Chapter 1246: 3. Divine Kingdom

“Unable to become Crowned? Why?” Muen frowned.

“It is very simple. A Heaven-Bestowed Crown, a Heaven-Bestowed Crown—the so-called ‘Heaven’ naturally refers to this world itself. In other words, the crown of a Crowned one, in a certain sense, is bestowed by the world......”

With a pop, Mela pulled the lollipop from her mouth. Her entire body floated lazily in midair, her snow-white little feet swaying back and forth in front of Muen: “And you......you entered this mist before, didn’t you? You felt the world’s rejection of you.”

“......Yes.”

Muen nodded, his gentlemanly gaze passing over those little feet and settling on the distant mist.

Whether it was the mist’s violent reaction to his black flames or the crying that had nearly pierced through his mind, both still left him with lingering fear even now.

“Exactly. The world hates you that much, so how could it possibly bestow a crown upon you?”

“So......the so-called Heaven-Bestowed Crown essentially depends on the world’s preferences?”

Muen was somewhat dumbfounded, and at the same time, he found it extremely difficult to understand. If that was really the case, then why could all those villains and terrorists become Crowned?

Hadn’t they committed far more evil deeds than an innocent little blond villain like him? Which one of them had not tried to carry out some evil grand scheme to overturn the world?

Could it be that the world also believed in stereotypes and thought he had to be evil simply because he was blond?

Damn it, this villain character setting is still chasing me!

“You are overthinking it. In this matter, you cannot personify the world. How could it possess any concrete preferences? At present, it does not have any independent consciousness. If it truly did, that would be far too terrifying. At most, it can only be said to possess certain instincts.”

Mela sighed faintly: “As for whether or not a crown is bestowed, that actually comes from another extremely complicated mechanism. The world can influence it, but in most circumstances, the two are not that closely connected.”

“In other words......only when someone is hated by the world to an extreme degree, to the point where even its ‘instincts’ hate them, would they be unable to receive a Heaven-Bestowed Crown even after fulfilling the conditions to become Crowned?” Muen carefully analyzed......and the more he analyzed, the more depressed he felt.

It seemed that once he returned, he would have to bully Ariel properly. You hate me, do you......? If you hate me, then I’ll bully your favorite!

“That is correct. The world is not human. It possesses no subjective likes or dislikes, only instinctive aversion and fear......”

Mela raised a hand and pointed toward the sky: “And for the world, which is currently suffering beyond measure, there is nothing it rejects more than those Evil Gods in the heavens. Even those......”

“Even those?”

“......It is nothing.”

Mela paused, then shook her head: “In any case, becoming Crowned is something an ‘Evil God hatchling’ like you should merely think about. From the moment you tricked your first believer into following you, it basically became impossible.”

“But......I really did become Crowned.”

Muen’s expression became strange: “Although it was only for a short time, I still became one, didn’t I?”

“That is exactly what makes this matter so troublesome...... The fact that it was actually fooled by your glib tongue means that the pain the world is experiencing has already driven its instincts to desperately seek help from anything available.”

“The world’s wounds......have worsened.” As always, Mela spoke the most terrifying words in the lightest tone.

“......”

Muen fell silent and continued gazing into the distance.

On the other side of his vision, the mist that Miss Dragon had pierced through had already converged once again, making everything within sight appear vast and deathly still.

Miss Dragon had once said that the lands covered by this mist were the world’s greatest wound. They occupied one-third of the oceans and half of the land. In terms of sheer size, it had already reached a horrifying degree.

If an ordinary person suffered an external wound of this magnitude, would there still be any hope of survival?

Very little.

For this world, although such an injury was not necessarily “fatal,” over the long passage of time, it was enough to bring it unimaginable pain.

So much pain that it......had never stopped crying.

And the most terrifying part was that after suffering for such a long time, these “wounds” showed no sign of healing whatsoever.

They had even, just as Teacher Mela had said, worsened.

“It seems the apocalypse truly is approaching very quickly.” Mela sighed: “Humanity does not have much time left.” ℴ

“Could you not make it sound so terrifying?”

Muen muttered quietly, but the figure from that previous dream surfaced in his mind, along with the words it had spoken to him.

The world barrier was close to being unable to hold on.

And now, it seemed that the world barrier was not the only thing that could no longer hold on.

“Can I regain my crown?”

At the thought of all this, even Muen could not help feeling a sense of urgency. With disaster approaching, nothing was more reassuring than increasing his own strength.

“Do you think the world is some adorably foolish and naive young heiress whom you can deceive once and then deceive again?”

Mela rolled her eyes:

“You actually ate the crown. You should already consider yourself lucky that the world did not inflict divine punishment upon you. If I were the world, I would at least send down a bolt of lightning and strike you dead.”

“My desire to save the world is completely sincere. Even if it hates me, it cannot treat me like this.”

Muen sighed helplessly.

Without a crown, he could not use a [Domain].

At present, although he appeared to have already crossed that insurmountable gulf, all he truly possessed was the physical strength of a Crowned one. A brute was still a brute. In essence, he was not much different from a warrior of the first five ranks.

A Crowned one without a [Domain] always felt as though, if he encountered other Crowned ones in the future, he would be mercilessly humiliated and mocked......Muen could even imagine Pink Bear’s disgusting bear face as he slapped the ground and laughed.

“Why do you care so much about that lousy [Domain]? Don’t you already have something even more powerful inside you?” Mela looked disgusted, as though she could not understand how she had ended up with such a foolish disciple.

“Something even more powerful?”

Muen’s eyes widened: “Could it be that you mean......”

“That is right. I mean......”

“My righteous and unyielding heart? I understand......”

Muen pressed a hand to his chest, his expression solemn: “When facing the apocalypse, as long as one possesses a fearless heart, one will certainly overcome every hardship and press forward without hesitation—Teacher Mela, is that the truth you wished to teach me?”

“......”

Mela fell silent for a moment, then looked toward Hamreign: “This brat has become even more irritating. Should we beat him up?”

“Has he?”

Hamreign instead nodded lightly: “I think what he said makes perfect sense. There is nothing more important than a fearless heart...... As expected of my companion.”

“......”

Mela’s eyelid twitched slightly.

Companion?

The way the two of you echo one another like this, and you expect me to believe you are merely companions?

Only a ghost would believe that.

“Oh my, we have not seen each other for some time, and you have grown quite bold. You even dare play dumb in front of your own teacher now?”

Unable to gain Hamreign’s approval, and with this projection unable to impose punishment the way she had in the sea of flowers, Mela simply swung her pale little feet and kicked at Muen.

Muen twisted aside and nimbly dodged.

“I merely learned it from you, Teacher.” He chuckled awkwardly.

“You seem to have learned quite well. I’ll be leaving now.”

“No, no, no...... I have only learned the barest surface, the barest surface. The rest still depends on Teacher Mela’s wise and mighty instruction.”

Muen shamelessly leaned closer......when dealing with a trashy loli, only the overwhelming aura of a truly good man like himself could barely keep things under control.

“......You actually noticed it long ago, didn’t you?”

Mela finally landed a kick, her little foot pressing disdainfully against the ingratiating smile that had approached her: “Although you in that state devoured your own crown under the influence of instinct, you also benefited from the misfortune. Through a certain property of the crown, an ability that should never have been under ‘your’ control was able to manifest.”

“An ability......that should never have been under my control......was able to manifest?”

Muen murmured, carefully turning those words over in his mind.

Yes, he had already sensed it faintly.

But he had never dared confirm it, because he feared that the moment he used that power, he would once again face the possibility of being replaced by another “Him,” just as before.

But since Teacher Mela had said this......

Muen closed his eyes.

His mental space.

Because Teacher Mela and Miss Dragon were both present, the Black Book had long since hidden itself somewhere unknown.

But unlike before, this place was no longer empty.

——The Black Sun still hung high above, gazing down at Muen with cold indifference, but at this moment, what appeared within His vision, within Muen’s vision, was no longer that vast and empty space from before.

It was......an ancient city.

Paths overflowing with flowers, old and mottled blue-brick walls and tiled roofs, and magnificent buildings bathed in sunlight.

Every part of the city was so familiar.

Muen abruptly opened his eyes. His pupils had already been swallowed by pure blackness, and a cold, eerie presence began to spread from his body.

And as that cold presence radiated outward, a corner of the city actually appeared around him, gradually merging with reality......

This was——

“Tars?”

A fragrant breeze swept past. The fiery-red figure had already stepped into the illusory scene in an instant, looking around at it in bewilderment and surprise.

“No.”

Mela said: “This is his Divine Kingdom.”

“Divine Kingdom......”

Muen was equally shocked as he looked around at the illusory scene. It was completely identical to a corner of that city he had already become extremely familiar with. The flowers, the streets, the buildings......every detail seemed like a recreation of the ancient city that had completely vanished eight hundred years ago.

But he could also clearly sense that this was not merely an illusion of a city. This was his territory, an extension of his hands and feet. With a wave of his hand, those buildings changed in an instant, rearranging themselves into the form he imagined.

“A Divine Kingdom is an extension of a god, a manifestation of divine Authority.”

Mela bent down, plucked a vivid flower, and toyed with it in her palm: “Originally, the form of a Divine Kingdom was influenced more by a god’s divine Authority......but you are very special. You are not one of those gods, nor do you possess any complete innate divine Authority. Therefore, compared to those vague and intangible things, the form of this place is influenced more by you and by the outside world.”

“It seems that when you entered this dragon’s dream before, those scenes affected you too deeply. Or perhaps, after the Withering King devoured those remnant souls and resentments, the portion of power that should have belonged to Him was intercepted by you again and became the foundation of this Divine Kingdom.”

“In any case, judging from how it looks now......”

Mela glanced at Hamreign beside her and said softly:

“The city called Tars, in the end, has not completely disappeared from this world.”