CHAPTER 55: END OF FLASH BACK!

Similar scenes were happening throughout the universe. All those who received the divine message had the same goal in mind.

They all wanted Ileus to die by their own hands.

But there was one thing every single one of them knew deep within: none of this would be easy.

Meanwhile, the Nine Supreme Gods also received the message. But unlike the others, they knew they couldn’t fulfill it.

Why?

Because of the Master-Servant link that still existed between their souls and Ileus’s.

One of the conditions of that link was brutal—any servant who harbored evil thoughts that could potentially lead to their master’s death would suffer unimaginable mental torture.

In a semi-dark space, a crescent moon hung in the sky—faint and ghostly.

The surrounding area wasn’t pitch black, but visibility was still poor. Shadows stretched across the uneven ground, and though not fully concealed, the landscape retained a haunting atmosphere.

Nine silhouettes stood still.

In front of them loomed the gigantic figure of a beast—an impossibly large creature, about 15 meters in height and 16.5 meters in width.

It towered over them with ease.

Compared to a fully grown elephant—barely 4 meters tall—this monster was a living mountain. Its muscular body looked like it was carved out of obsidian. It had massive canines, and one large tusk jutted forward from its lower jaw.

Its eyes gleamed with unrestrained aggression.

The beast growled again and again, pacing restlessly, its fury growing with each passing second.

Growl... Growl...

ROAR!!!

It was an odd hybrid—part tiger, part boar.

The tusks were reminiscent of a boar’s, but far larger and more dangerous.

"This thing hasn’t tasted blood in a very long time..." a deep voice said from one of the muscular silhouettes, staring at the beast with a strange glint in his eye.

"Yeah," came a bored reply.

Then silence.

Only the growls of the beast echoed in the darkness.

It would have lunged at them already—if not for the invisible power pinning it in place. A suppressive force kept it still, but it wasn’t permanent. It wouldn’t last forever.

"To think he would send us here to fight beasts... I feel like crushing his head to paste!! AAAARGH!!!" one of the leaner shadows suddenly snapped, his voice rising with rage.

But almost instantly—he regretted it.

He clutched his head, face twisted in pain.

His body began to glow violently.

The others watched in silence as their forms also began to shimmer—revealing the true faces of the Nine Supreme Gods.

Their eyes were all focused on one of their own—the God of Darkness.

His reaction was insane.

He grabbed at his scalp like a madman, yanking his hair out in clumps as he screamed through clenched teeth. His entire being trembled from the mental pain assaulting him.

They all watched in silence... but they understood.

They had all felt this before.

This wasn’t ordinary pain. It was far worse.

And even though they were gods who had endured countless tortures and disasters over the ages, this pain had no equal. The very idea of thinking something negative about Ileus—their master—was enough to trigger it.

This was the consequence of evil thoughts against him.

And the God of Darkness was paying the price.

For a full minute, he suffered in silence.

To the others, it passed quickly.

To him—it felt like a thousand years.

When it finally stopped, his ragged breathing was all that could be heard.

His once-dark robes now clung to his body, soaked in sweat. His skin glistened, hair disheveled, hands trembling slightly.

It took him another thirty seconds before he fully calmed down.

And then... Lucifer looked blankly at the space in front of him and began tapping something invisible—something only he could see.

The others immediately knew what he was doing.

Not long after they were teleported to this strange realm, a floating diamond—one they had never seen before—appeared before them and explained their task.

They understood everything it said, despite its information being new, strange, and unlike anything they’d encountered.

Thanks to their cultivation and divine intellect, nothing escaped their comprehension.

One of the key things the diamond told them was that they could summon a mysterious blue panel simply by saying—or willing—the word: "System."

The System, it said, would help them grow stronger by fighting and killing beasts. This method of growth was many times faster than cultivating Qi.

Not only would they not need to sit still and absorb Qi, but they could also improve their fighting instincts and techniques along the way.

It was a dynamic form of evolution, a system used in the Mana Universe.

The God of War seemed to be the only one who truly appreciated this method. Naturally. It allowed them to fight endlessly—and that was his passion.

What shocked them even more was the beasts.

The one in front of them was immensely powerful, at the peak of its species. It only needed to break the gene lock within its bloodline to attain a humanoid form—a terrifying milestone.

But what shook them most... was that there were many more beasts of this same power level roaming this realm.

They watched silently as Lucifer continued to interact with the glowing panel in front of him, tapping through it with cold, blank eyes.

Then, suddenly, a jade bottle materialized in his hand.

Without hesitation, he drank all its contents in one gulp.

Then... he exhaled deeply.

A long, steady breath.

They knew what was happening to him.

After the mental punishment for harboring evil thoughts toward their master, they would suffer immense mental stress and a crushing soul suppression that weakened them far below their normal levels. This drop in power would leave them drained—hence the need for the contents of that jade bottle.

Lucifer had just bought a Soul-Cleansing Elixir.

They all knew that it must have cost him every last point he’d gathered during the fight.

"So this is how we grow strong, huh?" the God of War blurted out sarcastically, but the joy on his face betrayed him. It was clear—he loved this method.

The others only rolled their eyes.

Right now, they were no better than slaves.

Compared to how Deus treated them, Ileus was far worse. The difference was like earth and sky.

If anyone saw these gods now, they’d be stunned. These were nine of the strongest beings in the universe.

If ranked, they’d be in the top fifteen—without question.

To see them bickering and acting like old friends... that was a sight no one could have imagined.

They were beings who had temples built in their name across countless worlds. Billions worshiped them.

And yet now, they were here—fighting beasts, suffering punishment, trying to earn points.

Once, people believed that apart from Deus, no one could challenge the Supreme Gods. But reality now stood as a direct contradiction to that belief.

After his sarcastic words, the God of War pulled out a massive greatsword from his spatial ring and slashed at the air.

A blue arc of mana exploded outward, slicing through space itself.

The slash struck the tiger-boar hybrid cleanly.

SHHHHRRING!

In an instant, the beast’s head was separated from its body.

It crashed to the ground—a lifeless, headless corpse.

The God of War grinned wildly to himself.

The beast had been powerful, yes—but not on his level.

Still, the thought of even stronger beasts, some that could rival or surpass even him, sent shivers of battle-lust through his body.

His passion for combat boiled hotter.

He clenched his fists tightly, veins pulsing in his arms as a thrilling thought flooded his mind:

"A beast with god-level strength... I wonder how Ileus managed to create so many of them at once. It must’ve cost him more resources than we can imagine. Ileus must be hiding countless secrets we don’t know about... I doubt even the almighty Deus knows everything."

"If there’s one secret I want to know—it’s how Ileus made beasts that can stand on equal ground with gods. That’s all I ask."

Just then, a crystal floated silently toward them, glowing faintly.

It shimmered, signaling the completion of the beast kill.

Lucifer stared at it—and something in him snapped.

He clenched his jaw, fists tightening.

"Where the fuck is Ileus!?" he growled, voice low but deadly.

He was losing patience fast.

His temples throbbed and his veins had started to bulge—still faint, but rising with his rage.

"..."

No one answered.

And that silence?

That only made things worse.

"I SAID—WHERE IS ILEUS!!!" he thundered.

His voice echoed across the realm, sending a shockwave that frightened weaker beasts... but also lured in stronger ones, drawn by the rising energy and noise.

A few seconds passed.

Then the crystal finally responded—its voice cold and mechanical, yet trembling faintly with emotion:

"Focus on what you’re doing. Because... you won’t be meeting Ileus anytime soon."

Hidden beneath that calm, emotionless tone... was something else.

If it had been built with emotions, it might have cried.

It remembered the moment its master had told it to wait... but it didn’t listen.

It had wanted to see how Ileus would deal with the Supreme Gods personally.

Though it had watched the battle between its master and the Nine Supreme Gods hundreds of times, the news that Ileus would treat them differently this time stirred a dangerous curiosity.

It wanted to witness it for itself.