Air permeated with a pungent, burning smell, and dark, chaotic magic gradually flowed into the sacred corridor. The crystal-formed passageway had already taken on a layer of gray. The ancient starship's defense facilities, supported by their last remaining energy, were struggling to resist the invaders, but they were steadily losing ground.

Blue-white beams of light crisscrossed in the air, rapidly solidifying into a crystalline protective wall. However, after only a moment, crackling sparks appeared on the crystalline wall. A series of increasingly strong vibrations and ear-piercing tearing sounds came from the other side of the wall. Within a few short minutes, the crystalline barrier was covered in a crisscrossing network of black cracks.

With a bang, the black cracks shattered explosively, the crystalline wall erupting into a shower of brilliant fragments. Three figures, cloaked in dark magic, burst through this final barrier.

Leading the way was "August VII," clad in papal robes. This "pope" had been completely transformed by the power of chaos. His skin was covered in terrifying black lines, his veins bulged, his muscles were swollen, and his height had reached nearly two meters. It was hard to believe that he had been a frail, senile old man not long ago. He held in his hand a black longsword that resembled a fragment of the universe. It seemed that the sword's energy was eroding and changing his body structure; the arm holding the sword had swollen abnormally, a full circle larger than his left arm, and had even burst through his clothes.

Following behind was the former guardian knight, Lavinia. This once-noble knight had also been severely corrupted. The black lines on her skin and her crimson eyes completely ruined her appearance. Although the female knight had never been particularly beautiful, these mutated features had destroyed what little loveliness she possessed, making her look more like a hideous monster. Lavinia still held the glowing disc tightly in her arms. The sacred energy released from the disc seemed to be scorching her body, causing white smoke to rise from her arms, but the female knight seemed oblivious, her face bearing a twisted fanaticism.

Bringing up the rear was Hao Ren's "old acquaintance," Count Wille.

His corruption was almost no different from the other two, but the most astonishing thing was that his arm, which Hao Ren had cut off, had miraculously grown back—or rather, "grown back" was not accurate, because the regrown arm was twisted and overgrown, covered in countless ugly tumors and cracked wounds. Rather than a human limb, it looked more like a demon arm cobbled together with dark magic.

"The gatekeeper's resistance is truly tenacious…" Wille muttered in a low voice, his angry tone laced with hissing sounds, as if his vocal cords had also become inhuman. "Even though it's extremely weak, it's still been able to hold us back for so long."

In addition to the raised black lines on his skin, a large number of crisscrossing wrinkles could be seen, and his hair was already streaked with white, as if he had aged thirty years. This was clearly the price he had paid for using the power of Lockmarton.

"The gatekeepers are always stubborn," August VII's voice was equally hoarse and low, devoid of any trace of his former kindness and amiability. "It's a foolish artificial soul that only follows orders and doesn't understand the greatness of our cause at all. But don't worry, I've used the power bestowed by the Lord to severely injure that artificial soul. Before she can complete her reconstruction, our Lord will have already broken free of his shackles…"

When August VII mentioned "the power bestowed by the Lord," Wille's gaze involuntarily fell on the cosmic fragment sword in the other's hand, his eyes revealing a kind of eagerness that he himself didn't even realize.

That was the power bestowed by the Lord, power that came directly from the Great Lord Lockmarton! Power that could rival gods, even tear apart divine power, and split the fundamental laws of the world in two! The gatekeepers had set up layers of obstacles with the help of the sacred mountain Asu Man. Without this divine weapon, even a dozen or twenty more popes and agents would have died in these layers of crystal barriers. However, in the face of this divine weapon, the structure of sacred mountain Asu Man was as fragile as paper… It was just a pity that such a divine weapon, which could directly communicate with the Great Lord, had chosen to descend upon August VII, a newly enlightened fellow. This made Wille, one of the high-ranking members of the Annihilation Cult, gnash his teeth.

The other party had once been the supreme ruler of the Goddess Cult. Such a former mortal enemy had now become the lucky one favored by the Great Lord, which made Wille very dissatisfied.

However, he dared not express his dissatisfaction—all of the Great Lord's gifts were unquestionable. Any decree He issued, no matter how absurd, could not be defied in the slightest. Now that the "World-Splitting Blade" had appeared in August VII's hands, he, as Lockmarton's loyal servant, could only bow his head and accept it.

Now he only hoped that August VII could live up to the Great Lord's favor, and that his disappointing sister could successfully complete the task of opening the Ark of the Covenant—and then, he could wholeheartedly respond to the call and go to the battlefield of eternal damnation, bravely fighting under Lockmarton's own witness.

The last layer of the barrier had been broken.

Rushing out of a downward-sloping corridor, a wide space appeared before Wille and the others.

This place was completely different from any of the cabins in Asu Man—the unusually wide, cave-like space had an irregular shape, and the ground was no longer made of crystal, but instead showed large areas of stone slabs and steel. Between the cracks in the stone slabs, randomly growing crystal clusters of various sizes emitted a soft glow, illuminating this space. Wille saw that the edges of this space rose slightly upward, forming mountain-like structures, and above the "cave" was a vast, dizzying forest of giant crystals.

He suddenly realized that he had left the main body of Asu Man. This place was actually deep underground.

The crystal sacred mountain Asu Man was vertically embedded in a giant hollow.

"How… unbelievable…" Even though he had already dedicated his soul to Lockmarton, Wille was still shocked by the scene before him and couldn't help but murmur to himself.

August VII, who knew more about the secrets of the Holy See, was the first to calm down. The former pope raised the "World-Splitting Blade" in his hand and pointed forward: "That is the Ark of the Covenant… Hmph, and the 'wardens.'"

Wille looked up ahead, his pupils involuntarily contracting.

In the center of the cave, a crystal-clear, pyramid-shaped structure about a hundred meters high could be seen. It looked as if it had been carved from a single piece of white crystal, and there were no seams or joints visible on the surface of the giant crystal. On the surface of the crystal pyramid, there was a large, circular indentation, seemingly meant to hold something.

Surrounding the crystal pyramid, twenty-one giants cast from rock and steel stood tall, their presence awe-inspiring.

Each of these rock giants was lifelike, as if they were real people. Anyone who had been to the Hall of Statues would recognize that they were the true forms of the statues in the Hall of Statues—they were more vivid and majestic than the sculptures in the Hall of Statues, and even exuded a life-like aura from their bodies made of rock and metal!

However, these ancient guardians were not in good condition—streams of black aura seeped out from the base of the crystal pyramid. It was unknown how long these auras had been leaking out, but they were缠绕trapped around the bodies of the rock guards, and had even penetrated into their bodies. Each rock guard wore an expression of anger or pain, but they could only stand stiffly in place, unable to move an inch, just like real statues.

"Three hundred years… they have been imprisoned here by the power of the Great Lord for three hundred years!" August VII slowly moved forward, carrying the World-Splitting Blade. The wardens, whom he had once revered and worshiped, were now objects of his unrestrained commentary. "It's just a pity that the restrictions left by the Creator are too strong. Even if the wardens fail, there are still Asu Man's automatic defense mechanisms and the barriers of the Mirror Realm, as well as all kinds of divine spells that prevent mortals from approaching and that hateful gatekeeper… But all of this is over. The last line of defense has collapsed! Lavinia, go, embed the Radiant Disc into the Ark of the Covenant, and the Mirror Realm will flip! The Abyss of Oblivion will open its gates!"

Lavinia's eyes burned with a fanatical light as she walked step by step towards the crystal pyramid. Behind her, Wille's voice also sounded, full of enticement: "Lavinia, hurry! Our vanguard has already launched the final battle in the abyss! Quickly open the gate and let us connect the two worlds!"

Lavinia walked straight through the stiff, motionless wardens and arrived in front of the crystal pyramid.

Then, she froze.

Wille's impatient roar came from behind: "Lavinia! What are you waiting for?"

"Brother… this…" Lavinia turned her head hesitantly. "Something seems wrong."

Wille and August VII came to the front of the pyramid. The latter remained vigilant, while the former roared in a low voice: "What are you hesitating about? Do you still have doubts about your faith in the Lord?!"

Such a question clearly frightened Lavinia, and she immediately shook her head: "No, no, no, brother, my faith in the Great Lord is unshakable, but it's just that… I can't find a place to put the disc on the Ark of the Covenant, except for this huge indentation…"

Lavinia raised her hand and pointed to the crystal pyramid.

The three Annihilation Cultists looked up, staring at the circular indentation on the pyramid wall, which was ten meters in diameter.

Then they lowered their heads again, looking at the small plastic disc that Lavinia was holding in her arms.

It wasn't even as big as a washbasin…

Wille's voice was a little uncertain: "Maybe… it'll get bigger when you put it on?"

"Perhaps it doesn't need to fit perfectly," August VII was a pope, but his knowledge of the Ark of the Covenant was just a vague concept in the Theocracy. In addition, the real Radiant Disc had been missing for many years, so he could only guess blindly, "Maybe it will work when you put it on."

Lavinia raised the disc in her hand hesitantly and gestured in front of the crystal pyramid. She saw the mysterious characters on the bottom of the disc (the logo of Plastic Factory No. 5): "It seems to have a front and back… Which side should be up?"

Wille's eyebrows twitched: "Try both."

Lavinia hesitated for a moment, then prepared to try as instructed.

However, just as she was about to put the disc on, a voice suddenly came:

"If I were you, I definitely wouldn't be fiddling with this divine artifact without even looking at the instructions."

Wille turned his head in horror and saw the face he least wanted to see in his life.

Hao Ren, with his henchmen, leading the dog, holding a stick, and with his hands in his pockets, looked at him with a smile.

Then, the two groups were deadlocked for a moment, followed by various exclamations almost simultaneously:

"What are you doing here?"

"Could it be… Your Holiness the Pope?!"

"Holy crap, old man, where did you get that broadsword?"

"That's my disc!"

"Woof woof woof woo woo!" (The alpha wolf is right, stop yapping!)

Not caring about the order of speaking at all…