Until this moment, the flames in the Skull Giant’s eyes flickered fiercely. He looked at He Ao, and a thunderous roar echoed in the dense fog, "You know more than I anticipated."

"No, it’s far too little." He Ao struggled to maintain his posture and stood up. The moment he pulled out the Crack Spear in his hand, it collapsed with a bang and scattered into loose cracks before being swallowed by the surrounding space-time.

At this time, this slight difference in intelligence recognition was almost the gap between life and death.

However, some intelligence is probed through life-threatening risks.

He gazed at the Skull Giant, at the slender line connecting the Skull Giant to the Skull Throne behind him, and asked softly, "Does your power come from the Netherworld?"

The Skull Giant himself could not be a Usurper God, otherwise, he wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble; he could just descend as a divine mechanism.

He Ao had seen a real Usurper God, although gravely injured and with significantly weakened combat power, it’s still not something the current Skull Giant can compare to.

If the Skull Giant were a true Usurper God, He Ao wouldn’t have fought him.

Based on the current situation, his position seems to be elevated, but not surpassing an Angel, although his own power is very formidable.

During the recent confrontation, He Ao did not feel the weakening of his momentum and strength; his power was continuously replenished, somewhat similar to the feeling of a Martial Artist in the world of Proven Path.

But the dungeon world is highly unlikely to supply him energy, so his power should come from the Netherworld.

Combining the current situation with Ains, it seems the Netherworld might have opened some channel to the dungeon world, turning Ains into some ’Half Exotic Realm.’

Thus, the Skull Giant can receive support from the Netherworld.

He Ao’s gaze swept quickly over the surrounding dense fog and shadows.

From this perspective, these dense fog and shadows should be extensions of Netherworld power.

But why do this?

One thought after another gathered in He Ao’s mind, then quickly overlapped with the information he knew.

"You seem to think," the Skull Giant calmly watched He Ao, with peaceful purple flames burning in the large eye sockets, "You still have a chance to turn the tables."

The giant skeletal hand slightly gripped the void, creating a more terrifying and twisted momentum that surged across the ground, sweeping violently over the surrounding dense fog.

Ah—

A sharp and fierce scream rang out in the fog.

Some shadows that were originally soaking in the fog, very close here, failed to escape when the momentum swept over, instantly wiped out, turning into fine dust amidst the screams, blending into the rich fog.

And the dense fog, at this moment, was blown open by this surging momentum, revealing a patch of silent buildings and structures.

The slightly radiant Parliament Building and Gray Stone Palace flashed again, quickly submerged by the dense fog.

He Ao gazed at the Skull Giant, fully aware of what the Skull Giant was showing him.

At this moment, the Skull Giant’s position was still rising.

He is not a Usurper God now, but at the current rate of elevation, he soon might be.

"You should thank me," the Skull Giant looked at He Ao, gazing at the radiant body; he seemed to feel the change in He Ao’s emotions, "If it weren’t for my mercy, not using full force, you would have been dead long ago."

"Should I be thanking you for that?" He Ao finally completely stabilized his body, preventing his own power from collapsing at this moment, and being drawn to madness by the chaotic ’Shepherd Spirit Emperor’ power.

He gazed at the Skull Giant, fully aware that the Skull Giant was not being merciful; most of the opponent’s power was evidently diverted. He has empty position and power, but the ability to exert power is very limited.

So, what is the power that the Skull Giant is being diverted doing?

He Ao gazed at the returning dense fog, which was already denser than before.

He carefully sensed the energy within himself.

At this moment, he had the soul parts of the Talent Sequences of Super Memory and Secret Wizard, the soul parts of the Martial Arts Angel, the complete Talent Sequence of Shepherd Spirit Emperor, but unstable, unable to fully exert power.

Moreover, the power of Shepherd Spirit Emperor seems to be related to the soul, and He Ao lacks a soul he can control, greatly reducing his power.

But these four Angel Tier powers together allow him to demonstrate far more power than a normal Angel, just not as much as the Skull Giant who is cheating.

"No need for thanks," the Skull Giant looked at He Ao, "If you surrender now, I can still guarantee your reason."

"An enemy with absolute advantage often doesn’t frequently urge surrender," He Ao quietly gazed at him, raising his eyebrow slightly, and tentatively guessed, "Let me guess, the Netherworld is currently covering the Federation with its power?"

The Skull Giant’s expression did not change.

He Ao calmly continued, "It’s not the Netherworld’s power trying to occupy the Federation, but to fill back the Federation’s original ’gap.’

The Skull Giant’s cheeks still did not change, only the flames jumping in the eye sockets flickered slightly.

He Ao gazed at the Skull Giant, smiling and continued, "The Federation originally had the Netherworld, right? In the Era of the Great Cataclysm, the dead didn’t necessarily have to be cremated, and the possibility of their remains mutating wasn’t as high as now,

"Because, at that time, the rules of the Netherworld were still in effect, the souls of the deceased would traverse the path and be brought to the Netherworld.

"Later, because of certain things, the Netherworld’s power was severed from the Federation, so the spirits of the dead no longer reached the Netherworld, naturally dissipating in the world and the likelihood of mutation increased."

He Ao gazed at the Skull Giant, "I have seen your murals, you seem to believe the Netherworld was created by the Grim Reaper, I’m not sure about the truth, but from this perspective, the Netherworld should be a manifestation of Grim Reaper’s authority; in the absence of Netherworld power, the Grim Reaper’s power might have been restricted."

"Hawke, the existence behind you indeed told you quite a few things," the Skull Giant looked at He Ao, the flames in the eye sockets burned more fiercely, "Otherwise with your mind, I find it hard to believe you could think of so much."

He Ao’s expression darkened slightly, "Where the information comes from is not important, what matters is its usefulness."

"It seems you don’t have much reverence for the existence behind you," the Skull Giant calmly said, "A blasphemer like you hardly shows awe towards gods."

He lifted his hand and gently swept, carving lines of cracks in the void; he grasped forward, these cracks instantly linked together, forming a Crack Sword.

He looked at He Ao and continued, "But even by your definition, I’m currently doing something ’great,’ when the Netherworld returns, when the gaze of the divine once again focuses on this abandoned land,

"All the deceased will have their own destination, and the wandering souls of this world will also have a place to return to. Isn’t this a good thing?"

"The Netherworld is the realm of the Divine Being."

The Skull Giant held the Crack Sword in his hand, "Everyone who enters the Netherworld is a citizen of God, and all followers of God will gain eternal life in the Netherworld."

"Sounds nice," He Ao looked at him and said calmly, "But what does it have to do with me?"

During the collapse of the Headquarter of the Death God Church, he once had a fleeting glimpse of the real Netherworld.

Although he couldn’t see clearly, he could feel the omnipresent sense of oppression from the Grim Reaper.

"Aren’t you here to pursue so-called justice, to stop us, and save this city?" At this point, the Skull Giant seemed slightly surprised,

"Aren’t all of you chosen by that ’K’ just going to do one thing? — Burn yourselves, turn into heroes to save the world. To put it bluntly, you are merely sacrifices chosen by ’K’, just a part of His ritual."

The flames in his eye sockets flickered, "Aren’t you here for this reason?"

"Why do you always love to ask these kinds of questions," He Ao sighed, his lengthy voice tinged with a bit of emotion, "As if the one reaching the end must be a hero with noble ideals to match your grand ambitions and conspiracy?"

He raised his hand, and a slender Radiant Spear formed in his grasp, "Can it not be an Old Geezer seeking revenge for his child?"

"Who is your child?" The Skull Giant gazed at He Ao and asked calmly,

"I usually just focus on you, not much on your child. Oh, when he was small, I paid a little attention to him. His Aptitude wasn’t great, very poor, compared to you, far inferior, no different from those mediocre mortals. Did he die in my plan?"

He stared at He Ao’s face, speaking calmly, "Then he still contributed a little to this world."

He Ao lifted his head, glanced at the Skull Giant, and in the next instant, his body suddenly vanished, appearing like a swift wind in front of the Skull Giant.

"Why can’t you just accept all of this honestly," The Skull Giant raised his hand, "Must I personally kill you."

Bang—

The Radiant Spear thrust out from the void was easily caught by the giant skeletal hand, he gazed at the glowing figure before him and said calmly, "You’re stronger than your son, but you must die too. This is your last bit of contribution to the world, to the Divine Being."

His voice was very calm, as calm as deciding the life and death of a livestock.

After saying this, his palm suddenly exerted force, accompanied by a ’bang—’ sound, the Radiant Spear in He Ao’s hand was directly crushed.

And at the next moment, the majestic Skull Giant suddenly paused. He gazed at He Ao, the thick fog surrounding him began to violently tremble at this moment, as if the pillars of a house were pulled out, causing it to shake violently.

"What did you do?" The purple flames in his eyes burned fiercely.

—

Limen City

Boom—

The heavy stone door was blasted open directly.

Nasha raised her head, glanced at the empty storage room, then turned back to look at the figures behind her, and quickly said, "This is the last storage room, no one is here."

The figures behind her were either shrouded in veils or hidden in robes, but without exception, they were all women.

Through those robes, their faintly curvaceous figures could be vaguely seen.

Under these graceful figures were the destroyed array still emitting faint purple light, and shattered bones, and a series of bodies.

Upon hearing Nasha’s words, all the women simultaneously looked at the center of the crowd, at the figure shrouded in a long, veiled white robe.

That figure’s face was covered by a white veil, leaving only a pair of captivating eyes.

She quietly scanned the bodies present, her voice like the oriole singing in spring rising over the blood, "Destroy the entire area, ensure the array and ritual structure are thoroughly destroyed."

"Yes." The women immediately responded.

—

Ains

The light connecting the Skull Giant with the Bone Throne suddenly lit up, the surging brilliance beneath him shone brightly, he looked up at He Ao, "You destroyed the ritual pillar of Limen City? And an Angel is driving for you? How did you guess?"

While speaking, his body naturally wanted to descend onto the throne, but He Ao directly reached out and held him tightly.

"It’s not hard to guess," He Ao gazed at him and quickly said, "After all, it’s impossible for you to actually set up a Ritual Array in Ains, even if there are Angels helping you, it’s unlikely all of them would help you. But how can you not set up an array in Ains and still encompass Ains in an array?"

He lifted his gaze, "Simply set up a super-large array outside Ains, encompassing Ains within."

"How did you know it was Limen City?" The Skull Giant frowned.

"Guessed," He Ao said casually, "I guessed the approximate structure of your array, the Death God’s badge just happens to have a blank spot in the eye, I take the area around the Parliament Building as the core, searching for a city that fits this badge,"

He looked at the Skull Giant, "Konovi City, Limen City, and Kalanter City in the north, these three cities can just form an inverted triangle, with the eye position inside this inverted triangle, should be Ains,"

He paused, looked at the shining array line beneath his feet, "This array is exactly the eye’s pupil, right?"

The densely patterned array now illuminated with brilliant brilliance beneath his feet, this brilliance extended into the thick fog, outlining a giant circle.

Like a radiant eye, focusing on the two gigantic figures atop the array.

He Ao gazed at the Skull Giant, "The price for not setting up an array in Ains is to set up many arrays elsewhere. You’ve been preparing for many years for this moment, haven’t you?"

Actually, He Ao wasn’t guessing the location, he roughly guessed the Death God Church’s array structure, then directly searched for related information in his Super Memory.

Then he found that the Death God Church frequently operated around Konovi, Limen City, and Kalanter, finding their traces.

After all, setting up such a complex array is not something that can be done overnight.