“What should we do? The octopus monsters are one thing, but some of those believers haven't turned into octopuses yet.”
Siate’s grip on her greatsword made her palms sweat. She never showed mercy to monsters, and she was ruthless with bandits and thieves, but these were a group of believers who could still be saved, merely victims.
The believers twisted their bodies, dropping their wooden buckets and pulling out daggers. For some of them, their masks were mostly shattered, revealing the bewildered and lost faces beneath.
“You guys deal with the octopus monsters. Lotus is mine.”
Ye Lin rubbed his wrists, his gaze fixed on Luo Zong. Success or failure depended on this one strike!
“Okay.”
Mo Mei and the others nodded, choosing to trust him without asking further questions. Only he knew the distance to collapse Lotus’s temple; no one else could help much.
“Oh, by the way, Mo Mei, I can’t fight the Light City Lord to a draw. That’s just a rumor, a misunderstanding.”
The situation was critical now, and he had never displayed abilities beyond an Awakener along the way. If this continued, Mo Mei would eventually figure things out, so it was better to just admit it openly.
“I know, Boss.”
Mo Mei blinked, then smiled faintly at Ye Lin’s slightly bewildered expression, “Feng Zhen Master told me you’re the Professional he thinks most highly of. How could a Professional fight the Light City Lord to a draw?”
“Then why did you…”
“Because you didn’t dislike me, Boss. I’m genuinely useful, not a freeloader.”
Ye Lin sniffed, touched in silence. Although, he had indeed initially thought of finding a freeloader…
His body became a sword, sword qi transforming into a dragon, unstoppable, capable of breaking through a myriad of armies!
Dragon Strike!
Yuena stared dumbfounded at Ye Lin, who had instantly shot a great distance up the mountain. First, she was amazed by his terrifying speed, then she urgently cried, “Captain, you should have let me give you a buff before you went!”
“Luo Zong, come out and get some sun!”
He pressed his hands to the ground, and the magic power within him was completely drained, used up entirely.
Rumble…
The earth trembled, and terrifying cracks spread rapidly from his hands as the origin point, reaching the temple on Lotus’s body. Cracks also appeared on the temple pillars.
Crack~
Rumble…
Perhaps the believers’ construction skills were subpar, or they cut corners, but the temple covering Lotus’s body easily collapsed with a crash. The buildings that had previously blocked the sun instead fell onto Lotus’s body, further mangling his already shriveled form.
After the buildings rolled away, Isha Dula’s magic and the scorching sunlight from the sky mercilessly shone directly onto the already weakened Lotus.
“Luo Zong, we… Ow…”
He had just straightened up and hadn’t finished speaking when Lotus’s frantic flailing tentacles accurately struck, perfectly sending Ye Lin sprawling in front of the giant octopus, head buried in the dirt.
“See? I told you, let me give you a buff.”
Yuena shrugged helplessly, indicating it wasn't her fault; he ran too fast with Dragon Strike, so she couldn't apply it.
“Leave him to it. We’ll clear out these octopus monsters.”
Ptooey!
Spitting out the dirt in his mouth, Ye Lin patted his clothes, wincing and gasping as he rubbed his aching waist.
“I’ll ask you one last time, am I truly evil?”
Lotus’s body was slowly shrinking, and his few blue eyes that could emit mental attacks were gradually dimming. He understood that he was truly finished. Even if he killed the person in front of him, he wouldn’t have time to manipulate believers to build another temple on his body.
Since being transferred to the back of the Tian Wei Giant Beast, he had been anxious and panicky every day, wondering who had plotted against him and when the prophesied time of death would be.
Now, facing death, he suddenly became calm, transcending life and death, putting everything behind him. He only wanted to mock this ridiculously pathetic pawn, manipulated by fate, in front of him.
Ye Lin was silent for a moment, then pulled out an RX-78 Pursuer to sit on as a stool, sighing deeply, “Aren’t you evil? After all, so many believers died, seven or eight tenths of the entire GBL Church died because of you. This is an undeniable and unchangeable fact.”
Lotus struggled to wave a tentacle, trying to prop himself up, but the water loss was too severe. The former overlord of the ocean was about to die from dehydration.
“Perhaps in your eyes, I am evil. I just… didn’t want to die.”
The monarch of Solaris, primordial darkness, his voice actually contained a deep sense of desolation and sorrow.
“Yes, you didn’t want to die, and the believers didn’t want to die either. But you are stronger than the believers. Your nature might not be bad; you just wanted to survive.”
Whether Lotus was good or bad was no longer important. Whether he wanted to manipulate the Tian Wei Giant Beast to crash into the Sky Sea was also no longer important, because… he didn’t want to die. He was stronger than the believers, and that was all.
The Solaris ocean overlord, the Eighth Apostle, if there was a better way to survive, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to stay here manipulating believers to water him and barely survive. The ocean was his home.
“You are also just puppets, bringing about your own destruction. Shiloc, who was one with me in the primordial, already revealed the future to you before her death…”
Ye Lin couldn’t help but rub his forehead, a headache coming on. It was normal for Luo Zong to want to say some last words before he died, to mock them fiercely.
But the problem was that ordinary people couldn't understand Luo Zong's words. Only he could understand about seventy to eighty percent. Otherwise, if you just grabbed an Adventurer from below, who knew what he was talking about?
Primordial? What the heck is that?!
Shiloc? Hasn’t she been dead for many years?
One with me? Shiloc is also an octopus? Why haven’t I heard of octopuses being hermaphroditic?
“Luo Zong, let’s keep it simple. Do you know who tricked you?”
After a brief silence, Lotus became almost insane. The only remaining blood qi in his body flowed, and his thick tentacles shook the entire mountain, spitting out that name with monstrous hatred.
Held!
It was cold, he was hibernating, sleeping soundly at home, and suddenly he was transferred to this cursed place where he couldn’t reach the sea below or water above. How could he not be angry?
“Luo Zong, don’t be angry. I have an idea. You lay an egg to save your life, and then I’ll kill your main body. We both benefit: you save your life, and I gain popularity.”
Ye Lin began to tinker with his plan, but Lotus was suddenly stunned. This person actually knew about his hidden method?
He didn’t want to die, so during his time occupying the Tian Wei Giant Beast, he secretly used a tentacle to dig a hole in the mountain, preparing to secretly substitute himself when he was about to be killed.
Now the plan had actually been exposed!
“Luo Zong, just say whether it’s a deal or not, be quick. Don’t hesitate. Someone set fire to the Tree Spirit Jungle down the mountain. If we drag this out, those Adventurers will come back, and it’ll be difficult for us to act.”
“Why?”
Lotus murmured, seemingly asking Ye Lin, or perhaps himself.
“Azeroth saw the future. When all the Apostles die, that’s when the universe will be destroyed. I’ll find a way to send you back to Solaris, provided you release the believers you haven’t turned into octopuses.”
“It’s useless. Solaris has long disappeared in the vast universe. Besides Held, no one can pinpoint that planet… Held!”
Accompanied by an unwilling roar, Lotus’s aura quickly weakened, clearly at his last breath.
“Don’t die, Luo Zong, leave an egg! There’s still someone who can pinpoint the planet. Don’t you want to slap Held with a tentacle? Hang her up… well, forget that, the size difference is too great.”
“Who else! How is that possible, who else can pinpoint Solaris?”
Lotus’s spirit was invigorated, and hope rekindled, for a simple reason: he didn’t want to die!
“Old man Luke’s granddaughter, the Elding Memorial Hall’s android, the first Magic Science assistant, Beiqi.”