The entire globe was immersed in the revelry of the "Death of the Gods."
The "Japanese Gods Re-employment Guidance Center" single-handedly established by Ian had completely blown up, becoming the hottest tourist attraction in the world. People flocked from all corners of the globe just to catch a glimpse of the comical sight of once-almighty deities sweeping floors and working as security guards.
However, above this jubilant planet, the atmosphere among the Great Xia higher-ups and aboard The Emperor's flagship, the "Unyielding Truth," was growing increasingly solemn.
Through the analysis of the Chaos fragment found inside the Egyptian pyramid, the torrent of data upon The Emperor's Golden Throne deduced a corner of a deeply unsettling future. He had discovered a cosmic-level threat that far exceeded all expectations.
Within the confinement divine realm of the golden battleship, once-dominant chief gods like Odin and Zeus were imprisoned.
Their initial despair and fury upon being captured had morphed into sheer terror.
Stripped of their divine power and with their divine sparks sealed, their perception of cosmic laws still remained. They could sense that something was awakening in the background of the universe.
That aura made every inch of their souls tremble. It was the aura of their "Master."
"I request an audience with The Emperor."
Zeus's voice transmitted through the divine realm's surveillance system. He was no longer arrogant; his tone even carried a lowly, almost pleading quality.
The Emperor did not arrive in person. Only a majestic golden projection appeared outside the cage.
"Speak."
A single word, yet it contained an unquestionable authority.
"We were wrong... We were wrong from the very beginning."
Zeus's voice trembled.
"We so-called gods are, in essence... merely 'sheepdogs'."
"We watched over and harvested the faith and spirit of humanity for our true masters. Our submission to Chaos was not a betrayal; it was simply the only way to survive while they slumbered."
The Emperor's projection remained silent, listening quietly.
Zeus took a deep breath, revealing the earth-shattering truth.
"This universe is a 'pasture' of the highest quality. And we pantheons spread across the globe were the first 'fences' within this pasture."
"Now, you have torn down all the fences."
"The Master of the Pasture... is about to step in personally."
"When that happens, the entire universe will be dragged into indescribable madness, and all life will become His food!"
Lin Qiye heard these words through the bridge's broadcast. He immediately relayed the warning using the contact method Ian had left behind.
At that moment, Ian was lying in a mist-shrouded private club, enjoying a head massage from Yuki-onna using her icy touch.
After listening to Lin Qiye's anxious recounting, Ian scoffed.
"Just the wailing of defeated dogs."
"Master of the Pasture?"
"Perfect timing. I've been short on a new mount lately."
Right at that moment, a sudden anomaly occurred.
Inside the prison, the body of one of the gods suddenly began to twist violently out of control.
Right in front of the other gods and the jailers, he fell to his knees in agony. A viscous black liquid continuously poured from his mouth, emitting a foul stench.
Using an inhuman pitch, he repeatedly muttered a few indistinct syllables.
"Mo... ther..."
"Threat detected. Purging!"
A Custodes instantly appeared by his side, thrusting a golden halberd down like lightning to pin him in place.
However, the diagnostic report was quickly presented to The Emperor, causing his brows to furrow slightly.
The report indicated that the god's divinity had not been subjected to any attack.
Rather, the "Foundational Divine Spark" of his existence had been forcibly "overwritten" by a higher-dimensional power.
This was a rule-level contamination that was currently impossible to comprehend, let alone defend against.
Then, something even more terrifying happened.
The Custodes responsible for handling the scene discovered that upon questioning, not a single tourist who had witnessed the event remembered what had just occurred.
It was as if that river god had never existed.
The relevant surveillance records had also turned into an unreadable blank slate.
His "existence" had been effortlessly erased from everyone's memories and records.
Back in the private club, the smile on Ian's face finally vanished.
He no longer paid attention to Yuki-onna's gentle massage, slowly raising his head instead.
His gaze seemed to pierce through dimensional barriers, looking into the endless depths of the cosmos.
"Oh? Testing the waters, are we... How interesting."
Inside the confinement divine realm.
Zeus, Odin, and all the other chief gods collectively issued their final plea at almost the exact same time.
Black spots had already begun to surface on their divine bodies.
"Erase us! Immediately! Erase us completely!"
Zeus's voice was filled with absolute terror and resolve.
"Delete everything, including our information and concepts! Otherwise, we will become 'coordinates'! We will become the breeding ground for the 'Master's' descent!"
They would rather vanish completely than turn into monsters incapable of even maintaining their own sense of self.
Within the prison, more gods began to exhibit similar symptoms.
They were no longer twisting individually.
As if receiving some unified command, they began to tear at, devour, and fuse with one another.
Flesh, bone, and the remnants of divine power mixed together, forming a massive, constantly writhing and multiplying lump of meat composed of countless limbs and organs.
The screams of the other gods echoed throughout the prison.
From the center of the meat lump, "newborns" violently burst forth.
They had no fixed form, covered in slimy tentacles and countless eyeballs.
They opened their mouths and let out a cry.
It was not a sound on a purely physical level, but a "cognitive contamination" that acted directly upon the mental plane.
The eyes of all the gods who heard this cry instantly turned blood-red. Their sanity was utterly destroyed, plunging them into the most primal madness.
Ian's figure instantly arrived at the scene.
Looking at the twisted monster and the chaotic scene below, he revealed an undisguised expression of disgust for the first time.
"Seriously, making a total mess of this prison I just built."
He extended his right index finger and lightly drew a golden "X" in the air.
The symbol then instantly flew from his hand, branding itself onto the monster's body.
The monster let out a silent shriek—an agonized wail on the mental dimension. Its twisted body began to turn ethereal, gradually distorting and flickering like an image with a poor signal.
Finally, along with the cognitive contamination it had caused, it was completely "deleted."
Not a single trace of flesh or energy was left behind, as if nothing had ever happened.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the "Unyielding Truth."
Combining all the intelligence, The Emperor's transcendent wisdom finally deduced the true faces of the enemies and their objective.
Through a global broadcast, he revealed the ultimate truth to the Great Xia higher-ups.
"These entities can be referred to as the 'Great Old Ones'."
"They are creatures from the dawn of another universe, the very incarnations of chaos and madness."
"Your past pantheons were not mere parasites. They fed on faith, but objectively, they also bore the responsibility of stabilizing reality and isolating contamination."
"Now that they have been purged, this barrier has vanished."
"The power of the Great Old Ones has detected this place."
The Emperor's declaration was not yet finished.
Emergency alarms across the globe began to blare shrilly at the exact same time.
In the waters of the Bermuda Triangle, a massive, bottomless whirlpool capable of swallowing an entire fleet appeared.
Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, sonar detected a colossal, structurally complex black architectural complex awakening from an aeons-long slumber.
In psychiatric hospitals all over the world, countless patients deemed insane began chanting the same terrifying poem dedicated to the "Mother Goddess of the Black Goat of the Woods" at the exact same moment, using the exact same eerie tone.
The crisis had fully erupted in complete silence.