44: Chapter 44: Conspiracy in the Bar and the Temptation of the Eighth-Tier Bone Dragon
Within the Divine Realm, the laws were newly established.
Su Chen slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his pitch-black pupils was reflected a brand-new world that had just undergone creation and was now stabilizing.
One hundred square kilometers of territory.
Every inch of land, every wisp of wind, was intimately connected to his soul, responding as easily as moving his own limbs.
Power surged through his limbs and bones. The growth of his divine soul brought an unprecedented sense of control.
His will was the sole Mandate of Heaven in this world.
Su Chen lifted his gaze, his sight piercing through the crystalline walls of his Divine Realm, traversing the endless gaps between dimensions.
It was a lock based purely on divine rank.
Within a bizarre and chaotic void, he accurately 'saw' a cluster of divine aura curled up within the shadows.
Greed.
Cunning.
And a trace of impurity, not yet fully digested after devouring a peer.
God of Shadows.
No ripple of emotion remained in Su Chen's eyes, only absolute coldness.
It was the look one gives to inanimate objects.
"God of Shadows, is it?"
His voice was soft, echoing in the empty core of the Divine Realm, yet carrying an undeniable tone of judgment.
"Devour my prey, and you will have to spit it out."
"You're next."
...
Meanwhile.
City of Deities, Black Light Tavern.
This was the pleasure den where countless deities of chaotic alignments from across the multiverse drowned their sorrows and squandered their wealth.
The air was thick with the sour, rotten smell of cheaply fermented divine power, mixed with the body odor of various creatures and cheap soul-burning incense, forming a nauseatingly cloying sweetness.
In the corner, at the darkest table.
The God of Shadows was alone, downing a cup of potent liquor that bubbled with a sickly green hue.
He had just barely stemmed the decline of his divine power by devouring the divine spark of his defeated vassal god, but the humiliation and rage from that loss burned within his divine soul.
"Damnable insect god..."
The words were forced through gritted teeth, laden with barely suppressed venom.
"Cost me an important puppet..."
Just as he muttered this curse.
A shadow, deeper and purer than his own, silently enveloped him.
A figure shrouded in a voluminous black robe sat down opposite him.
Without making a sound.
As if that person had simply grown from the darkness itself.
*Hum!*
A suffocating pressure instantly enveloped the small table.
It was not a deliberate release of power, but an absolute suppression based on life rank.
A cold, deathly stillness, carrying the scent of decayed dust from the underworld, forced the God of Shadows' divine power back into his body, causing the restless shadows around him to freeze in fear.
"Who?!"
The God of Shadows' muscles tensed instantly. He jerked back in his seat, his fingers gripping the cup trembling slightly from the strain.
He looked up warily, trying to see through the hood.
But all he saw was an impenetrable, dense darkness.
"Don't be tense."
A hoarse voice emerged from beneath the black robe.
The voice didn't seem to come from vocal cords, but more like the grinding of countless dry bones, each syllable exuding a chill from the deepest abyss.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
The robed figure slowly raised a hand and placed it on the table.
It was a hand so emaciated it seemed only skin and bone, the skin a pallid grey, the nails long, black, and sharp.
"Allow me to introduce myself."
"You may call me—the Lich King."
Lich King.
Hearing these two words, the God of Shadows' pupils contracted to dangerous pinpoints.
A true god?!
Only a true deity could possess such terrifying pressure, could make his divine nature tremble and wail in instinctive fear!
The Lich King paid no heed to his shock and offered no further pleasantries.
His bony, withered finger tapped lightly on the grimy table.
*Tap.*
The sound was crisp.
A cluster of ghostly blue flame materialized on the table between them.
The flame gave off no heat, instead radiating a soul-siphoning cold.
Within the flame, the faint outlines of countless tortured, twisting faces could be seen silently screaming and writhing.
Soulfire.
"I am quite interested in that newcomer named Su Chen."
The Lich King's tone was flat, as if stating a trivial matter.
"Or rather, I wish for his death."
The God of Shadows' heart gave a violent thump.
"But he is too slippery, like a startled rat, always able to sniff out danger."
"I need bait."
The darkness beneath the Lich King's hood turned toward the God of Shadows.
In that moment, the God of Shadows felt as if he were being scrutinized by a primordial beast, his divine spark and physical form laid utterly bare.
He saw a pair of eyes glowing within the darkness, burning with the same ghostly blue flame.
Greed.
The emotion in the God of Shadows' eyes was precisely captured by the Lich King.
"As long as you can lure him into the trap I have prepared for you."
A hint of enticement entered the Lich King's voice.
"The control of this 'Eighth-Rank Phantom Bone Dragon' will be yours."
As the words fell.
He lightly drew a line in the air with his other hand.
Space rippled like water. A crystal-clear, moving image unfolded before the God of Shadows.
It depicted a shattered astral plane.
The skeletal remains of a dragon, massive as a mountain range, floated silently in the void.
Its entire body was composed of a ghastly white crystalline bone. Between its massive ribs, there was no flesh, only a raging pale white flame.
The flame emitted no light, no heat.
Its mere existence caused the surrounding space to show signs of decay and withering.
A floating meteorite drifted silently closer.
The moment it touched the aura at the periphery of the pale flame, the solid rock rapidly turned to sand, disintegrated, and finally dissolved into primordial cosmic dust.
Even through the image alone, that world-ending, terrifying aura pierced through the barrier of the projection, making the God of Shadows' divine soul ache.
"Eighth-rank... Bone Dragon?!"
The God of Shadows' breathing became incredibly ragged in an instant.
His eyes were glued to the Bone Dragon, the greed within them so intense it seemed almost tangible, ready to spill over.
Eighth rank!
That was a tier he had dreamed of but could never reach!
With this...
With such a terrifying instrument of war, what did he have to fear from some mere upstart insect god?
Not only could he take revenge, but with this Bone Dragon, he could stride unhindered through this chaotic star sector! He could annex weaker deities, strengthen himself, even... covet a higher divine seat!
What was the humiliation of losing one vassal god compared to such a grand future?
"Deal!"
The word was practically roared.
Thoroughly blinded by greed, he didn't even consider the risks he would face, nor question the Lich King's true purpose.
He immediately swore upon his own divine spark, pledging to serve the Lich King and become the hunter for that new deity.
And at this very moment.
Within Su Chen's Divine Realm.
He was immersed in the joy of tallying the spoils from the pseudo-god.
He remained completely unaware that a vast net, woven by a true god and aimed directly at him, was quietly spreading open at the other end of the universe.