Chapter 004: Devourment

Gannon smiled faintly. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth but did not approach the rock where Du Fan and the others were. Instead, he sat cross-legged on a small rock a few meters away from them, then slowly closed his eyes. His chest rose and fell steadily. After a while, he finally calmed down and opened his eyes again, staring at Du Fan and saying, “Young Master Du Fan, I know you have many questions in mind. If you want to ask, go ahead quickly… We still have time right now.”
“Can we still leave this place?” Du Fan quickly asked his first question.
But Gannon just looked at Du Fan without saying a word, as if Du Fan hadn’t said anything at all. Frustrated, Du Fan asked twice more, but Gannon remained motionless, as if he disdained to answer such questions. It was only after a while that he sighed and said, “Young Master Du Fan, it’s rare that I want to clear up your doubts, but you… only ask these meaningless questions? If you can’t get out alive, what’s the point even if I tell you everything? Do you think I would do such a pointless thing?”
Du Fan snorted and said, “Who knows? Well… High Priest Gannon, let’s put that question aside for now. Instead, let’s discuss—should I call you High Priest Gannon or… Toru… Oh right, Lord Angel Toronus… What should I call you?”
A strange look flashed in Gannon’s eyes. After a moment, he sighed softly and said, “Just call me Gannon… I’ve been called by that name for so many years that I’m already used to it.”
Du Fan curled his lips slightly and glanced at the pale-faced Ringo before continuing, “Alright, Lord Gannon… Then I won’t be polite and will ask further. First, tell me—what exactly is this place?”
Gannon wore a pale smile. He chuckled softly and said, “What exactly this place is? Didn’t my obedient student tell you? I remember telling her about this place a long time ago!”
Du Fan frowned and said, “If that’s the case, then is this place really the Abyssal Sea of Blood?”

“Yes, and yet no…” Gannon said. “I don’t know if this place can truly be called an abyss, because as far as I know, there are numerous abyssal creatures in true abysses. But look, Master Du Fan—aside from the three of us, there’s no other living being here. What do you think… why is that?”
Du Fan pondered for a moment before hesitantly saying, “Could it be… that we’re all inside Spalitith’s stomach? If I’m not mistaken, we must have been sucked in through that huge mouth on his body, that thing called the Abyssal Tooth. Could we really be inside his stomach? And are those things his gastric juices?”
As he spoke, Du Fan pointed at the blood on the ground.
Gannon still shook his head and said, “Lord Du Fan, my answer remains the same. This place… is… and yet not… If we’re inside Spalitith’s stomach, then indeed we are. But to say his stomach is big enough to contain such a vast space… that seems unlikely, right?”
Du Fan nodded and asked, “So, what do you mean, Lord Gannon?”
After pondering for a while, Gannon said, “Along the way, I’ve tried countless times—using my Holy Realm to fight back, as well as alchemy, magic, witchcraft, and combat energy from your Roland Continent… I’ve used everything, but I still can’t leave this place. So, I have a hypothesis…”
“What hypothesis?”
Gannon gave Du Fan a deep look and said, “I think you’ve had a similar experience before…”
Du Fan frowned, recalling his experiences in the Great Temple. After thinking for a moment, he said, “You mean Spalitith created a space inside his body?”
“No… not Spalitith…” Gannon shook his head. “Although Spalitith is a Desire Angel, even a realm powerhouse can’t create a space like that, let alone him… But there’s the Abyssal Tooth inside him…”
“What do you mean?”

Gannon sighed and said, “Even I don’t know the origin of the Fang of the Abyss. But I do know it’s a true divine artifact that was already used by the gods of the heavens during the ancient wars. If it hadn’t existed back then, the Demon God might not have been defeated. Yet for some reason, the Fang of the Abyss now resides within Spalitis’s body. But with his strength, it’s impossible for him to control it. If I’m guessing correctly, Spalitis, in his quest for power, insanely forced the Fang of the Abyss into his body, intending to use his angelic body to devour it… But can an ancient divine artifact be so easily devoured? Judging from Spalitis’s current state, it seems the Fang of the Abyss inside him is instead devouring his body. If he hadn’t remained in a petrified state for thousands of years, I think Spalitis would have long disappeared from this world!”
Du Fan frowned and asked, “So what’s going on now?”
Gannon sighed softly, “Although the Fang of the Abyss is devouring his body, he hasn’t been completely consumed yet. The Fang of the Abyss and Spalitis’s angelic power have reached a delicate balance within his body… The move he used is likely to swallow us all into the space created by the divine power of the Fang of the Abyss. In other words, we’re not in the Roland Continent’s realm, nor in any other realm. We must be in what’s called a spatial rift—only one created by the Fang of the Abyss!”
Du Fan curled his lips and said, “All your talk still doesn’t get to the point. Fine, now I know where we are, but what’s the use if we can’t get out?”
Gannon gave a strange smile and said, “Young Master Du Fan… Do you really think I can’t get out of here?”
“If you could, you would have left long ago! Why are you still here?”

Gannon gave a bitter smile and said, “Well… Young Master Du Fan is right. Although I have a way to get out, I’ve used blood sacrifices several times in a row and forced my human body to control a sacred realm. My body is already on the verge of collapse. To be honest, even though I can still walk and speak now, if you threw at me the weakest fireball spell, my body might vanish right away… Under such circumstances, how could I possibly leave?”
Du Fan couldn’t help but ask, “So what do you mean?”
Gannon smiled slightly. “What do I mean? Can’t Young Master Du Fan figure it out with his own brain?”
Du Fan’s expression darkened. He stared at Gannon with a strange look and said, “High Priest Gannon, Lord Angel Toronus… Are you trying to say that if I tell you how to get out, I have to agree to… go deal with that Spalitis after we leave?”
Gannon replied casually, “Young Master Du Fan is truly extraordinary. All these words I’ve said were just to get this condition from you. You put it so bluntly—does it mean you’re ready to agree?”
“Nonsense,” Du Fan sneered. “If even you aren’t a match for Spalitis, how could I be? Come on, you’re all high-ranking angels, powerful beings of the sacred realm. In front of your sacred realms, I’m just an insignificant ant. What do you think I can do in this situation? Carry your so-called Demon God Axe and swing it at Spalitis? He wouldn’t even need to use Abyssal Fang again—just a wave of his hand would shatter me into pieces, right?”
“In the past, that was indeed the case…” Gannon smiled. “But the current Spalitis is extremely weak. After fighting me, although I lost, he wasn’t faring any better either. After barely using Abyssal Fang, he can no longer use his sacred realm. Right now, Spalitis has at most 10% of his peak strength. With that, are you still afraid of him?”
“Afraid? Of course I am!” Du Fan continued to sneer. “Come on, the sacred realm is still the sacred realm. Even if he has only 1% of his strength, as long as he wants to… how could I possibly be a match? How about this—tell me how to get out, and after I leave, I’ll take you with me. As for saving that Demon God later and needing my blood, I’ll just give you a bottle to use slowly. How about that?”

Gannon shook his head and said, “Young Master Du Fan, you have to agree to this condition whether you like it or not. If we leave this place, our location will surely be not far from the Fang of the Abyss. What do you think Spalitis will do when he sees us? Kill us? Or let us go? You must know better than I do, right?”
Du Fan remained silent; there was no need to answer this question…