"All the players have arrived — now it's my turn to make an appearance!"
Raylin watched the massive serpent sphere rise into the air, along with the terrifying silhouette of Beelzebub flapping its enormous fleshy wings, and suddenly broke into a grin.
On the ground below, Thomas had already been stunned senseless.
The Second Elder and the Punishment Legion had rebelled! The Holy City had fallen! The Mother of Myriad Serpents and the Devouring Monarch had manifested their true forms!
Each of these events alone would have been a cataclysmic shock to him, and when they all happened at once, Thomas had absolutely no idea what to do.
"Oh! It seems that during the war, you were in charge of maintaining order within the city? My apologies for interrupting your work! You see, this city is about to descend into even greater chaos!"
Raylin apologized to Thomas with all the manners of a gentleman, but the words only sent Thomas's mind into complete turmoil.
"Even greater chaos? What do you mean?"
But Thomas had no time to think — a colossal pillar of gray light suddenly erupted from the walls and floor of the entire pavilion, blasting straight up into the sky.
That was the last thing Thomas ever saw. In the next instant, he was directly dissolved by the terrifying energy, leaving not even bones behind.
"We meet again! Mother of Myriad Serpents! And Devouring Monarch!"
A smile on his face, Raylin bowed with fluid grace, like an old friend greeting someone he hadn't seen in ages.
Compared to the colossal forms of the Mother of Myriad Serpents and Beelzebub, the pillar of light beside them was like a slender thread, and Raylin within it was smaller than an ant.
And yet, it was this minuscule existence that drew the simultaneous gaze of both the Mother of Myriad Serpents and Beelzebub!
The gazes of two eighth-tier beings — even an ordinary fourth-tier Dawn Star Wizard would likely have been melted on the spot by the sheer malice alone, and even Raylin felt a violent reaction.
"Cough… cough…" He coughed up a torrent of fresh blood, blood even gushing out from between his fingers in thick streams.
"Emperor of the Komoin — little one, I admit it! You have successfully enraged me!"
The Mother of Myriad Serpents' voice was perfectly calm, but an enormous shadowy serpent head had already opened its gaping maw, as though it intended to swallow Raylin in a single bite.
"Beautiful lady! Wait — he belongs to me!"
An invisible giant mouth seemed to materialize from the void, chomping the shadow serpent head clean off.
Beelzebub flapped its terrifying wings, every last one of its compound eyes fixing on Raylin: "Thank you for finding this world for me! What a pity, Wizard — the thoughts of beings that embody the laws of reality are not something a mere mortal like you can ever peer into. Were you trying to sow discord between me and this lady, then profit from the chaos as a third party? Such scheming is destined to fail. How could the wisdom of mortals ever hope to outmaneuver gods?"
"Per the agreement between myself and Mr. Filth Bird, this Wizard belongs to me!"
Beelzebub declared to the Mother of Myriad Serpents, as though staking its claim.
"As expected — you've been colluding with the Filth Bird all along, and using its power of chaos as cover for yourself… cough, cough…"
Countless gray motes of light rose from Lei Lin's body, leaving him ever more feeble.
The power of chaos he had previously absorbed from the Filth Bird now erupted in revolt, as though trying to bind Lei Lin on the spot and present him as a gift to Beelzebub.
"Heh heh… what a pity…"
Lei Lin looked even weaker, as if he might die at any moment, but beneath his lowered head came a string of laughter.
"What's a pity?"
Beelzebub clearly still wanted to toy with the prey it had claimed.
"Hehe… what a pity that I never once intended to rely on you lot! Nor did I harbor any hope that you'd kill each other! I set all of this up simply to lure your true bodies here!"
Lei Lin laughed wildly, eyes blazing with fervor. "You — all of you — are my prey!!!"
"A premonition of calamity! Branching threads appear in destiny! A variable has emerged! Whatever he intends to do — stop him!"
The ever-smiling Mother of Myriad Serpents felt her expression change abruptly.
"Heh heh! It's already too late!" Lei Lin roared with laughter as countless sacrificial runes surfaced from his body.
"Execute the predetermined plan!" he barked his command.
【Ding! Plan One activated — forcibly expelling the power of chaos!】The Chip's mechanical voice rang out.
Ever since his first ritual sacrifice to the Filth Bird, Lei Lin had been on his guard against it, and later had ordered the Chip to monitor the situation at all times.
During each baptism of chaos power, he had never accepted a direct infusion into his body — instead, he had merely used it as a raw material. This moment was what he had been guarding against!
"Ugh!" Lei Lin's face flushed crimson as a layer of gray filth burst violently out from beneath his skin and pores. Even the spore-like bodies that had taken root within his cells were forcibly expelled and purged in an instant.
Boom! A sacrificial formation materialized, and at its center the Filth Bird's rune shattered violently. An enraged shriek echoed from within.
"By the power of the Filth Bird, I offer you this sacrifice! Great Will of Purgatory — descend!"