Book 10: Chapter 51: Metamorphosis

“Crack, crack, crack!” As the ruins underwent drastic changes, the interior passageways began to rearrange themselves. Countless stone fragments fell from the ceiling.

The network of passageways in the ruins originally expanded from the inside out. But now, as the ruins rose from deep underground, they blocked the outer mountain tunnels. The tunnels closest to the original central passage became blocked by solid rock, leaving only the middle section intact.

During the transformation of the ruins, the first to suffer were the six Bingren Mecha left outside the silver gate by Qin Lun and the others. They were completely crushed into pieces by the closing mountain walls.

Next in danger were the still-fighting Apostles, as well as Alex and his group. Luckily, Alex and his team had been fighting a guerrilla war in the middle section of the ruins’ tunnels to cover their own Apostles. Although this area was also changing constantly, there was still some room for them to escape outward.

To be honest, the rearrangement of the passageways unexpectedly gave them a chance to break through the encirclement. In fact, neither the joint team of Chaos and Divine Light, nor the Hismere Guardians who had later entered the ruins, had any intention to fight anymore. All were scrambling to get out.

The shifting passageways were unpredictable and almost tore the intact teams into pieces. Often, a companion who was right beside you one moment would be separated by a stone wall the next. Members from different factions, who were enemies just moments ago, had to help each other the next second, becoming companions relying on each other for survival.

In comparison, Alex and the other Gith Flight Officers were quite pleased. The changes in the ruins proved that their Apostles had entered the center of the ruins. Even if they hadn’t gained complete control, they must have made significant gains.

The other two parties—the Chaos team and the Hismere Guardians—were not in such a good mood. Although the Chaos team led by Gan Luo had not suffered any casualties, their frustration was understandable.

As for the Hismere Guardians, “frustration” was an understatement. The Hismere Guardians under Saintess Ruxin’s command had lost more than half their numbers. Over ten had fallen in the battle against the Insectoids outside the ruins, and more than thirty others were killed by the joint team of Chaos and Divine Light.

Before the ruins changed drastically, Gan Luo, unable to capture Alex and the others, vented all his anger on the Hismere. The Guardians finally witnessed the true power of the Descendant Apostles.

What terrified Saintess Ruxin the most was that even after sacrificing over thirty Guardians, they could only injure but not kill the enemy. The Apostles’ strong vitality and seamless cooperation left an unforgettable mark in their hearts.

As the ruins changed, one glowing figure after another flew out from inside. Some escaped through passageways that hadn’t yet closed, while others blasted their way out with incredibly powerful firepower.

The escaping glowing figures gradually gathered into three small groups in the air. The group with the fewest members was Alex’s side; they only had seven mechas left. The largest group was still the Hismere Guardians, with about thirty people remaining under Ruxin’s leadership, joined by seven other Apostles. Meanwhile, Qin Mei and her two companions, who had never entered the pyramid, were now missing.

The joint team of Chaos and Divine Light, led by Gan Luo, was very lucky and didn’t lose anyone. However, some members were too severely injured to continue fighting, leaving about ten Apostles still active.

After escaping the ruins, Alex and the others did not flee far. In fact, everyone present—whether Apostles or Hismere Guardians—knew that the changes in the ruins were related to their side. If not for mutual wariness, they would have been captured already.

However, Alex and his group did not look discouraged. The Gith Flight Officers all wore happy expressions. At least for now, their sacrifices were not in vain; Qin Lun and the others had found the angel inheritance inside the ruins.

After these three groups escaped the ruins, the transformation of the ruins was nearly complete. A vast, stepped pyramid stood in the mountains as if it had existed since ancient times. The stone platform that was originally at the bottom of the ruins’ funnel had now become the pyramid’s top platform. It was slowly opening, revealing a multi-colored magic cube assembled in the underground palace, and seven figures shrouded in a glowing haze in front of the cube.

Seeing this, the Apostles and Hismere Guardians hovering in the air lit up with excitement and immediately swooped down toward the stone platform at the top of the ruins.

However, at that moment, the magic cube at the pyramid’s top suddenly floated up. It slowly rotated above the ruins, using one corner as a pivot point, scattering countless colored rays of light.

The colored light enveloped the pyramid, forming a square protective shield. Almost half of the Apostles from the Chaos side and the Hismere Guardians couldn’t stop in time and crashed into the shield.

This shield seemed to recognize friend from foe. Alex and the others passed through it without any resistance, and the magic cube even extended seven strands of light to cover them. The other two groups, however, hit what felt like an elastic net and were bounced back.

At the same time the shield appeared, a straight beam of light shot up from the magic cube, piercing through the clouds above the ruins and projecting a huge three-dimensional image. The image showed the Angel Race, which only existed in the consciousness of Qin Lun and the others. The angel speaking softly at the front was Sanova.

“Sir, we can’t hear what those projections are saying,” Black said uncertainly, looking at Gan Luo.

“Don’t worry. They seem unable to move right now too. This shield probably won’t last long. It will end eventually!” Gan Luo waved his hand, his expression grim. He glanced at the Hismere in the distance. “Keep an eye on them. Don’t let those Hismere women cause trouble.”

…

“Saintess, what do we do now? The Gith have obtained the Final Gospel,” one of the Hismere Guardians said anxiously. Compared to Gan Luo and the other Apostles, the Hismere Guardians were more frantic. Based on the contents of the Divination Poem, they understood better what the Final Gospel meant.

“Don’t rush. Even if the Gith have obtained the Final Gospel, they will need some time to fuse with it. Once the shield disappears, we still have a chance to capture them and extract the power of the Final Gospel from their bodies,” Saintess Ruxin said with a dark expression. “There’s no other way now. Where is Qin Mei?”

“I haven’t seen her,” the inquiring Hismere Guardian said, startled. She looked around. “There are seven Descendant Apostles still here. They couldn’t contact Lady Qin Mei either.”

“Forget it. We can manage without her,” Ruxin’s beautiful face showed a hint of anger as she suppressed her irritation. “Are the remaining Descendant Apostles willing to help us?”

“I’ll ask…” The Guardian looked slightly embarrassed and turned away. When she returned, her expression was even worse. “The remaining Descendant Apostles are willing to help, but they have set a condition: they want half of the extracted Gospel power.”

Hearing this, Ruxin’s expression actually calmed down. “It seems Qin Mei has deciphered all the contents of the Divination Poem. No wonder she risked breaking relations with us earlier by sending Apostles into the pyramid. Agree to their terms. We’ll deal with the Insectoid Apostles first.”

Ruxin’s assumption wronged Qin Mei. The Demon’s Charm had indeed deciphered all the contents of the Divination Poem, but the Apostles who entered the pyramid did so of their own accord, not under her orders. In fact, when Qin Mei slipped away quietly, she didn’t even notify those seven independent Apostles.

Qin Mei’s disappearance also caused some panic among these seven Apostles. They regretted not staying by her side. In the previous two Quest Worlds they followed Qin Mei, situations like this usually resulted in casualties.

However, Qin Mei had previously told them her possible guesses about the Final Gospel. Faced with the temptation, they still chose to stay. In their eyes, their side still had over thirty Guardians plus the seven of them, so their strength wasn’t bad.

…

“Sister Hu Fei, look at those seven Lost Apostles in the haze. The one in the middle…” Little Lian tugged Hu Fei’s sleeve and pointed at the pyramid’s stone platform below. “Is that him?”

“Yes. Even though he has a pair of small wing-like things on his back now, his face looks exactly the same as that person’s,” Hu Fei remained silent for a moment, then said expressionlessly, “We really ran into him… the serial killer ‘Dissector’ Joey Foster!”

“Sister Hu Fei, we can’t be sure it’s Joey. Maybe it’s Qin Lun!” Little Lian said uneasily.

“Little Lian, are you still holding onto hope for that serial killer?” Hu Fei glared fiercely at Little Lian. “Didn’t you say he revealed in the World War II World that Qin Lun and Joey are actually one?”

“I think he had other reasons back then!” Little Lian’s chubby face scrunched up, and she rarely sighed. “Sister Hu Fei, don’t forget I’ve also seen his previous files. Thinking back now, if his two personalities were truly one, many things wouldn’t make sense.”

“Regardless, we have our own team now. Let’s not get involved with him anymore,” Hu Fei’s expression froze, then she pinched Little Lian’s tender cheek in frustration. “Stupid girl, you’ve grown some nerve now, daring to argue with your sister, huh?”

“Ouch, ouch, ouch… Dear sister, let go, look, look, the people below are changing!” Little Lian cried out in pain and quickly pointed at the pyramid’s stone platform to distract Hu Fei.

“Stupid girl, that trick won’t work… Huh? They really are changing. They’re getting taller!” Hu Fei turned her head and saw the situation on the stone platform, her beautiful eyes widening in surprise.

Qin Lun and the others, enveloped in the glowing haze on the stone platform, were growing larger. Soon, they became about the same size as the nearby Bingren Mecha. Moreover, the small wings on the Angel Clones they possessed, which originally looked like decorations, were also growing. They slowly transformed, becoming like the Angel Race that appeared in the clouds. At least in appearance, there was no difference now.

As for the Bingren that Bobby was piloting, it was assimilated by Bobby inside the mecha and completely turned into a member of the Angel Race. The mecha’s face also transformed into Bobby’s own. And the Bingren Mecha of Alex and the others, who had entered the shield later, also underwent significant changes.

Although they were enveloped in the glowing haze for a much shorter time than Qin Lun’s group, the remaining seven semi-biological mechas now completely lost the texture of composite metal on their surfaces. Instead, they showed the patterns of biological muscle tissue. They became fully biological mechas that perfectly matched Alex and the others.