Those time travelers that year

Losanda's expression shifted, then she slumped into a chair, deflated, seething with anger. Ilmat didn't say anything more; he knew Losanda would eventually come to her senses.

"...You are right, Ilmat." After a long silence, Losanda reluctantly said, "Just as you said, we have to be patient, at least for now." Hearing Losanda say this, the God of Suffering finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been genuinely afraid that Losanda, in a fit of anger, would unleash another [Dawn God's Calamity] and be besieged by the other gods.

After confirming repeatedly that Losanda would not do anything foolish, Ilmat's avatar returned to his divine realm.

Following this conversation, both deities' churches, almost simultaneously, began secretly taking action. They selected the most loyal followers from within their churches and sent them to remote villages. The followers of Ilmat organized production reforms, while the followers of Losanda transformed into militia to protect the villages.

Unaware of the other deities, the faith belonging to Losanda and Ilmat began to spread gradually from remote villages. Meanwhile, their churches intentionally shifted away from the fiercely competitive regions, turning instead to a wider area.

The other gods are either arguing with their old rivals or tracking Voban's whereabouts. After all, Voban's massive fire attack left a huge problem in the material world, where most of the chaotic, evil, and goofy fire elementals are quite willing to wander around and burn things along the way.

Therefore, the churches and believers of the nature pantheon had long been organized to rush over and 'put out the fire,' and the nature gods did not notice what was happening in the villages near the forest.

If such underhanded tactics were to become known to others, the reputation of the entire nature pantheon would undoubtedly plummet. The Lord of Nature himself would not suffer any loss, but the pantheon of medium and weak divine powers would certainly lose a significant number of believers as a result.

After all, not all believers in nature pantheons would agree with such a radical approach. They would likely question the nature gods once they learned of this. While it wouldn't be crippling, there would still be some loss.

However, the Natural Gods were unaware of how terrifying a normally honest person could be when angered. Losanda was now completely enraged, but he restrained himself and continued to have his people secretly gather intelligence and information about the Natural Gods Church.

It was at this time that he began to have doubts about his girlfriend.

Losanda wasn't stupid. Why did no one know that such a thing had happened before? Someone was definitely covering it up. It was very likely her girlfriend, who was very close to the gods of nature.

610. Losanda's face turned green.

In this world, no powerful figure is a fool. Even the chaotic and goofy demons, once they sit in the position of demon lord, become incredibly shrewd scoundrels. This can be seen from the three demon princes, and even the most eccentric two-headed baboon is actually a master of constructs.

So Losanda wasn't stupid. The fact that she hadn't noticed before was simply a matter of being blind to what was right under her nose. But now that suspicion had arisen, creating clues wouldn't be difficult for a powerful god.

Then he actually found a series of clues. Of course, his girlfriend's church usually talked about killing Mara, but if you compare them, you will find that there are the fewest conflicts between Mara's believers and his girlfriend's believers.

Conflicts only escalate in areas near wilderness; otherwise, they would never occur.

Losanda, who might have thought this was normal before, now feels something is amiss. Plus, the thought that his girlfriend's divine realm... seems to be in the plane of the Temple of Nature!

Suddenly, Losanga had a bad feeling.

As a veteran and powerful deity, Losanda naturally possesses an extraordinary identity. His true identity is likely unknown to very few. Everyone else operates under a disguise, but Losanda is a bit unusual; he didn't use a disguise, but rather adopted one.

Of course, he is indeed very skilled. Even with a different account, he is still one of the top players. If it weren't for the GM keeping him in check, everyone else would have been left far behind by now.

The deeper Lossanda pondered, the more certain he became that something was amiss. However, he had no way to dispel the fog of mystery. If they truly wanted to cover it up, even if he possessed great divine power, he would have no way to break through this blockade if the two powerful gods were willing to do so.

However, he had no solution, but someone else did.

For example, recently, after that ancient god of primal force annihilated Ben-Bathsha, the goddess of fortune, or rather, the goddess of luck who was reborn through this opportunity, was his former lover.

Although somewhat embarrassed, Losanda still had to put aside his pride and, without anyone else knowing, secretly sent an avatar away from the divine realm to find the Goddess of Fortune, who had kept her kingdom closed since her resurrection.

When her old flame came to visit, Taj did not choose to avoid him, but she appeared very cold, as if she were hiding something from Lossanda. Of course, Lossanda didn't have the courage to ask. In the end, the usually passionate Lossanda still chickened out when he saw his ex-girlfriend.

"I know what you want to ask..." Before Losanda could speak, the Goddess of Fortune spoke in a cold tone, "But you should know that once you know what you want to know, then it will be too late to undo anything." After saying that, the resurrected Goddess of Fortune looked at her former lover with utter indifference.

Faced with the cold gaze of his ex-girlfriend, Losanda had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "...Okay! I know, Taj, tell me!"

"Hehe..." The Goddess of Fortune chuckled coldly without saying much. She casually unleashed a divine light that enveloped Los Santos and said indifferently, "Just this once. From now on, we will have nothing to do with each other."

This divine light was a glimpse into the past, recording untold history. Among it was the birth of the Blackblood Beast…

Then Losanda's face turned green, but before he could say anything, the Goddess of Fortune, through the control of the divine kingdom, threw Losanda's avatar out. Then, within the divine kingdom, they watched as this guy suddenly roared in exasperation and rushed back to his own realm.

'Is this really a good idea?' Just then, an aged voice rang out, 'By doing this, you will absolutely offend two powerful gods at once, and personally sever the relationship with the other powerful god. Even if you take advantage of the convergence of power and the opportunity of resurrection to rise to the level of a powerful god in one fell swoop, that's all you'll achieve…'

"...Your Highness Jaeger, do you think there's still a chance for this world?" Facing the aged voice, the Goddess of Fortune countered, "Or do you have the confidence to face that terrifying upright ape that's already blocking the gates of the Underworld?"

"Of course not!" Faced with the goddess of fortune's question, the aged voice—that of Jaeger, the former ancient god of death, now a Primal Force Ancient God progressing towards becoming a god above gods—replied. "Even a fraction of his essence is beyond my wildest dreams. After all, he is an entity that transcends the world itself. Unless I reach that level… Unfortunately, as long as that god above gods exists, aside from the Twin Serpents of Order, no one else can possibly reach that level."

'Except for that lady, of course.'

"So I don't want to be trapped here. Having died once, I know very well that there are countless worlds and countless 'selves', but unfortunately, I only want to be my own being." The Goddess of Fortune said, "Only by leaving this world can I have a future. Otherwise, even if I am resurrected now, I will probably perish again in the next big event."

"The God above all gods will absolutely not allow me to live..."

"That's normal. If I hadn't chosen to abandon my duties and divine power, my fate would have been much the same," Jaeger said. "So, have you decided?"

"Of course!"

'Do you know when? I'm not confident I can stop that monkey; he's just waiting for a time I don't know.'

"Hehehe... So that's why I'm qualified to cooperate with you, isn't it? Your Highness, Ancient God of Death." The Goddess of Fortune chuckled, then looked towards the Endless Abyss. "When that figure at the very back of the Endless Abyss begins to act, the God of Gods won't have time to watch over us old relics clinging to life from the past."

'Was this monkey also waiting for this moment?'

“That’s right! That monkey, and the guy who created all the chaos, has probably devoured the dimensions and worlds of the dream world. None of those dream god-like beings have escaped, unless they have already fled to other planes.”

"Now that it has devoured enough coordinates, that being outside the world can choose to enter. In this wretched world, what could be easier to enter than the Endless Abyss?"

"...Moreover, the defeated Lord Obiris is constantly seeking revenge against the Queen of Chaos on the 14th floor!"

611. Zerg Prince

Endless abyss, bottomless abyss, chaotic land...

These are the names given to the birthplace of the Demon Gate in various planes. Unsurprisingly, this is definitely the place with the most monsters in this multiverse, and also the ultimate dungeon for tabletop role-playing games. Having passed through countless eras, the first batch of primordial ancient gods are either dead or crippled, and the secrets and legends about the endless abyss have long been eroded by time.

In this age of new and alien gods, the glory of the gods is at its zenith, and as a result, they have almost forgotten the threat of demons. In fact, in this era where the endless abyss has been shattered, forming various levels, and demons are killing each other and then fighting devils until their brains are spilled, no god pays much attention to what is happening in the abyss.

No god believed that demons, those worthless wretches, could cause any trouble. In fact, they really couldn't. The one who truly caused trouble was a 'loser,' an 'old relic,' forgotten by time. Currently, the only ones who know this loser from the old era are Jaeger, who has harbored ulterior motives, and the newly resurrected goddess of fortune, Taj.

Once the first to receive the title of Demon Prince, and an almost undisputed lord of the abyss in ancient times, he finally got his chance for revenge after struggling to survive for countless years.

When the chaotic Force went berserk before, his afterimage had already awakened from its hiding place. And he was also the first to see the figure that was about to descend into the deepest part of the abyss.

Long ago, before the appearance of the Tanaris demons, the Abyss belonged to the Lords of Obiris. These Lords of Obiris, as the representatives of the Abyss, all possessed great power, and the strongest demon lords were called "Princes." The most famous of them was Obox-ob, born from the primordial chaos and evil—the lord of the 663rd floor of the Abyss, the insect prince.

He was once the undisputed ruler of the entire Abyss, until the Queen of Chaos launched a rebellion. Caught off guard by the Zerg Prince, he was killed, leaving only a fragmented avatar to escape. Afterwards, the other Obiris lords chose to submit to the Queen of Chaos. Having created suitable cannon fodder, the 'Tanari,' the Queen of Chaos bestowed the title of Demon Prince upon her lover and general, the Tarantula Miska, and ignited a war that swept across the entire multiverse.

Then she made a stupid mistake. The raid on Obox-Ob was going so smoothly, so why did she instigate a war against the Primordial Ancients? Under her 'brilliant' leadership, the entire Abyss suffered a crushing defeat. Even the Primordial Ancients, after their counterattack, joined forces and tore the entire Abyss apart with unimaginable power, turning what was once a unified abyss world into its current fragmented state.

This idiot didn't even consider that if Lord Obiris could really defeat the Primordial Ancient Gods, then why didn't Obox-Obo lead his army to sweep across the entire world?! Sure enough, demons have always been chaotic clowns who are experts at internal strife but incompetent at external conflicts.

In short, Lord Obiris suffered a crushing defeat. The tarantula Misca was defeated and imprisoned by the Wind Elemental Duke wielding an artifact of order. He lost his title as the Demon Prince and fled in disarray to hide in the Steam Swamp after the chaos.

The surviving Obiris had not yet recovered from the chaos and suffered another heavy blow. With the aim of "purifying the abyss", the Aethra army launched a surprise attack on the demons, and the Tanaris, who had once been slaves of Obiris, took the opportunity to defect.

When the Zerg Prince Obox-Obo, after countless years, awoke again in a place where only shadows existed and no real existence existed—now the 663rd level of the Endless Abyss—he was astonished to discover that this brainless woman, the Queen of Chaos, had squandered the entire promising situation and the family fortune.

The former slaves rose to become masters, while the former masters suffered heavy casualties, either being killed, hiding in unknown corners, or simply escaping the abyss.

Upon discovering this, Obokos-Obo had an urge to rush to the Steam Swamp and strangle the woman right now, and of course, it would be even better if he could strangle the two-headed baboon along with her.

But this is impossible. The era of Obiris has passed, and now even the will of the Abyss itself no longer favors Obiris, which makes it impossible for Obiris to regain his former power.

He survived only through an avatar; his true self had long been reduced to ashes by the traitors. He desperately sought to regain his original power, the most famous instance being when, with the help of his followers in a certain prime material world, he nearly succeeded in dragging an entire world into an abyss to restore his strength. However, at the crucial moment of the ritual, a group of heroes who opposed him severed the magical energy, ultimately causing the ritual to fail.

—Damn tabletop RPGs, damn adventurers, damn Manny the Goddess.

If he didn't know he couldn't defeat the current supreme god (GM management system), the Zerg prince would definitely want to go to the Pantheon and wreak havoc.

But there was no other way, so I had to endure it.

Perhaps in the years to come, there will be no chance to regain power and one's former status. But as long as one is alive, one can retain even the smallest glimmer of hope, right?

And then, he really got the opportunity.

During that chaotic surge of primal forces, the Zerg prince keenly sensed that something seemed amiss in the entire Abyss. Then, through careful exploration, he finally confirmed that the Abyss's originally chaotic will was beginning to be eroded.

Shocking! How is this possible?

At first, the Zerg prince didn't believe it. However, as time went on, especially after learning that the three High Lords of the Tanaris hadn't been favored when the Chaotic Force went berserk, while the demon lords who were born later or joined the Abyss had gained tremendous benefits.

This is very abnormal.

Even mud has some nails, and after a considerable period of time, the Zerg prince, at the cost of damaging a sufficiently precious ancient artifact, finally saw the source of all this in the darkest and deepest part of the endless abyss.

Flames, twilight-colored flames...

...and a pitch-black sun that appeared at the very innermost part of the endless abyss.

It was an outsider, and this outsider actually rushed to the innermost part of the endless abyss, directly approaching the fragmented and chaotic consciousness of the abyss, and then began to erode and replace it.

'Look what I see!'

It was at that moment that the Zerg prince sensed the gaze and will of the 'Outer God' that was corrupting the consciousness of the Abyss.

"A plump, large worm... just cut off its head, and the rest can be eaten raw. Its protein content is six times that of beef. Of course, if you're not in a rush, you can grill it first; that will make it even more delicious."

Bathed in that terrifying will, the Zerg prince, the oldest of Obiris, felt fear for the first time in his life.

'Maybe it'll still taste like chicken...'

Because he could sense that this will was true.

612. You are the swarm.

Obox-Obo, the Zerg Prince, the first Demon Prince, and one of the strongest Lords of Obiris. If not for his foolish actions after the chaos, he should still be the uncrowned king of the Endless Abyss, not the nearly defeated figure he is today. Logically, as one of the most outstanding native races of the Endless Abyss, the Zerg Prince should be quite accomplished, but unfortunately, even the accomplished Obox-Obo remains a 'native' before this will.

Of course, the Zerg prince was no fool. Once he learned what the source of the Abyss's anomaly was, this cunning demon with brains immediately activated his pre-prepared strategy—retreat was the best option.

But he couldn't leave.

Amidst the raging flames, a gigantic hand descended and grabbed out. The spacetime portal that the Zerg Prince had already activated collapsed instantly, and at that moment, a small portion of time belonging to Obox-Obo began to flow backward. When the Zerg Prince regained his senses, he was not returned to the 663rd level of the Endless Abyss, but instead found himself held in the hand of a massive black figure.

It was a figure far beyond the Zerg prince's imagination; its enormous body was completely enveloped in what appeared to be a rather dilapidated suit of armor. It was grey and worn, lacking thick shoulder and gauntlets; the only striking feature was the helmet worn on its head, resembling a crown. Behind it, a tattered cloak billowed in the wind.

This dilapidated appearance, however, brought the insect prince the most intense fear of his life.

'Let me see… Hmm, the Zerg Prince Obox-Obo from floor 663? Alright! Even if he's Lord Obiris, he's still a Zerg.'

'So, insect, will you choose to be roasted alive by me, or will you demonstrate your worth?'

'Of course, my personal hope is that you absolutely won't choose the latter. After all, a Lord of Obiris is a far more delicious thing than a dream pupa…'

'...Maybe it really does taste like chicken?'

Madness, chaos, malice… countless clamors began to echo in the Zerg Prince’s consciousness. Time stretched endlessly in that instant, and Obox-Obbo was plunged into a hell called Nightmare.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he struggled, he could not break free from that grasp. Then, the insect prince fell into the deepest part of a terrifying nightmare. Tormented by countless echoing, inexplicable pieces of music, this one of the oldest lords of Obiris, the first demon prince, finally begged for mercy before his mental breakdown.

Then, the Zerg prince, his sense of time restored, trembled as he landed on the ground. His essence, during the extended period of time his sense of time had been, had been eroded and replaced. If his original essence was a manifestation of the primordial endless abyss, then now, that essence had been completely cleansed. In other words, after countless years, the Zerg prince, Obox-Obo, had utterly lost his identity as Lord Obiris.

He became the first 'traitor' in the Endless Abyss. Of course, the consciousness of the Abyss could no longer care about this unlucky fellow who had been around for countless years. In fact, apart from the three current Abyss Lords, the consciousness of the Endless Abyss had lost after being baptized by that chaotic Force, and was now merely clinging to life.