Chapter 286: You Are Not the Chosen One!

Just as everyone was busy rescuing the people, a thick black aura quietly arrived. A bone-chilling cold swept through the entire plaza, suppressing even the holy light until it dimmed.

Gulzan had finally appeared.

He stood at the highest point of the altar, looking down at everyone from above.

Ansu observed Gulzan.

He was the same as last time, dressed in a black robe and holding a twisted bone staff. His face seemed to be shrouded in an invisible mist, making it impossible to see any facial details.

The four necromancers flickered into motion, immediately bowing as they gathered around him.

Fury surged in Gulzan's eyes as he slammed his bone staff heavily onto the ground. "How did you guard this place? To think you let this group of people break in here!"

The necromancers lowered their heads one after another, not daring to respond.

"A bunch of useless trash! What use do I have for you?"

Gulzan scolded them sharply. His gloomy gaze swept over the fleeing captives, and his raspy voice was laced with ruthlessness. "These are the undead warriors Barcas specifically asked for. Capture every single one of them! If you let even one escape, I'll turn you into undead as well!"

The three necromancers dared not delay, immediately channeling black magic to strike at Freya and her group.

"Teacher, then these people..."

The remaining necromancer looked toward Ansu and the others, inquiring cautiously.

Gulzan slowly scanned the group, his gaze finally landing on Leon, who was pointing a sword at him. There was a moment of hesitation in his tone.

"I'll handle them."

As the words fell, a cold and murderous intent enveloped the area, weighing down on everyone until they could hardly breathe.

Gulzan raised his hand with a wave, and foul dark mana surged frantically. Countless Shadow Bolts condensed instantly, pouring down like a torrential rain.

Three tall Staya warriors were unable to dodge in time. As the Shadow Bolts pierced through them, their skin and flesh were instantly corroded across large areas.

Amidst bursts of agonizing screams, they turned into puddles of foul-smelling black blood in just a few seconds.

The crowd retreated in horror.

"Leave this place to us!" Ansu immediately shouted in a deep voice. "You guys continue helping Freya rescue the people, hurry!"

"Yes!" The Staya warriors suppressed their fear and immediately turned to run toward Freya.

Meanwhile, Freya, who was locked in combat with the four necromancers, ignored her own safety and looked at Ansu with a heart full of worry.

Last time in the 'prophetic dream', although they had defeated Gulzan, they had paid an irreparable price.

This time, does Lord Ansu already have a solution?

Freya thought with a heavy heart. Her holy light blocked the necromancers' fierce attacks as she hurried toward the next set of bone cages.

On the other side...

Leon was not affected by the black magic. He turned to look at his four companions in the hero party and said with a firm gaze, "Let's go together!"

With that, he was the first to raise his sword and charge toward the altar.

Gulzan stared at the charging Leon and let out a cold snort, raising his hand to release a surge of powerful mana.

The next second, Leon was violently sent flying. He slammed heavily against a cold stone pillar, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.

"Fool!" Gulzan frowned, his tone carrying a hint of impatience. " I won't kill you. Get out of here now!"

Leon struggled to prop himself up from the ground. His whole body was in pain, but he couldn't hide the surprise in his heart. "You... what do you mean?"

"Are my words hard to understand?" Gulzan's face became even gloomier. "This is not a place you should be. Get out immediately!"

Leon's brow furrowed deeply, his heart full of suspicion. He subconsciously turned to look at Ansu.

But Ansu kept his eyes fixed on Gulzan throughout, his mana ready to be unleashed, and he gave Leon no response.

"Le-Leon?" Agger looked at Leon in surprise. "What is that high priest saying? Do you... do you know each other?"

The other three members of the hero party were also full of confusion, their gazes shifting back and forth between Leon and Gulzan.

The atmosphere became increasingly bizarre.

"Of course we don't know each other!" Leon quickly distanced himself. He tightened his grip on the longsword in his hand and shouted sharply, "This black mage is extremely cunning; he's trying to sow discord among us! Quick! Follow me and kill him!"

At this moment, a strange sense of panic welled up in Leon's heart...

Even though he had clearly never met him before, just a few sentences of dialogue had given him an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had known this evil black mage for a long time...

He steeled himself and charged forward again, questioning sharply, "It's you! You're the one who has been bewitching and leading me astray?"

"Was it you who messed up my memories and planted all sorts of suspicious thoughts in my head, making me doubt myself and the world?"

The longsword, carrying his rage, swung down toward Gulzan's head.

"You demon! If you truly succeeded, then as the Chosen One, I would never be able to step onto the savior road. Your intentions are insidious and deserve death!"

But as the distance closed, Leon saw a meaningful... sneer on Gulzan's face.

"A fool is a fool. You don't even realize you've been misled by someone else."

A thick burst of dark mana suddenly erupted.

Leon and the four members of the hero party were instantly blown back, falling heavily to the ground in a pathetic state.

Gulzan's gaze shifted to Ansu on the other side, the gloom in his eyes deepening.

"I truly underestimated you from the very beginning. To think Leon would be so easily misled by you and completely escape my control..."

During this period, Leon had followed Morris and deviated step by step from the established trajectory. By the time he noticed, it was already difficult to eliminate this hidden threat.

"I admit you have some cleverness, and you nearly ruined my lifelong plan. But it ends here!"

A thick aura of death spread as Gulzan gave a raspy, cold laugh. "Die!"

Ansu dared not be careless, throwing out high-tier magic scrolls one after another as if they cost nothing.

A magic duel that shook the underground space erupted.

Blazing fire, bone-chilling ice, and a dark aura that annihilated everything exploded one after another above the plaza. The powerful mana frantically tore at the space, and the entire karst cave began to vibrate violently.

Gulzan's gaze was both irritated and startled as he stared fixedly at Ansu.

For just a mere mid-tier mage to be able to produce so many rare magic items... and even many obscure spells that had long been lost in this era.

It made him secretly speculate about Ansu's true identity.

"Morris, be careful!" Leon struggled to his feet and charged toward Gulzan once more.

Gulzan finally lost his patience completely. He cursed at Leon, "Idiot! You're an idiot with the lowest possible IQ! Don't you understand yet? The one who has been lying to you is him—this mage called Morris!"

"What?" Leon's figure froze.

Gulzan said gloomily, "You'll understand soon..."

In the next second, a strange divine call suddenly surged into Leon's heart, and countless shattered memory fragments emerged frantically.

It was like his own inner monologue, but he knew that the thought in his heart did not belong to him...

A cruel truth slowly surfaced.

'You are a vessel I created with my own hands, a tool to collect the power of faith in this world for me.'

Gulzan did not speak, yet these words resonated directly in the depths of Leon's soul.

He sneered as he channeled black magic to fiercely attack Ansu.

'The adoration of those people, the cheers on the battlefield, the title of hero... all of it was a script prepared for me. You thought you were the heaven-chosen savior? No! You are nothing more than a prop in my hands!'

'You are a part of me that I split off. You and I were originally the same person! You should be on my side!'

'There is no such thing as the Chosen One Leon; everything is a lie!'

'You are me, and I am you. There is only one main consciousness, and that is I, Gustav! The great Saint Archmage who is about to become a god, Gustav!'

Leon's face instantly turned as pale as paper, and the hand holding his sword couldn't stop trembling.

How... how could this be possible...

All the faith and determination in his eyes were slowly wavering...

He suddenly roared out, "I don't believe it! I fucking don't believe it!!"

Rather than refuting Gulzan, it was more like he was speaking to himself.

Leon's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Gulzan. He raised his longsword high, and an incredibly brilliant divine power suddenly condensed on the blade.

"You despicable black mage, you're still trying to deceive people with your lies! I don't care if you're Gulzan or Gustav! I'm going to kill you today to rid the people of this evil!!"

Looking at that blooming, powerful divine power, Gulzan's pupils suddenly shrank, and his expression changed drastically.

"You fool! You idiot with the lowest possible IQ! Stop right now!!"

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