Chapter 408: The End of the False God
"That's impossible!"
On the fourth floor of the maze, Ariste's angry voice echoed in every corridor of the maze, and the sound of breaking was just like the half-collapsed ground under Luo Yan's feet.
This mad god has become one with the entire maze.
The wall was his skin, the red mist his breath.
He could clearly "see" everything that happened in the maze, but it was the scene that came into his eyes that made him fall into complete rage!
The massacre he envisioned did not occur.
Those fearless undead spirits actually stood together with the bewildered magic apprentices.
The skeletons used their fragile skeletons to form a solid line of defense, perfectly filling the apprentices' weakness in close combat.
At the cost of their own destruction, they taught the living people behind them a final lesson in courage.
Ariste couldn't accept it.
His carefully arranged Legion of Howlers was beaten back step by step by this hastily assembled coalition!
Without these three thousand pure soul fires, his grand plan of advancing to the Amethyst level would be impossible to realize, and he would not be able to kill the clown who was jumping around in front of him!
"Roxy Colin! What on earth have you done!" Alistair roared furiously, and at the same time the red mist accumulated in the maze fluctuated with his emotions.
Dark red flesh tentacles suddenly shot out from the ground under Luo Yan's feet, like thick thorns trying to wrap around and swallow him.
However, just when the endless tentacles were about to close, they withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a dying flower.
Black embers burned on the ashes.
Luo Yan waved his hand gently, dispersing the pure black fire in his palm. He didn't even glance at the ashes under his feet, but just spoke slowly.
"Based on my observations of the history of the continent of Os, the rise of a faith is inevitably accompanied by bloodshed and barbarism. However, building a towering tower with only the flesh, blood, and souls of mortals will ultimately fail to become an eternal temple. To stand at the pinnacle of the mortal world, the process may be tortuous, but in the end, it must encourage people to do good."
Objectively speaking, the Saint Sith were undoubtedly quite advanced in the First Era.
The vast majority of deities, including the gods of the underworld, are based on mythology, or primitive religions and witchcraft based on animism. Rather than unattainable gods, the embodied elemental gods are more like kings with emotions, and their teachings are mostly a matter of belief.
Only Saint Sith used the "Book of Holy Words" to educate the barbarians. While elevating the gods to the throne, he also restrained the believers, and in response to the deepest desires - or desires - in the hearts of the believers, he made a great wish to "eliminate death."
Regardless of whether this wish is likely to come true, it is enough that most people believe it will come true.
The Book of the Holy Word is not just about the issue of death; it can also fulfill other achievable goals, such as ensuring that most people have access to bread.
A thousand years ago, it was a real "luxury item", although now you can buy one for 5 copper coins.
On the other hand, the demon god of hell is indeed inferior to Saint Sith in this respect.
He also paints a rosy picture, but it's all filled with hatred and destruction. Even though Saint Sith's servants can be hypocritical and cruel in many ways, the demon god's servants are often inhuman. Humans, while corrupted by demons, will never move to Hell. Conversely, once the demons of the Demon City lose a fight, their first reaction is to flee to human territory.
This was how Elder Zakro had arranged his escape route, but unfortunately he was too impatient to do anything big before leaving. Otherwise, with Goligo's indulgence of him, he would have really run away.
"...As for me, I didn't do anything. If I had to say anything, I probably just spent some time listening to the believers' prayers."
"Stop pretending! Those undead are your servants, right? Don't think I don't know—"
Ariste continued to cast spells with a sinister grin, transforming the cold rock into more and larger tentacles that attacked Luo Yan who was standing in the corridor.
Luo Yan easily deflected his attack, and at the same time helped Sarah block two shots that she might not have been able to avoid.
"Did I say they weren't?"
Ariste was stunned, and his fierce attack paused for a moment. He obviously didn't expect Colin to directly admit this serious accusation.
Not only his offensive was interrupted, but also his train of thought. He didn't stop talking, but his speech was obviously incoherent.
That look is very much like Taf in a broken defense state.
"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect the respected Prince Colin to be a necromancer. Do you still remember the oath you swore before the Holy Light? Ah... I almost forgot, you sold your soul to Chaos a long time ago! And before me!"
Hearing Ariste's sharp sarcasm, he smiled lightly.
"What are you talking about? Just because you became stronger with Akashi doesn't mean that everyone stronger than you is particularly Akashi-capable."
Necromancer?
I am the devil.
As for Chaos, this guy probably mistook the "ether" of the Solipsian civilization for the privilege of the "strange fog" Novel.
If you really count the generations, it’s not certain who is whose father.
“%￥#@!”
Ariste was completely furious not to have expected the prince to be so rude. He no longer cared about the professor's demeanor and spit out all the ugly curses he knew.
Luo Yan ignored his impotent rage.
While using words to restrain Ariste, a colorful butterfly quietly flew out from his side, penetrating through layers of flesh and blood walls like a ghost, and flew towards the deepest part of the maze and the core of energy.
Soon, it found it.
At the bottom of the maze, a huge artificial crystal is suspended in the air.
It should have been emitting a soft holy light, but now it was tightly wrapped by countless hideous blood-red blood vessels, like a beating heart, providing chaotic energy to the entire maze!
In front of the crystal core, a fierce battle is taking place.
The four apprentices, Ilana, Ophelia, Hader and Bane, were actually fighting side by side with the four players of the "One Leaf Knows Autumn" team.
This scene surprised Luo Yan. He only asked the players to stop the original main line and escort the magic apprentice to the nearest shelter. However, he did not expect that there were four players who did not play by the rules and did the opposite, and went directly to the fourth level of the maze.
The same thing happened to Ophelia and the others. After escaping, they did not run away immediately. Instead, they took advantage of the fact that Ariste was not paying attention to them and went deeper into the core of the maze.
Two groups of souls from different worlds met on their journey by coincidence. More than that, they overcame their fear of each other and worked together for the same goal, jointly resisting the Howlers pouring in from all directions.
"Minotaur, hold the left side! Pig-headed man, the gap on the right!" Yi Ye Zhiqiu commanded calmly, while holding the sword and shield he picked up to act as the output position.
Although it was a pity that he could not use the magic he was best at, he was a flexible person and quickly adapted to the new way of fighting.
"Understood!" The Minotaur warrior and the Pig-headed Knight roared, using their bodies and simple bone shields to defend the passage tightly.
Behind them, Bain and Hader were chanting spells intently, providing magical support to the undead in front.
As for Ilana.
Her magic power was not outstanding, but she was trying her best to use all her strength to shoot ice arrows at the oncoming howlers.
"Ophelia! Now!" Bane suddenly shouted, and a gust of wind like a sledgehammer gushed out from the tip of his staff.
It was air that was almost compressed into a solid form. After pushing away dozens of howlers, it rushed straight towards the dark red crystal floating in the air!
“Ohhhh!”
Unlike her usual modesty and courtesy, Ophelia shouted with great momentum, and her slender little hands took out a stack of thick magic scrolls from the storage ring, each of which exuded a heart-pounding energy!
Luo Yan saw this scene through the butterfly's vision and smiled knowingly.
He had been prepared to personally end this farce, but now it seemed that there was no need.
Finally noticing the imminent threat, Ariste let out a terrified and unwilling roar.
"No--!"
It's too late.
While he was restraining Colin, Colin was also restraining him.
The exploding flames, fueled by high-pressure air, emitted an unprecedentedly hot glow!
That light ignited new inspiration about fire magic in Hader and Bain's hearts, and completely shattered Ariste's ambition.
He tried to mobilize all the power of the maze to suppress it, but it was too late. Especially when he saw the butterfly quietly landing on Ophelia's shoulder, he completely gave up the idea of rushing over and tearing the four apprentices to pieces.
That would be like walking into a trap!
With an earth-shaking roar, a violent energy erupted from the depths of the broken labyrinth core, instantly destroying everything that Ariste had built with the power of chaos.
His soul let out a painful wail, feeling as if part of his soul was being torn off alive by that force!
At the same time, the wall of flesh and blood that had merged with him began to necrotize on a large scale, and the dark red crystals shattered into pieces like peeling skin flakes!
The entire maze howled in pain like a dying beast, and fell apart along with his newly formed "divine domain".
Terror seized Ariste's heart!
His dream of breaking through to the Amethyst level has vanished into thin air. His only thought now is to escape from this damn snowfield before other sages hear the news and arrive!
As long as you survive, there is a chance!
He forcibly separated his will from this collapsing "body" and rushed upwards frantically. Finally, amid a burst of flying rubble, he crashed out from behind a wall on the first floor in a mess!
The broken exit is right in front of you!
The cool breeze of freedom seemed to have brushed across his cheeks, bringing with it a sweet breath of light that cleared the clouds.
However, before Ariste could take that step, a deep darkness blossomed without warning from the shadows in the corner of his eye.
It was a javelin formed from pure black flames!
It was silent, but more deadly than any sound. It pierced through his chest in an instant and nailed him to the collapsed stone wall behind him!
“Ugh—!!”
Ariste screamed in agony, lowering his head and staring in disbelief at the hole in his chest that was burning away his soul.
The power of chaos was unable to extinguish the black flame!
At this moment, a slender figure slowly stepped out from the shadows beside him. In those calm eyes, Ariste despairingly saw his own complete defeat.
"As you said," Luo Yan's voice came clearly, with a hint of mockery, "even between gods, there is a gap as deep as the abyss."
Fate is so similar.
The apprentice named Milos seemed to have suffered the same fate.
As the controller of the Thorne Society, Ariste probably didn't think when he crushed the ant to death that he, who was already above ten thousand people, would one day suffer the same fate.
God will forgive the evildoers who are forced to do so and repent from the bottom of their hearts, but he will never forgive the perpetrators who remain unrepentant even when facing death.
"You...when..." Blood gushed out of Alistair's mouth. He stared at Colin, who was supposed to be in the deepest part of the maze. "...you appeared there?"
"Is that all you want to ask?"
Luo Yan smiled slightly, but in Ariste's eyes, that smile was more terrifying than the devil, just like a real god.
"You are not alone. There are many pairs of eyes in the maze."
The sound was like a breeze blowing out a candle, extinguishing Ariste's last hope.
The ensuing flames instantly spread throughout his body, shattering his soul as he wailed in a twisted manner.
A cloud of gray mist emerged from him, trying to escape.
However, it had just flown less than a meter when it was spotted by the sharp-eyed Youyou.
"Master Demon! It's the godhead of Chaos! Don't let it escape!"
Luo Yan didn't say anything after hearing this, but simply stretched out his right hand. The ethereal gray mist was like a candle in the wind, completely extinguished by his empty grip.
Professor Alistair had obviously only recently obtained the godhood bestowed by the Crown of Pride, and this divine power that did not belong to him had not yet been consolidated into true godhood.
Otherwise, he really couldn't do anything about it.
At the same time, a stream of refined, pure energy silently merged into his vast, tidal sea of consciousness...
What followed was an unprecedented feeling of refreshment.
Luo Yan immersed his consciousness into his sea of knowledge and took a quick look at his attribute panel.
【
ID: Luo Yan
Race: Human
Soul Level: Diamond (Level Cap LV130)
Level: LV.118 (+7)
Constitution: 109 (+7)
Strength: 55 (+7)
Agility: 62 (+7)
Intelligence: 469 (+42)
Spirit: 449 (+42)
】
As expected, he upgraded again.
And he actually reached level seven!
Although this didn't break through the Diamond level bottleneck, it was a big step towards the Amethyst level...
After confirming the attribute panel, Luo Yan did not stop, but immediately activated the ability of "Butterfly of All Things" and teleported to the cave where the core of the maze was located.
The situation here is worse than he expected.
Ariste's body turned to ashes in the black flames, but the collapse of the maze did not stop!
The narrow space was filled with choking dust, and huge rocks fell from the dome like raindrops.
The four skeletons of the "One Leaf Knows Autumn" team had long been smashed into pieces, and only a few broken pieces of equipment proved their existence.
Luo Yan didn't feel sorry for them.
According to Youyou, they had already switched back to their original "game characters" and were currently celebrating their victory in the cemetery.
It won’t be long before they receive the rewards for completing the dungeon, and those rewards will be enough to make them happy for a while.
On the other side of the cave, the trials of the magic apprentices continued.
Hader and Bane were holding up their wands, working together to create a magic shield to protect themselves and their teammates behind them.
The shield was covered with spider-web-like cracks under the impact of the huge rocks, making a wail of being overwhelmed, and it could be completely shattered at any time.
"Damn it... Bain, didn't you eat?! Try harder!"
"??? How dare you say that to me? Didn't you brag to me that you were just a little bit away from breaking through to the Adamantite level? Is that all you can do!?"
"That's enough! Think of a solution! This maze is going to collapse and we're all going to be buried alive!"
"Saint Sith above... I can't think of any other way except for Saint Sith himself to come here in person!"
Although the two were complaining and saying discouraging words, neither of them threw away the crumbling shield, abandoned their teammates and ran away.
They are all students of His Highness Colin.
Even if this sentence was not enough reason for them to persevere to the end, it just so happened that none of His Highness's students were cowards.
Maybe this is just birds of a feather flock together.
Behind the two cursing men, Ilana was trying her best to drag Ophelia out from under a heavy broken wall.
“Ahem…”
Ophelia coughed up blood and her face turned pale as paper.
She looked at the shield above her head that was about to collapse, Ilana who was still stubbornly trying, and her own bloody right leg, and forced a relieved smile on her face.
"Ilana...I...actually want to apologize to you."
"Stop talking, I don't want to listen!" Ilana's voice was choked, and her always calm face now showed a rare uncontrollable sadness.
"No! I want to say... My God told me that this might be my last chance..."
Ophelia took a deep breath, and her smile was filled with a hint of sincere repentance, as if she was facing not only her friend, but also the holy light standing behind her.
"After I discovered Miss Lastina's plot, I was blinded by anger and arrogance... I didn't tell you, nor did I tell my mentor. Instead, I took the initiative to decide on this adventure, and I almost put you in real danger."
Hot tears rolled down Ilana's cheeks and fell one by one on Ophelia's face.
"Stop talking... I never blamed you! It wasn't your fault at all! If even you were at fault, then I can't blame you either. It was me who didn't notice Ange and Miss Lastina's plot, and it was because of my fault that you got dragged into such a dangerous accident!"
Why do those who really should apologize never say sorry until they die, and even prefer to die rather than take responsibility for their mistakes?
On the contrary, kind-hearted people generously bear the sins that do not belong to them, and are even afraid that they will not have enough time to repent.
Is this fair?
Ilana had never prayed so hard before.
She prayed for the gods' blessing—
She was willing to offer her eternal piety, just praying for a miracle to happen, so that she could take Miss Ophelia, Bane, and Senior Hard away from here!
Seeing that always calm face blurred by tears, a gentle smile suddenly appeared on Ophelia's face.
"Really? Then I'm relieved... It seems I'm still your best friend in the world. Although I don't care about some empty ranking, I can't let some hypocritical guy take my place."
"Ophelia...you have always been...my best friend! Please, please stop..."
Feeling the heat dripping onto her face, Ophelia gently held her arm.
"Ilana... leave me alone. Even if you drag me out, I won't be able to get far. It will only cause everyone to die. Besides... someone will come to take me away. I'm more worried about you guys."
Her voice trembled with weakness, but the smile in her eyes was still generous and bright, even with a hint of playfulness.
"Tell my father that André Castellón's daughter has not lived in vain... I have had a wonderful adventure, just like my ancestors, though perhaps not as legendary as theirs."
"No... I won't leave you! Let's go out together!" Ilana cried and shook her head, using all her strength to drag Ophelia out another inch.
However, her action caused Ophelia to almost faint from the pain, as one of her bones was stuck in the crevice of the stone.
Luo Yan felt pain just watching it.
It's hard to believe that this girl can endure this.
"Ilana is right," a gentle voice suddenly sounded beside them, clearly penetrating all the roar, "We can never give up easily at any time."
"Your Highness Colin?!"
The four apprentices turned around in surprise, only to see that their respected mentor had appeared beside them without them noticing, with a smile as warm as the spring breeze without a trace of dust on it.
At this moment, Bane suddenly became dazed, shook the magic wand pointing at the sky, and fell straight backwards.
Had was shocked when he saw this.
"not good--"
Before he finished speaking, a gentle force lifted up the fallen boulders from bottom to top.
Including the huge rock that was pressing down on Ophelia's right leg!
His Highness Colin, who was standing in the center of the chaos, simply raised his hand casually, and a barrier as clear as the sky instantly unfolded with him as the center, enveloping everyone present.
All the boulders that hurled themselves at the barrier were blocked by the indestructible barrier. That slightly raised right hand held up a veil of absolute safety in this desperate situation.
Inside the cave, all that remained was the dull roar outside the barrier and the exhausted breathing of four young men...
After doing all this, Luo Yan did not stop his actions. He gently waved the magic wand in his sleeve, and a holy light that healed all wounds fell on Ophelia's right leg.
Although her injuries were serious, they were not caused by chaos and her soul was intact, so they were relatively easy to heal.
At least that's the case for Luo Yan, who has reached diamond level.
A tickling feeling came from under her body, and Ophelia couldn't help but let out a light moan.
Then she was surprised to see that her broken calf had grown back, and its fair skin was as smooth as new!
At this moment, a line suddenly flashed through Ophelia's mind -
'Wherever light goes, darkness cannot hide!'
For a moment, she was suddenly surprised to find that the figure overlapped with the character in the novel she had read!
Although what he held in his hand was not a knight's sword but a magic wand, he perfectly practiced this motto with his words and deeds.
That was the pretense she had always wanted to have.
That prince only made a slight move to complete the act...
Seeing Ophelia looking straight at him, Luo Yan kept a warm smile on his face, but his voice became a little harsh.
"...Especially Miss Ophelia Castellón, you should remember this. I have to criticize you on behalf of your father. After all, he personally wrote a letter to entrust you to me. If something happened to you, how would I explain it to him?"
It was beyond his expectation.
This time, Ophelia did not quibble or talk back, but blushed and lowered her head, as docile as a well-fed cat.
"sorry……"
very good.
It seems that she is indeed reflecting on her own problems.
Taking his eyes off Ophelia, Luo Yan cast his gaze towards the completely shattered core of the maze not far away.
It looks pretty good.
Perhaps in another hundred years, the empire will be able to figure out its own "maze" and drive the nails into the territory of hell in reverse.
By that time, hell will probably be anxious.
Luo Yan, who had nothing to do with the matter, withdrew his gaze, looked around at the four young men who were in a mess, and spoke with a smile.
"Although many accidents have occurred, I still have to congratulate you. You are the champions of this maze trial!"
(End of this chapter)
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