Chapter 532: Becoming a God and Returning

Chapter 532: Chapter 532: Becoming a God and Returning

In that instant.

Every Player inside the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon saw the pillar of light.

No matter where they were—deep within the Demonic Forest, in the ruins of the Abandoned City, at the edge of the Toxic Mist Swamp, or at the end of the Desert—everyone looked up and saw the light that pierced through heaven and earth.

And the Native People, the survivors struggling to get by in this cursed world, saw it too.

Some fell to their knees, their faces streaked with tears.

Some clasped their hands together, murmuring prayers.

Some stared blankly at the pillar of light, as if seeing the silhouette of the one who had protected them so many years ago.

—

Dexter Luther’s jaw dropped. It took him a long moment to force out a single sentence. "Chandler... what’s happening?"

No one could answer him.

Seraphina Sullivan watched the pillar of light, a powerful sense of unease suddenly welling up inside her.

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

She instinctively tightened her grip on the Universal Sniper Rifle, her gaze locked on Sean Chandler within the pillar of light.

Her Eye of Resume activated frantically, but the information it fed back only made her more anxious—

[Target: Sean Chandler]

[Status: Fusing with Divine Status...]

[Progress: 37%... 52%... 68%...]

’Fusing with a Divine Status? What Divine Status? The Demon God’s?’

The next second, a vast voice echoed across the sky.

The voice didn’t come from any particular direction but rang out from the depths of everyone’s heart, as if the world itself were speaking.

[A Divine Status has appeared, a Divine Position is revealed—]

[The path to godhood is open—]

Everyone was stunned.

’The path to godhood? In this dungeon? Now?’

Sean Chandler looked down at his own hands, which were being saturated by the light and gradually turning transparent.

He felt an immense Power bursting from every fiber of his being—no, it wasn’t flowing into his body, but was something that had been dormant within him, now finally awakened.

"What’s... happening to me?"

he murmured, his voice filled with confusion and helplessness.

He tried to control his body, to stop all of this, but he found he couldn’t.

The Power was too great, so great that he couldn’t resist it and could only accept it passively.

—

The crowd parted as Rosa, leaning on her cane, slowly walked forward.

Her steps were steadier than ever before, and her once-cloudy eyes were now exceptionally bright, fixed on Sean Chandler within the pillar of light.

"As I expected..."

she said softly, a faint smile gracing her lips. "Giving him my brother’s Divine Artifact was the right choice."

Seraphina Sullivan whipped her head around to look at Rosa.

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through her mind.

Rosa’s generosity, her trust, her decisiveness when handing the Demon God’s Pillar to Sean Chandler, and that complicated look in her eyes whenever she glanced at him...

"What do you mean by that?!"

Seraphina Sullivan’s voice was ice-cold, laced with suppressed fury.

Rosa looked at her, a flicker of apology in her eyes.

"I’m sorry, child," she said softly.

She had schemed against the Players protecting them, all for her own selfish desires.

Seraphina Sullivan’s pupils contracted.

Rosa continued, her voice calm and ancient, as if narrating a story whose ending was already written:

"Before my brother, Rod, died, he left me this Demon God’s Pillar. He told me that the system would one day descend upon this world again. He told me to take his Divine Artifact and wait for the one destined to find it."

"To wait for a Player who possessed the same Talent as him."

She looked at Sean Chandler in the pillar of light, her eyes filled with both relief and sorrow. "That person was to eliminate the Demon God’s Remains—those five beasts. Once all the Ancestral Witches were destroyed, the Demon God’s Power would return to the Divine Artifact."

"And that Player..."

She paused, then said, word by word:

"...would obtain all of the Demon God’s Power."

"And in Rod’s place, they would protect this world."

Seraphina Sullivan was speechless.

Dexter Luther was speechless.

Crystal Lynn, Matthew Dawson, Paul Payne, Brandon Barton, Heath Summers, Vincent Sharp... everyone was speechless.

Within the pillar of light, Sean Chandler’s body slowly rose, leaving the ground to hover in mid-air.

His eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed, as if he were enduring immense pain, yet also as if he were receiving some kind of Holy baptism.

The light grew more and more intense, brighter and brighter, until finally—

it bathed the entire world in gold.

’What does "in Rod’s place, they would protect this world" even mean?’

Seraphina Sullivan’s heart sank.

She stared at Sean Chandler rising slowly within the light as countless thoughts raced through her mind.

’Does becoming a god come at a price?’

’Can you leave after becoming a god?’

’This world needs a Divine being to watch over it... but what about Sean Chandler?’

’Can he still go back to Azure Star?’

’Can he still go back to the Shelter? Can he still drink with us, fight with us, live with us?’

"Sean Chandler!"

Dexter Luther and the others shouted, their voices filled with an unprecedented urgency.

But Sean Chandler didn’t respond.

He hovered in mid-air, eyes shut tight, brow locked in a furrow.

The pillar of light grew ever more brilliant, enveloping him completely until his figure was almost invisible.

Golden runes spun around him, sinking into his body one by one. With each one that entered him, his Aura grew stronger.

The next second, a Holy voice resounded through heaven and earth—

[Congratulations to Player Sean Chandler—for obtaining the Demon God’s Divine Position!]

That voice wasn’t the mechanical tone of the system, but something more ancient and majestic, as if the world itself were making the announcement.

The pillar of light suddenly exploded!

Endless golden light erupted from Sean Chandler’s body, instantly sweeping across the entire world!

Wherever the light passed, the lingering mists of Demonization melted away like snow under a blazing sun, swiftly dissolving and disappearing.

The Demonic Creatures that had been roaring madly all stopped in their tracks. The blood-red color faded from their eyes, replaced by a look of blankness and docility.

The Demonic Forest began to regain its vitality.

Withered trees sprouted new buds, the corrupted soil gradually returned to its natural color, and the twisted, deformed plants slowly unfurled, resuming their original shapes.

The Demonization of the entire world was receding at a visible rate.

—

And at the exact moment Sean Chandler became a God, a system notification sounded in every Player’s mind:

[Ding! A Divine Position has been detected within the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon. The Divine power is canceling out the Disaster System!]

[All Players will now be returned!]

[Countdown: 10, 9, 8...]

The ordinary Players who had been struggling to survive in the Demonic Apocalypse Dungeon broke into expressions of ecstasy.

"We’re going back! We can finally go back!"

"Oh my god, I couldn’t stand another day in this hellish dungeon!"

"Quick, quick, let’s go!"

Some cheered, some wept, and some fell to their knees to thank the gods.

For them, this sudden return was nothing short of a godsend.

But on Seraphina Sullivan’s side, not a single person could manage a smile.

Dexter Luther opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat choked with emotion.

Crystal Lynn covered her mouth as silent tears streamed down her face.

Matthew Dawson clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Paul Payne stared blankly at the figure in the pillar of light, his eyes filled with reluctance and confusion.

Brandon Barton sighed, patted the ground where Sean Chandler had just been standing, and said nothing.

They all knew what Rosa’s words meant.

To protect this world in the Demon God’s place.

That meant...

Sean Chandler... might not be coming back.