Next Target

"We've witnessed history, haven't we?" Deep underground, Fenris, the Eternal Nightmare Chief, murmured as he looked at the scene before him. "Although I would rather never witness such history in my entire life."

It is now the third day after the "disaster".

Since the Contract Land no longer exists, and the powerful Guardian Legion has also vanished, the delegations from the Eight Great Churches who came to attend the gathering were the first to arrive at this location.

To be more precise, there are not Eight Great Churches, only four and a half.

The four delegations—Eternal Nightmare, Twin Forms, Underworld, Lyra— still maintain their complete organizational structure. Rhine can only be considered half a delegation, while Star Remnant is the protagonist of this calamity. Add to that the Holy Sound, which is just there to make up the numbers, and Senluo (Wildfire), who can't even make up the numbers Eight Great Churches that have ruled this world for thousands of years can only barely muster four and a half vanguard forces at present.

Thinking of this, Fenris felt a sense of desolation welling up in his heart, especially when he stood in front of the collapsed Final Gate, looking at this ancient building that was once so magnificent but is now just ruins. This sense of desolation was even stronger.

"History is a cycle." A deep, husky voice sounded behind Fenris. "He has returned after all."

Fenris didn't even need to turn around to know that the person behind him was the representative of the underworld, that dead ghost named Luer.

"Dead ghost" isn't an insult, it's a fact.

Normally, Fenris wouldn't want to talk to the other party, after all, Eternal Nightmare and Underworld have always been mortal enemies.

But this antagonism seems ridiculous now.

"Have your men found anything?" Fenris asked.

"The ceremony will take a little longer," Luer replied, "But it will be soon."

Fenris turned his head and looked at the group of dead ghost cultists from the Underworld lying there in rows like corpses, their bodies emitting an eerie light.

This is their ritual, used to reconstruct what actually happened here.

Even though three days had passed, the causes and consequences of this upheaval remained shrouded in mystery for all the delegations. They had only temporarily left the camp of the Heaven's Obedience at the Warden's request, awaiting Isaiah's outcome.

But the result was that overnight, the Contract Land was gone, the Abyss Prison was destroyed, Visas returned, and the Star Relic God... died.

The news of the death of the Star Relic God has not yet spread completely and is still under a news blackout, but it is obviously not a secret to the various delegations in the area.

"Did the one from the Rhine say anything?" Luer asked Fenris as well.

Fenris shook his head. "No, he's gone mad."

"Is he really crazy or just pretending?"

"Do you think anyone can feign madness in front of us, the Eternal Nightmare Apostle?"

"Who knows?"

Fenris was so angry that his teeth ached.

Damn it, no matter what, these bastards are just so annoying.

"We entered his dream," Fenris explained stiffly. "Dreams are thoughts, and they cannot be faked. If it were a normal person, we would definitely be able to tell, but he..."

The two turned their heads at the same time and looked at Luo Qi, who was sitting there blankly under the protection of several Rhine Knights.

Why Luo Qi is here is also one of the mysteries surrounding this disaster. After all, besides the Star Relic Church, the main force of the disaster, many people from the Rhine were also involved, with Luo Qi, who was the bishop, leading the charge.

But no one knows why he got involved or what he did, not even the half of the Rhine Knight were left behind.

By the time the representatives arrived, Luo Qi, the sole survivor of the disaster, had gone mad and lost the last finger on his right hand.

Right now, he was staring blankly at his bare right hand like a fool, not reacting to anything anyone said.

So our last hope rests on those dead ghosts in the underworld.

Thinking of this, Fenris became increasingly agitated, but Luer remained unhurried, a stark contrast to him, which reminded Fenris of Luer's earlier words.

"You don't seem surprised by Visas's return," Fenris asked. "Was it the Lord of the Netherworld who said so?"

"Yes." Luer nodded stiffly. "The Lord told us a long time ago that Visas would return sooner or later, and that he couldn't be kept here."

"How early is 'very early'?"

"A thousand years ago," Luer smiled stiffly again, "When the Contract Land had just been established."

Fenris's eyelids twitched violently. "Has the Lord of the Netherworld made any preparations?"

"Prepare?"

"Yes," Fenris said. "Since He had already guessed that Visas would return, didn't He make any preparations?"

Luer shook his head. "The Lord said there was no need."

"No need?!"

"Yes," Luer said with a smile, "It's just a cycle, at most it's just death, anyway we're already dead."

Fenris nearly suffocated from the surge of air he felt.

"Rest assured, Chief Fenris," Luer said. "If that day ever comes, I will take you to the underworld."

Fenris took a deep breath and then said coldly, "No need. If possible, I would prefer you to send Visas to the underworld. That would save us a lot of trouble."

Luer said with a smile, "That day will come."

...Neuropathy.

Fenris couldn't help but curse inwardly, then completely gave up on the idea of communicating with this damned guy.

Fortunately, representatives from the Twins and Lyra arrived at this time, and Fenris was finally able to stop being alone with Luer.

However, the news they brought was not good.

"You're leaving already?" Fenris looked at the two representatives, his brow furrowing slightly. "So soon?"

"Yes." A distinctive, neutral voice emanated from beneath the heavy armor of the Dual Instruments Envoy. "We have received a message from the Lord and must return immediately."

"And what about the work here?" Fenris said. "More than half of it is still unfinished."

"There's no point in working here anymore," the Dual Instruments Envoy said calmly. "We should focus on the living rather than wasting time on the dead. Now that Visas is missing, we need to return immediately and protect our people from Visas slaughter."

Fenris's lips twitched slightly.

The statement that one does not want to waste time on the deceased is not wrong in itself.

But the one who died here was not an ordinary dead person, but a deity.

However, Fenris also knew that the words of the Dual Instruments Envoy were just an excuse; their true mission was to exterminate all those who still possessed parts of Visas's corpse.

This was a common instruction received by each church from their respective gods: Visas must not be allowed to reclaim any more power; even Fenris received this instruction. However, the Church of Eternal Nightmare didn't possess many pieces of Visas's corpse, so they didn't need these manpower.

Retrieving the body parts is by no means a simple matter. The holders of those body parts will not easily relinquish this power, and the various churches dare not rashly announce that Visas has returned. This is both to prevent the spread of panic and to prevent the holders of the body parts from defecting.

Just half a day ago, the various gods had already defined the holders of these body parts as "traitors." Retrieving body parts from the hands of "traitors" is definitely not something that can be done simply by going to their door and asking.

It's going to bleed.

Fenris thought to himself silently, but didn't say it aloud. Instead, he looked at the Lyra messenger, a woman named Ina: "Miss Ina, are you leaving too?"

"Yes, Mr. Fenris." Unlike the Dual Instruments Envoy, Ina, the messenger of Lyra, was very polite. "We must also return immediately. After all, you know the situation in Lyra, and we need sufficient strength to deal with the impending crisis."

Should we address the impending crisis instead of dealing with Visas?

Ina's words were subtle, and Fenris understood them.

Lyra's current situation is very delicate. Although she is still alive, everyone knows that it is no different from being dead. At least she is unable to join forces with the other gods to fight against Visas, nor can she issue divine pronouncements to command the current Lyra forces.

This naturally raises a sensitive question: without divine Protection, can Lyra still be considered a normal kingdom?

This isn't about picking a fight. If it were before, Lyra would still have its own inhabitants and a fairly powerful army. By all accounts, it should be a normal nation. Otherwise, they wouldn't be qualified to come and participate in the gathering of the Contract Land.

But now, the Gods have commanded their respective churches to retrieve the Visas' Corpse Pieces, so what about Lyra? They have lost the function of the theocratic church and are unable to complete this task, as are Holy Sound and Wildfire.

So, would the Gods just stand by and watch these pieces of corpses lie scattered in these regions?

Of course not.

As far as Fenris knew, the Rhine had mobilized all of their Holy Knight a day earlier, and a considerable number of them had already left the Rhine territory, heading towards the unclaimed areas, as well as towards Senluo and Holy Sound, which were no longer guarded by churches.

The Lyra also borders Rhine.

This is why Ina wanted to return immediately; in fact, her reason was the same as that of the Dual Instruments Envoy, although their positions were completely opposite.

For Lyra at this moment, the missing Visas is far less of a threat Rhine, who was once an ally.

So, before officially launching the campaign against Visas, do the various churches need to first wage a civil war?

No, it's not a civil war. A conflict between a church with a god and a church without a god would only result in a one-sided massacre.

I hope this kind of thing doesn't happen.

Fenris prayed silently in his heart, and then suddenly realized that he was a cultist, yet he was so concerned about the country and its people, while the two orthodox cults were already preparing to kill each other.

This is truly a reversal of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

"Alright, leave the follow-up work here to me... and Mr. Luer," Fenris said rather reluctantly. "We'll find out the truth as soon as possible."

"Yes." Luer smiled stiffly. "We don't have as much work as you do, so we can take our time."

"Then I'll leave it to you," said the messenger from Shuangyi. "Please inform us of the results as soon as possible."

Fenris nodded.

The result everyone was referring to was, of course, the restoration of this calamity by the Eternal Nightmare Apostle mentioned earlier.

The restoration was not an afterthought, but rather a means to determine Visas's current condition.

The only news the Star Relic God brought out before his fall was that Visas had returned, but Visas's current state and how much power he had regained remained unknown.

The only certainty is that Visas is not at his peak; otherwise, he wouldn't have disappeared after killing the Star Relic God. Therefore, it can be assumed that Visas is currently unable to fight the remaining gods simultaneously.

Perhaps it was because he needed to collect more body parts, or perhaps it was because he was seriously injured in the battle with the Star Relic God, forcing him to temporarily go into hiding.

But regardless of the method, they must have a clear understanding of the exact situation.

This is a crisis that could upend the world, and we must be extremely cautious.

Of course, there is another possibility: that Visas and the Star Relic God perished together. Although this possibility is very small, Fenris still holds onto hope.

After all... what if?

An hour after the messengers of the Twins and Lyra left, the apostles of the underworld finally ended the strange ritual.

The results are in!

Fenris strode towards Luer: "So, what did you find out?"

After listening to the apostles' report, Luer nodded to Fenris: "We analyzed a lot of residual power in this space, ninety percent of which came from the great serpent Einhejar and Isaiah..."

"Important! Important!" Fenris rudely interrupted Luer. "What I need to know is Visas and the Star Relic God. I don't care about anyone else! Just talk about the remaining ten percent!"

"Unfortunately, not 10%."

Fenris was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"The remaining ten percent all come from the Abyss Beast of this place," Luer said. "The remaining power of the Star Relic God accounts for less than one percent."

Luer's words stirred a strong sense of unease in Fenris: "Why is this happening?"

"Generally speaking, there's only one possibility for this situation: the battle ended the instant it began," Luer said, "Leaving one side with absolutely no chance to retaliate."

Fenris opened his mouth, but almost lost his voice.

After a long pause, he finally managed to ask with difficulty, "So who won?"

This is a pointless question, and he knows that too.

Luer patted Fenris on the shoulder.

"Visas is gone," Luer said. "Now we need to consider who his next target is."

"He's gone?" Ina looked at He Wei Ni Ya in shock upon returning to the camp, then asked anxiously, "Didn't he say his body hadn't fully recovered yet?"

"Yes, so he's going to take his last thing."

"What?"

"His heart."

"His heart?" Ina asked instinctively. "In whose hands?"

"Lord of the Netherworld".