Vessel

Axi Town.

As the first place to bear the brunt of the Plague God's power eruption, it had already been reduced to ruins—not with smoke, broken walls, or corpses everywhere.

Instead, there was only melted, viscous black flesh on the ground, crawling in dark, twisted ways like living creatures with their own thoughts, slowly writhing, merging, and spreading across the earth.

Every contraction and expansion was accompanied by a sickening, sticky sound, like countless mouths swallowing in silence, or like a giant, sickly heart pulsing with a dull throb.

Surrounded by this flesh, a massive gates of the abyss rose from the shadows, its doors adorned with ugly, distorted statues whose wicked eyes were soul-snatching.

Simply standing there, it radiated an unsettling dread.

Within a hundred-meter radius, only Alesta stood.

However, his attire was quite strange; he was not wearing the usual bishop's robes of the cult, but was instead enveloped in a strange white robe that covered his entire body, with only the face area made of a transparent material to allow him to clearly observe his surroundings with his naked eye.

This outfit was very odd; its design style was completely out of place for this era, and it could hardly be called aesthetic or convenient.

But if Lu Xun were here, he would definitely recognize this strange white suit as being identical to a biohazard suit from the real world.

As if sensing something, Alesta's expression shifted slightly, though it was impossible to tell if it was for better or worse.

He turned to leave the area and met Duoze at the edge of Axi Town, who looked as wretched as a stray dog.

Duoze's right arm had been severed at the shoulder, and his face was deathly pale; it seemed he had not only suffered great physical harm but had also been mentally devastated.

Upon seeing Alesta approach, Duoze's face immediately contorted with fierce malice.

"Alesta, do you have any idea how high a price I paid to help you stop those two?"

"Of my four summons, three are dead! Three!"

Duoze's voice trembled, making it clear that he was in significant emotional and physical pain.

After all, as a summoning mage, his summons were his second life, and now that second life had been crippled to the point of being no different from dead.

It was no wonder he was so grief-stricken.

"There is no need to be so sad, Duoze; being able to sacrifice their lives for the resurrection of a Great Existence should be their honor," Alesta said with an indifferent expression.

He didn't care how much Duoze had lost; as long as the others were intercepted and the result was good, that was enough.

Duoze's emotions gradually calmed down as he glanced deep into the town, sensing that the place had already become a forbidden zone for life.

"That aura just now... was it the Plague God's?" he asked, somewhat uncertainly.

"Yes," Alesta replied without concealment.

"It was released voluntarily by the Plague God's consciousness, not by me; it seems something has made Him feel threatened."

"Can the plan proceed smoothly?" Duoze asked with some concern.

"Now, we are only missing the vessel," Alesta said.

Duoze nodded and said nothing more.

Alesta suddenly turned his head, a trace of a smile appearing on his face behind the transparent mask: "They are here."

At that moment, just as the distant setting sun was about to sink below the mountain range, a black dot appeared in the sky, rapidly expanding until Alesta and Duoze could see Moen's figure.

Massive black wings spread out behind her like two black lines.

When she landed on the ground, Duoze and Alesta quickly approached her.

"Where is the vessel?" Alesta asked urgently, skipping any greetings.

Moen didn't waste words either; she took out a small bottle, and after she poured mana into it, a beam of light shot from the mouth, and King Weis's weakened figure appeared before them.

However, King Weis was currently at death's door, looking as though he could die at any moment.

"With so many experts in the Royal Palace, you actually managed to bring the King out," Duoze said, looking at Moen with surprise.

"With Morai Sulin there, it wasn't hard to infiltrate the palace," Moen said simply, though her expression did not look particularly happy.

"Where is Morai Sulin? Why don't I see her?" Duoze asked.

"She was being a bit disobedient, so I locked her up to reflect on her actions," Moen replied.

Alesta walked over to King Weis, whose body had been almost entirely assimilated by the Plague God's essence, making him look like a puppet without thought or consciousness.

"Truly a perfect vessel," Alesta praised.

"This is a vessel naturally suited for the Plague God, even more perfect than I imagined!"

"I have already foreseen the resurrection of the great god; it will surely change this era forever!"

...

In the abyss, facing the waves of monsters that followed one after another, Grinya remained calm and composed, dancing through the chaotic horde.

A single sweep of her sword, carrying a powerful golden stream of light, would fell a whole swath of monsters.

After passing through several stages, the Peerless Fencer, now possessing multiple top-tier buffs, was like a god of war.

These weak monsters, with an average level of only around 40, were nothing more than speed bumps to be crushed by a heavy truck in front of her; even the casual aftershocks of her attacks could blast them into nothingness.

Gexi, watching from the side, was completely stunned.

She still didn't understand how Grinya had suddenly become so strong; even in her prime, she would only be crushed before the current Grinya.

"This feeling of just mowing down enemies without having to use my brain is great."

Lu Xun kept holding down the left mouse button while admiring the brilliant attack effects on the game screen.

As they went deeper into the stages, the levels of the monsters grew higher and their numbers increased, but the powerful buffs he obtained also grew more numerous.

As a result, he no longer needed to operate as cautiously as he did at the beginning; he only needed to hold the left mouse button, and the enemies in front of him would fall like wheat.

"This dungeon isn't that hard after all," Lu Xun chuckled.

He had initially thought this dungeon would be very difficult, considering the movie-quality visual effects and rendering, followed by golden items to lower the difficulty, and a guy who seemed like the final boss talking big.

No matter how he thought about it, he felt this dungeon definitely wouldn't be simple.

In the end, he had played until now without feeling any difficulty; instead, it had become increasingly easy.

Just when he thought he could keep playing like this, a sudden burst of intense music rang out, startling Lu Xun so much that he jumped out of his chair.

"What's going on?"

Before Lu Xun could figure out the situation, he saw a countdown suddenly appear at the top of the screen.

【10:00】

【9:59】