Invasion!

The Abyss Prison has been invaded?! The Ice Curse God Tablet has been broken?!

Star Relics… Isaiah made the move?!

Upon hearing this news, the Warden could no longer ignore his own physical ailments and immediately sat up.

"What exactly happened? Explain it clearly!"

"Yes, yes," Carter replied. "Warden, just half an hour ago, the Star Relic Sorcerer Corps, led by Isaiah, broke through the Ice Curse God Tablet and have now entered the interior of the Abyss Prison. The Guardians are resisting, but Isaiah is simply too powerful, and our manpower is severely insufficient…"

"Are you sure it was Isaiah?"

"We're sure, we saw it with our own eyes."

The Warden clenched his fists, the chains on his body clanking.

Isaiah… How dare you, how dare you!?

What do you want to do!?

The Warden knew this was a rhetorical question. After all, what else could one be doing by attacking the Abyss Prison, other than coveting that particular item?

However, the Warden was still surprised because, in his opinion, the Abyss Prison was unbreachable.

Even if the attacker was Isaiah, even if Isaiah had already broken the Ice Curse God Tablet, as long as the other three God Tablets remained intact, Isaiah couldn't advance further and would eventually be crushed by the reactivated Guardians.

Therefore, Isaiah's actions were tantamount to suicide.

Why would he go to such lengths?

The Warden couldn't help but ponder this question, but Carter didn't give him much time, making another request: "Please activate Heaven's Obedience immediately and eliminate Isaiah!"

The Warden snapped out of his thoughts and then nodded, saying gravely, "Activate it."

Since Isaiah had made his move, there was nothing more to say. Regardless of whether he had obtained the Three Corpse Pieces or not, his fate was already sealed.

The Warden left his living quarters with Carter and quickly headed towards Heaven's Obedience. At this moment, the leading Guardian under his command also hurried over, a hint of confusion on his face.

"Warden, what happened?" the leading Guardian asked. "Why are we suddenly activating Heaven's Obedience?"

The Warden frowned. "What are you spacing out about? Don't you know Isaiah is attacking the Abyss Prison?"

The confusion on the leading Guardian's face turned to astonishment. "The Abyss Prison is under attack? When did this happen? I didn't receive any alerts."

These words made the Warden pause. He then realized that the camp was unusually quiet, with no alarms sounding.

Normally, the alarms for the camp and the Abyss Prison were synchronized. If the Abyss Prison were attacked, the camp would receive the news immediately. The source of the information should have been the remaining Guardians, not Diana's subordinates.

Thinking of this, the Warden immediately looked back at Carter, his eyes seemingly wanting to kill. "What exactly is going on?!"

"It's Isaiah. He used the Star Secret Art to completely sever the connection with the Abyss Prison!" Carter said. "All magical signals have been interrupted. Only I can still receive transmissions from my master."

Star Secret Art…

If it were Isaiah, he could indeed achieve this.

And this also explained why Isaiah dared to attack the Abyss Prison. If it weren't for the Ring Finger's [Contract] being unaffected by any magic, he might have actually completed this invasion without anyone noticing.

Fortunately, the [Contract] was in their hands.

The Warden felt a sense of relief, but amidst his relief, he also found it somewhat ironic. He hadn't expected that in the end, it would be Visas's power that protected the Contract Land.

Never mind, now was not the time to consider those things.

The Warden issued an order to the leading Guardian: "Use Heaven's Obedience."

With the explanation, the Guardian no longer hesitated and immediately agreed.

However, as he watched the retreating back of the leading Guardian, the previous confusion resurfaced in the Warden's mind—why would Isaiah do this?

Didn't he know that even with so many preparations, the possibility of him breaking through the Abyss Prison was almost zero? Why was he taking such a risk?!

Could it be… because he had pushed Isaiah to a dead end?

But was this truly a dead end? Isaiah could have easily…

The Warden's pupils suddenly narrowed. It was at this moment that he realized Isaiah's previous situation had indeed been a dead end. Unless he found that Ulu, no matter what Isaiah did, he couldn't prove his innocence.

In this light, it was indeed he who had pushed Isaiah to a dead end.

But why did he only realize this now?

Why, when making this decision, did he not consider the consequences of pushing the foremost person under God to a dead end?

Before the Warden could find an answer, a massive roar echoed, and the earth began to tremble.

He looked up and saw the divine creation standing between heaven and earth rapidly gathering power.

Heaven's Obedience… had been activated.

The long-dormant tentacles awoke. They cried out, screamed, and desperately tried to climb upwards, to approach the divine statue at the very top. But only the stoutest individuals succeeded. They devoured the weaker ones, fought amongst themselves, and feasted on the strong, all in their desperate, bloody climb towards the sacred statue.

Yet, they could never truly approach the statue, because the closer they got, the weaker they became.

Even the strongest individuals would rapidly wither upon entering a certain distance, as if all their blood had been drained, eventually falling as dried husks. During their descent, they would be devoured by other climbing tentacles. It was as if what they pursued so desperately was merely this fall.

And amidst the annihilation of countless tentacles, the divine statue grew ever stronger.

The energy gained from their mutual devouring and fighting was all converted into tribute, flowing into the statue.

The statue of God then ceased its slumber, slowly opening its pupil-less eyes and gazing upon the world with an extremely eerie posture.

Under this vacant gaze, everyone lowered their heads in unison.

Obedience of Heavenly Voice had been activated. The Warden no longer had time to consider anything else. He said in a deep voice, "Let us begin."

It was time to offer a name.

He watched as the leading Guardian stood beneath the Obedience of Heavenly Voice, straining to spread his arms wide as if to offer himself as a sacrifice.

"Please listen! Please judge! Please obliterate!"

He heard the Guardian cry out.

The statue of God received this plea and slowly opened its mouth.

Its mouth opened wider and wider, and then a withered giant hand emerged from within.

Beneath that giant hand, a silent pressure surged into everyone's hearts, making them wish they could bury their heads in the ground.

Even the Warden couldn't help but lower his head.

No matter what Isaiah's objective was, at this point, nothing could be undone.

He thought to himself.

Then, he heard the leading Guardian shout loudly.

"The target for obliteration is..."

"Xin De!"

...Xin De?!

This familiar yet unfamiliar name made the Warden pause for a moment.

This... was his name!

How could this be?!

The Warden abruptly raised his head, staring intently at the Guardian who had uttered the name.

It was then he realized that it wasn't his usual Guardian, but another familiar face – Carter.

The Warden saw Carter smiling at him, a smile imbued with an extremely feminine charm.

...Diana?!!

How could it be Diana?!

Immense shock struck the Warden's heart, but he no longer had time to figure any of this out.

Because the withered giant hand had already pointed at him.

He opened his mouth, but before he could utter a single word, his soul and body turned to ash, scattering in the wind.

He, the Warden of the Abyss Prison, Xin De.

Obliterated by the Gods.

The Warden's eyes snapped open. Before him was the familiar ceiling.

"You're awake, old friend." A familiar voice, familiar words.

The Warden turned his head and saw a familiar corpse smiling at him.

"Luer, why are you..." He spoke instinctively, but only got halfway through.

He felt as if he had already said this before.

"You asked me to come," Luer said with a smile. "Did you forget?"

The Warden was silent for a long moment before slowly saying, "I think I had a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" Luer's expression didn't change, but his tone carried surprise. "You still have nightmares?"

"I don't understand it myself."

"What kind of dream was it?"

"I... I can't remember," the Warden said with some pain. "I just know it wasn't a good dream... You're an expert in this field, do you know what's going on?"

"I can only assume there was an issue with the soul summoning," Luer said. "But logically, both you and I are already dead, so we shouldn't..."

Before Luer could finish speaking, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from outside.

And when the Warden looked up to see who was arriving, his heart, which no longer existed, felt a pang of anxiety.

"Warden! The Abyss Prison has been invaded by Star Relics! The Ice Curse God Tablet has been shattered!"

Carter shouted.

"Please activate Heaven's Obedience immediately!"

Abyss Prison.

Diana watched the setting sun, silently calculating the time in her mind.

It was almost time.

In a little while, her plan would commence.

Diana gently closed her eyes. She could clearly feel her heart beating, like a pounding war drum.

She was very uneasy.

"How is the Warden?" Diana asked in her mind.

"Reporting, Master, everything is normal," Carter's steady reply echoed in her mind. "The Warden has been staying in his residence the entire time and has not left."

"Is he alone?"

"Yes, he's alone," Carter said. "He only had a brief conversation with Luer, an Envoy from the Netherworld, last night. He's been alone the rest of the time."

"And that Envoy from the Netherworld?"

"He has left," Carter replied. "Now, only the Guardians are in the camp. The delegations from the major churches have all departed."

Diana nodded slightly.

As of now, everything was indeed normal.

The Warden was the same when he was in the Abyss Prison. He never socialized and spent most of his time locked away in his residence. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even show himself for over a decade, as if he were dead.

If not for this current incident, contractors throughout history only had two opportunities to see the Warden in their lifetime: once when they received their finger and became a contractor, and again when they handed over their finger and ceased to be a contractor—after all, the Warden needed to know who the contractors were.

So, it was perfectly normal for the Warden to lock himself away alone in his residence and not see anyone.

But… why?

Diana still felt a strong sense of unease.

She felt like something was wrong, that things were progressing too smoothly.

So smoothly it felt eerie.

It was as if she wasn't the one arranging all of this, but rather the one being arranged. Some unseen, greater hand was controlling everything, yet she couldn't find the slightest trace of it.

Why was that?

Just then, a deafening roar interrupted Diana's thoughts.

Feeling the violent tremors beneath her feet, Diana's first reaction was that her subordinates had begun their actions.

Yes, it was indeed time.

Diana took a deep breath and put on a suitable expression to face the Guardians who were pouring out due to the violent tremor.

At this point, there was no turning back.

Diana thought to herself.

But she still felt… something was off.

Hurried footsteps sounded, and Diana saw a duty Guardian rushing towards her with a panicked expression.

"Contractor! The Storm God Tablet has been destroyed!"

Diana showed a look of surprise at the right moment. "The Ice Curse God Tablet has been… what?"

After a brief daze, her feigned surprise turned into genuine shock.

"Which God Tablet did you say?!"

"The Storm God Tablet!"

How could it be the Storm God Tablet?!

…Was it Isaiah?! Did Isaiah really come?!

Before Diana could even process it, another Guardian rushed in.

"Contractor! The Ice Curse God Tablet has also been destroyed!"

…Damn it! The timing was too coincidental; they didn't have time to stop them!

Now two God Tablets were lost directly. This…

"Contractor!" Yet another Guardian reported. "The Golden God Tablet has also been damaged!"

Diana looked utterly stunned.

The Golden God Tablet!? The one Rhine made?!

Why was this happening?!

How could Isaiah destroy two God Tablets in a row?!

Diana was completely lost.

But it wasn't over yet, because she soon saw the fourth Guardian bringing news.

"Contractor, we've lost contact with the Slumber God Tablet."

Diana no longer knew what expression to wear; she was becoming numb.

Ever since she obtained this Ring Finger, she had always been the one in control, dominating others.

But now…

Another roar echoed from the heavens.

Diana looked up.

She saw that the sky, which should have been evening, was now as dark as ink, with only countless stars filling it.

Beneath those innumerable stars, Diana felt a profound sense of powerlessness.

"Contractor! We've lost contact with the Warden!"

This was the last report.

At this moment, Diana's face was filled with bitterness.

Was this Isaiah's doing? All four Great God Tablets destroyed simultaneously, and the Abyss Prison enveloped by the Star Secret Art, becoming an isolated island.

This was the man ranked first beneath the Gods.

Diana had actually thought of herself as a hunter, but compared to Isaiah, she was merely a weak prey.

But… it wasn't over yet.

Diana gently caressed her Ring Finger, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

Your secret art cannot isolate my rules.

Carter burst into the Warden's residence.

"Warden! The Abyss Prison has been invaded by Star Relics! The four Great God Tablets have been broken!"

He shouted at the massive, sleeping figure.

"Please activate Heaven's Obedience immediately."

And so, those abyss-like crimson eyes slowly opened.