Chapter 191: Chaos’s Gift, Gambit of the Gods

Chapter 191: Chapter 191: Chaos’s Gift, Gambit of the Gods

This news struck the woman even harder than what she had just learned about Atlas acting alone.

"But if you do that... won’t it affect the legacy for the future...?"

"It doesn’t matter anymore."

The man interrupted her, his tone laced with deep exhaustion.

"I don’t want anyone else to walk that same path of destiny in the future."

"Let all tragedy end with us."

At that moment, from a distant mountain soaring into the clouds, a long, deep bell toll suddenly rang out.

"Someone has accomplished another great deed. Let’s go. We’ll head to the Sage and see what’s happened."

The entire sleeping city was instantly awakened by the magnificent bell toll.

From high above, countless points of firelight dotted the city below, converging into a stream as they all rushed toward the mountain.

Atlas turned to leave the high tower as well.

Only the woman remained, her gaze complex as she watched Atlas’s broad back.

"But you’re the Hero who leads us all..."

"And didn’t we promise? That even in death, we would reunite in the Heroic Spirit Hall..."

As the woman’s words faded, Lance’s consciousness was suddenly seized by an intense feeling of falling.

The entire historical scene shattered like glass, and he was back in his own body.

[Profession Acquired...]

’So the Pale Guard I obtained was actually a Profession exclusive to a certain former Hero.’

’But...’

’But why, in the historical records of this continent...’

’...is there no Hero named Atlas among them?’

’And who was that sweet woman fighting alongside Atlas?’

’What is this mysterious place they mentioned, the Heroic Spirit Hall?’

’Could this have some hidden connection to the Heroic Spirit Baptism that Uncle Rein once casually mentioned?’

’And where is the Gate of the Land of Death?’

He had only just completed the ceremony to gain his Profession, yet countless new questions were already screaming for answers in Lance’s mind.

’Are the hidden truths of this world far deeper than I ever imagined?’

But in the next second, he forcefully suppressed these distracting thoughts and shifted all his attention to his newly transformed body.

Lance could clearly feel that his body had become completely different.

And now, if he focused his Spirit just a little, he could faintly perceive another wondrous, mysterious world.

That was the depths of this world, a place scholars called the Star Realm.

His body now felt as if it were constantly submerged in an Ethereal Pool.

After gaining his Profession, his body’s affinity for Ether Energy had drastically increased. It felt as though he had grown much closer to the very breath of the world.

Just as he was excitedly exploring these changes in his body, about to pull up the panel in his mind to see the tangible differences in his stats, he felt a sudden summons from within the Star Realm.

[Special Hidden Instance Triggered: Chaos’s Gift]

[Instance Type: A Game of Deities (Star Realm Projection)]

[Instance Level: Unknown (Domain under a Deity’s direct jurisdiction)]

[Instance Objective: Accept the gaze of the God of Rebellion, Chaos, and participate in and complete a best-of-three game of wits.]

[System is analyzing reward tiers and difficulty ratings...]

[Participant (0 wins): Complete all rounds. Difficulty Rating: Simple]

[Reward: Basic Divine Gift]

[Breaker (Win 1 round): Force a win in one round under the rules set by the Deity. Difficulty Rating: Hard]

[Reward: Advanced Divine Gift]

[Rebel (Win the entire game): Defeat the Deity in the best-of-three match. Difficulty Rating: ??? (Number of people in continental history to achieve this: 0)]

[Reward: Unknown... Perhaps victory itself is the reward?]

[Special Warning: This is an unfair contest of intellect and rules. Brute force is meaningless here. Please be prepared.]

[This instance is completely safe.]

The gifts bestowed by other True Gods during their ceremonies were sent directly to the Source Melting Furnace during the process of gaining a Profession.

He hadn’t expected Chaos’s gift to arrive belatedly after the ceremony was over, in the form of an instance invitation.

This meant the Deity’s gift didn’t affect the basic Source Material, but instead had a different reward mechanism.

Since it was a gift personally bestowed by a Deity, there would surely be no danger to his life.

Without any hesitation, Lance accepted the mysterious summons from the Star Realm.

Back in the attic.

Rein saw the majestic phantom of the Crimson Dragon behind Lance slowly fade and disappear.

This meant the Ethereal Melting Furnace’s energy cycle was complete. All that was left was to inscribe the Profession’s information, and the kid would officially have his new Profession.

And what happened next was the true highlight of today’s ceremony.

Sure enough, as the phantom of the Crimson Dragon vanished completely, Rein suddenly felt an Energy surge forth from within the Star Realm.

This Energy was suffused with brilliant points of starlight, as if someone had torn a corner from the Milky Way in the night sky.

Then, this miniature galaxy gently draped itself over Lance.

It was as if his entire body began to shimmer with silver light.

But under the intense light, the outline of his physical body grew increasingly illusory.

Seeing this, Rein couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh.

He could already imagine his old comrades from the Black Iron Command Bureau going ballistic when they heard about this.

Lance’s body taking on this ethereal appearance was a clear sign that he had successfully accepted Chaos’s invitation to participate in that divine game.

This was a special gift that Chaos only bestowed upon his followers on the Day of Inversion, and there was only one such gift granted across the entire continent each year.

In the training camps of the Black Iron Command Bureau, known as the "Kennels," every year on the Day of Inversion, a new batch of elite Puppies was unleashed.

All of these newcomers would gain their Professions through Chaos’s ceremony.

But among them, only the genius with the highest potential, the strongest combat skills, and the most outstanding overall qualities had a chance of receiving Chaos’s favor.

And every year, the lucky Puppy who received Chaos’s invitation would naturally become the alpha of that year’s newcomers, receiving focused training with the Black Iron Command Bureau’s core resources.

’Back in his day, Rein, as a genius himself, had clawed his way up that very same path.’

’He’d also had the honor of participating in the game set by Chaos.’

’But thinking back on the experience of being played for a fool by the Deity, the old soldier couldn’t help but blush.’

’In that game of wits, he had been utterly crushed, not winning a single round.’

And yet, despite such a crushing defeat, he had still received a rather generous gift from Chaos after the game ended.

’He had received two whole Basic Attribute points to allocate freely, out of thin air.’

’At that stage, that was a truly tangible benefit.’

Those Ordinary followers not chosen by Chaos would also receive a common divine gift after the ceremony, but it was only a pitiful single free Attribute point.

But even that single point made the reward given by the God of Rebellion seem far more generous and substantial compared to the boons from other True Gods.

’Chaos would play an unfair, best-of-three game with everyone who entered the Star Realm to play with him.’

’And according to all the internal records of the Black Iron Command Bureau, not a single genius had ever managed to completely defeat Chaos in this game.’

’The highest record in history, it seemed, was someone who had gotten lucky and won just one round.’

’Faced with the Deity’s wicked sense of humor, the only chance of turning the tables was to make good use of one’s own Source Material.’