The Last King Of Darkness

Rod focused all of his attention, trying to firmly grasp that faint trace of Inspiration.

No, no, this won’t do, I can’t rush, I need to think carefully—why did this suddenly happen?

Is it because I defeated the Fusion Monster made from the three Ancient Gods? But they fell long ago; although they were True Gods at the end of the Ancient Epoch, in reality they were only Demigods. The monster they fused into was powerful, but not stronger than ones I’ve faced before.

Could it be the Exceedingly Evil Man?

I’m drawing close to the traces left behind by the Exceedingly Evil Man. Maybe, based on these traces, I can find the hidden truth of how the Black Fog was born, and it’s precisely because of this that the Black Fog has gone this mad?

It’s possible.

But I haven’t reached the bottom layer of the Abyss yet; it’s impossible to trigger the Source feedback of the Black Fog in advance. According to my understanding, the Black Fog doesn’t possess a human-like consciousness; it’s closer to a cold logical feedback mechanism and can’t be judged with human thought.

Unless.

This Fusion Monster is in some way connected to entering the deepest layer of the Abyss!

Rod’s fist clenched hard; that thread of Inspiration was instantly seized by him. Suddenly he realized that this Fusion Monster was the key that set off the entire crisis.

So it was only during their battle that they triggered the upheaval of the entire Abyss, that countless Abyss Monsters surged forth to merge with it.

In fact, at that point they had already triggered the Source feedback, and when they defeated the Fusion Monster, that feedback was magnified without limit, ultimately causing this unprecedented Black Fog backlash.

Rod’s gaze instantly turned toward the Dream Realm, toward the souls within the Soul Altar.

Why is this monster able to become the key to entering the deepest layer of the Abyss?

After I killed it, nothing changed, and there was nothing special in its soul either.

All of a sudden, Rod’s line of sight locked onto those three shattered Source Artifacts.

Though he didn’t know the exact details, he could more or less guess that after his defeat, Omir returned the broken Source Artifacts to Them, perhaps still harboring a sliver of hope that they could be repaired.

And when They entered the Abyss, maybe it wasn’t just to search for traces of the Exceedingly Evil Man, but also to find a way, however slim, to restore them.

Because these three Source Artifacts were all forged on the basis of the "Abyss Stone."

Abyss Stone!

In an instant Rod grasped the crux of it. Could it be that the way to enter the deepest layer of the Abyss is precisely the Abyss Stone?

At the same time, the Book of Knowledge also thought of a possibility, shouting urgently, "Master, Master, the Black Blood Eye, the God of Contaminated Blood’s Black Blood Eye! It’s still stored in the Dream Realm!"

Rod’s heart jolted violently. Right—after the war against the Blood God ended, he’d obtained this Soul Weapon of the Blood God, the "Black Blood Eye," and it had been stored in the Storage of the Dream Realm ever since!

The God of Contaminated Blood also fell within the Abyss, only for some reason he was separated from the other three Ancient Gods.

Judging from that, this Soul Weapon is very likely also one of the shattered Source Artifacts.

Rod’s fist tightened all at once as he suddenly realized that his memories about the Ancient Gods’ Source Artifacts must have been distorted by the Black Fog.

And any knowledge or history warped by the Black Fog is something that once posed a tremendous threat to it.

The Book of Knowledge thought of this at the same time and shouted, "Exactly! Back then, the Giant King Omir wielded four Source Artifacts and must have inflicted enormous damage on the Black Fog, perhaps even come close to Victory! So after he suffered defeat, the Black Fog completely buried, twisted, and falsified that history. Even the memories of Residual Souls weren’t spared. Aside from the Dream Realm, there is nowhere that holds the true story!"

"I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it!" Asa beat its pages furiously, Golden Light gleaming between the seams of the book as it cried, "The Miracle of Victory, the radiance that pierces the darkness, that single sliver of hope—it lies upon these four Source Artifacts!"

Rod didn’t hesitate for even half a second. He directly took out the four Source Artifacts and brought them together.

At the same time, the Book of Knowledge cooperatively took out the Eternal Dream and aimed it at the shattered Source Artifacts.

Crack!

The Eternal Dream was crushed in the hands of the Book of Knowledge. Countless motes of Dream-shattering Dust, guided by its will, seeped into the air and then reappeared upon Rod’s hands, sinking into those four shattered Source Artifacts that had lain dormant for endless years.

The Book of Knowledge had never been as tense as it was now. Although it trusted its technique of using the Eternal Dream completely, it still couldn’t help but worry: "Will a Miracle truly appear?"

The suffocating silence lasted only a few seconds. Then infinite radiance burst from Rod’s hands. The four Source Artifacts—Black Blood Eye, Healing Fire Sword, Eternal Hammer, Storm Blade—lit up at the same time, and tremendous Energy erupted from within them.

Chucher and the other three all turned their heads at once, exclaiming, "What is that?"

Rod didn’t answer; he was just as shocked as they were. The sword, hammer, and blade in his hands all stabbed into the Black Blood Eye. In that instant, the aura of 19th-level Spiritual Energy surged skyward. On the decayed Divine Artifacts, this ultra-Strong Energy gleamed with smooth light; the rotten rust flaked away, the broken parts healed one after another. Light, like a liquid, linked the four Divine Artifacts together, forming a Crown of strange design.

Almost by instinct, Rod placed it upon his head. The next second, his Soul brushed against an incomparably mighty power. It was like the Starry Sky, like the earth, like the ocean. The moment he touched it, Rod’s vision soared into endless heights. He seemed to see the end of the universe, the far shore of the Starry Sky, the very edge of the Void.