Chapter 368: The Final Slaughter, Descent of Divine Thought

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: The Final Slaughter, Descent of Divine Thought

"Slaughter, there’s no need to drag this out any longer.

Go ahead and activate the final frenzy mode of your Death Arena.

Throw all the remaining Players in, whether they’re regular Players or Divine Favored!

Set a time limit... just one hour!

Let them engage in one last, unrestricted slaughter inside!

The last one standing is the winner!

This will also be a perfect opportunity for us to see whose Beloved is the truly superior asset!"

The God of Viruses let out a low, inscrutable laugh.

The silhouette of the God of Assassination remained silent but offered no objection.

The God of Slaughter was silent for a moment.

He knew this was the fastest, most direct way to conclude things.

Continuing with the previous "free-range" model would introduce too many variables and could easily attract the interference of other Divine.

"...Hmph. I suppose this is the only way."

The God of Slaughter finally agreed, and the dark red vortex began to spin faster.

He began to draw upon His very essence, weaving a purer set of rules for slaughter and competition.

He prepared to forcibly overlay them onto parts of the instance below.

Just then, the Fiend God added another comment, his tone dripping with undisguised malice.

"However, that woman with the gun... I want her dead, no matter what!

She humiliated me so thoroughly in front of all of you!

I’m going to personally... split off a tiny projection of my Divine Thought to ’look after’ her!"

At these words, even the God of Viruses paused.

"Have you no shame?"

The God of Viruses’s voice was filled with blatant ridicule.

"You’re a God! Intervening personally against a Beloved? Have you no sense of decency left?"

The silhouette of the God of Slaughter also shot him a cold glance.

The Fiend God, however, was unfazed. In fact, he seemed almost deranged.

"Decency? My Beloved was nearly killed! I’ve already lost all face!

I only care about the result!

If, even after this... I still can’t deal with her, and instead get hurt by that bizarre Ability of hers, or even... Hmph, then so be it. You can laugh at me all you want!"

He was dead set on erasing Seraphina Sullivan, this "stain" on his reputation.

"...Fine."

The God of Slaughter did not object in the end, only stating coldly,

"Do as you wish. But remember, this is just a part of the game. If you trigger an uncontrollable chain reaction... you’ll bear the consequences alone."

...

Down below, Seraphina Sullivan and the others had just been transported to a strange Subspace and hadn’t yet had time to figure out the situation when that manic, mocking "system notification" rang out in their minds again.

But this time, the voice seemed to carry a new trace of... impatience and final madness.

[Oh, my~ Dearest Players! The game is getting so heated! So many little ones have already left the stage early!]

[So~ the great game master has decided to change the rules on the fly! It’s time to bring this banquet to its final climax!]

[From now on, you no longer need to hide and scramble, desperately searching for prey! You will all be transported to a specially prepared ultimate stage!]

[All you have to do there is... fight, slaughter, and survive! The time limit is one hour!]

[Even if you don’t want to fight and just want to cower in a corner and watch the show?]

[Heh heh, you can do that too~ As long as you’ve got the skills to survive under someone else’s blade and avoid being eliminated by the stage’s own rules!]

[So... enjoy this final carnival! I wish you all... a fun time! HEE HEE HEE HEE—!!!]

The shrill, maniacal laughter cut off abruptly.

「Meanwhile.」

Seraphina Sullivan felt the ground disappear beneath her feet as that familiar, nauseating sensation of Space Transmission washed over her once more!

Light warped, and the world spun around her.

When her feet once again landed on solid ground,

what greeted her eyes was a colossal, ring-shaped structure with stands that seemed to stretch endlessly into the clouds, filled with an ancient Aura of blood, gore, and madness!

The ground was dark red sand, and the faint, dried, blackened stains of blood were visible.

The air was thick with the smell of rust, sweat, and death.

All around her were rock walls that stretched up beyond sight, carved with countless gruesome battle reliefs. Higher still was an intangible clamor, as if formed from the collected screams of innumerable mad souls.

’This is...’ Seraphina’s pupils contracted, and her heart skipped a beat!

This place—she was all too familiar with it!

She would never forget its cruel rules and atmosphere of despair!

’A Death Arena!’

’The one Maxim controlled.’

’That place of death where lives were treated as toys, forced into brutal combat to please the God of Slaughter and its audience!’

’How could I have been teleported here again?!’

’Did Maxim target me again?’

’No, that’s not right...’

’This arena is even more terrifying than Maxim’s Death Arena.’

’And that system notification from just now.’

’This is clearly the work of those "Divine."’

Thinking back to Lina and Cecilia’s final act of "calling for backup," Seraphina felt a chill run straight up her spine, a wave of exasperation washing over her.

’Just as I expected... things are getting more and more complicated, and more and more absurd.’

She tightened her grip on the [Universal Sniper Rifle] in her hands.

’Even the Divine are starting to intervene directly, and might even enter the fray themselves?’

’This has gone completely beyond the scope of the "Doomsday Game"!’

The crazed echo of the system notification seemed to linger in her ears.

’No way... Is the final free-for-all really about to begin?’

Seraphina scanned her surroundings.

The massive arena was frighteningly empty; for now, she was the only one she could see.

She thought of Sean Chandler.

She tried calling out to him, but her voice merely echoed in the vast silence, receiving no reply.

Her Spirit Link was also being interfered with by some powerful force, making it faint and unclear.

Seraphina’s heart sank.

’Were Sean Chandler and the others sent somewhere else?’

’Or... are they in a separate "bracket"?’

She began to move cautiously along the edge of the arena, trying to find her companions or get a better look at her environment.

The arena was unbelievably large, almost like a small plain.

As she was searching warily, a fluctuation in Space occurred a short distance behind her.

Two familiar figures appeared, accompanied by a voice filled with a venomous and crazed Aura:

"Still worried about others? You should be more worried about yourself!"

Seraphina spun around!

There, less than fifty meters away, were Lina and Cecilia!

But their condition was extremely unnatural!

The lightning-strike wounds on Lina’s body had mostly vanished.

In their place was a deeper darkness, as if she were merging with the surrounding shadows.

Her eyes were now just two points of crimson light, and her short blade was wreathed in a terrifying shadowy Energy.

Her Aura was several times stronger than before, but it was chaotic and violent.

Cecilia was even stranger.

She had returned to her human form, but her skin was now covered in faint blue, wave-like demonic patterns, and her golden hair floated as if weightless.

A ghostly blue Flame burned in her eyes.

She emanated powerful yet extremely unstable mental fluctuations, along with... a sense of oppressive pressure that belonged to a higher-level existence!