As he sank into the darkness, his five senses gradually disappeared, and even his spiritual world started to disintegrate and turn illusory. It was as if he had disappeared from the world, and did not exist from the past to the future. Most people would have panicked in such a situation, but Hao Ren quickly calmed down, as this was not the first time he encountered such a situation.
Every time he was dragged into the "Goddess' Illusion" by Rheia's divine power, it was almost the same feeling. The process of his spirit being extracted and injected into the illusion was like a rebirth, and this time, the reaction was just a little stronger than the previous few times.
Hao Ren waited quietly in the darkness, and as the numbness and the loss of his five senses faded away, light appeared before his eyes again, and his feet once again landed on solid ground.
He looked around and saw that he was standing in a magnificent palace. Beside him was a long corridor that was so wide that it was astonishing. The two walls of the corridor were lined with crystal windows that were tens of meters tall. Huge pillars that emitted a faint light were lined up along the corridor, extending all the way to the end of his sight.
And in between, there was a long curtain hanging down from the dome, and the curtain seemed to be burning with golden flames, and within the flames, there was a mythical scene of creation constantly changing on the surface of the curtain.
"Just as I expected …" Hao Ren murmured, but he wasn't too surprised.
He had seen this scene before, it was the temple on the Star of Creation, and when he touched the Gilded Disc, he was brought into this illusion. But this time, it was a little different …
Hao Ren frowned as he looked around, and found that the illusion this time was much more detailed than before, and the scene in the distance was very clear. Standing between the pillars and the doors, he could not help but think that this was the real world, and after some thought, he thought that this change was caused by Rheia's divine power.
After all, the last time he entered the illusion was a coincidence, and this time, it was Rheia who led him in.
But then again … what about Rheia?
Hao Ren looked around but could not find the goddess of creation who had led him into the illusion. Instead, a bright flash suddenly appeared in the corner of his vision. The flash exploded with a deafening roar and a scorching storm, shattering some of the windows and pillars of the temple. As the flash and explosion appeared, everything in the illusion seemed to have been switched on.
Deafening explosions came from all directions. Endless flames and thunder wreaked havoc outside the windows, and then poured into the palace through the cracked windows. The whole building shook violently in the explosions. Huge rocks and metal fell from the high dome. For a moment, the sky was falling and the earth was cracking.
"They're attacking the main hall! The divine power barrier has been breached! "
"The second gate has been breached! Reserve team, reserve team, quickly go to mother's side! "
"The Grand Shrine is sinking! The energy of the Sea of Origin had gone out of control, and the rebels had opened a door under the temple! Go now … "
Countless battle cries came from near and far, and the guardian giants' roars of rage and battle lashed through the halls like thunder, and there were even real explosions and thunder in between. Hao Ren immediately raised his shield to block the falling rocks and the uncontrolled shockwaves, but when he looked around, he could not see a single person.
He could not see the guardian giants guarding the temple, and he could not see the treacherous children army attacking him.
Another battle cry exploded beside him, and he could clearly hear the roar coming from a hundred meters away, but when he looked towards the direction of the sound, he could not see a single person. All he saw was a broken greatsword suddenly appearing, and the blade was covered in lightning and flames as it clashed with something invisible. A massive explosion engulfed the place, and a large amount of rocks and metal fragments came crashing towards him, creating countless sparks on the surface of the Steel Membrane Shield.
As he raised his hand to block the destructive shrapnel, Hao Ren's heart suddenly tightened. The illusion this time was indeed different from before!
Everything that happened here could affect him!
The shrapnel that hit the shield were all real, and he could clearly feel that his shield capacity was dropping rapidly in the shockwaves!
"Damn, I can't stay here anymore!" Hao Ren suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and then broke into a run, rushing towards the depths of the temple according to his memory. While he did not know what special meaning this changed illusion had, he felt that the center of the illusion, where the goddess of creation fell, would definitely answer his questions.
Everything around him began to collapse, and just like what he had witnessed before, the ancient and sacred temple was rapidly disintegrating under the attack of the godslayers. Those magnificent pillars and walls were like piles of sand, and they were collapsing layer by layer, while the blood sea of the Star of Creation rolled up monstrous waves outside the temple, as if to swallow the place.
Hao Ren ran wildly in the flames and smoke, and in a blink of an eye, he had crossed countless long corridors and spacious temples. While he could not see anyone, the attack of the godslayers had clearly reached the final line of defense. There was no place in the temple that was not burning, no place that was not collapsing, and at the end of the road, the vaguely familiar door had been breached, and he could feel that the goddess of creation was behind the door.
As he had experienced it once, and with the goddess of creation being found and resurrected by him, Hao Ren felt much calmer than before. He did not hesitate to pass through the door, and the scene that he had seen before appeared before his eyes again.
The figure in golden-red armor stood in front of the altar, holding a black longsword that looked like a cosmic fragment, and on the altar was the goddess of creation, who was quietly welcoming her death. The latter was still shrouded in a ball of light, but he could still vaguely make out the silhouette of Rheia.
"Why didn't I notice that she was short back then …" Hao Ren mumbled as he strode towards the center of the temple.
He realized that time seemed to have frozen here, and the moment he entered the temple, the sounds of battle outside had stopped, and the burning flames in the temple had strangely stopped in mid-air. This was another difference from the previous illusion.
He came to the scene of the godslayer and reached out to grab the arm of the godslayer. He had seen Rheia's real face before, and he saw it almost every day, so this time he did not care much about the goddess of creation, but he was very curious about the assassin who had completed the "heroic act of killing a god" ten thousand years ago.
But when he saw the face of the godslayer, he realized that the face was shrouded in a layer of mist.
"Huh …" Hao Ren was surprised, and he wanted to let go of his hand, but the moment he let go, something happened.
The body of the "godslayer" suddenly melted like wax, and the golden-red armor softened, flowed down, and quickly crawled up Hao Ren's arm. The latter was stunned by the sudden change, and he quickly tried to shake off the "foreign object" that was crawling up his body, but he found that his movements were being restrained by something, and even lifting his arms was extremely difficult.
He felt like he was drunk, and all his limbs had become uncontrollable and abnormally heavy, and in just a few short breaths, the wax-like substance had covered his entire body. He felt like he could not breathe, and he could not make a sound, as his entire body was encased in a thick shell, and the "shell" had begun to move.
He saw "himself" holding the Cosmic Shard longsword in his hand, and slowly raising it, just like in a slow-motion movie, the sword was slowly but surely pierced into the chest of the goddess of creation.
He desperately tried to regain control of his body and stop what he was doing, but no matter how strong his will was, he could not reach the limbs that clearly did not belong to him anymore, and only when the Godslayer pierced through did he realize that his efforts were futile.
He could not change what was recorded in the illusion, and even if he did, it would be meaningless.
It was just a record.
But the truth sent chills down his spine.
The blood of the goddess flowed along the blade, and some of the warm blood even splattered onto his hand. He saw "himself" let go of the hilt, and the blood flowed onto his palm, leaving a burning mark.
And the figure shrouded in light before him became clearer.
All the light gathered and retracted, and the blurry figure turned into Rheia's figure. She was wearing the same white dress as when they first met, leaning on the Gilded Disc behind the altar, and behind the Gilded Disc was the collapsing palace and the surging red sea.
The blood of the goddess of creation was flowing down the altar.
Hao Ren felt the abnormal heaviness in his limbs suddenly disappear, and he regained control of his body. After a brief daze, he rushed towards the direction where Rheia had fallen.
Countless thoughts spun wildly in his mind, and he felt like his brain was filled with glue, and it was hard to function. But in the face of the huge amount of information, he still maintained the last bit of clarity, and he relied on this bit of clarity to suppress all the negative emotions as he propped Rheia's upper body up with his arm to check on her.
The last time he entered the illusion, he saw that the deicide was followed by the explosion of the Star of Creation and the descent of the divine wrath. But in this second illusion, something had clearly changed. The explosion of the Star of Creation did not happen, and the divine wrath did not descend. Aside from the deicide itself, everything else seemed to have been delayed.
With Hao Ren's current state, it was hard for him to think about these details. He only felt Rheia's grip on his arm, and the power of the goddess had depleted his Steel Membrane Shield, and the piercing pain made him suspect that his bones were about to break.
Rheia stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes. "It hurts so much!"
(Happy New Year, everyone!)
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