5: Chapter 5: The Flames of War Erupt and the Reckless Invaders
Unlike Su Chen's silent yet turbulent Yellow Sand Divine Realm, the other side, separated only by a single planar barrier, was a completely different sight.
Rotting leaves mixed with a foul toxic miasma, creating a thick, nauseating air.
This was the Swamp Plane.
Inside a temple built entirely of silt and grim white bones, a massive creature was restlessly swinging its thick tail.
The tail swept across the ground, kicking up a cloud of bone meal and mud.
He had a ferocious crocodile head, and dark green scales covered his entire body, each one shimmering with a damp and cold luster.
He was the God of Lizards, Guldan.
The ruler of this foul swamp.
A veteran First-Turn Demigod.
At this moment, a low, gravelly laugh emitted from his throat as his murky vertical pupils stared fixedly at a crystal floating before him.
Within the crystal, the scene of Su Chen's Divine Realm was clearly reflected.
It was an image sent back by a Kobold scout at the risk of its life.
"Ga... Gaga..."
Guldan's laughter grew increasingly smug, filled with undisguised greed.
That newborn fluctuation of divine power was immature and unstable, carrying a hint of the fragility of something that had just hatched.
A newly ascended demigod.
A little fellow who didn't know the heights of the heavens and dared to expand his Divine Realm right into the face of his "neighbor."
Guldan's gaze moved across the crystal image, landing on those figures moving on the surface.
In the image, those pitch-black insects were pitifully small.
"Black Armored Ants?"
He recognized the race, and the disdain in his vertical pupils almost manifested into something physical.
"A trash race that's not even enough to get stuck between teeth as cannon fodder."
In his long divine life, he had seen too many such "geniuses."
Promoted quickly by chance, yet with a laughably shallow foundation and a weak race.
Such an existence was no genius.
It was a walking treasury.
A fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
Guldan extended his long, mucus-covered tongue and licked his sharp teeth.
A newly ascended demigod meant his Divine Realm core must have accumulated a massive amount of Primordial Faith Power.
A demigod with a weak race meant he had no power to guard this wealth.
This was simply a gift from the heavens!
"Devour him..."
Guldan's breathing grew heavy, and the toxic miasma in the temple surged with his breaths.
"As long as I devour his Divine Realm core, that majestic energy will be enough for me to break through the bottleneck in one go!"
Second-Turn Demigod!
The realm he had coveted for centuries!
The flames of desire burned fiercely in his vertical pupils, incinerating his last shred of caution into ashes.
The opportunity was right before him.
He couldn't wait any longer.
Not even for a second!
Guldan suddenly stood up from his bone throne, raising high the scepter made from the spine of some giant beast.
At the tip of the scepter, a sickly green gem erupted with blinding light.
"My people!"
His roar, infused with divine power, pierced the temple walls and exploded over the entire swamp.
"Roar!"
"For the God of Lizards!"
Outside the temple, atop the vast mire, things instantly boiled over.
Thousands of Lizardmen warriors with dirty green skin emerged from the mud and caves, holding rusty spears.
They raised their weapons, letting out excited and fanatical bellows.
Beneath these Lizardmen, massive Swamp Giant Crocodiles opened their cold eyes, low threats rumbling in their throats.
For these races born of plunder and slaughter, war was their carnival.
Guldan looked down at the fanatical army below, his cruel smile widening.
"Can you feel it?"
"Right next to this plane, there is a brand new, fertile land!"
"There is countless fresh meat waiting for us there!"
His voice was full of seduction.
"Kill all those insects!"
"Pillage all their resources!"
"For the great God of Lizards!"
"Roar—!!"
The mountain-shaking, sea-tsunami-like roars made the entire swamp tremble.
Guldan nodded in satisfaction; he could already not wait to taste the fruits of victory.
"Open the Planar Channel!"
He slammed the Bone Scepter heavily onto the ground, burning a hundred points of divine power without hesitation.
Buzz—!
The sky above the temple trembled violently as space was torn open by a brute force like fragile cloth.
A massive black vortex began to slowly take shape, spinning and emitting a chaotic and ominous aura.
On the other end of the vortex, that peaceful land of yellow sand was clearly visible.
"Charge!"
Guldan pointed his scepter at the land that, in his eyes, was extremely vulnerable.
"Tread that pitiful little insect god under my feet!"
With a wave of his hand, he issued the final command.
Rumble!
The moment the order was given, two hundred of the most elite Swamp Crocodile Cavalry let out bloodthirsty roars.
The giant crocodiles beneath them moved their heavy limbs, and the earth began to shake.
This green tide composed of scales, fangs, and iron crashed headlong into the bottomless black vortex.
Guldan followed close behind, his massive body disappearing into the darkness.
A smile of certain victory hung on his face; in his mind, he had already begun to contemplate how to torment that poor wretch's divine soul.
He seemed to have already seen the image of Su Chen kneeling and begging for mercy.
However.
In his wildest dreams, he could never have imagined.
What he had personally pushed open was not a door to endless treasure.
But a gaping abyss filled with fangs that had long been waiting.