Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 225 Stepping Out of the Final Station, First Encounter with the Fallen God's Shadow
"The place where the gods died"

Faith leaves no altar.

It will only leave behind an empty shell, more wicked than any demon.

The revenge of the forgotten lies hidden in the ashes of every altar.

The train roared into the end of the line, and in the final violent jolt, everyone was almost thrown out of the half-open door by inertia.

The moment the door opened, there were no city lights, nor any familiar paths to guide me.

Before them lay only a dead-end street.

The old wind chimes have long since broken off, the torii gate leans askew on the dark red earth, and the broken shrine stands forlornly by the roadside.
The decaying offerings emitted an eerie odor, and the ashes of incense swirled into a spiderweb.

The collapsed wooden houses and the dilapidated outline of the oriental commercial street are intertwined, and an eerie "divine echo" flows in the air, like a hazy echo in a nightmare.

"...This place looks exactly like an abandoned village where gods were worshipped."

Xiao Lianyin looked around and said in a low voice.

"Unfortunately, gods die faster than men."

Si Ming grinned, his tone relaxed, but there was no hint of a smile in his eyes.

A peculiar, burnt aroma mingled with the stench of blood filled the air.

Wang Yichen gripped his bag tightly, his Adam's apple bobbing, and he lowered his voice to say:
"Do you think... this is the starting point of the new instance?"

“If so,” Xiao Lianyin replied coldly, her voice soft yet sharp as a blade slicing through the eardrum, “we are now on the altar.”

Before they could react further, the fog ahead suddenly began to thicken.

In the shadows of several broken shrines, a ghostly green phosphorescence ignited.

A silent gaze slowly opens in the depths of the night mist.

Si Ming slightly raised his hand, and the star chart of destiny trembled.

"Enemy attack."

The first wave is coming.

Silent as a ghost.

Breaking through the fog was a headless, ferocious dog with will-o'-the-wisps burning on its neck.

It was covered in charred and tattered sacrificial cloth, and its limbs were as thick as a tiger's. When it stepped on the ground, it pressed a deep dent into the ground.

Its severed neck was burning with eerie bluish-green soul fire, a mixture of heat and chill, which spread down its bare shoulder blades.

"...Is that a dog?"

Selene narrowed her eyes, a hint of excitement curving her lips.

Before I could reply, a second threat swept across the sky.

A paper umbrella —

It slowly spun as it fell.

The umbrella was tattered and twisted, with a strange eye-shaped talisman pasted in the center, as if a real eyeball had been torn off and sealed onto it.

As it rotates, dozens of sharp, saw-tooth-like talisman gears are revealed along the edge of the umbrella, emanating a sinister killing intent as they mesh together.

"action!"

Siming instantly assessed the situation, flicked his wrist, and the playing cards spun between his fingertips.

"Cube Cut".

A card shot out, drawing a sharp arc in the air, and precisely inserted itself into the corner of the headless sacrificial hound's charging trajectory.

The blue flames were obstructed and forcibly guided towards the collapsed shrine on the right, deviating from the straight path.

The next second, the battle broke out.

Selene pulled out the blood-stained blade, a bloodthirsty smile playing on her lips:
"It's been a long time... finally, it's not a brain teaser."

Xiao Lianyin didn't say anything more, a dark red light flashed between her lips.

With a swipe of lipstick, her thin lips shimmered with an alluring glow.

A sly glint flashed in her eyes as she smiled and gave the order:

"Martin, twelve steps ahead, target right front knee."

The painter stepped out as if under a spell, the blade drawing out a shimmering light, precisely slicing through the air piled high with talismans.

At the same time, the Paper Eye Umbrella flew down from the sky.

Five ink-paper talismans rained down like a storm, bursting into billowing black smoke upon hitting the ground, condensing into shadow traps that wriggled and opened.

"The roof on the left!"

The God of Fate issued another warning.

While he was hiding, a growing suspicion began to form in his mind:

These monsters—

Whether it's the texture, the talisman paper, or the aura it exudes, it all carries a certain "rewritten divinity".

Unlike regular copy generators.

More like—the corpses of ancient gods, forcibly molded into weapons.

And this street is just like someone's stage.

The headless sacrificial dog howled, then suddenly pushed off the ground and leaped high into the air.

Its forelimbs, like ferocious serrated blades, slashed fiercely at the nearest target—

Wang Yichen!
"Get away!"

Selene roared and flashed past like lightning.

The power of the vampire was activated within her.

In the blink of an eye, she stepped on ghostly flames, blood shadows bloomed, and her figure instantly appeared in front of Wang Yichen.

Its claws drew sharp arcs, tearing viciously at the dog's forelimbs!
"--broken."

With a cracking sound of bones breaking and flesh being torn apart, blood mist rose into the air.

The headless sacrificial hound howled mournfully, yet refused to stop. Its severed forelegs wrapped around Selene's calf, and it swung violently, attempting to drag her into the black flames to perish together.

Selene sneered.

"She's really persistent."

She twisted her waist and the blood-red blade shot out from her arm, transforming into a snake-like shape, and pierced directly through the vicious dog's mangled body!

Blood energy erupted, forming a deafening shockwave that tore the headless sacrificial hound's body in two!

The blood mist dissipated, and the sacrificial dog collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"pretty."

Si Ming whistled and, without stopping, flipped over three playing cards.

Spades, Hearts, Diamonds.

"Hearts - Burning, Three-point fire line".

He whispered the name and flicked his finger to play a card.

The playing card pierced through the thick smoke and landed precisely in the center of the spinning phantom of the paper-eyed divine umbrella!
"—Explode!" Boom!

Flames burst forth, like burning flowers, illuminating the night mist for a fleeting moment.

The paper-faced magic umbrella has been exposed!

I see you.

Selene took a deep breath of blood energy, and a crimson shadow erupted.

The next second, she fell like a crimson moon.

With a stomp of its toes, it crushed the fallen talisman paper, flipped in the air, and reached for the strange talisman paper in the center of the umbrella with its claws!

"Shut up!"

With a cracking sound.

The paper-shaped divine umbrella, like a broken puppet, exploded into countless burning fragments of talisman paper.

The ground was finally quiet for a second.

Until the two remains of the fallen god completely disintegrated and turned into scattered ashes.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The bloody battle has come to an end.

The entire dead-end street fell silent for a moment, with only eerie, wind-chime-like sounds coming from the broken lanterns in the distance, echoing and wandering in the night fog.

The remains of the paper-eyed divine umbrella and the headless sacrificial dog twitched on the ground, gradually collapsing into a pool of thick, black mud.

But the black mud did not seem to be completely dead. It slowly writhed, as if some lingering will was seeping into the ground along the cracks in the street, and was summoned back by some invisible force like ink.

Si Ming squatted down, dipped his finger in the mud, and felt a chill run through his fingertip.

He frowned and said in a low voice:
"This is not an ordinary life-type summon."

"This thing... seems to retain some kind of will, as if it's searching for a way back."

Xiao Lianyin stood motionless to the side, her fingers now hanging down naturally, but her red lips were tightly pursed.

Her gaze was calm and sharp as she stared intently at the ever-pervading fragments of the fallen god. A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling the black hair around her ears, but she seemed completely oblivious.

“They’re not ‘wild,’” she whispered, her voice soft yet sharp as an ice blade cutting through the air.

"These are not monsters generated by some dungeon system, but rather—someone intentionally 'raised' them."

He Chengxun was panting heavily, leaning on a metal rod he had torn from the rubble. His face was pale and his forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

"These...are not normal."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was low, hoarse, and strained.

"That umbrella... it can even mimic my shadow before attacking, as if it can predict my movements."

Ryoma Takenaka stood to Xiao Lianyin's right rear, his expression slightly changing. He quickly opened his notebook, organizing the trajectory of each attack as he muttered:
"Structured and with an unusually fast reaction speed... Unless it possesses an independent will, it is a high-level customized type."

He stopped speaking quietly before he could finish.

He realized it.

These existences likely transcend the scope of explanation provided by the conventional generation logic of the mysterious world.

Wang Yichen leaned against the broken wall, his face ashen.

His coat was almost torn in half by the claws, and sweat mixed with bloodstains soaked his clothes, but his eyes were still fixed on the black mud disappearing into the crevice, and his breathing was heavy.

"We... we're just going to let it go back like that?"

Si Ming did not turn around, but only gave a soft laugh.

"If it wants to leave, can you stop it?"

He flicked his fingertip, shaking off the black mud, his tone somewhat inscrutable.

"Perhaps it's just going home."

Fabio walked over, his hands still bearing the bloody cuts from his claws, but he licked the blood off his fingers with a look of enjoyment, grinning as he said:
"These guys...are they sacrifices?"

He paused, revealing his pearly white teeth, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Or, the priest?"

"It doesn't matter," Si Ming replied casually.

All we know is that their owner—has not yet appeared.

Xiao Lianyin finally raised her head, her gaze slowly turning towards the end of the street.

There, the shrine torii gate, which was originally hidden behind smoke and shadows, is slowly revealing its outline.

The pillar is mottled and charred, the plaque hangs crookedly, half burned and half engraved with blurred ancient characters.

A restless and twisted malice slowly spread from the depths of the building, which had not yet truly taken shape.
It was as if some ancient being had awakened in the void, coldly watching these invaders.

Xu Jinxiao stood quietly in the corner, without saying a word.

His shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly.

His gaze was fixed on the torii gate, as if it held some secret that only he could perceive.

"This battle..."

Xiao Lianyin spoke softly, her voice revealing a hint of weariness and composure.

"This is just the beginning."

Si Ming put away the last playing card that hadn't yet burned out, a meaningful smile playing on his lips:
"Then, what else can we do?"

"Of course, we should keep moving forward."

"If you want to live, you have to keep moving."

Everyone was silent.

The night wind stirred the dilapidated shrine and stirred the charred ashes on the ground.

"Let's go."

Xiao Lianyin turned around and took the first step.

Her black high heels clattered crisply on the charred black tiles, each step seeming to tap out a silent and distorted heartbeat rhythm.

Wang Yichen gritted his teeth and followed closely behind.

Fabio squinted, licked the still-damp blood from his fingertips, and murmured:

"I...want to see...those 'gods' again."

No one answered him.

They walked through long, dilapidated streets and ruins, heading into the unknown darkness.

In the distance, the black mist continued to churn, like countless slumbering fallen shikigami whispering and writhing in the shadows, waiting to awaken.

Waiting,

The next hunt will be even deeper.

"The gods no longer reside in temples."

They only live in the burned-down torii gate.
"And the remnants of faith abandoned by humanity."

(End of this chapter)