God's Atlantis

"Cheonma! The Hungry Ghost is getting close!!"

Li Mei's voice cracked with urgency. I turned my gaze toward the creature. Up close, its appearance was even more grotesque, and the stench of rot rolled off it in waves.

"No matter how much I eat… I'm never full…. So hungry…."

Boom. Boom. Every step the Hungry Ghost took sent tremors through the earth. Li Mei and I fell back. Whether Wang Xuan's intelligence had collapsed after becoming a Hungry Ghost, or whether he simply didn't register us as enemies, he made no effort to pursue us—he just started devouring the corpses nearest to him.

Once he finished every body in the vicinity, what came next was obvious. Better to put him down before that happened. It would make everything simpler.

I hurled it. The black dragon streaked toward Wang Xuan, coiled around that massive body, and ignited.

"Grrh—GRAAAAAAH! HOT—IT'S HOTTTTT!"

A shriek tore through the air—Wang Xuan's scream layered over the howls of other souls. Black flame kept burning across his flesh, belching pale smoke without end. Other spirits were dying in his place. The black fire did not stop.

I've killed him at least thirty times already. And it still doesn't look like a limit. How many times do I have to kill this bastard before he actually dies?

Maybe the agony of the black flame wrapping his entire body had become familiar. At some point Wang Xuan stopped screaming altogether and simply grabbed one of the scattered corpses in a massive hand, tore into it, and ate.

"What are we supposed to do about that?" Li Mei asked, looking sick.

"Hell if I know."

I didn't have some clever solution either. The only option that came to mind was killing him until he stayed dead.

He's stupid enough that fighting him isn't hard… but the problem is there's no end to it. Keep this up and I'll burn out first.

Qing Guoli, smiling from a distance, caught my eye. Kill him, and maybe Wang Xuan would stop too.

He's not an easy mark. He's got more power stashed away. And if I ignore Wang Xuan and go for him, Li Mei can't handle that thing alone.

My mana was completely spent. Even if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠used Complete Recovery, victory was no sure thing.

"We're bailing."

"What? After coming this far?"

"We can't handle that monster right now. Our goal isn't killing it. It's the seat of the Black Pillar Alliance's leader."

We had needed to kill Wang Xuan to take the Alliance Lord's position—but the situation had changed. Wang Xuan was already finished as Alliance Lord. All we had to do was report his current state to the Alliance officers. Not a single person would want to serve a monster like that as their superior.

"…I see. I understand."

She didn't need a long explanation. Li Mei got it on her own. We both pulled Spatial Transfer Scrolls from our coats and tore them at the same time. Our bodies stayed right where they were.

"Hahaha. You waltz in as you please, and now you try to waltz out? Did I look that easy to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you?"

Qing Guoli laughed. He had locked down spatial transfer. Li Mei and I exchanged a look, then sprinted for the door. Behind us, only Qing Guoli's laughter echoed down the halls.

We tore through the corridors. Servants who had been visible only moments ago were nowhere to be found. It felt like Li Mei and I were the only people left in the entire palace.

"We ran out here, but… how do we actually escape?"

Outside, every member of the Black Pillar Alliance was our enemy.

"Most of them are weak. We'll manage somehow."

What bothered me more was Qing Guoli's easy confidence.

The moment we stepped outside the palace, we froze in horror. A vision of hell stretched before us. They were slaughtering each other.

"You monster bastard!!"

"S-save me!!"

"Why are you doing this?! If you've got a problem, say it with words! With words!"

"Undead! If you die, you turn into undead!"

"Heh. Idiots who don't even know who the true master of the Black Pillar Alliance is."

"Die. It's the only way you can be of use to Him."

Civil war had erupted. Killers, fighters, runners—the whole scene was pure chaos. Worst of all, the dead rose again as undead monsters and turned on the living.

The fifty-meter walls had become a prison. Flying out was impossible—a barrier sealed the sky.

And then I spotted it: a massive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠black pillar. Easily over a hundred meters tall. It hadn't been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there before we entered the palace.

Li Mei scanned the surroundings and bit her lip.

"I feel like a bug that got collected. Since when…. Since when has the Black Pillar Alliance been dancing in Qing Guoli's palm?"

"No idea, but probably a long time. And that isn't what matters right now. What matters is how we get out."

I looked at the walls. There were gates connecting to the outside. If flying was impossible, the only way out was through a door.

They're guarding the gates so no one leaves. Not Salon Daeju level, but still pretty strong.

Four gates total—one each for north, south, east, and west. I took Li Mei and headed for the western gate. It looked like the softest target.

We sprinted toward it. I didn't need to babysit Li Mei. She wasn't weak enough to get taken down by random trash.

KRA-KOOM!

The palace doors exploded in spectacular fashion, and Wang Xuan emerged. In his Hungry Ghost state, he grabbed everything in reach—undead and human alike—and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing.

"GRAAAAAAAAH…!"

"It's a monster!!"

"That face—that's the Alliance Lord?!"

"Even the Alliance Lord turned into a monster?!"

The chaos deepened. That worked in our favor. The more confused things got, the better for running. But only for a moment. People started following us west.

"Lady Li Mei!!"

"Please—please take me with you!"

"I offer my loyalty to Lady Li Mei!"

The quick ones fell in behind us. Li Mei and I didn't bother shaking them off. We didn't have the leisure, and if any of them got lucky and survived, they'd make decent enough witnesses.

"Hahahaha! Look at you running with your tails between your legs! Aren't you embarrassed, as a member of Helten?!"

Qing Guoli's voice boomed across the grounds. Empty provocation.

Four men held the western gate. Their skin was so pale it had gone blue-green.

"Cheonma. Those aren't humans. They're jiangshi."

Li Mei was right. I couldn't feel any human presence from them at all.

"You know a lot about them?"

"It was one of the Black Pillar Alliance's top-secret projects. Building and deploying a jiangshi unit. Zhang Chao was the commander. I thought it had failed…. Looking at this, it must have succeeded after all."

"So you know about jiangshi. Any weaknesses?"

"I don't know. The ones Qing Guoli creates and controls are nothing but loyal murder dolls. Since they're undead, maybe holy power would work?"

Holy power made me think of the Heretic Inquisitor's Leather Gloves. I thought of them—and left them where they were. Those gloves carried Selbretina's sacred power. Using them could draw suspicion from the System or other divine thrones.

Time to use this. Complete Recovery.

Fatigue vanished from my body. Stamina flooded back. Mana surged. I forced down the smile tugging at my mouth. Using Complete Recovery when you were truly spent was something special. A slight exaggeration, but it felt like dying and being born again. Actually dying felt a lot worse, of course.

The black edge carved into their flesh and stopped.

"Tsk."

In an ordinary fantasy novel, this power would have been top-tier without shame. In this world, it was merely a little stronger than average.

No. These jiangshi are the special ones.

I severed arms, cut ankles—they never screamed, never flinched, only counterattacked. Murder dolls. Li Mei's assessment had been exact.

Thud. Thud.

Dismembered jiangshi flesh hit the ground. I rolled a stiff shoulder and headed for the gate.

The door opened. Silence. No shambling corpses. No screaming humans. Li Mei and I sprinted toward the second wall.

"The gate's open!"

"Let's go!"

"Lady Li Mei! I dedicate my loyalty to you!"

"Save me!!"

A crowd poured after us.

Getting outside was surprisingly simple.

No pursuers from Qing Guoli. He hadn't even tried to catch us.

I looked over the Black Pillar Alliance members who had followed us out. Roughly three hundred. These were all who had survived. Everyone else had failed to escape and died. According to Li Mei, the death toll would exceed fifteen hundred.

"I hate to say this, but…. Why isn't Qing Guoli chasing us?"

"My guess? Either killing us was never his goal to begin with, or he's confident he can kill us whenever he wants…. Only he knows the real reason."

We trudged outward, aiming to fully escape Area 5,845—the Three Walls.

I stopped. Not by choice. An invisible, transparent wall stood directly in front of me.

"……."

My face twisted as I swung my sword at the transparent wall. The blade, wreathed in black sword energy, bounced straight back. Not a single scratch marked the barrier.

Li Mei and the others went pale. They pressed themselves against the wall, pounding it with their fists and screaming.

"Damn it all!"

"System! What the hell is this bullshit?!"

"Let us out right now!"

Qing Guoli had known from the start that we wouldn't be able to leave.

"Cheonma. Look behind us."

Li Mei's voice was grim. I turned. The massive black pillar that had stood before the palace was growing. Already past 150 meters, then 200… stretching toward 300.

Pitch-black waves radiated outward from the pillar in every direction. Walls touched by the waves mutated—twisting, cracking, writhing. The sky itself darkened to black.

I realized we were completely fucked.

Stay here and everyone dies. I glanced at Li Mei. If I was right about what I was thinking, I could hold out reasonably well. I had the power for it. Li Mei didn't. Leave her here and she wouldn't last long before she died.

Spend System AP. I want to borrow a god's power.

Borrowing a god's power to break this situation was impossible. Needing over a million AP also meant the situation was that severe.

"Li Mei. I need to talk to you. Come here."

"Yes. Do you have a way?"

"……."

Li Mei stepped up beside me.

I raised my sword and drove it into the wall. The tip wouldn't even bite.

Under normal circumstances, the System's barrier was absolute. But with Area Erosion mutating the zone, the story was different.

Kiiing.

The sword pierced the wall. I drew a breath and focused harder. With Heavenly Demon Divine Art at SSS-rank, this should be possible.

I dragged the blade down.

The transparent wall split open, connecting to the outside.

"Li Mei! Go!"

"I—if I leave, what about you, Cheonma?"

"I'll handle myself—just go! And find House Valdert! Got it?"

Li Mei's eyes wavered. After a brief hesitation, she stepped through.

Kiiing!

The transparent wall shuddered. My sword was flung back outward. I couldn't leave myself. Opening a gap in the wall was the absolute limit of what I could do.

Beyond the barrier, Li Mei pounded on the wall, her mouth opening and closing over and over. She was shouting something, but I couldn't hear a word. I grinned at her and waved.