Chapter 293: Chapter 10: Star Empire’s Grand Celebration, The Returning Saint (Part 2)

The man sighed and glanced at his female companion.

"Sophie, you need to face reality. Whether we accept it or not, this world can never go back to the way it was."

"Besides, you know full well what the old Deities were like."

"Back then, we revered our lord so much, but what about Him?"

"The agony of having our souls torn apart, the endless waiting in the Dark Cage... If we hadn’t been so lucky, if our souls hadn’t been drawn by a miraculous light to be reborn in another so-called Phase World—a kind of Parallel World—we might never have made it back here."

"And Him? Back then, He dressed it up as a ’grand exploration.’ But after our centuries of struggle, we should have realized the truth. It was a blatant betrayal!"

"He was the one who threw us into His experimental Phase Transmission Array. So *He* betrayed *us*, not the other way around."

"Besides, our Half-Bodies in that other world have already achieved Ascension to Divinity. All that talk about faith seems like a joke now."

"Mortals are just fodder for the Deities. How we live or die is entirely at their whim."

"So, looking at the world now, I have to say, these foreign Deities seem much better than our old ones."

"So, Sophie, don’t forget the promise we made. Once we’re sure our people are living well in this world, we won’t pursue this any further."

"Otherwise..."

Before the man could finish, the woman, Sophie, cut him off. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Adelaide, you talk too much."

"Of course I remember our agreement. But don’t you forget, this was our world to begin with."

"Besides, what we’re seeing is just the surface. This Star Empire has plenty of humans from other realms. Who knows how much influence our people truly hold within it."

"And to put it bluntly, we are the ones native to this world. We deserve a chance at Ascension to Divinity."

As she spoke, the silver-haired woman Sophie’s eyes burned with fervor:

"Adelaide, don’t forget. A miracle like us is probably one-of-a-kind in the entire Star Realm."

"Our souls were split in two. One half has already achieved Ascension to Divinity in another world, while our physical bodies here are still intact, and we’ve even kept our Saint Tier Power."

"Two worlds, two halves of a soul, two ’Half-Bodies,’ both with a chance at Ascension to Divinity... This is an unimaginable miracle."

"No matter what, I refuse to let this opportunity slip by. And Adelaide, I suggest you don’t either."

Seeing Sophie’s determination, Adelaide let out a long sigh.

「Their minds drifted back to the past, to all they had learned since.」

It happened approximately 312 years before the Descent of the Giant Demons. The two of them were led—or rather, deceived—by the Divine King Audric, the Main God of this world, into an overseas Underground City.

There, in the lowest level of that strange Underground City, they saw the Phase Transmission Array that the Divine King had called a "grand expedition."

According to the Divine King’s Oracle, the Phase Transmission Array was a divine artifact.

Divine King Audric had created it after comprehending the World Law and, in doing so, glimpsing a fundamental truth of the universe.

This "truth" was Divine King Audric’s claim that the Star Realm was infinite. He believed there was a high probability that other worlds existed with rules extremely similar to those of the Karte World.

Worlds with their own Underground Cities, Class Professionals, and lifeforms similar to those of the Karte World.

Thus, relying on this compatibility between the rules of the worlds, the Divine King built the so-called Phase Transmission Array.

And to monopolize the Power of an entire world—and secure his own status as Divine King—the creation of the Phase Transmission Array had to be done in absolute secrecy.

Furthermore, according to the Divine King’s judgment and the laws that governed it, the Phase Transmission Array could only transport beings below the rank of Demigod.

Therefore, Adelaide and Sophie were chosen to be the first ’pioneers’ for the Phase Transmission Array.

Everything was for the great Divine King.

Therefore, as two of the Divine King’s most steadfast Saints in the mortal realm, Adelaide and Sophie had no reason to disobey the Oracle.

At the time, they were even thrilled by the prospect.

But what was the result?

The Oracle had promised that they would be in no danger even if the teleportation failed. That was a blatant lie.

The instant the teleportation failed, their souls were torn in two.

Their souls were dragged into an endlessly dark Space, a void with no concept of time or location, where nothing existed.

They spent what felt like centuries in that void, trapped in a constant nightmare. Then, by a stroke of luck, a strange, dim yellow light suddenly appeared in the darkness.

This light crashed into the void, knocking their souls into another world.

And so, the two souls were reborn as twins in another world, one remarkably similar to the Karte Continent.

Drawing upon the wisdom of their ’past lives,’ which gave them a head start, and their exceptionally strong Soul Power, they endured many trials. In the end, both of them achieved Ascension to Divinity at a speed unimaginable to others.

Only after their Ascension to Divinity, when they connected through their miraculous Divine Spirit, did they discover that Divine King Audric’s Oracle had not been a complete lie after all.