The Great Deluge

The eighth beam of sword light formed a warm yellow cage of blades, imprisoning the Forgotten One within! The Forgotten One attempted to shatter the sword barrier, but his attacks were relentlessly countered and neutralized by surging sword intent— Medial Spectacle: Sword Body Cage! Rings of ethereal blue ink marks unfolded along the perimeter, then snapped shut in an instant. With no way to evade, the Forgotten One could only deploy a defensive spectacle to endure it head-on. Yet every wave of ink marks was equivalent to crushing his demigod soul with Yaxiu's God-Leader-tier soul foundation. After seven consecutive rounds of assault, the Forgotten One's soul completely collapsed, combusting and extinguishing within the cage. Superior Spectacle: Heart Hunt Throne! "Sonia's spectacle patches your biggest weakness," Dead Frenzy remarked. "Although the Heart Hunt Throne that Nether Demon helped you construct is brutally powerful, it is better suited for large-scale warfare. In close-quarters combat, enemies can easily dodge it. Sword Body Cage effectively restricts enemy movement, making it convenient for you to bombard them with rapid-fire, long-range strikes from Heart Hunt Throne." Yaxiu glanced at her and nodded. "Sword Body Cage really is unexpectedly practical. To repay the Sword Princess, I'll hug her and kiss her madly the moment I get back." Dead Frenzy's lips twitched as she mumbled, "Mind your public image a bit..." Yaxiu asked, "If I want to give her a surprise, when would be a good time?" Dead Frenzy answered without hesitation: "Right after she finishes training and is drenched in sweat. She'll feel refreshed but a little disgusted with herself. If you hug her then, she'll act embarrassed on the surface and complain, but deep down she'll definitely love how clingy you are. And another thing..." Watching Dead Frenzy chatter on endlessly, Yaxiu thought to himself that she was just as easy to read as the Sword Princess. Her likes and dislikes were all too obvious. As long as you stuck to talking about the Sword Princess, Dead Frenzy was actually quite easy to get along with. He said, "That's already the third Forgotten One." "The attacks will only come faster and faster from here on," Dead Frenzy said. "You've already caught the attention of the Great Serpent's stomach. Once a hunting party of three Forgotten Ones forms, you'll have to give up scavenging and avoid fighting as much as possible to stall for time. Still, you only have fifty minutes left to stay here—just enough to leave Hell before the Forgotten Ones bring in reinforcements." Up until now, Yaxiu still couldn't leave Hell freely; he had to remain until his traces were completely exhausted. That was why he had entered Hell the moment his injuries healed. Otherwise, as more traces accumulated and his exploration time lengthened, his risks would only grow. Yaxiu flew along the golden river. Before long, a tall tower appeared ahead. Strangely, though, the tower was not built on either bank of the river, but directly atop the golden water itself. Stepping inside the tower, the first thing Yaxiu saw in the central hall was a translucent, faint-purple sculpted spectacle that resembled a human body stripped of all color. "Superior Spectacle: Exile." Dead Frenzy glanced at it, pausing for a long moment before slowly explaining, "It banishes the target into a pure soul form, rendering them incapable of any physical contact while drastically amplifying all soul effects they receive, whether good or bad." Hearing that it was a soul spectacle, Yaxiu quickly stored the translucent sculpture into his Soul Kingdom of Heaven. Seeing this, Dead Frenzy curled her lips and snorted. "A useless piece of trash. It's almost impossible to completely banish a demigod into soul form; at most, it only banishes part of their body..." "Hey, can the Sword Princess use this spectacle?" Yaxiu asked with feigned curiosity, pointing at another dark-green sculpted spectacle in the tower. Dead Frenzy eyed him suspiciously. Yaxiu blinked with an earnest, innocent expression. "...That's a poison spectacle, 'Toxic Guard.' It can't be activated instantaneously; casting it takes ten seconds to construct," Dead Frenzy explained rather grudgingly. "It isn't meant for personal use. When an outpost comes under attack, everyone draws on it together to temporarily erect a Toxic Guard defensive line. Aside from the Witch, who can cast it using her sister avatars, no one else is suited for it." "I'll ask the Witch if she wants it when we get back." Yaxiu continued looting the supplies inside the tower. He found that only a tiny fraction had been taken away. Evidently, the sorcerers in the tower had fled in a hurry without even having time to pack their belongings. They had clearly suffered a sudden raid by the Forgotten Ones. Curious, Yaxiu asked, "Are all the demigod outposts in Blackfall Hell built over the river? Is it for easy evacuation, or are there resources in the water?" Dead Frenzy said offhandedly, "Fly down and look at the water, and you'll understand." Yaxiu flew down to hover above the golden river. After observing it for a moment, he asked hesitantly, "The River of Flowing Gold?" He hadn't thought it was the River of Flowing Gold at first because he didn't feel that mighty temporal power capable of dissolving all things. But looking closely now, no matter how he looked at it, the river resembled the River of Flowing Gold in every way, except... The River of Flowing Gold here did not flow. "Can a motionless River of Flowing Gold truly be called the River of Flowing Gold?" Dead Frenzy asked with a smile. "Can time that has ceased flowing truly be called time?" "This isn't the River of Flowing Gold. We usually call it the Hidden Gold River. You can think of it as a reservoir for the River of Flowing Gold." Yaxiu was taken aback. "A reservoir?" "When the River of Flowing Gold in the outside world overflows, water is stored here. When the outside River of Flowing Gold dries up, water is drawn from here," Dead Frenzy said. "Although the flooding and drying of the River of Flowing Gold sounds incredible, it was a frequent natural phenomenon during the God War. You used a tributary, I used a tributary, and soon enough it was all spent... In one timeline, in order to fight Ouroboros, we did not hesitate to exhaust every tributary of the River of Flowing Gold in the Void Realm. Even this Hidden Gold River ran dry. The mortal realm and the Void Realm ground to a complete halt, and only Hell and Heaven could barely keep functioning." "If you touch the water here, you won't be scoured by time, but your consciousness will sink into frozen time for a century or a millennium, depending on how many drops you touch." "To Ouroboros, a world frozen in time is like a Lalafell breaded and deep-fried—easy to swallow without even spitting out the bones." Yaxiu glanced at the boundless Hidden Gold River. "Then are all the demigods in Blackfall Hell proficient in the time faction? After all, time resources here are so abundant—" "Wrong. There are all kinds of resources here, except time resources." Dead Frenzy shook her head. "Frozen time isn't time, and a frozen Hidden Gold River won't produce time resources either." "However, because it stores vast amounts of time, resources here regenerate extremely quickly. As for what resources appear, that depends on what sorcery factions are popular in the outside world. Regardless, it's far more diverse than Deep Blue Hell. That's why Blackfall Hell has always had the largest number of demigods and the most complex array of sorcery factions." By now, the next floating palace had appeared before them. Yaxiu descended and asked, "You still haven't answered why these demigod outposts are all built on the water. Is it to make scavenging resources easier?" Dead Frenzy crossed her legs on the railing. Her expression was somewhat melancholic as she puffed on her cigarette, and only after a pause did she say, "No. It's to stop the Great Deluge." Yaxiu asked, "The Great Deluge?" "Most of the time, the Hidden Gold River is completely still. But once it starts moving, it becomes a world-shattering Great Deluge, continuing until Blackfall Hell is submerged," Dead Frenzy explained. "No prophecy sorcerer can accurately predict when a deluge will erupt. Two deluges might be separated by a century, or by just three days. That's why, long ago, the Blackfall demigods took control of the Great Deluge artificially, releasing it roughly once every five hundred years. When that happens, all demigods evacuate to the layers above or below. At all other times, they rely on these demigod outposts to suppress the Hidden Gold River." "Blackfall Hell is the most unforgiving place for lone wolves. All resources here are monopolized by demigod factions, and a lone wolf who takes even a bite will be hunted down. That's because to suppress the river, Blackfall demigods have to guard and reinforce the Hidden Gold River's nodes day and night. A single moment of negligence means total catastrophe, not to mention wasting their own time and energy. The risk is immense, and the price is steep. Without corresponding returns, no one would be willing to do it." Yaxiu nodded. "Indeed. To fight a natural disaster, everyone has to make sacrifices and unite. Unity requires organization, and organization requires rules. Lone wolves who refuse to follow the rules will inevitably infringe upon the rights of those willing to sacrifice... Since the Great Deluge is released once every five hundred years, there must be a decision-making body in Blackfall Hell?" "The Blackfall Council," Dead Frenzy said. "A dreadfully boring organization where a bunch of demigods squabble and scheme... What's worth mentioning, though, is that quite a few people you know have served as Speaker of the Blackfall Council." "People I know?" "Stars, Omniscience, Avici, Fantasy, Blood Moon... Senluo never served because she was from the same era as Omniscience and couldn't compete against the prophecy demigod." Dead Frenzy sneered. "As the largest demigod alliance in Hell, what ambitious soul could resist dipping their hands in?" Yaxiu suddenly found it rather amusing. He knew these God-Leaders had held the position thousands of years ago, separated by centuries or millennia, but thinking about how they had all held the exact same title gave him the surreal impression of "distinguished alumni like Stars all serving as student council president." "Hey, what about—" Dead Frenzy blew out a smoke ring and said crossly, "The Observer served as Speaker too. But his tenure lasted only a few months—because he absconded with half of Blackfall's resources." "Don't ask. I'm not interested in discussing his glorious deeds with you!" "Never mind, then." As they flew along the Hidden Gold River, Dead Frenzy suddenly said, "Are you really that..." "Hmm?" Dead Frenzy tapped a cigarette out of her pack, set it between her lips, and said, "Is someone like that really worth you defending?" Yaxiu looked at her, thought for a moment, and said, "I know you aren't really unhappy about me distributing resources to Vichy. Last time, when I found a soul spectacle in Barren Hell, you didn't care at all that I gave it to her." "The person you're unhappy with isn't Vichy. It's me." "I know what kind of person she is," he said calmly. "But right now, she is mine." "So if you have an issue, just direct it at me. At least I won't hold it against you." Yaxiu snapped his fingers. A flame flickered to life at his fingertip, and he took the initiative to light the cigarette for her. "Think that'll work?" "No," Yaxiu said, pointing ahead. "I wanted to ask... is today by any chance that once-in-five-hundred-years day?" Dead Frenzy turned her head and saw a golden torrent sweeping in from the extreme distance, completely filling the colossal cavern. What was even more extraordinary was that while a terrifying flood surged everywhere ahead, the Hidden Gold River beside Yaxiu and Dead Frenzy remained as still as a mirror, without a single ripple! "Impossible!" Dead Frenzy shook her head, muttering, "In our timeline, we're nowhere near the Great Deluge. How could this be?" "Could it be a sudden eruption?" "Impossible. A sudden eruption would mean the entire river boiling over. It wouldn't be like this at all... I get it!" She suddenly realized something. "Then what about them?" Dead Frenzy soared into the air. Instead of looking toward the approaching flood, she gazed toward the other end of the Hidden Gold River. "The Blackfall Council is unlocking the nodes of the Hidden Gold River one by one, deliberately triggering the Great Deluge! There's only one reason—they want to use the Great Deluge to wipe out the army of Forgotten Ones! No one can survive the Great Deluge, not even the Forgotten Ones!" "This is the front line between Ouroboros and the Threefold Hell. The Blackfall demigods are locked in a bitter struggle right up ahead!" "The Third Hell hasn't fallen yet!" An hour after arriving in the Third Hell, they were witnessing the once-in-five-hundred-years Blackfall Great Deluge. It was practically worth ten times the price of admission.