### Chapter: 437
A gust of wind swept through the yellow plains.
In the swirling breeze, a woman with flowing black hair stood tall.
Her name was Verita.
In fact, she was a high-tier god candidate, well on her way to becoming one.
Yet here she was, seemingly wary of someone.
Standing beside her was a man.
It was his very presence that made her uneasy.
Suddenly—
Snowflakes began to descend from the sky, one by one.
Rarely did snow gather on the yellow plains.
The world turned white.
In this unnatural scene, middle-tier gods shrank back, their instincts kicking in.
The cold oozing from the falling snow was so frigid it cut through the depths of their beings.
Snow began to collect on the man’s transparent hair.
However, he didn’t pay it any mind, his gaze fixed on the Lower World Gate with piercing white eyes.
[Verita, you mean to say you missed it despite your vigilance?]
“I’m sorry.”
When Verita apologized, the man chuckled softly.
[I’m not chastising you. Mistakes happen.]
He was understanding.
Yet Verita knew well that his kindness was not merely generous; it had its limits.
[And besides, you’re not the only one who made a mistake.]
He raised a hand.
As if reacting to him, the cold, shivering middle-tier gods flinched as one.
They all realized at once what would happen if he swung that hand.
They would vanish like mere snowflakes.
“No, Nibera! How can I hold those gods responsible when I was fooled myself?”
Hearing Verita’s protest, he briefly glanced down at her.
Then, with his snow-white hand, he gently patted her head.
Snowflakes now covered her hair.
Yet Verita showed no sign of displeasure.
[Nibera, every time I see you, I think how kind-hearted you are. Yes, as a potential high-tier god, you should have a sense of compassion.]
As previously mentioned, Nibera was indeed kind.
But his kindness was reserved only for those who bore the potential to become high-tier gods or those who were high-tier gods themselves.
He treated beings who could not even touch the threshold of high-tier gods as worthless.
Neither low-tier nor middle-tier gods held any significance to him.
They were merely designated beings labeled as low-tier or middle-tier gods.
In Nibera’s eyes, they were no different from the divine serfs of the godly realm.
Yet those who showed the slightest potential to become high-tier gods were different.
They could become allies.
Hence, Nibera bestowed kindness solely on Verita at this moment.
The God of Snow.
Nibera.
That was who he was.
“Nibera, is there any way to act on the Lower World Gate?”
The Lower World Gate served as a colossal passageway into the middle realm, one that required the combined might of several high-tier gods to open.
Despite Verita’s power, she was powerless to take on the gate alone.
So she wondered if perhaps Nibera could do something.
He shook his head in disappointment.
[The Lower World Gate has restrictions tied specifically to the middle realm. Even if several high-tier gods were here, I alone could not intervene.]
The deity who created the middle realm was said to be a being even superior to the highest of gods.
The constraints woven into the fabric of the middle realm made it impossible for a single high-tier god to act.
Nibera cast a glance at the Lower World Gate.
He wanted nothing more than to fetch that cheeky Kraush who dove right in.
But even with his presence, he had no choice but to be patient.
If Kraush intended to descend to the middle realm, there would be little reason for concern.
But if he had some other purpose for using the Lower World Gate to come to the surface—
Then action would be necessary.
‘The problem is not knowing his motives.’
Kraush was undeniably the child of the Thief God.
In the past, how many commotions had the Thief God caused within the divine realm?
Every incident had been extraordinary, throwing the godly realm into chaos.
So it was certain that Kraush must have some outrageous goal in mind.
‘To uncover that goal—’
Nibera’s gaze shifted away from the Lower World Gate to another spot.
There, a middle-tier god was trapped within a realm of ice.
“Nibera, I’d like to ask him a few questions, if that’s alright?”
Verita cautiously pointed to Maios, who was imprisoned in that ice.
Inside the prison of ice, Maios’s limbs had been transformed into ice.
Perhaps that was why he could not move an inch, merely stuck in the icy confines.
[Very well. Just don’t go annihilating him.]
“…Is that so?”
[A tiny bit of potential for camaraderie was visible.]
Verita’s eyes turned towards Maios.
The potential for high-tier godhood.
Nibera could see this better than anyone.
Maios being taken captive rather than instantly obliterated by Nibera meant he held at least some level of potential.
Had it been anyone else, they’d have likely been executed without a second thought.
Thud—
Standing before the prison, Verita looked down at Maios.
To think things would come to this, she should have either struck a pact or run away to avoid all of this, but now, it was too late for regrets.
Maios, who had just now realized Verita’s presence, flinched away from her gaze.
Nibera, observing the scene intently, spoke with a sigh woven into his words.
“You’ve formed some sort of pact with that boy, haven’t you?”
Verita swiftly grasped Maios’s circumstances.
Maios belonged to the Partes Order.
So why would he suddenly betray Partes and the gods to help Kraush?
There was only one possible reason he’d lend aid.
“It seems that your very life is what you staked in this deal.”
Maios jerked his head up in shock at her words.
The genuine fear scrawled across his face revealed just how startling her insight had been.
“If you didn’t want to meet your end, you had no choice but to help. Maios, I can understand your plight.”
Verita possessed the foresight that encompassed situations from low-tier to middle-tier, even up to candidates for high-tier godhood.
She had experienced far more hardships than the average high-tier god.
So unlike those who had lost their sense of self, she could still empathize with others.
“However, crime is crime. Your decision to assist that boy has spurred chaos in the divine realm, and the price for that chaos shall fall upon your shoulders.”
Maios silently bit his lip.
Though he insisted he had no other means to save himself, aiding Kraush was undoubtedly a transgression.
“But if you were to lay everything out on the table concerning that boy…”
She extended her hand toward him.
“I could kneel before the high-tier gods and plead on your behalf, including your association with Partes to have your crime pardoned.”
Verita’s voice commanded a surprising weight.
Just like Nibera, high-tier gods held a moderate kindness toward those who shared the same kind of potential.
An act committed by a middle-tier god could possibly be forgiven if a high-tier god candidate interceded.
What’s more, according to Nibera, Maios bore the potential to become a high-tier god himself.
In this instance, it was highly likely his transgressions could be absolved.
With that, Nibera had offered Maios a chance.
The astonished Maios slowly raised his head to face Nibera.
“…Is that true?”
“On my star, I’ll swear an oath.”
Maios’s eyes trembled with disbelief.
Nibera, in all her generous benevolence, was offering amnesty.
It was a gesture that should have made any onlooker grateful.
However, Maios slowly began to raise his head.
“I’m truly grateful for your leniency, Verita.”
“Well then…”
“But I cannot speak freely regarding Kraush.”
Hearing his next words, Nibera’s expression contorted fiercely.
She was someone who could understand circumstances broadly.
Yet when it came to the fundamental nature of her personality, she was undeniably impatient.
Once offered an opportunity, she wouldn’t go off granting a second one.
At this point, Maios knew exactly that point of hers, yet still expressed his refusal.
“Is this out of some sense of loyalty to that boy?”
When Verita asked this, Maios let out a hollow laugh.
“There’s no sense of loyalty in a bond forged by a pact. Besides, loyalty is like a rare gem to gods.”
Gods did not cooperate with one another.
That law was likely unchangeable.
“Though I can’t say I have such a feeling.”
His gaze shifted towards the place where the Lower World Gate had opened.
“If I were to lay everything out and stand at Verita’s side here…”
And now he was trembling harder than ever before—far more violently than he had when he was under the watch of Verita or Nibera.
“I would seriously feel like I’d meet my end.”
Upon hearing this, Verita’s expression morphed into one of utter disbelief.
Of course.
Maios’s words implied that Kraush would obliterate both Verita and the God of Snow, Nibera, before turning on him for betrayal.
“…Are you out of your mind?”
Verita had witnessed that boy’s potential firsthand.
That vast star was of a kind never seen by even the high-tier gods.
Yet it was still just a single star.
When compared to a high-tier god’s galactic power, it paled in comparison.
That was the very reality that Verita, who had yet to achieve true galaxy status, was most keenly aware of.
“Perhaps I’m just being delusional.”
To think that Kraush could achieve victory here was undoubtedly a foolish judgment.
However, Maios had watched quite closely, featuring Kraush like no other god could.
That boy was undoubtedly a monster, different from the gods.
Indeed, he was a monstrous variable.
One capable of bringing down gods.
“But I guess I’ll soon understand with my own eyes.”
As he spoke, it seemed Maios was certain of something.
Verita turned her head slowly.
As his words rang true, she began to sense something approaching.
Thud thud!
Inside the Lower World Gate.
A tremendous tremor throbbed through.
The vibration soon reached the middle-tier gods, all of whom turned their gazes toward the Lower World Gate.
Among them, the one who had been most composed—the God of Snow—began to widen his eyes.
[Hmm?]
And the very moment he reacted with a look of skepticism about whether what he felt was the truth—
Boom!
An explosion ripped through the entrance of the Lower World Gate, and dark blue flames shot skyward.
The heat from the flames made the middle-tier gods scatter in a panic.
Verita gazed, dazed, at the unfolding scene.
The violent flames soared into the sky, raining down sparks like shooting stars.
The moment those sparks touched the snow, it melted away entirely.
And those exact snowflakes had been summoned by none other than Nibera.
The snow of the high-tier god melted.
What did that signify?
The answer was simple.
Thud—
As the tremors subsided, a figure emerged from the dark blue flames.
A man with hair alight in dark blue stood there, his eyes gleaming like a blue moon.
He was the embodiment of azure flame.
The high-tier god.
One single star was ready to engulf the galaxy itself.
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