When the plot-skips players into the game world

The slightly complacent Aiwass, after receiving the letter from Grey, became vigilant once again—

Last year, Aiwass viewed the Ring of Ouroboros as an apocalyptic disaster that could lead to the world's destruction, and he frantically worked to its limit to try and prevent its arrival.

However, the two occurrences of the Ring of Ouroboros ritual so far had gradually made Aiwass a bit lax.

After all, the advents of the Fallen Celestial Marshal and the Blood Celestial Marshal were all thunderous but resulted in little rain.

Although the Fallen Celestial Marshal completely dominated and controlled Star Antimony, it was already on the verge of collapse before His descent. The Marshal's arrival was merely the last straw. Meanwhile, Lucifer's Wings completely restrained all the Fallen Celestial Marshal's abilities, allowing Aiwass to solve the toughest first Ring of Ouroboros successfully.

After initially defeating the Celestial Marshal, Aiwass's Great Sin Beast obtained the Celestial Marshal Shard.

With a baseline of victory established in subsequent battles, they could operate around this point without relying solely on perseverance, risking lives, and praying for miracles.

And the Blood Celestial Marshal who descended afterward could even be considered half an ally. Rather than Aiwass defeating the Blood Celestial Marshal, it's more accurate to say they joined forces to defeat the Son of Nihility, after which the consumed Blood Celestial Marshal relinquished his power to Aiwass, considered a comrade.

Now, the Flame Celestial Marshal arriving in the Northern Land finally showcased the true destructive power of the Descending Heavenly Department—

The fact that the Dwarves dared to summon the Flame Celestial Marshal, prepared a "backup plan," and had the confidence to execute it indicates that they at least prepared a considerable number of Fifth Energy Level Transcendent.

The lineup that challenged the Fallen Celestial Marshal once included about eight to nine Fifth Energy Level individuals. Among them was a "world's strongest" former Eternal Pope, who even died in battle on the spot. This is relatively easy information to gather, and since the Dwarves managed to obtain the Ring of Ouroboros ritual, this kind of information must have been acquired as well.

In addition to the Dwarves' fear of the Elves... a former Eternal Pope, even without the blessing of the Holy Crown, would have to account for at least two Fifth Energy Level starting points, right?

If they were confident in completing the Ring of Ouroboros independently and planned to slay the Flame Celestial Marshal immediately after negotiations failed, it indicates they prepared at least twelve Fifth Energy Level. Considering that Dwarves are a race that crazily hoards various weapons in the mountains for thousands of years, it's not impossible for this number to double.

—The result was, they couldn't stir up even a splash and were directly overwhelmed.

According to Grey's letter, the Flame Celestial Marshal wasn't even injured!

An ancient race existing since before the birth of humans, hoarding countless high-tech weapons and high-level Transcendent in their super empire... however, under the Marshal's wrath, they melted away in the blink of an eye like snow under the sun.

The destruction of the nation, the extinction of civilization, the remaining survivors were forced to flee their original territories, and even the map was completely altered— even the snow-capped mountains of the Northern Land, unmelted for millennia, turned into black mountains burning with unextinguished flames!

This scale of calamity finally reminded Aiwass of the disaster scene when the Shadowy Celestial Marshal descended on Avalon on another world line...and back then, the Shadowy Celestial Marshal didn't even have much offensive power!

"This is the true Ring of Ouroboros..."

The massive destruction caused by the Flame Celestial Marshal to the Northern Land made Aiwass completely vigilant about the upcoming descent of the Abyssal Celestial Envoy.

If the Red Hand Gang continues to rampage, some Benevolent Lords will be unable to endure it completely.

No one can endure the gradual approach of chronic death. Before the disaster truly descends, someone will lose rationality and hysterically want to do something big.

Thus, Aiwass specifically utilized his authority as King of the Winged, requiring the Avianfolk to report all intelligence to him as soon as possible during this period.

About a week passed like this.

During this time, nothing happened, as calm as the cloudless blue sky over Parthia. Apart from the war initiated by the Red Hand Gang reaching a boiling point, no major new events occurred anywhere in the world. Even the war started a week ago began to subside—

Some of the Benevolent Lords chose to calm people's hearts with massive concessions and generous welfare policies, causing the rebel armies in those cities to immediately lose popular support, collapsing and being betrayed by insiders; while some Benevolent Lords were unwilling to part with their wealth and status, issuing orders to increase bullet pressure and being backstabbed by guards and followers, overthrown by rebels within just a few days...also resulting in a kind of peaceful state.

The ever-expanding, increasingly frenzied Red Hand Gang made all of Parthia shiver.

The reforms previously difficult to implement due to societal resistance suddenly proceeded extraordinarily smoothly under external pressure—this was the Parthian Ancient Country, unchanged for hundreds, even thousands of years! The previously irreconcilable interests, under the Red Hand Gang's lethal threat, were also forced into self-adjustment... Those obstinate forces insisting on waging war against the Red Hand Gang might even be assassinated by assassins and Cursing Sorcerers sent by others.

Yet here lies the issue... the Red Hand Gang isn't actually strong.

They completely disregard civilian life as a fundamental basis, ignoring the lives of themselves and their companions as well, meaning the strategy of killing or capturing a portion of them to force surrender utterly fails.

They fear nothing and have no qualms. Instead of seeking fairness and reform, they are more like the flame they tightly clutch in their hands—pursuing only death and destruction.

It's like roadside robbers suddenly becoming terrifying, mindless zombies.

Yet even so, they aren't truly invincible.

Because the Red Hand Gang is too inconsistent in quality. Besides their leader Hassan, the rest of them altogether struggle to form a Fifth Energy Level. Even Hassan himself finds it hard to resist multiple Benevolent Lords.

The Benevolent Lords who have reached the Sixth Power Level or the Ritualists under them, if they could unite and form a group of four, could easily defeat Hassan. Once the leader perishes, the rest would crumble like falling feathers.

—But even this level of cooperation, the Benevolent Lords can't accept.

No Benevolent Lord is willing to share power equally with others, nor are they willing to drop all vigilance and cooperate with, or follow the command of, other Benevolent Lords.

Although they are nominally equal, perhaps even considered "colleagues" in the same Path, the Benevolent Lords are like warlords controlling various regions and are absolutely incompatible with each other.

Given the chance, they would certainly try to eliminate competitors.

They would rather choose reform, handing part of their power and interests to their free people and slaves, than to trust other Benevolent Lords.

In reality, if not for this mutual distrust and hostility, if a few nearby medium-sized city-state Benevolent Lords formed a united military alliance, other equally sized Benevolent Lords couldn't survive under such coordinated military encirclement. The snowball effect would greatly increase their advantage...

Parthia remaining scattered like stars in the sky, without forming several opposing military alliances, is precisely because "nobody trusts anyone."

In this situation,

the Benevolent Lord of Holy Spring City suddenly sent out letters summoning other Benevolent Lords on July 1st—

The Avianfolk immediately delivered the message to Aiwass.

Simultaneously, Aiwass, as the Benevolent Lord of Heaven City, also received one.

The letter's content was simple—it was about some vital information he had recently acquired and decided to share with everyone.

Being a city-state near the Primordial Empire, Holy Spring City is more likely to receive news from the Primordial side.

According to the Benevolent Lord of Holy Spring City, the "Forgiver" Ayimar Nur's intelligence, the Primordial Beings secretly conducted the Ring of Ouroboros ritual yesterday.

The being summoned to the Lower Realm was the newcomer Celestial Marshal, the Commerce Heavenly Department of the Path of Balance.