Chapter 3229 Audience with the Abyss

Smile of Heaven had expected to be burned by the flames and endure horrible agony. But, to her surprise, no pain came.

Instead, the roaring wall of purifying fire vanished.

Suddenly, she found herself in total darkness — pale moonlight illuminated the entrance of the temple behind her, but up ahead, there was nothing but an echoing black void.

There was silence, as well, enveloping her like a heavy blanket.

She froze for a moment, failing to process the sudden and inexplicable change.

‘Did I... just imagine those flames?’

Had they been an illusion all along?

Smile of Heaven hesitated, then assumed her Transcendent form and looked at her wings.

The feathers were still singed, their edges blackened.

The flames had been real.

‘What is going on?'

Just as she formed that thought, a nebulous voice suddenly resounded from the darkness, reflecting from the metal walls and surrounding her like a tide.

“Aren't you afraid of death?"

Smile of Heaven flinched.

That voice... that infinitely cold, utterly indifferent voice. It was completely inhuman, reminding her that the ruler of the first human kingdom was a different kind of creature.

A nephilim.

She did not know a lot about these beings, except for the fact that everyone in the mortal realms was both appalled by and terrified of them.

The nephilim was seemingly curious about Smile of Heaven's perceived lack of the self-preservation instinct. Anyone would have been turned to ash by those flames, after all.

She cleared her throat.

“Oh, no. I am afraid of death very much, actually."

Smile of Heaven smiled timidly.

"So... please don't kill me, if you may!"

She grew quiet for a moment and then added in a more subdued tone:

"I can heal damage done to my soul quite swiftly. So, I was planning to mend myself at the same rate the flames burned me... or as close to that as I could get."

There was a long stretch of silence.

Then, the same awesome voice resounded once more.

"You thought you would be able to endure it... have you been burned before?"

Smile of Heaven shivered.

"I can't say that I have experienced being burned alive before. But I am no stranger to pain, either."

Being able to heal herself did not mean that getting hurt was painless, after all. The pain the soul experienced when it was damaged was nothing short of gruesome — so, Smile of Heaven knew agony quite well.

‘What about White Abyss?’

She was suddenly curious.

Could flame be burned?

The inhuman voice resounded from the dark depths of the temple again, flat and emotionless.

"You would have died."

Hearing that, Smile of Heaven shivered again.

But then, her eyes glistened with a hint of hope.

‘Wait a minute.'

If diving into the white flames would have been fatal for her, and White Abyss dismissed them... then didn't that mean that White Abyss recalled her flames to save her life?

If so, then this ancient Titan was not entirely devoid of benevolence. Smile of Heaven had assumed that her existence would be of no consequence to a creature that old, that powerful — but it seemed that the nephilim was willing to act in order to save the life of a complete stranger. Maybe... perhaps her task was not as difficult as she had feared it would be.

Gulping, Smile of Heaven cautiously summoned her light. A soft radiance spilled from her winged figure, illuminating the interior of the golden temple. She found herself in a wide triangular corridor with a soaring ceiling, leading straight into the depths of the pyramid.

Both the walls and the floor of the corridor were cast from gold — or at least from a metal that resembled gold.

‘Strange.'

She would have expected the metal to be incandescent with heat after containing the incinerating flames of White Abyss for so long, but it was not glowing — in fact, it was cool to the touch.

Inhaling deeply, she wiped the sweat off her brow and cautiously took a step forward. Her footsteps resounded in the solemn silence of the ancient temple, causing her heart to skip a beat.

She tensed, then asked tentatively:

“Your Majesty, White Abyss... can I assume that you are granting me the audience I requested?"

The only answer she received was silence. Smile of Heaven slowed down, but didn't stop.

‘She didn't say no, right? So... I'll be presumptuous and take it as a yes.’

Smile of Heaven was facing a minor crisis, though.

She did not know where she was going, and had no idea what White Abyss looked like. That ancient Titan was, presumably, an ocean of flame. Now that the flame was gone, where the hell was White Abyss? Had she taken a human form, like Shadow? Or were the flames still burning somewhere in the depths of the pyramid?

Smile of Heaven was not sure, but judging by the length of the corridor, she would reach the center of the great pyramid's golden pinnacle soon.

And indeed, the walls of the corridor parted before too long.

There was a cavernous hall shrouded in darkness. On the floor of the hall, there was a large opening — it led into the depths of the pyramid, where the endless ocean of flame must have burned before. But now, the flame was gone, and the pit looked like the entrance to the Abyss.

As Smile of Heaven circled the eerie pit and reached the other side of the hall, her radiance illuminated golden steps that led to a magnificent throne.

There was a charred corpse sitting on the throne, staring at her with hollow skeletal eyes.

She flinched and took an involuntary step back, barely avoiding the awkward fate of toppling into the pit behind her. Catching her balance, Smile of Heaven froze and looked up at the ghastly corpse.

She felt deeply disturbed.

‘Back when she asked if I had been burned... was she asking because she had been burning inside this tomb for thousands of years?’

Smile of Heaven suddenly felt nauseated.

‘Damn deities... damn Supremes! Why are all of them mad?’

She remained silent for a few moments, struggling to compose herself, then bowed deeply.

“Thank you for granting me an audience, Your Majesty."

Saying that, Smile of Heaven threw a furtive glance at the charred corpse.

The corpse did not answer for a while.

In fact, it did not answer at all.

But a few moments later, two sparks of pristine white light ignited in the darkness behind the throne.

The indifferent voice resounded once again, this time sounding less overwhelming.

"Why are you bowing to this worm?"

There was the sound of footsteps, and a tall figure appeared at the very edge of light, its features obscured by the darkness.

It seemed to resemble a human, but Smile of Heaven could not be sure. All she knew was that as soon as she saw her, her heart was moved. A powerful longing pierced her soul, and she felt her eyes moisten. Every desire she had been laboriously containing suddenly roared back to life, almost impossible to overcome, filling her chest with blazing heat.

But also chilling coldness.

Smile of Heaven gulped.

The figure — White Abyss — looked down at the charred corpse.

"This is Kanakht... the founder of the First Kingdom. The first human to become Supreme. He thought that he could endure my flames, too."

Smile of Heaven steeled her heart, forcing herself to remain motionless despite the fact that the indifferent, merciless clarity of that harrowing voice made her want to run.

"I... I thought that you were the founder of the First Kingdom."

White Abyss turned her head, and the two white flames peered at Smile of Heaven.

“No. I merely took it.”

Turning her back to the throne and the ghastly corpse sitting on it, she took a step toward Smile of Heaven.

“That worm wanted to devour it... would want to devour it, one day. But I didn't want to see the people of the First Kingdom suffer. So, I decided to be merciful... and I was."

She took another step.

"For a while. Until all my mercy turned to ash."

Smile of Heaven wanted to back away, but behind her was the bottomless pit. It would be foolish to try running from a Supreme Titan, anyway.

White Abyss spoke again:

"At some point, I found myself revolted by the humans of my kingdom. Their ignorance, their avarice, their cruelty, their sins... the vile things they did in my name. I wanted to burn them all. I wanted to cleanse my kingdom of their filth. And so..."

She took another step forward, almost entering the circle of light. Smile of Heaven could almost see her face.

"And so, I locked myself in this pyramid. This was my last gift to them... my last act of compassion. Just like I saved them from Kanakht, I saved them from myself as well. We burned together, Kanakht and I."

Smile of Heaven inhaled deeply.

“Your Majesty. T-the reason why I sought an audience with you..."

However, White Abyss did not let her finish.

"I know. I've seen what is hidden in your heart — your every wish, your every desire. You want to find your daughter, don't you?"

Smile of Heaven froze.

As White Abyss took another step, descending the steps, she said in the same inhuman, emotionless, hollow voice:

“But what a pity. It is too late. Your daughter doesn't care to be found anymore."

Finally, Smile of Heaven saw her face.

Silver hair that glistened with reflected light. A face so beautiful that one could not help but feel moved when gazing at it, to feel their heart ache with indescribable pain. A cold expression devoid of the smallest hint of emotion.

She was utterly breathtaking... like a celestial spirit that had been banished from the heavens and sentenced to wander the mortal world.

But Smile of Heaven did not even notice her beauty.

Instead, she looked into her eyes.

Those striking, grey eyes...

The familiar eyes she knew too well.

‘No...’

White Abyss studied her, as well, utterly indifferent.

Then, she said in that chilling voice:

"Hello, mother. Weren't you supposed to be dead?"