In the vision shown by Maeve, the Endless Abyss, like many other worlds, was facing a massive invasion from the Zerg.
Of course, since every world had its own rules and unique racial strengths, their situations varied completely.
Some worlds, such as the Endless Abyss and the one belonging to a mid-tier god, had still not allowed the swarm to break through their world's defenses. Their worlds had not fallen.
They still possessed the power to send their followers to fight the Zerg in the outer realms.
But for other worlds—especially most secret realms and those of lesser gods—the situation was far more tragic.
In many worlds, the defensive lines had already collapsed or completely vanished.
The Zerg were invading their realms in full force, destroying the divine worlds those gods had created.
Once these lesser gods' worlds were fully invaded by the swarm, they would only have two options left.
One was to descend into their divine world personally, risking total destruction, and use their own divinity and divine power to battle the Zerg to the death in order to protect their realm.
The other was to completely abandon the divine world they had nurtured, fall from their divine throne, let their divine fire be extinguished, and eventually become an ordinary being.
Although it seemed one path led to life and the other to death, in truth it was not that simple.
If one thought that falling from divinity merely meant starting over, they would be terribly mistaken.
Once a divine world was completely destroyed, the god would suffer devastating losses.
Divine fire, divine core, even divinity itself—all would be damaged.
Their divine fire would extinguish, and their sea of consciousness would be gravely wounded.
When they tried to rebuild a new divine world, they would find that their damaged mind would endlessly hinder them, making it extremely difficult to create again.
And that was only the personal loss. If one included all the effort and devotion poured into a divine world, the loss would be unbearable.
More importantly, when a being stepped into godhood, their mind and soul gradually transcended the mortal level.
This was their realm, their destiny, and the very pride of every god.
If their divine fire were extinguished, they would despairingly find themselves transforming—turning back into the very mortals they once looked down upon.
Such a fall would crush anyone's mental defenses and drive them to madness.
That was why so many gods would rather risk their lives, fighting to the death to protect the core of their divine worlds, than abandon them.
But this time, things were different.
In the past, divine worlds were usually shattered during duels between gods or in explorations of secret realms.
In those cases, gods usually had ways to retreat or protect their worlds.
Even if they lost, surviving in disgrace wasn't considered shameful.
But this time, the enemy was different. This time, the enemy was the Void Zerg.
Before these eternally hungry creatures, most divine world barriers were useless.
Once the outer defenses fell, the Zerg could freely cross the crystal walls of divine worlds, step into their domains, and plunder everything.
This was more hopeless than any enemy the gods had ever faced.
Many times, lesser gods found themselves completely unable to resist the endless swarm.
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"My lord! We have no way left to retreat!"
Within the divine world of a lesser god, a male alien dressed like a king knelt before a towering statue clad in multicolored scale armor.
He cried like a child who had been beaten outside and was now sobbing before his parent.
In truth, the comparison was not wrong.
The king was in such despair because most of his kingdom had already been devoured by the swarm.
Every land touched by the Zerg had turned to ash.
Yes—ashes, not even scorched earth.
The mages in his army had already told him that all usable elements in those lands had been completely drained.
Such land could never be restored, no matter what means were used.
What terrified the king even more was that out of the three great kingdoms on the same continent, two had already been annihilated.
All that remained of their race in this world was on the very brink of extinction.
Thus, the king placed all his hope in the creator god of this world—the lesser god who ruled it.
"Great Lord!"
The king looked into the statue's eyes as two tears rolled down his face.
"I don't know if you are watching me… watching us sinners."
"I am an unworthy king. I abandoned my land, my army, only to live another day."
"But now, I wish to atone for my sins…"
Before his shocked attendants, the king drew his sword and pressed it to his neck.
"Your Majesty, no!"
A loyal servant tried to stop him, but the king kicked him away.
"I only ask that you save my people! Even if it's just one—just one!"
And with that, the sword sliced across his throat.
He knew the god was punishing him—for greed, for comfort, for forgetting divine teachings, and for allowing his kingdom to fall.
Shhh!
"Your Majesty!"
In the next instant, as blood sprayed, a divine flame invisible to mortals fell beside the statue.
The king's body collapsed heavily to the ground.
Then came a sigh—a sigh that echoed across the entire world.
"A miracle of the gods!"
In an instant, all who could see the statue, except for the fallen king, dropped to their knees.
The statue began to change as the divine flame carried by the king's sacrifice merged with it.
First, the statue began to breathe, exuding the majestic aura unique to gods.
Then its body began to shrink.
Finally, a god clad in multicolored scale armor stood before them all.
With just a single breath, he unknowingly synchronized with every heartbeat in the world.
No one dared lift their head, afraid their gaze would defile the god.
The god looked down upon the soon-to-be-destroyed world with eyes full of sorrow.
Then, as if giving his final order, he spoke calmly to those kneeling before him.
"Prepare… for battle."
"My beloved children."