Chat group, if you have anything to say to my Holy Sword,

They have disappeared into the torrent of history, but they will never die, as long as someone remembers them.

"This is all I know from the church scriptures," Karena explained to the crowd, trying to keep her gaze away from the enormous body in the center of the lake.

After listening to so much, Xin Xiling said, "I understand what I've heard, but how do I deal with that thing? Should I just cut it down with one sword?"

Karena quickly waved her hand. She was genuinely frightened by Xiling. When Xiling opened up the entire lake earlier, it was nothing to her. But Xiling was able to face the ancient god directly without any problems, which terrified her. Her intuition told her that Xiling might be able to deal with that corpse, but that was absolutely impossible!

“We’d better not touch that thing, because I’ve read in the ancient texts that once an ancient god dies, it will cause a huge disaster to the surrounding area.”

"Then let's notify the Magic Society," Dogoo said, scratching his head as he offered a solution.

“Indeed, Dogoo is right,” Reinhardt agreed.

"The magic society definitely knows how to deal with this; after all, they know everything."

Reinhardt said this in a strange tone.

Xiling gave him a strange look, but didn't say anything.

The other party seemed to have some dissatisfaction with the magic society, but it's normal for every organization to have people who are unhappy with it.

Just as everyone was too afraid to look at the corpse in the center of the lake, Xiling was about to turn around and take a couple of photos to send to the chat group to scare those guys when she turned around and unexpectedly saw Aaron staring straight at the corpse of the ancient god in a corner without showing any unusual expression.

Xiling raised an eyebrow and walked to his side.

"Why are you staring at that disgusting thing? Aren't you afraid you won't be able to eat dinner tonight?"

Aaron seemed to snap out of his daze only after hearing Xiling's voice.

"It's alright, I've seen far more disgusting things, this is nothing."

"Okay, you win," Xiling gave the other person a thumbs up, then continued, "So, what are you thinking?"

Aaron shook his head, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked back at the corpse, this time with obvious doubt and contemplation: "No... I'm thinking, we've found the source of the pollution. But what about the people? Where did all those tens of thousands of living people in Moonlight Town go?"

Xiling followed his gaze to the enormous, twisted corpse, her tone stating an obvious fact: "Perhaps... in another world."

Hearing this, Aaron said irritably, "Hey, don't joke like that, okay?"

Xiling smiled and changed the subject.

"By the way, what's going on with you? That corpse seems to be fine."

Aaron himself seemed somewhat confused. He looked down at his hands, then looked up at the corpse radiating an invisible sense of oppression, his brows furrowing even deeper: "I don't know either, but I just don't feel anything special. No nausea, no dizziness, no auditory hallucinations... It's like... looking at a particularly ugly stone?"

Seeing that the other person was also thinking about this question, Xiling reached out and patted the other person on the shoulder.

"You don't need to think too much about it. After all, these are stories passed down from the past. We don't know how much of it is true and how much is false. Maybe it's some kind of spiritual power or intelligence. Who knows?"

It seemed as if they were influenced by Xiling's relaxed demeanor.

Aaron smiled.

"You're right. There's no point in dwelling on this now."

“Alright, I’ll be going now.” Xiling withdrew her hand. “I still need to look around and see if there are any other clues. Tens of thousands of people… they must have left some traces, right?”

Xiling turned around and walked in other directions of the lake basin.

As Xiling walked, he pondered a question: Where had tens of thousands of people gone? Dead? No, not necessarily dead! It was more like they were no longer in this world! Just like the vanished Kingu and Gorgon, they had left this world.

Xiling's intuition told him that the clues were in the town, but his magical perception had thoroughly searched the entire Moonlight Town and its surrounding area again and again.

Every room and every alleyway showed no unusual energy residue, no trace of large-scale teleportation or spatial folding, and no residual life energy that should have been present after the mass death of tens of thousands of people.

"Where exactly is it?"

As Xiling walked, she pondered and kept looking at the enormous corpse in the center of the lake.

-

In an old-fashioned room, there was a round table with seven different chairs occupied by men and women, and one chair was empty. None of them spoke, as if they were waiting for the person holding the meeting to speak first. However, before the person could speak, a voice broke the silence.

A blond man seemingly accidentally dropped the cup he was holding on the ground, making a loud clattering sound.

Seeing that everyone else was looking at him, the man gave an embarrassed smile.

Sorry everyone, it was a slip of the hand.

The crowd seemed to believe him and looked away.

But one idea simultaneously came to mind in everyone's mind.

Who would believe that?

A first-order superhuman can't even hold a cup properly—one of the funniest jokes of the year.

The other party must have messed something up, otherwise they wouldn't have reacted so strongly.

The blond man didn't pick up the wine glass from the ground. Instead, he looked at an empty table, but his mind was racing.

"Damn it! Why was my spell broken?! Who could it be?!"

The man wanted to turn around and leave the meeting right now and head to Moonshadow Lake, but reason prevailed over his impulse. Even if he rushed there now, it would be too late. He might as well calm down and wait for another piece of information from the meeting.

Just then, a ripple appeared in the space, and a handsome man with a streak of white hair among his black hair appeared out of thin air. After nodding to everyone, the man took his seat.

After taking his seat, the man said, "It's been a long time, everyone. How have you been?"

Just then, a voice came from one of the seven chairs, a bench with a clock pattern.

"If that's what you're talking about, I'm leaving now. Although I have plenty of time, it doesn't mean I like wasting it."

If Xiling were here, she would definitely recognize that the person who said those words was the very person she first interacted with when she entered this world.

Vivian, whom Phil, the Lord of War, called the Time Witch.

"I'm sorry to have made you uncomfortable, Ms. Vivian," the man said, bowing slightly to the empty chair.

He then turned his gaze back to the crowd. "So, everyone, I'll get straight to the point and tell you why I've gathered you all here."

Amidst seven pairs of gazes—one of doubt, one of anticipation, one of curiosity, one of indifference, one of disinterest, one of drowsiness, and one of premonition—the man uttered a few words that would shake the entire world: "The three ancient gods are about to return in their full glory."

"Wh...what!" Everyone except the Time Witch looked shocked.

"Xia Yin, you're not joking!" a woman asked incredulously.

Let alone three ancient gods, even just one of them would throw the entire world into chaos if the other returned.

However, the man called Xia Yin nodded very firmly.

The return of the ancient gods is inevitable.

It is one of the fundamental logics of this world.

Even if they perish, the other party can wait for their next return.

The task of granting the ancient gods their demise is something that has been passed down through generations of people at this council.

"These are my observations: the three ancient gods are about to descend."

"And the location where the first ancient god descended"

Xia Yin looked at the blond man.

"It's Moonlight Town."

The blond man looked shocked, as if he couldn't believe that such a thing could happen in his territory.

However, large beads of sweat had already formed inside him.

"Damn it! That body wasn't completely dead! And the reason my spell was destroyed wasn't because someone sabotaged it, but because that awakened ancient god destroyed it!"

The man's silence was interpreted by some as him being anxious and someone trying to comfort him.

"Don't worry, as long as the ancient gods haven't descended into this world and come into contact with its laws, there's still room for redemption."

The man pretended to be comforted and forced a smile.

"That's right. As long as the ancient gods haven't descended upon this world, there's still room for redemption."

But at that moment, the witch hidden in the cracks of time spoke, her voice filled with doubt.

"You haven't done something stupid, have you, you brat from the Leorosa family?"

"I need to make something clear to you: the return of the ancient gods is no joke. The rulers won't intervene. You know how many people will die in the world if that happens, right?"

The blond man patted his chest and made a solemn promise.

"Of course I know, Your Excellency Vivian, rest assured, I will absolutely not allow an ancient god to appear in my territory."

Vivian snorted coldly, ignoring the other person's words. However, just as she was about to say something, Vivian seemed to discover something terrifying, her eyes suddenly narrowed, and she left a message for everyone.

"Run away!"

After saying this, Vivian slid downstream along with time itself, escaping from this place.

At the very instant she disappeared.

A long sigh, without warning, resounded in this strange room.

Everyone heard the sigh and immediately frowned. This was a space they had created; how could a stranger's voice appear here? Several gazes followed the source of the sigh and were all directed at Vivian's bench.

There, a person was already seated.

He wore a magic robe and a monocle over his right eye. He was relaxed, but his face showed regret, as if he was lamenting the premature departure of the protagonist of a wonderful drama.

"Sigh..." He shook his head gently, his voice as gentle as if he were having a casual conversation. "Gentlemen, how come the Time Witch runs so fast?" He tilted his head slightly, a smile playing on his lips. "Do I... look that scary?"

"escape!"

The thought exploded in everyone's mind. Without a word, without eye contact, the moment the man uttered his last syllable, the entire room was left with only him, sitting alone on the lonely bench.

The man sighed, "How did time go back to 5 seconds ago?" Language is just communication, and communication can involve deception. Deception can involve truth and falsehood, and time going back to 5 seconds ago is—true.

Language has deceived time.

Concepts were distorted, and logic was forcibly suppressed. The invisible time flowing within the room, like silk being grasped by a giant hand, let out a mournful cry of unbearable strain, and suddenly rolled backward!

Those departing figures were like footage forcibly shoved back into reverse on a videotape, dragged back in an irresistible manner! Only the Time Witch did not return.

The man smiled when he saw the people sit down again.

“Alright, my dear friends,” he said in a light voice, as if inviting everyone to a tea party, “now that we’re all here for the time being… how about…”

"Shall we play a game?"

Under the silent, heavy gazes of everyone.

The man broke into a grin.

"This game is called Brave Adventure."

After saying this, the man looked around, and the people around him seemed to be waiting for him to speak.

Time ticked by, but the man paid no heed. Finally, Xia Yin spoke, "Ute, what do you want to do?"

Hearing that someone finally spoke, Ute was visibly happier. "It's nothing, I just wanted to play a game with you guys, a very simple game, isn't it?"

"The rules couldn't be simpler," he said, holding up a long, slender finger. "If the chosen hero successfully completes this adventure..."

His fingers slowly traced across the group of people present. "Well then, congratulations—the price is the life of one of you."

Then, his tone shifted, "Of course... if that poor hero fails."

"Then, as punishment, every single one of you here shall... disappear."

"How about it? Isn't it fair and simple? Hmm?"

Ute spread his hands as if to welcome everyone's praise.

However, even though the other party said such things, no one dared to speak; they even kept their eyes tightly shut.

A sentence popped into my mind.

Don't try to communicate with him.

Don't look at him.

Don't go near him.

Don't listen to him.