Chapter 152 Divine Descent

A figure slowly materialized in the sky, silhouetted against the red moon, appearing dazzling.

Though distant, the figure was incredibly clear in everyone's eyes, majestic and towering.

It was clad in golden armor, shimmering with holy light. Behind it was a vision of a heavenly palace, filled with divine music and angels with sacred wings fluttering about...

The image perfectly matched humanity's ideal of a god: holy, majestic, compassionate, its gaze filled with pity for mortals in distress.

People couldn't help but feel a surge of the urge to prostrate themselves in worship.

As if they had instantly become infinitely small, reduced to dust.

It was the reverence of a lower life form for a higher being, originating from the very depths of existence.

Not a hint of disrespect or blasphemy arose in their hearts.

Suren watched with a frown, for his All-Knowing Eye shielded him from things beyond comprehension.

The old members of the Mirror Organization had witnessed gods in Old Lingdun and knew they were not to be gazed upon directly. So, when Mr. Mirror issued the warning, they were already on their guard.

But others weren't so lucky.

Gods had disappeared from this plane for countless years, their existence only known through legends.

When the figure descended from the red moon, it felt as if a magical force drew them in, instinctively compelling them to look.

The tens of millions of Lingdun residents, driven to despair by the endless tide of zombies, now looked at the holy, radiant deity descending from the sky. In their eyes, it was a savior, their despair turning into a desperate plea for salvation.

Had a god finally come to rescue this terrible world?

Even a straw was worth grasping for those in despair.

More and more people knelt down, worshipping fervently.

In an instant, millions more invisible threads of faith extended skyward, and their number continued to grow.

The figure in the sky shone even more brilliantly.

And those who knew this was the outer god of the Giant Hermit Society also looked up.

They felt no reverence for this outer god, only hostility. So, the moment they gazed upon it, an indescribable terror flooded their minds. Chaotic mental power surged in like a broken dam, and they heard persistent whispers of the divine in their ears. Their faces twisted in pain, they clutched their heads and wailed, their mental state on the verge of collapse.

Gods were not to be looked upon directly. Most human brains couldn't handle such hyperdimensional awareness.

...

The red moon in the sky was like a grotesque giant eye, the moon itself the pupil, moonlight swirling like flames. It used the terrifying emotions it had absorbed from tens of millions of people to cast a mass mental illusion over the entire city of Lingdun, then siphoned back the power of faith... a vicious cycle.

The tens of millions of people in Lingdun were fertilizer, providing nourishment for the outer god.

Suren looked at the god in the sky and cried out in alarm, "No, this isn't that outer god, it's a mental illusion!"

He had seen the image of the evil god, the Sea Giant, on the statue before, and it was definitely not like this.

He now understood the use of the altar he had seen underground. Just as he was thinking that the scene seemed strangely familiar, an unexpected event occurred in the sky.

Just as the red moon appeared, before the mental shock could have too deep an impact on the people in the city, a mirror-like light flashed.

An outlandish scene unfolded!

Suren watched as another grotesque red moon appeared not far from the original!

He immediately recognized that this was definitely not a second moon created by the outer god.

Because it was exactly the same!

There was a distinct line between the two moons, as if... there was a giant mirror in the sky, reflecting the red moon.

"Mirror image?"

Suren's eyes lit up with joy as he realized his senior sister had made her move.

If the outer god had these tricks, Master Pierre and Mr. Mirror must have some countermeasures ready.

As soon as the second red moon was replicated, it immediately siphoned away half of the faith threads from the city.

"The outer god descended prematurely, so its strength was already greatly impaired. Now that it's lost half of its power of faith, this is a brilliant move..."

Seeing this scene, Suren immediately guessed his senior sister's purpose.

Cutting off the outer god's source of faith would inevitably weaken its combat power.

However, the real killer move was yet to come!

Suren watched intently, and saw a figure slowly descending from the replicated red moon as well.

But unlike the golden-armored god beside it, this was a beautiful woman in flowing robes.

She possessed the most beautiful face in the world, so beautiful it was intoxicating.

Likewise, she possessed a sense of holiness, divinity, and indescribable mystery.

"Pandora? Tsukuyomi?"

Suren's expression turned strange for a moment, as he recognized an old acquaintance: the artificial human, Miss Pandora.

Suren had seen this image of her many times before. It was Tsukuyomi of the Hidden Mountain.

Was this... faith theft?

Seeing the threads of faith being absorbed by Pandora, Suren finally understood Mr. Mirror's plan.

Only gods who cultivated the divine path could absorb the power of faith, and Pandora was best at stealing faith.

Moreover, Tsukuyomi's signature technique was mental illusion.

As soon as Pandora appeared, she contaminated the moon in turn and cast her Tsukuyomi Illusion.

Most of those who had fallen into fervent worship instantly regained their senses, and those tormented by mental illusions finally had a chance to breathe.

However, this was not only stealing the outer god's power of faith, but also damaging its very foundation.

With the appearance of the two red moons, the [Sea Giant Clarence]'s wide-ranging mass illusion could no longer be maintained, and it finally revealed its true form.

The divine image of the golden-armored god suddenly collapsed. First, a pair of fleshy wings burst forth, then countless slimy, dripping tentacles stretched out, its face hideously grotesque.

In an instant, it had transformed into a hundred-meter-tall blue-skinned monster.

It roared to the sky, and a mental shockwave swept across the city, bringing disaster. Storms, plagues, famine, pollution, fires, hail... Terrifying and despairing disasters appeared everywhere in the city.

The mutated monsters seemed to have received a call, and once again went berserk.

The fierce battle, which had only just subsided, started again.

...

"It really is a Sea Giant."

Suren had known about the existence of the "Sea Giant" when he was in the Silent Forest.

That guy had tried to take advantage of the "Burial Ground of Gods" near the Cursed Valley hundreds of years ago, but was severely injured by the ancestors of the Dalu tribe and disappeared.

Now it had run to the Luying Empire, trying to restore its strength by rebuilding its system of faith.

And this was the situation now.

Earlier, the "Undead Demon Monk" Rasputin requested to descend, but was ambushed by Suren and Pestoia, and his soul was severely damaged; now, it descended prematurely, and was ambushed by Mr. Mirror and Pandora.

In the original plan, this Sea Giant would sacrifice tens of millions of people in Lingdun. Even if it couldn't condense divine fire and a godhead, it would inevitably be a dominant force in this plane.

Now... it was hard to say how much strength it had left.

As soon as the Sea Giant condensed its giant body, it immediately wanted to kill Pandora, who had stolen its faith.

But how could Master Pierre, who had been waiting so long, allow it to do as it wished?

"Humph!"

A cold snort, like an invisible wave of righteousness, scattered the disaster laws that permeated the world.

Although Suren had run far away, he heard the roar and turned his head to look.

He saw a flame giant slowly rising in the imperial palace square in the distance.

Master Pierre's eyes were tightly closed, and he slowly flew up, his face as pale as gold, black blood flowing from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. As his body flew higher and higher, his aura became more and more elevated, but also more and more strained. He made a hand seal like a double-edged sword, and with a resolute expression, he suddenly opened his eyes and roared like thunder: "Divine Art - Wu Shi Shen Zun (God of No Beginning)!"

This was a fragment of a divine art from the lost Four Divine Servants Mystic Technique.

Looking again, the faint blue flames on his body surface surged out like a mountain torrent, and in an instant, a hundred-meter-tall image of the God of Flames took shape!

In an instant, the sky above Lingdun seemed to be burning, and the clouds in the sky turned into blue-golden flames. The clouds each had their own shapes, turning into thousands of troops, lined up to meet the enemy.

Their momentum was no weaker than that of the hideous, tentacled evil god.

Seeing Master Pierre in such an exaggerated state, everyone who was still fighting the zombies was immediately invigorated, and a surge of fighting spirit rose in their hearts.

Even Suren felt a strange excitement in his heart, and murmured to himself: "Is this the [War] Rule..."

Wearing the Profane Crown, he sensed even more. Even if it meant consuming more life, he wanted to seize this rare opportunity for insight.

This was a disaster, but also a rare opportunity.

Not everyone had the luck to see a ninth-order alchemist fight to the death.

Seeing Master Pierre in full force at this moment, Suren seemed to glimpse the master's life experience. It was a series of cruel wars, countless figures charging in that soaring, unyielding fighting spirit, comrades, allies, enemies, monsters... one after another fell, and ultimately faced death.

Only one person survived and made it to the end.

Like the blue flame clouds in the sky at this moment, he stood alone, with thousands of troops behind him.

Blood, cruelty, heroism, strength, death...

This was the thread of law that Master Pierre had glimpsed in the workings of nature.

Suren watched, lost in thought for a long time.

Just as he was watching, he saw the flame giant transformed by Master Pierre holding a golden spear and charging towards the monster.

With the determination to die, what was the combat power of a ninth-order?

The battle between the two giants seemed to tear the sky apart, with frequent strange phenomena.

Between each clash, there were large swathes of high-level laws colliding.

Even the meteors that fell from the sky were no match for one ten-thousandth of the power of their collisions. The entire northern city of Lingdun was plunged into an apocalyptic scene of mountains collapsing and the earth cracking. The sea water from the distant coast flowed back, and the elemental shockwaves rose higher and higher...

Suren could also see that although Master Pierre's combat power was unmatched, his state was really too bad. He had been poisoned, then ambushed, and his body was already on the verge of exhaustion. This was his last gamble.

And the Sea Giant still had a constant supply of zombie blood and faith. If it couldn't be taken down in a short time and it dragged into a war of attrition, Master Pierre's body might not be able to last until he won.

However, in a battle of this magnitude, even eighth-order professionals had little room to intervene, let alone others.

Moreover, the experts of the Bonaparte royal family were entangled with the zombies, and would not give the opposition any chance to relieve the pressure on Master Pierre.

However, at this moment, an unexpected situation occurred again.

Suddenly, a mirror-like light flashed.

A figure leaped valiantly into the air.

She showed no fear, charging towards the tall evil god.

Just like the sudden appearance of the second moon in the sky, a phantom image identical to the God of Flames on Master Pierre suddenly rose from that figure!

It looked as if two Master Pierres were besieging the outer god.

Pestoia recognized the newcomer and cried out in alarm: "Sister?"

Suren's pupils shrank as he looked at the golden-patterned cloak: "Senior Sister?"

He wasn't surprised that Mr. Mirror would intervene, but he was surprised that his own senior sister's mirroring ability could imitate ninth-order combat power?

The two joined forces, and instantly gained a great advantage.

Suren watched in disbelief, but after watching for a while, he understood something.

Mr. Mirror could only replicate the moves that Master Pierre had used. She couldn't use them herself, but simply replicated them.

But even so, having part of the ninth-order combat power at the eighth-order was already an incredible ability.

Suren's eyes flashed with light and shadow, and he exclaimed "Wonderful!" in his heart.

Double insight! He felt that a mysterious feeling was becoming clearer and clearer.

Although he didn't understand why Mr. Mirror, an eighth-order, could completely replicate ninth-order moves, even the [War] Rule, Suren sincerely admired: "Senior sister's ability is really amazing."

Seeing this great battle, Suren was secretly glad that they had successively schemed against the outer god several times, causing it to descend prematurely.

Otherwise, with its combat power at full strength, who in this plane could stop it?

If it really became the guardian deity of the Bonaparte royal family, the entire Luying would become its soil for developing believers, and even the Mafa.

Human lifespan was limited, but gods could live for countless years.

If Empress Charlotte died and the power of the contract slowly dissipated...

In a few hundred years, the alchemy civilization would really disappear completely.

...

The aftershocks of a ninth-order professional's battle were extremely terrifying.

Suren could also see that Mr. Mirror and Pierre were deliberately moving the battlefield to the sparsely populated suburbs of the northern city.

As they fought, they forced the Sea Giant towards the north.

Not only the three of them, but also the believers, the opposition, and the entire battlefield moved north.

Even the meteor shower had stopped.

The reason why everyone had been constantly attacking the imperial palace was to force the outer god to descend.

Now that the outer god had shown its face, no one cared about the imperial palace.

Everyone knew that the key to this battle was the outer god.

As long as it was killed, everything would be over.

Seeing this, Suren didn't continue to evacuate to the southern city.

Although the battlefield was dangerous, it was indeed an excellent opportunity for insight. If he missed it, he might never have a second chance in his life.

Moreover, the entire battlefield was moving north, and almost all the top-level professionals had gone there. The vicinity of the imperial palace wasn't necessarily that dangerous.

"There are still many soul fragments on the battlefield..."

Thinking of this, Suren no longer hesitated and teleported back.

The battlefield was the least lacking in death. Where there was death, there were souls!

He hadn't dared to get close before because the center of the battlefield was a meat grinder. A large-scale confrontation between armies would almost certainly mean death for a sixth-order.

But now, there was no such concern.

In a few teleports, Suren had returned to the vicinity of Holy Radiance Avenue.

From here on, the streets were littered with corpses.

Although some time had passed and the souls on the corpses were no longer complete, there was still a large number of them!

Suren summoned a shadow of the Grim Reaper behind him, and summoned dozens of puppets to pick up loot, and walked forward cautiously.

The battle was now fierce, and neither side was cleaning up the battlefield, so he was there to be the battlefield cleaner.

[You have stripped the soul fragments of 'Winny Mont', and obtained 'Fourth-Order Power Law Fragments'... ]

[You have stripped the soul fragments of 'Dave Garcia', and obtained 'Alchemy Potion Knowledge'... ]

[You have stripped the soul fragments of 'Nelson Claire', and obtained 'Fifth-Order Wind Element Law']

[You have stripped...]

Those who could participate in the battle in the northern city were all from the upper echelon of Luying's alchemists.

These corpses were either military elites, aristocratic knights, or high-level mercenaries...

The vast majority of them were from the Royal Academy and had an amazing amount of knowledge.

Even a little bit of a soul fragment would bring a good harvest.

This pile of corpses was like a treasure trove, and occasionally he could pick up a "surprise" and add some strange knowledge.

There were corpses everywhere. Suren harvested them all the way, and his understanding of various laws also rose.

If he encountered any surviving zombies or outer god believers, he could also make a killing blow.

Moreover, he also had other gains from this walk.

Suren had previously touched upon some of Master Pierre's [War] Rule insights under the deliberate guidance of Mr. Mirror, and was greatly shocked.

From that time on, it was as if he had opened a door to insight, and the feeling of sand flowing through his fingers became clearer and clearer.

"Silence, dissipation, life returning to silence, energy completely dissipating... is this death?"

Walking in the pile of corpses, Suren felt as if he had grasped something.

The black crown on his head shone brightly, and a mysterious force also blessed that insight.

He didn't know what he wanted to comprehend.

This feeling had also appeared when he killed nearly ten thousand pirates in Moros City-State.

But at that time, he didn't have the crown, and his understanding of the law wasn't enough, so it dissipated in a blink of an eye.

But now, with the blessing of the Profane Crown, Suren saw something else.

Under the appearance, something deeper.

After a person died, there was more than just a corpse and a soul.

There was something deeper.

That was the law of nature itself regarding death itself.

It was as if... from the moment a living being was born, it was destined to have such a result of gradually dying and then returning to silence.

This rule itself existed.

It was just that people usually only saw the appearance of "death" and didn't see the law of energy decaying and dying.

Suren walked step by step in the pile of corpses, as if immersed in a mysterious state of comprehension.

The feeling of seeing flowers in the fog was very mysterious. Overlord domineering aura and dark spiritual power poured into the Profane Crown on his head, and the feeling became clearer and clearer.

It was a very wonderful experience, as if he had resonated with some heaven and earth rules in the dark, and understood some things that he couldn't understand before.

Even Suren himself didn't know that at a certain moment, when he walked through the street, the power of his body's laws was released outward, and a strange black light field surrounded him.

With each breath, it seemed to be a rise and fall of life.

In the area covered by this black light field, the remaining flowers and plants in the roadside flower beds quickly rotted; the corpses also rotted rapidly, visibly turning into lifeless dried corpses; frightened rats scurried past, instantly losing their lives and turning into decay...

This state seemed to last for a long time, or perhaps it was just an instant.

When Suren came back to his senses from that state, he had already reached the end of the street.

The imperial palace looked over with a few hostile gazes, and the sense of crisis woke him up instantly.

Suren frowned, and the feeling of being interrupted from his comprehension was very bad.

He glanced at the guards in the imperial palace who had discovered him.

Those guys didn't dare to come out either.

They could only hope that the imperial palace's defensive restrictions would protect Empress Charlotte. How could they dare to take the initiative to attack?

Moreover, this was the "Grim Reaper".

Not to mention whether they could kill him, what if it was a trap to lure them out?

Suren could guess their thoughts, so he ignored them.

He wanted to enter that state again, but found that he couldn't touch it anymore.

Looking back all the way, the road was decaying. The street, which was clearly full of corpses, looked like it had been through a hundred years, a scene of decay and antiquity.

Suren vaguely guessed and asked in surprise: "Huh... did I do this?"

At this time, Pestoia, who had been following him, also had a strange look on her face and replied: "You just comprehended a very special death field, and then walked over, and it became like this."

"Field?"

Suren's eyes flashed with joy. Wasn't this the prototype of a domain?

In surprise, he wasn't too surprised.

He had the domain artifact [Profane Crown], and Mr. Mirror, a senior sister who had seen the scenery at the top of the mountain, to guide him, as well as such a good opportunity to observe... Multiple stacked buffs. In other words, even a pig should have some insights and gains.

Hiss... Speaking of which, this field is a bit powerful!

But after thinking about it, it seemed that he couldn't condense it again.

However, this was a good start!

Once a law field was formed, it was like a small road opened up through thorns and thistles in the wilderness. Even if there were weeds covering it, it would be much easier to grasp it again next time if he tried more.

Moreover, the Profane Crown also had the magical effect of assisting in comprehension.

Thinking of this, Suren no longer dwelled on it.

He glanced at the corpses all over the imperial palace square and walked over swaggeringly.

He harvested all the way, and used puppets to pick up materials and collect them.

Priceless knight armor, alchemical colonization equipment, job transfer materials, as well as Mafa's mechanical armor, Raphael's super mechanical warriors, mechanical beast corpses...

All kinds of things, collected in piles.

It looked like a garbage dump, but it would not be an exaggeration to call it a mountain of gold and silver.

Suren had never had any idol halo. He had climbed up from the bottom step by step. How could he let go of such a good opportunity to make a fortune?

He harvested the souls of the corpses in the square all the way, collected loot, and could still pay attention to the battle in the distance, and the movements of those hiding in the imperial palace.

Especially after a few more sixth-order mutated monsters appeared and were easily killed by Suren, Empress Charlotte and her royal guards were even more afraid to come out.

They just watched helplessly as Suren cleaned up the spoils of more than ten thousand corpses near the square.

Even though they were all fragments, Suren felt that the harvest was huge.

War?

Death?

Walking all the way through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Suren felt that he had understood some of the essence of [War].