Chapter 101 - 95: I’d Rather Lie Down Than Kneel (Part 2)

Chapter 101: Chapter 95: I’d Rather Lie Down Than Kneel (Part 2)

In that case, I have no choice but to try the other one.

Lian gritted his teeth and changed the name in his prayer from the God of Tiger to the Subordinate God, Jari—the Eye of Misfortune.

Unlike Tiger, the Eye of Misfortune responded to Lian almost instantly.

When it came to vying for a new follower, Jari was far more desperate than Tiger.

But, unexpectedly, all Lian heard was a single, faint laugh.

"Heh."

’That’s right, the Eye of Misfortune was here!’

Lian had met the Eye of Misfortune’s projection in an Illusion Realm of consciousness before. He was extremely sensitive to His aura and had committed His voice to memory.

He had indeed come, but all He’d left Lian with was a cold laugh!

’He’s just fucking with me!’

’The Eye of Misfortune was probably still angry that I hadn’t sacrificed a single person to Him recently.’

’He couldn’t possibly know about my deal with the God of Tiger, could he?’

’No way, impossible.’

’If He knew, He definitely wouldn’t have shown up at all.’

’A sacrifice! Of course! A sacrifice!’

’The projection of the Eye of Misfortune probably can’t grant me Power directly.’

’He hasn’t left His mark on me.’

’But I can obtain His Power through a sacrifice!’

’Sacrificing a Spirit of the Forest would undoubtedly please the remnant of this pseudo-god far more than sacrificing an ordinary person!’

Normally, a sacrifice is a tedious affair. The ritual requires an altar, offerings, and an incantation.

And to please a being like the Eye of Misfortune, an existence akin to an Evil God, the altar must feature certain items: a Bed of Calamity, built from white bones to symbolize Misfortune; a totem of the Eye of Misfortune, formed from bloody human eyeballs; blood-soaked scarlet satin; the feathers of a one-eyed Crow; and the gold blood of a one-horned Elf.

Even in the real world, it would take Lian a long time to acquire all these things.

And even if he did, setting up the altar would take at least three or four days.

By the time he prepared everything, set up the ritual, and prayed to the Eye of Misfortune for Power, the Spirit of the Forest would have long since killed him dead.

Therefore, defeating the Spirit of the Forest with the power of a pseudo-god in the real world was practically impossible.

But the Spirit of the Forest just had to choose Lian’s dream!

Lian had also keenly realized something. The modern decor he’d just dreamt of—the Simmons mattress, the wedding photos, the incandescent lights, the painted walls—were things a Spirit of the Forest from the Otherworld could never have imagined.

’Then there’s only one possibility. Although the Spirit of the Forest invaded my dream and has some power to interfere with and guide it, the absolute dominion over the dream is still in my hands.’

’So, in my own dream, I am the master.’

Lian’s thought process was incredibly fast, taking less than two breaths.

With a turn of his thoughts, the space around him transformed.

The magnificent palace vanished, replaced by an ancient altar beneath his feet—an altar so vast it stretched beyond the horizon.

An altar of this scale was no less impressive than the Great Wall built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang or the Pyramid of Khufu. It would be a world wonder anywhere.

The ancient altar was encircled by the black tail feathers of one-eyed Crows, symbolizing darkness and depravity. In the silent night, muffled breaths rose and fell.

The altar was draped in scarlet satin. Drop by drop, dark gold blood trickled from the cloth, pooling into patches of eerie light.

Countless Beds of Calamity, constructed from human bones, stood silently amidst the red satin.

To show the Eye of Misfortune his sincerity, the Bed of Calamity was built like a layer cake, 999 tiers high from bottom to top, stretching up beyond sight.

It would have taken the deaths of tens of thousands to build something of this height.

The very top layer was a totem of the Eye of Misfortune, made of fresh, plump human eyeballs that dripped with blood.

Below the altar prostrated a crowd of people in black robes, a dense, swarming mass.

When these people raised their heads, every single face was identical to Lian’s.

It was as if countless versions of Lian had appeared in an instant.

Lian was confident that no one in this era possessed an imagination that could rival his. After all, he’d been steeped in years of web novels and television shows. Even if he’d never seen a sacrifice to the Eye of Misfortune, he could easily imagine a sufficiently bloody ritual scene.

In unison, they slit their wrists, letting their blood flow into the grooves at the base of the altar.

The blood began to boil. They and Lian opened their mouths at the same time.

They began to chant.

"O, great remnant of Jari."

"God of the East, wielder of Calamity and disaster."

"Answer the call of your devout Believer."

"Join this feast of blood and flesh."

"I offer the Spirit of the Forest as a sacrifice to you."

"In exchange for your supreme Power."

"Answer your Believer, and bring forth your Power."

"Eye of Misfortune."

"Open."

The low voices of the black-robed figures echoed across the desolate expanse. They chanted the ancient and obscure Spell, praying for the advent of the Eye of Misfortune.

As the chanting grew louder, the surrounding air began to warp, and a sinister aura filled the space.

The Eye of Misfortune, which had arrived long ago, finally stopped watching with cold indifference.

This time, Lian was not met with a cold laugh. This time, He truly opened His eye.

The Spirit of the Forest was stunned.

The altar, the incantation—everything had formed in an instant.

She had never imagined that Lian, a Silver Believer who carried the aura of a True God, was also a goddamn Favored One of a pseudo-god.

Nor had she imagined that Lian would turn the Dream World itself into such a massive altar.

In the real world, a ritual of this scale would have required the sacrifice of tens of thousands of people.

The altar alone was immense, stretching out endlessly.

What she expected least of all was that the dream, though illusory, had still elicited a response from the Eye of Misfortune.

The pseudo-god, a being with only a single eye remaining, had actually appeared here.

And He was clearly looking at her as the sacrificial offering.

The Spirit of the Forest was not one to surrender without a fight.

But she also knew she was no match for a pseudo-god. Not even one that was nothing but a single eye, an eye that couldn’t manifest in reality but could only project itself into the Consciousness World.

She was still no match for him. The difference in their Status was simply too great.

If Lian was nothing but an ant to her, then to the Eye of Misfortune, she was merely a slightly larger, more Nutrient-Rich ant.

The Spirit of the Forest turned to flee, trying to exit Lian’s dream.

But then she heard the Eye of Misfortune’s cold laugh.

"Heh."

The next second, the Spirit of the Bone Forest was shackled by chains that descended from the sky.

The chains retracted rapidly, dragging the utterly helpless Spirit of the Bone Forest into the Eye of Misfortune’s lashless eye.

Then, Lian thought he heard the sound of chewing.

The Eye of Misfortune had completely devoured the Spirit of the Forest.

His Power had recovered by a fraction.

The Spirit of the Forest had indeed tasted better than most ordinary people.

It was almost as good as when Lian had offered him the souls of every citizen in the Green Shade Territory.

The projection of the pseudo-god, now just an eye, was very pleased with this sacrifice.

After finishing His meal, He even spoke personally, asking,

"My less-than-devout Believer, what boon do you desire?"

The corner of Lian’s mouth twitched at that prefix.

’I’d love to have the kind of Power the Eye of the Evil God just used to devour the Spirit of the Forest in a single instant,’ Lian thought, ’but I feel like my current body wouldn’t be able to handle it.’

’I’d probably just explode, have a mental breakdown, become a lunatic, or end up as a complete puppet.’

’Of course, the more likely scenario is that the Eye of the Evil God would gleefully say, "Fine, I’ll grant your wish. You will have all of my Power."’

’And then I’d transform into the shape of the Eye of Misfortune, becoming His vessel in the real world—a pitiful, mindless tool.’

’Asking an Evil God for Power is just too risky. I’d rather trust my Item Mall.’

Remembering how he was always suppressed by the Status of a Superior, to the point that he could barely even speak in the Dream World this time, Lian felt that raising his own Status would be far more helpful.

"I want you to grant me a Status that cannot be overwhelmed by the Angel Tier. I want to be able to stand before any Deities, rather than being forced to kneel or prostrate."

Lian hesitated for a moment before declaring, "I, Lian Moria, will never kneel!"

The laughter of the Eye of Misfortune echoed in his ears once more.

"Heh. Interesting."

The next instant, Lian felt his soul undergo a kind of sublimation.