The blood contract beast slowly vanished into thin air and Xiu pressed on Muir's neck, letting him know that they should land.
The moment the black dragon landed, the long dragon spear pierced the chest of the desert bandit. The others could only watch in horror as the bandit who had trampled Du Ze became similar to a burst balloon. The bandit magically aged until his body was dried out. Finally, the bandit decayed into dust that was blown away by the desert wind. No blood was shed because the man on the dragon's back had the same idea – that person's clothes should not be stained with blood.
The desert bandits were in disarray. The black-turbaned leader dropped Nina and turned to flee, but the black dragon murmured the words of a spell which made an invisible force press down on them. The bandits were only able to run a few steps before the pressure forced them down on the sand, unable to even breathe. The black-turbaned bandit could not move. He watched as the Dragon Knight dismounted and gently picked up the black-haired youth, acting like a man who just recovered a treasure. When the blond youth looked at him, the black-turbaned bandit knew that his end was near.
"Quicksand burial."
Hearing Xiu chanting a spell, Du Ze spat out a mouthful of sand and hurried to cry out: "Don't – cough – don't kill that – cough – fox!"
At first Xiu did not understand the meaning of "fox," but then he saw Nina's fox ears and tail and understood that Du Ze was referring to the beastkin girl. Xiu never rejected any of Du Ze's requests so he excluded Nina from the spell.
The giant magic spell in the land of wind and dust was very powerful. The desert bandits' struggles were futile as they sought to escape the sand underneath that was devouring them. The bandit wearing the black turban's heart turned into ashes – such a potent spell was cast with just a few words; the man they had offended was not just a Dragon Knight but also a Mage God.
As the quicksand swallowed him up, the bandit in the black turban was still wondering: Why did they find the black-haired young man carrying a fox beastkin?
By the time Du Ze had finished wiping the sand from his glasses, all he could see was empty desert – all the desert bandits were gone. Nina, sitting on the sand, looked at the scene with horror. Du Ze felt something heavy on his head but it was just Xiu's hand that was helping him to remove the sand in his hair.
"I always seem to lose you ..."
Xiu's voice was almost a sigh, heavy with worry. Du Ze looked at Xiu and said earnestly: "That was an accident and you can always find me."
When he heard Du Ze's words, Xiu's mood seemed to lift a little. He grabbed the back of Du Ze's neck and said, as though he was joking: "If I lose you again, next time I'll make a cage and lock you up, how about that?"
Du Ze nodded tolerantly.1 The corners of Xiu's mouth turned up in a smile.
Nina was totally unable to describe this sight. She just felt that the golden-haired man was terrifying. When the human riding the black dragon appeared, Nina thought that it was the god of death descending. The blond man's overpowering killing intent and the black dragon were extremely frightening. But when the man was standing with Du Ze, Nina saw that he was a handsome young man with a gentle smile whose dazzling blond hair was like the sun that dispelled all evil, not a ghastly death god.
Why was there such a difference? Nina looked at Xiu and Du Ze; it seemed to her that the two were taboo: something that can't be spoken about or touched.
Du Ze and Xiu spoke with each other a bit more then went to Nina together.
"Where is your tribe? We'll send you back," Xiu said to Nina.
Nina's fox ears trembled. She looked at Du Ze then nodded cautiously.
After resting a bit, the black dragon spread its wings and flew to the west. As they flew, the desert slowly gave way to barren, rocky land. There were few plants and animals in this land. It seems that the wilderness in eastern part of the Chaos Continent, where the beastkin live, is a very harsh environment. Suddenly, Du Ze saw a ruined city appear in the distance. The city seemed very out of place in the wilderness and Nina said in amazement: "Why is there a city here?"
The black dragon circled the city. Du Ze looked down on the ruins and has a vague feeling that this place was familiar. When he saw the unfinished statue in the middle of the abandoned city, the foolish reader finally recognized it: Isn't this one of the 72 cities, Dantalion?!
Xiu seemed to recognize the city, too. He made the black dragon land in the city. Du Ze looked at the humanoid idol with a square object on his face. His brain struggled to comprehend – Isn't this city in the reverse side of the continent? Why is it here? Or was a new city being built on the Chaos Continent? Du Ze examined the idol carefully and dismissed his previous conjecture. The idol was in exactly the same condition that he and Xiu had seen when they passed by the city last time.
"When I was looking for you, I saw Halphas City on the way." Xiu said in Du Ze's ear: "There are many other demon cities here. It seems like the Chaos Continent and its reverse side have merged."
The sea of undead souls has merged with the ocean and the 72 demon cities are now all over the Chaos Continent, only a merging of the two sides can explain all of this.
Why did the Chaos Continent suddenly merge with its reverse side? Du Ze looked at the unfinished idol and thought that only the gods know why.
Click, clack, click, clack.
The sound of footsteps came from behind the idol and the black dragon raised his head, alarmed. A person soon appeared. When he saw the black dragon he was momentarily speechless but as the newcomer's eyes fell on Du Ze, he showed a familiar gentle smile.
"Looks like I found the right place." The brown-haired man tapped the instrument in his hand and smiled as he spoke: "Long time no see, Mr. Du Ze. As long as I could find you, I know the little master must be near."
Du Ze had no idea that he would meet Old John here, and when he saw Ariel looking at him from behind Old John, some silly, cute person's brain seemed to freeze up as it lost a key part.
Old John put away the instrument and his eyes swept over the man on the back of the black dragon. When he saw the six-star metal bracelet on the young man's wrist, Old John smiled happily, like an old man playing hide-and-seek with his grandchildren. "Little Master, I have found you."
"I'm glad to see you, Old John." Xiu looked at his faithful mechanical puppet: "What has happened to make you travel such a long distance to look for me?"
"I'm sorry Little Master, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Old John said: "The Gnome Ruins have been taken over by the elf gods."
According to Old John, after parting with Xiu that day, Old John led the dark elves back to the Gnome Ruins. They chose a place in the ruins to plant the Tree of Life then the dark elves began to build their new home. Everything was built in a methodical way, but one day the spider goddess appeared before them. She did not bother to conceal her malice towards the other gods.
The dark elves obeyed her commands and began to expel other beings. Almost all of the dark elves listened to her commands. Only Ariel followed Old John when he went looking for Xiu and Du Ze. They had been in the wilderness, following the locator instruments, when the black storm appeared. In order to avoid the storm, Old John and Ariel spent seven days in this city and unexpectedly found what they had been looking for.
By the time Old John had finished speaking, it was nearly dusk so they decided to rest for the night in the abandoned city. Old John quickly set up camp for them. Muir turned into his humanoid form and rested in a corner while Nina and Ariel stayed together. Xiu sat by the fire and seemed to be meditating. Du Ze lay tossing and turning on a nest of blankets; his headphones' batteries ran out of charge not long after Old John finished speaking, so he did not know how Xiu had responded to Old John's news.
When the continents merged, the gods descend. The reader who does not know the plot can only look at Yi Ye Zhi Qiu's work from inside this world, afraid that the author will make another god descend. Du Ze watched the moons climb up in the sky. He could not sleep and could only stare as the two moons gradually overlapped each other.
"Oh, you are asleep?"
Dan's voice suddenly rang out. Du Ze sat up and saw the green-clothed businessman sitting on the idol, laughing hatefully. Dan appeared so suddenly that not even Muir saw him arrive. Muir looked at him, startled and not knowing how he suddenly appeared. Dan jumped off the idol and smiled at Xiu.
"I'm very sorry. Last time you called me but I wasn't able to meet you." Dan glanced around at the ruined city, smiling: "Fortunately, I sensed your presence and came to make up for my previous shortcomings. So, what do you need?"
Du Ze looked across at Dan and the unfinished idol, feeling that he was very subtle. They were in the other person's headquarters, no wonder Dan sensed their presence and came. Du Ze glanced at Xiu; when they were in the Dragon Island, he had tried to summon Dan to get more information about becoming a god. It's extremely rare to have a demon god eagerly wanting to make up for a previous mistake. It would be stupid of them not to ask him about it now.
"I want some information about the gods," said Xiu.
"No problem." Dan looked at Du Ze. "In exchange, I would like to ask you a question."
Seeing Du Ze nod, Dan smiled: "In order to make up for my last no-show, I will supply the goods first. What do you want to know, please?"
Xiu bluntly asked: "How can a person become a god?
"That's a really embarrassing question." Dan patted his head with his book and looked at Xiu. "In fact, in terms of strength, you will soon be a false god."
"The strongest in the Chaos Continent level are the Mage God and War God. Although they are called "gods," the truth is that they are far from being as strong as a god. People who are able to touch the threshold of the power of the gods are called "false gods." However, though they are called false, some of these people are stronger than some gods. There was a person named Louis who had the power of a high level god. The false gods have great power and are not afraid of the pantheons, but they are not really gods because there they are not worshipped."
Dan glanced at the city he had deserted; he did not want to be a god so he did not have any worshippers.
"Faith is the meaning of a divine existence."
Du Ze just listened. This is actually a very simple truth. In the twenty-first century, even though no one really saw god, there were always people who were convinced of their existence and believed in them. Thus, Buddha and other gods are born.
Dan said to Xiu: "When you become a god, the power of faith determines the strength of your powers. Even the gods have levels. The low, middle, and high level gods of every race, and which god is the most powerful – all of these are determined by divine power -"
"Well, I digressed. Let us continue to speak of god: when a false god gains the faith of people he becomes a god. The godhead or divine nature of a god is a necessary tool for the gods to assimilate and use the power of faith, which is the core of the power of the gods. Most of the powers of the gods are dependent on the operation of the godhead... how to get godhead?"
Dan smiled and said: "Very simple, killing a god to capture his godhead is the quickest way."
"In short, you become a false god, obtain a godhead, gain the power of faith, and you can become a god." Dan raised a hand: "A friendly reminder though – once you become a god, you will be thrown into the realm of the gods, which is a rather bad place."
"The realm of the gods?"
"Now, I do not know why the continent's two sides have merged and why the gods can descend." Dan complained: "I saw the realm of the gods once. I never wanted to return there."
Xiu was surprised and asked: "The god world ... You can see it?"
When he heard Xiu's question, Dan smiled mysteriously.
"In fact you can see it now." The green-clothed merchant stretched out his hand and pointed to the yellow moon that the sky was about to overlap with the purple moon. "It's above our heads all the time."
Du Ze looked up in amazement at the moons that had been with him since he came to the world, as if he was seeing them for the first time. In all this time, the purple and yellow moons have never looked so close to each other; they seem to be about to become one.
"The continent and the spirit world, they are very close,"1 said Dan, but the meaning was not clear.
***
On the Dragon Island, Lendys, the god of justice, stared in disbelief at the undead Necromancer in the black cloak – too powerful! He's clearly just a false god but he can fight with five of the dragon gods and even seriously injure Bahamut. Lendys looked around at the island that was drowning in skeletons and zombies and felt despair, an emotion that he was unfamiliar with until now. Many dragons have been transformed into zombie or bone dragons and have joined the undead army, fighting against their former companions. The dragon race will soon disappear from the Chaos Continent.
The god of death, Louis, raised his scythe. If Du Ze were present he would find that the giant scythe and Xiu's death scythe are the same. Before anyone could react, Louis cut Garyx in half. Garyx was instantly killed but Louis was not able to claim the body of the dragon god because a black vortex suddenly appeared in mid-air and sucked in the corpse of the dragon god of destruction.
Louis stared at the black hole for a long time before looking to the remaining dragon gods – no matter, there are other gods.
As Louis prepared to wield his scythe again, someone blocked his attack. That person had all the characteristics of the dragon race.
"My Lord!" Aasterinian exclaimed as she clutched her wounded arm.
Io, the leader of the dragon gods, grasped the scythe of the god of death Louis. He was finally able to descend to the Chaos Continent but casualties that resulted cannot be undone. Io looked at the condition of the Dragon Island with eyes full of sadness and anger.
"Undead, you must pay for what you have done!"
***
In the Gnome Ruins, the spider goddess Lolth staggered back and looked angrily at the gnome god. Flandal Steelskin,2 whom Xiu and Du Ze had met before, was sitting on a mechanical puppet while his Mia was mercilessly killing dark elves.
"Hmph. Elf, this is not a place where you can run wild."
Lolth was furious at being wounded and at the death of the dark elves, but there were 3 gnome gods and she was alone here.
More machines came running into the fray and the dark elves were almost all dead; only a few people were left. Lolth smiled thinly and threw a spider dagger into the heap of dark elves' corpses.
"Black Blood Strangling Array."
Baravar Cloakshadow, the gnome god of spies, was suddenly dragged into the stream of blood and was soon consumed by it.
Flandal was shocked at the spider Goddess's action: "You even sacrificed your own followers and used a forbidden technique?!"
Lolth smiled: "To die for me is an honor!"
Unnoticed, a black hole appeared and silently sucked in the body of the god of spies.
The death of a companion made the gnome god completely enraged.
"Elf!" Flandal angrily shouted: "Since you don't care about their lives, we will destroy the Tree of Life and help you wipe out the elves from the Chaos Continent!"
"Ahem." A cold voice sounded and the leader of the elven gods, Corellon, fell from the sky. He looked at the spider goddess in disgust then coldly looked at the gnome god. "I don't care if you kill her but I won't let you touch the Tree of Life."
"We were just trying to help your companion achieve her long-cherished wish." A gnome dressed like a clown jumped Corellon's side. The gnome god Garl Glittergold winked at the elf god.
"She seems to want to taste the state of having no race of worshippers – just like us," he said.
*******
The god of light took his scepter and rose from the throne of god. He had waited a long time for this day.
The rules no longer compel him to stay in the realm of the gods. He can go to the Chaos Continent and do what he wants to do without having to rely on his believers to do tasks for him.
Tasks such as killing the heretic.
*******
The author has something to say:
In this way the human, orcs, dragons, undead, gnomes, and elves are all in a pinch. The angels and demons will also appear. "Mixed Blood's" plot will happen in the same order; Xiu will appear too late tomorrow OTL.
Some information:
Gnome Pantheon
Leader of the gnome gods, Garl Glittergold [high level]
God of forging, Flandal Steelskin [mid level]
Guardian god, Callarduran Smoothhands [mid level]
God of the forest, the patron of the wild, Baervan Wildwanderer [low level]
God of death, the Lord of the Earth, Segojan Earthcaller [low level]
God of spies, Baravar Cloakshadow [low level]
Elf Pantheon
Elf Lord God, Corellon [high level]
Spider goddess, Lolth [mid level]
God of bows and arrows, Solonor [mid level]
God of forestry, Rillifane [low level]
God of hatred, Shevarash [low level]
God of mischief and rogues, Erevan [low level]
God of thieves, Vhaeraun [low level]