# 1878
Chapter 1871: Fall of the Hidden Gods
An Qingyu walked to the chessboard, lowering her head to gaze at the scattered pieces, lost in thought.
"What? Has your soul injury recovered?"
Lin Qiye's voice drifted out from the room. He pushed open the door and spoke to An Qingyu standing before the chessboard.
Of course, Lin Qiye had not rested. At his current realm, unless he suffered like An Qingyu had—with soul damage—he didn't need sleep to recover. His cross-legged meditation in the room was merely because he had poured all his energy into his Seraph avatar.
The moment he sensed An Qingyu rise, he immediately diverted part of his consciousness back.
He wanted to interact with An Qingyu as much as possible—only this way could he extract more intelligence.
An Qingyu didn't look up at him. She simply stared at the chessboard and said slowly, "You want to imitate my chess style... Unfortunately, you can only replicate about seventy percent of it."
"Is that so?"
Lin Qiye walked to the chessboard and sat down, waving his hand to gather all the pieces back into the basket. "You're right. After all, I'm not you. No matter how much I imitate, it's merely hollow form... Rather than playing against the you in my imagination, it's simpler to face the real person."
An Qingyu spoke calmly, "We've faced each other many times, haven't we?"
"The matches at the Shangjing courtyard—you were mentally obstructed, so they don't count as true encounters... The game in the asylum—we both know what the purpose was, so that doesn't count either. Calculating it this way, we've actually never truly played against each other."
An Qingyu glanced at him. After a moment of hesitation, she still sat down across from Lin Qiye.
"I'm very busy. This game might be the last one."
"The last game, you say..."
Lin Qiye moved the basket of white pieces to his side. "For me, it's the same."
"This time you take white?"
"Before, I took black because I was naturally the first to move... Now, it no longer matters who moves first." Lin Qiye picked up a white piece and gently placed it somewhere on the board.
An Qingyu gazed at the basket of black pieces before her and nodded slightly. "True."
She picked up a black piece and placed it right next to Lin Qiye's white one.
"Do you know what I was thinking when I played chess alone here yesterday?" Lin Qiye spoke as he played.
"What?"
"I was thinking that both our true bodies are in this courtyard, seeing each other every day. The distance between us is so close it's almost like we're at a school summer camp together... Yet through our respective avatars, we can influence the entire world's situation.
The world is vast—so vast that even a Supreme God can only be considered a piece on this board. The world is small—so small that on this tiny chessboard, we can decide the final outcome."
An Qingyu's eyes narrowed slightly. She raised her head to look at Lin Qiye and said unhurriedly:
"You compare the world to a chessboard—that's fine. However, if you consider the game within this board to be the basis for determining victory or defeat, you may never win."
Lin Qiye's hand paused mid-move.
He frowned, looking into An Qingyu's eyes, and asked in a low voice:
"Are you saying... the thing that decides victory or defeat isn't on this chessboard?"
"The world is small, the chessboard is even smaller... Some things are bigger than them, and incomparably bigger." An Qingyu placed her piece, capturing the surrounded white pieces and casually tossing them to the side of the board. "Chess is the game between pieces, but games... are merely games."
Lin Qiye contemplated An Qingyu's words. Just as he was about to continue his move, An Qingyu abruptly stood and walked toward the courtyard's exit.
"The game isn't finished. Where are you going?" Lin Qiye asked.
"The game outside isn't finished, so the moves on the board naturally won't have an ending..."
An Qingyu returned to the edge of the mist wall, traced her finger through the air, and the mist immediately parted to both sides, leaving a path out. "I will continue to make moves—but not here."
As the black shadow vanished into the mist, the entire courtyard fell silent once more.
Lin Qiye sat alone by the chessboard, staring at the black-and-white remnants of the game, deep in thought.
...
Mist.
A massive black figure, treading waves beneath its feet, flashed across the sea at lightning speed.
Lina stood on Fenrir's back, her gaze fixed ahead. The fierce wind billowed the corners of her garments. As if recalling something, she retrieved a mask from her chest and put it on, concealing her features.
As the demonic wolf Fenrir raced rapidly across the water, the outline of an Island emerged from the mist.
The Island wasn't large—flying just slightly above would reveal its complete coastline. At the center of this barren Island stood a majestic ancient crater.
Riding Fenrir, Lina leapt from the coastline, soaring above the crater and descending straight down.
Darkness continuously rose around Lina. After a moment, a gleam of white light appeared from the bottom. She and Fenrir crashed into the light. When the glow faded, they had arrived at the center of a Vast Desert.
Lina briefly oriented herself before continuing toward a certain direction.
This was a small space independent from the outside world. Like Asgard and Takamagahara, these divine kingdoms existed separately—only much smaller in scale.
This desert space had once been the fallen mythology of some lost god in the mist. Later, Si Xiaonan discovered this place and, through a combination of force and persuasion, brought the indigenous deities under her control on behalf of the [Hidden Gods]. This became the stronghold of the [Hidden Gods].
Though small in area and harsh in environment, it had the advantage of being hidden—difficult for others to locate. It fit the [Hidden Gods]' low-profile nature.
Hmph—!
Midway through, Fenrir beneath Lina's feet suddenly stopped.
The demonic wolf from the underworld continuously sniffed the air, a low growl rumbling from its throat. Its expression was one of extreme vigilance.
Lina's expression changed. She swiftly dismounted and, patting its leg to signal it to shrink, cautiously advanced toward the center along the surrounding obstacles...
By this point, even Lina could smell the metallic tang of blood in the air. Her brow furrowed deeper. As the ruined palace complex came into view in the distance, shattered corpses lay scattered about in disarray, as if torn apart and devoured by some colossal beast!
A layer of deep yellow mucus still coated these bodies, emanating a foul stench. The entire divine kingdom appeared swollen and grotesque, like something pickled.
Fenrir's fur stood on end. It stared intently at the mucus covering the bodies and palaces, its eyes crimson as blood.
The smell of the Cthulhu deities.
Lina stood frozen, gazing at the familiar corpses scattered across the ground. In the scorching Vast Desert, an icy chill rose in her heart!
The [Hidden Gods]... had fallen.