"Answer me!"
The Abyss roared angrily, "Why is the Dragon God still alive?!"
"Didn't he die a thousand years ago because his lifespan ran out?!"
Medusa, kneeling on the ground, was so frightened that she immediately betrayed the scapegoat. "M-My lord!"
"I don't know! Helge said all of this!"
"Currently, only it, along with [Annihilation] and [Naiya], are carrying out missions in the Barbaric Realm!"
"I've been in the Federation Star System the whole time; I have absolutely no say in what's happening in the Barbaric Realm!"
Upon hearing this, the tentacles of the Abyss writhed, then turned and stared at Helge.
Answer me.
Look me in the eyes!
"Whoosh!"
Within the Black Mist, millions of scarlet Demon Eye opened simultaneously!
"No... Sir... I cannot reveal my plan yet..."
Helge trembled, its single eye trying to look away.
But under the gaze of the High God, its resistance lasted only half a second.
Gradually, the fear and struggle in Helge's single eye disappeared, leaving it empty.
"Yes, sir."
"Tell me, what exactly is going on in the Barbaric Realm?"
"What exactly happened Dragon God and Su Gelu?"
The Abyss asked coldly.
Helge immediately revealed his entire plan.
"Return to my lord."
"My original plan was to infiltrate Soul Return Town and seize those two treasures."
"Mountains and Rivers Brush, and Mortal Fireworks Painting."
"But along the way, I encountered Dragon God seemed to have been reborn."
"However, he doesn't seem to have any memories of his past life, and his strength is quite weak; he's not even a stable Special Grade."
"I could have crushed him directly, but the Barbaric Realm itself has extremely strong realm restrictions..."
"I was defeated by the Phoenix Emperor, who was the spirit of the Mortal Fireworks Painting, and had no choice but to retreat strategically."
"After that, I decided to revise my plan."
"I'm going to help that guy Naiya and hold off the Dragon God for him."
"As long as Naiya Teng takes action and successfully breaks the seal in the underground royal tomb."
"This will greatly reduce the restrictions imposed by the Barbaric Realm on cultivation levels."
"At that time, if we allow the [Void], who is about to become a god, to take control of the Barbaric Realm, we will be able to conquer that world without shedding a drop of blood."
At this point, Helge's hollow voice paused. "As for Su Gelu..."
I've never even met it.
"Its attack is directed at the Federation Star System, which has nothing to do with my plans in the Barbaric Realm, and I have no way to interfere with its fate."
After hearing Helge's candid account, the black lightning surrounding the Abyss gradually subsided.
"It's him again..."
The Abyssal Lord God raised his head. "I knew it! There was definitely something fishy about His death!"
"How could a supreme being like the Dragon God, who is only half a step away from becoming High God, die of old age so easily?"
"Bang!"
With Abyss of its tentacle, Abyss slammed Helge to the floor.
The intense pain caused the emptiness in Helge's single eye to fade, and his gaze regained its clarity.
It shuddered, realizing what had just happened, and immediately lay down on the ground, desperately begging for mercy again.
"Your Excellency, please understand! I really didn't do it! Su Gelu's death has absolutely nothing to do with me!"
"Alright, I understand."
Abyss snorted coldly, "Most likely, it's still those old fogies hiding under the imperial tombs causing trouble."
"Even in death, you cannot find peace; instead, you steal my power and stubbornly resist in the underworld."
"Helge."
The Abyss looked down at it, "When you go back, give Naiya a message."
"Just say... leave them alive!"
"Don't you dare throw all those old bones into that bullshit 'Great Love Alliance' of his!"
"I will personally torture them to death, bit by bit!"
"Yes! I will certainly convey the message!"
Helge felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and tentatively asked with some lingering fear, "Then... sir, is there nothing more for me to do here?"
The Abyss, which had already turned around and was about to retreat back into the boundless Black Mist, stopped upon hearing these words.
Countless Demon Eye swirled within the Black Mist, fixed on Helge.
"What? Don't you want to go to the Barbaric Realm to continue the mission?"
"Could it be..."
"You want to hang on the [Underworld Tree] behind me for a hundred years, keeping Su Gelu?"
"No, no, no! You're joking, sir! I'll leave right away!"
"Let's go to the Barbaric Realm now and complete the mission! We'll give it our all, even unto death!"
Startled, Helge scrambled to his feet and transformed into a dark shadow, ready to flee.
Seeing this, Medusa quickly and cautiously raised her head and asked in a low voice, "Then... my lord... what about me?"
"You go back too."
"Continue to lie low in the Federation Star System and clean up the mess left by Su Gelu."
The voice of the Abyssal Lord God faded into the distance once more, "I will send other Evil God to support you in place of that fool."
"Yes, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Medusa quickly rose and left the palace.
Not long after leaving the palace of the Abyssal Lord God, the two arrived at the edge of the spaceport.
Helge stopped in his tracks, his one eye fixed on Medusa with resentment.
"You worm! Your wild biting just now almost killed me!"
Helge lowered his voice and spat out through gritted teeth, "Couldn't you have investigated the matter thoroughly before making a complaint?"
"I'm working myself to the bone in this Barbaric Realm, and you're stabbing me in the back?!"
Medusa knew she was in the wrong; she had indeed betrayed Helge without thinking in an attempt to shift the blame.
But how could Evil God possibly bow his head and admit his mistakes?
She rolled her eyes and muttered insincerely.
"How can you blame me? Who told you to have such a bad relationship with Su Gelu?"
"It insisted it was you before it died, so I have to report the truth."
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, okay?"
What I hate most is apologizing afterward!
Helge's shadow trembled with rage. "And... this isn't an apology, it's just a perfunctory response!"
Medusa, not to be outdone, crossed her arms and sneered, "Oh my, look at you, so capable."
"Do you really think you're some kind of brilliant Sage?"
"I think you're a coward!"
"You couldn't even handle Dragon God with no memory? I bet you saw the Dragon God resurrected and were so scared that you ran back with your tail between your legs!"
"You're talking nonsense! That was a strategic retreat! It was a tactic!"
Helge's words were abruptly cut off.
"Buzz!"
Without warning, a dazzling white flame suddenly erupted from Helge's body!
In the blink of an eye, the flames engulfed Helge's entire body!
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Seeing this, Medusa clutched her stomach and burst into laughter, "Oh dear, all I did was call you a wimp a couple of times!"
"Are you so angry that you've developed a fever? You can't even maintain your composure, hahaha!"
But Medusa's laughter stopped quickly.
Because she realized that Helge wasn't angry; he was genuinely about to be burned to death!
"Damn it! Damn it! This is the Divine Phoenix Karma Fire!!!"
Helge let out a piercing scream amidst the flames.
But strangely, its voice didn't betray panic; instead, it sounded remarkably clear-headed.
"It's that crazy woman, Phoenix Emperor!"
"She must have used the causal thread to burn back from that useless Heavenly Blade's wound!"
"But it's okay! I was prepared!"
Despite the flames, Helge did not lose its composure; it immediately raised its sword and severed half of its own arm!
Then, it discarded the body that was mostly engulfed in white Hellfire.
"Boom!"
With a scorching sound, Helge's original body was reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye by the burning Hellfire.
Medusa was startled by this sudden turn of events.
She looked at the small, unburnt section of the severed arm on the ground and poked it uncertainly with the tip of her tail.
"Hey... are you really angry or just pretending?... Are you still angry?"
Then, the severed arm wriggled and transformed back into a smaller version of Helge!
"Cough cough... It's nothing, I just accidentally let slip a flaw, I won't do it again next time."
The miniature version of Helge looked at his new body with considerable pride.
And with the soul fluctuations within his body that were completely different from before, he let out a laugh.
"Hahaha! This is my trump card for survival, the Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell!"
Helge boasted smugly.
"The extraordinary skills like Divine Phoenix Karma Fire and Tribulation Flame are essentially about tracking the target's cause and effect and burning their soul!"
"But I'm Sage! I've been burned by the Phoenix Emperor so many times, I've learned my lesson long ago!"
"This is all thanks to the Dragon God!"
"His ability to erase all Supernatural Ability Fool a revelation to me!"
"As long as a soul firewall is built within the body to isolate Supernatural Ability!"
"Then change and abandon your original soul vibration frequency."
"I will be able to perfectly escape the lock-on of this hunting Supernatural Ability!"
Helge, hands on his hips, exclaimed, "That crazy old hag, Phoenix Emperor, thinks she can burn me to death with that trick? She's dreaming!"
However...
Medusa didn't respond with an expression of adoration; instead, she looked at it as if it were an idiot.
What are you looking at?
Helge felt a little uneasy under her gaze.
Medusa silently took several steps back, keeping a distance from it, then stretched out her finger and pointed behind it.
"Did you... damage your brain while you were burning up?"
Medusa swallowed hard. "Look at yourself..."
Helge was startled and abruptly lowered his head.
Instantly, that single eye widened to its limit!
The Hellfire that should have been tricked into leaving its shell...
It actually reignited on its brand new body!
Moreover, the more it burns, the hotter it gets!
"This is impossible!!!"
Helge let out an incredulous scream.
"I endured so many burns from the Phoenix Emperor to painstakingly build this causal firewall!"
"Why were they able to breach our defenses?!"
"How dare it lock onto my brand new soul again?!"
Helge wanted to sever the body again.
But then, the instant the flames burned into the depths of its soul, it realized something was wrong!
The firewall is malfunctioning!
"No... wait..."
"This aura... it wasn't released by the Phoenix Emperor!"
"The underlying logic of this thing doesn't even belong to the category of Supernatural Ability!"
"Why?! What the hell is this thing?!"
"It's clearly just as effective as Hellfire!"
In that final second, when life and death hung in the balance.
In Helge's mind, the scene of his battle with the Dragon God in Soul Return Town flashed through his mind.
The Dragon God who died a thousand years ago, after being reborn, used so many techniques that he never used in his previous life...
Not only that, but the number of those Supernatural Ability seemed to have no limit, it was completely unreasonable!
Could it be...?
A terrifying thought was born in Helge's mind.
"Is this the reason he was reborn?!"
"Not good!!!"
Helge suddenly screamed.
That fear transcended death; it was the discovery of a secret that would overturn everything!
Medusa shuddered in fright and backed away, shouting, "What are you doing?! Why are you so startled?!"
Helge struggled in the white flames, its body disintegrating at the speed of light.
But it still used its last bit of strength.
It roared at Medusa its last words, the last words it had uttered in the world over the past century.
"Go quickly and inform the adults..."
"We... we were all..."
"They've schemed against me!!!"
The words fell.
"Boom!"
The white light subsided, Helge was once again reduced to ashes.
But this time...
It can no longer shed its skin.
Medusa stared blankly at the pile of ashes on the ground, her mind buzzing.
After a long while, she gritted her teeth and managed to utter a single sentence, her voice filled with resentment.
"So what if I'm going to die... Why be a riddle-maker... It's fucking annoying!"
Meanwhile...
The deepest part of the Abyss Palace.
The Abyssal Lord God was gazing up at the bizarre, colossal tree that seemed to pierce the sea of stars.
The Underworld Tree.
"Well..."
A sigh came from the Black Mist.
The Abyssal Lord God felt only a headache.
He truly did not understand these twelve so-called Evil God under his command.
Why are they all such useless idiots?
While they were alive, they were always fighting amongst themselves and slacking off; even after they died, they still liked to spread nonsensical false information!
But...
The Abyssal Lord God stretched out his thick tentacles and stroked the veined trunk of the Underworld Tree.
Fortunately, He possessed this divine tree, a miracle comparable to that of the Creator.
Even if all twelve of these useless people were to die.
If He is willing to pay a price, the Underworld Tree can revive and resurrect Him within a hundred years.
"Thank goodness you're here..."
The Abyssal Lord God murmured to himself as if trying to comfort himself, the Shadow of Helge, who had just left, appearing in his mind.
"Hopefully, that guy who claims to Sage will be more reliable in the Barbaric Realm."
"My plan cannot afford to fail."
However, His tentacles had just retracted from the tree trunk.
"Crackling..."
The Underworld Tree suddenly swayed!
Immediately following, under the watchful gaze of the Abyssal Lord God's millions of Demon Eye, the branches beside the Su Gelu Fruit rapidly sprouted and blossomed...
A soft popping sound.
A new face-shaped fruit hung on the branch.
And that face with its single eye tightly shut was none other than the one that had just vowed to "get off and complete the mission immediately"...
Helge.
Abyss:"..."