Chapter 412: We Refuse to Be Chess Pieces

Including the Demon Lord and other titans, the spines of all the gods, demons, immortals, and devils snapped ramrod straight, utterly horrified.

Him?!

What does that mean?

The First Sacred Spirit's slaying of the future seven supreme beings—is it truly related to Him?

A scheme…

The most horrifying part was the colossal corpse's final words: in the end, the world cannot escape this scheme. Is this the truth? His chess game is the entire world, encompassing the past and the future.

"Enlil the Supreme, may we ask—can you tell us what this scheme is?"

The Demon Lord asked the question he most wanted answered, and it was also the question all living beings of the world most wanted answered.

What is the scheme?

What did He set the scheme up for?

Silence. Light swirled in Enlil's eyes—like the sun and moon, like primordial chaos, like the laws and principles of the Dao. Ever-shifting, as if he were no longer a living being, having transcended the domain of living beings.

A convergence of the Dao.

He is the embodiment of the Great Dao; the Dao gave birth to a spirit, and that spirit became Enlil.

"What good is knowing, what good is not knowing—the ignorant may fare better."

Enlil was silent for a moment, then spoke leisurely.

This could be taken as a warning, and also as goodwill. The more the Demon Lord and the others knew, the less benefit there was—better not to know. Sometimes viewing flowers through fog is better than seeing them crystal clear; there is always a layer between.

The Demon Lord sighed. Strength, after all.

"Enlil the Supreme, then can you tell us who He is?"

He had no intention of letting it go. The fact that Enlil could answer his previous question clearly showed Enlil had not become a killing tool of death energy like Nidhogg and the others outside. He possessed a mind—merely suppressed here.

Moreover, he bore no grudge against the Past faction.

On the contrary, Enlil was amicable, leaning toward the Past faction, even though he had been suppressed by them.

The Demon Lord did not want to miss such an opportunity.

The great war between Past and Future involved the entire river of time; they were all beings within it. If the future war came, none of them could escape. He did not want to die without understanding why.

Enlil was one of the four great mythologies of the Primordial Era—the chief god of ancient Babylonian mythology. Without question, he was a top-tier figure of the Past faction and could not possibly be unaware of the secrets.

The betrayal of ancient Babylonian mythology could not be separated from Him. He entered the ancient Babylonian mythological realm, and only then did ancient Babylonian mythology betray. As the chief god of ancient Babylonian mythology, Enlil must have seen Him.

One could say: who in this world knows His identity, who has seen His face?

It must be the chief god of ancient Babylonian mythology.

Perhaps precisely for this reason, the four great mythologies and the various mythologies did not kill Enlil, only suppressed him—all to one day ask who He is.

The true purpose of the Future faction's seizing of the ancient Babylonian mythological realm should have been to seize Enlil.

The purpose was obvious: likewise to ask Enlil who He is. After all, the Future faction's hatred toward Him was far greater than that of the Past faction.

"He is about to emerge."

This meant: asking who He is now is pointless. He is already about to emerge; sooner or later you will know and see Him. Asking now only means knowing earlier—useless.

Frustrating.

Two questions in a row, asked for nothing.

Still, the Demon Lord had no intention of giving up his pursuit. Taking advantage of his recent breakthrough in realm—stepping into the fourth step of divinity, entering the realm of immortals and demons—there was still a long road before absorbing the fifth step of divinity. He could slowly comprehend the Dao.

He asked again:

"Enlil the Supreme, this question may be abrupt and disrespectful, but I truly wish to know—was ancient Babylonian mythology a scheme laid by Him?"

One could see that upon hearing this, the gods, demons, immortals, and devils pricked up their ears, their attention converging this way.

The betrayal of ancient Babylonian mythology could not be separated from Him, but whether it was specifically His arrangement remained unknown.

"It began because of Him. We are nothing more than slightly more important chess pieces—in the end, still chess pieces."

Perhaps because of the long ages, too long without speaking to anyone, Enlil held nothing back, answered everything. Or perhaps he simply wanted to speak the truth of ancient Babylonian mythology, unwilling to let ancient Babylonian mythology remain stained with infamy.

After all, the betrayal of ancient Babylonian mythology affected the Primordial Era, but now after the long ages had passed, the Past faction's loss of ancient Babylonian mythology as a major force had diminished in impact; the four great mythologies and the various mythologies had found ways to cope.

The gears of history beneath the betrayal had already begun to turn.

"On that day, He came and told us the truth of ancient Babylonian mythology. Our betrayal was not arranged by Him—we simply did not wish to be controlled, did not wish to be treated as chess pieces."

A single simple sentence revealed the truth hidden for myriad ages.

The truth surfaced: the betrayal of ancient Babylonian mythology was not laid out by Him.

The world's speculation was not wrong—this "chess game" was not a one-man show. He was playing against another, and ancient Babylonian mythology was an important piece placed by the other player.

At this moment.

A terrifying aura surged. Facing the scheme, Enlil could not remain composed. The iron chains roared once more, but this time he had awakened and deliberately controlled the overflow of supreme spiritual energy—otherwise the Demon Lord and the others would have exploded at this moment.

The Demon Lord and the others were shaken to the core, their hearts leaping into their throats in an instant.

"Born into this world, we are destined to be nothing more than chess pieces. We refuse to be chess pieces. We cultivated the Dao for myriad ages, broke the shackles of life and death, broke the bonds of time. No matter the reason for walking the path of cultivation, all roads converge on the same goal: to grow stronger.

All to break free from bonds, to be free and at ease, subject to no constraints—to protect what we wish to protect, to go where we wish to go.

But at the end of cultivation, we learned that bonds are inevitable. We are nothing more than chess pieces."

Enlil spoke to himself, his voice wavering.

The Demon Lord and the others were perplexed, not understanding what Enlil meant by these words.

Was he lamenting that He and the other player used all living beings as chess pieces? That was indeed the case—for the sake of their contest, they could elevate a great mythology into one of the four great mythologies.

In their eyes, all beings were merely props for their contest, all usable.

Even the Demon Lord and the others—as long as they were willing, they could at any time use them as chess pieces, regardless of whether the Demon Lord and the others were willing. There was no choice; they could only accept their fate.

The Demon Lord and the others exchanged glances, saying nothing.

They somewhat understood why ancient Babylonian mythology had to betray—simply not wanting to be bound, not wanting to follow the arrangement of the laid scheme, wanting to live with their own will. Better then to go against it, resist to the end.

The Ancient Babylonian Mythology was a backstabbing blade prepared for the future side, to strike at a critical moment and deliver a fatal blow to the past side.

Ancient Babylonian Mythology chose to rebel. You want a critical moment? I refuse. You want to deliver a fatal blow to the past side? I refuse. I would rather feed kills to the past side than aid a tyrant—I never intended to win.

It even opened Hangu Pass, letting the future know of the movements as well, thoroughly disrupting this game between past and future, and possibly intending to use this to inform both past and future about the matter.

For a long while Enlil said nothing more, and the Demon Lord and the others did not ask, waiting for Enlil to calm his emotions.

"The Ancient Babylonian Mythology's heaven and earth were suppressed by the various great mythologies—how did you get in?" Enlil's gaze shifted, landing on the Otherworld gods, demons, immortals, and demons: "Hades wouldn't allow beings from other heavens to enter here."

……