Chapter 368
by fanqienovelChapter 368: Aware of Everything, Yet Completely Ignorant
The twenty-ninth seat, Astarloth, stood firmly with the "Barbatos faction."
He strongly supported the First Demon God.
Because he had lived long and seen much.
"Hmph, that group of ‘anti-Barbatos faction’ demon gods led by Lady Xidi truly lacked experience and was hopelessly self-righteous."
"Barbatos had always been the First Demon God, and he had held this position for a long time, enduring countless trials through the ages."
"The formidable deities that had collided with him numbered more than one, and opponents as mighty as the ‘Giant God’ were not unheard of."
"And the result?"
"Barbatos still triumphed!"
"He even exploited various crises to eliminate rivals within the Core Council of Chaos—killing two birds with one stone."
Astarloth was an ancient Chaos Demon God, having dwelled here almost since the dawn of the Chaos Swamp Realm.
Naturally, his stagnant rank as the twenty-ninth core councilor spoke volumes—old and weak.
Yet this frailty was offset by experience, and Barbatos gladly assigned such "elders" safer duties.
Like…
post-event investigations, slaughtering mortals, post-event investigations, slaughtering mortals…
Decades of experience cemented his conviction: "The First Demon God remains undefeatable."
"If that ‘Giant God’ truly gambled against Barbatos using mere wisdom and logic—while clinging to bonds, duties, and other sentimental ties with spawn and deities—victory was impossible!"
"For any game devised through reason inevitably contains flaws."
"Any scheme woven from knowledge inherently holds blind spots."
"Where emotion stirs, weakness follows!"
"Yet uncovering blind spots, exploiting flaws, and seizing weaknesses—that was Barbatos’s mastery!"
"Unless…"
"the Giant God embodied contradictions: feeling yet detached; foolish yet wise; omniscient yet utterly ignorant!"
"Or perhaps he perpetually stood one tier above Barbatos, executing a dimension-reducing strike."
Astarloth pondered this…
but such a paradoxical being defied all imagination.
"Truly impossible."
"Still, forcing Barbatos to invoke emergency protocols marks him as unprecedented."
"Perish contentedly."
"To the First Demon God, mercy signifies deepest scorn—while cruelty conveys supreme respect."
…
Just as Astarloth delayed his investigation while extolling Barbatos…
"Boom—!"
"Bang—!"
The Fantasy Tree of Subspace’s sapling crashed down.
"Thud—!"
"Agh—!"
Astarloth shrieked a piercing cry.
He got hit directly!
“Cough, cough…”
“Damn…”
After a long pause, he clumsily crawled out from under the tree, twisting his body.
Although he wasn’t badly hurt, it was deeply humiliating.
What a disgrace!
“Who did this!?”
“I will tear them to pieces!”
“However…”
Astarloth, being a well-informed demon god, quickly calmed down and realized a more serious problem.
“In this abandoned Bubble World, there should have been only one deity-level being, and that was me.”
“There shouldn’t have been any other demon gods.”
“Then what about this young shoot of the Fantasy Tree?”
In Astarloth’s, or rather all demon gods’ impressions, the Fantasy Tree of Subspace was incredibly solid, as indestructible as the Ether Sea and Primal Mud…
At least, almost indestructible.
Only Core Councilor Level demon gods could pose a threat to the young shoots of the Fantasy Tree.
But now, without any other Core Councilor Level deities, the Fantasy Tree’s young shoot had fallen over!?
This made no sense!
However, as an experienced investigator, Astarloth quickly found the truth!
“Wait…”
“Those mortals were actually attacking the Fantasy Tree of Subspace!?”
“Although it was also a young shoot, it was much sturdier than the one that fell; if they kept this up, nothing would come of it…”
“Ah!?”
A shocking event happened, leaving Astarloth stunned.
The young shoot of the Fantasy Tree of Subspace was slowly being eroded; although it was still far from collapsing, it might take years of siege.
But his “divine vision” clearly told him that the layer of “law substance” protecting the Fantasy Tree of Subspace and folding space was being gradually scraped away!
As long as they persisted, whether for five or ten years, someday this young shoot would collapse!
Thinking of this, a chill ran down Astarloth’s spine.
“Mortals… mortals had actually mastered the capability to erode, even harm the Fantasy Tree of Subspace!?”
“This…”
“That’s right, it was the Giant God who granted them this power!”
A terrifying thought took shape in Astarloth’s mind.
“Perhaps, we had all been deceived by the Giant God!?”
“The Giant God’s true intention was not to defeat Barbatos, nor to confront the Chaos Council, but to face chaos itself!?”
“To deal with the Fantasy Tree of Subspace!?”
“He was experimenting with mortals, trying to create weapons that could destroy the Fantasy Tree of Subspace, and he had already achieved certain results!”
“This…”
Fear slowly tightened its grip on his heart.
Astarloth finally understood the kind of opponent Barbatos had to face.
“He didn’t even consider Barbatos a threat!?”
“Every action he took against chaos was just bait!?”
“Using himself as bait!”
“The goal was to create a weapon that could destroy the Fantasy Tree of Subspace!?”
“How ruthless!”
Other beings opposing chaos, like Saraph, only wanted to defeat chaos and protect the Bubble World.
But the Giant God…
“He wanted to eradicate the entire chaos by destroying the Fantasy Tree of Subspace!”
“No!”
“These dangerous mortal things must be destroyed!”
“And then, I must quickly return and tell Barbatos this news!”
Astarloth no longer hesitated!
“Daring to threaten the foundation of chaos!”
“You shall not be spared!”
“Die, all of you—!”
“Boom—!”
A forbidden spell was about to strike!
But at that moment…
“Boom—!”
A colossal creature suddenly burst forth from the Ether Sea beside him!
“Boom—!”
The two deities collided fiercely.
“Roar, roar, roar, roar—!”
Accompanied by excited and loud roars, Astarloth finally saw the approaching figures…
“Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons!?”
"This was too outrageous…"
A group of mortal beings had actually shattered the Fantasy Tree of Subspace!
The Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons couldn’t comprehend it, yet felt immense shock.
“How did they achieve this?”
Ye’s Foolish Act glanced at Sprout’s Thin Clothing beside her, finding only stunned disbelief in his eyes.
“Don’t ask me; I’m no wiser than you.”
“Fine…”
“These mortals radiate the Giant God’s power!”
“It must be the Giant God’s doing!”
“Moreover…”
The Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons sensed gathering Magic Power, along with another deity’s astonishment and bloodlust.
“This Divine Body bore peculiar traits.”
“Its head was bizarre, with divine bones extending sideways.”
“Rumored to store Magic Power!”
“Such a structure belongs only to…”
“That ancient fiend—Astarloth!”
“Kill him!”
“Regardless, he’s a core councilor; taking him down is definitely right!”
Thus unfolded the earlier scene!
“Boom—!”
The coalescing forbidden spell veered off course upon collision, striking the distant Fantasy Tree of Subspace and detonating!
Yet the Fantasy Tree remained standing.
Only a charred scar marred its surface.
The Law Substance had shielded it completely from the forbidden spell’s fury!
This deepened the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons’ disbelief.
“What forbidden spells failed to accomplish, mortals achieved!”
“This proves we must kill Astarloth to protect these mortals!”
“Could this be the ‘opportunity’ mentioned by Mr. Sub-brain?”
“Hmm…”
Ye’s Foolish Act abandoned her pondering.
Understanding eluded her anyway.
But one task burned clear in her mind!
“Boom—!”
The Star-Eater Plutonium Dragon’s massive Divine Body surged forward again!
“Die, chaos!”