absurd deduction game.

These words sent a chill down the spines of everyone present, filling them with an intense sense of dread.

The innocent priests shuddered. The moment they tried to imagine the scene as Yu Xing described, their heads throbbed from the blasphemous imagery, and blood flowed from their noses. They quickly cut off the view.

At this moment, they all knew that this level of battle was beyond the reach of ordinary priests like themselves. They had rushed here with faith and courage, and had already accomplished something by influencing Fernal's ritual.

What seems to be left is simply watching this powerful investigator, whose true nature remains unknown, confront the high priest of the esoteric sect, while the ancient gods arrive as summoned…

The deacons and guards of the Harvest Church cried out in their hearts, "Archbishop, where are you?"
Celine and Murphy were helpless. They were sent by their respective churches to reinforce Yorickf Town and had already reached the level of bishops, but they were still a bit weaker than the archbishop in the red robe. It was this difference in status that made them much weaker in the belief system of the gods. Faced with a truly evil god, they could only try their best to protect themselves.

Before embarking on this mission, they were prepared to die. They had imagined that the battle would involve assisting the Cardinal in the Harvest Church, but instead, they were being almost completely overwhelmed.

I'm really unwilling...

Are we left with no choice but to rely entirely on this investigator?
A dozen or so eyes peered up from between the thick branches, deliberately avoiding the young man who contained the ancient god, and looked at Yu Xing and Funer.

The next second, the sound of branches tearing through the air was dull and heavy, like a giant beast dragging its body in slime!
They pierced towards the center of the altar; their sharp tips were frightening enough, and their thick bodies were enough to smash through any obstacles. Several of them together created an unstoppable momentum.

However, Fernal blocked the path.

She possessed a grotesque beauty, a perfect blend of a beautiful, radiant woman and a terrifying monster, appearing delicate and fragile, as if she could be torn apart by branches in a mere second.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Before the branches pierced her, Furnel's body rapidly disintegrated, her gorgeous clothes silently shattering to reveal the surging dark green beneath.

Fragments of insect limbs and butterfly wings emerged from beneath her skin, stretched, and flapped. Her cheeks split open, and the emerald light of her compound eyes filled her face. The pair of unusually large butterfly wings tore apart her skull.

Dark green chaos erupted from her distorted body, carrying a cloying, putrid smell of insect sap, and wafted toward the branches.

Clearly, due to Yu Xing's unusual condition, and out of caution, Fennell had to abandon her human mouth, which was very convenient for chanting spells, and instead face the attack in the form of a monster.

The first branch crashed in, and Funel's insect limbs slashed down, sharp as a sickle.

Clang——

The sound of metal clashing was deafening; the insect's limbs were almost instantly crushed by the twig.

Fennell's compound eyes flashed slightly, and dark green blood gushed out, but she felt no pain, because her body was the nest of countless butterfly monsters.

New worms emerged from the wound, but more branches pierced through the gaps in her body, bypassing her and clearly targeting the young man's body.

"How dare you..." Fennell was shocked by Yu Xing's direct provocation of the gods, but unfortunately, at this moment, the ancient god's consciousness had just filled the human body, and it was indeed the weakest time, because He still needed to familiarize Himself with the behavior patterns of this species. For at least one or two minutes, He would not be able to make many movements.

Her back split open, revealing dozens of pairs of tattered and colorful butterfly wings. The wings flapped, stirring up chaotic shadows, and holes appeared all over her body, spewing out dense, shrill, dark green insect eggs.

The insect eggs hit the branches and hatched instantly, turning into countless butterflies the size of fingernails. However, as soon as they touched the black veins on the surface of the branches, they were instantly corroded into pus.

The branches advanced almost unimpeded.

Finally, Fernail emitted a suppressed, chest-resonant hum.

“This is my ritual.” Her voice came through the alienated resonance, somewhat muffled, yet still maintaining an oddly steady tone. “What exactly do you want to do, Mr. Yu Xing?”

"You said you didn't want to stop the ceremony."

The lair does indeed lack direct offensive power; it has never been particularly strong in combat.

Therefore, her enormous, twisted body actively faced the area with the densest branches, her limbs waving in a blur, her butterfly wings flapping and stirring up turbulence, and the insect eggs she spewed out forming a thick barrier with the pollution.

She was using her body to slow down and deplete these branches.

Once the ancient god regains consciousness and uses divine channels to bring the remaining divine kingdoms to the ground, she will be the winner.

Yu Xing frowned slightly.

Ugh, this thing is so annoying.

Why keep stopping him from enjoying that delicious food not far away?

Well, it's not necessarily something we need to avoid.

A particularly thick branch pierced her from the side, striking a thinner junction on her flank.

Fernail did not completely avoid it.

Her carapace shattered, and dark green fluid gushed out. She didn't cry out in pain; instead, her compound eyes suddenly shone brightly for a moment. Her severed limbs lashed back like whips, slamming into the middle of the branch and knocking it slightly off course.

Another branch seized the opportunity to wrap around one of her main supporting limbs, tightened, and its barbs pierced through, beginning to absorb her.

Fennell's body trembled slightly.

She looked down at the branch, her compound eyes reflecting the flowing black patterns on its surface through countless lattices.

“Truly… the power of greed,” she said, her voice devoid of anger, carrying only a cold, observational quality. “You want to devour everything?”

She actively channeled more polluting energy into the entangled worm limb, and the dark green light spread upwards along the branch, attempting to erode it in the opposite direction.

The black veins on the surface of the branches suddenly became bright, and the smell of decay surged.

The two forces clashed fiercely at the point of contact, producing a teeth-grinding "sizzling" sound. After a moment, the dark green light began to recede and dim, being swallowed by the black patterns.

The Ghost Tree is indeed a force of greed; it always wants to transform all that is dark into nutrients for its roots.

Fennell's body shrank visibly, and she had to give up the struggle with the branches. Her massive body retreated with an agility that defied its shape, instantly returning to the edge of the altar, almost touching the container that held the ancient god.

She stared at Yu Xing, seemingly assessing his danger level.

A moment later, she stretched out several relatively intact wings and gently, even tenderly, wrapped them around the young man's body.

The butterfly's wings fold together, as if embracing.

"The ritual must be completed." She raised her head, her compound eyes looking at Yu Xing, the emerald light steady. "Unless you can devour me, along with the vessel of the gods."

"I don't believe you can do it, human."

She ultimately concluded that Yu Xing was a human, not a monster.

The branches stopped abruptly in front of the altar, their tips poised to strike, but they did not immediately lunge forward.

Fennell's words pleased Yu Xing.

Yu Xing stood surrounded by branches and black mist. The rumbling in his stomach continued, even grew louder. He looked at Funel holding the container and smiled.

He had more patience for food than for enemies.

But what he said still made Fernail's heart skip a beat: "You're stalling for time."

Before the words were even finished, the group of branches that had stopped suddenly changed their target.

They no longer tried to penetrate Fennell's container, but instead, as if they were alive, they spread out and surrounded her, enveloping her massive "nest" from all directions.

Almost instantly, her location was completely enveloped by heavy branches, leaving not a single gap exposed.

Fennell's compound eyes flashed rapidly, and her butterfly wings suddenly spread, trying to take flight. However, the area above was already blocked by intertwined branches, which overlapped like layers of pythons and then suddenly tightened. Fennell's struggles became weaker and weaker. "You..." Fennell's voice was distorted by the pressure of the branches, "How could you possibly eat me... I am... the nest..."

Yu Xing smiled and approached step by step.

The branches parted to make way for him, and he stepped into the small space he had enclosed. His gaze fell on Fennell, and the hunger in his eyes was almost tangible.

"Why not?"

"You're just an appetizer."

The branches that were entwining Funel suddenly tightened.

Snap...creak...

The sounds of carapaces shattering, insect limbs breaking, and butterfly wings tearing rang out in rapid succession, mixed with the squeaking sound of mucus being squeezed out. Dark green fluid seeped from the gaps in the branches and was immediately absorbed by the branches.

Fennell finally let out a scream, mixed with intense resentment.

"I've worked so hard for so long, how could I possibly die at your hands?!"

"Humanity!!!!"

"Ancient God, wake up! I command you, as the Summoner, to kill him!!!"

Unfortunately, it was all in vain; her disrespectful words to the gods received no response whatsoever.

The light from the compound eyes shone through the gaps in the branches, flickering one last time. There was no fear in that light, only a very faint, almost mocking regret.

Then, the light went out.

The nest is dead.

Outside the branches, the crowd waited anxiously for the results. They couldn't see inside; they could only see the wriggling branches and the spheres quiet down, with only slight undulations on the surface, indicating that "feeding" was still continuing.

In the center of the altar, the young man's body still stood, the galactic patterns beneath his skin pulsating with veins, and it seemed that Fernail's last protective action had no effect on him.

He even slightly turned his head to "look" at Fennell, who was being devoured, his nebula-like pupils showing no emotion.

Yu Xing stopped looking at the shrinking sphere of branches and returned his attention to the altar and the container that exuded an alluring aura.

Then, the branches that had been covering the altar came apart, and the pollution, no longer protected, radiated outwards.

"Tsk."

Carlos, who was in the corner, made a sound.

He had been staying close to the wall of branches, trying to minimize his presence while observing the entire battle.

The process of Fennell being devoured did not result in much energy leakage, but once the branches were scattered, the priests who had been pushed to the edge were still on the verge of collapse.

Several priests had stopped praying, their eyes began to glaze over, faint, abnormal star-like spots appeared under their skin, and they unconsciously murmured broken esoteric words.

"They're really looking for trouble," Carlos muttered, but his hands didn't slow down.

He took off the somewhat damaged magician's hat and flicked the brim lightly with his fingertip.

There was no dazzling light, no complex runes; centered on him, the air rippled outwards like a pebble thrown into a body of water, creating tiny, almost invisible ripples.

Ripples swept over the paralyzed priests.

The next moment, the space around the priests underwent an extremely subtle change. They were still lying in the same place, seemingly without moving at all, but the "connection" between them and the attic space was "cut off" by a tiny space, making them independent of the main space of the attic.

The spread of contamination on the priests immediately stopped, and their unfocused eyes refocused. Although they were still weak, they were at least temporarily out of danger of being instantly distorted.

Carlos's face paled even more, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Maintaining such precise, multi-target spatial cutting was no easy task, especially without any aids.

This is equivalent to having a magician perform a card trick on the spot without any playing cards prepared.

He quickly pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket and popped it into his mouth, mumbling, "If it weren't for this ticket..."

His gaze swept towards the altar.

Yu Xing had already reached the edge of the altar, only a few steps away from the container.

The obstacle has disappeared.

Fernal's death seemed to bring the ritual to a standstill. The giant eye in the sky still existed, casting a dark red light that connected with the altar, but the ever-increasing pulsation subsided.

The will of the ancient god has been infused into the vessel, but with the disappearance of Fernal, the host, the gods themselves must now take control of what will happen next.

In the center of the altar, the young man's body suddenly moved.

This time, He presented a more fluid movement, with a touch of "humanity."

He raised a hand, placed it before his eyes, and slowly opened and closed his fingers, observing the starlight patterns flowing beneath his skin. Then, he lowered his hand and turned his head towards Yu Xing.

Those nebula-like pupils locked onto Yu Xing, and then He spoke.

"Summoner, perish."

"You, stay."

"You want something from me?"

To Him, Fernal's death was insignificant; it was merely a missing part of the ritual. Yu Xing's existence and actions were understood by Him as an "expression," a way for an ant to express its demands to a higher being.

So He asked.

He waits for the ants to express their desires.

Wealth? Power? Knowledge? Destroying an enemy? Or some other petty, fleeting desire.

As the being that occupies this temporary "container" and initially establishes an anchor with this world, He can easily accomplish many things that seem inconceivable to humans. This is a transaction, a "response" based on His logic.

Of course, the way His wishes are fulfilled will not satisfy humanity, because He is an evil god.

Yu Xing stopped and raised an eyebrow slightly.

He stood before the altar, looking up at the "food" that exuded an incredibly alluring aura. Black mist slowly swirled around him, branches writhed silently behind him, and the rumbling in his belly reached its peak, almost turning into a tangible roar.

Hearing the ancient god's hollow question, his smile widened.

"Wish?"

He took his final step forward, stepping onto the writhing flesh at the edge of the altar.

He crouched slightly.

The next moment, he leaned forward, embraced the container, and suddenly opened his mouth, biting down on its pale neck! (End of Chapter)