“Then let me tell you a story,” the God of Death said softly as he walked slowly along the black river. “A story about gods and betrayal.”
The story took place in an unremarkable village near Saint Trilley Royal City, where an angel and a human fell in love and gave birth to a half-blood angel.
The half-blood angel was not evil at the beginning, but the Angel Kingdom he yearned for did not recognize his bloodline and decisively rejected him.
The half-blood angel was very sad. He trained hard in the Saint Trilley Empire, and one day finally awakened his angelic bloodline, becoming a very rare dual-element mage.
In view of his diligent attitude, the Angel Kingdom mercifully opened its embrace to him and welcomed him to the Land of Eternal Day above the clouds.
However, the half-blood angel was not satisfied with this. He grew to hate his impure bloodline more and more, until finally he chose to touch forbidden magic, wanting to wash away his human blood.
The half-blood angel betrayed the God of Knowledge.
He allowed evil forbidden magic to reveal itself on the continent. Countless people saw a shortcut paved with life and blood, and madly set foot on this shortcut.
During that time, the Demon Sword Continent was immersed in a storm of blood and carnage. Thus, the God of Knowledge had no choice but to seek answers in other times.
This was the first betrayal.
The later betrayals became increasingly terrifying—
The demons of the Demon King’s Castle betrayed the Demon King, causing him to fall into eternal sleep.
The mechanical creations betrayed the God of Forging, casting aside His divine authority and trampling life at will.
The Northland Wolf King betrayed the Beast God, his blood-drenched longsword standing forever above the Beast God’s remains.
The elemental spirits betrayed the Elven God. They no longer heeded the Mother Tree’s call, watching coldly as it withered away bit by bit.
The final betrayer was Archangel Akangie. He wanted to replace the God of Light and become the sole deity of the continent, completely controlling the entire land…
In the end, all these deities disappeared from the Demon Sword Continent. They ignored, departed, died, and from then on, the creatures of the Demon Sword Continent could no longer obtain divine favor.
The God of Death let out a long sigh and continued, “At this time, the God of Knowledge returned. He had thoroughly studied the past and finally found a solution to everything—return to just before it all began, find a warrior with a powerful soul, and strike down the betrayers with a sword.”
“This is a story that has been tampered with by someone.” After listening, Ji Chi closed his eyes—this story was very familiar to him; it was the game’s main storyline.
The God of Death chuckled softly. “Yes… No one has ever betrayed us. There is only a false deity who controlled us in the story he wanted to see.”
“Then what about the ending of this story? What happened to that warrior?” Ji Chi asked the God of Death.
The God of Death showed an enigmatic expression. “The ending of the story was not very perfect. The warrior only saved the God of Light. The God of Light was very grateful to him, bestowing upon him supreme power and abundant rewards, allowing him to travel freely across the vast continent.”
Oh, which means granting me max level to complete the game… Ji Chi translated mentally. What a luxurious reward indeed.
“What about you?” Ji Chi suddenly turned to look at the God of Death. “What role do you play in this story? And who betrayed you?”
The God of Death shook his head. “No one betrayed me. I have always been controlled beneath the abyss, merely an undying being who records life and death.”
As soon as the God of Death finished speaking, they finally arrived at the end of the underworld river. At the end of the black river was an endlessly extending void crevice, into which the river water flowed silently, then disappeared silently into the bottomless abyss.
“The bone sea surrounds, and the abyss appears behind the river…” Ji Chi stood beside the crevice and leaned out slightly. The abyss was dark and mysterious; no one knew how deep it truly was. Even light could hardly escape from it.
The pitch-black abyss seemed able to draw in even souls. After watching it for a while, Ji Chi felt uncomfortable. He lifted his eyes, wanting to continue questioning the God of Death.
Then he froze.
Because the environment around him had completely changed, vastly different from before—the originally barren and silent Land of Buried Bones had somehow become an ocean of white bones. Pale skulls of various sizes and shapes were silently arranged on the ground, like tombstones wreathed in the aura of death.
Ji Chi looked around in shock. In this world, he had witnessed many bloody and terrifying corpses with his own eyes and had long grown accustomed to the aura of death. But for some reason, these skulls brought him a sense of dread he hadn’t experienced in a long time—a tremor welling up from the depths of his soul.
“These are…” Ji Chi’s throat tightened uncontrollably. He took a step back and asked in a low voice.
The God of Death knew he had already figured it out and nodded to confirm his thoughts. “You guessed correctly. These are the rebels who died in past times.”
Ji Chi’s throat became dry and painful. He pressed his lips together tightly, his retreating toes touched the ground, and trembling slightly, he stepped forward again.
He stood at the end of the underworld river, at the very center of the bone sea. The entire pale ocean spread out around the abyss crevice.
The place closest to the abyss was also when everything first began.
Ji Chi lowered his eyes and carefully gazed at each skull tombstone. Atop each skull was clearly carved text, but due to the limited surface area, only the deceased’s name and time of death were inscribed.
He walked slowly through the bone sea. Everywhere his gaze fell, there were names familiar enough to make his heart pound with alarm.
Reize, Theodore, Chloe, Hephaestus, Silvia, Evan, Saintess Coralie, Brandon… All the skulls were arranged in silent, orderly rows, wordlessly recounting stories that occurred at different points in time.
These names repeated many, many times. Just when Ji Chi could almost no longer recognize the characters, he finally reached the outermost edge of the bone sea.
Here it was empty, with only a few sparse tombstones standing.
[Hekelis]
[Unknown – Year 1059 of the Demon Sword Calendar]
Those were beast tribe characters. Ji Chi put his hands behind his back and touched the demon sword behind him.
The God of Death silently followed behind him the entire way to the end. When Ji Chi stopped, he said, “This is this cycle. You have already saved far too many people. They have already struggled free from the whirlpool of fate. For this, we should all thank you.”
Ji Chi crouched down and gently stroked the Beast God’s tombstone. His skull looked like that of a giant dragon. Although it had been reduced countless times in size, its ferocious dominance could still be felt.
Ji Chi’s eyes stung with tears. Throughout this journey, he had been keeping his emotions tightly suppressed. “When… when all this is over, can the power of your divine authority bring them all back to life?”
The God of Death sighed helplessly and shook his head. “The power of divine authority is limited. In this cycle, I have already expended most of my power.”
He did not continue speaking, only looked at Ji Chi.
Ji Chi lowered his head and said quietly, “You resurrected me.”
The God of Death looked toward a lone skull in the distance. That skull was covered with a thick layer of snow, obscuring the epitaph on it. “Yes, this was the first time I resurrected such a powerful soul. I nearly exhausted all my power to bring you to this world.”
“However, I bet correctly. This world accepted you from the very beginning. You did not experience very strong rejection, and most of your power was preserved… And as long as you wait until the deities also recognize you, you will be able to recover all your power.”
The God of Death said eerily, “However, this point is very, very similar to the false god from the beginning, so we have always been worried—whether your appearance can bring us hope or bring even deeper despair.”
Ji Chi glanced distantly at his own tombstone, withdrew his gaze, and various surging emotions churned in his ink-black pupils. “So what do I need to do next to gain your recognition?”
The God of Death looked at him quietly. “Go and obtain half of my divine authority. You should know where it is.”
Ji Chi looked at him deeply, hesitated no longer, turned around, and ran toward the abyss—
The God of Death watched his back as he rushed toward the abyss from behind, murmuring in a low voice, “All beings are equal; light and darkness are born together. This is the last chance. Can you bring back that kind of world for us?”