Chapter 529 (1): Is It Too Late to Head to Dragonheart Island and Knock on the Ancient God’s Door?

Before departing from the First Abyss, Wayne took all the books of sins from Pride. Because he was Elohim, Pride didn’t even resist.

Seeing his obedience, Wayne couldn’t help but give him a few words of encouragement: do your best, and I’ll make you the Viceroy of Heaven.

“Oh, isn’t it Elohim? It’s been a long time. You’re still as despicable as ever!”

“And hypocritical.”

“Indeed, beyond hypocritical.”

As Wayne walked out, four figures appeared behind him, wearing the faces of four Holy Maidens. It was the four goddesses.

“I’m not Elohim,” Wayne said darkly.

“We aren’t deaf,” Ines groused. “You just admitted that you were him. We heard everything.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Wayne sighed. “You aren’t a fool. You know that if I didn’t admit that I was Elohim, Mikhael would become the first Astral being to lose his sanity because he couldn’t accept reality.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“He’s one of my early investors. I can’t let him suffer after paying.”

“So you had him call you daddy?”

“...”

Wayne couldn’t argue against such a solid argument. He responded to the sarcasm with his own, “Not only that, but I’ve also made one of my investors meow. Would you like to hear it? I made a recording, and I can play it right now.”

Ines gnashed Her teeth together. “There are too many coincidences. Right now, I—no, all of us—believe you’re Elohim.”

“What have I been running around for, then? You are goddesses, and you don’t worship another. My lies to Mikhael won’t work on you.” Wayne stared at the four goddesses with frustration. “Use your little brains and tell me what good could such inconsistent behavior possibly do me if I were Elohim?”

“To split the risks.”

“As a contingency plan.”

“It’s putting eggs in different baskets.”

“Agreed.”

“...”

Wayne rubbed his temple, feeling a headache brewing. He couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath. “Again, Elohim is in Hell. You heard how Elohim had tasked Mikhael with protecting Him while He was in slumber. For that, Mikhael had dutifully stayed watch in Hell as Pride. The Lord of Greed is Elohim. I’ll kill him now. Then I’ll see how you’re going to keep accusing me.”

“But it’s too much of a coincidence...”

“Can’t be helped. Coincidences are a part of life.” Wayne shrugged. He knew that the goddesses were still hung up on the Revelationhe had written, but what was he going to say? That both he and Elohim came from outside the box, and Elohim, as a serial plagiarist, had referenced the worldbuilding of the outside world?

That explanation would only lead to more questions, so Wayne might as well not say anything. His innocence would be proven once he took out the Lord of Greed.

Speaking of the world outside the box, he grumbled to himself in his head. The Chosen Land was a fantasy world with magic. While the Earth he had lived on had mythologies, too, those mythologies would be considered superstition overall.

Before his transmigration, he had always been a skeptic and a denier of gods and ghosts, and he kept his distance while keeping his mouth shut. Basically, he didn’t believe in them, but he wouldn’t voice his disbelief. Whenever something strange happened, he would spectate as an outsider and wait and see what would happen.

His attitude was the same after his transmigration. He spoke not of the gods and kept his distance. Basically, he would refrain from making a comment since he could just beat them up with raw power. As long as the gods were intimidated, they would stay away from him.

Evolution was the truth of life, and gods were people—they were just people who had gone further down the path of evolution. They still had a health bar he could exhaust, and once that happened, they would die.

The ancient gods, however, were beyond him. Every time he evolved and became one step closer to the ultimate life, a thought would occur to him: ancient gods weren’t gods, or it would be more accurate to say that if the ancient gods were gods, then Elohim, Ines, and the others weren’t gods.

The gods in the Chosen Land could live forever, but they could be killed or corrupted. While they had an infinite lifespan, they weren’t truly immortal.

Such an existence couldn’t be called a god!

Anyway, Wayne stopped his thought from rolling downhill, going back to where he started like he had stepped on a banana peel in a race. Thinking back to the Earth he had lived in, the world had been peaceful aside from the events that occasionally disturbed peace. Although a couple of aliens might have visited, the events only ever made the gossip columns.

There was no magic or cultivation, only physical training and meditation. Everyone walked on their two feet rather than flying into the sky with wings.

If Elohim had come from outside the box as he had, it would mean the Earth wasn’t what met the eyes, that he had been constrained by his perspective just like the old Wayne, kept in the dark about the truth of the world.

Wayne would like nothing more than to reach ultimate evolution right now and break the limit of the box, returning to the Earth to get a look at the real world.

Were deities like God, Buddha, and the Three Pure Ones in Taoism[1]... ancient gods?

Then they would be godly monsters with numerous tentacles and eyeballs, imperceptible and ineffable. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Wayne sighed again. “Life is hard. I’ve been sighing much more frequently recently. I’m no longer the youthful boy with wide-eyed wonder I was.”

Ines rolled Her eyes. It was all Her mistake that his heart had gone from pink to black.

“Aren’t you curious why I just sighed, Ines?”

“I’m not.”

“Then I’ll tell you. I’ve learned everything I can possibly learn and still see no signs of my divine fire getting ignited, which means I cannot break out of the box. I’m stumped.” Wayne frowned. “My only way out is the Four Horsemen. I tried to corrupt and replicate Elian’s Death, and I failed. There are three other Horsemen like Elian.”

The four goddesses felt greatly pressured. The Final Judgment was more terrifying than they had imagined. If Wayne hadn’t forced them to work together, it was clear how they would fare with their own efforts.

“Stop talking about that,” Ines said. “Let’s find the Lord of Greed and prove that you aren’t Elohim first.”

“Why are you in more hurry than I am?”

“...”

Of course I’m in a hurry. Anyone would be when their husband turned out to be their worst enemy!

***

The Lost Demonic Realm, the Fifth Abyss.

If Hell was considered one Divine Realm, the Seven Deadly Sins would be the subordinate gods. The seven layers of the Abyss and the vast Hell would be the eight levels of the Divine Realm—that was how it would be by drawing the circle around the arrow.

The Lost Demonic Realm was the Lord of Greed’s territory. He was a businessman who seemed shrewd but was simply stingy. Because of his greed, he enjoyed an infamy of being unreliable in Hell.

Reflecting his image, the Lost Demonic Realm screamed money in every part. The sky was a refined deep purple, brimming with the darkness and sulfuric scent that Hell was known for. The sky was filled with evil energy.

Gems covered the land, and rivers of gold flowed. The ships and the buildings manifested in forms that were distorted by desires, shifting like living beings. They symbolized the insatiable greed of the greedy ones. Desires only begot stronger desires nonstop.

It was an artistic design with a deep idea. Unfortunately, just like how Pride looked down on everyone, Lust was lost in lust, Envy behaved like a clown, and Sloth always lazed about, the Lord of Greed could see nothing but profit.

I know what’s better for me, but I want this... was what the demons would say.

In the heart of the Lost Demonic Realm, countless gold pieces, gems, and evil spirits with strong desires combined to form a throne. The Lord of Greed sat on the throne with a gold scepter in his hand, looking down at his wealth.

His face showed contentment, and his eyes brimmed with greed. He wasn’t satisfied with what he had now; he wanted more.

The black gem on the tip of the gold scepter was shrouded in swirling desires, devouring light. It was a perfect pair with its master. Their compatibility was incredibly high.

Not far from him, Wayne and the four goddesses observed Greed from the sky thoroughly. He looked like a run-of-the-mill great demon lord, nothing to write home about. If he was Elohim, the strongest god, the goddesses would be able to take him down.

“Have you gotten something wrong?” Siluk asked with a frown. “He looks completely ordinary. There’s nothing special about him.”

Wayne agreed. The Lord of Greed was too weak—so weak that he didn’t even notice that five god-level beings were watching him.

Still, Wayne believed that Mikhael wouldn’t lie to him. “Siluk, how could a book be judged by its cover? Don’t you at least know that?”

Siluk turned away and refused to talk.

“Go. Test the Lord of Greed’s power. If you can kill him, kill him.”

“Huh?!”

Siluk’s eyes widened as She pointed at Herself.

“Stop wasting time. You’re my subordinate god, and this is an order from your master!”

“...”

While cursing inwardly and wishing for Wayne and Ines to get killed by lightning, Siluk pointed Her fingers at Greed like a blade. With a single point, a longsword of moonlight pierced down, and arrows of moonlight rained upon the great demon lord. Greed was easily torn to pieces.

Roooar—

Once the false form was torn, a massive patchwork of a creature emerged in front of Wayne, with three fox-like canine heads, a body covered in spikes like a hedgehog, crow-like wings with long, finger-shaped feathers, and three long red tails of flames.

The Lost Demonic Realm shook. While Greed roared out, space hummed, trying to drive the attackers from the shadows.

Again, he was too weak. He didn’t realize it, even though Hell and the Abyss had changed colors.

The goddesses concluded that Greed was no threat. Even his fury was hideous.

Siluk glanced at Wayne. “Should I kill him?”

“No, just in case, I’ll do it...”

Wayne narrowed his eyes, his thoughts shimmering. The Lost Demonic Realm shook even more violently as large swathes of white foam rushed out of the gaps between the shattered space, enveloping the gold pieces and gems on the ground. The purple sky became filled with an infinite expanse of pale clouds.

Greed started. He thought back to the battle that Envy had played for them during the council meeting of the demon lords, calling out Wayne’s name.

Envy wasn’t lying. There was an Astral life named Wayne.

1. The three highest gods in the Taoist pantheon: Original and Primordial Heavenly Lord, Divine Treasures Heavenly Lord, and Heavenly Lord of Way and Virtue ☜