# 1997
Chapter 1981: Devil's Glory
"I..."
"The mainland isn't far from here. At your speed, it would take you at most two minutes to return to Great Xia... For her, can't you even hold on for two minutes?"
Lu Baoyou fell silent.
"Go quickly... Go see her one more time. You go first, I'll be right behind you."
"Aren't you coming back?"
"My sister's remains are still in these waters... I need to find her first, then go back." Su Zhe helped him up, slowly standing from the debris. "Your time is running out. Go quickly."
Listening to Su Zhe's somewhat urgent tone, Lu Baoyou felt something was off... But as his life force rapidly drained away, his consciousness began to blur.
That face flashed through his mind once more.
"Alright... I'll go see her."
He took a deep breath, forcing a pair of dark red wings to unfold from his back. Dragging this broken body, he flew at full speed toward Great Xia...
As Lu Baoyou's figure vanished beyond the horizon, Su Zhe's expression gradually grew solemn. He turned to look at the distant sea...
A gray mist rolled in from the other side of the ruins, slowly approaching.
After Lin Qiye activated the Second Covenant, no mist had existed in this world... Yet this sudden mist, both in concentration and aura, was far more powerful than the mist that had once shrouded the Earth.
And now, only one being could create such mist.
From within the hazy mist, a black-robed figure took shape.
"What a self-righteous fool..." It glanced at the devastated ruins below and laughed coldly. "Originally, with this body of mine, it would have been difficult to kill you... But who told you to be so stupid?
No doubt even at the moment of your death, you couldn't see through this scheme, right? Hehehehe..."
A massive circular shadow was cast upon the sea's surface. Countless Ancestral God Temple remnants, mixed with the remains of 【Chaos】, tumbled endlessly in the waves...
No one could respond to Its whispered words.
"What that boy said was right—the Cthulhu Faction doesn't need a madman as its leader... After conquering so many universes, I've finally found the opportunity to kill you." It glanced toward Great Xia's direction and said casually,
"And you—you could see through my布局 and use the situation to kill It... You truly do have the qualifications to be my opponent."
It seemed to be staring across the boundless void at a certain figure on the other side of the shore, as if in a silent standoff.
Soon, Its gaze returned to this sea. It raised Its hand and made a light sweeping motion.
From the gray mist that rolled behind It, a grand portal took shape... This portal was no longer a mere illusion but an actual, existent entity. The moment the mysterious gate descended, a majestic and vast aura spread in all directions!
Gate of Truth!
"Your feigned death was indeed perfect, but it couldn't fool my eyes... But don't worry, I won't kill you completely. After all, you are the only one who can connect to that Lord."
It beckoned with a finger, and the Gate of Truth behind it slowly opened. Countless mysterious starlight tentacles extended from within, drilling into the sea beneath the ruins.
Soon, pieces of 【Chaos】's remains were dragged out by the tentacles—joints, limbs, organ fragments, even hair that had already turned to dust... Every part of It was precisely gathered by these tentacles, brought before the 【Key to the Gate】, and vigorously kneaded!
"However, in what way you survive... That is for me to decide."
It said with a light smile.
As those tentacles kneaded, a fist-sized ball of flesh appeared before the 【Key to the Gate】. Like a wrinkled tennis ball, it was casually slapped against the Ancestral God Temple fragments several times, bouncing high with great elasticity...
The 【Key to the Gate】 toyed with this lifeless ball of flesh, stretching it like clay, kneading it, stepping on it to flatten it into a meat pancake, then—puff—it变回 a ball again.
It played this game for over a minute before opening Its mouth and swallowing the flesh ball into Its stomach, Its expression quite leisurely.
As the starlight tentacles retracted back through the gate, the Gate of Truth slowly vanished into nothingness. It turned to leave, then seemed to想起 something and looked in another direction.
"I almost forgot... There's still a little bug that hasn't been dealt with."
In that direction, Su Zhe stood on the surface of a debris fragment, one hand gripping the Straight Blade's hilt, his face deathly pale.
"Vice Captain An... No, you're the 【Key to the Gate】??" Su Zhe said in a deep voice. "You're the one behind all this? You deliberately told 【Chaos】 half of the true information, luring Him here?!"
"You're quite clever." The 【Key to the Gate】 seemed to be in a good mood, smiling as it spoke. "I've already warned Him about one possible future. As for whether subsequent futures changed... What does that have to do with me?
If He hadn't learned about part of the future trajectory in advance and developed blind confidence, how could He have been so easily tricked here?"
"I never expected there to be internal strife within the Cthulhu Faction." Su Zhe laughed coldly. "But... We certainly welcome that."
"One less 【Chaos】 changes nothing... In this chess game, you still have no chance of victory." The 【Key to the Gate】 paused. "But I'm curious... You clearly saw me coming. Why didn't you run?
My mood was quite good earlier. If you had fled with your teammates, I might have let you go."
Su Zhe didn't answer.
He looked down at the surging sea below, his eyes complex.
"Run... and then what? As the sole survivor, the one who least deserved to live, enjoy the glory they bought with their lives? By then, the world would only know Su Zhe—no one would remember the other sacrifices..."
"I've been abandoned once already... This time, I want to stay with them."
A resolute light flashed in Su Zhe's eyes. The hand gripping the hilt gradually tightened.
A crisp blade cry echoed across the ruined sea!
Clang—!!
He held the Straight Blade in one hand, his deep purple cloak raging wildly in the wind, like a ferocious and terrifying devil!
"The glory of 【Devil】 Squad belongs to all members of 【Devil】. Perhaps only a team that died to the last person on the battlefield deserves such a grand honor!"
Su Zhe roared with laughter. A thunderous sonic boom exploded behind him as his figure became a purple lightning bolt, slashing toward the 【Key to the Gate】's neck!
"【Devil】 Squad, Su Zhe! Requesting to engage the Cthulhu Faction's Pillar God!!!"
"【恶魔】小队苏哲！请战克系柱神！！！"