Einhejar

The abyss answered Isaiah.

The divine remains known as Abyss Beasts, those ancient ferocious creatures, had finally begun to awaken slowly after a thousand years of slumber. The red lights in the darkness were their eyes, and the echoes within the abyss were their roars.

They were far from docile.

A thousand years of sleep had not worn away their hatred and fury. Instead, it had only intensified them.

When they had fallen asleep, the world had still been steeped in chaos. And when they awoke, it meant the world's peace would come to an end.

"What a temper after waking up." Isaiah looked down at the Abyss Beasts and said with a chuckle, "Do you want to destroy the world?"

After connecting to the contract, Isaiah could clearly sense the chaotic, frenzied consciousnesses of these Abyss Beasts. They were like a storm carrying a rain of blood, one that could tear him to pieces if he was not careful.

No wonder Diana had never released these things in the end.

Contracts were mutual. Like a rein, when you used it to guide another, you were also guided by them in turn. Yet most of the time, control of the reins remained in the Contractor's hands, much like how humans used reins to bind oxen and horses for their own use.

But if one wished to use those reins to restrain a stronger beast, or even restrain a storm... the reins might indeed be capable of doing so, but the person holding them was another matter.

When the difference in strength was too vast, it was difficult to say who truly held control of the reins.

But...

Isaiah gently rubbed the Ring Finger he had just obtained, yet he handled her as skillfully as though she were an old friend.

"Come." Isaiah said. "Help me bind the storm."

He activated the contract once more.

In an instant, invisible restraints tightened around the necks of the newly awakened Abyss Beasts.

They raised their heads one after another, looking at the sole human above the abyss. Their fury and resentment, undiminished after a thousand years, poured toward Isaiah in an instant.

Just a lowly human! And he dared dream of controlling gods!

Within that storm of chaotic thoughts, Isaiah sensed such a clear emotion.

"So that's it. The consciousnesses of dead gods?" Isaiah muttered. "Well, when you were still alive, humanity truly was the weakest existence in this world."

The humiliation of being controlled by a human greatly intensified the Abyss Beasts' rage. One after another, they crawled out from cracks in the abyss walls. Their enormous, indescribable bodies snapped the chains binding them, and the abyss shook as rocks shattered.

Against a scene that seemed like the end of the world, they lowered themselves slightly, clearly preparing to leap up, escape this underground prison that had confined them for a thousand years, and kill that arrogant human.

And Isaiah saw every one of those thoughts with perfect clarity.

"What an unruly bunch." Isaiah slowly raised his hand. "And you still can't read the situation. Now..."

Boom!

The Abyss Beasts surged from the ground, charging toward Isaiah with unstoppable momentum.

Their hideous, twisted, indescribable bodies rapidly approached the moonlight.

They were going to return to the real world.

But Isaiah clenched his fist.

"...This is no longer your era."

An even more powerful force exploded within the Abyss Beasts' minds. The previously weightless restraints, that fragile rein which seemed as though it could snap at any moment, suddenly became unbreakable.

At the same time, a familiar yet unfamiliar power returned to the depths of their hearts.

They raised their heads and looked at Isaiah, who was so close, yet felt as though they were seeing someone else.

In that instant, fury and resentment were replaced by terror.

After a thousand years, that terror caught up to them once again. It reminded them of who they were, and who the other party was.

That person was still alive.

That thought magnified their fear once more, turning it into a storm that swiftly swallowed everything. Like drowning people, they flailed madly and helplessly in the water, only to see a rein at the very moment they were about to drown.

So they seized the reins and became beasts once more.

When they came to their senses, the moonlight that had been within reach was already impossibly distant. They had returned to the abyss once again.

And to its deepest depths. Within their sight, the forbidden Final Gate stood quietly.

But the snake eye upon the gate had already opened.

So he had attacked the underground from this direction?

In a corner of the abyss, He Wei Ni Ya watched in silence.

Perhaps because He Wei Ni Ya, grievously wounded, was as weak as a mortal, or perhaps because Isaiah and the Abyss Beasts were simply too powerful. In any case, no one noticed her now, allowing her to witness Isaiah's "battle" with the Abyss Beasts in its entirety.

Diana's worries had indeed been correct. In the end, those Abyss Beasts posed no obstacle to Isaiah at all. He had truly arrived before the Final Gate.

Now, only the final Einhejar could stop him.

Which meant...

He Wei Ni Ya looked toward the Final Gate.

Behind that gate was Visas's remaining body?

After enduring countless hardships, he had finally arrived before this door.

The current battle was no longer something He Wei Ni Ya could interfere with, nor would she pray in that Well of Salvation as Diana wished. At present, she and Isaiah were on the same side. After all, only Isaiah had a chance of defeating Einhejar and opening the Final Gate.

So all she needed to do was... huh?

He Wei Ni Ya suddenly sensed something.

This was... Visas's power?

Why was there still Visas's power in this place?

She bent down with difficulty and looked underground. Then her pupils contracted slightly.

Because she saw Ai De Wen flash past.

The Planet Devourer—Einhejar—had now fully awakened.

Or rather, It had awakened long ago. It had gained consciousness when Isaiah began attacking Abyss Prison.

But It had not moved.

Because the survival or destruction of Abyss Prison had nothing to do with It. Even the Abyss Beasts underground had nothing to do with It.

It had only one duty: guard this gate and kill any being that attempted to approach it.

How the outside world changed had nothing to do with It. All It guarded was this gate.

And for a thousand years, no one had ever been able to approach it.

Until today.

Einhejar stared with Its cold single eye at the Abyss Beasts falling into the depths. The crushing pressure of a Demigod made those savage Abyss Beasts instinctively lower their bodies and tremble as if they had encountered a natural predator.

After all, they were at most merely dead Gods, while Einhejar was a true Demigod.

The difference in rank made them instinctively want to retreat, but at that moment, the reins binding them suddenly tightened again.

Kill It!

Isaiah's command swept over their instinctive fear like a raging tide, crushing it in an instant.

Beasts fitted with reins could not retreat, and beneath the contract, they were no longer even allowed the right to fear.

Thus, they stepped forward one after another. Facing the Final Gate and its final guardian, they bared their fangs, and countless mouths let out roars.

This was a declaration of war.

Einhejar finally stopped merely watching. The serpentine body coiled around the gate began to move, tens of thousands of scales reflecting the red light of Its pupil in a dazzling, eerie display.

With a sharp hiss.

A red flash streaked through the darkness. That massive body tore through the air with a piercing shriek, like a blade drawn from its sheath.

Its speed was simply too fast. The few Abyss Beasts closest to It were struck by Its enormous body before they even had time to react, then with a boom, they became raging flames, illuminating the darkness amid enormous wails.

The remaining Abyss Beasts immediately counterattacked, pouncing on Einhejar. Yet before they could cause any harm, they too became flames alongside the previous beasts, burning fiercely amid shrill cries.

The underground soon became a sea of fire. Every Abyss Beast that had fallen into this place became fuel in an instant.

And Einhejar had done nothing. It had merely completed a simple emergence from Its enclosure, turning every challenger into ashes.

Within the roaring flames, Einhejar raised Its head and stared at Isaiah above the abyss with Its single eye.

Clearly, It knew who the true challenger was.

"So this is the body of a Demigod?" Isaiah murmured after witnessing everything. "As expected, gods are unaffected by all mortal means."

Gods were unaffected by the mortal world.

This was the iron law of this land, something everyone understood perfectly well.

It was precisely because of this that the belief that mortals could not defeat gods had been branded into everyone's minds like steel.

But Isaiah was not included among them. Having obtained four pieces of Visas's corpse, he now possessed the qualifications to slay gods.

Most of the Abyss Beasts also possessed this trait, since many of them had once been Gods as well. They had been instantly slaughtered earlier only because Isaiah had deliberately controlled them to die as a test of Einhejar's physical strength.

Now he could confirm that Einhejar truly was a genuine Demigod, and Its body was indeed a true divine body, possessing the traits of a god.

Then came the question of strength.

Isaiah spread his hand, and the power of the contract scattered outward like a spiderweb once more. More Abyss Beasts broke free of their chains and crawled out from the cracks, staring fixedly at Einhejar within the sea of fire.

Previously, Isaiah had treated them only as puppets and had not allowed them to use their true strength.

But now...

"Attack." Isaiah gave the command.

One of the Abyss Beasts, resembling a spider, abruptly spread open its body. Countless strands of web shot forth and poured toward Einhejar, instantly ensnaring half of Its body.

Then a series of teeth-grinding chewing sounds echoed from underground.

For what it had fired were not webs, but thin, web-like tentacles covered with countless mouths. Those mouths opened and closed, ceaselessly gnawing away.

Yet they were not merely gnawing. Their teeth carried intense corrosive properties, and under the rapid bites, even Einhejar's snake scales showed signs of decay.

And that was not all. Another Abyss Beast, one that looked like countless different creatures stitched together, launched its attack as well. Like a grotesque fat clown, it rolled its ugly body forward with difficulty while emitting a chilling shriek.

Under that shriek, the space around Einhejar rapidly distorted, twisting into grotesque faces.

The monstrous faces opened their huge mouths toward Einhejar. Within were not fangs, but thousands of eyeballs looking in every direction before turning in unison toward Einhejar.

Under the gaze of those eyeballs, blood began seeping from Einhejar's scales.

Then came the third, the fourth...

These beings, who in ancient times had either been Gods or natural disasters, now launched attacks against the only Demigod present. Every attack possessed the trait of godslaying. If taken head-on, even a true god would perish here.

But true gods would not sit and await death, and neither would Einhejar.

It twisted Its body once again. Countless scales reflected the flames, creating a dazzling vortex.

Or rather, a black hole.

A black hole capable of devouring the sun.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

A tremendous gravitational force suddenly arose within the "black hole." In an instant, it snapped those bizarre webs and erased the distorted monstrous faces.

But that was not all. The Abyss Beasts clinging to the walls were affected by the gravity as well, dragged free from the walls one after another.

They resisted desperately, driving their tentacles backward into the walls or shrinking their bodies, trying to force their way into the cracks.

But it was useless.

Like celestial bodies encountering a black hole, that immense power, beyond all else, was enough to render any resistance futile.

Thus, these Abyss Beasts, like natural disasters, were plucked from the walls one by one like flies, sucked in, and swallowed by the true abyss.

Yet they did not immediately vanish or die, for Einhejar had not created a real black hole. They were merely drawn onto Einhejar's divine body.

And Einhejar was a coiled giant serpent.

Then came a continuous series of bones cracking and flesh being crushed. The powerful Abyss Beasts were truly ground into bloody pulp by Einhejar's enormous divine body like livestock dropped into a meat grinder.

They struggled frantically, but it was useless. They could only watch as their bodies were crushed apart.

Their immense vitality prevented them from dying immediately, leaving them to endure that extreme agony again and again without being able to make a sound.

Because their vocal organs had been crushed by Einhejar as well.

Only after several minutes did Einhejar stop moving.

The black hole vanished, and the attacks against Einhejar vanished with it.

If not for Einhejar's snake scales already being covered in flesh and shattered bones, it would have seemed as though nothing had happened.

Einhejar continued to gaze silently at Isaiah.

Like an ancient god in the deep sea, coldly watching a lone boat that had wandered into the depths.