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“You are a monster that devours and kills gods…” At this moment, Sandakor, who had just awakened, said to Voban, “…a monster called a god-killer.”

“Yes! Monster, but my esteemed god, you were able to revive only because of the power of this monster!” Voban looked at Sandakor with a sneer. “So, you’d better learn some respect.”

"Hmph!" Sandakor stood up from the ground, his face ashen. "You resurrected me..." he stammered, "as... this... undead, a filthy, neither alive nor dead spirit." Sensing the change within himself, the man who had just awakened from death was instantly consumed by rage. "How dare you..."

"Shut up!!!" Voban said coldly, and then Sandakor felt that after Voban spoke, a power that had been integrated into his soul and body began to affect his will.

Sandakor screamed, trying to resist the force, but to no avail. This force had been infused into his very being when he was awakened, and it was this force that was keeping him moving instead of pulling him into the astral plane.

So, unable to resist, he had no choice but to shut his mouth in utter frustration!

“Very well, this is how a servant should behave.” Voban spoke words that filled Sandakor with humiliation, sorrow, and anger, but no matter how much he struggled and cursed inwardly, it was all in vain. Now, unless the god of death intervened and personally erased the control Voban had left in his essence, Sandakor, who had existed for longer than many gods, was now forced to submit to Voban's will, his life and death beyond his control.

“Then, my poor, newly awakened servant, tell me what happened here! And you… servant, what tragic fate has befallen you?” Voban’s use of the word “servant” enraged Sandakor, but under Voban’s orders, he had no choice but to begin recounting what had happened not long ago.

The more he spoke, the more his anger grew, not only towards Voban who controlled him, but also towards Lira, filled with resentment and rage. If it weren't for this paper, he wouldn't have died as a saint, wouldn't have been trapped here with his soul tormented by resentment, and wouldn't have encountered Voban, thus being transformed into an undead slave.

"Ha, a clever but foolish woman..." After hearing Sandakel's story, Voban said disdainfully, "I don't even know whether that woman is clever or foolish—but she's definitely short-sighted." Sandakel and Lira had met by chance, and when facing Mara's pursuit together, it was the two of them who barely managed to escape. If it weren't for Sandakel's formidable fighting strength, the two of them would have been torn to pieces by Mara long ago.

However, right after the battle ended, Lira, who had preserved more power, ruthlessly stabbed her 'comrade-in-arms,' showing exceptional decisiveness. With Sandakor dead, his power was completely drained by Lira, and now the goddess of joy had undoubtedly recovered from all her injuries, perhaps even in better condition. She was truly a model of selfishness that harmed others.

I wonder if this woman dared to do this because she truly believed that Sandachel, whom she stabbed, could never be resurrected. However, I suspect that bitch thought that since she killed Sandachel, a saint, and also drained all of Sandachel's remaining divine power and took away her divine authority, Sandachel couldn't be resurrected no matter what she did.

Unless, after his death, before his soul finally succumbs to the pull of the astral plane, he encounters someone with the divine authority of death or life, who can cancel his death state and expend power to awaken him.

Putting aside other matters, those who primarily held the divine authority over death and life possessed immense divine power, and now those powerful deities have either declined or perished. The remaining ones involved in death or life have also fallen in the guise of saints.

If such a situation were to actually occur, it's estimated that those saints wouldn't expend their precious power to save Sandakor.

But then, unexpectedly, Voban appeared.

"You hate that woman terribly, don't you!" Looking at Sandakor's undisguised hatred for Lira, Voban coldly said, "But unfortunately, I have no interest in your pathetic hatred. If your 'goddess' were to appear before me, I wouldn't mind sending her on her way, but now—"

"—As the god of travel and exploration, you must be quite skilled at tracking! So, find me the trail of that black beast. The prey has been wandering for so long; it's time to reap the rewards."

669. The Evil Mage

How should I put it? These gods, who were used to fighting amongst themselves, even after their tragic fall and becoming saints, remained unchanged. Not only did they never think of uniting, but without the suppression of powerful divine authority, they went so far as to completely break off all ties.

Thirteen saints, intending to seek out the troublemakers who were currently undergoing the ascension to godhood, engaged in a life-or-death struggle before even reaching their destination. Mara killed Lari, Siventam and Ushgar were both severely injured, and then the latter was finished off by Gailun-Storm. Ultiru and Virko clashed, with one choosing to flee and avoid further involvement, while the other was unlucky enough to be finished off by Voban.

Then Mara attacked Sandacor and Lira. He was careless and retreated with injuries. But when he turned around, Sandacor was stabbed to death by Lira, who was his comrade-in-arms just moments before and with whom he had slept together.

In the process of coming and going, four saints have already died, plus the Arctic God Urutiru who ran away, and the unlucky and tragic Thief God Max who once again became bound to the equipment [Godslayer Sword]. Almost half of the saints have been eliminated.

Should I call them a bunch of incompetent teammates?!

Now, the supposedly dead Sandalor has been awakened by Voban through his power and forced to submit to Voban's will. He then leads Voban in pursuit of the trail of the hunting god Mara. Although Sandalor is not the tracking god Gailun-Storm, and is now greatly weakened, stripped of all his divine power and authority, it must be said that this former weak god who roamed the Moon Sea and Cormier regions still possesses some skill.

At least after Voban had lost track of Mara, he rediscovered the trail of the black beast. And the direction the trail was heading was...

"Hahaha, so the main course is being served so soon?!" Voban laughed gleefully, looking at the direction Mara had followed. "In that case, it seems those eight mages have almost completely succeeded, which is why they're so eager to reap the rewards!?"

"That's settled then! Let the final hunting expedition begin in this world!"

With a joyful heart, Voban led Sandakor directly towards the capital of the red-robed mages.

……

If someone could identify the location using satellite markers at this moment, they would discover that in the current material world, many high-energy-level individuals are heading towards the areas controlled by the red-robed mages.

Among them were both powerful figures from the prime material world and many previously unknown individuals. The eight chief members of the Red Robe Clan had, at this moment, become highly sought-after figures, comparable to saints. Ambitious individuals knew that these chief members were undergoing a deification ceremony; if they succeeded, they would at least become demigods.

Demigods, on the other hand, already possess the foundation for immortality.

In this situation, these guys wouldn't care whether their actions would offend the Red Robe Mage group. In fact, apart from the eight chief's die-hard loyalists, the others in the Red Robe Mage group wished they could replace the eight.

Amidst this series of undercurrents, the eight chiefs remained firmly in their positions. Not only were they managing the entire capital city flawlessly, but those who harbored ulterior motives were either now under strict surveillance and house arrest, or had already fled the city.

However, this seemingly calm situation was soon disrupted.

As the divine light emanating from the eight chiefs grew brighter, anyone with a keen eye knew that if they didn't act soon, everything would be set in stone. It was at this moment that some impatient individuals finally chose to take the initiative.

Some legends launched direct attacks on the city, but these pioneers were quickly either pulverized by the overwhelming magic or forced to flee in disgrace. Even an ancient red dragon named Barath, overestimating its power, planned to seize this opportunity to usurp divinity and become the Red Dragon God in this era following Tiamat's fall.

Unfortunately, he wasn't some figure protected by a materialistic aura; he was just an ordinary ancient red dragon—nothing more. This red dragon, confident that his scales were indestructible and that his power was enough to defeat everything, was immediately enveloped by a dozen pre-programmed Great Destruction spells (a strength of blue-bar mages) upon his arrival, shattering all his magical artifacts and leaving his scales as thin as paper.

Next, he was riddled with spikes by giant siege crossbow bolts specifically designed to target dragons and track targets.

This incident proves that even at the legendary level, the truly powerful ones are not those who are born strong, but rather the legendary mages who are rich, powerful, and have partners.

With the even more evil financial advantage of the evil mage, even an ordinary ancient red dragon is just so-so.

This guy wasn't without divine artifacts, but unfortunately, he ran into the tiny chance of the Great Bankruptcy Technique.

The legendary creatures that came to join the fun were quickly defeated. The most unlucky ones, like the ancient red dragon, fell into the hands of the red-robed mage... Although the dragon scales were turned into dust by the Great Destruction spell, other parts were still useful! Dragon blood, dragon skin, dragon bones, dragon eyes, dragon nerves, dragon whips, and so on—materials from ordinary dragons are rare, let alone those from an ancient red dragon.

This made the red-robed followers who were loyal to the chief even more devoted, because these chiefs generously waved their hands and gave the dead ancient red dragon to their supporters to distribute, without taking a single penny for themselves.

Suddenly, while the morale of the legendary figures outside who were planning to plunder plummeted, the morale of the city's chief's men soared.

For the next period of time, the legendary figures, still unwilling to give up, attempted to attack the city one after another, using all sorts of methods, but all they got in return was repeated suicide attacks. Finally, these legendary figures had to admit that their hasty arrival was completely useless against the well-prepared Red-Robed Chief. Not only did they fail to even break in, but several of their own died at the city gates. The only one to enter the city was the ancient red dragon, who had fallen from the sky riddled with thorns.

There's absolutely no chance of winning!

Then, those legends who were magnanimous and not so greedy simply turned and left, while those who couldn't let go and couldn't suppress their greed chose to stay and wait for an opportunity. As for what that opportunity was, everyone basically knew that those who truly coveted the red-robed chieftains were the saints who had descended.

Even a wrecked ship has three nails left; these legends can't break through, but the saints can.

What they didn't expect was that while they planned to be the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, the saints wouldn't let them have their way. Those saints who had already arrived here, although they hadn't met each other, all of them, without exception, chose to eliminate the legends who remained here.

Even the smallest mosquito is still a piece of meat. Killing these legends and devouring their souls can help these saints regain some of their power.

670. The Belated Battle

For a saint, even if they devour thousands or tens of thousands of ordinary souls, they still cannot restore their power. However, the soul of a legendary being is fundamentally far superior to that of a mortal. Even the most mediocre legendary warrior would be a great source of nourishment. These saints are not fools. Why would they ignore the prey that is within their grasp and instead try to bite through a hedgehog?

So those legendary figures who were only thinking of reaping the benefits of others' misfortune found themselves tragically killed by the arrival of the saints without a second thought. Even those who had fallen to the point of becoming saints were still gods, and even the weakest saint was not someone a single legendary figure could handle alone.

In the material world, there are beings capable of taking on the true form of a god, but unfortunately, even among the legendary level, those beings are the biggest of the big shots... or rather, it's debatable whether they even qualify as legends.

But as always, these top figures among the top were very clever and did not recklessly participate in this upheaval. These top figures among the top, who dared to target their research on ancient evil artifacts, naturally sensed the shadow behind this series of events to varying degrees, and then they decisively retreated to their homes, even opening portals to move their homes away.

Conversely, these are not legends destined by fate or destined to enter the tribulation; they are simply unlucky souls who failed to see the shadows. Their greed for deification and immortality ultimately clouded their judgment.

And so they met their demise. Having never intended to join forces, they were hunted down by several saints. Before long, those who were unable to escape all became corpses, their souls completely devoured by these saints.

After devouring the souls of these legendary figures, the saints turned their gaze to another place, where the radiance of the consecration ceremony shone brightly in the city—the lighting of the divine fire. The eight chief priests had prepared long enough, everything proceeding step by step, and now they had entered the final stage.

This caused these saints to hesitate. With the insight of these pioneers, they could naturally see that over there, the eight who had been conferred the title of gods had reached the most crucial moment. Their accumulated strength, their understanding of the world itself, and their own will were all burning fiercely as fuel—a sign that the divine fire had been ignited.

Now, all they need to do is transform everything about themselves into divine fire and use that fire to undergo a soul transformation in order to complete the final leap, thus becoming at least an immortal demigod.

In fact, time is running out. Rushing in at this point could yield the greatest reward, or it could result in nothing and even loss of life. For these saints, the real enemy is not the humans currently performing the deification ceremony, but rather their hidden 'colleagues' around them.

Even some saints who were determined to rush in and plunder everything the gods had, lacked the confidence to protect their own gains when surrounded by wolves.

No, it should be said that whoever strikes first will be beaten to death and dismembered by the others. So they all hesitated, each one neither showing their face nor sincerely hoping that their 'colleagues' would make a move soon.

Time ticked by in the stalemate, and the divine light emanating from the eight chiefs grew ever brighter, appearing from afar like eight flames soaring into the sky. Time was running out; in a moment, these chiefs would complete the final step and officially enter the realm coveted by countless others.

Finally, seeing this, the saint began to lose his patience.

They don't have many options left.

They could either turn around and leave, reaping and devouring the legendary souls, enough to restore a small portion of their power.

Of course, there's a second option: go for it now!

—And this option was immediately chosen by some people.

roar!!!!!

With a tremendous roar, a black beast appeared outside the city, radiating divine power with unrestrained arrogance. It was Mara, the god of the hunt.

Sensing the divine power emanating from Mara, the guards protecting the chief in the city paled, their expressions tense and even trembling as they watched the black beast approach. Not only them, but even the other saints were astonished by the aura and power Mara was now displaying.

Mara now surpasses most saints.

As the black beast king moved his massive body and advanced towards the city, the hidden saints fell silent. Mara had recovered better than they had imagined; even if they all rushed at him now, they might not be able to stop him.

So, should they stab him later...? The saints hesitated, but soon they no longer needed to hesitate, because just as Mara charged forward, a provocative wolf howl echoed.

A gigantic, silver-white werewolf, thirty meters long, appeared from the other side and charged towards Mara. Its predatory intent was almost undisguised.

When this enormous, silver-white werewolf appeared, all the saints' expressions changed drastically. They naturally recognized who this was—a god-slayer from some other world, who had appeared in the prime material world for some unknown reason, a monster who hunted down gods and usurped divine power under the guise of a mortal.

"Hahahaha!!!" Voban's maniacal laughter rang out. "God of Hunting? A perfect prey! Mara—it's time to settle old scores!" Facing the undisguised provocation, the massive black beast roared and, without hesitation, changed direction and pounced on Voban. He knew that after Voban appeared, he had no chance to break through the defenses of those mortals; this monster who slew gods would absolutely not give him that opportunity.

However, instead of killing the eight deified beings, killing Voban would be a better option. If he could kill Voban and devour his power, and seize the divine power he had taken from the gods of another world, he might be able to glimpse the level of powerful divine power in the future.

Well, all I can say is that this beast is overthinking things.

As the werewolf charged toward Mara, the sky darkened and the weather began to change. With a deafening clap of thunder, a torrential downpour began to fall on the earth in a short time.

With a deafening roar, flashes of lightning leaped across the sky before being drawn down by Voban's power, striking the black beast with devastating force.

Bathed in lightning and thunder, Mara cried out in pain; he was not immune to the lightning and thunder. He had no relevant divine authority, nor any experience in this field. If it were just ordinary lightning, he could naturally withstand it with his own resistance, but this lightning and thunder was something he could not neutralize.

Of course, the wounded Mara did not run away. On the contrary, he roared and charged at Voban with rage and murderous intent. He wanted to tear this guy apart, to skin him alive, tear him apart, and chew up his flesh and blood.

Coincidentally, Voban had the same idea; he also wanted to tear Mara apart and devour his divine power.

The two enormous beasts roared and clashed, and a fierce battle ensued, with sharp teeth, blood, and flesh flying everywhere.

671. We were one family five hundred years ago.

The other saints watched the fierce battle between the two beasts, showing no intention of intervening. In their eyes, both Mara and Vauban posed a great threat to them. The former had already shown greed towards them, who were also gods, while the latter had long been marked by the gods as a 'sinner' who should be reduced to ashes.

This kind of life-or-death struggle between the two is what these saints most want to see. Not to mention, in the current situation, the power displayed by both sides has already instilled a sense of danger in all the saints…

Compared to these two troublesome individuals, the one who had not yet completed the necessary procedures for becoming a god was even more coveted by these saints.

It must be said that the chiefs, having unleashed their full potential, had executed a remarkably effective defense. While the city lacked a magic lock, it was still shrouded in a massive, unprecedented spell. Space within this area was interfered with and sealed off; all teleportation spells, whether simple instantaneous movement or travel through the shadow realm, were unable to enter the city.

The only way to get in is to force our way in from the front.

However, upon reflection, it became clear whether his saintly body could completely absolve him of the dozens of planned devastating spells. In the past, these saints would never have felt uneasy about this, but now it was the era of mana-bar mages. Without spell slots, casting spells had become more difficult, but for legendary or near-legendary archmages, it had become much easier.

You see, for a long time now, these lawless guys have been thinking about how to break free from the restrictions of the magic network, while also giving the goddess of magic the middle finger. Now, things are really looking up, and these guys have immediately betrayed their old employer and wholeheartedly thrown themselves into the arms of Blue Bar.

Under the previous spell slot limitations, it was impossible to unleash a dozen or so devastating spells in one go, but now mana-based mages can. At worst, they can simply wait for their mana to regenerate after running out. For truly promising mana-based mages, the regeneration time is negligible compared to the previous daily spell slot reset.