Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

Guessed it.

Seeing this, Samael had already gotten a definite answer from the other side's reaction, and a playful look appeared in his eyes.

François Plelatti, a 15th-century Italian priest, alchemist, and magician, translated an ancient book that could be considered a heretical text, titled "The Book of the City of the Dead".

This book records events concerning the Deep Ones, Dagon the Father, Cthulhu's Star Familiars, Zoth Omog, the "Son of Cthulhu," and Gatanottoa, as well as the great Cthulhu himself. It also recounts the sinking of Mu and R'lyeh, and hints that R'lyeh will one day rise from the sea again. Furthermore, it mentions Seig, the "Waiter in the Dark." It contains forbidden knowledge about the ancient evil gods who existed before humanity.

After the book was completed, she gave the manuscript to her good friend Gilles de Rais in France.

"Ah, Gil, Gil! My dear friend! The old gods have rotted away; seek true faith, and pay homage to you who, though sunk into the sea of ​​evil, will not succumb to it. I am one who will stand by you until your last breath—welcome to the Dining Hall of Nightmares and Horrors."

François Plelatti wrote the following in the accompanying letter.

Soon after, Gilles de Rais, who had been carefully reading the manuscript, went insane and killed dozens of children as a wicked sacrifice, becoming the infamous "Bluebeard".

Clearly, this former François, now Francesca, was the mastermind behind the entire "Bluebeard incident."

The "Snail City Text," which served as the catalyst, also has another name: the "R'lyeh Text." Its original source was a clay tablet inscribed in a language other than human language, and its legendary discovery site was located in a desolate coastal area of ​​China.

There, there is a more poetic name—Guixu (Return to the Ruins).

Beneath the ruins lies an ancient site.

“In Lalaiyette’s palace, Cthulhu awaits his dream.”

The ancient serpent parted its lips and murmured the forbidden and filthy prayer, then looked up at Francesca before it, a cold smile playing on its lips.

No wonder this woman dares to swagger around in front of me; no wonder she's managed to stay alive and kicking despite attracting so many ruthless characters...

It turns out that they stole a portion of the divinity of the Great Old One, R'lyeh, and thus gained immortality.

This authority came from beyond the heavens, and even Samael could not completely erase it.

Having encountered several Outer Gods and Great Old Ones in the past, he found this issue extremely perplexing, and to this day, he still has no perfect solution.

However, this apprehension only applies to those legitimate entities. Those like Francesca, who forcibly integrate extraterritorial authority, are merely clumsy imitators, tantamount to playing with fire and getting burned.

That represents the chaos inherent in the universe, and even the Candle Dragon could not withstand this erosion.

Similarly, over the long years, Beelzebub's consciousness and divinity have been eroded beyond recognition by this old authority. Coupled with the necessity of reincarnation to replace his body and alleviate the pollution, the former demon king has probably long since transformed into a completely new individual.

Otherwise, upon seeing herself, she should have obediently hidden herself in the dung heap.

"So what if you know? What's there to be proud of! Others may be afraid of you, but I'm not!"

Seemingly provoked by the fleeting contempt in Samael's eyes, Francesca sullenly put her hands on her hips, forcibly maintaining her composure, her red eyes gleaming with intense malice and a vengeful pleasure.

"You ruined Jill's masterpiece! Today, I'll ruin yours too!"

My work? That's...

Just as Samael was feeling bewildered, a dazzling array of colors—orange, red, yellow, purple, blue, bright white, and eerie green—flashed around him in the sky. All sorts of halos, including spheres, ovals, oblong shapes, cubes, rings, dumbbells, clouds, cylinders, and bullets, enveloped the lightning and shot towards the center.

"boom!"

In an instant, the dense, dazzling balls of lightning obliterated the figure of the deity, becoming the ruler of this high sky and the only light in the vast world.

In the primitive era, lightning was one of the most violent destructive energies that humans could come into contact with, and it was naturally universally revered by ancient people all over the world. Moreover, since lightning originated from the heavens and was always accompanied by equally terrifying torrential rain, it also carried a mysterious color of "divine punishment".

Indra, Thor, Zeus—lightning was originally the power of gods to kill and annihilate.

However, with Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction, humanity began to obtain electrical energy; and a certain genius engineer then built upon this to create an even more powerful generator and discharge coil.

Finally, in 1900, he created the SGTC spark gap coil. Blinding lightning roared across the earth, marking the first time in history that humankind had tamed lightning, which had previously only existed in legends, entirely through its own power.

In the Paleolithic Age, the taming of fire marked the beginning of humankind's path to civilization; while the beginning of the Electrical Age, the taming of electricity, marked the start of an era of rapid development for humankind.

The torrent of electricity can transport energy to all parts of the world in almost an instant. Abundant energy has brought about a real industrial boom, resulting in unprecedented progress in productivity and permanently changing human thinking. Compared to inefficient labor that involves working from dawn till dusk, humans can rapidly create massive amounts of resources in large-scale production and quickly and effectively change their lives.

From then on, compared to offering sacrifices in the wilderness or praying in churches, participating in production and improving life became the most important pursuits of mankind. The old myths that once dominated the human spiritual world became vulnerable in the face of the rise of pragmatism.

Therefore, the taming of lightning is the destruction of the myths of the old era.

The spark that ignited civilization;

The light dispelled the darkness;

Electricity granted authority.

The use of electricity marks both the beginning of a new era of mythology for humankind and the end of the gods and legends of the primitive age.

A man with long black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a purple cloak with coiled mechanical armor underneath, stood amidst a raging thunderstorm. He stepped onto a staircase made of lightning, ascended step by step, opened his arms, and made a proud and arrogant declaration to the battlefield below.

"Now, I have surpassed mythology!"

Chapter 80: On the Road to Despair, No Turning Back (Revised Version 4.4k)

"Beyond mythology? That's quite a bold declaration..."

The deep murmur pierced through the almost endless thunderstorm, echoing clearly in the young gentleman's ears, causing his pupils to shrink suddenly, and his proud expression to be covered by astonishment.

How can it be? !

This is a cluster of ball lightning that I converted using more than ten tons of nuclear fuel. In a specific high-altitude cloud environment, its power is multiplied, enough to "create a limited simulated spacetime fault", which in theory would tear apart and destroy all surrounding matter.

"What? Is this level already beyond your expectations, Mr. Scientist?"

The same voice rang out again, and a pair of fair, jade-like hands tore through the storm. A figure with twelve serpentine wings gracefully stepped out of the sea of ​​lightning. A pair of dark, abyss-like vertical pupils looked at the cross-dressing gentleman in front of him with amusement, and a wise understanding appeared in his eyes.

The last of the Seven Knights of the Grail has finally made his appearance.

Nikola Tesla, the Knight of Archer.

An unparalleled genius of the 19th and 20th centuries, a modern-day Prometheus, with remarkable achievements in electromagnetism.

It not only unlocked the secrets of lightning, which is hailed as a divine (natural) legend in many myths, but also brought alternating current, a revolutionary energy source, to human civilization.

His alternating current system revolutionized the way electricity is transmitted and distributed, laying the foundation for the establishment of modern power grids and the widespread availability of electricity.

His wireless communication technology not only brought about revolutionary changes in the field of communications, but also influenced multiple fields such as radio and radar;

He manufactured generator sets for the Niagara Falls hydroelectric power station in the United States, which remains one of the world's most famous hydroelectric power stations...

In addition, his research covers a wide range of areas.

Wireless power transmission, ball lightning, turbines, magnifying transmitters, particle beam weapons, solar engines, X-ray equipment, electrical instruments, missile science, remote sensing technology, aircraft, cosmic rays, radar systems, robots, and so on...

Its subsequent impact has laid the foundation for scientific civilization for the next two centuries.

Tesla was like a scientific superman, giving humanity 700 inventions before quietly departing. Human science has remained frozen in Tesla's era forever.

Unexpectedly, the financial groups behind that shadow government summoned him.

Looking at the "modern Prometheus" before him, Samael couldn't help but feel a subtle sense of destiny.

Besides his well-known achievements in science and invention, Tesla's feud with another inventor, Edison, is even more talked about.

That's right, it's the lion's head that's currently sitting in the White House.

On June 6, 1884, the Richmond City passenger ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean, departing from Europe and finally arriving in New York.

At this moment, a young man, clutching a letter of introduction, stood nervously before the customs officer, ready to step into the most developed land in the world, America, and follow his idol, the inventor Thomas Edison, to jointly usher in a new era.

He then joined Edison's company as he wished, where he excelled as both a scientist and an employee.

However, Edison was a boss who should have been hanging streetlights; he not only failed to value the research results of young people, but also broke his promise of a $5 bonus.

In a fit of anger, the young man left Edison's company and started his own business. The two then argued over the issue of alternating current versus direct current, which led to the famous War of the Currents.

Ultimately, the young Tesla won the scientific victory, but the shrewd Edison achieved commercial success.

Since then, the conflict between the two sides has remained unresolved, and they have been at odds with each other in various fields.

It must be said that if anyone hates that lion's head so much they're itching to get it out of their teeth, Mr. Tesla is definitely one of them.

Therefore, upon learning of this secret operation to overthrow Edison's government, Tesla would certainly cooperate wholeheartedly.

It seems that the modified autonomous mechs in Snowfield City were the work of this scientist.

The incredibly powerful ball lightning swarm just now was also his creation.

After all, legend has it that he had already created ball lightning through experiments, and could even hold and play with this thing that represents the mysterious power of nature without getting hurt.

However, this ability is far from sufficient to use the light of science to usurp God's authority!

Samael smirked, his figure flashed, and he appeared behind Tesla in an instant, raising his hand high in a karate chop.

Sensing the unusual change in the airflow behind him, Tesla suddenly realized what was happening and solemnly opened his mouth.

"Xolotl!"

"Boom!"

Just as Samael was about to make contact with the target, several intense red and black bolts of lightning burst out of Tesla's body without warning, like hundreds of thunder spears thrown at close range with a muffled sonic boom.

Pieces of black feathers drifted down, and the graceful figure plummeted backward dozens of meters.

Samael looked at the four tattered wings behind him and the red and black arcs of electricity flashing on them. His eyes narrowed as he re-examined Tesla opposite him.

If I heard correctly, that syllable means "Shrotra," the chief god of thunder and death in Aztec mythology, and one of the opposites of Kukulkan, the feathered serpent god.

The ancient serpent's gaze darkened, and its expression turned grim.

"You actually stole Shulotter's godhood?"

"No, that thing was already useless rubbish when it came into my hands. Strictly speaking, I just analyzed and reconstructed it."

Facing the scrutiny and questioning of the gods, Tesla remained fearless, proudly looking at the red and black lightning gathering in his palm.

"But I am stronger than Him now!"

Residue?

Samael frowned slightly, then relaxed.

He thought about it.

Not long ago, Kukulkan mentioned to himself that North America had been plunged into a long period of turmoil because of the mysterious return.

At its worst, even a chaotic deity emerged, which directly led to the massacre of millions of people in several coastal cities.

It was because of this incident that the lion's head was forced to bow its head and seek foreign aid for America. Kukulkan thus made contact with the White House and, together with the Department of Defense's magician forces, jointly destroyed the evil god who was causing trouble (mentioned in Chapter 73 of this volume).

However, after the battle, everything, including the remains of the gods and the divine essence, disappeared without a trace, and the US government subsequently imposed an emergency lockdown on the area.

If I'm not mistaken, that chaotic deity is probably Shurotl, the Aztec god of fire and lightning, monsters, misfortune, disease, and deformities.

The so-called theft is very likely an inside job by the US military, who secretly transported away the extremely valuable remains and divine essence.

Ultimately, the fragments of Shulotl's divinity ended up in the hands of the Illuminati and the Freemasons, and were later given to the mad scientist Tesla for research, hoping to use them as an opportunity to create their own new god and rebuild their empire.

"God is just a life form, and can be killed and die! You can be interpreted, you can be transcended!"

Tesla proudly raised his head, his cloak fluttering behind him. He raised his hands in a gesture of assent, and countless ball lightning converged and flowed around him, tearing through the shadows shrouded by twelve pairs of dark wings and projecting new light into the world, illuminating the figure of a human genius standing at the pinnacle.

Unbelieving in gods and fearless of ghosts, you seized the authority that belonged to the gods and offered it to the entire human world. From then on, your name will be enshrined on the throne of heroes, and your achievements will be recorded in history. For thousands of years to come, future generations will bestow countless accolades upon you.

"Ancient gods, slumber! From this day forward, we shall write our own myths!"

Tesla waved his hands down, proudly shouting a challenge to the god before him.

Like a waterfall, lightning swept in all directions, forming visible spatial faults that illuminated the stars in the darkness and opened up a new path.

Time flies, the gods take their final bow, and the heroes depart.

Throughout the long course of millennia, there have always been those who have raised the banner of civilization, laying the foundation of their hopes as a ladder for humanity to break free from the shackles of fate.

Their achievements are unprecedented in history;

Their existence changed the course of humankind.

Ancient traditions are insignificant to them; the progress of humanity is the proof of their existence.

Their name is Star Pioneers!

Stars are a blessing of hope. As long as humanity does not give up hope and continues to move forward with confidence, self-respect, and self-reliance, it will be able to create a brand new future—a future where humanity surpasses gods and heroes!

So, is this what you wanted to see, Francesca?

Samael glanced sideways at the silver-haired girl who was watching the show with her arms crossed, and shook his head with a sneer.

Incidentally, Kukulkan's words had one last sentence:

It seems that Shulotl was summoned by someone, and his rampage appears to be related to some kind of overstepping of authority...

The financial and material resources required to perform rituals to summon deities are absolutely beyond the capabilities of ordinary cult groups.