Chapter 620

Chapter 620: For Long-Term Plans, Trilobite Made a Painful Retreat

“Hiss—!”

The light from the Fire Domain finally faded.

Yet the City of Dimensions remained scorching hot.

The tremendous heat baked the "walls of the planes"—already compacted by the "Primal Mud’s digging claws"—into even harder, denser barriers.

Countless "micro divine rank" particles, released by the Fire Domain’s heat, clung to the city walls, painting them with mysterious streaks.

Only the uppermost regions retained some softness; thick World Tree roots crept slowly upward, breaching the "ceiling" once more.

Soon, they might become "kindling" themselves, stealing the Fire Domain’s light back to the Primordial Earth.

The city’s base held only the World Tree’s bone-white ashes.

And something else.

Something that drove even the Giant God mad!

“Hiss—!”

“Mmmph… Ah… Mmmph…!”

“So!”

“So damn delicious!”

“Roasted meat with bracken fern roots—a perfect match!”

“Incredible!”

……

Truth be told, Trilobite’s “barbecue” would be considered crude beyond measure today!

No skewers, no proper oven—just meat flung into open flames.

He hadn’t turned it once, leaving it scorched unevenly.

The bottom and sides were mostly charred; some carbonized patches tasted foul and unhealthy.

The top remained nearly raw.

Yet the upper-middle section glowed golden-brown, fat sizzling invitingly. Not premium, but edible.

Trilobite didn’t care.

Cooked meat beat raw any day!

His new species—the saber-toothed Xuanhan Dragon—made unpalatable human food tolerable.

The carbonized underside, for instance, reminded him of “deep-fried” crunch. He gnawed stubbornly…

*Crack!*

A crispy bite with smoky aftertones.

The faint bitterness layered flavors on his tongue—an accidental perfection.

The rare upper part melted tenderly; sweet juices and blood mingled with succulent flesh, making Trilobite moan with delight!

The perfectly roasted part of the meat thrilled him even more.

The smell of fat, the crisp skin, and the soft meat, mixed with the juices from the cooked blood, kept changing his taste sensations, making Trilobite feel like he was on a flavor rollercoaster, enjoying the deliciousness of the whole "roasted Barmosaurus!"

“Wow!”

“It’s so good!”

“I can’t help wanting to eat it all up!”

But Trilobite used nearly all his willpower to fight off the urge to gulp down all three “whole roasted Barmosaurus.”

“Slow and steady!”

“To eat more delicious roasted meat later, I have to make some big and tough sacrifices now!”

“Hmm!”

Trilobite’s “big and tough sacrifice” was just the legs of two Barmosaurus.

Compared to the body, the legs, especially the back legs, were roasted the best.

Even though the cooking wasn’t even, having those tasty layers—three or more—in the legs gave his taste buds an amazing “explosion.”

For a food lover to give the best part of the roasted meat to someone else…

It really felt like a “huge sacrifice.”

The two crispy-tender “roasted legs” sat on a “stone”; even with the light rain falling, their yummy smell and rising steam kept spreading out.

—-

“What…”

“What does the Giant God mean!?”

“Is He testing our loyalty like this!?”

“Or is this another boost for the mark of the Giant God!?”

Barbatos eyed the steaming “divine flesh” suspiciously; he couldn’t understand it.

He didn’t get the Giant God’s plan or what this “divine flesh” really was.

“With the meat of a Tyrant-level creature as the base.”

“With the roots of the World Tree as fuel.”

“With the flames of the Fire Domain as the oven.”

“When these three come together in such a weird ‘funeral’ ritual, what kind of holy and strange monster will come out!?”

“What will He bring to me?”

“The Giant God wants us to taste this, but what’s His purpose… what’s His scheme!?”

Countless ideas and plots rushed through Barbatos’s Soul.

But he still couldn’t figure out what the Giant God was really up to.

Maybe after being the Chaos Demon God too long, Barbatos always thought other gods meant harm, even the Giant God who gave him his current Divine Body!

In contrast, Lady Xidi was much more direct.

"Ah—woo—!"

She bit down on the Giant Spirit God’s leg, which had undergone a strange transformation under the Fire Domain’s scorching heat.

"Hiss—!"

A large chunk of meat was torn off.

Then, a peculiar light suddenly flashed in Xidi’s eyes.

"Nom… nom… nom…"

She swallowed the entire leg meat without any goddess-like grace, not sparing even the bones. She completely ignored the bit of Primal Mud clinging to the meat.

"Haa…"

Under Gimmerly and Barbatos’s stunned gazes, Xidi let out a satisfied sigh.

"You just…"

"Didn’t guard against it…"

Barbatos stammered, struggling for words.

"Indeed, I didn’t guard, and there was no need to guard."

Xidi saw right through Barbatos’s unspoken question.

She didn’t hide her "recklessness" at all.

She was nothing like the previous Chaos Demon God, who was full of schemes and planned three steps ahead for every move.

Seeing Barbatos and Gimmerly’s baffled expressions, Xidi slowly shook her head. "You two, the times are different now."

"That old way of constant scheming and deceit—don’t bring it before the Giant God. Don’t carry it into this new era."

"The world the Giant God wants to create is built on interests too, but it’s not a cruel zero-sum game. It’s about sharing, built on ‘win-win’ and ‘trust’!"

"Eat it."

"This is the olive branch the Giant God actively extended to us."

"If we don’t grasp His hand of trust, we can’t walk alongside the Giant God."

"Besides…"

Xidi tilted her head, looking straight at Barbatos.

A flicker of mockery danced in her double eyes, sparking Barbatos’s fury.

"Don’t forget, our divine bodies were granted by the Giant God’s power."

"Our fate has long been held in the Giant God’s hand."

"If He truly wanted to play tricks, would He need such underhanded methods?"

…

"Tch…"

Barbatos spat, his face showing defiance.

Yet he had no retort.

Lady Xidi spoke wisely.

After hearing her words, both he and Gimmerly suddenly gained some clarity.

“Ah, so that’s it!”

“Lady Xidi truly is the closest deity to the Giant God!”

“Everything the Giant God did, every action He took, represented the order of the new era!”

“Stealing Heavenly Fire from the ground and controlling the power of the Fire Domain declared His authority and strength to us.”

“By weaving crowns for Himself with the Fire Domain’s light, He announced Himself as the master of this land, showing His identity.”

“And by giving us divine flesh treated with the Fire Domain’s power…”

“He showed us that anyone, even deities, who dared to block the new era would face the Fire Domain’s scorching?”

“Making us eat it meant He wanted us to accept this order!?”

“Well…”

Although Barbatos and Gimmerly felt odd about eating a deity’s remains handled by the Fire Domain and didn’t understand the point of such a burial, the meaning was the least important thing right then.

Because whether this was Lady Xidi’s “olive branch” or something like a “pledge of loyalty,” if they refused, they lost the chance to walk with the Giant God!

This was something the chaos goddesses, fully ready to serve the Giant God, could not bear.

“Hiss—!”

“Umm…”

“Mmm—!?”

When the leg meat of the Giant Spirit God entered their mouths, a warm, soft, strange feeling burst inside!

As the divine flesh, still glowing with “Fire Domain energy,” landed in their stomach furnace, a unique power rose from it.

It split into two paths.

One flowed along the magic circuits through their bodies, warming them all over; it seemed every part of their Divine Bodies rejoiced in the heat!

The other climbed up their vertebrae, straight to their Souls!

This energy didn’t crash into their Souls like some of the Giant God’s past “gifts,” which were rough and fierce.

Instead, it gently soothed their Souls, like a warm shower.

The warm currents melted into their Souls.

“Dong…”

“Dong…”

“Dong…”

Their Souls trembled and slowly grew!

Meanwhile, the mark of the Giant God peacefully shut its “hollow” eyes, as if feeling emotions and enjoying the warm flow!

“Gods!”

“The Giant God’s gift…”

“Was boosting my Soul!”

“This… this meant…”

A Soul’s strength is crucial for deities.

A strong Soul can master more magic skills and pair with mightier Divine Bodies.

Of course, a weak Soul could still control a big Divine Body; but that often led to slowness and dazedness, stopping the Divine Body’s full power.

Often, a mismatched huge Divine Body worked worse than one perfectly matched to a Soul.

As a core councilor, Barbatos could, in theory, match all powerful Divine Bodies, even nearly unbeatable ones like Lady Xidi’s, but he feared going beyond.

Yet with his Soul growing stronger…

Barbatos dreamed of a grander Divine Body, even better than Lady Xidi’s.

And he would rule the ground with that Divine Body, seizing supreme power from the primordial!

“Phew…”

He respectfully lifted his head, gazing with longing and pleading eyes at the giver of the Divine Body, the holder of the Fire Domain’s powers, the great and mysterious child of that era—the Giant God!

But then…

“Buzz—!”

The Giant God’s pressure hit them hard again.

The deep, single-syllable magic language echoed once more in the ether rain.

This time…

“Just as I thought…”

“There’s no free lunch!”

“The Giant God began demanding from us!”