Chapter 31 Despair

The surging snow tide fell from the mountaintop.

Twelve transcendents stood at the end of the maze, shrouded in a massive shadow…

At this moment, the only light between heaven and earth was the great serpent's "golden eyes."

Compared to it, humans were insignificant and lowly creatures.

Immense despair surged like a tide. After Captain Yuan Yuan was killed, this team launched one last, frantic counterattack… Zhu Xiao, a burly man from the Eastern Continent, roared and drew his military knife. Flames erupted around him as he stomped on the rocks, furiously trying to leap forward.

With a "boom!"

But this time…

The serpent didn't even give him a chance to rise.

A blur too fast to see flashed past… The tip of its long tail swept over, as if swatting a buzzing mosquito. The furious man engulfed in flames was instantly reduced to a bloody mist!

The next moment—

Amidst the biting frost and snow, a heavy, dense barrage of gunfire erupted!

Special, logic-defying bullets from the Northern Continent shattered the sky. These were the strongest individual weapons that military technology could produce. All the bullets struck the serpent's scales, but despairingly, they couldn't break through them. Instead, they merely produced a blinding flash of gold!

An offensive of this caliber couldn't even suppress it…

The two transcendents setting up their guns at the rear of the team were mercilessly "gazed" upon by the serpent's eyes the next moment!

"Buzz buzz buzz~~~"

The golden light that burst forth from those serpent eyes instantly engulfed them!

Along with… the entire area where they stood, which was completely annihilated!

"No…"

Li Chen, still blind, could still sense the faint aura around him… Auras of life were rapidly fading, which meant that the members of the team, his comrades, were dying quickly.

The sound of gunfire disappeared.

The psychic power surging within the domain also vanished.

Finally, a powerful force of lock-on settled upon him.

Li Chen raised his head, his empty, hollow eyes meeting the serpent's golden gaze. His face was ashen, his entire body consumed by fear… At that moment, the pathetic thought of running away arose, but his limbs wouldn't obey. Even moving a single step became incredibly difficult.

He was like a wooden stake, nailed to the spot.

"Hiss…"

The sound of a cold tongue flicking.

Snowy wind, carrying chilling intent, descended before him. Although he couldn't see anything… he could imagine the nightmare unfolding before him.

The serpent had lowered its head to the same level as him, coldly "studying" him.

It had countless ways to destroy him and his companions, but for now, it had simply chosen the most amusing one.

To slowly toy with them.

To play with them until death.

When despair was pushed to its limit, it turned into anger.

Li Chen silently clenched his fists. He felt as if the power in his body had returned… Even if it was only a faint trace, at least that trace gave him room to resist.

Above his head, the bleeding "silver eye" slowly rotated once more.

He roared with all his might.

Then he threw a punch at the cold serpent's maw!

This was a human's punch… a punch born of utter despair.

Even more so, a weak and powerless punch.

"Thwack."

A crisp sound rang out, but nothing happened.

A punch thrown by a mental-type transcendent who wasn't skilled in offense didn't even scratch the scales… The force of the rebound merely cracked the skin of his fist, causing blood to seep out.

Li Chen's body trembled uncontrollably. The immense difference in strength magnified his despair hundreds of times over at that moment. He wanted to open his bleeding eyes, to force himself to "glare" at his opponent in this moment of life and death, to die with some dignity, but he couldn't do any of that… The only thing he could do was suppress the fear in his body and try not to tremble so much.

Watching this scene… the serpent's lips curled upward, revealing a smile.

The next moment.

Its eyes blazed with gold once more.

Then came a "boom!"

Exploding fist-winds tore through the frigid air, echoing before Li Chen, sending dozens of plumes of frost and snow swirling. A tall, black figure appeared before Li Chen at that moment. Vice-Captain Su He burned all of his transcendent source quality, unleashing an unprecedented peak punch. This punch slammed into the serpent's unguarded head, and the furious shockwave shattered the rocks around the valley.

But after the fist-winds subsided…

Nothing had changed.

The serpent's head had merely tilted at a slight angle, an angle that seemed more like an adjustment it had made itself.

"Hiss hiss…"

Su He shielded Li Chen behind him, calmly looking at the serpent eyes amidst the smoke and dust.

"Boom!"

Golden light erupted, shattering the snow and mist, incinerating the blood.

All the fear, all the anger, all the despair, were annihilated by the golden light surging from the serpent's eyes.

The entire valley fell into a long silence.

A long wind howled, scattering the crimson snow.

Leaving only one person.

Standing alone.

…

…

From the moment the battle began, Gu Shen had been rooted to the spot.

He didn't draw his blade with Yuan Yuan, nor did he retreat behind the vice-captain to provide covering fire… After putting on the ghost mask, his suppressed psychic power was released, and his mind entered a state of absolute calm.

Then, at the center of Gu Shen's brow, a wisp of blazing fire ignited.

Only this time, it was a pitch-black fire.

He silently watched the tragic battle unfold… Blood splattered, staining the snow-covered ground, as conspicuous as ink.

In the desolate snow mountain canyon battlefield, he was the only "spectator."

And everyone tacitly acknowledged the rationality of this "spectator's" existence.

No one pulled him.

And no one touched him.

In fact, someone did make contact with him while running, but they merely mingled and intersected like shadows.

He realized something was amiss with this "dream" the moment he reached out to try and hold Li Chen back…

After the battle ended.

Gu Shen looked at the great serpent coiled high above.

He said softly, "I thought the beginning and end of this dream were at the end of the maze, and the 'oasis' in the distance…"

That would explain the words Hong Zhong said after leaving the maze.

That man had indeed told the truth.

He had seen the oasis.

Only… it was a false oasis.

Because it was so real, he had even convinced himself.

"Now that I think about it, that was a rookie mistake… The starting point of this dream is there." Gu Shen turned around, looking in the direction they had come from. The beginning of this entire nightmare originated from the moment the return path had been broken.

"The bodies of Hong Zhong's team are buried in the snow up ahead."

Gu Shen smiled with a hint of self-mockery. "Since Hong Zhong saw the oasis, then they should have seen it too… That team thought their return path had been completely blocked off, but it actually wasn't… Right?"

The great serpent calmly watched Gu Shen.

Its serpent eyes were no longer cold, but flickering with an unusual light.

It hissed.

Towards Gu Shen… it was different from how it was with the others.

It maintained "respect," listening quietly, without interrupting.

"That was a safe path. From beginning to end, it didn't encounter any 'black hole aberrations.' Everyone could have returned safely, as long as they had made the 'turnaround' at that time, they would have been able to leave safely. It's just that humans have never encountered beings like you outside the fortress, and they didn't know that the 'source quality instrument' could be deceived… So they could only choose to continue forward, stepping into this dream."

Gu Shen murmured, "So, the returning hero Hong Zhong is actually a shameful deserter… He chose to run away at the last moment and seized his companions' source energy cores."

"Is it because of the beliefs instilled by the Investigation Corps… No matter what, you must return to the fortress alive?"

Gu Shen shook his head.

No matter the reason, the title of returning hero now sounded like a joke.

He slowly lowered his hands.

Not just his brow.

Flames of black fire erupted all over Gu Shen's body. With the blessing of the "ghost mask," the blazing fire stained with Netherworld energy was continuously released, burning into a vigorous, pitch-black fire domain around him.

"So everything that's happening here is also a dream."

Gu Shen looked at the serpent and said calmly, "The elite team's psychic power is simply incapable of breaking this dream… So no matter how they fight, the outcome is predetermined… The previous team must have been the same, right?"

The serpent's lips curled up again.

It revealed its smile once more.

Most of the veils enshrouding this maze mission had already been lifted.

Gu Shen took a deep breath. "I'm really curious… If not in a dream, but in the real world, do beings like you truly exist?"

He raised his head, looking at the massive serpent head descending continuously.

Golden light surged within the serpent eyes.

The two maintained eye contact at extremely close range.

At that moment.

The intense sensation within the blazing fire… rang out once more.

Gu Shen had already prepared himself for battle.

But as he met those golden serpent eyes, what he felt wasn't intense killing intent… but an unprecedented feeling of fervent resonance.

Even the beating of his heart seemed to slow down.

In his mind, a sharp and gentle voice echoed.

"...Of course."

Gu Shen's pupils constricted. He never expected that this great serpent could actually emit sounds through psychic resonance!

It responded to him?!

And the most terrifying thing was… this psychic voice wasn't violent, but the ghost mask trembled madly!

The dark mist enveloping Gu Shen's face couldn't withstand the overwhelming psychic power. It directly dissipated, falling off on its own.

"I just wanted to see your face…"

The great serpent's psychic voice rang out again.

After the ghost mask fell off.

Gu Shen stared blankly at those sincere golden pupils.

The massive serpent head slammed onto the ground. The great serpent coiled high above lowered its body, displaying an incredibly respectful and submissive posture of worship…

It lowered its head. Its former haughty and supreme demeanor was gone.

Leaving only humility and sincerity.

"This place is frostbitten, devoid of life, order is shattered, source quality has collapsed… By your command, for twenty-one years, I have not dared to leave."

The serpent stared at the wisp of ghostly fire at the center of Gu Shen's brow.

The voice that had echoed for so long in his mind was very hoarse.

"My King… Until this day, I have finally awaited your arrival."

…

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