Chapter 014: The God

“Monsters?” Du Fan pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “Then what are monsters?”
Ringtone frowned and said, “I don’t know… Only the high priest of the Great God Temple is allowed to consult those oldest texts. In other words… only he can read them. Why do you ask these questions?”
Du Fan snorted and said, “I was tricked into this place by you guys in a mess. I don’t know anything, and now I’m in this situation. But looking at your High Priest Gannon, it seems like there’s some great secret about the Gate of the Abyss. My ambitions aren’t great—I just want to know why he went through all the trouble to trick me here.”
As soon as Du Fan finished speaking, a cold voice came from behind him: “Why ask her? If you want to know something, just ask me directly. I’m not someone who won’t tell you.”
Du Fan and Ringtone were both startled and couldn’t help but turn around. They saw that Gannon had somehow arrived behind them.
At this moment, Gannon appeared somewhat disheveled. His voice remained cold, his face still expressionless, but there seemed to be a trace of blood at the corners of his mouth. Moreover, his chest was heaving heavily as he spoke, clearly having suffered a great loss earlier.
Du Fan frowned and glanced at him a few times, only to notice that his body was covered in blood—whether it was from those evil Spider Queens or Gannon’s own blood was unclear.
Du Fan stared at him for a while before sneering, “You’re not dead yet?”
Gannon replied indifferently, “It’s not hard to kill me, but those beasts still can’t take my life.”
Du Fan pursed his lips and remained silent.
Gannon looked at him and suddenly said calmly, “Young Master Du Fan, didn’t you want to clarify something? Why not ask now? It’s safe here for now. If we reach the destination later, you won’t be able to ask anymore.”
Du Fan frowned, unsure of what High Priest Gannon was thinking. After a while, he hesitantly asked, “Will you really tell me everything?”
Gannon gave Du Fan a cold look, speaking with disdain, “Why would I lie to you?”
Du Fan nodded and said, “Okay… Then please tell me, Your Eminence the High Priest… what exactly is this place?”
Gannon crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, then sighed softly. “Didn’t Ringtone say it? This place is the Gate of the Abyss.”

Du Fan sneered, “I know this place is called the Gate of the Abyss… But that’s not what I want to know. A name means nothing at all.”
Gannon glanced at Du Fan in surprise and said, “I didn’t expect a human like you to see through it… Alright… I’ll tell you directly. Things like the Gate of the Abyss and those monsters are just tricks to scare people. Over the years, as these stories were passed around, this place became mysterious… In truth, there’s nothing special about it. It’s just a place where the Great Demon God is imprisoned.”
As he spoke, Gannon’s voice carried a hint of excitement.
Ringtone and Du Fan were both shocked. Ringtone was too surprised to speak, while Du Fan couldn’t help but ask, “The Demon God?”
Gannon gave Du Fan a deep look and said, “Oh, so you don’t know. I thought you did!”
“Know what?” Du Fan pressed back.
“What? Of course, the Ancient Divine Wars…” Seeing Du Fan’s confused expression, Gannon looked enlightened. “I see. Presumably, even your Holy Church doesn’t have any records of these things… But that’s normal. For your Light God… it’s not a good thing if his own followers don’t know about them. That’s natural.”
Du Fan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Hmph…” Gannon sneered. “Do you still remember the concept of the chessboard and pieces that Ringtone explained to you?”
Du Fan replied, “Of course.”
Gannon nodded. “Since you understand so well, it’s easier for me to explain… On the Roland Continent, this chessboard has not only pieces but also a force we can call ‘players,’ that is, the gods… The Ancient Divine Wars were battles between gods fighting over followers, or rather, over the number of pieces in their hands… Those ancient wars involved the supreme gods of the heavens, but in the end, there was only one loser… Guess who it was?”
Du Fan couldn’t help but have some strange thoughts. Discussing such ancient wars with someone like this? Ever since he arrived in this world, he had known that true gods existed on this continent, but he had never heard anyone talk about them voluntarily. Now, hearing High Priest Gannon speak about what could be considered ancient secrets, he felt an indescribable sensation—this wasn’t as simple as just a legend!

He looked at Gannon’s peculiar expression and sighed lightly, saying, “So, naturally, he is the Demon God you mentioned, right?”
Gannon snorted and replied, “You guessed right. During the war among the gods of the heavens, both sides were evenly matched—their powers were so great that whoever wanted to win had to pay a heavy price. That’s why the war lasted so long. But in the end, the gods split into two factions: one led by the Supreme God, the gods of light, and the other consisted solely of the Demon God… In terms of strength, the Demon God was actually the strongest among the gods of the heavens. Yet even so, when faced with all the other gods united against him, even a powerful being like the Demon God could only be defeated. Of course, at that divine level, even if they used all their strength, they couldn’t kill each other. So, the only way to deal with the opponent… was to seal them away.”
Du Fan sighed and said, “And then, that Demon God was sealed here, in what’s known as the Gate of the Abyss?”
“Your mind isn’t entirely dull,” Gannon nodded.
Du Fan reached out slightly and said softly, “Well… since this place is where, according to you, the gods of the heavens sealed away the Demon God, what does that have to do with me?”
Gannon sneered and said, “It doesn’t hurt to tell you. You’ll eventually find out anyway… After the war, the gods of light tried every means to seal the Demon God forever. But… no matter how powerful the magic array used to seal a god, there’s always a way to break it. After all, time means nothing to gods. To seal the Demon God, those supreme gods racked their brains and finally came up with a despicable idea!”
Du Fan had a vague guess and couldn’t help but ask, “How despicable?”
Gannon seemed hesitant for a moment before sneering, “It sounds mysterious, but it’s actually worthless. While sealing him, those supreme gods also cast an evil curse. If the Demon God were to break the seal rashly, he would become a mortal without his divine powers. He could only regain his powers under one condition.”
“What condition?”
Gannon replied coldly, “Still can’t figure it out? Naturally, it’s when someone who doesn’t belong to this world at all—a pawn who can change this world—takes the initiative to break the seal! Only then will the Demon God regain his powers!”

Du Fan thought for a moment before couldn’t help but sneer, “I told you why you kept emphasizing all along that it was my own choice… So now you’re telling me these things—aren’t you afraid I’ll refuse your demands?”
“Refuse your demands?” Gannon seemed to smile slightly. “I’m just stating a fact. It might affect your thinking, but I’m not forcing you to do anything, am I?”
Du Fan sneered, “It’s not forcing me yet?”
Gannon laughed. “Of course not. But I seem to have forgotten to tell you… Young Master Du Fan, this place has no way out. Unless you have dragon-like wings, there’s no way to leave. Otherwise, the only way to get out is to break the seal of the Demon God, and then you can leave.”
“What if I don’t?”
Gannon still smiled. “No one is forcing you… If you don’t want to… I won’t do anything to you. In fact, I’ll even provide food for you… By the way, you two haven’t eaten in a long time, right? Don’t worry. I’ll feed you properly in a bit. But at the same time, I must remind you… It’s daytime now, and only a few magical beasts come out. But after sunset, this forest won’t just have the Evil Spider Queen… If you stay here then, I doubt I need to tell you what will happen.”
Du Fan gritted his teeth and said, “So in other words, if I don’t break the seal of the Demon God, I won’t have a chance to get out alive, right?”
Gannon smiled faintly, tilted his head for a moment, and said, “If I’m not mistaken… then… that’s indeed the case.”
Du Fan gave a bitter smile, sighed, and stared at Gannon. “Very well… Let’s put that question aside for now. It’s your turn now… Tell me, Lord Gannon, who exactly are you? And why do you know all these things? I think you have to let me figure that out as well, right?”