Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 221 The Ruler of the Underworld

"By the time you hear me say this, I should already be dead."

The Grim Reaper with the head of a jackal whispered in a language that Du Yi had never heard before, yet Du Yi could fully understand its meaning. This was clearly some unknown form of communication that reached directly to the soul itself.

However, this time, no images appeared in Du Yi's mind.

Clearly, the God of Death had his own understanding of this final message—perhaps the images directly transmitted into his mind could indeed be clearer, but in the end, the God of Death still intended to use storytelling to bring his life to a close.

"After all, in my time, people passed down our names through stories..."

"But that was a long time ago."

As he said this, the phantom of the God of Death sat down directly next to Du Yi.

As the God of Death recounted his tale, Du Yi gradually learned about things that had been buried for who knows how long.

The god of death is named Anubis. This is not even a coincidence of names. This is the Anubis that Du Yi knows, the god of death in ancient Egypt. However, in Anubis's time, Egypt was not even called Egypt. Even the name of the place came later.

In that ancient era, Anubis had already become a deity under the Ennead, in charge of guiding and judging the souls of the dead.

Yes, it was just about guidance and judgment. At that time, he could not be called the Grim Reaper, and he was far from being able to control the underworld.

But as time passed and many changes occurred, the once glorious Nine Pillar Gods disappeared one after another.

Anubis, who was originally not even worthy of being included among the nine gods, was gradually brought to the forefront.

"Back then, I couldn't understand why the gods, who were so powerful, couldn't escape the fate of annihilation... They had all become gods, immortal and indestructible."

At that time, Anubis still had doubts, but in any case, as the successor of the Underworld, he had been brought to the forefront to enjoy the last glory of the Ennead.

Therefore, Anubis had no choice but to take on all the responsibility.

In order to shoulder all this responsibility, Anubis expanded his territory far and wide, even surpassing the former Ennead Gods in his achievements, and established a vast empire. However, it was at this time that he encountered the same problem as the former Ennead Gods.

That is, the loss of power.

The loss of power, or rather the loss of faith, may seem to many as a sign that powerful and incomparable gods do not necessarily need the humble worship of believers. But can a god who has no one to worship truly still be called a god?

The Nine Pillar Gods fell because of this. Even though they originally thought they were incomparably powerful, as the stories about them were buried in the yellow sand, and as the past related to them was forgotten one by one, they gradually weakened. While the Nine Pillar Gods were declining, new gods were gradually rising.

Thus, it became so natural for a new god to replace the old one.

However, unlike the ancient and stubborn Ennead, Anubis was very adaptable. On the one hand, he fought against the new gods and tried to kill them directly. On the other hand, he also worked hard to increase the number of believers and the sphere of influence of his faith. As it turned out, he did have the last laugh. The pantheons that once fought against the Ennead, like the Ennead, were also annihilated by time and became forgotten.

However, just when Anubis thought he had won, the ancient evil from the stars descended.

It was at this moment that Anubis learned why the gods were constantly at war, and it was at this moment that Anubis learned why the Ennead had been defeated—not because they hadn't tried hard enough, nor because they weren't strong enough, but simply because some beings in the stars didn't want to see them become powerful.

"They want our world to be at war year after year, they want our world to be torn apart... so that we can't unite, let alone fight them."

However, even if Anubis realized this, it was still meaningless. He didn't even have time to organize any decent counterattack before the chaos descending from the stars had already slaughtered all the power in his hands.

Even Anubis, the god of death, could only retreat into the underworld.

Until, time passed and the world changed.

"As for you, my successor, although I don't yet know which faction you belong to, whether you are a visitor from some starry sky, or a new generation of strongmen born on this land... but none of that matters. When you take over the position of God of Death, it is equivalent to taking over my enemy."

"Those heretical demons in the starry sky will not allow this world even the slightest chance to restore peace, and now that you have this possibility, you will inevitably be hunted down by them."

"Please forgive me for using this method to force you into this position. It is indeed a bit underhanded to pull you into this position without any discussion, but this world needs hope and it needs you to stand up."

"Of course, you might wonder why I didn't survive until now if I was able to preserve the information... Indeed, that's a good question. After all, no matter how you look at it, this is my war, the war I should fight."

"But I can't win."

"The enemies that threaten this world, those heretical gods in the starry sky, they have always been watching me. They know exactly how I will act... My every move, my thoughts, are almost transparent to them."

"But you are different."

"Perhaps you were once watched by them just like I was, but my power will bring you new possibilities. You will have the opportunity to use my power, along with your own understanding, to do things that the heretical gods could not have imagined."

"Go do the things I can't do, go do the things only you can do."

"Go and bring new hope to this world."

As he said this, the enormous phantom with the head of a jackal raised its long staff and struck Du Yi.

The enormous staff and the golden scales instantly shattered into countless rays of light, which then surged into Du Yi's body—with the influx of these rays, the last part of the Netherworld finally fell into his grasp.

The phantom image with a jackal's head gradually faded and disappeared.

The entire underworld has also welcomed its new ruler.

(End of this chapter)