Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

Ever since learning that Hayasaka was nearly killed by this player last time, Kaguya had been waiting for a chance to take revenge. With the blessing of berserk mode, the speed of this strike was so fast that even a Red Moon-level player would have difficulty reacting. It easily severed Chen Qiucai's hand and almost completely split his body in half.

"How is this possible... this... uh... this..."

The unexpected situation shocked Chen Qiucai. The damage to his body caused his voice to change, from a relatively normal sound that sounded like a human being to a rapidly changing, eerie sound.

However, he had no chance to say anything more, because after Kaguya slashed, the third bomb was summoned and exploded on the spot.

boom! ! !

The blazing flames swept wildly in all directions, engulfing the entire town in an instant.

Of course, all players in the town were designated as immune to damage when the bomb was launched. Although Qianhua couldn't confirm how many players were still alive, she didn't know if the bomb could help the Dark Night level players escape.

"call--"

Amidst the crimson light, Kaguya, who had maintained her Berserk Blessing throughout the explosion, managed to withstand the terrifying shockwave by lying prone on the ground the instant the explosion ended. She then burst forth from the burning flames, meeting Chen Qiucai, who had been blasted away.

Her goal was certainly not to torture the other party. For the players who lacked the last condition, the most important thing was always to confirm the location of the last core artifact. Therefore, Gao Hai took the initiative to go and find Li Ziyong. Meanwhile, the players in the hidden village were waiting for the enemy to come to them, hoping to find their possible lair by working backward from their appearance and find the last core artifact that might be in the hands of the Li family.

Even with each breath, Kaguya, who was blessed and designated to be unharmed, could clearly feel the scalding airflow being inhaled into her lungs.

Oh my god...

Amidst the piercing screams, Chen Qiucai, almost completely charred, did not die. He struggled within the sea of ​​flames, and his body could even be seen slowly recovering. However, it was only recovering in the form of a paper doll.

A chilling aura locked onto Kaguya in an instant.

In her line of sight, Chen Qiu's charred head was forcibly turned around, and he looked at Kaguya with his neck completely broken. Then, the girl felt something terrifying coming toward her.

boom!

Then, a suppression shell appeared out of thin air next to Chen Qiucai and hit him straight in the face.

The locking aura vanished instantly, and the girl quickened her pace once more.

Kaguya knew this was the penultimate suppression shell; after this, Takami would only have one more suppression shell left, and she wouldn't be able to replenish it for another 24 hours. Therefore, the following operation could not afford any mistakes and had to be executed flawlessly in one go.

Uh...uh...

Chen Qiucai was not frozen in place, but his movements were slowed down for a moment.

Even after being hit directly by an aerial bomb and then suppressed by a stun bomb, the player hadn't completely lost his ability to move. At this point, Kaguya was certain that the opponent had been affected by the power of a Red Moon-class core artifact, and that there might be more than one artifact on him at work. But even this brief moment of delay was enough for Kaguya and the other players who had arrived to complete their operation.

Boom!

The Bizen Osafune's Xuan Guang, capable of increasing in power according to the user's will, pierced through Chen Qiucai's body, pinning him directly to a broken wall not far away.

One by one, ghost money fell from the sky and landed on Chen Qiucai, forcibly sealing the uncontrollable obsessions on his body.

Tangyuan and Xiao Guo caught up from the left and right, and some invisible force spread out, pulling Huiye, who was too far ahead, back and avoiding Chen Qiucai's final, desperate counterattack.

Next, the slightly out-of-breath Taoist priest Li Nianyou ran up and came to Chen Qiucai, who was still trying to resist and struggling.

He seemed to be reciting something, his fingers twitching slightly as he made some kind of deduction.

Some kind of power flowed through this man who always liked to tell bad news, and then he suddenly turned his head and reached out his hand towards a certain place. Strangely, as he reached out, a semi-transparent indentation suddenly appeared in the air, and then a door appeared out of thin air.

I've located the place where that poor creature, already devoured by the monster, came from. I acted quickly; this door can only exist for a maximum of 10 seconds. And… I can sense that we'll all die within three minutes at most.

In the temporarily reconnected mental link, the Taoist's solemn voice rang out.

That last sentence is redundant!

Guo, who was very annoyed by this jinx, cursed in the temporary link. Meanwhile, Cat Brother, who had confirmed that all the zombies from the Zhang family village who had rushed over had been suppressed and stopped moving, immediately stepped forward and opened the door. Then, Yili played the guitar and summoned a clone to rush into the door first, confirming that there was no curse power inside that would take effect immediately.

Let's go, don't waste time!

Without the slightest hesitation, all the players rushed into the doorway. Only the Taoist priest remained in place to maintain the door's existence and serve as a spatial coordinate for the group's return.

Kaguya was the third to enter the illusory portal. Upon stepping inside, she found it remarkably similar to the Demon Cry Cave she had explored earlier. However, unlike that completely dark cave, this place seemed to be illuminated by an unknown source, allowing players to see clearly without any external light source.

{These……}

Zhenfei, who followed in, was slightly taken aback, and Tangyuan and Maoge, who were not far away, also showed expressions of understanding.

What did you sense?

Kaguya was somewhat puzzled as to why Maki was in a daze.

{This place looks a lot like Ghost Cry Cave, but it's different. The feeling here is different. This... is very similar to the bottomless lake that Haijun and I entered before. This place, like that unfathomable dark space belonging to the Fox Queen, should be a space shaped by the power of the mountain god.}

Having quickly grasped the feeling, Maki spoke through the mental link and swiftly relayed the information to Takahashi.

However, what's strange is that even though the mental link was working perfectly, and Gao Hai's actions of throwing bombs and firing suppressive rounds just now showed that he had been paying attention to the situation here, no matter how many messages Zhenfei sent to Gao Hai, he had no intention of responding at all and refused to say a word.

What's wrong with Haijun?

Zhenfei felt something was strange. She had a feeling that Gao Hai seemed unwilling to communicate and was rejecting the act of "speaking". She didn't know why this was the case.

But there was simply no time to deal with that now, since the moment they entered this place, the aura of the eerie creature had become stronger than ever before. Even Zhenfei, whose perception wasn't particularly sharp, could now sense that the last core object of obsession was likely hidden in this place that resembled the Ghost Cry Cave.

hum-

The spatial portal maintained by the Taoist priest has dissipated.

In the final moment before the door disappeared, something crimson and writhing seemed to emerge behind him. The man, who had been delivering bad news the entire time, didn't turn around to look at it. He simply shifted his body slightly, making sure that even if someone turned around, the crimson object would be hidden from view by his body. Then the door closed completely, and what happened outside was no longer visible to the players who had entered this special space.

What kind of place is this?!

Xiao Guo sighed in the temporary spiritual connection.

{It looks like a cult's sacrificial site, reminding me of the [Tommello Slaughterhouse] dungeon. Although the scale is completely different, the feeling is indeed very similar.}

Tangyuan crossed his arms and sighed softly, his gaze sweeping over the pile of incomplete, blood-soaked things in the cave.

Incomprehensible and nonsensical patterns were smeared on various parts of the cave.

It was clear at a glance that there were victims who had suffered a lot of torture before they died. No one knew how long they had been lying there, or why their bodies had not decomposed and remained in the same state as when they died.

tread--

A calm footstep sounded in the ears of all the players in the next moment.

Then, when they turned to look at the source of the sound, they saw Li Xiaoxiao walking out of a passage with a smile on her face.

No, that's no longer that person; it's something else.

"Welcome to my testing ground. You may call me Mr. Du."

After the players realized that this person was different from before, Li Xiaoxiao grinned and spoke in a man's voice.

Chapter 143: Believers in Chaos and Believers in Lost Things

This person calls himself Mr. Du?

Although she had considered the dangers that awaited her upon arriving at this place, she never expected to find someone she could talk to, which was somewhat unexpected for Chika.

And this self-proclaimed…Mr. Du has already been identified as the core obsession, right? Why would there be a Mr. Du who seems capable of communication and possesses rationality? Is the other party really Mr. Du? Or is it some kind of strange entity disguised in human skin? Or perhaps, like Folneng, is one of those strange entities that [does not accept that they are dead]?

In the instant the other party revealed their identity, Chika considered many possibilities.

However, as the thing using Li Xiaoxiao's appearance spoke again, all the players present began to feel their consciousness and bodies become sluggish, unable to act quickly, as if they were sinking into an invisible quagmire.

"It's truly astonishing that the world is heading towards its end because of your actions."

Mr. Du spoke with emotion, his gaze towards the players filled with admiration.

"The connection between the mountain god of Xiaoheishan and the villagers of Lijia Village was severed, and almost all the villagers were directly sacrificed. They didn't even have the right to turn back into monsters; they simply returned to the embrace of the god. For those who succumbed to desire, is this a punishment or a gift?"

"The child's soul that the Fox Queen was protecting has lost its most important piece. To be honest, even if it is a fragment that is almost dead, it is still not something that humans of your level can deal with. I really find it hard to imagine how you managed to do it."

"As for the sacred relic I lost, and the jade pendant stored under the mountain god temple, these two items are indeed relatively easy to obtain. Especially the sacred relic I once possessed. As long as the correct Li family bloodline returns, it's perfectly normal for you to find it. Of course, this is also beneficial to me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get this body. Hmph, but it's a little annoying that it's a woman's body."

Mr. Du grinned as he casually commented on the players' actions, making no attempt to hide his appreciation, while also frankly revealing his own situation.

Qianhua observed the man's eyes. Those eyes, which had always been gloomy and dull, originally belonged to Li Xiaoxiao, were now filled with an arrogant disdain for everything. It seemed that he no longer considered himself a member of the human race, but had become something of a higher level, to the point that he was now speaking to the players as if he were an adult commenting on a child's homework.

"What...are you...?"

Cat Brother spoke in a low voice. He seemed to have the highest resistance and adaptability to the power that slowed everyone down, so he was able to speak with difficulty and slowly move his body into a defensive posture.

"I am Mr. Du. Since you have accomplished such an impressive feat, you must know me to some extent."

Mr. Du continued to smile, but the smile became increasingly chilling.

"You...you're using...this instance...to try and become a god...?"

Next to speak was Tangyuan. She was also gradually getting used to this strange power that caused her to move slowly, and she successfully controlled her body's movements shortly after Cat Brother spoke.

Goto Ichiri slowly regained control of her body at this moment, but she was unable to communicate with others naturally, so she did not speak. Instead, she adjusted her position to protect Chika Maki, Kaguya, and the other two who were still not used to it, and carefully guarded the man in front of her.

"Become a god? Hmm... Is that your speculation? Perhaps it could be considered one of the goals, but I'm actually not interested in the so-called 'god'."

Mr. Du slightly suppressed his smile and shook his head.

"Because I have seen the real God."

Then, his expression became devout.

"That is a great being that you cannot comprehend, a source of chaos far beyond this planet."

“That is the abyss, the boundary of reason, the faceless thousand faces, the true god I swore to seek and serve with my soul.”

"Compared to what happens on this tiny planet, it's all so insignificant. Ha, become a god? You're too narrow-minded. I have no interest in gods at all. All I want is to witness the greatness of the true God."

Open your arms.

Mr. Du spoke passionately, his body trembling, and he was almost in tears.

Cat Brother and Tangyuan were caught off guard by this answer and were momentarily at a loss for words. Qianhua, however, immediately recalled what she had seen earlier and began to have some guesses about this "Mr. Du".

"You...you're alive? What...what do you want...the coordinates of the hidden village...have disappeared...you took the Taoist priest...what happened to him..."

At this moment, Xiao Guo, another member of the "Slacking Off Gang," barely managed to break free from the sluggish force and then asked in a somewhat excited tone.

The coordinates disappeared? Li Nianyou from the "Slacking Off Gang," is he in trouble?!

Senka frowned, somewhat aware that the player's behavior at the end was abnormal.

"Ah, I don't know either."

Mr. Du shook his head again and answered calmly.

"But I think he must have encountered something very good, right? After all, with my efforts over the past few hundred years, and the cooperation of those idiots in the Li family, a seal that exists here is about to be broken. That is no easy task, because if I try to break it by force, I will definitely be attacked by those things that are not quite dead yet. Whether it is the mountain god or the fox god, these false gods that cannot leave the planet are still very troublesome."