Chapter 249: The Sage of Demons: You Didn

At the sight of the black dragon, Lantian's eyebrows twitched slightly—he recognized it as the dragon form of Akujinorokia, a member of the same chat group.

In his perception, though the body still retained vitality, the soul and mind were utterly empty—as if already dead.

To be fair, though Lantian had always looked down on this brute obsessed with muscle and destruction, he had to admit that in raw destructive power, Akujinorokia ranked among the top in the chat group.

Especially in black dragon form, save for Boros at his peak and Gilgamesh unleashing his Noble Phantasm, almost no one in the group could be certain of defeating him.

But now Akujinorokia was dead—and his death was so bizarre, with no visible wounds, that Lantian couldn't help thinking of the girl in the chat group named Shihō Sōki, who possessed formidable mental abilities.

"Did she erase his soul and will with pure psychic force?"

Thinking of this, Lantian instinctively glanced toward Zhan Lan—and found her staring back at him.

In the instant their gazes met, Lantian briefly saw a colossal flame bird, vast as the sky, spreading its wings and shrieking behind her; his soul instinctively burned with searing pain.

"Hn!"

Lantian grunted, quickly averted his gaze, and tightened his grip on Kyōka Suigetsu, as if ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

"Judging by your earlier behavior, you didn't seem eager to oppose us. How about considering switching sides?"

Zhan Lan studied Lantian for a moment before speaking—she had already gleaned their interactions through psychic resonance, drawing from Cheng Xiao and others' memories, and now a wry, intrigued smile curled her lips.

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

Lantian didn't loosen his grip on the long blade, yet still smiled gently: "You seem to know about the chat group—then you should also know we have a group master who oversees it."

"Though he can't directly control our actions, if he detects any act of rebellion, he can suppress our powers and send us back to our respective worlds… though he rarely does so."

"Is that so? Then why hasn't he done it now?"

Zhan Lan asked curiously: "If what you say is true, he could've sent you all back to your worlds first, then recalled you later—wouldn't that have shattered our strategy of picking you off one by one?"

"I don't know."

Lantian shook his head: "Something similar happened before—like that one-eyed monster, currently the strongest in the group. When all of us went to his world to challenge him, we nearly got killed by him alone."

"At that time, the group master used his ability to teleport us all back to our original worlds—this is certain."

"There's another possibility…"

Suddenly, a calm, indifferent voice spoke—turning to look, they saw a familiar patch of black mosaic spreading through the air, from which Chu Xuan and Zhu Wen emerged, clad in the Black God Rune armor.

Notably, the former held a glass vial filled with yellow liquid, inside which two spherical objects floated.

Upon closer inspection, they were unmistakably the Rinnegan of Uchiha Madara.

Before anyone could ask in astonishment, Chu Xuan spoke first: "If I'm not mistaken, the group master hasn't used his teleportation ability because this is the Main God Space—its priority mechanism likely overrides the chat group's authority."

"Perhaps he can bring non-Rounders into this world, but to leave, he himself must not be trapped within the Round World."

"So that's how it is…"

Hearing Chu Xuan's words, Lantian's eyes flickered slightly: "Now that you mention it, I recall—whenever we helped the East Sea Team eliminate powerful horror film antagonists, the group master never teleported us back before mission completion. Now I see, it must be because of this."

"Then it's simple."

Chu Xuan turned back to Lantian: "I can guess your mindset—you don't want to be controlled, yet you don't want to give up the advantages the chat group grants you, so you've been half-hearted in your actions."

"You're clever. You must be the strategist of the Central Continent Round Team."

Lantian smiled faintly: "Then you should know what I want."

"Agreed."

Chu Xuan nodded: "Though I'm not the captain of the Central Continent Team, I can authorize you as an external member."

He then turned to the space portal behind Zhan Lan: "Likewise, you too, Imhotep—and… the Sage of Demons."

The Sage of Demons? What does that mean!?

Not just Lantian—even the members of the Central Continent Devil Teams stared in shock upon hearing Chu Xuan's final words, instinctively glancing at Zhan Lan, only to find her expression utterly calm, and suddenly understood.

"Ara ara! This deal is hard to refuse."

A black rift opened in the desert-covered world, and a golden-haired beauty in purple Daoist robes stepped out, smiling warmly and waving at them.

"Hello everyone, I am Yagumo Shiki. I look forward to working with you."

"Ah… this…"

Cheng Xiao scratched his head, glancing at Zhan Lan's serene face, and asked weakly: "Madam Captain, what's going on? Miss Yagumo… I mean, wasn't she already killed by you?"

"She's a fourth-rank powerhouse—even a surprise attack won't kill her easily."

Zhan Lan shrugged: "Before I moved, I received a psychic message from Yagumo Shiki—she offered to cooperate with the Central Continent Team to win this team battle."

"I figured I couldn't eliminate her outright, so I decided to gamble—played a fake death act with her."

"It worked well. I was able to easily defeat that black dragon thanks to Miss Yagumo's help… and Imhotep's too."

As she spoke, the bald high priest emerging from the portal paused, then awkwardly nodded.

"So that's how it was… I must admit, the Sage of Demons lives up to her name—your decisiveness and wisdom have bested me this time."

Lantian laughed, then stood and addressed Chu Xuan: "I accept your proposal. I'm even willing to offer a token of loyalty, like Miss Yagumo—but before that, I need to confirm one thing."

"If you mean Boros, don't worry."

As Chu Xuan spoke, three rapidly twisting, expanding vortex portals appeared behind him.

Simultaneously, Zhao Ying, Li Xiaoyi, Mou Gang, and Zheng Fuzha—who was still in fusion state—stepped out, radiating the lingering aura of recent battle.

Especially upon seeing Zheng Fuzha, Lantian's vigilance spiked to its peak—he felt the same oppressive pressure he'd faced when confronting Boros and Wu Xian.

The Central Continent Team had another terrifying powerhouse.

Lantian thought, as Chu Xuan's calm voice reached his ears.

"Now, the real battle begins."

————

I revised the previous chapter—Wu Xian obtained two-thirds of the Zao Hua Jade Disc… After all, it's Chu Xuan and the Divine Record of the Gods—give the First Strategist and the Great Artifact some dignity; you can't let them come all this way for nothing.

Lastly, please vote for monthly tickets!

(End of Chapter)