Chapter 166: Gu, Kill Me (5k)
Under the night sky of the Imperial Capital, dark clouds had descended oppressively at some unknown time.
Faint, scorching arcs of electricity wandered within the dim clouds.
“Finally, success.”
“The Holy Relic passed down from our family ancestors has actually responded to our prayers once more.”
Inside a dilapidated house, several people’s expressions were filled with excitement.
They were all clad in grayish-white robes, with a twisted snake emblem engraved on the collar.
Unlike other cults brimming with confidence, vowing to overthrow the Imperial Capital and spread the will of the Evil God they served to every corner of the continent.
From the very beginning, these individuals had not held much hope for their master’s descent.
This was because as far back as a thousand years ago, during the Third Era, before even the Holy Calendar was established, they had already lost the ability to hear the voice of the master they served.
No matter how they prayed to the remaining Holy Relic, not even the most powerful Patriarch with the purest faith could elicit a response from their master.
A cult whose deity could not manifest miracles or respond to believers’ expectations naturally could not develop for long.
Thus, slowly, the once prosperous Angel family, “Blood of Mercury,” which had once secretly controlled several human empires during the Third Era, gradually declined and withered.
In the end, only this small branch remained.
Time went by, the Third Era ended, and the Fourth Era began.
Due to their extreme weakness and meager influence, even the Dawn Holy See had long declared the Angel family “Blood of Mercury” to be extinct and did not list them among heretical cults.
The reason they were in the Imperial Capital this time was not to plot grand schemes with other cults.
It was simply that, through some remaining connections from their past family ties, they had coincidentally learned of the news that certain cults were plotting mischief in the Imperial Capital.
Thus, with a desperate hope, they came to the Imperial Capital to join the fray.
Due to the immense passage of time, this small lineage of fallen Angels had even forgotten the procedures for their prayer rituals.
They could only rely on vague memories and guesswork. First, they imitated the Dawn Holy See by drawing crosses and splashing holy water, then they imitated the sacrificial methods of cults.
However, their current strength was insufficient to procure human sacrifices. They couldn’t even afford cattle or sheep due to their financial straits and ultimately could only slaughter a few chickens and ducks, using their blood to suffice.
To their surprise, this chaotic and aimless attempt actually yielded a response.
At a certain moment.
Above the dark clouds, ten thousand bolts of lightning descended.
Then, above the dilapidated house, silver-white plasma coalesced into a hazy phantom image.
It was a creature entirely pure white, shaped like a serpent.
“I never imagined that the master recorded in the family’s ancient scrolls would actually descend into the world again.”
Upon seeing the illusory serpent resembling liquid mercury, those below were moved to tears.
After hundreds of years of perseverance, their family lineage had wavered.
They had considered switching allegiances, or finding another patron and becoming followers of other cults or the Seven Gods of Dawn.
They had also pondered whether the master their family served had long since perished, or was lost in the depths of the Astral Realm, unable to return, or perhaps had their authority and divinity usurped by other deities in some secret divine war, becoming a stepping stone.
But now, it seemed.
All of this had been meaningful.
Their master had not abandoned them. This was merely a long test, spanning a thousand years.
And now, He had responded to their call once more.
Their family’s current destitute state, unable to even afford cattle and sheep as sacrifices, would naturally cease to exist.
This was a True God walking the world again.
As devout believers who had remained steadfast during their most desperate times, they would undoubtedly receive their master’s most benevolent rewards. The restoration of the glory of the “Blood of Mercury” Angel family would be within reach.
Amidst their fervent fantasies and hopes at this very moment, no one noticed.
A youth with black hair and black eyes, clad in a black robe adorned with red clouds, had, at some unknown time, silently mingled into the crowd.
“Is this the last one?”
“Compared to the others, this one doesn’t seem that impressive.”
On Shaya’s shoulder, the little mink yawned lazily, the blood-colored magatama and silver moonlight in its eyes slowly fading.
With Silver’s current status as a Legend Species, using illusion to lower Shaya’s presence among such a group of extraordinary beings, none of whom had even reached the fourth-tier, was akin to using a butcher knife to kill a chicken.
Shaya looked at the little serpent, its snake eyes closed, with mercury flowing within its translucent body, his gaze filled with thought.
After ten years in Eden, he was no longer the second-tier Beast Tamer who knew little of the extraordinary world.
With Sylvia’s tutoring and ten years spent studying almost all the ancient scrolls Yui had copied from the White Tower and the Empire’s Grand Library, Shaya’s understanding of Mysticism now surpassed that of the vast majority of Legends on the Western Continent.
However, even so, he couldn’t recognize what this thing before him was.
He had only vaguely sensed a hint of divine aura when his divine sense swept over the area.
Therefore, after finishing up elsewhere, Shaya had rushed here.
But Shaya could clearly perceive.
This mercury serpent before him seemed somewhat different from the Incarnations of Evil Gods he had dealt with previously.
It did not possess the same violent divine power fluctuations; instead, it was relatively peaceful.
More importantly, this creature did not seem like an avatar formed from faith and divine power, but rather a tangible entity.
This was a Mythical Creature truly walking the world.
This was the first Mythical Creature to descend to the Prime Material Plane in person since the Fourth Era. Even during the chaotic period of the Land of Calamity, the Mythical Creatures that descended were only Half-bodies and Faith Avatars; they had never personally intervened.
And as if sensing Shaya’s astonishment.
The illusory mercury serpent slowly opened its eyes under Shaya’s gaze.
They were a pair of pale brown snake eyes, revealing an icy, supreme divinity.
“Is this, then, the place of my rebirth, guided by destiny.”
High and distant divine fluctuations rippled through the void, laced with primordial, ancient tongues.
It was an ancient dialect, a mixture of something akin to Abyssal Language and High Elven, which was naturally incomprehensible to the remnant Angel family members nearby.
However, Yui’s “Source of Fire” skill had long since been trained by Shaya during his idle decade in Eden, surpassing “Extraordinary to Sacred” and directly advancing to an Ultimate-tier skill. It could now be considered a super AI.
Coupled with the vast amount of ancient language research materials and records stored in the database, the ancient language was quickly translated by Yui as soon as it was uttered and transmitted to Shaya via Soul Pact.
“I never thought the Angel family I established would have fallen into such a state.”
“However, it is understandable. I have not responded to prayers for over a thousand years in the Astral Realm. It is fortunate that the Angel family has not been wiped out.”
The little serpent, its body flowing with mercury, slowly swept its serpent eyes over the surrounding remnant Angel family members who were looking at it with fervent expressions.
The silvery mercury flowed within its eyes, forming the image of an Ouroboros.
Then, points of light floated out from the bodies of the remnant Angels and converged into a silver-white ring. Scene after scene of illusory images flowed across the ring.
These were the wheels of fate on their bodies, inscribed with the trajectories of their lives. The fate-wheels were reflected in the eyes of the illusory serpent, and were then completely read.
“So that’s how it is. Ash, Twilight, Oathbreaker, Faceless… all gathered here for a Divine Descent, intending to overthrow this empire called Freista?”
“This density of Divine Descent… also means that the Fourth Era is nearing its end and heading towards its conclusion.”
“My rebirth at this time, seeking an opportunity to recover amidst chaos, indeed aligns with destiny.”
He uttered his profound whispers. By reading the wheels of fate of these humans, he quickly grasped the basic background of the era into which he had been reborn.
“It’s just, with so many Divine Descents from Abyss-aligned deities, why are there no signs of any commotion in the world currently?”
His pair of yellowish-brown serpent eyes looked towards the peaceful, serene city skyline under the night sky. His ancient murmurs carried a hint of confusion.
His purpose was not to display might or spread faith, so the commotion naturally would not be large.
But as an ancient existence among True Gods, he naturally knew the disposition of those Abyss-aligned Evil Gods. Due to their prolonged exposure to the Abyss and assimilation by its will, their minds were mostly not quite right.
During the chaotic Third Era, their descent rituals would often destroy entire human cities. How could such powerful simultaneous descents now be causing so little commotion?
However, his gaze then paused slightly.
Then, it fell upon an inconspicuous black-haired youth at the very edge of the crowd of remnant Angel family members.
He distinctly sensed that his authority to observe the wheels of fate encountered resistance from that individual.
Could it be a Holy Relic?
Although he had only just been reborn, his status of observing destiny still existed. The mystery of ordinary Holy Relics could not conceal destiny.
Only ancient Holy Relics from the First Era could achieve this level.
This immediately piqued his interest.
If he could obtain a Holy Relic from the First Era from his believers and devour its mystery, his rebirth progress would undoubtedly accelerate considerably.
The yellowish-brown serpent eyes narrowed slightly. The flow of mercury suddenly accelerated, fully unleashing the authority to observe destiny.
A few points of light emanated from around the black-haired youth, but no image formed.
Hiss—
It seems the mystery of the Holy Relic on him is far more potent than I imagined.
Perhaps it originates not just from the First Era, but even earlier… from the very beginnings of this Plane, before intelligent life even existed.
And if he could completely devour such a mystery, he might even have the chance to completely bypass the process of slowly accumulating power for revival and directly ascend to the throne of his prime.
Thinking this, a trace of fervor appeared in the mercury serpent’s eyes.
A rumbling sound emanated from the depths of the illusory Spirit World, and the rate at which light points overflowed from the black-haired youth’s body increased slightly.
Finally, it coalesced into a hazy silver wheel.
Unlike the fate-wheels of the remnant Angel family members, which were easily condensed and observed,
The fate-wheel of this black-haired youth was very faint. Even with his full authority unleashed, he could only observe a very incomplete, hazy corner.
The farther back in time, the harder it was to observe destiny.
And now, with his full effort, the fate-wheel had only turned slightly.
This degree of rotation, compared to a human’s decades of life, was merely what happened tens of minutes ago, not even an hour ago.
What was his origin?
The mercury serpent finally sensed something was amiss.
However, the next moment.
The illusory scene reflected on the fate-wheel left him stunned.
This was the trajectory of the black-haired youth’s destiny inscribed on his fate-wheel, tens of minutes ago, which could also be understood as the true past that occurred half an hour ago.
…
On the illusory fate-wheel, a silent night sky was projected.
It was in the gap between the Astral Realm and the Material Plane, located outside the Material Plane, yet not truly entering the vast and boundless Astral Realm.
It could also be called the “Outside the World.”
To avoid their residual power affecting the mortal world, many powerhouses above the Legend rank chose this place as their battlefield.
And within the Outside the World at this moment.
Several illusory phantom images of Mythical Creatures stood slowly, some twisted, some ferocious, some calm yet oppressive.
There was a hazy figure bound to a Bronze Cross, a beast whose fur was bathed in the twilight’s radiance, and a figure constantly shifting, its true form indistinguishable.
The mercury serpent’s yellowish-brown serpent eyes narrowed.
It recognized these phantom images of Mythical Creatures—Twilight, Oathbreaker, Faceless…
These were precisely the Abyss-aligned Evil Gods whose descent rituals it had read about in the fate-wheels of the remnant Angel family members.
It seemed they had already completed their descent.
And judging by the degree of their descent, although not complete Incarnations, they were all avatars at the peak Legend rank or even approaching demigod level.
Especially the demon wolf named Twilight. It seemed its divine power and authority had been partially usurped, and although its current descent was only a Half-body, it seemed to have staked everything.
This was a divine body born from an overwhelming amount of faith injected into a Legend-ranked cult leader as a one-time vessel, truly reaching the status of a demigod.
However—
Above the starry sky, confronting these Mythical Creatures, there was only one person.
A black-haired, black-eyed individual, clad in black, holding a crimson staff.
Looking at the crimson staff, the mercury serpent’s mind recalled distant memories from several eras ago.
The Black Tower.
A spellcaster holding a staff.
A Wizard.
Those were not very pleasant memories.
Is this black-haired youth actually a spellcaster, a Wizard from the Black Tower?
He re-adjusted his divine sense, shifting his gaze to the illusory image on the fate-wheel.
“Though, from the perspective of efficiency, using a nuclear explosion to deal with you would be the easiest.”
In the image, above the starry sky.
The black-haired, black-eyed youth gently shook his head.
“But Silver just advanced, and Crimson also wants some practical combat experience.”
“After all, they’ve been cooped up for ten years. The little requests of familiars must be satisfied… There’s a saying: If you don’t pamper your Mink during the day, it’ll torment you at night.”
“Also, it’s a good chance to test the power of our newly developed combined familiar skill.”
As he spoke, he gently placed his hand on the crimson staff.
If he’s a Wizard from the Black Tower, is he going to cast a Forbidden spell?
However, a Forbidden spell cast through a staff that could affect avatars at the demigod level…
But as soon as this thought arose.
The next moment, the mercury serpent’s yellowish-brown serpent eyes froze.
Because, subsequently.
The wooden staff, resembling a staff, shattered.
Revealing the blade within, shining like silver yet wreathed in darkflame.
“This combination skill of Silver and Crimson…”
“Let’s call it—‘Flowing Blade, Like Fire’.”
The black-haired youth chuckled mockingly as he looked at the long blade in his hand.
Then—
He swung the blade.
And slashed.
“All things in existence shall turn to ash.”
…
Boom—
The incomplete silver wheel of fate shattered.
Along with it, the illusory light screen dissipated.
Even with divine authority fully unleashed, he could only trace a fragmented corner of destiny occurring less than an hour ago.
Yet, even so, it was enough.
The final image on the light screen was the darkflame that incinerated the entire sky.
And, under that slash, the descending bodies of many evil gods, reduced to ashes.
Then.
In an instant.
He understood why, despite the Evil Gods blatantly launching their descents with the intention of overthrowing the entire Imperial Capital—
The city was now safe and peaceful.
And why, with his authority to observe destiny, he could only trace a fragmented corner of the youth’s fate-wheel.
It wasn’t because he was a lucky person who had obtained an ancient Holy Relic from the First Era.
It was because he himself was a complete monster.
And he—
Just as he was reborn, in a state of helplessness, had fallen under the gaze of this individual.
Fate, you have betrayed me!
“Hoh, you have the authority to read others’ destinies? Amazing. A prophet and predictor deity.”
“And, I see you seem rather different from those lunatics I just killed, who wanted to destroy my entire family the moment they met me. You seem quite lucid.”
“So, shall we have a deeper exchange?”
A friendly voice sounded in his ear.
The black-haired, black-eyed youth had, at some unknown time, silently appeared behind the mercury serpent.
He was reaching out, patting its serpent head with a kind expression.
Although the body of a Mythical Creature had long since dispensed with processes like metabolism, only possessing functions of consumption and excretion when devouring and expelling extraordinary traits or divine authority.
Moreover, serpents are cold-blooded animals and do not have sweat glands.
Yet, at this moment, the mercury serpent distinctly felt a drop of cold sweat trickling down its forehead.
“Gulp, kill me.”
