Chapter 1804: Exterminating Ants

Exterminating Ants

Gray World.

A village was currently situated in a certain corner of this barren earth.

Not the slightest bit of vitality could be seen here. Rather than calling it a village, it would be more apt to call it a tribe. Bare stones were stacked into crude houses, looking like erected stone steles. Many cultists draped in Scarlet Heaven Red Robes shuttled among them.

And in the center of the village, a massive bonfire burned fiercely. The firelight seemed to possess some sort of magic, repelling the surrounding calamities.

"Say, why have the rituals suddenly become so frequent recently? It used to be once every few days, but now it's once a day..." several ordinary cultists huddled together, and one of them said in a low voice.

"I don't know... I feel like several Archbishops have been increasingly active recently too. Is 'It' about to return?"

"It's possible. Are the Archbishops preparing to welcome 'It'?"

"Has this day finally arrived...?"

"Looks like the ritual is about to start again. Hurry and get ready."

"..."

The village right now was like a large machine gradually getting busy. More and more ordinary cultists walked out of their houses, converging and walking toward the bonfire in the center.

The scale of this village was not small. There were fully hundreds of Scarlet Heaven Cultists living here. Looking from afar, they looked like crimson streams...

And from the house closest to the bonfire, four savages with red leaves tied around their waists walked out one by one.

These figures converged and sat down beside the bonfire, like rings nested outward layer upon layer. The Archbishops and bishops were on the inside, while the ordinary cultists were on the outside. At this moment, all respectfully knelt facing the bonfire and kowtowed heavily.

The four Archbishops on the innermost layer let out several awkward, beast-like roars.

Immediately after, the Scarlet Heaven Cultists on the outside shouted in unison:

"Respectfully requesting the return of the Supreme Crimson Sky World-Saving Exalted One!"

"Respectfully requesting the return of the Supreme Crimson Sky World-Saving Exalted One!!"

"..."

Amidst the shouts of the numerous Scarlet Heaven Cultists, a faint crimson color ignited from the bonfire. A bizarre power spread in the void, seemingly able to cross boundless space and directly resonate with a certain existence deep in the cosmos.

"Respectfully requesting the return of the Supreme Crimson Sky World-Saving Exalted One!!!"

As the crowd's shouts reached their peak, a disdainful cold snort rang out from the sky.

In the next second, endless red clouds instantly shrouded the sky. A massive eye opened from within, like a bizarre and gigantic sun, staring at the entire village!

All the Scarlet Heaven Cultists froze. Still maintaining their kneeling posture, they looked at that strange red cloud and bizarre sun, falling into bewilderment for a time...

It was still the four Archbishops who first realized something was wrong, letting out terrified roars!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh——

Scarlet tentacles dropped down from between the red clouds, seemingly possessing self-awareness as they grabbed toward the crowd!

The speed of these scarlet tentacles was too fast, so much so that the ordinary cultists simply couldn't react in time. Several figures were directly entangled around their waists by the tentacles, then forcefully hoisted up like fishing, flying toward the red clouds amidst terrified wails.

This scalp-numbing scene scared all the other cultists pale. Dominated by terror, they screamed as they stood up and fled in all directions.

"Fleeing?" Within the red clouds, a figure in a Theatrical Robe slowly narrowed his crimson eyes.

"Can you flee?"

Dense Red Paper tentacles dropped from the sky vault, chasing after the running cultists at an astonishing speed. Regardless of whether the cultists hid indoors or ran out of the village, they would be caught by the Red Paper, and then ruthlessly bound like fish on a chopping block, dragged toward the red clouds.

At the same time, an Optical Disc opened up between the red clouds. All the captured Scarlet Heaven Cultists were dragged into it, vanishing without a trace.

"Roar——!!"

Seeing a village of hundreds actually become someone else's plaything so easily, the four Archbishops immediately glared and roared.

Four red shadows soared into the air with explosive momentum, squeezing the air to produce ear-piercing sonic booms, wanting to fight to the death with that figure in the red clouds!

But in the next moment, a giant palm that could almost block out the entire sky vault pressed down horizontally from the red clouds.

"Overestimating your capabilities."

A faint voice rang out from above the clouds.

Buzz——!!

The instant the giant hand appeared, a mighty Oppressive Aura tilted down, and the imposing aura accumulated by the four Archbishops vanished entirely.

Their expressions changed drastically. They only felt that the power on their bodies, enough to make all civilizations regress, seemed to have been subjected to Negation. Their bodies were completely empty, leaving only brute strength... Only at this time did they realize the severity of the situation and want to escape, but it was already too late.

That large hand slowly clenched tight in the air, as if wanting to grab all four Archbishops in its palm. The Archbishops' expressions became increasingly ugly. They roared unwillingly like beasts, using all the strength in their bodies to launch attacks at the palm.

But no matter how crazily the Bone Clubs in their hands hammered, they couldn't deal the slightest bit of damage to that palm. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the pillar-like five fingers slowly closed, completely sealing off all avenues of survival...

Just like that, the giant hand completely clenched into a fist, acting like a cage that couldn't be escaped. Ultimately, it grabbed the four Archbishops like little chicks and disappeared above the red clouds.

Woo, woo, woo——

From the appearance of the red clouds to the total annihilation of the branch, the entire process didn't take more than a minute...

The village that was lively and noisy just a moment ago was now dead silent, leaving only the whimpering biting cold wind howling through the empty houses.

From beginning to end, these Scarlet Heaven Cultists didn't even see the shadow of the enemy.

The red-and-black Theatrical Robe fluttered in the air.

Chen Ling casually raised his hand, and that giant hand directly smashed into the earth, uprooting the bonfire of the Scarlet Heaven Sect Branch... along with the soil and broken stone debris below it, swallowing them all into the red clouds.

Only after doing all this did the red clouds gradually disperse.

Chen Ling flicked his sleeve. His expression was indifferent and calm, as if he hadn't just exterminated a Scarlet Heaven Sect Branch, but rather casually stomped an ant nest to pieces.

"This should be the last one," Chen Ling murmured to himself, recalling Teacher Ye's map.

Along this journey, Chen Ling had already exterminated all the Scarlet Heaven Sect Branches marked on the map, and at the same time uprooted all their bonfires... This phase of the mission could be considered complete.

Chen Ling lowered his head to look between his palms. As light and shadow flickered, the space absorbing the numerous Scarlet Heaven Cultists constantly folded, ultimately converging into the outline of an Optical Disc that gradually solidified in his hands.

"This amount should be enough."

Chen Ling stored the Optical Disc into his embrace. A faint light flashed in his eyes, not knowing what he was pondering, before slowly looking toward the direction of the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path...

"It's about time... I should head back too."

Chen Ling took a step forward. His figure once again transformed into a dimensionally-reduced black shadow, disappearing at the end of the horizon at an astonishing speed.