NFBE Chapter 11 A Gaze Across Time: The Fallen God-Slayers
Chapter 11 A Gaze Across Time: The Fallen God-Slayers
"Last time?"
Wang Yan stared at the line of black text.
He thoroughly investigated his memories from the past ten years. Regarding the God-Slaying series of weapons, there were only three publicly available pieces of information—they existed in the underlying code, no one had ever obtained them, and the official stance was one of outright denial.
No one ever mentioned the words "the last god-killer".
There are only two possible explanations.
First, someone did find the God-Slaying series in a previous life, but all related information was completely erased. Second, this statement itself is outside the scope of players' understanding.
Regardless of which one, the conclusion is the same.
This game is much deeper than he knew from ten years of gaming experience.
Wang Yan suppressed his surging thoughts and focused his gaze back on the ground. Eat the meat first, then think about things.
After the Arbiter dissipated, three items floated in the golden dust. A fist-sized purple crystal, shaped like a heart, its surface covered with densely packed runes. Beside it were three fingernail-sized golden fragments, their edges sharp and their luster soft.
[Heart of the Judge (Purple - Special Material)]
[Description: A core containing a faint divine quality. Can be used for equipment forging or to nourish evolving equipment.]
[Divine Fragment x3 (Gold - Special Material)]
[Description: Fragments of primordial essence stripped from divine entities. Purpose: Unknown. Collecting a certain number may grant glimpses into higher levels of existence.]
There's nothing to hesitate about.
Wang Yan grabbed the Heart of the Judge and stuffed it into the blade of the God-Slaying Prototype.
The blade hummed. Crimson lines of blood surged from the grooves, tightening around the purple crystal in concentric circles. The entire sword trembled in his hand for three seconds before settling back to stillness.
[Godslayer - Hatchling Progress: 100→127/200]
Attack power increased from 45-60 to 58-75.
The second stage of transformation wasn't triggered. However, the stats increased by nearly 30%, which is sufficient.
Next are the fragments of divinity.
Wang Yan picked up the first one, his fingertip just touching the golden surface—
A sharp pain shot from his fingertips up his entire arm before he could let go.
The scene before my eyes shattered.
It's not a system interface crash, nor is it a skill effect.
It's a video clip.
A gray sky. On the horizon lay a colossal city, half-collapsed. Shattered idols littered every inch of the ruins, their heads severed cleanly.
A figure stood in the very center of the ruins.
Faces were indistinct. Male or female was indistinguishable. The figure's outline blurred and then reformed in the gray mist; the only clear feature was the sword in the person's hand.
The sword is jet black.
The bloodline is white.
Completely opposite to the prototype of God-Slaying.
The figure suddenly looked up.
Wang Yan couldn't quite describe the feeling. The blurry face had no features, but he was certain—the other person was looking at him.
It was as if the two god-killers, separated by a vast distance, met face to face in a certain fractured timeline.
Then, a line of text appeared at the bottom of the image.
[Godslayer Series - Seventh Blade - Holder: Fallen.]
[Godslayer Series, Thirteenth Blade, Holder: Fallen.]
[Godslayer Series - First Blade - Initial Form - Holder: Currently Alive.]
The video feed cut off.
Wang Yan came to his senses. The fragments in his hand had turned into fine powder, leaking through his fingers.
There's more than one in the God-Slaying series.
This isn't surprising. If the entire series is pre-defined at the code level, mass production is the basic logic.
What really bothered him was something else.
It has fallen.
The seventh blade has fallen. The thirteenth blade has fallen. The existence of at least a thirteenth blade means there are at least thirteen blades in the God-Slaying series.
And the holders? They're all dead.
It's not "lost," it's not "forgotten." It's "fallen." It's permanent demise.
He glanced down at the two remaining fragments in his palm and withdrew his hand. There wasn't enough information; touching the second and third fragments now would just be a waste of material.
Stuff it into your backpack.
"What did you see?"
Zhuang Bugui's voice came from behind. Wang Yan turned his head. He didn't know when the man had returned. He stood three steps away, his short knife already sheathed.
He didn't ask about the process, just the result. This old man's way of speaking is quite similar to his own.
"This isn't the only one in the Godslayer series. All the previous owners are dead."
"And what about you?"
"I am alive."
Zhuang Bugui didn't reply. He turned and took a few steps to the east, bent down and looked into a crevice in the rocks, then turned back: "That kid Tieguo has been cowering in the crevice for ages without making a sound. Is he scared out of his wits or has he fainted?"
The muffled sound of a pot of stewed goose simmering in an iron pot echoed from the crack in the rocks: "I'm neither stupid nor dizzy! I'm tactically evading!"
"Did you cry?" Zhuang Bugui squatted down.
"...I got sand in my eye."
Qi Qi's voice drifted out from another crack in the rocks, weak and feeble: "The sand that got into your eyes tastes salty."
"You smelled it?"
I heard you sniffle.
The stewed goose crawled out of the crack in the rocks, its eyes indeed red. Upon seeing Wang Yan still standing there, it froze for several seconds, its mouth opening and closing a couple of times before finally uttering, "Are you even human?"
"It's a person."
"You really—you really killed that three-meter-long tin can?"
"Kill them." Wang Yan didn't explain further. "Let's get going."
"Where to?" Iron Pot rubbed his face.
"Job change. Level 15 now."
"Wait a minute," Iron Pot pulled out the control panel and glanced at it, "I'm only LV9! How come—did you take an experience potion?"
"The BOSS experience is exclusive. You didn't get it while you were in the crevice."
Iron Pot's lips twitched, and after glancing at his pitifully low experience bar, he decided to stop discussing this sad topic.
The four men advanced eastward along the canyon.
Wang Yan walked at the very front. His divine perception activated automatically, and all biological signals within a 500-meter radius were clearly displayed as if scanned by radar.
Three packs of level 15 canyon wolves circled the edge of perception, then turned and ran away.
The monster level suppression brought by the Fate Mark turned this area into a vacuum. Ordinary players couldn't enter, and low-level monsters dared not approach. Wang Yan and his companions, however, walked freely in the middle.
Iron Pot, walking behind, muttered to himself, "Does this count as the big boss clearing the way for us?"
"Shut up and keep walking." Zhuang Bugui said without turning his head.
It took about ten minutes to walk.
Wang Yan stopped in his tracks.
Divine perception has sent a signal.
Not a monster. No hostile flag marked in red. Not an NPC. No quest marker.
He is a player.
Two hundred meters ahead. The top of a giant rock jutting out from the canyon wall.
There is someone sitting on it.
There was no concealment, no disguise. He sat atop the highest point of that rock, his legs dangling in the air, his posture as casual as someone waiting for a bus.
Zhuang Bugui's hand was already on the hilt of the short knife.
Qiqi and the iron pot exchanged a glance and simultaneously slowed their pace.
But Wang Yan wasn't concerned about the other party's attitude.
One piece of feedback data from divine perception was incorrect.
That player was surrounded by extremely faint divine energy.
It's so weak it's almost negligible, but it does exist.
Players shouldn't have this.
Whether in PvE or PvP, divine fluctuations only appear on two types of targets—divine bosses and units directly under the Council of Gods. In his ten years of life, Wang Yan had never seen this signal on any player.
The man stood up.
The wind blowing through the canyon from the east lifted the man's clothes. In the backlight, Wang Yan could make out the ID above the man's head.
White. Basic color scheme. No guild prefix, no title suffix.
Abyss Walker
The other person spoke. Their voice, carried by the wind, was neither too loud nor too soft, and every word was clear.
"The holder of the God-Slaying Firstborn".
There was a pause.
"You're six hours ahead of my calculations."
Wang Yan slowly gripped the hilt of the Godslayer Prototype sword with his right hand. The red bloodline on the blade twitched, as if sensing something.
This ID did not exist for the entire ten years of its previous life.
The man behind him, Stewed Goose in an Iron Pot, asked quietly, "Boss, who's that?"
Wang Yan did not answer him.
He stared at the other person and spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the canyon.
"You were waiting for me. You knew I would take this path. You even knew the name of the God-Slaying First Child."
He pushed the hilt of the sword with his thumb, and the blade silently slid out half an inch.
"After all that talk, you still haven't said who you are."
The Abyss Walker wasn't provoked by that tone; instead, he chuckled.
"Relax. I am not a member of the Council of Gods." The person on the rock took a step forward, placing his foot on the edge of the rock.
Wang Yan did not relax. His hand remained on the hilt of his sword, his posture unchanged.
The person who lets him relax is usually the one who is least worth relaxing with.
The Abyss Walker seemed to realize that this statement was useless, so he changed his words.
"To be precise—I, like you, am one of those hunted by the gods."
"The difference is," the man paused, "that I've already been hunted once."