Divine Beast Creator-Chapter 1262 - 1263 Suspicion

"Damn it! Who exactly is behind this!"

Sharlo’s Divine Beast glared angrily at the other Divine Beasts. Ignoring those lives already enshrouded by the Breath of Death spread by Xilnais, it had clearly ordered them to cancel that weapon. So why had the situation spiraled into this chaos?

"It seems someone has ulterior motives. I see it clearly now. None of you are acting by the rules. Fine, I’ll take the fall for this one. I’ll consult with the others to see if we should retreat." freewebnøvel.com

One of the Divine Beasts looked disdainfully at Sharlo’s Divine Beast. War itself wasn’t an issue—in fact, the promises Sharlo had painted earlier had tempted the country it sheltered. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have intervened. But it hadn’t expected these hidden motives to go so far.

The Sky Energy Circulation was already waning, and now the Earth Energy Circulation too was being tampered with. What exactly were they trying to accomplish? Were they planning to destroy the entire Divine Land Region? That wouldn’t make sense. Most Divine Beasts’ Authority was tied to the regions they guarded. Unless they were beings like Agunas, the destruction of the Divine Land Region would render their Authority useless.

With one Divine Beast taking the lead, other hesitant Divine Beasts soon began to leave as well. They had no choice. Most of them had been persuaded by their respective nations into thinking this plan would benefit them. But the sudden chaos disrupted everything, and they hadn’t expected such grave consequences.

"And you! You’re not leaving?!"

Sharlo’s Divine Beast angrily roared at Nierlat. Meeting its gaze briefly, Nierlat remained expressionless and replied,

"I have no choice. To restore Xingchan to its former glory, Great Xia is indispensable. Even if we fail this time, it doesn’t mean we won’t get another chance."

"The problem now is, who is orchestrating things from the shadows?"

Nierlat didn’t for a second believe it was the work of the Divine Beasts themselves. That was absurd. To trigger the collapse of the Earth Energy Circulation was no minor matter. Forget everything else—just the nations they protected alone wouldn’t endure such turmoil. Besides, what was that chaotic, corrosive force? It looked entirely different from the power of Divine Beasts.

"Could it be the Hunters?"

Prompted by Nierlat’s question, Sharlo’s Divine Beast suppressed its rage and began to ponder. Indeed, the Hunters were the most suspicious. As for the G Organization? They had no history of researching such phenomena. A side effect perhaps? No, that was even less likely. Many of them held hopes for the G Organization’s goals and intermittently monitored their movements.

If it had been the G Organization, they would have noticed. Outside of them, only the Hunters were strong enough to potentially pull something like this off. And as for other bizarre and illegal groups?

To be blunt, those small organizations didn’t have nearly enough strength to meddle with something so terrifying. This wasn’t the sort of monstrosity one could create by simply mixing random components. Without dedicated research, producing it would be extremely difficult.

"It shouldn’t be them. They’ve been hunted so ruthlessly; they wouldn’t dare stir up such a massive event. Besides, they don’t have the means to infiltrate among us."

After brief consideration, Nierlat vetoed the theory. The reasoning was simple: they were all veterans of their respective nations, familiar with one another. The Hunters hadn’t been around long enough to plausibly infiltrate their ranks.

"Yet, it seems they know nothing about this either,"

a remaining Divine Beast observed skeptically. Though the Divine Beasts weren’t exactly on the best terms, they had a general understanding of each other’s circumstances. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have formed an alliance against Great Xia.

From this, they could sense that the departing Divine Beasts were genuinely displeased. Sacrifices on this scale, only to end in disaster, were bound to anger them—it was entirely natural. If not them, then who? Could some of the nations be secretly scheming? But that made no sense. Wouldn’t they worry that concealing such plans would make the Divine Beasts withdraw their Shelter? Although the Divine Beasts offered Shelter due to their relationships with certain individuals in those nations, that wasn’t justification for deceit.

Detection of such a betrayal would almost certainly provoke them to turn hostile.

"Wait a second. Come to think of it, there’s one nation that seems suspicious."

Lost in thought, Nierlat suddenly recalled an issue. Glancing at Sharlo’s Divine Beast, Nierlat spoke up, prompting Sharlo’s Divine Beast to gnash its teeth in fury as it spat out,

"Quine!!!"

"It wasn’t their doing. Their initial assumption was that Quine was the culprit working behind the scenes, but Quine’s Guardian Divine Beast hasn’t responded."

Agunas addressed Feng Yuan, explaining the intelligence gleaned from the Divine Beasts’ information network. Still, there was a bit of skepticism. After all, Quine wasn’t without divine protection. As Quine’s Guardian Divine Beast, Socrates wouldn’t just sit idly by allowing such antics. Yet, why had Socrates remained silent?

"Quine? If I recall correctly, their Guardian Divine Beast is Socrates, isn’t it? Lord of Stone, Socrates. Although not particularly powerful, it hasn’t been the sort to cause trouble,"

Feng Yuan remarked curiously, recalling Socrates’ details. Its Authority governed rock mountains, enabling it to command the power of stone. Not exceptionally strong by general standards—but in Quine’s region, it was formidable, able to contend with multiple ordinary Divine Beasts due to the area’s abundance of rocky terrain.

"No idea. Since it hasn’t stepped forward, I really have no clue what’s going on."

Agunas flicked its tail as it spoke. It didn’t know Socrates personally, and without its presence in the Divine Beasts’ information network, it had no insights into the matter.

"Forget it. We’ll settle the scores later. First, deal with that thing."

With a wave, black Rune Chains shot out from all sides, slamming into the crimson tentacles. At this point, the Earth Energy Circulation was nearly exhausted. Meanwhile, the tentacles, which had absorbed tremendous amounts of energy, coalesced into a crimson bubble sprawling across the ground. This blood-red bubble pressed down on the Breath of Death, burying it beneath.

"Doesn’t it resemble the Abyss?"

Seeing the transformation, Agunas paused for a moment, perplexed by the familiar sensation. What was this déjà vu? It bore striking similarities to the Abyss they had once confronted in the Data Domain.

"It’s just similar. Things with attributes of disorder and chaos often lack fixed forms. It’s not unusual for it to appear like this."

Feng Yuan remained unperturbed. Disorder and chaos were hallmark traits of such entities, but that didn’t mean it was directly tied to the Abyss. Otherwise, things would be far more terrifying. Should the Abyss ever manifest within their world, even Feng Yuan would find it troublesome to handle.

Anything consumed by the Abyss was virtually irretrievable. Its entry into their reality would signify irreversible destruction.

In the skies, Xilnais ascended with a cage, storm clouds swirling beneath it. Beneath the clouds, a tempest of death raged. Eclipse took one glance at Xilnais, then twisted its body and slithered downward.

Pitch-black flames erupted from a gem in Eclipse’s front, cascading downward. With the power to annihilate all, the flames relentlessly burned the scarlet bubble.

A grotesque and piercing scream echoed faintly. Feng Yuan furrowed his brows. This thing—why did it feel familiar...

Eclipse appeared dissatisfied with the slow progress. With a swipe of its claw, inky-black chains descended from the heavens, tightly binding the writhing crimson bubble. Slowly, the chains dragged the bubble skyward. It struggled, shifting forms in an attempt to flee, but the chains bore a unique power that confined it fully, preventing it from liquefying and slipping through the gaps.

Overhead, the storm clouds spiraled to reveal a massive, black vortex. Beyond the vortex lay a silent, desolate world.

"Taking it to the Silent Wasteland? That’s doable, but still..."

Watching the crimson bubble being drawn toward the vortex, Feng Yuan muttered with a complicated expression. Relocating the entity without fully understanding it was risky—especially given its dubious nature. Who could predict what unforeseen alterations might occur?

"Can it be handled?"

Agunas asked with concern. Eclipse and Feng Yuan operated differently, and if Eclipse left some unforeseen hazard behind, it could spell significant trouble. Aside from Feng Yuan, few Divine Beasts could handle issues in that realm.

"No problem. If anything does happen, I can take care of it."

Although slightly uneasy, Feng Yuan wasn’t particularly distressed. Even in the worst-case scenario, at most, it would mean sacrificing a portion of the Silent Wasteland.