Chapter 379 – God Emperor? Just a Slightly Stronger Insect

With the ingestion of flesh and blood, the gaping wounds on Protector Rou’s body rapidly healed.

Layer upon layer of greasy yellow fat grew anew, restoring his appearance back to the flawless mound of flesh it once was.

However, this current mound of white flesh was noticeably reduced to almost half its previous peak size.

It was as if he had just graduated from a crash diet course, looking entirely rejuvenated.

“Damn it…”

Protector Rou tore voraciously at the raw beast meat in his hands, strenuously channeling the evil power of the voracious deity sect within him to absorb and convert it, while painfully eyeing his significantly shrunken fat, his five chins trembling with distress.

“Pantheon… where on earth did that evil deity organization come from? I’ve never heard of them before…”

Protector Rou’s mouth seemed like a bottomless black hole; the gigantic beast carcass, hundreds of kilograms of flesh, was devoured in an instant.

Even the leftover beast bones weren’t spared, each one cracked open for its marrow.

His mind dredged up the memories of the previous battle, still leaving him terror-stricken.

In the presence of those mysterious black robed men, their group was instantly crushed.

Some were killed, some captured, and the remaining scattered into the dense forest.

The lowest-ranking grunts among the black-robed men were stronger than both him and Protector Lei. If it weren’t for the fact that they didn’t seem intent on killing them, he reckoned he wouldn’t have survived until now.

“Their target is the heart of the feathered serpent deity… Now that the heart isn’t on me, I still have a chance to escape…”

In the chaos of the last fight, Protector Rou had decisively thrown away the “heart of the feathered serpent deity,” not knowing which “idiot” had picked it up and taken off with it.

He didn’t care about anything else now, he just wanted to leave here alive.

“Plop-“

After finishing his meal and resting, Protector Rou casually tossed a segment of bone to the ground and slowly stood up.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly as if he had heard something, and he immediately leapt upwards.

The massive mound of flesh rose lightly like a feather, perfectly blending into the dense canopy.

A moment later, a black robed man swiftly burst out from the dense forest.

Like a ghost, the black robed man landed before the remains of the beast that Protector Rou had feasted on. He stared at the scattered bones and bloodstains on the ground for a while, then lifted his head and sped off in a specific direction.

Once the rustling sounds completely faded away, Protector Rou silently descended from the treetop, having closed all his pores.

“Phew-“

He exhaled a long sigh of relief as he watched the black robed man disappear into the distance.

Just as he was about to turn and leave in another direction, suddenly…

Protector Rou’s body froze.

A large, dense shadow fell from above him, blocking the sunlight and enveloping him entirely.

Protector Rou slowly looked up.

In his pupils, two grotesque and massive figures were reflected.

Flesh wings, bone spurs, and scales covering their entire bodies like crawling creatures, they hovered in mid-air, staring at him coldly from both sides.

Protector Rou could vaguely recognize their identities from their appearances, and couldn’t help but exclaim.

“It’s you?!”

The two inhuman figures before him were clearly Bear Protector and Snake Protector, who had been captured by the black robed men of the Pantheon during the battle.

“You’ve joined the Pantheon?”

Protector Rou took a step back, looking at them with horror.

The two above him remained silent.

Protector Rou’s face quickly turned grim.

The mutations on Bear Protector and Snake Protector’s bodies were evident.

These two had completely abandoned their previous dedication to “evil martial arts” and had wholly offered their souls to the Ancient Deity.

In other words, they had been “brainwashed.”

In this situation, trying to pull strings or appealing to old ties was obviously useless.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and said in a solemn tone, “You might be disappointed; the heart of the feathered serpent deity isn’t with me…”

“We aren’t just here for the heart of the feathered serpent deity…”

The two hovering in mid-air finally spoke.

“We’ve come to sincerely invite you, Protector Rou, to join us…”

In mid-air, Bear Protector, with his protruding fangs, gently flapped the flesh wings on his back and slowly descended with a smile.

“Embrace the Pantheon, shed your mortal form, and transform into a sacred body…”

Bear Protector spread his arms wide, a violent aura surging from his body, stirring up a tempest in the dense forest. “Look at us now. We’ve only just joined, and we already possess such formidable strength.”

“Moreover, the Pantheon has only just awakened. With Their return, all acolytes’ powers will continue to grow further.”

“This is merely the beginning…”

Protector Rou felt the overwhelming, mountain-crushing aura emanating from Bear Protector. His face paled slightly, though his eyes darted rapidly.

“That does sound appealing… but I would like to think it over…”

“What else does Protector Rou need to consider?”

Snake Protector, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke. A thick, dark green mist swirled around him, and the sudden burst of his aura was no less imposing than Bear Protector’s.

“People like us are the most promising within the Pantheon, capable of growing to heights unattainable by others.”

“Protector Rou was once one of the best among us; joining the Pantheon would only elevate your status higher than ours…”

Snake Protector’s eyes were icy, resembling a cold-blooded creature devoid of emotion. He spoke in a low voice, “Only now do I realize how childish and laughable my previous convictions were.”

“Deity martial arts are nothing compared to the Strength of gods. Mortal skills are insignificant in the face of divine power.”

“The so-called deity alliance is just a joke…”

“Let go of your inner hurdles and embrace true, genuine power…”

Bear Protector and Snake Protector pressed closer step by step, their powerful auras bearing down on Protector Rou, making it hard for him to breathe.

His once proud mound of flesh now seemed like a small boat in a raging storm, violently tossing about, ready to capsize at any moment.

He dared not make a move; the Bear Protector and Snake Protector, who were once a tier below him in strength, had now surpassed him tenfold thanks to the infusion of the Pantheon’s evil power.

Facing their “invitation,” he couldn’t outright refuse, as immediate rejection could likely result in death the next second.

The only thing he could do now was to stall for time, hoping to come up with a way to escape.

“Does the God Emperor know your intentions?”

Protector Rou’s eyes flickered anxiously as he retreated, throwing the question out to buy some time.

Upon hearing Protector Rou’s question, the two before him actually paused.

Bear Protector let out a contemptuous laugh.

“The God Emperor?”

“Who would dare call themselves a God Emperor?”

“Just a slightly stronger insect…”

A violent and cruel glint appeared in Bear Protector’s scarlet vertical pupils as he spoke harshly, “If he were standing in front of me right now, I could easily tear him apart with my bare hands!”

“Oh, really?”

Just as Bear Protector finished speaking, a voice suddenly echoed through the dense forest.

Vegetation on both sides quietly parted, revealing a tall, strikingly handsome young man walking forward with a calm expression.

Behind the young man followed three people, all looking slightly disheveled.

“Uh…”

The sudden appearance of the handsome young man left Protector Rou, Bear Protector, and Snake Protector momentarily stunned.

Although the young man’s hair was strikingly white, he was unmistakably someone they were familiar with.

“You’ve come just in time!”

Rather than show alarm, Bear Protector’s face lit up with joy upon seeing the new arrivals.

His gaze quickly scanned over the handsome young man and then fixated on an elderly man in a suit wearing sunglasses standing behind him. A deep-seated violent and cruel glint surfaced in his eyes.

The resentment, humiliation, and ambition Bear Protector had buried inside while once being subordinate all transformed into a cold killing intent at this moment.

Bear Protector threw his head back and let out a sinister laugh, spreading the flesh wings on his back wide before turning into a blur and diving rapidly towards the group that had just appeared.

In an instant, a terrifying aura burst forth like a gale, forcing the grass and vegetation below to bend backward, with each ancient tree madly shaking, creaking under the pressure.

The faces of the group facing Bear Protector’s ferocious assault all paled, save for the handsome young man leading them, who remained unperturbed.

The violent wind fluttered his white hair. His expression stayed calm, not even lifting an eyelid.

He merely raised a hand lightly, and an imperceptible twisted light appeared in his palm.

In the next moment, it flickered and vanished…

“Boom-“

Something exploded like a watermelon, spewing red and white fluids everywhere.

A massive, menacing figure plummeted to the ground like a kite with its string cut, crashing with a loud “thud.”

As the commotion subsided, everyone looked on intently.

There, where a moment ago the ferocious and domineering Bear Protector had stood, now knelt on both knees upon the ground.

The turf itself had been indented by the force of his kneeling.

His scaled and spiky body was slightly bent, flesh wings drooping to the ground. His posture was both humble and reverent.

But unfortunately…

The head on his neck had vanished without a trace.

What remained in that kneeling posture was merely a headless corpse.

A chilling silence fell over the scene for several long seconds.

Then, all of a sudden, a figure shot into the air, desperately trying to escape into the sky.

The handsome young man barely lifted his hand, and the imperceptible twisted light appeared once more.

It flickered and vanished.

“Boom!”

The rapidly ascending figure’s head exploded, his body frozen for just a moment.

Then, like a stone, it plummeted back down, hitting the ground hard.

Silence.

A death-like stillness.

After a brief moment…

“Gulp-“

The sound of someone swallowing hard broke the silence.

A shivering Protector Rou, now covered in a fine layer of sweat, was jolted awake by the cold wind.

Regaining clarity, his bulky frame moved with the lightness of a swallow, landing before the handsome young man with utmost respect.

“Greetings, Sovereign Emperor.”

“Mm.”

The handsome young man responded indifferently, casually saying, “Let’s go. Let’s see what this so-called Pantheon is all about.”

“Yes.”

The handsome young man stepped over the corpses on the ground, heading toward the dense forest ahead.

Behind him, several Protector-level figures from the evil martial alliance quickly followed.

As they passed by Bear Protector’s kneeling, headless corpse, a complex and indescribable expression flashed in their eyes.

But it quickly vanished, leaving only genuine reverence.