Chapter 1 The Sinking

Plunging into darkness, the five senses gradually disappeared, and even the mental world began to experience a sense of disintegration and emptiness, as if one had vanished between heaven and earth, never existing from the past to the future. Most people would probably panic completely in this situation, but Hao Ren quickly calmed down because this wasn't the first time he'd encountered something similar.

Every time he was dragged into the "Goddess Illusion" by Leah's divine power, it felt pretty much like this. The process of having his spirit extracted and injected into the illusion world was like being reborn, and this time the reaction was just a bit stronger than before.

Hao Ren waited quietly in the darkness, and as the feeling of mental numbness and loss of senses gradually subsided, light reappeared before his eyes, and his feet were once again on solid ground.

He looked around and saw himself standing in a magnificent, resplendent hall. Beside him was a surprisingly wide corridor, with crystal windows dozens of meters high lining both walls. Huge, faintly glowing pillars were arranged along the corridor, stretching all the way to the end of his vision.

Between them, long streamers of cloth hung down from the dome, and the cloth seemed to be burning with golden flames. Within the flames, he could see mythical scenes of creation constantly changing on the surface of the streamers.

"Sure enough..." Hao Ren murmured, not too surprised.

He had seen this scene before, the temple on the former Origin Star. He had been brought into this illusion after touching the golden disc. But this time it seemed a little different than before...

Hao Ren frowned and looked around, finding that this illusion had many more details than last time, and the distant scenery was incredibly clear. Standing among the pillars and windows, he couldn't help but think, "This is the real world." After some thought, he concluded that this change must be due to Leah's divine power.

After all, last time he entered the illusion by chance, but this time he was guided in by Leah.

But speaking of which... where was Leah?

Hao Ren searched around, but couldn't find the Creation Goddess who had guided him into the illusion. However, a bright flash suddenly appeared in the corner of his vision. The flash burst open with a deafening roar, creating a scorching storm that shattered some of the temple's windows and pillars. With the appearance of this flash and explosion, everything in the illusion seemed to be switched on and began to operate rapidly.

Deafening explosions came from all directions. Endless flames and lightning raged outside the windows, then poured into the hall through the shattered windows. The entire building shook violently in the explosions, and huge rocks and pieces of metal fell from the high dome. In an instant, the sky fell and the earth cracked.

"They're attacking the main hall! The divine power barrier has been breached!"

"The second gate has been broken! Reserve team, reserve team, hurry to Mother's side!"

"The Great Temple is sinking! The energy of the Origin Sea is out of control. The rebels have opened a gate under the temple! Hurry..."

Countless shouts of battle came from near and far. The roars of the Guardian Giants, filled with anger and battle intent, echoed through all the halls like thunder, mixed with real thunderous roars and explosions. Hao Ren immediately raised his shield to block the falling rocks and the rampant, uncontrolled shockwaves. However, he looked around and couldn't see a single person.

He couldn't see the Guardian Giants guarding the temple, nor the rebellious army attacking it.

Another war cry exploded beside him. He clearly heard the roar just a hundred meters away, but when he looked in the direction of the sound, he couldn't see anyone. He only saw a broken giant sword suddenly appear there, its blade covered in lightning flames, colliding with something invisible. A grand explosion completely engulfed the area, and a large amount of rubble and metal fragments rushed towards him, hitting the surface of his rigid shield with a crackling sound, creating countless sparks.

Raising his hand to block these deadly fragments, Hao Ren suddenly felt a sense of urgency. This illusion was indeed completely different from before!

What happened here could affect him!

The fragments hitting the shield were all real, and he clearly felt his shield capacity rapidly decreasing with each shockwave!

"Damn, I can't stay here!" Hao Ren broke out in a cold sweat and ran, heading towards the depths of the temple in the direction he remembered from last time. Although he didn't know what special meaning this changed illusion had, he felt that the center of the illusion, where the Creation Goddess fell, would definitely answer his questions.

Everything around him began to collapse, just as he had witnessed before. This ancient and sacred hall was rapidly disintegrating under the attacks of the Godslayers. The magnificent pillars and walls seemed as fragile as piles of sand, collapsing layer upon layer. Outside the temple, the crimson sea of the Origin Star stirred up monstrous waves, constantly surging as if to devour the place.

Hao Ren ran wildly through the flames and smoke, instantly crossing countless long corridors and vast halls. Although he couldn't see a single person, the Godslayers' attack had obviously reached the final line of defense. Every part of the temple was burning, every part was collapsing, and at the end of the road ahead, the somewhat familiar gate had been breached. He could feel the Creation Goddess was behind the gate.

Having experienced it once before, and with the Creation Goddess herself having been found and resurrected by him, Hao Ren felt much calmer than last time. He passed through the gate without hesitation, and the scene he had seen before appeared before him again.

The figure in the gold-red armor stood before the altar, holding a dark sword resembling a fragment of the universe. On the altar was the Creation Goddess, quietly awaiting death, still shrouded in a cloud of light, but he could still vaguely make out the outline of Leah.

"How come I didn't notice she was so short..." Hao Ren murmured subconsciously, striding towards the center of the hall.

He found that time seemed to have frozen here. The moment he entered the hall, the sounds of battle outside ceased, and the flames burning inside the hall were strangely still in mid-air. This was another difference from his previous experience with this illusion.

He arrived at the scene of the Godslaying, reaching out to grab the Godslayer's arm. He had already seen Leah's real face, and saw it almost every day, so this time he didn't care much about the Creation Goddess, but he was very curious about the assassin who had completed the "heroic feat of Godslaying" ten thousand years ago.

But when he saw the Godslayer's face, he found it was shrouded in an impenetrable fog.

"Huh..." Hao Ren exclaimed in surprise, and then wanted to let go of his hand, but the moment he released his grip, an unexpected change occurred.

The "Godslayer's" body suddenly melted like wax. The magnificent gold-red armor softened, flowed down, and quickly climbed onto Hao Ren's arm. He was caught off guard by this sudden change and quickly tried to pull away and shake off the "foreign object" climbing onto his body, but found his movements were restricted by something. Even raising his hand was extremely difficult.

He felt dizzy and swaying, as if he were drunk. All the limbs of his body became unresponsive and extremely heavy, and in just a few breaths, the wax-like substance had covered his entire body. He felt like he couldn't breathe or make a sound. His whole person was encased in a thick shell, and this "shell" had already begun to move.

He saw "himself" holding the sword with the universe fragment, and slowly raising it. As if in slow motion in a movie, the sword was slowly and resolutely stabbed into the chest of the Creation Goddess.

He desperately wanted to regain control of his body, wanting to stop the actions of his hands, but no matter how strong his will was, it couldn't be transmitted to the limbs that obviously no longer belonged to him. It wasn't until the Godslaying sword was thrust down that he realized his efforts were futile.

He couldn't change what had already been recorded in this illusion. And even if he did change it, it wouldn't matter.

It was just a recording.

But this truth made him shudder.

God's blood flowed down the blade, and some warm blood even splattered out, landing on his hand. He saw "himself" release the hilt of the sword, and the divine blood flowed onto his palm, leaving a burning mark there.

And the figure shrouded in light before him became clear.

All the light was condensed and gathered, and the originally blurred figure turned into Leah's image. She was wearing the white dress she had worn when they first met, leaning against the golden disc behind the altar. Behind the golden disc were the constantly collapsing palace and the constantly surging red sea.

The Creation Goddess's blood was flowing down the altar.

Hao Ren suddenly felt the unusual heaviness on his limbs disappear. He regained control of his body. After a brief daze, he rushed towards the direction where Leah had fallen.

Countless thoughts swirled madly in his mind. He felt like his brain was filled with paste and was difficult to operate. However, amidst the impact of this huge amount of information, he still maintained the last bit of clarity. He relied on this clarity to suppress all the negative emotions, using his arms to prop up Leah's upper body and check her condition.

The last time he entered the illusion, he saw the explosion of the Origin Star and the descent of divine punishment immediately after the Godslaying event. However, something had obviously changed in this second experienced illusion. The explosion of the Origin Star had not happened, and the divine punishment didn't seem to have descended. Except for the Godslaying event itself, everything else seemed to have been temporarily postponed.

In Hao Ren's current state, it was difficult to think about these minor details. He only felt Leah grabbing his arm tightly. The power of a god caused his already depleted rigid shield to bottom out directly. A piercing pain made him even suspect that his bones were about to be crushed.

Leah stared at him intently, her eyes filled with tears: "That's really heartbreaking!!"

(Happy New Year, everyone~~)