Not much was known as no one was close enough to witness it, but testimonies stated that a few minutes after the deaths of many gods, a pillar of golden light emanated from where the dead gods lay. The golden light was brimming with a type of energy never before seen, and after a few seconds, it disappeared. In its place, Ophis appeared. The god no longer looked as it did before; its massive serpent body had green scales that shimmered with a golden hue, and its previously foul and toxic presence had changed to one many considered holy. This was the moment when Ophis, the God of Poison, became the God of Rebirth.
Its revival was unprecedented. While it was possible to revive mortals with the laws of some gods or with certain rituals, for a deceased god to rise once more was considered impossible.
—
'So it's possible to revive people?' Sol's eyes perked up upon reading that. From what he knew, that wasn't the case. Even A-Rank healers, who could bring someone back from the brink of death, couldn't heal them once they drew their last breath. If it was possible to do so, he didn't understand why Crestelia or any other nation, for that matter, weren't reviving important people left and right at every opportunity.
'It has to be either too expensive or have specific requirements.'
Those were the only two reasons he could think of, and thinking back to how Minlarei reacted when he confirmed Lapis was a variant human, he began to have some hope. Sol didn't miss the context clues, and it led him to continue reading to confirm his suspicions.
—
Many theorized what sort of revelation or enlightenment Ophis went through that changed his nature in such a fundamental way. Some say he was already practicing the Law of Rebirth, and it was only when he perished that he was able to finally comprehend it. Others believed it was due to a change in the way he understood poison as not only something that kills but also heals. Few even claimed it had to do with him being a serpent and treating his previous life like an old layer of skin, simply shedding it.
Though countless theories were tossed around, no one truly knew what caused the change. We only knew what happened after his revival.
The Outer Gods who were pursuing the fleeing gods felt a disturbance from Ophis' revival and sent many of their forces to investigate. When they found him floating above the corpses, they attacked without hesitation. Ophis fought back much stronger than before, taking down five enemy gods before dying once more. But he didn't remain dead.
Ophis rapidly reformed his body and fought once more, this time taking down ten Outer Gods before perishing again. But just like the previous death, he arose once more. This cycle of death and rebirth continued until over 40 Outer Gods perished at his might, and the rest escaped, not having any method to counter his seemingly endless rebirths.
With the surprise attack over and many gods from both sides dead, the gods of this world reconvened and formulated a new strategy to defend the world. After a long discussion, it was decided that Caela, Goddess of the Sky, Neitarel, God of Supremacy, and Ophis (now officially recognized as the God of Rebirth), would lead an attack straight into the floating metal fortress of the invading gods. They knew it served as the central base of operations for the Outer Gods, and with its destruction, their forces would be disorganized, leaving them vulnerable.
No other god would join them in that attack, as they were needed to defend and draw the attention of the Outer Gods. It wouldn't matter if they did join, though, as these three gods stood in a realm of their own, much stronger than any of their companions. Though Ophis only recently reached that level of might, he had every right to stand beside them as they launched the attack and caused one of the most important moments in history: the activation of the system.
—
"The system didn't always exist?!" Sol's jaw dropped in shock.
"Quiet over there!" Minlarei yelled at him, and he could only give a weird look back.
'We're the only two here, and you also yelled louder than me…'
Regardless, he was curious about how that came to be, but what he read next left him wanting more.
—
Once the three gods launched their attack, they broke into the flying metal fortress easily, as the Outer Gods defending it were few thanks to the efforts of our gods. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses that could state what occurred inside the fortress. Not long after the god trio breached the fortress, many explosions were heard, and the fortress began to fall into the land below. Before the city-sized fortress hit the ground, Caela and Ophis were seen escaping and gaining a lot of distance as a black mass expanded from within the fortress, consuming everything in its path. The black sphere continued to expand, with strong winds harshly pulling anyone nearby until it grew twice as large as the fortress.
Many at the time believed it was the end, but the black sphere appeared to have reached a critical point and suddenly shrunk much faster than its initial expansion, disappearing in a few breaths. A large crater was left in its place, with everything that was pulled inside gone. Neitarel, who went inside with the other two gods originally, didn't escape and was declared dead by Caela herself.
A few seconds after the disappearance of the flying metal fortress, everyone across the world, no matter their race, origin, or even if they were underlings of the Outer Gods, saw the same message appear in front of them. It read the following: [Activating System V0.7.12].
—
'V0.7.12… So it was incomplete?'
Though information was severely lacking, he could at least gather that the system was not in a complete state when it launched. It was technical lingo he picked up from Fabio, and it began to make sense when he thought about it. Sometimes the system simply didn't work as intended, with items not recognized by the system and its overall inflexible nature. There may be other issues he didn't know about, but it appeared it wasn't meant to be this way.
The next few pages went into great detail about all of Ophis' actions during the war and how they used the destruction of the flying fortress to their advantage. Many Outer Gods perished, and after a few more years of war, the remaining invaders declared defeat and left the world. This didn't mean all enemy gods and forces left; a good amount surrendered, and after a long period of resistance, they became residents of the world.
Sol then arrived at the conclusion of the legend of Ophis, and even though he was at the end, there were still a good amount of pages left.
—
After the world was finally declared in a state of peace, many gods began to disappear for various reasons. Some went into cultivation to further advance their understanding of their laws, while others left the world in pursuit of answers to the many questions in their mind. The ones that stayed somewhat active split into different factions, but their influence on the world was practically nonexistent compared to before, when they waged wars for dominance.
Ophis was famous throughout the world as one of the three great gods that turned the tide of the war. Instead of utilizing his fame to further his influence, Ophis summoned all his Serpent Devout for an important announcement. According to the descendants of the Serpent Devouts, Ophis said the following:
"The world is finally safe. The invaders have been defeated, and safeguards have been put in place so this never happens again. It's finally time for me to depart. I have been holding off from doing so to ensure that you, my faithful, had a safe place to call home. Now that you do, I have no more reason to remain, for I must enter the cycle of reincarnation. May we meet again in another life."
Ophis didn't give his followers the reason he must enter the cycle of reincarnation, but many scholars have theorized it was to further advance his understanding of the Law of Rebirth. Though a small but vocal group believed it was because his constant rebirths didn't come for free, and he would have to pay them back by living countless lives. Regardless of the reason, this was the last known sighting of Ophis, and it's presumed he had entered the cycle of reincarnation.
Everyone believed this was the end of Ophis' legacy, but many decades after Ophis' parting to his next life, a huge discovery was made. A descendant of one of the Serpent Devouts discovered their blood not only contained poisonous blood from Ophis' blessing but also trace amounts of another unknown power. After many years of research and trial and error, the descendant learned it was actually a residual trace of Ophis' Law of Rebirth within their blood, and they also figured out a way to activate it.
—
As Sol continued to read, his eyes widened with each sentence, and he yelled in excitement.
"This! This is it!"
"WHAT DID I SAY?!"