At another location on the sea.
There was also an island located here.
The island’s total area, the sand, and rocks on it, even the number and species of trees were exactly the same as the one on Gu Qing Shan’s side.
A remote island without any life.
Even sea birds would only occasionally fly over this place.
At this time, three outsiders were standing on the beach of the island.
The Soul Shrieker with a half-man, half-woman face.
The God of Life whose body sprouted black tentacles all over.
And the flaming corpse wrapped in chains——- the Raging Flame Traveler.
They were all staring down at the wooden boat in front of them.
『 According to [Chaos], only two individuals can board this ‘Crossing Fish’』the God of Life commented.
The Soul Shrieker stared carefully at her for a while, then turned to the Raging Flame Traveler.
『「 Aren’t there any other solutions? 』」
It asked its two servants.
The God of Life didn’t answer, but hundreds of her tentacles flew like blurred images towards the center of the island.
Several large trees were chopped down and quickly remade into a wooden raft.
『 Go 』
The God of Life muttered.
The wooden raft flew from the island onto the surface of the sea.
Bam!
A huge wave emerged from the water and crushed the wooden raft.
——seems like that’s not possible.
The Raging Flame Traveler pondered: 「 If this boat will only allow two living beings, I think I’ve come up with a solution 」
『「 What solution? 』」
The Raging Flame Traveler answered: 「 I was originally a flaming corpse, so I can simply enter the state of death 」
「 Make sense, this way, you won’t be considered a living being 」the Soul Shrieker said with its male voice.
The Raging Flame Traveler stepped onto the ship and sat down.
All of a sudden, the flames on his body were snuffed out and he collapsed inside the boat.
「『 Alright, let’s go 」』the Soul Shrieker said.
Both it and the God of Life light leapt onto the boat.
It remained still.
Lines of small text appeared on the deck of the boat:
[This boat will only allow two living beings; corpses aren’t allowed on this boat]
[Furthermore, you have yet to repair this boat]
[Only by fulfilling the above conditions will ‘Crossing Fish’ begin to move]
Repairing the boat was only a small issue, and the Soul Shrieker didn’t pay much heed to it. It simply picked out a few random trees, cut them into the correct shapes from afar, then patched up the few damaged parts of the boat.
The few later lines then disappeared, leaving only the very first one:
[This boat will only allow two living beings; corpses aren’t allowed on this boat]
The boat remained still.
The Soul Shrieker muttered: 『「 It turns out that the ‘only 2 living beings allowed’ condition means that only two living beings may board this boat, any other entities aren’t allowed to ride it 』」
『 I know a few water controlling techniques, let me try using it to push the boat 』saying so, the God of Life attempted to act.
「『 Stop! 」』
The Soul Shrieker hurriedly stopped her and said:
『「 The water is filled with strange and eerie forces; you should definitely not try to touch it 』」
The God of Life said: 『 Then we’ll have to think for a bit more, perhaps there’ll be some other solutions 』
The three Deities of [Chaos] went back into the island.
The Raging Flame Traveler tried to fly but was forcefully knocked back to the island after leaving its vicinity just a bit, by which he suffered some light wounds.
The God of Life attempted to turn into a Card——- as she once studied Lady Darksea’s Card, she had a certain level of comprehension and the ability to achieve this.
But that turned out to be useless as well.
The boat continued to stay completely still, now displaying a new line of text:
[This boat will only allow two living beings; no transformed creature can board the boat]
Time slowly passed.
There were 10 minutes left.
——–in 10 minutes, a kind of Apocalypse would descend on the island.
The Soul Shrieker was growing increasingly irritated.
Its female voice spoke:
『 It seems that only one of you may board the ship with me 』
『 Then, prove to me which one of you is stronger 』
『 I will allow the stronger servant to accompany me forward 』
The God of Life and Raging Flame Traveler exchanged glances.
When [Chaos] summoned them, they were both able to hear the Soul Shrieker’s vow
『「…I require two servants. I am willing to grant them similar qualifications to obtain the Deific Authority…』」
Their opponents were three mere mortals.
Or rather, one of them was quite decent, but the other two weren’t much to consider.
This is an Apotheotic Combat with a very grand prize.
If, at the very last moment, something were to happen to the Soul Shrieker.
The Chaos True Deity ring.
The Chaos Dragon King scepter.
The Deific Authority.
——-I would be able to obtain all of these at once!
If I remain on this remote island, not only would I obtain nothing, I’d also face the threat of the Apocalypse.
The God of Life suddenly declared: 『 Back down, Raging Flame Traveler, you may be strong, but you’re far from being my match 』
The Raging Flame Traveler scoffed: 「 Stop spouting nonsense, ever since the Age of Immemorial, I was already unbeatable, while you were nothing! 」
The God of Life paused.
She stared at her opponent and spoke in a low voice: 『 Unbeatable? A piece of garbage that doesn’t even dare to challenge the Inner Plane, calling himself unbeatable? 』
Both Deities abruptly vanished.
Bam!
They clashed with all their might.
The invisible shockwaves spread in an attempt to even the sky above, blowing all the clouds away.
With the Raging Flame Traveler and God of Life’s clash, the entire island began to collapse and sink into the sea.
The Soul Shrieker could only jump onto the Crossing Fish.
『「 No need to fight only longer, I’ve seen the difference in your strength 』」it loudly declared.
The Raging Flame Traveler and God of Life both reappeared.
They stood on the few rocks that hadn’t thoroughly sunk and both looked at the Soul Shrieker.
「『 God of Life, your strength certainly cannot be denied, but you have a great shortcoming 」』
The Soul Shrieker stood on top of the boat and announced from above.
『「 You are too afraid of death 』」
「『 Even in a pivotal occasion like this Apotheotic Combat, once you notice something wrong and that your life might be in danger, the first thing you’ll attempt is to survive, and not to kill your enemy 」』
『「 And so, you shall remain 』」
The God of Life froze.
The Raging Flame Traveler looked up at the sky and laughed, then lightly leapt onto the boat.
He turned around and told the God of Life in a sarcastic voice: 「 Goodbye, God-of-afraid-to-die, I heard that there was a Deity who escaped before everyone else when the Inner Plane was destroyed, hid themselves within a mysterious location in the void and ate their own descendants to survive for countless years 」
「 —–that piece of garbage doesn’t happen to be you now, does it? 」
Hearing that, the God of Life’s presence exploded.
She had been thoroughly angered and roared:
『 DAMN YOU! You’re nothing but a corpse, how dare you talk to me that way! 』
Thousands of black tentacles shot out from behind her, attempting to attack the Raging Flame Traveler without regard for any consequences.
『「 STOP! 』」the Soul Shrieker suddenly shouted.
The God of Life was surprised and turned to the Soul Shrieker.
『 That corpse just ridiculed me 』she pointed at the Raging Flame Traveler.
The Soul Shrieker answered indifferently: 「『 I don’t care what issues you and he have with one another, he is currently my servant, and will need to accompany me to the next round of tests 」』
『「 Whether you try to attack him or if your battle destroys this boat, I will guarantee your death 』」
Hearing that, the God of Life couldn’t help but take a step back.
Indeed, the Soul Shrieker now required the Raging Flame Traveler’s allegiance.
They are figuratively and literally on the same ship.
Without a doubt, if I tried to attack, the Soul Shrieker and Raging Flame Traveler will both act at once to kill me.
The God of Life’s presence fluctuated up and down a few times but eventually settled down.
She no longer dared to attack.
Compared to relieving a bit of anger, my life is more important.
——-the Raging Flame Traveler seemed to be as strong as I am, perhaps barely a bit stronger.
The Soul Shrieker is also growing stronger day by day.
The Era of [Chaos] has been constantly supporting it in becoming stronger.
Against the joint attack of these two, I will definitely die.
The God of Life stood motionlessly.
She stared as the small boat slowly sped up and left the area of the island, but still didn’t dare to attack.
The Soul Shrieker turned around at the God of Life one last time and said: 『「 Remain here, as long as you can endure the incoming Apocalypse, [Chaos] will transport you back 』」
「『 —–After all, your expertise is survival 」』
The Raging Flame Traveler followed up: 「 Indeed, this is certainly the most suitable arrangement for you 」
The boat slowly left.
It was only after the boat had disappeared into the horizon that the God of Life loudly roared:
『 Bullshit, Soul Shrieker, you will definitely fail! 』
『 Without me, [Chaos] will discard you, the Raging Flame Traveler will steal everything from you! 』
『 From now on, I will no longer listen to your orders 』
『 I, pledge my allegiance solely to [Chaos]! 』
After a few lines of curses, the God of Life abruptly shut up.
She displayed a look of fear.
Time had come.
From the sky above, something was slowly approaching.
——-an endless sense of death spread.
An Apocalypse had arrived!