Phantom of a God

After dealing with all his gains, Qin Chuan left the Black Market and returned to the surface. He directly summoned the Shadow Dragon and flew toward the location Idith had given him.

Judging from the map, the coordinates were north of Beili City, several hundred miles away.

Qin Chuan checked the map and discovered that it was Bear Monster territory.

It seemed Hand of the Dead had realized that goblins were unreliable and was preparing to find a different partner.

Compared to weak goblins, Bear Monsters were undoubtedly much stronger.

Adult Bear Monsters had thick hides and immense strength. Not only did they give the native NPCs headaches, but players suffered greatly at their hands as well.

After Apocalypse descended, the Bear Monsters had even breached several cities, causing massive casualties.

"I wonder what new trick Hand of the Dead has come up with this time."

Qin Chuan thought to himself.

At the Shadow Dragon's speed, a few hundred miles passed in the blink of an eye.

As he neared the edge of Bear Monster territory, Qin Chuan put away the Shadow Dragon, activated Shadow Stealth, and headed deeper into their domain.

Before long, Qin Chuan spotted a large gathering of Bear Monsters deep within the territory.

They surrounded a High Platform built from massive stones, their expressions fevered with excitement.

From time to time, Bear Monsters carried prey over from afar and piled it atop the High Platform. Beast blood flowed down the platform, making the Bear Monsters around it even more excited.

On the High Platform stood more than a hundred Hand of the Dead members.

Given Hand of the Dead's usual secretive style, gathering so many members meant this was definitely no small matter.

Qin Chuan observed them in secret while thinking rapidly.

Judging by the structure of the stone platform, Hand of the Dead was likely planning to join the Bear Monsters in conducting a sacrificial ritual.

But the question was, whose help were they seeking?

If it's Death Bringer, then this is going to get interesting.

Qin Chuan thought to himself.

The battle between Death Bringer and Belial would not end anytime soon.

Even if all seven Death Bringers gathered together, they still could not instantly kill Belial.

At their level, their vitality was unimaginably tenacious.

Combined with all sorts of bizarre methods, they were easy to defeat but difficult to kill.

If Hand of the Dead truly prayed to Death Bringer for power, then all the effort they had put into this ritual was destined to be wasted.

But as he continued observing, Qin Chuan noticed something unusual.

This time, the Bear Monsters were leading the ritual.

Hand of the Dead's presence here made them seem more like technical advisors.

Well, damn. Hand of the Dead's business scope is pretty broad.

Qin Chuan could not help but mock them inwardly.

Yet his vigilance rose.

Because this was the proper way for Hand of the Dead to operate.

In fact, the fundamental reason Hand of the Dead had become the villainous faction of the first major version was that they had adjusted their strategy. Rather than stepping forward to cause trouble themselves, they had moved into the shadows and incited monsters to attack humans.

Relying on the technology they possessed, combined with the monsters' own abilities, they had thrown all of Apocalypse into turmoil.

Since Hand of the Dead has started providing technical guidance, something big must be coming soon.

Qin Chuan felt somewhat expectant.

As he pondered, the distant Bear Monsters had already piled the High Platform full of prey. Bear Monster Shamans wielding wooden staffs stood scattered around the platform.

Several dozen burly Bear Monsters stepped onto the High Platform, their bodies covered in totems painted with special pigments.

Clearly, the Bear Monsters were planning to use this ritual to strengthen these tribesmen and grant them greater power.

Qin Chuan did not make a move. Instead, he waited for the ritual to proceed.

He wanted to see whether Hand of the Dead had any new tricks.

The Hand of the Dead members stepped down from the High Platform and stood beside the Bear Monster Shamans, beginning to chant together.

Boom!

A beam of red light shot into the clouds, and the sky grew dim.

A phantom with a beast's head and a humanoid body cast its gaze down from the heavens.

Even with Shadow Stealth activated and hidden within the void, Qin Chuan could still sense that savage, violent aura.

"A god of the Beast God Lineage?"

Qin Chuan's brow furrowed deeper.

He vaguely remembered that this version had not yet reached the stage where Beast Gods appeared. Why could the Bear Monsters communicate with a Beast God through a ritual?

Was this an accident, or was Apocalypse doing this deliberately?

This was what Qin Chuan needed to figure out most.

He vaguely sensed that Apocalypse was changing.

Just as No Returner had said, history would not repeat itself. Any change would bring entirely new outcomes.

After being reborn, he had not only acquired a brand-new talent, but even his class was completely different from his previous life.

With such enormous changes, if Apocalypse's progression remained unchanged, Qin Chuan would find that even more terrifying.

To keep all variables firmly under control, Apocalypse's power would have to be beyond imagination.

Change was not necessarily a bad thing.

Had Apocalypse realized something, which was why it had accelerated the gods' awakening?

Qin Chuan made a bold guess.

Apocalypse might only be a game for now, but the gods hidden in the shadows truly existed. They were merely limited by Apocalypse's suppression and remained dormant.

They were only waiting for the right time to appear before the world once more.

Now, the appearance of a Beast God Lineage deity had made the situation even more complicated.

As he pondered, the god in the sky sent down radiance that sank into the bodies of the Bear Monsters on the High Platform.

They immediately grew larger and more muscular at a visible rate, their ranks rising steadily until they quickly reached Gold-rank and above.

And this was clearly not their limit.

Because the prey on the High Platform had not been completely consumed.

More Bear Monsters could no longer suppress the impulse in their hearts. They leaped onto the High Platform and began fighting the earlier Bear Monsters for the god's blessing.

The slaughter began almost instantly.

Yet the phantom in the sky showed no anger. Instead, it sent down even more radiance, further stimulating the Bear Monsters' nerves.

Before long, one Gold-rank Bear Monster was torn to pieces by its companions. Its flesh and blood were devoured, while only its skeleton was discarded beneath the High Platform.

Once there was one, there would be another. Bear Monsters continually fell, but even more rushed onto the High Platform.

Qin Chuan watched with considerable heartache.

Those were all Attribute Points.

But with the god's phantom still present, acting rashly would probably be unwise.

Qin Chuan simply continued waiting. Once the ritual ended, it would be time for him to unleash a slaughter!

But the very next second, Qin Chuan saw messages flashing through the Guild Channel one after another.

Xue Zhong Yi Jian Xia: "Holy shit, the sky over Clear Wind City has turned red!"

Ji Xing: "Skarn City too."

Yingluo Yezakura: "What a coincidence. A beam of red light appeared outside Linggang City. It doesn't feel like a good sign."

Xiao: "I'm doing a quest in Feiyun City, and the sky here has turned red too."

Seeing the guild chat, Qin Chuan's expression turned grave.

Hand of the Dead had truly pulled off something massive. They were not merely providing technical guidance outside Beili City and having monsters conduct rituals to communicate with gods. Their traces had even appeared near the other major cities.

There were twelve major cities in the Flame Nation Region. If Hand of the Dead was present in all of them, that meant twelve god phantoms would appear!

The density was far too high.

Normally, the appearance of more than one god phantom would trigger Apocalypse's suppression.

But now there were a full twelve phantoms. There was absolutely no way this could have happened without Apocalypse's indulgence!