Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

At Obsidian Manor, Sphinx stood at the entrance, still dressed in a well-fitting black suit, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses deep and unfathomable.

Beside him stood Lady Yue, her face veiled.

Seeing Lin Yi and the vast allied army behind him, a faint trace of regret flashed deep in Sphinx's eyes.

Ultimately, man proposes, God disposes. Sphinx believed his plan was meticulous enough, setting up a trap in advance to nip Lin Yi, the biggest variable, in the bud. However, Lin Yi still managed to break free and grow like a snowball.

His biggest miscalculation was that Lin Yi and Su Xiao advanced too quickly.

According to his most conservative estimate, even if the two of them could defeat Dominator Sothos, it would be a tough battle, and they would be exhausted. They would need at least three to four days of rest and intelligence gathering before they could turn their attention to Eisenra.

These three or four days are enough for him to complete his final contingency plan, at which point he will have absolute control.

Unfortunately, Lin Yi arrived too quickly!

He was almost at the halfway point of his meticulously prepared final move.

Force it to start? The unknown consequences that would cause even made him feel uneasy.

However, a Sphinx is, after all, a Sphinx.

Faced with the desperate situation of being besieged by the enemy, a faint smile appeared on his face, as if he were facing not thousands of troops, but guests who had come to a banquet.

He ignored the murderous allied forces behind Lin Yi, and the three immortal wizards whose auras were as majestic as mountains. He simply walked forward and approached the allied forces until the two sides were less than fifty meters apart, a dangerous position that could be reached in an instant for a strong person.

He stopped, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and glanced at the faces of the allied forces—especially those who had once been loyal to him but now stood opposite him as violators.

Then he spoke, his voice not loud, yet strangely carrying throughout the entire battlefield, with a captivating magnetism: "Gentlemen, look at me."

"Look at your formation now, and look at who's standing next to you—hunters from the Paradise of Reincarnation!"

He opened his arms as if to embrace everyone, his tone filled with a profound and compassionate sorrow:

"I want to ask you, who are we? We are the rule-breakers! We are the abandoned children, forsaken by the Paradise, struggling to survive in countless mission worlds, searching for a glimmer of hope in the cracks!"

"What did Paradise give us? Cold tasks, cruel punishments, and a fate of using us like tools, discarding us once we're done! Did they ever truly care about our lives? Did they ever give us any real hope?"

His voice rose higher and higher, carrying a inflammatory force: "And I, Sphinx! I built Eisenra, I exhausted my efforts, even risking everything to borrow the power of the ancient gods, all for what? Was it for my personal power? No! It was to create a true sanctuary for all of us who break the rules! A home where we can break free from the control of Paradise, no longer be sacrificed at will, and take control of our own destiny!"

"Yes, I used some methods, I set strict rules, and I monopolized resources. But think about it, in a world where the strong prey on the weak and there is no order, without a strong voice and a unified will, how can we, who are already isolated and powerless rule-breakers, unite? How can we fight against the malice from Paradise, from other worlds, and from those high and mighty beings?"

He pointed at Su Xiao, his tone becoming sharp and accusatory:
"And him! The Hunter Bai Ye! What is his mission? To cleanse us 'rulers'! To reclaim the spacetime power we 'stole'! How much of our compatriots' blood is on his hands? And now, you want to follow behind him and point your weapons at me, who once tried to give you a home?"

"Do you really believe the hunters will let you go? Do you believe the Paradise of Reincarnation will tolerate the continued existence of us 'viruses'? Don't be naive! They need to use you to deal with me now. Once I fall, you'll be the next ones to be eliminated!"

Sphinx's speech was incredibly inspiring. He portrayed himself as a leader who endured humiliation and was willing to bear infamy for the collective good, while depicting Su Xiao and Lin Yi as executioners and accomplices sent by Paradise to purge them.

He exploited the violators' deep-seated distrust and fear of the park, attempting to create divisions within the coalition.

"Wake up, my fellow countrymen! Return to my side! Only by uniting under my banner can we truly have the leverage to negotiate with the park, and only then can we win a future that belongs to us! We..."

"Qiang——!"

A flash of light interrupted Sphinx's impassioned speech.

It's Su Xiao!
He had absolutely no interest in listening to Sphinx's sophistry that distorted the truth.

In Su Xiao's dictionary, the only thing to do with a known enemy is to send him to his death, rather than wasting words arguing with him.

The blade flashed faster than the limits of visual perception, cleaving straight at the Sphinx's head!

What made Su Xiao's eyes narrow slightly was that the Dragon Slayer Flash felt strangely strange the moment it touched Sphinx's body—it didn't feel like it had struck flesh and blood, but rather like it had cut into a piece of elastic special rubber.

The blade sliced ​​across Sphinx's neck without any resistance, and you could even see his head tilt backward at an astonishing angle due to the strike, but the expected scene of his head flying off and blood splattering did not occur.

Countless frantically writhing, pale white tentacles sprouted from the surface of Sphinx's "slashed" body!
These tentacles quickly repaired his "injuries," restoring him to his original state.

At almost the same time, a violator standing not far behind Sphinx was suddenly and neatly split in two before he could even scream!
It was as if an invisible blade had struck him in the exact same way that Su Xiao had struck the Sphinx.

Blood and internal organs gushed out and flowed all over the ground; the death was extremely gruesome.

Sphinx adjusted his glasses, which had become slightly askew from the "slash," and looked at Su Xiao and Lin Yi, clicking his tongue involuntarily, his face filled with undisguised disgust.

"What I hate most are brutes like you who start fighting right away." His tone was tinged with helplessness. "You don't even let people finish speaking. It's just... extremely rude."

As expected, upon seeing Sphinx's "damage transfer" technique, the violators behind him who were forced to stay due to the contract immediately erupted in uproar.

"Sphinx! You fucking tricked us!"

"What the hell is this thing? What do you take us for? Scapegoats?!"

"You son of a bitch! I'll fight you to the death!"

Anger and curses rose and fell.

However, no matter how angry they were, their bodies seemed to be bound by invisible chains, preventing them from truly attacking the Sphinx.

The power of the contract hangs like the Sword of Damocles over one's head. Once violated, it instantly deducts most of one's attributes as a penalty. For violators who rely on strength for survival, it is no different from death.

Driven by extreme anger and fear, they were forced to become the Sphinx's shield and cannon fodder.

Sphinx ignored the commotion behind him, as if those people were not his subordinates, but a bunch of insignificant ants.

He raised his head and looked at the sky over Eisenla, which, though beginning to darken, still retained a sliver of false brightness. In an almost sighing tone, he said softly, "After watching for so long, it's time to get out and do some work, Shub."

The sorrowful woman who had been guarding Lin Yi's side reached out her arms and hugged Lin Yi tightly almost at the same moment Sphinx finished speaking.

"Puff-puff-!"

Right where Lin Yi had been standing, and within a space of several dozen meters around him, hundreds of dense, pale white tentacles suddenly burst forth from the void without warning.

Lin Yi managed to evade the attack, but the dozen or so rulebreakers and gray wizards behind him who didn't have time to react were instantly caught in the crossfire.

The tentacles easily pierced through their bodies; neither energy shields nor sturdy armor were as fragile as paper in their presence.

Even more horrifying things happened: the victims who were pierced by the tentacles did not die immediately, but instead let out inhuman screams.

Their bodies began to expand violently in a way that defied the laws of physics, as if countless insects were wriggling under their skin... In just two or three seconds, these dozen or so people twisted and collapsed in full view of everyone, eventually turning into hordes of monsters that were somewhat similar to Laurent's previous mutated form.

These newly born monsters immediately changed targets, their scarlet eyes fixed on their former companions, letting out aggressive roars.

"White goat!"

As this terrifying entity made its move, the sky over Eisenla visibly darkened, as if it had instantly jumped from day to night.

The warm and gentle sunlight of the past was completely swallowed up, replaced by a suffocating sense of oppression.

The lush green trees lining the streets, which symbolized "life," withered, turned black, and rotted at an alarming rate, emitting a strong stench.

This is the true face of Eisenla.

That "pure land" was just a facade deliberately maintained by the white goats in order to "sustainably" raise these "livestock".

Now that they've reached a critical juncture of life and death, the rancher naturally no longer cares about the "ranch" environment and has revealed his most ferocious fangs.

Lin Yi could clearly see that wherever the white goats had attacked—whether it was the ground, the walls, or the bodies of those twisted monsters—a pale white substance began to spread rapidly, covered with countless tiny tentacles.

These strange substances seem to be able to parasitize and assimilate everything. Neither organic nor inorganic matter can stop their spread. Wherever they go, everything is stained with an ominous paleness.

With a flick of his wrist, Su Xiao produced a test tube containing a golden-green liquid.

Without any hesitation, Su Xiao threw it at the rapidly spreading pale fungal carpet at his feet.

"Clap!"

The test tube broke.

The golden-green liquid, upon contact with the air and the pale substance below, seemed like a spark falling into an oil depot.

"Boom—!" A blazing golden-green flame rose up and spread wildly along the pale fungal carpet and white tentacles with the force of a wildfire.
The flames seemed to have a strong effect on and restrain the power of the ancient gods, and the pale matter made a sizzling sound as it burned in the flames.

This is precisely the "Hades Flame" that Lin Yi had Su Xiao improve by combining the properties of the [Radiant Gold Potion].

Almost in the blink of an eye, most of the city of Eisenla was engulfed in a sea of ​​golden-green flames.

Gus and Dawn, who were already prepared, immediately took to the air, their magic surging from their bodies to form a huge circular barrier at the edge of Eisenra, firmly confining the golden-green flames within the city.

The white goat's ability to multiply is almost limitless. If left unchecked, Hades' flames could spread across the entire world with the tentacles, resulting in a more devastating destruction than that of the ancient gods.

Sensing the intervention of the three immortal wizards and the presence of those hiding behind the scenes, he could no longer remain aloof.

The space in the center of the battlefield rippled violently like waves.

A figure slowly materialized from nothingness.

It wasn't the goat-like monster everyone imagined, but a... woman.

She wore an extremely gorgeous black dress, adorned with countless strange patterns that resembled stars or eyeballs.

Her face was shrouded in a layer of constantly shifting dark mist, making it difficult to see clearly. One could only sense the cold, icy gaze projected from behind the mist, as if from a thousand years of frozen ice.

[Comparing intelligence attributes of both sides... Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute is 0.92 times that of the enemy. Due to being within the enemy's territory (Black Goat's Nest), we only obtained 65% of the enemy's data (Reconnaissance Eye increased by 20%).]

[Name: Shub Nicholas, Mother of the Black Goat (Severely Nerfed)]

Category: Ancient Gods

Health Points: 91% (Permanently reduced by 9%)

[Divine Energy (Dark/Life): ? ? ? / ? ? ?]

Strength: 127 (True Attribute)

Agility: 119 (True Attribute)

Stamina: 145 (True Attribute)

Intelligence: 138 (True Attribute)

[Charm: 160 (True Attribute)]

[Skill 1: Lesser Deity - Life and Darkness (Passive, Lv.70): Health +15000, Mana +8000, extremely high resistance to mind control and instant death effects. Its health regeneration speed is extremely fast; in environments rich in darkness and life force, the regeneration effect is greatly enhanced.]

[Skill 2: Black Goat of the Forest (Passive Domain, Lv. 68): The area where Shub is located will gradually be transformed into the 'Black Goat's Nest'. Within this domain, all non-Ancient God units will suffer continuous life drain and sanity erosion effects; Shub and her derivatives will have all attributes increased by 10% and gain the 'Super Regeneration' effect. The domain can expand according to Shub's will, but requires divine energy.]

【Skill 3: Reproduction and Division (Active, Lv.75): Shub can consume her own health or divine energy to give birth to 'Black Goat Cubs' or 'Pale Tentacles' from her own body, derivatives, or the polluted environment.

Black Goat Cubs: Possess independent health points (based on consumption), with attributes approximately 15%-30% of Sha's original body. Inherit some passive abilities and may split a second time upon death.

Pale Tentacles: Has no independent health points; considered an environmental effect. Possesses extremely strong physical penetration and energy corrosiveness. It can attach to any substance (organic/inorganic) and multiply and transform, distorting contaminated targets into 'abnormal beings' (controlled by Shub). This skill has no cooldown; its proliferation rate and scale depend on energy input, theoretically allowing for unlimited reproduction.

[Skill 4: Life Drain - Uterus (Passive, Lv.66): All of Shub's attacks (including their derivatives) will additionally drain 3% of the target's maximum health when dealing damage, used to restore her own health or replenish the cost of 'Reproduction'. This is particularly effective against targets with high health.]

[Skill 5: Gift of Nurturing Thousands of Offspring (Active, Lv.62): Shub can select a target (usually a member of her family or a powerful captive) and infuse it with her own primal power, causing a targeted mutation that greatly enhances all attributes and renders the target immune to pain for a short period, but will continuously consume life force until death. This skill can also be used to strengthen an existing 'Black Goat Cubs'.]

[Skill 6, Sacrifice of Dark Abundance (Active, Lv.70): Sacrifices a large amount of life as a reward, instantly restoring a huge amount of health and divine energy, and detonating the sacrifice to deal mixed dark and life attribute explosion damage based on the total sacrificed life in a very large area.]

【? ? ? 】

【? ? ? 】

[Skill 10, ? ? ? (Ultimate Ability/Body Link): ? ? ?]

[Note: This is a severely damaged incarnation of Shub Nicholas, the 'Mother of the Black Goat,' but even in this state, she remains a terrifying embodiment of life and darkness, her instinct for reproduction and corruption sufficient to destroy civilization. Complete annihilation requires the simultaneous purification of her original form, all her derivatives, and the contaminated land.]

The so-called "white goat" is just a pseudonym for Shub.

Just as an ancient god may have different names and images in different civilizations and regions.

After Shub appeared, the gaze from behind the mist first fell on Laurent, who stood at the very front among the three immortal wizards.

Even if you couldn't see her expression clearly, everyone could clearly feel the undisguised mockery.

She seemed to be saying to Laurent: You defeated opponent, a pathetic wretch who can't even fully control his own power and could be turned back into a monster by me at any time, how dare you appear in front of me again?

Then, Shub raised her arm, which was shrouded in a magnificent black robe, and gently made a "stimulating" gesture towards Laurent.

She was trying to trigger the "side effects" of the potion within Laurent, just as she had done countless times before, to turn him back into that twisted, mindless monster.

however--

One second, two seconds...

Laurent remained firmly in place, showing no signs of change, his eyes calm, even carrying a hint of...mockery?
Shub froze.

"How is this possible?!" A mental wave filled with shock and anger swept across the entire area.

Just then, Lin Yi raised his hand, holding a specially made medicine bottle in his palm.

Three drops of dark blood floated in the bottle, slowly wriggling.

The moment those three drops of blood appeared, an aura of folly and madness spread out.

Those less powerful violators and gray wizards present felt a violent dizziness just from seeing the blood.

That's right! This is exactly the "shackles" that Lin Yi peeled from the deepest part of the three of them's life essence when he performed "deep treatment" on Laurent and the others.

As long as these three drops of blood from Azathoth exist, Laurent and his companions will never be able to truly escape the shadow and schemes of the Old Gods, and will be naturally suppressed when facing them.

But at this moment, this final shackle has been removed by Lin Yi.

Having lost the suppression of Azathoth's blood and undergone Lin Yi's fundamental repair and treatment, Laurent, Dawn, and Gus can now be considered true immortal wizards.

"Roar--!"

Laurent looked up to the sky and let out a long howl. This howl no longer contained pain and repression, but only the unbridled release of pent-up emotions accumulated over a thousand years.

The immense magical power surrounding him, no longer contained, erupted with a roar.

Surprisingly, the magic did not condense into some world-destroying sorcery, but instead, like molten lava, it surged into his limbs and bones.

Countless complex magical patterns lit up beneath the skin of his body.

His muscles bulged slightly, his bones cracked like popping beans, and he instantly transformed into a primordial beast poised to pounce.

The next second, a circle of white mist exploded where Laurent had been standing, and his figure had vanished.

Almost simultaneously, he appeared before Shub, who was still in shock, as if he had teleported.

He pulled his arm back, his fist condensing the most compressed magical runes, carrying a terrifying power capable of shattering mountains and splitting seas. With a simple and brutal punch, he slammed it hard into Shub's face, which was shrouded in mist.

"Bang——!!!"

A deep, muffled sound erupted, like the deafening roar of two meteorites colliding.

The shield on Shub's body shattered like glass, and she was sent flying backward by this unreasonable punch, the dark mist on her face dissipating!

There was dead silence.

Everyone stared in disbelief at Laurent, who remained in a punching stance, radiating a violent surge of energy.

Lin Yi looked at the intelligence feedback from his reconnaissance skill regarding Laurent's Lv.50 melee master skill, his lips twitched slightly, and then turned into a relieved smile.

"So... he's a melee mage." (End of Chapter)