Chapter 132: Sudden Change (Volume One Finale, Part 1 of 3)

"Are you Christina?"

Looking at the goblin girl, who was as beautiful as an elf, Sun Licheng could hardly bring himself to believe it.

"Brother Sun Licheng, it’s me, Christina!" Christina shrieked as she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck.

In the hall of the tunnel entrance fortress, the hearth fire filled the space with warmth. Sun Licheng poured a bowl of tea and handed it to her.

"Christina, I heard from Vor that you had become a monster. How is it that you look even more beautiful than before?" Sun Licheng asked.

Christina took the tea, sipped it, and recounted how she had been turned ugly and how the Goddess had restored her beauty. Finally, she said, "Brother Sun Licheng, surrender. You cannot defeat Her Majesty, the Goddess of the Silver Moon. As long as you hand over the object, the Goddess has promised to spare you, and we can be together again."

"Surrender?" Sun Licheng murmured. But then, he remembered the goblin warriors who had sacrificed themselves in battle and the mechanical puppets that had covered his retreat. He shook his head and whispered to Christina, "I am sorry, I cannot surrender. Even if she is a goddess, I will not be bound by her. Freedom is my birthright, and I still have my own mission to fulfill."

Seeing his refusal, Christina grew frantic. "Brother Sun Licheng, stop being so childish! You won't win!"

With that, she began to rub the sapphire at her chest. It was a habit she had recently developed; she found it helped calm her emotions.

Sun Licheng smiled bitterly, knowing it would be difficult to continue communicating with her in such a state. He turned his head and said to Mr. Handy, "Go prepare a room for Christina. She must be tired after traveling so far."

Just then, the hair on the back of Sun Licheng’s neck stood up. A powerful presence had manifested in the fortress. He turned back, startled, only to find Christina floating in mid-air.

The girl's hair whipped about as if caught in a gale, and her expression was cold and severe—all traces of Christina's gentle nature were gone. Even more horrifying to Sun Licheng was the shadow of four giant wings that appeared behind her in the firelight of the hearth.

"Who are you?" Sun Licheng cried out in alarm.

"Sun Licheng, Her Majesty the Goddess gave you a chance, yet you do not cherish it. To dare to oppose the Goddess is truly unforgivable."

Christina did not answer his question; instead, she spoke in a cold, unfamiliar voice—a voice that was not Christina’s, but that of the Archangel Oravia.

Sun Licheng was stunned. It was his first time witnessing possession, but he knew that unless special measures were taken to protect the physical body, there was no chance of survival for anyone possessed by a deity.

As soon as she finished speaking, Christina raised her hand and unleashed a beam of light.

"Look out, Boss!"

With a cry, two Death Dancers leaped up, using their bodies to shield the stunned Sun Licheng. A thunderous boom followed; the light blast sent the two machines flying. When they landed, they were wreathed in wisps of blue smoke and lay motionless. Fortunately, they had traded their lives to block the lethal blow.

"Christina, what is happening?" Sun Licheng shouted, jolted back to his senses.

Seeing that she was preparing another attack, Mr. Handy and Green Dragon rushed over, hoisted Sun Licheng up, and bolted toward the rear tunnels. At the same time, a swarm of combat puppets charged at Christina, weapons drawn.

"Boss, run! The fortress is finished; we’ve let an angel inside!" Mr. Handy yelled as he flew rapidly. Sun Licheng was completely dumbfounded.

In the fortress, Christina floated in the air, crackling with electricity, surrounded by the shattered remains of the combat puppets.

"Hmph, ignorant ants. Do you truly think you can stop the Archangel of the Goddess?" Christina sneered.

Though possessing Christina, Oravia—having been empowered by the Goddess of the Silver Moon and the Goddess of the Spring—made short work of the surrounding puppets. Just as she prepared to head for the tunnels, she noticed a relatively intact Death Dancer acting strangely. Its electronic eye was flashing wildly, and its tentacles seemed to be manipulating something.

"Oh no!"

Christina gasped in shock and dived through a window. Before she could even take flight, a massive fireball erupted from the fortress. With a deafening roar, the entire structure collapsed.

"Damn it!" Christina cursed. Six orbs of light shimmered around her, and as they faded, six more angels appeared.

Meanwhile, at the goblin camp, Marshal Genison was reading when he heard someone rushing toward his tent. A moment later, the High Priest of the goblins burst in, breathless. "The oracle from Her Majesty, the Goddess of the Spring: we are to march immediately!"

When the goblin army arrived at the tunnel entrance and saw the ruins and the seven angels in the sky, everyone fell into a deathly silence.

Among them, only Vor was in agony. He had realized that the four-winged angel leading them was his own daughter, Christina. Watching her act like a stranger, Vor asked himself, "Will my daughter ever return?"

"Marshal Genison, I am Oravia, Archangel under the Goddess of the Spring. I command you: clear these ruins at once and march into the tunnels." Christina flapped her wings, hovering above the army as she spoke coldly.

"Yes," Genison bowed hurriedly.

After a day of labor, the ruins were cleared, revealing the partially collapsed tunnel. Looking at the dark abyss before him, then up at the angels, Marshal Genison gritted his teeth and gestured. The joint army of goblins and goblins began to file into the tunnels.

As the army poured inside, on a different hillside, dozens of mechanical puppets stood silently before a thicket of bushes.

These puppets were different from Sun Licheng’s subordinates; they were more powerful, their armor thicker, and most importantly, they pulsed with light, as if clad in armor made of gemstones.

At the front of the formation stood two tall mechanical puppets. Remarkably, their heads had been heavily modified and appeared quite large.

These were the two deities Sun Licheng often spoke of: the God of Earth and the Lord of Stars.

The Lord of Stars’ electronic eye flashed. The God of Earth nodded and pushed aside the bushes, revealing a pitch-black tunnel entrance. With a wave of his hand, the mechanical puppets began to march silently into the tunnel.

"Sun Licheng, hold on. We are coming," the Lord of Stars thought to himself.