Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

nothing left.

With no opponent and no power, that boundless might vanished without a trace in an instant—in just a moment, the eternal sun that traversed the starry sea returned to the weak, even severely injured, sun god Ujat.

The stark contrast between the two almost drove Ujat insane on the spot. He would rather die in the battle than face such a bleak reality.

"It's all gone, everything is gone..."

Ujat looked around in a daze, desperately wanting to relive that moment, even just for a moment, to return to that time when he possessed boundless power.

But at that moment, he suddenly realized that all the dark clouds were converging in one direction.

"It's...it's this!"

Almost instinctively, Ujat lunged towards the dark clouds.

At this moment, Ujat had already sensed that these dark clouds were the very thing that had just made him feel power. As long as he entered these clouds again, he could still feel that endless power. However, no matter how hard he chased, the dark clouds were faster than him. He couldn't even touch the edge of these clouds.

As he followed the direction of the clouds and mist, Ujat saw a figure that made him grit his teeth in hatred.

"It's you!"

The sun god Ujat was furious.

It was that warrior named Elias, the chosen champion of the god of courage. Before, it was this damned fool who stabbed him in the stomach with his sword—yes, at that time he couldn't beat this chosen champion, so he could only endure it.

And now, this damned beast has actually stolen his incomparably powerful strength!

"I'll kill you! Aaaaaaahh ...

At this moment, Ujat no longer cared whether he could win or not. He lunged forward with his claws outstretched, his every move completely chaotic—but at this moment, he didn't need any rules anymore. He just wanted to tear this beast that had taken everything from him apart, even if it was just a piece of flesh.

For a battle-hardened chosen champion, such an attack that has lost all reason is naturally useless.

So Elias simply kicked, and the sun god Ujat was stomped into the ground.

Elias could somewhat understand what it felt like to be the falcon-headed sun god, since he himself was also tormented by the feeling of losing everything—but compared to the falcon-headed sun god, he knew very well that it was all just an illusion brought about by the dark clouds, so he wasn't so crazy.

but……

"What exactly did this ancient snake do?"

Seeing that the almost boundless black clouds had now gathered at the location of the ancient serpent, Elias felt that his mind was not quite working properly.

The dark clouds that had gathered together had completely condensed into a liquid resembling ink, and this liquid was gradually becoming more and more viscous, on the verge of solidifying—clearly, these things, which were originally supposed to be the internal defense mechanism of this subspace, were now operating at their limit.

"This……"

The viscous ink was drawn into threads, and even formed cocoons.

Under an attack of that level, the ancient serpent would have absolutely no chance of surviving.

After all, this is not an attack in the conventional sense, but rather a continuous fulfillment of the victim's desires—which means that the victim will almost certainly become addicted to that fantasy, since no one can resist the true meaning of wish fulfillment.

If it weren't for the rune sword in his hand that could pierce the soul, Elias himself would probably be trapped here. This was an attack that directly targeted the soul, and if he couldn't withstand it, he would immediately be lost in that dark cloud.

As for the consequences of getting lost in the clouds and mist... Elias could probably guess that after being separated from the body, the shapeless soul would eventually dissipate and merge into the black mist, or even become a part of it.

But now.

That ancient snake is still alive.

The ancient serpent was still alive. After all, these pitch-black defensive mechanisms showed no signs of abating, which meant that even with the endless black fog concentrated here, the ancient serpent's soul had not been extinguished.

The fact that the soul was not obliterated means that the ancient serpent's needs have not yet been met.

"Even after all this, it's still not enough... What exactly does this ancient serpent want?"

Elias tried hard to think it through, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand what kind of insane demand the ancient serpent had made.

"To be able to achieve this level of skill..."

Elias was almost afraid to think about it any further.

In his vision, the once boundless, pitch-black fog finally coalesced into a single point.

It was a strange, transparent black crystal, so round it seemed as if it might drip water at any moment. At this moment, this strange crystal was gathering on the head of the ancient snake, even trying to squeeze into the snake's brow and burrow into its brain.

But at that very moment, the ancient snake suddenly opened its mouth.

The pitch-black crystal was swallowed in one gulp.

"The taste is indeed good, but it lacks the necessary aroma of fat, and there is room for improvement."

It was at this moment that the ancient serpent suddenly spoke.

"This time it's a mammoth... Hmm? Where is this?"

Looking around at the familiar surroundings, Du Yi suddenly felt a sense of disorientation, as if he had been transported to another world.

"I……"

After carefully observing his surroundings again, Du Yi finally came to his senses. Memories of the Netherworld, the phantom with a jackal's head, the crocodile-headed monster, and the thick black fog gradually surfaced from the depths of his mind.

However, besides that, another piece of information surfaced in Du Yi's mind.

That was news about the previous thick, dark fog.

That was news about the god of death.

Chapter 213 The Last Gift of the God of Death

Just like before, when Du Yi began to recall his previous experiences, a piece of unfamiliar information appeared in his mind.

Although the information was neither visual, auditory, nor textual, Du Yi could clearly understand its meaning—the information was about the dark clouds that had appeared earlier. In Du Yi's view, this should have been the sky of this space, since these dark clouds had previously covered the sky in the form of overcast clouds, so calling it the sky wouldn't be wrong.

However, Du Yi now realizes that his judgment was only half right.

These dark clouds can indeed be called the sky, but they are not the sky of heaven and earth.

Instead, their souls returned to the heavens.

Although it is said that the souls return to heaven, this is not a lethal measure, but a final gift left to the departed souls by a god known as the God of Death. When all souls enter this black cloud, the dark cloud will mobilize its consciousness and try its best to fulfill all the desires of these souls.

It's like a beautiful dream from which you'll never wake up; anyone can immerse themselves in this dream where their wishes come true without any worries.

Beyond the realm of dreams lies eternal, peaceful slumber.

Of course, what is good for the dead may not be so good for the living—although the living souls involved will also have all their wishes and thoughts fulfilled, it also means an eternal slumber.

Simply put, he fell asleep and never woke up; he died.

"hiss……"

It was at this moment that Du Yi realized just how dangerous the situation had been.

If it were before, if he had felt satisfied even for a moment, he would have immediately become immersed in it and never woken up again—until thousands of years later, or even tens of thousands of years later, his soul would be obliterated, his consciousness would dissipate, and he would completely merge into this dark cloud and become a part of it.

Fortunately, he was not fooled by the mist in the end.

On the contrary, he had already swallowed the clouds and mist, and they had become a part of him.

And he, in effect, has gained some of the powers of that former god of death.

Just like it is now.

"Give it back to me! Give it back to me! Give it back to me!"

Just as Du Yi was savoring the moment, the sun god Ujat on the ground had already broken free from the feet of the chosen champion Elias. Judging from his menacing appearance, he was trying to snatch the black mist back from the huge serpent's body!

So, Du Yi opened his mouth and spat out a stream of black gas.

"puff--"

Black smoke sprayed onto his face, and the eagle-headed, human-bodied sun god Ujat immediately looked ashen-faced—but then, a strange smile appeared on Ujat's face. Judging from his satisfied expression and almost hallucinatory demeanor, he seemed to possess the entire world.

After that, Ujat collapsed to the ground, peacefully closed his eyes, breathed evenly, and fell into a deep sleep.

"Now it's quiet."

Du Yi was quite satisfied with his newly acquired ability.

With just a breath of black mist, one can send the other person into a dream from which they will never wake up. This is not even considered harmful; rather, the person enveloped in the black mist will not want to wake up.

Of course, the most crucial point is that this black mist is not irreversible, which means that if Du Yi still wants the eagle-headed sun god to wake up, he only needs to take back the black mist that he spewed out.

If there is any problem, it is that there is still a considerable gap between dreams and reality.

Just like it is now.

When Du Yi withdrew the black mist, the eagle-headed, human-bodied sun god Ujat went even crazier.

"Give it back to me! Give ...—"

The sun god Ujat roared incessantly, and with his bloodshot eyes, he no longer resembled a god at all.

This forced Du Yi, who had just withdrawn the black mist, to spray another mouthful of thick mist onto the eagle's head.

So the sun god Ujat collapsed to the ground once more, and this time he slept even more peacefully.

"But... now that you've made him lie down, what about this subspace?"

It was at this moment that Elias, the chosen champion, cautiously spoke up.

There was still no way to be careless, simply because the power that the ancient serpent had just displayed was far too dangerous—even though he still had the rune sword in his hand, which could awaken him from his dream by piercing his soul, that was only when facing the thin black mist.

If it were something more solid, like that black crystal... no, even if it were just that ink-like liquid sprayed on his face, Elias couldn't guarantee he could withstand it.

"This kind of attack targeting the soul is really too domineering. Can this planet really produce something of this level?"

Only now did the chosen champion Elias realize that this subspace known as the Underworld was probably not as simple as he had thought.

However, the eagle-headed sun god who knows this underworld best has gone mad.

Losing this guide who knows the Underworld best means they've lost the opportunity to delve deeper into the core of this subspace—especially given that this subspace clearly hides many secrets, which is undoubtedly a great pity.

But at that moment, Du Yi shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. He's dizzy, so be it. I'll lead the way from here on out."

"You come?"

Elias glanced at the ancient serpent beside him with a puzzled look.

"You mean...you know how to get there?"

"more or less."

Du Yi did not deny it.

In fact, he now knows more than just how to get there; he has also become extremely familiar with this so-called subspace, or rather, the Netherworld itself.

After all, in a sense, he is now the sky over this underworld.

"When that crocodile-headed monster appeared, there should have been a crack in the ground. If you jump through the crack, you can reach the core of the Netherworld."

While sharing his experiences from his memories, Du Yi led the way to the edge of the ravine, then gestured for Elias to carry the sun god Ujat, who was trapped in a dream, over with him.

“There is a cemetery built by the God of Death for his colleagues, and also a cemetery built by the God of Death for himself… As long as you go there, you can find records about the dead, and you can bring the dead back to the world. That birdman probably did the same thing before.”

With that, Du Yi was the first to jump into the bottomless ravine.

After a moment's hesitation, Elias also picked up the sun god Ujat and followed closely behind.

Chapter 214 The Departed Grim Reaper

According to the mechanisms of the underworld, or rather, the rules of the underworld, when the souls of sinners are judged, monsters with crocodile heads will emerge from the ground and swallow the sinful souls. After that, the monsters with crocodile heads will quickly retreat back into the ground, and the cracked earth will close up.

However, just before that, the monster that should have retreated into the ground was cleaved in two by the Chosen Champion Elias with his rune sword, which caused a problem with the operation of this mechanism.

The earth did not close up again; the dark cracks lay across the ground, the entrance to the depths of the underworld completely open.

However, this does not mean that going to the depths of the underworld is such an easy thing. After all, the darkness in the crack is not just because of some kind of darkness—the darkness hidden underground is clearly the same kind of mist as the dark clouds just now. If you get trapped in it, you will probably fall into eternal slumber on the spot.

Even the sun god Ujat himself needed to rely on the crocodile-headed monster to enter; with that monster clearing the way, the pressure was naturally greatly reduced.

However, for Du Yi, it doesn't require such trouble.

As he let his body fall, Du Yi opened his mouth and swallowed all the dark clouds that would plunge the soul into eternal slumber.

This also meant that the seemingly boundless darkness ended almost instantly.

In Du Yi's vision, a kind of light that could be called eternal appeared.

That warm light, gentler than sunlight, could bring peace even to the destitute dead.