"The door opened?"
Vishnu and No. 22 were both stunned when they saw the massive gate suddenly crack open. They had only intended to wait here for Lin Qiye and the others to walk into their trap. The instant the gate opened, both of them were momentarily bewildered.
"Holy Lord, what is going on?" the Lord God asked blankly upon seeing this.
No. 22 stared intently at the gate before them, and a feverish gleam immediately appeared in their eyes.
"As expected, that rumor was true."
"A rumor? What rumor?"
"They say that the remnants of the Gate of Truth lie sleeping in the depths of the Time Maze. As long as one pays the price, it can fulfill any request..." No. 22's voice was extremely low. "I had planned to deal with Lin Qiye first, then try opening this gate. I never expected it to open on its own."
The Lord God seemed to realize something. "You came to Antarctica this time for this? What do you want to exchange for?"
No. 22 narrowed their eyes without speaking.
Vishnu walked up to the gate. Hazy mist drifted from the crack in its doors. After hesitating for a moment, he still stepped inside.
Only after Vishnu entered did No. 22 move, with the other Lord God following close behind.
Passing through the mist beyond the gate, they found a world divided between light and darkness before them. Shattered clusters of light hung in midair, while the ground was pocked with craters and strewn with nauseating corpses, as though a savage battle had just taken place.
"There are people inside?" Vishnu's gaze fell between the tentacle corpses, where he saw Athena and Artemis barely rising from the ruins. Surprise surfaced in his eyes.
Then his gaze landed on the black sun