# 1119
Chapter 1119: Heaven's Secret
"Strange?" Michael said calmly, "My Lord is merciful and compassionate, taking pity on all beings. The Western Holy Church carries the heaviest faith in the world. When this great disaster befalls all living things, only the divine source of our Heaven can suppress them."
"Your Holy Sovereign took Heaven's source to the Moon—what happens to Heaven then?" An Qingyu asked puzzled.
"Heaven?"
Michael slowly closed his eyes, turned to face the white clouds surrounding the Holy Sovereign's dwelling, and forcefully flapped his six pristine wings. The mist covering the Holy Sovereign's residence was instantly dispersed!
Lin Qiye and the others turned to look, their pupils constricting.
As the white clouds dissipated, the dim golden sunlight fell upon the snow-white earth. Broken giant pillars pierced the clouds, ruined palaces dotted the cloud tops, blood-stained weapons lay scattered across the land, draped in a golden veil by the setting sun.
At the edge of the horizon, a massive black sword was embedded diagonally in Heaven's soil, like mountain peaks reversed, with crimson light surging from beneath the sword's piercing point, as if magma about to erupt, churning violently!
As far as the eye could see, devastation.
"Heaven has long since fallen."
Michael's voice echoed in everyone's ears. Lin Qiye stood frozen in place for a long time before coming back to his senses.
"How could losing just the source cause this?" Lin Qiye murmured to himself.
The divine source was indeed indispensable to a divine realm, but what they were seeing now was clearly not a matter of a withered source. This was clearly the aftermath of some kind of brutal war!
An Qingyu squinted at the black sword in the distance and the crimson flames churning beneath it, asking, "That sword—"
"It is Hell." Michael's eyes slightly opened, revealing a trace of remembrance. "Countless ages ago, an angel betrayed my Lord, carving off a piece of Heaven's source, falling into darkness, building their own divine realm, creating an inferno of humanity and absorbing countless evil gods."
"Our Heaven carries the heaviest faith in the world, while Hell carries the most ferocious evil thoughts. It was like Heaven's shadow, existing in the reflection of the spiritual pure land... beneath our feet."
"Before the Holy Sovereign took Heaven's source, He foresaw that if Heaven vanished, Hell would inevitably become a great bane to the mortal world. So He led us in striking Hell first."
"In that divine war, I pursued the fallen angel Lucifer for three days and three nights. Just as I was about to slay Him, the faith power within me rapidly decreased and my combat ability sharply declined, allowing Him to escape... It was only then that I realized, upon returning to Heaven, that both Heaven and Hell had already been emptied."
"In that divine war, aside from a few weak demons surviving and escaping Hell, not a single divine angel or demon remained alive."
"By then, my Lord had already taken Heaven's source, transforming into a new moon to suppress the Cthulhu Faction gods. Had I not lost the faith blessing from the source, I would never have let Lucifer escape so easily."
Lin Qiye and the others gazed at this devastated Heaven, their expressions complex.
"So that's what happened..."
Lin Qiye had originally wondered—since Michael and Lucifer both existed, the mythological figures from the Western Holy Church should have descended as well. But so far, he hadn't seen a single other angel or demon, nor had he heard any news about this divine realm itself.
Now it was clear: Heaven had long ago, countless ages past, faded from existence in order to seal the Cthulhu... and before leaving, had even taken many demons from Hell along with it.
Lin Qiye hesitated for a moment. "May I ask a question?"
"Ask."
"After your Holy Sovereign took the source and transformed into the new moon... is He considered alive, or dead?" Lin Qiye asked carefully.
Lin Qiye knew this might be somewhat disrespectful, but Yaldas was in the hospital within his mind. He wanted to understand Yaldas's condition and the cause of the illness to treat him more effectively.
Michael's brow furrowed slightly. "He is still alive."
Hearing the certainty in Michael's tone, Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow, about to say more, when Michael spoke again:
"His physical body became the Moon, his soul became the seal, floating continuously in the universe... As long as the seal isn't completely shattered and the Moon still exists, he cannot be considered dead. He has merely changed his form, watching over the mortal world."
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully.
It sounded like Yaldas's situation was far more complicated than the previous patients... He wondered how the Asylum of the Gods had managed to capture his soul into the ward.
But at that level, there were too many things beyond Lin Qiye's comprehension. He couldn't determine in the short term what had caused Yaldas's current state.
It seemed he would have to start from the patient himself.
"It's been this long and the sky still hasn't darkened?" Jiang Er looked at the still pale golden sky, puzzled.
"Heaven is a realm of light. There is only dawn, noon, and dusk. Night does not belong here."
Michael turned around, not using his wings to fly this time, but walking on foot directly toward the center of the Holy Sovereign's dwelling.
The dim sunset reflected between the surrounding white clouds, like golden rivers flowing around them. His back bearing six wings, He walked slowly forward. Even though the ground beneath His feet was a silent ruin, He still moved like a Believer coming to an audience with the Holy Sovereign, solemn and devout.
Lin Qiye and the others stepped across the golden flowing clouds, also not using flight, following closely behind.
The group walked through the ruins of the Holy Sovereign's dwelling for more than ten minutes before something different finally appeared in their视野.
At the edge of the horizon among the golden flowing clouds, several broken giant pillars surrounded the snow-white earth. A half-crumbled palace roof lay tilted on the ground, surrounded entirely by tiny broken bricks, a complete mess. The only intact thing within this ruined palace might have been the golden platform in the center, and a wooden box placed upon it.
At the sight of this shattered palace, Michael's eyes narrowed!
Before Lin Qiye could say anything, Michael transformed into a streak of golden light, swooping into the broken palace, standing before the golden platform.
He extended both hands, gripped the lid of the wooden box, and swiftly opened it.
Due to the angle, Lin Qiye and the others couldn't see inside the wooden box. They could only see Michael's ice-mountain-like face visibly darkening.
This was the first time Lin Qiye had seen Michael display an emotional change.
A bad premonition flashed through their hearts. They rushed into the palace at a fast walk.
Lin Qiye stood by the platform, his gaze falling on the empty wooden box, his eyes narrowing.
He turned to look at the sullen-faced Michael. After a moment's hesitation, he still ventured to ask, "What's inside this..."
"The [Ark of the Covenant]." Michael said slowly. "The [Ark of the Covenant]... is gone."