Chapter 410
by fanqienovelChapter 410: The "Giant God Association" Without the Giant God
“Pal…”
“Is he gone…?”
“What a shame.”
“Such a pity, truly too unfortunate.”
“The Giant God is utterly despicable!”
“We must strike hard.”
…
Countless voices rose within chaos’s core, all seething with indignation as they denounced the wicked Giant God.
Chaos had just suffered a devastating blow.
Pal—the mighty core councilor, Barbatos’s trusted Border Demon God, the Abyss’s communicator, conqueror of border wars, eternal sovereign of the western frontier, keeper of the Ether Sea serpents, slayer of defiant demigods, and Tenth Seat of the Twelve People’s Council—had perished in the Giant God’s colossal maw.
His death stunned Barbatos, who promptly summoned the Core Council of Chaos.
Unlike their last clash, the atmosphere lacked its former tension.
Gimmerly and Xidi still watched idly, but their earlier eagerness to mock Barbatos had faded into detached curiosity.
Baimeng’s small frame curled into her chair, nearly vanishing as she hunched low, head bowed—too fearful to meet Barbatos’s eyes.
Barbatos stared blankly, as if his spirit had fled.
Barbatos wondered—since when had he grown so close to Pal?
They’d barely been acquainted…
Yet Guxin, Morax, Malbasi, and Samikina vigorously debated strategies to destroy the Giant God.
As for Sotiko…
He lay sprawled across the table, fast asleep.
“Phew…”
“At least this is better than last time.”
Barbatos scanned the core councilors around the table and sighed in relief.
“I’ve finally united chaos’s strength—at least the core councilors’—into one cohesive force!”
“Now we can focus fully on crushing the Giant God!”
The First Demon God’s confidence was grounded.
He mentally dissected each councilor’s motives.
“After receiving my mark, Xidi and Gimmerly still resist its influence, with some success.”
“They’re merely slacking off, going through the motions—but at least they aren’t hindering me or joining the Giant God.”
“One major threat is gone.”
“Baimeng…”
“Heh, they must have been afraid of me.”
“The psychological disadvantage combined with the power of the Chaos Mark made it impossible for Him to resist; from now on, they would obediently follow my commands.”
“Judging by Barbatos’s expression…”
“Though I didn’t know why Pal’s fall shook Him so deeply, He clearly hated the Giant God to the core.”
“He’d become my most steadfast ally!”
“Morax seemed more active in hunting the Giant God too—was my offer that good?”
“Or did He want to trade His firm support for my backing of His nominated core councilor?”
“Either way, whatever His motives, Morax was mine now.”
“The only wild card was Sotiko.”
“But given her attitude… heh… she was no threat…”
“The other demon gods were at least friendly neutrals, especially now they bore the Will of Chaos’s mark.”
“So…”
Barbatos slapped his thigh and leaned back with calculated ease.
“Now that’s true unity!”
“Still, all this came at a price.”
“Though perhaps that price wasn’t too steep for me.”
With that thought, the First Demon God rose slowly.
His commanding gaze swept across the assembly.
Under the “Supreme of Chaos”’s intimidating stare, every deity gradually fell silent.
The buzzing chatter dissolved into stillness.
“See!”
“This is real submission!”
Pride swelled Barbatos’s chest as He glanced at the empty chair labeled “10.”
“Let the new core councilor—master of Powers of Shallow Ether, former core councilor of the Chaos Council, Mr. Shaks of the Forty-Fourth Seat—assume the Tenth Seat!”
…
“Tap… tap… tap…”
A plain-faced man with sea-blue hair entered.
This was Mr. Shaks—once the Forty-Fourth Seat, now ascending to the Tenth Seat through “Powers of Shallow Ether.”
The new core councilor offered Barbatos a slight bow, signaling respect and measured obedience.
Standard protocol for assuming office.
Yet in these critical times, such “measured obedience” wasn’t going to satisfy Barbatos.
“Buzz—!”
A flame suddenly burst from Barbatos’s hand, dancing and forming the shape of a Chaos six-pointed star.
“Wait a moment, Mr. Shaks.”
“In these critical times, we must stand united.”
“I expect every Chaos Demon God, especially core councilors, to stay loyal to the Will of Chaos.”
“Will you accept the Chaos Mark?”
Only the original core councilors of chaos qualified to receive the Chaos Mark. Though Shaks leaned toward the Endless Ether and lingered near it, he was truly a primordial deity of chaos.
After joining the Chaos Council, he became eligible to receive Barbatos’s Chaos Mark.
But who’d willingly submit to another?
Just as expected…
Shaks’s face twisted with struggle.
Yet he quickly gritted his teeth and gave a sharp nod.
“I… accept…”
“From this day forth, I’ll obey your orders without betrayal!”
“If I betray you…”
“Then let…”
“Hah…”
Here, Shaks drew a deep breath.
Magic thrummed through his words.
“Then let…”
“Let my precious Divine Body be ruined beyond recognition!”
“Clap. Clap. Clap.”
The oath made Barbatos nod and applaud, his triumphant eyes flickering with awe.
“A vow woven by ‘Creation’s Sigh’—once spoken, unbreakable laws enforce it!”
“Shaks will clearly do anything for a core councilor seat.”
“Perfect!”
“Only such a power-hungry fool would serve me willingly.”
With that thought, Barbatos smiled warmly.
“Welcome aboard.”
As he spoke, he imprinted the Chaos Mark into Shaks’s Soul.
—-
“Burp—!”
The "giant jaws and sharp teeth" mark burped.
It had just swallowed the "six-pointed star Chaos Mark" whole.
The holder of this "giant jaws and sharp teeth" mark, Shaks, sat beside Baimeng.
The two demon gods took their seats at the round table.
But this round table was a bit smaller than the one used by Barbatos.
For now, only eight chairs were around the table.
"Everyone, I did pretty well just now, right?"
Shaks stayed in his human form and looked at the gathered demon gods—the "Fourth Seat" Lady Xidi, "Twelfth Seat" Gimmerly, "Ninth Seat" Baimeng, "Eighth Seat" Barbatos, "Second Seat" Sotiko, "Seventh Seat" Amon, and "sixth seat" Morax.
And Shaks himself, the new "Tenth Seat."
"Not bad."
Lady Xidi nodded coolly, keeping her distant look.
Baimeng also nodded.
She looked around at the gathered demon gods and sighed in relief.
"I was worried that by meeting so openly here, Barbatos might catch on."
"But it seemed there was no need to worry."
"Even if he noticed, we wouldn’t be scared. We could just turn against him."
Gimmerly opened her folding fan with a "whoosh."
Today, she wore a very tight bright red robe that showed off her bust; the skirt had high slits on the sides, revealing her legs up to the thighs.
White ribbons wrapped around her full long legs, pressing into the flesh and making two white circles at the ends.
"Don’t worry, out of sight, out of mind; Barbatos won’t find out."
"And we had the power of six core demon gods here, making a barrier."
"I also had my Outer Gods from the Void keeping watch."
"In short, you could rest easy."
"But…"
Right then, Amon’s strong voice boomed.
"We mustn’t be careless."
"Even though we fooled Barbatos for now, the Abyss won’t let this go."
"He wouldn’t give the Giant God any breathing room!"
"We needed to know what the Giant God’s plan really was!"
Just then…
"Buzz—!"
The annoying "buzzing" sound of the Outer Gods rang out; followed by an even worse voice.
"Ah, everyone."
"I just got word about the Giant God’s movements and Barbatos’s new plans."
"The Giant God’s been doing baffling things near the ‘Endless Ether’ and our ‘Chaos Swamp.’"
"He seems to be wasting time."
"Barbatos won’t let this chance slip; he aims to team up with the Endless Ether, striking the Giant God from both sides to crush him in one go."
"The leader for this is the Eleventh core councilor, Guxin."
"What luck."
"We’ve just sent Baimeng’s underling, the Thirty-Fifth Seat Magaxia, to work under Mr. Guxin."
"Perfectly timed—he should prove useful."
"As for that baffling Giant God…"
"Hey, what’s that for, sister…"
Gimmerly was cut off mid-sentence as Xidi flicked her on the head.
"The Giant God doesn’t act without reason."
"The Giant God doesn’t waste time."
"What he’s doing…"
"Either holds deep meaning, which you…"
"My foolish sister can’t grasp."
"Or he’s saving the universe!"
"That’s why I believe in the Giant God."
Gimmerly mumbled, itching to snipe back, but one glimpse of her sister’s sharp glare shut her up.
That flick had really stung.
"Hmm."
Seeing Gimmerly finally quiet, Xidi gave a nod.
"I believe in the Giant God."
"Because to beat someone as wise as me, he must be a greater mind."
"He must be flawless, beyond any mistake!"