From the moment the black tentacle emerged to the moment it snatched away a god and absorbed him completely, less than a second had passed.
The hunting rhythm the Water God and the others had only just established was shattered in an instant.
The air froze.
Even the fallen gods fleeing for their lives stopped and looked back at the pitch-black hole in space, gripped by a fear deeper than death.
The god who had just vanished was Nereus, God of Navigation and Storms.
Though his divine body had decayed and his mind had become muddled, he was still a genuine god.
Yet he had vanished like an ice cube tossed into a furnace, without raising even the slightest ripple of resistance.
"Run!"
God of Dawn and Dusk - Diosa let out a heart-rending scream.
Only pure terror remained on his half-melted, half-rotted face.
He no longer tried to attack or cared where he was going. Instinctively, he poured all his remaining divine power into his legs and shot toward the depths of the Shadow Domain like a streak of light.
The other gods snapped out of their stupor and scattered in a frenzy.
They finally understood just what sort of horror had followed them out of the place they had escaped.
Compared with that thing, Qin Chuan and his companions seemed downright friendly.
"Don't let them get away!"
The Water God reacted first. With a roar, he prepared to give chase.
They were walking spoils of war. Letting even one escape would hurt.
"Leave them."
Qin Chuan's calm voice stopped everyone.
His gaze had remained fixed on the black rifts in space from the start. It had not shifted an inch.
The Water God and the others paused, then followed his gaze.
The rifts showed no sign of closing.