Chapter 422 - 16: The Water God

"Of course I’m an Undead."

The Undead Unicorn Person, the Messenger, showed no fear in this desperate situation. Instead, it began to mock Su Zhou’s ignorance via soul transmission, "We are all Undead."

"Earth Person, did you really think that the countless revived Undead in this world were all your dead compatriots? The Undead Monsters that have reawakened in the Mazes—at their core, they are all remnants from the previous Era, like us!"

"You can still talk, so you still have some value." Ignoring the provocation, Su Zhou impassively pulled a bottle of No. 2 Holy Water from his waist. An intensely sacred aura emanated from it, causing the undead Messenger, which was filled with Curse and Vengeance, to tremble instinctively. Although it immediately suppressed this fear, Su Zhou noticed. He chuckled, "As expected. Souls who have committed many evils all fear Holy Water."

Su Zhou wasted no time. Gripping the Messenger’s Soul with his left hand, he drew the Blade of Annihilation with his right and charged toward the pale blue pillar of light—an Array that was converting the surrounding lake water into rain. With his power, killing the Water God Believer Mages maintaining the Array was a matter of a few breaths. The Blade of Annihilation didn’t even have time to be touched by a single drop of rain.

At once, the surrounding lake’s waves and the torrential rain subsided considerably, and Su Zhou breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Answer my questions."

Then, after sheathing the Blade of Annihilation, Su Zhou took out the No. 2 Holy Water again. He calmly addressed the Unicorn Person, whose expression was sorrowful, as if grieving for its fallen Mage compatriots. "Otherwise, I’ll pour this into your ear."

Though he made the threat, Su Zhou had no intention of wasting his Holy Water. At most, he would just burn it a little with his Demon Fire. It didn’t matter if it refused to talk; he was in a hurry to get to the other locations and destroy the Arrays. "First, tell me what the change of Eras really is."

"Heh." The Messenger sneered. Su Zhou had thought it was going to be defiant to the end and was preparing to burn it to death with his Evil-Devouring Demon Fire, take its Evil Soul, and leave.

But to his surprise, after a moment of thought, it answered directly.

"This world undergoes a cycle of Reincarnation every ten thousand years."

The Unicorn Person’s words were calm and fluent, without the subconscious hesitation or stuttering of someone telling a spur-of-the-moment lie. It even carried a faint, ironic tone. "With every cycle of the world, every annihilation of an Era, heaven and earth are filled with Gray Mist and transformed into a Netherworld. All deceased creatures and all things from the original world are recorded as information, then carried by the Gray Mist to sink into the deepest layers of the earth, gestating into a layer of the Maze."

"Then, at the end of the next Era, the Maze will reawaken. If Divine Beings appeared in a previous Era, then they too will be revived. The beings within each layer of the Maze will fight one another, vying for the final opportunity and the key to the next Era, to resurrect themselves in the new Era to come. As for why this happens, no one knows. And that is everything we know about the event called the change of Eras."

"...You’re quite straightforward." Since the Unicorn Person’s answer was so direct, Su Zhou couldn’t tell if it was true or false. For now, he decided to assume it was true. Frowning, he pressed on, "So what’s the deal with the end of the world? You all seem to know a lot about it."

"The core of this world, of this Era—the Source of Earth—has already dried up."

Another direct reply. But as it spoke, the Messenger’s tone returned to normal, losing its faint, ironic edge. "At the end of the Era, the Earth God chose to merge with the Source of Earth, buying you all a two-hundred-year buffer."

"Originally, you were supposed to constantly enter the Maze, battle the creatures from the Eras it represents, gather enough resources, and then bring them to the location of the Source of Earth to extend the life of this age."

"Resources?" Su Zhou asked, confused.

"What is soil? Soil is corpses. By throwing the Souls and bodies of slain creatures into the Primordial Great Abyss of the Source of Earth, you can extend the life of this age. As long as you keep killing, the Era of Earth can be continuously prolonged."

The Messenger replied with a hint of pity, "It’s just a shame that you encountered the severing of the Demon Tide and lost this entire legacy. Now, no one knows the location of the Source of Earth, nor does anyone know the knowledge about the Eras left behind by the Deity."

"The way you speak of the Earth God," Su Zhou couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. "You don’t sound like a believer of the Water God," he said, puzzled.

Hearing this, the Unicorn Person looked at Su Zhou strangely. "All Divine Beings are worthy of respect. Our Father God did the same for us. On the contrary, why don’t you respect the Earth God?"

But clearly, the Messenger didn’t really care whether Su Zhou respected the Earth God or not. It just shook its head and said with emotion, "Back when our Era of Water was drying up and turning to earth, it was our Father God who chose self-annihilation, transforming into the scattered lakes upon the land so that we, his blood descendants, could continue on to the next Era."

"So, when our Father God revives and prepares to compete for the leading role in the next Era, we too will stop at nothing to seize victory for Him!"

As it said this, its tone turned chilling once more. The Messenger stared at Su Zhou with a cold smile, completely unconcerned by the fact that its life was in his hands. "The reason we are slaughtering you Earth People en masse is to hasten the end of this Era, to make the essence of the next Era manifest sooner. That way, our better-prepared Father God can easily defeat all His competitors and lead us into the future."