Chapter 647: Descent into Chaos

“No….”

Under such a frenzied combined assault, the three priests were utterly thrown into disarray.

Although each possessed formidable mental power, under Lu Xin’s suppressive force and with Xia Chong unleashing his unreasonable barrage of firepower, they found themselves utterly overwhelmed—so overwhelmed that they couldn’t even fully deploy their abilities. Facing two foes, all they experienced was a devastating annihilation.

In an instant, they all fell back, and their formerly stable triangular formation dissolved into chaos.

“Glug…”

Amid the shouts and the turbulent mental turbulence swirling around, a strange sound suddenly emerged, as if a massive quantity of liquid was flowing.

The mechanical tentacles connected to the back of the three Black-Robed Priests’ heads suddenly swelled into a bulge, which was forcefully injected into their skulls. The next moment, all three had their eyes roll back while their mental power surged even more intensely.

The distorted, chaotic air filled the area as Lu Xin’s black shadow clashed with Xia Chong’s blue electric plasma bullets.

They barely held on.

Even after borrowing even greater mental power, they could only just parry the full-force assault.

One of the Black-Robed Priests reacted swiftly amidst the noisy chaos and immediately established contact with the outside:

“The siege has failed…”

“His psychic power is… terrifying…”

“…”

Elsewhere, the Hell Designer, who had nonchalantly stepped out of the elevator onto the ground outside the building, adjusted his headset and said, “Don’t use words like ‘terrifying’ or ‘mighty.’ What exactly is his magnitude?”

The priest in the black robe shouted, “We don’t know…”

“The Death Curse has already faltered. Even our efforts to suppress his mental power are completely ineffective…”

“…”

The Hell Designer paused his steps and murmured, “This is indeed rather strange.”

But in the blink of an eye, a smile crept over his face as he added, “There are just far too many oddities in this world nowadays.”

“And that, in turn, proves that our choice was right.”

“God is watching over the world, which is why monsters are multiplying everywhere.”

“Thus, only by allying with God and forging our own divine realm can we truly stand our ground…”

“…”

“Is this really the time to discuss such things?”

The Black-Robed Priest yelled, “What are we going to do?”

“Apologies!”

The Hell Designer strode out of the building. A moment later, a secretary dressed in a black suit approached him. With a slight wave, he signaled the secretary to wait a moment, then said over the channel, “If you’re not certain, then release it…”

“It?”

Deep within the Underground Deep Pit, a Black-Robed Priest suddenly whirled around and, his voice trembling, asked the Mechanical Tree, “You want to release it?”

“Of course. If the three of you together cannot handle the opponent, then we have no choice but to let it loose.”

The Hell Designer replied calmly, “After all, we intended all along to send him into God’s Nightmare, didn’t we?”

“Naturally, this might cost you three your lives as well, but…”

He paused briefly and then smiled, “…Weren’t you already prepared to sacrifice yourselves for God at any moment?”

“…”

The Black-Robed Priest fell silent.

The Hell Designer glanced at his wristwatch and murmured,

“The final preparations are about to commence. We cannot allow such a dangerous being to interfere.”

“So, you don’t have much time left to decide.”

“…”

After saying that, he immediately cut off the channel.

He strode straight out of the building and climbed into a black sedan that had long been parked in front of the building. Taking the S-Level Agreement regarding the resettlement of Flame’s city residents handed to him by the secretary, he frowned slightly before looking up at the secretary and said:

“Notify City Defense over there: the Hell Umbrella Plasma Bullets buried in Base Two are ready to detonate.”

“Swish!”

The secretary abruptly looked up at him, a trace of terror flickering in her eyes…

“I don’t want anyone disturbing my design.”

The Hell Designer regarded her calmly and smiled, “That’s why the most definitive solution is best.”

“…”

“What did he say?”

At the exact moment when the priest in the center was communicating with the Hell Designer, the other two priests—already on the verge of collapse—were reacting. One had released countless mental entities to charge at Lu Xin, while the other turned around in anxiety and shouted at the priest on the call.

Facing Lu Xin now, they were completely thrown into a panic.

All their previous schemes and ambushes had become utterly useless.

Even this stalemate seemed increasingly precarious in their eyes.

The Mechanical Tree provided them with a continuous stream of mental power, enabling all three to almost rapidly ascend the steps of the Mental Overlord. Yet, despite joining forces, they could only manage a stalemate against his duo.

In contrast, Lu Xin’s expression grew ever more relaxed under the relentless, unreasonable suppression of his mental power.

He narrowed his eyes as wave after wave of black shadows pushed forward.

Not only were the three priests subdued by him, but even the surrounding mental turbulence was being reined in by his own surging mental power. And as that power seemed to grow without limit, an eerie smile began to emerge on his face.

“Is that a devil?”

The three priests caught sight of the expression on Lu Xin’s face and were struck by an indescribable shock.

In their haste, they anxiously looked toward the priest who had been communicating with the Hell Designer, waiting for an answer.

After a brief silence, the leading priest lifted his head and addressed them, “Friends, the terror emanating from this monster has far exceeded our expectations and even poses a threat to the divine will previously ordained…”

“Since we’ve arrived here, perhaps the time has come for God to witness our loyalty…”

“…”

One priest’s face twisted as he suddenly shouted, “We are priests of the True Church—organizers of the Black Box!”

“And now, we are expected to sacrifice ourselves?”

“…”

Catching the trace of resentment in his voice, another priest whispered, “What’s wrong with returning to our True Hometown?”

“When the Gate of Hell opens, we will inevitably descend back into reality…”

“…”

As his words faded, he let out a low sigh.

Suddenly, he abruptly looked up at the frenzied mental power that was inching closer. Behind his hooded eyes, a resolute determination flashed. He quickly retracted his own mental power and lunged toward the center of the deep pit.

“Eh?”

At a moment when Lu Xin had already seized the upper hand and was about to take down the other two, unexpectedly one of them vanished, and the mental power surged straight into the remaining two.

“Sss…”

Blood nearly spurted from the eyes, ears, and nostrils of the two survivors.

Along with the blood came an unknown white liquid and chunks of material.

Seizing the advantage unexpectedly, Lu Xin couldn’t help but be momentarily taken aback.

Instead of immediately finishing off the two, he turned his attention to the one who, with the assistance of mechanical tentacles, charged toward the center of the deep pit.

He couldn’t fathom why his opponent suddenly relinquished resistance—handing over two comrades into his grasp.

But he could guess that there was a purpose behind the enemy’s rush toward the deep pit’s center…

“I felt fear emanating from them…”

A father’s voice rang out in time: “They must have made a decision that even they find terrifying…”

“Is it really necessary?”

Lu Xin thought to himself while leaping high and planting his feet against the pit wall.

Between his two fingers, a black playing card materialized as he fixed his aim on that Black-Robed Priest and prepared to unleash his ability.

He wasn’t sure what his opponent intended to do next, but he knew it had to be stopped.

Yet when the black playing card flashed briefly, his form remained unchanged.

Only then did he recall that the Abyss had been sealed off—the black playing card was an ability of the Abyss Group and could not be used here.

“Crash, crash…”

At the same moment, the remaining two priests on the opposite side sensed something was wrong and instantly made their decision.

One of them, enduring an immense mental impact, suddenly sprinted in the opposite direction toward Lu Xin.

Floating in mid-air, the Black-Robed Priest’s robe rapidly swelled, revealing an absurdly bloated, pale body—no, not a body but a mass of entangled, pale mental entities, formed into a colossal creature…

These mental entities, resembling a mound of flesh composed of countless human shapes, charged directly at Lu Xin.

At that very moment, the third priest, witnessing the changing scene, turned pale and let out a low roar as he backed away.

Pressing his body flat against the wall, he scrambled upward as fast as he could.

“What is with all this absurdity?”

Lu Xin couldn’t fathom how these three priests had suddenly taken three different stances at once.

……

“Sister, help…”

Catching a whiff of an abnormal aura from someone in mid-air, he shouted urgently.

Grabbing his sister’s outstretched hand, he dashed along the vertical wall, hurtling toward the center of the deep pit.

“Received!”

On a broken platform below, Xia Chong bellowed in a deep voice. He swiftly pulled an empty magazine from the Multi-barrel Rotary Gun, tossed it aside, and then retrieved a second magazine from his waist, reloading and aiming at the grotesque mass of pale mental entities.

Rat-a-tat-tat…

Bullet after bullet whistled by, blasting the monstrous body into fragments.

Smoke and dust rose, staining Xia Chong’s little face black.

“So cool…”

Lu Xin couldn’t help but marvel while also feeling that something was amiss.

Originally, he had only called his sister over to help him evade the onslaught from that pale mental monster, but unexpectedly, Xia Chong had taken charge and annihilated it. It seemed there was some misunderstanding at play, yet the coordination was impeccable.

For someone who had always excelled at solo combat, he found himself surprisingly in sync with Xia Chong…

Lost in thought, he pushed off the wall, springing through the air toward the center of the deep pit.

At the very center of the pit stood that Mechanical Grotesque Tree.

The first priest to rush over, clad in a black priest robe, had already reached the tree and patted it forcefully.

Clack, clack, clack…

The sound of mechanical parts echoed as countless components on the surface of the Mechanical Grotesque Tree began to jolt.

They contracted and reassembled rapidly, revealing a roughly one-meter-wide “door.”

The next moment, the Black-Robed Priest saw what lay within the door.

In that very second, his actions slowed as he slowly turned around.

Facing Lu Xin, he gently pulled off the black hood from his head.

It was then revealed that, despite his pallid complexion, he was a woman of around forty with exquisitely delicate features.

Her smile held both sarcasm and smug satisfaction, yet also a trace of wistfulness.

That single glance suggested that aside from being a priest of the Black Box, she likely also had an identity in the real world.

Whose wife, perhaps?

Or maybe someone’s mother?

Yet now, here in this Underground Deep Pit, she was locked in a desperate battle with Lu Xin.

“Shrr…”

She barely managed a smile for Lu Xin when, suddenly, a hand sprang out from the opening in the Mechanical Grotesque Tree.

A pale hand snatched at her neck with a crunch.

In the next instant, despair and terror contorted her face.

Then she was yanked cleanly through the short door, vanishing without a trace.

An entire adult body was completely dragged into the metal “door.”

Immediately following came the sounds of ravenous chewing, bones snapping, and blood spurting.

Lu Xin tumbled from mid-air, landing on one side of the “door” so that he couldn’t see inside—only witnessing the cruel sounds and the slow trickle of blood after the woman was pulled in.

“Ha ha, she’s been released…”

“We’re all doomed…we’re all doomed…”

“…”

High in the air, the lone Black Box Priest suddenly let out a cry of despair.

He had planned to escape, but upon reaching the ventilation opening at the top of the Underground Deep Pit, he discovered it had been sealed off, filling him with hopelessness. Turning back, he could only be heard shrieking almost manically, “You’re a monster, an unnatural monster, and now…we’re all going to die here…”

Lu Xin paid no heed to this priest, instead steadily marching forward.

He strode directly to the hollow in the trunk of the Mechanical Tree, peered through the door, and looked inside.

Inside the door was a man-eating beast.

But he was determined to see what exactly lurked within that door…

……

Barely a couple of steps forward, he arrived at the door and saw the scene within.

Inside the trunk of the Mechanical Tree was a space so narrow that only one person could curl up inside. Lu Xin observed a slender, pale-skinned boy with shrunken legs, his face obscured by foggy round glasses.

Noticing Lu Xin’s gaze, the boy turned his head.

In the brief moment when their eyes met, his face registered deep confusion before gradually transforming into surprise.

“Is it you?”

He studied Lu Xin carefully and murmured, “Number Nine?”