It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"Don't cry, Tethis."

One of the male giants gently patted the female giant on the shoulder and said:

"Brothers have found a solution. Dawn will come soon. We will not become extinct. After being created, the giants have survived on this land for a long time. We are already an independent race - a race that will not be shaken by the outside world. No matter what kind of danger we face, brothers will face it with you. So, don't be sad anymore..."

Reed narrowed his eyes, and when the low-level giant left the room, he slightly relaxed the pressure on his heart, swallowed the blood in his throat into his stomach, and focused all his attention on the conversation between the three giants in the room.

He knew that all the doubts he had since this journey north would be revealed at this moment.

-------------------------------

I apologize to everyone for the unstable updates in the past two days. The main reason is that I suddenly had an idea two days ago and decided to start health preservation. So I went to Taobao to buy some "24-flavor health tea". I don't know what was in it. After drinking it, I had an allergic reaction. Here comes a real wave of reverse health preservation...

I suggest you keep your eyes open and carefully distinguish. Some things are not always better. I plan to start buying some wolfberries today to do the most simple and boring health care.

74. Truth, conspiracy and the missing key

Lid originally wanted to name the three giants 2, 3, and 4, but he had already heard their names from their conversation. The female giant's name was Taisis, and she was about meters tall, about the same height as the War Ghost. She had no obvious muscle lines on her body, and her relatively fair skin was set off by the golden ornaments with a bit of elegant beauty. If her height was not taken into account, she could be considered an outstanding beauty in the human territory.

However, her realm of cultivation was much more terrifying than that of the war ghost of similar height. Reed couldn't tell her realm of cultivation, but it was obviously above the tenth level.

There were two male giants, the older one was called Kronos, and the other one was called Hyberion. Their appearance and build were similar to the first giant that Lid had seen, with only some differences in hairstyle, clothing, demeanor, and personality. Kronos was the giant who had just patted Thesis' back to comfort her, while Hyberion had been holding his sister's hand in silence.

The giantess Thesis said softly:

"I know... my brothers always have a way. They create miracles time and time again, and lead our giants to seek hope for survival and expansion in such a harsh environment. But this time I am really scared... The stars and the ancient monuments have shown that it will be difficult for us to get through this difficulty. Even my brothers will..."

Tears kept falling from between her fingers.

At this time, Siberion said:

"Is the ancient stele the notice left by that guy? It's been thousands of years, so it's hard to trust it."

Thesis clasped his fingers together, placed them in front of his chest, and said with a painful expression:

"Brother, are you still treating me like a child? We are a created race after all... It can create us, so it can also erase us. Brother, do you still remember the prophecy left on the ancient monument? [I will lend you my power, and when necessary, you will return it in full]. The time has come. If it wants to revive, it needs our entire giant race to serve as a sacrifice!"

Reed's eyes widened, and in an instant all the fragments of clues began to slowly connect into a complete line, pointing to the dark side hidden behind it.

Siberion said in a low voice:

"But that is an ancient legend after all. It may not wake up, and it may not want to come back..."

Before Siberion finished speaking, Kronos had already placed his hand on his shoulder. Siberion immediately fell silent, and Kronos said to Thesis in a serious tone:

"Tathis... you have grown up and have made your own judgments on many things. Your brothers will no longer hide things from you. It has been nearly half a year since the crystals appeared in the hearts of the lower giants. The crystals have merged into their bodies and gradually replaced the hearts as the center of their power. Perhaps soon, the crystals will easily drain the power in their bodies, and then fly to some unknown place to perform some unknown ritual, and all of our compatriots will die."

Kronos paused and continued:

"The middle giants, Jin Yao and his group, also have crystals in their hearts, but they can actively resist the erosion of the crystals, so the situation has not yet deteriorated. However, as long as they continue to use their strength, they will inevitably be controlled by the crystals little by little, and end up with the same fate as the lower giants."

Kronos raised his hand. His arm also had the same pattern as the one on Giant No. 1, and it was also emitting black mist. Kronos showed his sister the curse mark on his body and said:

"As for us, although we don't have similar crystals in our hearts, strange patterns have appeared on our bodies. Our power is slowly getting out of control, as if it is being drained. If we can't resolve it in time, we will die. The giants have survived for thousands of years, but they will eventually die out in our generation."

Tethis bit her lip and stared at her brother with tearful eyes.

Siberion sighed helplessly.

At this moment, Kronos suddenly raised his voice and said:

"That's why we set up the current situation! We pretended that the Golden Giants started a conflict with other medium giants and lured the human army into the hinterland. The Lingwu Lord is a very difficult woman to deal with, but no matter what her plan was, she fell into our trap this time! As long as we wipe out her and the elite troops composed of other human territories, we can go all the way south to the human territory that we have been thinking about for a long time and live in their palace. Siberion, Coles, Rhea and I have discussed this many times. If we want to survive, there is only one way, which is to break into the human territory and turn them into our slaves. Then use the national defense formation they inherited from the year before to isolate ourselves from this disaster of genocide!"

Thesis covered his head in pain and murmured:

"It's too late, too late... I can already feel death approaching slowly..."

Siberion glanced at his brother, then turned and said to the giantess Thesis:

"It's still in time. Even if the Abyss Church is preparing for that guy's resurrection, it won't be that fast. Because that guy's resurrection not only requires an astronomical amount of power as a foundation, but also requires a crucial key. Without that key, its soul cannot be awakened, and in the end it will still be in vain."

Thesis then stopped crying, looked up at Siberion, and asked:

"key?"

Siberion nodded and said calmly:

"Yes. It is a creature that lives in the sea. From the moment it was born, it has been an enemy of the old gods. It sacrificed itself to create us in order to declare war on the old gods. But thousands of years have passed, and our hatred for the old gods has long been gone. Now we just want to survive. It can take our power back, but the feelings that have been erased cannot be returned. Therefore, its resurrection ceremony is actually incomplete. It is still missing a crucial piece of the puzzle - hatred and resentment towards the gods."

Theis's shaking hands calmed down slightly, and he interlocked his fingers and pressed them against his forehead. While calming his breathing, he said:

"I see... As expected, my brothers and elders have thought more about this than I have. However, I still feel a little nervous... Now we can only wait for the results of the battle with the Golden Giant to come out, and hope that everything goes well..."

Kronos gently rubbed his sister's head and said:

"If using power would not cause loss of control sooner, we should have done it ourselves this time. But it doesn't matter. With three medium-sized giants in charge and a large army of low-level giants ambushing, there is no chance of human survival. That troublesome woman will also die here. Sooner or later, the fertile land in the south will be ours."

75. The show begins

If possible, Lid wanted to stay and maybe he could find out some of the giants' military deployment. But the lower-level giants had already reported their work and started to walk outside, so Lid had to leave with the lower-level giants who were hiding.

In fact, the longer he stayed here, the higher the risk of being exposed. The huge gap in realms made it impossible for Lid to estimate the strength of the higher-level giants, and naturally he had no way of knowing exactly to what extent he had to restrain his aura to ensure safety, so he had been trying his best to hide the flow of his power and even his life signs. If he continued like this, his body would not be able to bear it at all, and it was time to leave.

The lesser giants passed through the corridor they had walked a short time ago and retraced their steps back outside.

Outside the hall, Reed saw the No. 1 high-level giant again. This time, it was standing on the shoulder of its mount, looking into the distance with a frown and deep eyes.

Lid followed the lower giants and passed by it silently.

Having learned from the previous experience, Reed was particularly careful when he was near this tall giant.

Through the forced suppression, Lid's heart almost stopped beating, blood gushed out of his seven orifices, and his throat was full of a sweet and fishy taste. He closed his eyes and felt that the world was spinning non-stop. All the remaining strength in his body was almost concentrated on his hands that clenched the mane. His body swayed slightly with the movement of the giants, and he was only one step away from coma.

Only after the lower giants came down from the mountain did Reed breathe a sigh of relief.

During that period of time just now, he almost lost the ability to think. If there was any sudden situation at that time, Lid felt that it would be difficult for him to respond immediately. Now that his blood circulation has gradually become smooth and his brain has started to function again, Lid began to think about the next countermeasures.

After an unknown amount of time, the No. 1 High Giant finally withdrew his gaze and patted the Mount Giant on the head. The Mount Giant turned around and carried it towards the hall. But just after taking two steps, the High Giant suddenly whispered:

"Stop."

The mount giant immediately stopped, and the high giant jumped down from its shoulders, his three-meter-tall body landing on the ground with a bang, shaking the ground full of cracks. He walked towards the place where the low-level giants had just passed by, and under the light of the fire, there seemed to be something left on the ground.

The No. 1 high giant squatted down, wiped the place with his fingertips, and carefully examined it against the firelight, and found that it was some scarlet blood. It sniffed the blood on its fingertips, suddenly frowned, and looked towards the place where the low giants disappeared.

After a moment, the high giant walked up to his mount, patted its leg, pointed in a direction, and ordered:

"Lead the troops, search, kill, and bring back the heads."

The mount giant could understand the meaning of these simple ancient words. Its body of more than 1 meters long slowly knelt down, and its head came in front of the No. high giant. Its huge nostrils expanded, and it sniffed the high giant's fingertips like a dog. Then it stood up again, its muscles tensed, and it let out a deafening roar. Countless low-level giants working, resting, and on guard all over the mountains and plains suddenly rushed over here, as dark as a landslide and tsunami, and rushed towards the place where Lid disappeared with it.

The high giant grabbed a handful of snow, wiped the blood off his hands, and returned to the hall alone.

……

……

……

As a pitch-black crystal broke into two with a "crack" sound, a large amount of power poured into the little slime's body.

At this time, it was held in the palm of the Hidden Guards Commander's hand. There was no communication between the two. The Hidden Guards Commander stood there like a lifeless scarecrow, facing the wind and snow from heaven and earth, without moving. Only when the snow was about to bury the neck did he move a little to shake off the snow on his body.

His body seemed to have no temperature, and even the snow that was in direct contact with his skin melted very slowly.

The little slime ate the black crystals left by Lid with a "smacking sound". It didn't like the cold man beside it at all, so it naturally didn't want to talk to him. At the beginning, it would deliberately make some movements such as shaking its head, snoring, and rolling around to attract the attention of the commander-in-chief of the hidden guards, but the commander-in-chief of the hidden guards never intended to chat with it from beginning to end. The little slime got tired and quieted down.

It began to eat the black crystals out of boredom, staring at the patterns on them in a daze while eating.

In the first few days, it racked its brains but found nothing. But now, as a certain crystal was completely digested, the little slime suddenly felt as if it remembered something.

Then, it found that the power in its body began to surge, and its realm of cultivation reached a higher level. More crystal clear blood began to emerge in its transparent body. In a short moment, it seemed as if the seal was lifted, and a large amount of memory surged from the depths of its core. The little slime was stunned for a moment, and suddenly jumped three feet high and said:

“I remember now, I remember now –!! This pattern is from one of the three upper tribes, the Kungu. It’s the magic circle that those guys used to revive!! Sergey… So that’s how it is, this makes sense!!”

Its round body began to tremble slightly, and its tone was filled with obvious hostility:

"Before, I only remember that the giants were created by Kungu, but to be precise, it was created by Clenus, the Pillar of Immortality among the Twelve Pillars of Kungu... Sergey, it is said that Clenus cut off seven-tenths of his limbs, and with the elements of hatred, desire, and violence in his soul, he turned into a giant that swept across the North and once attacked the Old Gods' domain. He himself, with his remaining limbs and broken soul, sleeps forever under the deep sea..."

The little slime panted, constantly trying to recall deeper things, while muttering to himself:

“But it said thousands of years ago that the giants were just weapons it created. Sooner or later, it will take back the power from the giants, return to its peak after a short period of weakness, and rule the world again... Oh no, I must tell these things to my servants immediately!”

The little slime came back to his senses and said loudly to the commander of the hidden guards:

"Hey! You, did you hear that? Don't just stand there like an idiot. Hurry up and take me to find—"

The little slime didn't finish his words and stopped abruptly in an instant.

Its body was suddenly squeezed tightly, and the next moment, an icy dagger accurately pierced the little slime's [core].

The little slime lowered his head and looked at the hand of the Hidden Guard Commander holding the dagger in disbelief. Suddenly he understood something and said with difficulty:

"I understand. You bastards are not after the Golden Giant..."

The commander-in-chief of the hidden guards pulled out the dagger, watched its body turn into water bit by bit, and threw it to the ground.

It was freezing cold and any water stains quickly froze into solid ice.

There was no mercy in the eyes of the Hidden Guards Commander, and he said calmly:

"I am under the order of the Lord to protect your safety while you are unaware. But if you are aware, no one will be spared."

He raised his hand, and countless elite assassins from the hidden guards emerged in the snow.

The commander-in-chief of the Hidden Guards strode past them and said:

"We followed the original plan. The slime is already dead. I need to report what happened to the Lord. You stay here and wait for Lid to come back and kill him."

The assassins of the hidden guard lowered their heads and answered in unison, "Yes, sir." Their voices were all cold and heartless without a trace of warmth.

76. Everything is as planned

Lingwu territory.

Rays of red light rose from the vast territory and floated towards the sky.

The earth is shaking, the air is hissing, the blood and soul are trembling constantly.

Lingwu's old Prime Minister Yuzuo and Hiruzen, the great general of the Japanese Guards, stood side by side. The former looked like a gentleman who maintained his elegance, while the latter was a warrior wrapped in black armor. Behind them, the Lingwu army gathered, but their target was two ordinary people who did not seem to have much resistance.

One is a young man who is so ordinary that even his appearance is extremely ordinary, and the other is a girl with scales on her body.

The ordinary man had an ordinary smile on his face, not flustered, nor complacent. His eyes circled around the blood-red light, then landed on Yusa, and said with a smile:

"Isn't it a little too late to lead the troops to encircle and suppress me now? Old Prime Minister, do you think there is anyone who can stop our Abyss Church now? The hidden guards must have captured many people from our church. Unfortunately, the main executors of this plan are not ordinary members of the church, but the two of us. Now that the magic circle has been completed, a large number of lives in Lingwu Territory will be sacrificed to Lord Clenus. Look at the dense blood souls in the sky, everyone, you are too late."

Yusa's white hair fluttered slightly in the cold wind. Facing the ordinary man's gaze, he said in a deep voice:

"I heard that Kungu has twelve pillars of gods, and your Abyss Church's highest authority, the Pontifical Council, is also divided into twelve parts accordingly. To be able to do this under the surveillance of the Spiritual Warriors, you must have a high status in the church. Tell me, which council are you a cardinal of?"

The ordinary man put his hand on his neck, stretched his neck, and said with a smile:

"It seems that the old prime minister also has some understanding of our Abyss Church. As expected, there are many undercover agents of Lingwu in the church. The purge not long ago was very necessary... Yes, the highest authority of the Abyss Church is the Pontifical Council, which includes twelve councils such as the Laity Council and the Justice and Peace Council, managed by twelve cardinals. I am the bishop of the New Gospel Promotion Council. As for the name, you don't have to worry about it - under the abyss, we are all people who have abandoned our names and live."

Yuzuo's voice was somewhat cold:

"Isn't it enough to just sacrifice the giants? Why do you want to target us humans?"

The ordinary man stretched out his arms and stared at the red sphere formed by countless blood souls in the sky. In his eyes, it was as dazzling as the sun. The ordinary man raised the corners of his mouth, with a fanatical expression on his face, and said:

"【Natural loss】, have you heard of this term, old Prime Minister? Thousands of years ago, Lord Clenus used his own body and soul to create the giants, but over the past thousands of years, the giants' territory has not expanded on a large scale, and the battle to attack the Divine Court from the Bridge of Heaven and Earth has also failed. It can be said that the giants are now weaker than they were thousands of years ago. They alone cannot fully revive Lord Clenus. At the very least, they will further prolong Lord Clenus's period of weakness after his resurrection..."

The ordinary man slapped his heart with his right hand and said loudly:

"That's why we, the people of the Abyss Church, are needed to offer new sacrifices for the resurrection of Master Clenus! Humans... and other races, we have been preparing for this day for too long, and countless people have sacrificed their lives for this. But at this moment, their deaths seem incomparably worthwhile."

The ordinary man restrained the smile on his face and said to Yusa:

"Besides, don't you think this is a win-win situation, Prime Minister? The death of some people can make the giants disappear forever. In my opinion, this is a very cost-effective deal. I am staying here to tell you that the Lord of Lingwu will not come back. You can elect a new king, and the church will assist him to become the master of this country."

Yusaku said calmly:

"Then let your Abyss Church become the state religion of this country, and let Kungu replace the old gods and become the new faith of the people?"

The ordinary man smiled and said:

"That's right. Old Prime Minister, the era of the old gods has passed. However, temples of the old gods remain everywhere in human territory, and countless people have accepted those old beliefs since birth. As the bishop of the New Gospel Promotion Council, I feel very sad after seeing this. Lingwu has an invincible cavalry that is invincible in the world, and the people under its rule have relatively weak faith in the old gods. It is much easier to get you, an atheist, to accept the new gospel than to get other territories to turn over a new leaf."

The average man carries himself with a strong sense of confidence, and his words and actions speak directly to people's hearts.

In fact, this is also the church's consistent style of doing things - meticulous, orderly, and determined to win.