Chapter 2183

At the bottom of the abyss, the Hall of Divine Rites.

The nearly three-meter-tall double wooden doors were wide open. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the roof, casting patches of light on the ground. Broken stones and debris were everywhere, covering the carvings on the floor.

The giant war pig was driven into the Hall of Divine Rites; as thick-skinned cannon fodder, it naturally had to be the vanguard.

Su Xiao stood before the door, and after using the giant war pig to scout the path, he stepped into the Hall of Divine Rites.

Crack—

A piece of broken tile was crushed underfoot. This tile had weathered to a grayish-white, clearly showing its age.

Inside the Hall of Divine Rites stood over a dozen stone pillars, most of which were already broken. Judging by the marks on the fractures, this was man-made destruction, appearing to be the aftermath of a battle.

A broken sword was thrust into the red stone floor. The broken sword was a palm-width wide and completely covered in rust. The end of the hilt was circular and pitted; because it was so severely decayed, one could only determine it was the image of some kind of animal.

Su Xiao stepped forward and carefully observed the end of the hilt, confirming it was the image of a moon wolf howling with its head held high.

Patches of red stains spread toward the depths of the hall. These stains had weathered into a powdery state, and the shape of those patches was, in all likelihood, bloodstains.

Even though the metal had oxidized and decayed, these few bloodstains still remained. Although they had turned into red powder, one could still discern the special nature of this blood.

Following the bloodstains, Su Xiao gradually ventured deeper into the hall. After walking for over ten meters, he stepped onto a few stairs and cast his gaze toward the innermost part of the hall.

The innermost part was a flat area where two skeletons lay, and near the wall, another skeleton sat leaning against it.

These three skeletons had clearly fought each other while alive and ultimately died here. The skeleton leaning against the wall was the most special; it had a pair of wing-like bone structures on its back and a horn on its skull.

And on the wall beside this skeleton, a short passage was carved.

"I was born human, yet I was so greedy. I shall kneel forever before the abyss, forever mourning, Los, Son of the Ancient Dragon."

Seeing this short passage, Su Xiao roughly guessed what had happened. The person who left these words was the first God-Eater in history, Iwell. She had killed many gods and strengthened herself by seizing the power of gods.

And one day, Iwell sought out Los, Son of the Ancient Dragon, intending to kill him. Iwell succeeded, but Los was a hybrid of an ancient dragon and a god. While seizing the power of the god, Iwell also absorbed Los's memory fragments.

After absorbing these memory fragments, Iwell learned that the Holy War from hundreds of years ago had truly existed. The gods had once formed an alliance with humans to resist the "monsters" that crawled out of the abyss—nearly endless "monsters."

Ultimately, the gods and humans won and suppressed the "monsters" of the abyss under the ice.

Upon learning this, Iwell just left in silence and continued to slaughter gods. However, when she defeated another female god, stepped on her back, and prepared to use her war scythe to sever her head, she hesitated. And a single sentence spoken by that female god nearly broke her.

"If you believe this is the right thing to do, it's fine. Cut off my head."

Iwell left in silence. She didn't kill that female god, yet she continued to search for her next prey.

The result was that Iwell, relying on her own strength, defeated another god, but when she swung her scythe for the final blow, she chose to stop.

From that moment on, Iwell gave up hunting gods and told other God-Eaters the secrets she knew. The result was that it caused no ripples at all.

From that moment on, Iwell understood one thing: God-slaying was not because of the "evil" of the gods, but stemmed from the greed of the human heart. That was all.

Iwell began to wander until one day, she discovered her life force began to dissipate. She had been cursed—the curse of immortality.

Iwell returned to the abyss and found the remains of Los, Son of the Ancient Dragon, silently recounting her past deeds. What Iwell didn't expect was that Los's remains actually sat up and placed a hand on her head. Los, Son of the Ancient Dragon, had forgiven her.

This completely shattered Iwell's inner world. Her purpose in hunting gods was because she "perceived" the "evil" of the gods. As the one who "insightfully understood" all of this, she chose to stand up and punish the gods.

But in the end, Iwell discovered that she had been used all along. The "ramblings" of the gods before they died were all true.

Filled with anger, Iwell sought out the Serpent of the Abyss. It was in this battle that Iwell experienced the taste of failure for the first time, yet she accepted her defeat willingly, even willing to die in that battle.

Iwell did not find release, so she chose to kneel forever before the abyss, repenting to the gods she had killed.

Meanwhile, at the cliff above the abyss.

Drip, drip...

Fresh blood dripped along the scythe blade. Iwell stood on a towering pile of corpses. The skin on her face had regained its vitality, and her messy black hair, reaching her waist, was blown by the wind.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

A violent, dry coughing sound came. Old Wolf sat slumped on the ground, clutching his throat with one hand.

"Xi, I can't hold on much longer. This boss gets younger the more we fight."

Because his throat had been slashed, Old Wolf's voice was very hoarse.

"I can still block for 30 seconds."

A burly man holding a tower shield spoke. She was Xi's teammate, Kangba, a silent, middle-aged man.

Just as Kangba finished speaking, Iwell suddenly vanished from the spot and appeared abruptly in front of him.

Bang!

Iwell delivered a straight kick, slamming into the tower shield in Kangba's hand. The next moment, she shouldered her war scythe, stepped forward with her left foot, and leaned her body slightly backward.

"Damn it! Doesn't her ultimate have a cooldown!"

Old Wolf slapped the ground beneath him and sprang up directly from the floor.

Click, click, click...

Transparent crystals spread, instantly engulfing the team's main tank, Kangba. The ability Iwell was about to use was something a tank absolutely could not withstand head-on.

Hum—

The scythe blade sliced through the air, and a ring-shaped wind slash expanded outward.

After unleashing this slash, Iwell leaped into the air.

Boom!

A thunderclap echoed in the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck down, clinging to the war scythe in Iwell's hand.

"Ahahaha."

Iwell's laughter was nearly bewitching. She flipped her body in mid-air and slashed her war scythe onto the giant crystal sphere in front of her.

The crystal sphere shattered instantly, and Xi, Old Wolf, and Kangba inside were blasted out.

With a whoosh, Iwell unleashed a wind blade, heading straight for Xi. Iwell immediately shifted her gaze and continued to charge toward the main tank, Kangba.

Clang, clang!

Kangba retreated several steps, the shield in his hand covered in slash marks.

"Ahahaha..."

Iwell laughed crazily. She leaped high again, and a giant thunder beast charged down from the sky, enveloping Iwell within it.

"Roar!!"

A roar spread out as the thunder beast dove down.

Thud!

Lightning expanded. Iwell stood amidst the lightning, her head bowed.

"God of Death, lend your power to this sinner. Let this sinner... bear the sins of the past."

Iwell slowly raised her arm, and a phantom appeared behind her, grasping the war scythe in her hand, looking just like the Grim Reaper.

"Xi! This is impossible to fight! This boss has switched at least 20 different forms!"

Old Wolf roared. Fighting until now, he felt a bit desperate.

"Retreat."

Xi didn't want to continue fighting either. This enemy was like a madwoman; not only had her berserk state never stopped, but she kept switching forms.

Fighting until now, Xi hadn't even figured out what Iwell's abilities were. The opponent could use lightning, wind, life, light, earth, death, and so on, and could even combine two forms.

Wind + Electricity = Super Speed (buffs self), Life + Death = Instant Death (chance to cause instant death on attack), Light + Life = Healing (buffs self), Earth + Death = Necromancy (summoning + explosion), Death + Wind = Plague (debuffs enemy).

Xi's ability to control crystals was strong due to its versatility. Xi would change her fighting style based on the enemy's ability characteristics, but after facing Iwell, Xi was beaten into a state of withdrawal.

Iwell switched forms on average every 30 seconds. One moment she was thundering with lightning, jumping into mid-air and laughing crazily; the next, she transformed into the Grim Reaper, charging up, absorbing life force from the surroundings in an area, and dealing percentage-based true damage.

And the northern soldiers Xi brought were directly slaughtered by Iwell until they collapsed. She had originally been an old woman, but after slaughtering tens of thousands of soldiers, she directly reverted to the appearance of someone in her twenties, her state getting better and better, returning to her peak.