Large amounts of fresh blood flowed into the ground, converging in a single direction.
Of course, no one noticed this. The fires of war and smoke of battle pervaded the entirety of Senegal.
Joey's face was long, his black eyes staring at everyone present.
He did not understand why people could not sit down and talk things out properly instead of fighting to the death.
Besides, he finally realized that this guy Wayne was a double agent who was clearly in league with Golas.
Inside the silver box that slowly opened, a dense mass of black mist was seeping outward, resembling a cluster of writhing tentacles.
The moment that thing appeared, the Color Out of Space that had originally hovered overhead twisted and scattered, seeming to deliberately avoid that mass of matter.
Although he could not see Captain Wade's facial features and expression, he could easily tell from his words that his mood at the moment was quite good.
"Hehe, nice. Dark matter. This thing indeed restrains me quite well. I can tell that you've done your homework well over the years, Golas."
Golas paused for a moment, then grinned and said softly:
"I won't fail twice at the same thing, even though I know that is the babbling of The Hanged Man."
Wade shook his head, and a sigh came from all directions, deep and resonant:
"You guys really are beyond saving."
He did not expect that even after knowing his advancement was granted by an evil god, Golas still chose to walk down that dark path to the end.
Joey turned his head to look at Golas, feeling sincere admiration in his heart: As expected of a demigod, calm enough.
He feigned nonchalance and chimed in:
"What even is the Revelation Prophecy?"
No one paid attention to Joey, and his expression instantly collapsed.
Could someone please explain? The people involved are right here, hey!
In the end, it was Wade who spoke to explain:
"Eight hundred years ago, a prophecy fabricated by the Necromancer Sect to deceive civilians-that an oracle would appear and lead the world toward the light."
"That's way too absurd."
"It is indeed quite unbelievable, but undeniable. The Necromancer Sect also formed its initial scale based on this."
Before Wade could continue, Golas, whose form had remained motionless all this time, suddenly leaped up, and immediately afterward, the box in Wayne's hand emitted a beam of black light.
The target was precisely Vade Wisker.
Faced with the sudden change in the situation, Joey seemed somewhat flustered, but he quickly steadied his emotions, rolled backward, and put some distance between himself and Wade.
Slash!
The sound of the air being torn followed closely behind. Golas, who had leaped into mid-air, opened his mouth and began to gather energy. In less than half a second, a shockwave burst forth from his mouth.
That shockwave was brilliant and dazzling, carrying the momentum of wind and thunder and possessing the power to destroy everything. Its target pointed straight at Vade Wisker.
Joey's combat capability was lacking, but he had practiced his escape skills many times. There was no helping it; after learning that his Extraordinary Sequence possessed no combat ability, the only direction of his training was escape.
However, he was not fleeing blindly either; instead, he intentionally or unintentionally drifted close to Wayne's side.
Intuition told him that the thing in Wayne's hand was very dangerous and could not be left unchecked.
Just at that moment, Joey noticed that Wayne, who had originally been turning his back to him, suddenly turned his head. On his withered and wrinkled face, hawk-like eyes were staring right at him.
It was as if they were saying they had been waiting for him for a long time.
"Oh no."
He wanted to turn back, but it was already too late.
He only felt an icy and gloomy aura lock onto him, and then in his vision, vast swaths of darkness struck. His eyes gradually lost focus, and his entire person's expression became dull and sluggish.
When the sense of dizziness washed over him, Joey knew he had been plotted against. As he gradually lost control of his body, his consciousness appeared in a pitch-black chaos.
In the endless darkness, his mind remained lucid, yet no matter what, there was no way for him to leave.
He could even hear Golas's voice from the outside.
Watch him well. I don't want any accidents to happen.
This was a type of mental blockade similar to hypnosis. Tier determined the final result; without external help and relying solely on himself, he would only sink into the endless darkness.
The battle continued, and Golas's offensive grew increasingly sharp.
In contrast, Wade had not left his spot from beginning to end. He even had the time to deal with Golas's onslaught while speaking:
"Wayne, tell me, is this what you wanted? Cooperating with Golas? Just to kill me? Are you willing to abandon Leila's dying wish, which she was willing to sacrifice her life to fulfill?"
Question after question made Wayne's ugly expression even worse. The living dead facial muscles were already stiff, and this made him look even more gloomy.
He held the silver box high, letting those black substances disperse. Because the faint light cast by the Color Out of Space touched them, the colorful hues instantly reverted to their original appearance, and this place also lost its light source, the darkness gradually encroaching like a tide.
Wayne grinned with a cackling laugh:
"You're wrong, Wade. You don't understand my feelings for Leila at all."
As he spoke, he swept a sideways glance at Golas beside him, sneered, and said dismissively:
"Cooperation? He's not even worthy. He's just a pathetic wretch who can be betrayed by his faith with a little enticement."
His words completely exceeded everyone's expectations.
Who would have thought that a demigod would be described as so worthless.
"You will never understand Leila's greatness. Only she is the true light-chaser."
"Wade, you are a sinner, a sinner of the entire Senegal. But it doesn't matter; what Leila failed to finish, I will complete."
As he spoke, he threw the box into the sky without hesitation. The box, which had originally served a sealing function, burst apart mid-air with a loud crash.
Thick, viscous, and substantive black shapes exploded like fireworks, followed immediately by dark pillars of light soaring into the sky from multiple directions.
There were nine in total, which quickly formed a barrier enshrouding this area and creating two independent spaces.
"Isn't this Knights Templar magic? Wayne, what have you done?"
Golas quickly discovered that something was amiss. As a demigod, his sensitivity to Extraordinary abilities was very high, and the moment the pillars appeared, he sensed an abnormality in his body.
He had been maintaining his Demon Wolf Form, and it was now undergoing an uncontrolled mutation.
"Elder Council demigod, what a frightening identity."
Tearing off his disguised mask, Wayne taunted without any reservation: "Golas, every single one of your advancements was arranged by the Church, and even the main ingredients for your potions were intentionally leaked to you by the Church."
"Your existence was merely for this!"
He looked at those black shapes lingering in mid-air with gaze full of fervent anticipation.
They were like countless mosquitoes and flies, gnawing at everything in their path.
This space was like a painting, being eroded bit by bit.
Wade tilted his gaze slightly, looked at those bugs, let out a soft exclamation of realization, and said:
"Golas, you really are a lunatic. You actually managed to research this kind of thing into existence."
"They're mine! They're mine!"
Golas ran toward those bugs in a state of madness, but in the blink of an eye, his entire body was covered by the bugs. His flesh was devoured entirely, leaving only a few strands of wolf fur in place.
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Wayne was startled by his sudden action and muttered under his breath, "Lunatic."
Those bugs huddled close to his side.
He slowly approached Wade, then spoke at a leisurely pace, as if recounting a great event about to take place.
"Wade, you will never understand Leila's greatness."
"You know, hundreds of years ago, when people were still looking for a way to leave this land, she had already arranged everything."
As he spoke, he looked up at the starry sky and pointed a finger, whereupon an illusory door abruptly appeared.
It was dreamlike and ethereal, seemingly existing between reality and illusion.
It extended infinitely high upward and infinitely deep downward, with no distance limits on its left and right extensions. The tightly closed door panels were covered with countless revolving eyeballs.
"As long as it is opened, one can travel to that world full of sunshine."
Wade chimed in unceremoniously:
"No one can bear the price that needs to be paid."
"That's right, so we spent a lot of time setting up a ritual magic capable of encompassing the entire Senegal."
In the endless darkness, Joey listened quietly to their conversation when suddenly, a dazzling light flared before his eyes. When he came to his senses, he had already broken free from the restraint.
"Hm?" Could it be because Golas died?
He tilted his head slightly and glanced around. Indeed, there was no sign of Golas.
"You plan to use the citizens of the entire Senegal to open the passage to the outside world!"
"That's right!" Wayne's paranoid and crazy expression was unmasked, and a spine-chilling cackle issued from his mouth:
"Living in a world like this, death is the best relief. They should thank me."
"Psychopath!" Joey curled his lips and cursed.
Wayne shrieked and roared. He seemed very angry that someone failed to understand his grand ambition.
"You're just a pathetic wretch. An oracle? Ridiculous. Only an idiot like Golas would believe that."
"God abandoned this land long ago. Only Leila is the true god, and only she can lead us out."
Joey slightly furrowed his brows, too lazy to argue with a paranoid maniac.
Pensively, he shifted his gaze toward Wade.
From beginning to end, he had not moved an inch, even when attacked by Golas.
Spirit Vision quietly activated. Within his field of vision, countless threads of energy elements crisscrossed throughout this space.
These threads were like intertwined tree roots, their branches and fibrous roots shuttling through the void.
Their ultimate gathering point was the place where Wade stood.
If this were a large-scale magic array, Wade would be the core of the array.
The expression on Joey's face turned solemn bit by bit.
His black eyes wandered over Wade, attempting to capture a trace of a clue.
Alas, Wade in his Mythical Creature Form lacked facial features; his head was merely a rotating black vortex, making it completely impossible to observe him through emotional changes in expression.
"Joey, you're a good kid. Go!"
"Captain?" Joey's taut heart skipped a beat. If it had only been a guess moments ago, Wade's words now undoubtedly confirmed his suspicion.
Wade had secretly planned everything from the very beginning.
Whether it was the appearance of Golas or the betrayal of Wayne, he had ignored it all from start to finish, acting almost as if he were playing along with their game.
"Go? Heh." Wayne sneered:
"No one is allowed to leave. You are all nourishment for the opening of the Gate of the Abyss."
Tap, tap, tap!
The dull sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
Wade moved his feet for the first time, leaving the spot where he had been standing all along.
He walked step by step in one direction, right toward the dense mass of black bugs that were smaller than ants.
Wherever they passed, fragmented cracks appeared in the void.
Strangely enough, the bugs that had been gnawing at the void became exceptionally excited upon detecting Wade. They swirled around Wade, circling in mid-air.
"How can this be?"
"You went to such painstaking lengths to conjure up this thing, thinking it was my weakness?"
Not only Wayne, but even Joey wore an expression of astonishment.
Although he had not witnessed the horror of this thing with his own eyes, a demigod standing at the pyramid's peak had been devoured down to nothing in the blink of an eye. The degree of terror could well be imagined.
Yet now, they were hovering around Wade like well-behaved babies. Not only did they make no attacking movements, but they also seemed to thoroughly enjoy this intimacy.
"No, this is impossible. Golas researched for hundreds of years just to find something that could restrain your black hole ability."
"These bugs are pure dark matter. They won't be eroded by your ability, and the contamination traits they possess can infect divinity and drive you mad."
The black bugs wound around Wade's hands, transforming into various shapes.
"Did you really think that as a demigod, I would have such an obvious weakness? If that were truly the case, I probably would have died long ago."
Though he could not see Captain Wade's face, Joey had an illusion right now: that beard-covered face wore a crafty smile.
As expected of an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years, he could see right through any scheme or conspiracy at a glance.
When you laid a trap to deal with him, there was no telling who was plotting against whom.
Dear big shots, I am just an underage baby. I can't afford to provoke any of you. Joey retreated two steps with utmost grief.
Next should be the clash between Wade and the sect.
A trace of hesitation flashed through his black eyes as he considered whether he should listen to the captain's words and run away quickly.
While he was still agonizing, Wayne's crazed, roaring laughter rang out beside his ear:
"Even so, so what? You can't stop it. The magic of the Gate of the Abyss has long permeated this land. Weren't you curious about what Leila exchanged her life and 0-013 for?"
"You can't stop anything. Listen! This is the sound of war, the hymn of fading life."
The very instant Wayne's words fell, a mechanical voice echoed throughout the entire main district.
"Departing is forbidden in this place."
Joey slightly frowned. He was far too familiar with this feeling-the decree of 0-013.
It was only at this moment that he remembered this detail. He had found it strange earlier; logically speaking, 0-013 should have fallen into the hands of the sect long ago.
After fighting for so long without it appearing, something was very wrong.
After all, that was a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. With just a casual decree issued, Golas probably would have died long ago.
So 0-013 was not here after all. Now it was fine; they had played for much higher stakes, and the decree directly sealed the entire imperial city area.
Listening to those roaring sounds like a tidal wave, Joey's face was filled with astonishment.
"They tore up the armistice agreement and started a war?"