The underground river.

​​

While flying, Reneedol suddenly stopped in mid-air.

She put up her arm in front of herself.

Boundless starlight poured out of her pendant to form a shining tower shield.

At almost the exact same time, a dark pillar of light abruptly shot out from the underground river ahead of her.

This pillar of light was so fast that it practically reached Reneedol in an instant.

The tower shield clashed against the pillar of light.

Booooong------

The pillar of light was deflected away from the shield as it shot towards the thick stone ceiling above, leaving a deep circular crater in it.

Reneedol raised the shield and coldly said: "Hiding in a concealed location, using devious means to face Fate, you are still as detestable as ever"

A voice resounded from the underground river:

「 No need to detest your Creator, as you originated from me, you are a part of me 」

Reneedol shook her head: "Just thinking about the fact that you can observe my thoughts at any moment makes me nauseous"

「 That is because you have yet to mature. One day, you will feel accustomed to this means of existence 」the voice replied.

"I will never be accustomed to it" Reneedol declared.

A giant tentacle reached out from the calm river water in front of her.

This tentacle was so large that it had blocked the entire river.

A thin slit slowly appeared on the tentacle, which swiftly opened to both sides to reveal a black vertical iris.

This vertical iris stared straight at Reneedol and coldly spoke: 「 Your outcome today has already been determined, the very same ending as those Myriad Deities who hid in the Dusty World 」

Boom--------

The river water suddenly rose up bit by bit.

Figures appeared from the underground river one after another, slowly standing all over the river itself.

As the water receded, their figures were quickly revealed to Reneedol.

"These are… my comrades from the Dusty World"

Reneedol's expression went pale as she saw this.

The Deities all donned armor and wielded weapons as they blankly stared at Reneedol.

Numerous thin black tentacles had pierced deeply into their nape's, controlling their every thought and action.

The resounding voice declared again:

「 Reneedol, I don't have time to waste with you, hand Shroud over to me right now-------- this is your last chance! 」

Reneedol coldly smirked.

A dark shadow appeared from her armor to envelop her surroundings.

Countless stars poured out from her pendant and manifested into a spear.

Wielding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, she raised her voice: "They're only the Myriad Deities, you think that's enough to take Shroud away from me?"

「 Then die! 」the Lord of Infinite Origins angrily declared.

Following his declaration, the Deities standing above the river began to move.

-------crack crack!!!

A series of cracking noises were abruptly heard.

Reneedol looked up, only to see that the stone ceiling above her had already begun to fill with cracks that quickly proliferated in every direction.

Reneedol's expression changed.

The numerous Apocalypses were crushing the Pantheon, she understood very well what this meant.

On the other side, numerous tentacles reached out from the underground river towards the stone ceiling above, attempting to hold up the cracking stone and rocks.

Tiny tentacles also entered the cracks, becoming the new filling for the ceiling.

「 AAAARRGH! DETESTABLE APOCALYPSE! 」

The Lord of Infinite Origins ignored Reneedol completely and shouted in a frenzy.

The Myriad Deities under his control also leapt into action, using all sorts of powers to maintain the rocky ceiling above.

Reneedol took a few steps back and appeared hesitant.

The two Divine Artifacts that she had were made by millions of Deities using all their strength for the sake of killing the Lord of Infinite Origins.

-------and this was the perfect chance for her to attack him.

But under the current circumstances, if she truly struck the Lord of Infinite Origins down, there wouldn't be any other person capable of holding up the Pantheon.

Killing the Lord of Infinite Origins means letting the countless apocalyptic junk on the surface destroy the Pantheon.

If that happens, I would also die!

--------all living beings taking refuge within the Pantheon would also die!

Reneedol raised her spear, then slowly lowered it.

Suddenly, a male voice resounded from behind her: "No need to think too much, this isn't the right time to kill him"

Reneedol suddenly turned around.

"Shroud! Why did you come here? This place is too dangerous!" she hurriedly said.

Boss looked at her, displayed a casual smile, then answered: "Come, lend me your Star Force"

"What do you want to do?" Reneedol asked.

The Book of Prophesized Destinies hovered in front of Boss, automatically flipping through until it stopped at a certain page.

This page depicted various kinds of mechanisms.

A large eye hovered at the very center of the book, silently observing Boss.

"We need to borrow a bit of power to deal with the current situation"

Boss replied.

…

The secret room.

The blinding starlight entered Scarlet's body, then disappeared without a trace.

Gu Qing Shan looked blankly at her.

Come to think of it, I was the one who originally introduced alcohol to the domain of Death.

I was also the one who taught Scarlet how to mix drinks.

The fact that a Star Force technique required an offensive measure aside from its defensive measures was also something that I told her.

-----who would have thought that Scarlet would name her Star Force technique Scorpio, corresponding to the glass of Scorpio Palace that I made her.

Fate truly is a mystical thing.

I wonder how Scarlet would turn out in the future.

And if Anna was her descendant or not.

With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan couldn't help but ask: "Scarlet, where's the Scorpio that you created with Star Force?"

Scarlet lifted her chin and proudly said: "Wanna guess?"

"Can't think of anything" Gu Qing Shan replied.

"Ehehe, I am Scorpio" Scarlet replied.

"How could that be?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

Scarlet patiently explained: "This is a unique Star Force technique that would allow me to gain the power of a Beast of Death. Shroud said that this was the strongest technique in history, it was just that almost no one had been able to complete it"

"But you managed to" Gu Qing Shan replied.

"It was thanks to you lending the black flames scythe to me and teaching me how to mix alcohol, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to either" Scarlet said.

Gu Qing Shan was a bit stunned.

So it turns out everything was because of me.

I have the power of [Distortion], but there are too many enemies that simply can't be defeated during this era.

The Samsara Apocalypse.

Reneedol.

The Lord of Infinite Origins.

Not to mention the sealed things that Boss had mentioned as well.

Under such circumstances, what else could I change?

Gu Qing Shan blinked, turned to Little Dusk who was a bit of distance away, then turned back to Scarlet.

Because she finally managed to manifest her technique, the girl was smiling brightly.

A voice appeared in Gu Qing Shan's mind.

----regardless of what happens, I must at least guarantee these girls' survival.

Even if the Apocalypses fill the world and monsters rampage the land, I need to give them the power to continue surviving!

Gu Qing Shan's gaze slowly became firm.

He stood up and paced around the secret room.

Lachesis was the most powerful one among the three sisters of Fate, who governed the Fate of the Myriad Deities, not even Lord of Infinite Origins managed to corrode her mind.

The Divine Artifact that millions of Deities forged for Lachesis must have also been the most powerful.

------to obtain more power, the best shortcut would be to find this Divine Artifact!

But then, where would I find it?

To deceive Reneedol, Lachesis had given me a fake key.

How would I be able to find the clues leading to the real Divine Artifact?

After a moment of silence, Gu Qing Shan felt a bit of a headache.

"Rhode, what are you thinking about?"

Seeing how he was scowling; Scarlet couldn't help but curiously ask.

"Don't mind me, I'm just thinking about something" Gu Qing Shan waved his hand dismissively without turning around.

"How about you tell me as well, I might be able to give you some suggestions" Scarlet offered.

Gu Qing Shan tilted his head to look at her, then said: "You?"

"Are you looking down on me? My Scorpio was the notoriously most difficult Star Force technique to manifest in history y'know!" Scarlet angrily told him.

Gu Qing Shan straightened up and smiled: "Then how did you complete it?"

"I continuously pieced it together bit by bit, whenever I'm tired, I take a sip of alcohol, and eventually, I managed to completely piece the entire structure of Scorpio together!" Scarlet answered.

Gu Qing Shan smiled and was about to say something, then suddenly stopped.

Piece?

Piece…

For some reason, Lachesis' words resounded in his ears again.

…

"…It was only now that I've managed to see a small bit of the course of Fate----- Death God, you are the only hope"

"…In the past, I once predicted… someone in the far future would attack our statues… I made sure to imbue the statues with strong defensive measures to ensure that they remain intact"

Gu Qing Shan's expression changed.

The three statues of the Deities of fate were broken into pieces by Reneedol.

Could it be that Lachesis had already managed to predict this?

If she truly managed to predict this, there was a possibility of her leaving something on the three statues.

The statues-----

Right.

The colorful rooster also mentioned the statues.

------it said that many of the past era's secrets were hidden on the murals and statues within the Pantheon.

Lachesis said that I was the only hope, was she implying that she was entrusting something to me?"

What did she have that she could have entrusted to me?

The answer is quite clear.

Gu Qing Shan stood still and stared straight at Scarlet.

"Rhode, what's wrong?" Scarlet puzzledly asked.

Gu Qing Shan regained his senses, then patted her shoulder: "Scarlet, you truly are a genius!"

After saying that, he retreated into a mass of white fog and disappeared.

…

The divine palace of Fate.

White fog filled the area.

Gu Qing Shan appeared from within the fog and looked at the entire divine palace.

Fragments of the statues had been scattered everywhere.

It wouldn't be easy to piece all of these statues back together.

But Gu Qing Shan didn't seem troubled by that at all.

-----he was completely rational.

He crouched down, picked up a fragment of the statues, then muttered:

"Lachesis, let me take a look and see what exactly you have hidden within these three statues"