That Raven spoke.

She still remembered her dazed expression at that moment, remembered those plumes dancing around her within the dream.

"Since you already have the answer in your heart, why bother asking?"

"I..."

"In truth, you never truly cared whether he existed. You are grieving for the sisters around you. You stayed for them. You mourn their deaths because you cannot understand why they must give their lives for a divine image that may not even exist."

"No, I just..."

"Why can't you become your own god? You are only one step away."

That was their first meeting.

Then that Raven vanished like a phantom from her dream. The next time they met was when she successfully repelled the Allied Forces of the abyss, and it was from that point onward that the Raven would appear in her dreams every night.

Lynn gazed at the Matriarch before him, his eyes flickering as he said:

"You mean to say, it was with that Raven's help that you glimpsed the threshold to godhood?"

She didn't know how to answer.

But at least during that period, within those dreams, she had indeed received tremendous help and guidance from that Raven.

Not just in terms of power, but also in strategy and military affairs. She received its comprehensive assistance across every domain, and it was precisely because of those teachings that she repeatedly devised brilliant tactics in the subsequent war against the abyss's Allied Forces, repelling their attacks time and again.

Though she still didn't know who it was.

Didn't know where it came from.

Didn't even know why it appeared in her dreams.

But it was precisely because of its help that she experienced rapid, all-around growth during that period. In that pivotal battle, surrounded by an army of thousands, she successfully slew the Seventh Monarch of the abyss, making a name for herself and shaking the entire abyss with that single strike.

She lifted her head and said:

"That was also the turning point of this protracted war. After I personally slew that Monarch, the scales of victory tipped to our side. And this was also the base nature of Chaotic Creatures. With the death of the Seventh Monarch, the other planes soon turned on each other to fight for control of the Seventh Plane, and the string of defeats dealt such a blow to their morale that they could scarcely organize any more effective offensives against us."

"Then, following several major counter-offensives, this drawn-out war finally ended with their withdrawal from the First Plane."

She lowered her head.

She still remembered the jubilation of that time, remembered the surviving sisters crowding around her as she proclaimed their victory across the entire First Plane to the whole of the abyss.

But had they truly won?

Because so many people had already died.

They could never come back.

And because of her outstanding performance in that war, she was formally appointed as the Archangel of the First Plane. Throughout the abyss, she also inherited the title of the Seventh Monarch for slaying the Seventh Monarch and repelling the Allied Forces of the various planes. In fact, in later days, everyone came to call her...

Lucifer's Archangel.

But in truth, she knew that even then, her faith had already begun to waver. Because it wasn't through Lucifer that they had repelled the abyss's Allied Forces. They had relied on themselves, on the joint efforts of her and her sisters, on the tireless teachings of that Raven in every dream.

Yet on the very night of victory, when she happily wished to share the joy of triumph with that Raven.

It vanished from her dreams.

As if it had never been there at all. Even as she called out and waited in that dream every single night, it never appeared in her dreams again.

Lynn listened in a daze.

She said in a low voice: "It left me only one sentence. And without that sentence, I fear I would still be in that abyss today, and none of what exists now would have come to pass."

Lynn said absentmindedly: "What sentence was it..."

She raised her head, gazing into the distance, and said:

"You must learn to become your own god."

It never appeared again.

And she didn't know what kind of feeling that was. Loss? Sorrow? Regret? Yet she somehow had a strong premonition, as if once two completely different fates became entangled, they would surely meet again at some point in the future. Perhaps in a hundred years, perhaps a thousand, perhaps even longer.

But she believed that she would surely encounter that Raven once more.

Surely on some future day.

They would meet again, suddenly, in some equally bizarre manner.

She lifted her head and said: "And from that point on, I became the First Archangel guarding that great gate. But in truth, I had already betrayed my faith by then. Unlike the other Fallen Angels, I was no longer willing to dedicate my entire life to guarding that gate. But even though I had betrayed it, I could not leave at that time, because the moment had not yet come."

Because she could disregard that divine image.

But she cared about every sister here, cared about every comrade and subordinate who had fought alongside her.

"So for a long time afterward, I could only style myself as 'Lucifer's Archangel,' gradually rebuilding the order shattered by war. Though I deeply disliked it, I had no choice but to borrow the reputation of 'First Demon Lord Lucifer,' which had been re-forged during this war, to strengthen the power of our entire plane."

She said softly:

"Because I understood very well that the reason everyone could gather there, even guard that gate for generations, was that we shared a common bond. And that bond was the unwavering belief in 'Lucifer.' It was also the only spiritual pillar in the hearts of all my sisters, except for myself."

Lynn vaguely realized what had happened afterward.

Because just as she had said.

By that time, the war had already ground away the last shred of faith she had in Lucifer.

The god doesn't care about you, so why should you care about the god?