Chapter 269: About the Divine Realm

By reading one perspective after another through the crystal ball, the high priest quickly pinpointed Ansu's location.

"Feign Death?" He sneered immediately upon seeing the figure lying in the pile of corpses.

"You like pretending to be a corpse? I'll make you a real one!"

As his voice fell, the black aura around the altar suddenly surged. The high priest raised his bone staff and pointed it toward the pile of bodies.

Every corpse beneath Ansu began to shake violently before slowly moving toward the altar. The high priest clearly intended to refine him directly into an undead puppet.

But in the next second, Ansu's "corpse" twitched violently.

The body that was supposed to be lifeless sat bolt upright like a reanimated cadaver.

【Magic Immunity Lv2】

【Immune Skill Selected: Necromancy - Feign Death】

Since Feign Death lasted too long, Ansu could only use this method to wake up early.

His chest heaved heavily as he looked up, finding himself already surrounded by the four necromancers.

The high priest, Gulzan, still stood on the high platform, looking down at him from above.

"I felt there was something wrong with you long ago." Gulzan eyed Ansu gloomily, his blurred face showing no expression. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm Morris, don't you already know that?" Ansu was also observing this wolfgar high priest. Suddenly curious, he asked in return,

"This place, all of this... you call it a divine realm? You believe you possess the power of a god?"

While he was pretending to be dead, he had been piecing together all the clues from start to finish, pondering this so-called "divine realm."

First of all, this domain was massive, covering almost the entire Talin region.

It was precisely because of this shielding layer that the wolfgar wolf-born could pick off and devour other weak demihuman tribes one by one, completely free from any interference from the Empire or the northern lords.

It was essentially a single-player server located in the North.

This might be a large-scale space magic, as the wolfgar leader had mentioned that the mana in the boundary area had suddenly become very unstable.

As for the reason for that instability, there was no need to guess; it was definitely because of Celia.

Only she had the strength to bombard the boundary of the divine realm for an extended period, attempting to force her way in to save him.

However, Gulzan did not seem worried. He claimed that unless the opponent reached the realm of a demigod, no one could break in.

The witch had the beauty of raw power, but this time she had encountered a gimmick boss.

There was no helping it; it seemed the breakthrough still required him and Freya to complete it from the inside.

Secondly, within this so-called divine realm, the high priest seemed to truly possess authority nearing that of a god.

He could warp reality to a certain extent.

Like that fake Radish...

Like the failure of teleportation items, the distortion of magic coordinates, and the labyrinthine traps at the boundary...

Everything here, except for the "people" themselves whom he could not change, everything else—the environment, items, and even spatial rules—could be controlled by him.

Just as Ansu had thought before, this was like a meticulously designed script where the director could even fix bugs to make the script look more real.

So, why did Gulzan insist on doing this...

A thought vaguely formed in Ansu's mind.

He felt that this was indeed a script—a script to allow the high priest to achieve godhood.

As for the final question...

Ansu asked directly, "All of this is simply miraculous. I'm curious, how did you do it?"

Of course, he didn't expect the other party to answer.

After asking, Ansu carefully observed the other man's micro-expressions.

Gulzan bared his teeth, flashing a smug, sinister smile.

"What do you mean miraculous? I am a god!"

The smugness on that blurred face grew even more intense.

He waved his hand, stopping his students' intention to seize Ansu immediately.

"I am also quite curious about you, Morris." Gulzan took a step forward, his bone staff lightly tapping the ground. "You've actually investigated so much. Who is behind you? The Empire? The Church of Holy Light? Or..."

"Teacher!" a necromancer couldn't help but speak up. "Just kill him! This fellow is incredibly cunning! We were just..."

Gulzan raised his hand dismissively, signaling him to be quiet.

Ansu took all of this in.

This high priest was indeed an exceptionally confident, even arrogantly conceited person.

It would be a waste not to squeeze some more information out of him.

So, he suddenly spoke up, throwing out three questions in a row:

"Does Leo actually exist?"

"Are you molding Leo into a hero? Making him the true Chosen One?"

"Leo... could he be you?"

The moment the words fell, Gulzan's blurred face seemed to stiffen for an instant.

A cold wave of killing intent spread out immediately.

He raised his hand at once, wasting no more words. "Kill him, now!"

Ansu sneered.

In his guesses, a part of it was right; otherwise, there wouldn't be such a strong reaction.

He hit a nerve.

In an instant, the two raised their hands almost simultaneously.

【Disintegration】

【Disintegration】

Two dark red rays collided in mid-air.

But very quickly, this lethal magic was pushed back by Gulzan. He sneered, as if looking at an ant that didn't know its own limits.

"With just you, a mere mid-tier mage, you dare to face me..."

In the next second, a magic item on Ansu's person shattered.

His real body instantaneously moved to the entrance of a distant tunnel, while the spot where he had stood was replaced by a scarecrow wearing a ridiculous mask.

【Magical Scarecrow】

【Absorbs lethal damage and teleports the user to any location within 100 yards. Consumes a small amount of mana. Single-use.】

Since this was a simulation, Ansu could freely use the ancient magic items in his warehouse.

Gulzan stared at the smiling mask on the scarecrow. The expression seemed to be mocking him, and he immediately looked toward the distance in fury.

The other's figure flashed, vanishing from the midst of the large group of undead and disappearing into a pitch-black tunnel.

"Chase him! Hurry, chase him!" the students shouted immediately.

Gulzan narrowed his eyes belatedly, his tone carrying a hint of scrutiny.

Such a weak mana fluctuation, yet such a magical effect... how did he do it?

Wait...

He looked at the scarecrow again. He felt that this kind of thing... should be a magical relic from the previous era?

Interesting, very interesting...

...

The tunnel was narrow and deep.

Ansu sprinted at high speed. Rustling sounds came from behind him as countless skeletons surged out of the darkness, lunging at him.

At the same time, the four necromancers were hidden in the shadows, their cold mana fluctuations flashing occasionally as they waited for an opportunity to ambush him.

Without a second thought, Ansu pulled out rolls of precious magic scrolls, hurling high-tier magic behind him as if they cost nothing.

【Arcane Bow】

【Fire Storm】

【Power Word Kill】

【Dark Annihilation】

Blazing fire, piercing ice, and the dark aura of death exploded one after another in the narrow tunnel, the powerful mana tearing violently at the space.

Large swaths of skeletons were blasted into fragments, and even those Underworld Bone Puppets that were half-skeleton and half-shadow could not dodge, turning into dust under the saturated magic bombardment.

Ansu understood now. It seemed that as long as the damage was sufficient, these undead creatures could be overwhelmed by brute force.

He looked forward to the performance of his battle mage regiment later.

Ansu continued to run, his various stored single-use high-tier magics exploding along the way in a nearly non-stop barrage.

...

Meanwhile, on the northwest high ground outside the cave entrance.

The escaped prisoners huddled together, their noisy voices rising and falling. Freya stood at the edge of the crowd, her gaze fixed on the distant cave, waiting urgently for something.

It had been so long, yet Lord Ansu still hadn't come out...

Suddenly, a violent tremor came from beneath her feet.

She and Archbishop Paul looked up at the same time, their expressions turning serious.

"Violent mana fluctuations... is it Lord Ansu?" Freya murmured softly, her hands involuntarily clenching.

She had been waiting.

Waiting for Lord Ansu to walk out of there safe and sound to reunite with the main force.

But as time passed minute by minute, that familiar figure never appeared.

"Ansu..." Archbishop Paul couldn't help but speak, his tone carrying worry. "It's been so long. Could something have happened to him?"

"Impossible!"

Freya's voice suddenly became sharp. She snapped her head around, a hint of near-obsessive light flashing in her pale gold eyes.

"Lord Ansu will not die! He promised me, and he won't lie to me!"

Archbishop Paul looked at the agitated Freya and sighed inwardly.

He said nothing more, simply turning around to continue directing the escaped prisoners to move toward a safe zone.

Freya's anxious gaze fell back on the cave entrance.

Lord Ansu wouldn't die; he was the Chosen One after all...

But—

There were two Chosen here...

Along with those endless undead and the mysterious wolfgar high priest.

The bad premonition in her heart grew stronger and stronger.

Freya clenched her fists, her nails almost digging into her palms, as she comforted herself in her mind over and over.

Don't think about the worst.

Lord Ansu is so smart; he must have a way!

Because...

She could not imagine such a future.

She could not accept a world without Ansu.