Chapter 62
Lilus carefully followed behind that Pro-God player.
Shen Li trailed from a distance, using the marks Lilus left behind to guide him.
After all, Shen Li lacked Lilus’s ability to erase himself from everyone’s line of sight. He could only follow far back to avoid spooking their prey.
If luck was on their side, they might even wipe out the Pro-God group in one strike. That would be something to brag about when regrouping with the others later.
The Pro-God players stopped at a church entrance, then cautiously circled around and slipped into a basement through a warehouse.
Lilus signaled Shen Li to check the surroundings for a second exit.
If there wasn’t one, then they had their prey trapped.
Step by step, the two descended into the underground passage. Shen Li even pulled out some of his most prized items, ready for a fight.
But when they finally reached the basement, all they found was an empty room—and the lone Pro-God player standing there, frozen and bewildered.
Damn. Had they been discovered? Did the others leave ahead of time?
Both Shen Li and Lilus sensed something was wrong. They immediately subdued the remaining player.
“Talk! Where’s the rest of your team?”
“Who tipped you off?”
The Pro-God player was caught off guard, but he realized quickly enough he’d been abandoned.
When he finally got a good look at who had grabbed him, his heart nearly stopped.
“You’re the [Hand of Rebirth] from the Resurrection Guild! And you’re [Walks Alone for Ten Thousand Miles], the rising star from the Star Guild?” He was utterly dumbfounded. What had he done to deserve being hunted down by two legends?
This was sheer misfortune. If he had known the Anti-God roster had players like these, he never would’ve chosen the Pro side.
How could they possibly win?
“So you recognize us? Makes sense—we’re not exactly nobodies.” Lilus smiled. “Don’t panic. Our other teammates aren’t pushovers either. Since you know who we are, just be honest. I don’t want to rough you up too much.”
“I… I really don’t know. This morning they told me to meet here, that’s all.”
“I swear I don’t know anything else.”
Shen Li and Lilus interrogated him thoroughly, even using items, but they still got no clue about the others’ whereabouts.
They searched the basement too—many supplies were left behind, so the group had left in a hurry, probably just before Shen Li and Lilus arrived.
The only person who had tracked them was Shen Li.
But Shen Li was a main challenger of this dungeon, with plenty of experience. There was no way he would betray them. That meant the Pro-God players had detected them somehow.
It wasn’t that Lilus looked down on the Pro players, but most of them had been forcibly summoned by the system. And the truth was, system-summoned players rarely had real skill.
Just like in the Flesh-and-Blood Apartment dungeon—none of the summoned players survived.
In a dungeon even higher-level than that, the chance that these Pro-God players could hold their own was practically zero. Even if one or two were good, they couldn’t turn the tide.
“The game probably gave the Pro-God some items or intel to keep things balanced,” Shen Li observed, drawing on his broad experience.
“In PvP dungeons like this, it’s common. One side is usually a well-trained, coordinated team, while the other is mostly randoms. To balance it, the system tilts things toward the weaker group. So for us, this dungeon is an S-rank divine challenge instance. But for the Pro-God, it might just be rated A-rank. The restrictions on us and on them aren’t necessarily the same.”
“Sounds plausible. Let’s ask again.” Lilus cracked his knuckles and interrogated the Pro player once more.
After a while, he returned.
“You were right. He said their group spawned in roughly the same area. On the first day after regrouping, they unlocked an achievement. The system rewarded them with one lottery draw each, all items A-rank and above. Supposedly, someone even got an S-rank item, though he didn’t know the details. And apparently, when they were summoned, the system told them straight up—”
“Choosing Pro-God means an A-rank dungeon. Choosing Anti-God means an S-rank. Of course they chose the easier path; maybe they’d have a shot at survival that way.” Lilus sighed. “Man… comparing ourselves to others is depressing.”
He still hadn’t even located his sister.
“That’s just because our team is ridiculously stacked.” Shen Li chuckled. “Honestly, I almost pity them. Our lineup is brutal. You’re ranked fourth on the newcomer leaderboard…”
“Third!” Lilus snapped. “The moment we entered this dungeon, my sister dropped from Newcomer #1, now Lu Chuan’s that bastard is first, and I’m back to third.”
“Fine, fine. So we’ve got two newcomers who’ve been #1, plus #2 and #3, Shasha who used to be in the top ten, and me, a veteran from the Master Ranking board.” Shen Li shrugged. “Just between the few of us, we’ve got four S-class players. If the system didn’t handicap the Pro side, it’d be unplayable.”
“…This is not the time for bragging.” Lilus rolled his eyes. “And stop looking at me with that ‘kindly elder’ expression. We’re not even in the same guild.”
“Ah, youth—you’re too thin-skinned.” Shen Li raised his hands in surrender. “So, what do you want to do with this guy we caught?”
“I’m not a murderer. Leave him here.” Lilus shrugged. “If we can’t get anything out of him, then forget it. Sure, when we win the game he’ll die anyway, but at least not by our hands.”
Some guild players enjoyed killing every last enemy player to boost their clear rate, but Lilus wasn’t that kind.
His sister had drilled into him since childhood that even if they were only half-human, they had to treat themselves as truly human.
“Alright.” Shen Li let out a small breath of relief. He didn’t like working with those bloodthirsty players either.
Sure, the losing side was doomed to die. But at least they could choose not to be the executioners.
Call it hypocrisy, call it self-deception—but Shen Li believed that even if one couldn’t sacrifice oneself for others, at the very least, one shouldn’t massacre one’s own kind.
“If the players from the Pro camp can already track our movements, then there’s no point in us continuing to tail them,” Shen Li said with a smile. “In that case, we’ll just have to figure out a way to regroup first.”
“Guess that’s all we can do. Who told the system to cheat for them?” Lilus spat. Otherwise, with him and Shen Li joining forces, they could have wiped out the other side’s entire team by now.
Meanwhile—
On the Pro camp’s side.
Seeing the red dot on the mirror finally move away from the warehouse they had just vacated, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
“…Bad news.” Another player pulled out an eavesdropping tool and gave a bitter smile. “I bound it to the teammate we left behind and overheard some of their conversation. Those two from the Anti-God side … one is [Walking Alone for Ten Thousand Miles] Shen Li, the other is [Hand of Rebirth] Lilus.”
As soon as those words fell, silence.
If earlier they had still been dissatisfied with their captain’s decisions, now they were completely convinced.
“We… we didn’t get dragged into Shen Li’s leaderboard challenge mission, did we?” one teammate asked nervously. “If I’d known, I never would’ve used my escape item in the last instance. Now the system is getting its revenge on me with interest.”
But wasn’t that the case for all of them?
Nearly every one of them had only escaped from the brink of death in past dungeons by using their escape tools. And now? They’d been dumped into a high-difficulty dungeon with no option to escape. All they could do was wait to die.
“Don’t be so discouraged. If you truly don’t want to live, you can end it yourselves right now,” the captain said after a moment of thought. “The system has given us balance adjustments. The gap between us and them isn’t as wide as you think.”
Even if his own heart was pounding, he knew better than to demoralize the team at a time like this.
They had chosen this camp. There was no turning back.
And even if they were up against legendary players, who said they couldn’t win?
Messiah, meanwhile, was looking for a chance to slip away.
He was being watched closely—especially by the god bound to the divine card—who harassed him constantly, forcing him to spend most of his energy resisting.
Still, he managed to find a gap.
One of the knights guarding him was odd.
This one clearly wasn’t good at hiding emotions. A few casual words from Messiah, and the knight blushed, stammered, and before long, Messiah had teased out his background.
A player. A Pro-God camp player, keeping contact with the others remotely.
Messiah sighed. So far, the only person’s location he’d managed to confirm was Lu Chuan’s.
But he couldn’t just sit here waiting for rescue. He had to act—at least to show the others he existed.
He already had a plan.
Once he escaped, he’d write his name behind the statue of the God of Light.
With the influence of the [Church of Light], the news would spread instantly.
And he’d gamble—if this God of Light really existed within the instance, then let it fight with the deity currently entangling him.
Those who knew Messiah well understood: he might look soft and gentle, but when he truly acted, he rarely left himself an escape route. He was harsher on himself than on anyone else. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stood out enough to become a heavily nurtured talent of the Noah guild.
The next day, Edith and the other knights were summoned. They were ordered to help hunt down the blasphemer who had dared to scrawl symbols onto the statue.
When Edith saw the rubbings of the letters ‘misaiya’ carved on the statue, her heart pounded wildly.
It was Messiah!
He was in this city. He was telling them where he was. He was inside the Church of Light!
Lu Chuan, naturally, also received the message.
“Not bad. Carving your name on the statue really is the best way to spread influence—taking advantage of the NPCs not recognizing those characters.” Lu Chuan couldn’t help laughing. “This time the teammates are great. Much better than fighting alone, right, System?”
[No one is greater than you, Host.] #888 was as loyal as a puppy.
“One man’s strength, no matter how great, is limited in a mega-instance like this. It takes everyone working together to clear it quickly.” Lu Chuan stretched lazily. “Since Messiah is already making such a splash, I can’t lose. Time for this church to change bishops. I’m done slowly farming here.”
With a few casual words, he had already decided the bishop’s death date.
The bishop—dumb as he looked—quickly fell into Lu Chuan’s “advice,” uniting with other churches to form an alliance against giants like the Church of Light.
But he had underestimated the other churches’ ambitions.
No god would allow its territory to be carved away by rival deities’ churches. The bishop became the perfect target.
Lu Chuan didn’t even need to act. All he had to do was, when “bewitched,” spill the bishop’s upcoming movements, and the others would happily eliminate him.
To ensure everything went smoothly, Lu Chuan even risked sneaking close to the battlefield.
Hidden, using an A-rank tool to cloak himself, he waited to watch.
The [Church of Omniscience]’s bishop clashed with several other bishops in a tavern alley.
Thanks to Lu Chuan’s leaks, the ambush was perfect.
At first the bishop tried reasoning, but once he realized they were here to kill him, he abandoned words and directly communed with his god for power.
For the first time, Lu Chuan witnessed the full process of divine empowerment up close.
Back in Li Family Village, he’d seen the chief and priest gain divine power too—but their ritual robes had hidden most of the transformation.
Now he saw everything clearly.
The bishop sprouted multiple pairs of eyes along his cheeks, each pair seemingly conscious.
His limbs twisted; fingers turned into blade-like weapons. He was like a humanoid weapon.
The other bishops weren’t outdone either—each invoking divine power, turning into grotesque monsters.
The knights at their sides mutated too, to varying degrees.
Even bugs that happened to crawl through the battlefield warped instantly into unnatural forms.
But Lu Chuan, watching from the shadows, remained fine.
The mark Number 9 had branded on his forehead firmly protected him from divine backlash.
“System, you really need to level up. You can’t even compare with Executor Number 9’s power,” Lu Chuan muttered.
[Host, the God of Wealth’s coins can also block backlash!] #888 grumbled. [You just don’t want to use them.]
“Facing divine backlash costs me my life; your skill costs me my money. Not much of a choice, is it?” Lu Chuan sighed.
…Most people would find it an easy choice, actually.
Ah well.
The battle ended quickly.
The [Church of Omniscience] was far too weak. Its god had only gained more followers after Lu Chuan arrived. Compared to the siege, it was nothing.
Lu Chuan quietly drew the divine energy near the battlefield into bullets with the gun the vice guildmaster had given him.
But since no gods descended personally, all this carnage barely earned him one bullet. Worse, the system labeled it “Low-Spec Version.” Nearly made him cough blood.
Fine. Low-spec was better than nothing.
He still had some sanity points. When it came time to fire, he could use them to buff himself.
“Much obliged. I’ll be taking your church now.” Lu Chuan grinned at the dead bishop from afar. “Your grudge is with your killers, not me.”
The next day, word spread: the bishop and his knights were found dead. The site of the ambush was flattened; no one dared approach.
Even gods had intervened in the bishops’ conflict—but with little effect.
Lu Chuan, meanwhile, knelt by the bishop’s corpse with his flock, weeping bitterly.
“Our bishop has gone to the divine kingdom to accompany Father God. We must remember this humiliation and avenge him, for Father God, for our bishop!” Lu Chuan’s grief-stricken face moved the believers.
“Make me bishop? No.” Lu Chuan shook his head firmly. “Only Father God can appoint a bishop. For now, I will merely lead as acting bishop. Once Father God issues a new oracle, I will step down immediately. I won’t cling to the seat!”
No matter how they begged, he refused.
This only made them trust him more.
Surely the vice bishop was the one worthy of their loyalty!
Generous, too—he distributed indulgence tokens to the believers, which they could use or sell, and allowed them to bring family into the church, invest in enterprises. In a short time, the [Church of Omniscience] massively expanded.
By the time the [Church of Light] reacted, the [Church of Omniscience] had already monopolized several businesses.
As for its god? Ha. After lending aid to the fallen bishop, that deity had been ambushed by rival gods and was now too weakened to appear—giving Lu Chuan the perfect opening.
As long as he didn’t take the bishop’s seat, the oracles were his to forge. And once the god recovered, he could just shove some puppet into the bishopric and continue pulling strings from the shadows.
Edith and Lilus soon crossed paths while investigating the ‘misaya’ mark left by Messiah and successfully completed their meeting.
Meanwhile, Cynthia managed to find two more players who had accidentally chosen the opposition faction.
These two weren’t very strong, but their luck was decent. Supposedly, they had originally meant to pick the pro-god side but clicked the wrong one, ending up under Cynthia’s protection—so now they followed whatever she said.
Cynthia assigned them to search the library and other ancient records for the history of the Church of Light.
Of course, she also knew about the trouble Messiah had stirred up.
Having experienced a Divine Challenge dungeon before, she was well aware that most so-called deities were nothing more than selfish, single-minded bastards obsessed only with indulging themselves.
Or rather, since they were so overwhelmingly powerful, crushing players was as effortless as squashing ants. They didn’t need to bother scheming against mortals.
In other words—they were very easily angered.
The Church of Light had risen to such prominence precisely because miracles appeared from time to time. Yet Messiah had scribbled graffiti on the sacred statue, and the marks had remained.
That was unprecedented. Plenty of cultists had tried to deface the statue, but none had ever succeeded—not even leaving the tiniest scratch. But Messiah had done it, and worse, he carried traces of another god’s power entwined around him, even following him into the Infinite Realm.
A god able to cross over from a dungeon into the realm—its strength was unimaginable. No one knew how Messiah had gotten entangled with such a being, but the fact alone was suspicious.
The divine aura around Messiah was so blatant it likely surpassed even that of a Pope. If he wrote behind the statue of the God of Light, how could that not attract the deity’s gaze?
Most likely, Messiah knew exactly what he was doing—deliberately provoking conflict between two gods.
If a divine clash broke out, that would be the best outcome for the players.
If not, the implications were grim. The optimistic read: the God of Light was unwilling to clash with the god backing Messiah and chose to yield. But that didn’t explain why the Church was now frantically hunting down the supposed blasphemer.
The worst-case scenario: the God of Light had already been devoured by the god linked to Messiah.
If one deity consumed another from a dungeon, it could resurrect itself and grow even stronger.
Which meant their mission this time had just become far more difficult.
When that moment came, the only way to complete it might be to kill Messiah and destroy the divine marriage.
But unless there was no other choice, Cynthia didn’t want to take that route.
For now, the only option was to search for records on the God of Light. Divine devouring wasn’t easy—maybe they still had a chance.
—
Meanwhile, Starry Shasha had finally managed—after much effort—to join the Church of Omniscience, thanks to Lu Chuan’s rapid expansion after rising in rank. Without it, she might never have gotten in.
She pursued the “Bishop” with the utmost devotion, and after several attempts finally managed to corner Lu Chuan.
“Shasha, you’re still a little slow. Any later and I’d already be the Pope.” Lu Chuan propped his chin on one hand, eyeing her lazily.
