Chapter 450: Satan: The Ancient Serpent on the Apple Tree

Qi Suian casually stepped on and crushed a small stone that had flown toward him by accident.

Today was the last day of the limited-time event: the Red Sea Dragon Calamity.

Ever since he obtained the World Core of the Blood Race World, he had been facing all sorts of attacks from natural and man-made disasters.

At first, it was just insignificant little troubles, like being unexpectedly chased by hornets or attacked by venomous snakes.

But as time went on, the situation grew more and more severe, to the point that even his plot armor couldn’t handle it.

This forced him to constantly move around to introduce variables, because he had experienced the consequences of staying in one place for too long five days ago.

First came an earthquake, then a hurricane. After Qi Suian managed to brute-force his way through them with his own power, he saw meteorites begin to fall from the sky.

And these weren’t ordinary meteorites. They were spatial fragments from the shattered Red Sea, and they were aimed directly at his head.

After shattering the first meteorite, Qi Suian decisively fled.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stay put; it was because a whole meteor shower followed.

More importantly, there were too many of them, and they had mutated. They not only possessed the power of the Red Sea but were also empowered by the world’s rules.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t tank them, but there was no need. If he were actually hit, death would be certain.

The kind of death that neither his plot armor nor Death Reforging could save him from. At that moment, Qi Suian knew the Blood Race World was getting desperate.

Fortunately, Qi Suian was fast enough to avoid being hit by the meteor shower, but the real disaster was just beginning.

The various disasters, both natural and man-made, began to escalate and became utterly ridiculous.

Just three days ago, he dodged a glob of bird droppings, and the resulting chain reaction caused a super-volcano to erupt.

It was like a line of dominoes, turning into a terrifying catastrophe right under his nose.

If it were just a super-volcano erupting, Qi Suian wouldn’t have cared much. He could have just dodged it.

But during the eruption, a fragment of the Red Sea was coincidentally spewed out.

It contained a part of the Red Sea Witch Lilith’s consciousness, so she immediately merged with the super-volcano, becoming a supernatural elemental being.

The moment she saw Qi Suian, she saw red, and the two of them started fighting on the spot.

It had to be said, the volcano-version of the Red Sea Witch Lilith was indeed powerful. Qi Suian had to expend a Herculean effort to finally kill her.

After that, every insignificant little thing would trigger a chain reaction and lead to terrifying consequences if Qi Suian didn’t deal with it in time.

So, even though it was just a small stone flying toward him by accident, Qi Suian couldn’t predict what insane changes would occur if he dodged it instead of destroying it in time.

He had experienced more than just the super-volcano eruption. At first, he thought it was just an accident, but after it happened two more times, he finally understood the gravity of the situation.

This led to Qi Suian viewing everything as if it were a formidable enemy.

’Is that... an apple tree?’ Qi Suian’s gaze fell upon a sturdy apple tree growing abruptly in the wilderness not far away.

It was laden with apples that looked incredibly fresh and sweet.

’I haven’t fallen into another trap, have I?’ Qi Suian felt a sense of unease and turned to run.

To put it this way, without technological aid, apples ripen between July and September. This was not the right season for an apple tree to bear fruit.

Moreover, the main issue was the apples themselves. In any other world, Qi Suian wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But in the Blood Race World, the Red Sea Witch Lilith had an ex-husband named Adam, and Adam had a wife named Eve.

Combining that with figures like Abel and Cain, it was easy to make the connection to the classic story of eating the Forbidden Fruit.

And that Forbidden Fruit was an apple.

He still had the necessary vigilance.

After all, there was only half an hour left on the countdown for the limited-time event, the Red Sea Dragon Calamity.

The Blood Race World had likely sensed the signs of the Doomsday Game’s impending departure, so in its haste to reclaim the World Core taken by Qi Suian, it had begun to act regardless of the cost.

When Qi Suian turned his head, his heart sank.

Even though he had changed direction, the apple tree was still in front of him.

He spun a full 360 degrees, but no matter which way he turned, the apple tree remained before him, offering no possibility of escape.

He blinked, and though he hadn’t moved, the distance between him and the apple tree suddenly shortened.

He wasn’t getting closer to it; it was getting closer to him.

’Heh, if that’s the case, then I’ll just...’ Instead of turning, Qi Suian started running backward.

He suspected this might be some kind of observation-based rule, where looking at something fixed the outcome.

He continued moving backward until he bumped into something hard.

This made Qi Suian gulp.

With his physique and speed, there was basically nothing in the Blood Race World that could stop him, not even a mountain.

And yet, this mysterious apple tree could.

He didn’t turn around, afraid it would mess with the observation. But soon, he noticed that on the very apple tree he was watching, a familiar figure was plastered against it, moving backward.

’It’s not space, it’s time.’ Qi Suian suddenly realized something.

"That’s right. It is time." A raspy, serpentine voice whispered beside his ear.

Qi Suian knew there was no point in staring at the tree anymore. He turned around and saw a great, silver-white serpent coiled around the apple tree.

"Hello. My name is Satan."

"And mind the pronunciation. It is Satan, not ’idiot’," the great serpent calling itself Satan introduced.

Its tail was propped under its head, which to Qi Suian’s eyes, looked a bit like an Ouroboros.

Its entire body shimmered with the brilliance of time, and Qi Suian found it hard to imagine that such a being could be driven by the Blood Race World.

Its mysterious aura was extremely similar to that of the Spider God, Atrek Nakaya, whom Qi Suian had met before.

What he was seeing was not the being’s entirety, but merely a part or a single aspect of it.

"Of course, if you find ’Satan’ unpleasant, you can also call me Ouroboros, Jörmungandr, Kukulkan, and so on."

"If you find those a mouthful, Ancient Serpent or Devil are also fine. I’m not particularly picky." Satan seemed to hold little malice, its time-flowing eyes sizing up Qi Suian.

"So, the ’Devil’ the church used to talk about wasn’t a reference to the Blood Race, but to you?" Qi Suian suddenly asked.

Before this, he thought the ’Devil’ was the Blood Race, which later proved to be true in a sense. But in the very beginning, it probably referred to this great serpent.

"Yes. I was the one who coaxed Adam and Eve into picking the Forbidden Fruit," Satan said, its tail flicking lightly to pluck an apple from the tree.

In Qi Suian’s eyes, the apple was a World Core.

"And so, the world saw the birth of its first life, Abel," Satan said, using its tail to shove the World Core into its mouth and swallowing it in one gulp.

Qi Suian understood. The so-called Forbidden Fruit was the World Core of the Blood Race World.

’A world having a core is problematic in itself, but it makes much more sense if it was intentionally cultivated by some entity.’

As for the tangled history between Lilith, Adam, and Eve, Qi Suian didn’t ask. He figured it was nothing more than a trick of time manipulation.

What he needed to consider now was what to do next.

’The World Core of the Blood Race World is clearly food for this serpent, and now I’m the one holding it.’

"Rest assured, I am not lacking for this one piece of fruit."

"Anyone who can escape the web of the Spider God deserves such a reward."

"Besides, the fact that you were able to get it is a testament to your own ability." Satan saw through Qi Suian’s thoughts and showed it didn’t mind. "And thanks to you, it has been a long time since I’ve returned to this world."

"I remember the last time..." Satan trailed off, a nostalgic look on its face, before adding, "...was the last time."

Qi Suian was suddenly struck by a strange sense of déjà vu. This mischievous and chaotic nature gave him the odd feeling he had met a kindred spirit.

"A pity this world has no value. I wonder who will get it cheap in the end," Satan said abruptly. Then it added, "Well, time’s about up. I should be leaving."

"Otherwise, this world won’t be able to bear it."

After saying this, Satan’s serpentine body began to move slowly, gradually crawling into the apple tree.

And then, countless currents of turbulent time appeared before Qi Suian’s eyes. He could see that the movements of the great silver serpent, Satan, had thrown the entire world’s River of Time into chaos.

This caused all sorts of temporal distortions, including scenes of Cain, already a Blood Race Sacred Artifact, sending Abel into the Villeries family’s castle, and Lilith’s chaotic birth before the dawn of life.

Everything was being brought to a convergence within this temporal fluctuation.

’It really is true that the more powerful a being is, the more easygoing they are.’

’He gave away the World Core just like that.’ Qi Suian breathed a sigh of relief. He had nearly been scared out of his wits.

’And the Blood Race World, seriously... how could it so recklessly summon an avatar of such a terrifying existence?’

Qi Suian complained to himself, ’My plot armor really is amazing. While it might not have affected that being, it definitely has something to do with me surviving this.’

’And for some reason, I feel so much lighter, as if a villain I’ve been carrying on my back this whole time has suddenly disappeared.’

’Don’t tell me the Doomsday Game got slapped by Satan’s big tail,’ Qi Suian couldn’t help but joke.

He then opened the event panel for the Red Sea Dragon Calamity and saw that the timer had long since reached zero; in fact, it had run over by two minutes.

Yet, he was still here.

’Strange, why isn’t it on time? Could it have been affected by Satan’s arrival?’ Qi Suian was a little confused.

He waited for about three more minutes before a sudden phantom pain shot through the back of his head.

But it was a little different from before. This time, it felt extremely rushed.

It was the distinct feeling of being delayed by something, realizing you’re about to be late for work, rushing frantically to get there, and still ending up late anyway.