Chapter 21: The Farce
“It's over.”
Having known each other for so many years, Chong Thirteen understood better than anyone how much his old friend, the Archangel, doted on his children in his later years.
Now, upon hearing the news of their death, the Archangel must have already lost his mind.
“Why play such a cruel joke on us?”
“Madness, madness, all of it madness! We must hurry to assist the throne!”
The King of Angels immediately summoned his trusted aides and his angelic legion, hastily rushing toward the imperial city.
Fear welled up within him.
Countless young larvae, filled with laughter and joy, had together built a beautiful garden, sang in harmony, and emerged from cocoons as butterflies.
Each of them led a wonderful life, dreaming of breaking free to become beautiful beings.
If the Butterfly Clan and the Angelic Clan were to wage war...
...
On the Cangwu Tree.
Liu Jun lay upon a flower bud, watching the Butterfly Queen, Die Lvxin, who was currently paying her respects.
At this moment, she was a magnificent vermilion phoenix with radiant plumage, encased in a translucent shell.
Liu Jun asked calmly, “How have the five of you been recently?”
Die Lvxin replied, “My husband is still diligently researching the fusion of divine treasures and has nearly perfected it; soon, he will formally ascend to godhood.”
“As for me, I handle the administrative affairs of the divided clans.”
“The third, Die Hongjun, continues to study the species fusion in silkworm evolution.”
“The fourth, a glutton, manages food supplies but has been rather idle lately. He’s taken a fancy to the little experimental larvae dragons that the third one has been raising and spends all day skulking outside the lab, trying to sneak one away for a barbecue.”
“The Phoenix Emperor has joined forces with the fourth, conspiring to target the third’s larvae dragons for a roast.”
“The fifth, Die Mingren, remains a martial fanatic, training tirelessly every day, saying he wants to protect us.”
Liu Jun responded with serene composure, “I see, noted.”
Recently, the monarch Die Lvxin had donned the divine elephant butterfly armor, transforming into a majestic divine elephant with butterfly wings—an imposing and dignified figure.
Though her form combined an elephant’s head with a phoenix’s, creating a somewhat peculiar image.
Liu Jun shifted the topic, “Has there been any progress investigating how that group of angels died?”
“They perished in their tree hollow lodgings, their deaths were tragic.”
Die Lvxin’s expression gradually hardened. “This was clearly premeditated. Those young angels were all formidable warriors; they were no ordinary prey for us butterflies.”
The angels had shed most of their redundant structures, existing as pure spheres with small wings, powered solely by their mental energy.
Their mental energy was more than ten times stronger than that of butterflies of the same rank.
For that group of angels to be assassinated, only a handful of conspirators could have had the capability.
Die Lvxin sighed deeply.
“Based on the evidence left at the scene, the traces all point toward the third, Die Hongjun—there were signs of biological mutation and experimental tampering.”
“After all, Die Hongjun is in charge of experiments and evolution. If someone wanted to secretly capture that group of angels for experiments, it could be theoretically justified.”
Liu Jun sipped a floral tea. “But he had no opportunity to commit the crime.”
“Exactly.”
Die Lvxin’s expression darkened. “During this time, the glutton and the Phoenix Emperor have been keeping a close watch on the third.”
“The third’s nature is ruthless and decisive, but extremely rational; he wouldn’t commit such a reckless act.”
At this, Die Lvxin’s fear grew.
This suggested the mastermind behind the plot was unaware of the third’s recent whereabouts, which had been under constant surveillance.
The culprit had framed someone incapable of such a crime.
Therefore, those capable of orchestrating this must not be any of the Butterfly Clan kings but rather angels from outside.
Moreover,
The Butterfly Clan had no motive to carry out such an act.
Killing the young generation of angels just to settle a grudge?
The answer was clear—it had to be among those angels themselves.
They were lifelong friends who knew full well how much the Archangel cherished his children...
They understood that killing this generation of angelic offspring would sever their own roots...
Yet they still committed such madness, solely to frame others, to kill with a borrowed knife, and provoke the Archangel into deploying troops to the Cangwu Tree.
Just to ignite war between angels and gods.
This ruthless cruelty filled Die Lvxin’s heart with an inexplicable dread.
She did not understand why it had come to this.
The four founding archangels of old had fallen apart so completely, drifting further and further apart.
Would the five of them also become like this in the distant future?
“They’re here,” Liu Jun suddenly recited.
...
In the distance, a massive cloud of white skeletal thorns appeared in the sky.
“What is that?”
The larvae in the flower gardens beneath the Cangwu Tree looked up, staring at the overwhelming angelic army advancing.
The cloud glowed with a bright light.
Countless holy angels flapped their wings; their bodies were surrounded by dense bone spikes, exuding a powerful oppressive aura.
This was the invincible Angelic Rain—a devastating shower of thorny bone spikes that, with a mere thought, could annihilate all enemies instantly.
“Return.”
Liu Jun, atop the Cangwu Tree, looked at the angry visitors and spoke softly, “It wasn’t Die Hongjun.”
If the visitors were rational, they would understand the implication in Liu Jun’s words: since it wasn’t the Butterfly Clan, it must have been an internal conflict among the angels themselves.
But he could not say it outright—they had to investigate it themselves.
However, the Archangel’s mind was clouded by fury, though deep inside, he still held his initial reverence:
“Great God of Eternal Life, who has summoned our civilization’s butterfly prophet, we come with utmost respect for both deities, but I must confirm—”
“Return!”
Liu Jun’s face grew cold.
The sky thundered as if struck by a sudden bolt.
His voice transformed into a sonic wave, sharpened into an arrow that instantly split the angelic army in two.
Over five thousand angels, condensed into bone-tipped arrows, fell from the sky like dumplings.
A thunderous thought!
Watching his angelic troops collapse instantly, the furious Archangel awoke as if from a nightmare, his eyes filled with terror.
How vast the gap between realms!
First level Wind Realm: thoughts as gentle as the breeze, merely flipping pages and fetching objects.
Second level Rain Realm: thoughts like a sudden downpour, primarily controlling objects to attack.
Third level Thunder Realm: thoughts like thunderclaps, able to leave the body and directly assault the opponent’s soul—how could mere physical bone swords withstand that?
In ancient times, the Thunder Realm was godhood among mortals.
Liu Jun’s single thought, empowered by low energy consumption, unleashed tremendous power, causing the angels to fall like dumplings.
Currently, only Liu Jun and the Amber Phoenix Butterfly among the Butterfly Clan had reached the third level—a threshold exceedingly difficult to surpass.
“No—”
The Archangel’s heart was consumed by fear, yet the pain of losing his child pressed heavily on his chest. “Form the battle array again, shoot the arrows—”
“Obstinate fool.”
At the next moment, Liu Jun’s expression hardened, his pupils crackling with lightning. His mental energy struck the Archangel’s will, causing him to fall from the sky in an instant.
“This is a military exercise. I ask all angels to lay down your weapons.”
Liu Jun spoke calmly.
Cutting through chaos swiftly was the righteous path; if delayed, it might cause uncontrollable trouble.
Huh?
The kind and naive little angels, confused and bewildered as they formed the battle array, saw they were attacking the greatest and kindest god and their fighting spirit waned considerably.
Coupled with divine might as formidable as a prison, it crushed them into instant collapse.
Unable to withstand any longer, the angels dropped their bone spikes and descended.
“So it was just a performance.”
“Hehe, the god is training us.”
“Yes, I fought with the god. I must go back and tell my children.”
...
At this moment, the King of Angels arrived.
He held the war scepter, wore a golden cloak, and a crown of thorns, fully armored and ready to aid the throne.
He commanded a force of thirty thousand angels.
Yet, upon witnessing his army’s sudden collapse, he was both terrified and shocked but also let out a sigh of relief.
He had no time to be stunned by the god’s power, instead staring at the fallen Archangel on the ground, murmuring bitterly, “How did it come to this...”
The Archangel looked at the King of Angels, then at the prophet, and finally at the Phoenix Emperor standing by the Cangwu Tree, like an old man who had lost all spirit, breaking down into a mad, bitter weeping:
“What could I do? What could I do? Kilupa is dead, my most beloved child is dead.”
The entire battlefield fell silent, quietly watching the once-great war god of the Angelic Clan.
His wailing was heartbreaking, a sight that chilled the soul.