Chapter 329: Luke Must Do What Even a God Failed to Do!

He nodded once more as he recalled the strange power he had sensed before.

Even now, however, Sevaroth couldn’t measure their true strength, because neither Lilith nor Iveron had actually descended here themselves.

Only their projections were present.

Hearing Sevaroth’s words, Luke didn’t react.

He didn’t dare.

He wasn’t even sure what these beings were capable of, and the last thing he wanted was to accidentally draw their attention toward himself.

More importantly, he didn’t know whether his Goddess of Light would send her own projection here.

And right now, with two Gods standing inside Heaven’s Crucible, Luke wasn’t sure whether the arrival of a third one would make his situation better...

...or far worse.

There, Iveron completely ignored Lilith and instead extended his hands toward the fallen remains of the ten-thousand-foot-long spectral serpent, carefully grasping its gigantic body before bringing it closer to Brynessa’s own serpent body, and the instant the two came within range of one another, an unfamiliar surge of power began gathering around them.

OHMMMM!

A tremendous influx of energy suddenly erupted from Iveron’s projection, causing the entire Heaven’s Crucible to tremble once again as though the very space itself was struggling to withstand the force being released, and under that overwhelming flow of energy, the spectral serpent’s body slowly began merging into Brynessa’s serpent body.

The two forms fused together.

The spectral serpent gradually disappeared into Brynessa, while her existing body expanded further and further until a completely new serpent form emerged from the fusion, one that had now reached ten thousand feet in length, yet still possessed Brynessa’s original serpent head.

Lilith watched the entire process calmly without making any attempt to interfere, because although she clearly possessed enough power to stop Iveron, neither of them could start a Divine War inside this place, at least not right now.

Still, that didn’t mean she had to remain silent.

"Iveron, you sure have gotten impatient, considering that you are already spreading your hands toward Valtharion."

She paused briefly before adding in her usual playful tone,

"Do you really want a hero that badly?"

"..."

Iveron didn’t answer.

Instead, both his eyes and Lilith’s crimson eyes slowly shifted in the same direction, and after looking through the gathered specters, they stopped upon a certain person.

"..."

This time, Luke was the one who froze.

His entire body stiffened under the attention of the two Gods.

"Hmm, this hero does seem different~" Lilith said playfully.

Her tone remained light, but Luke could feel the attention behind those words, while Iveron continued staring at him without speaking, carrying an emotion in his eyes that Luke couldn’t understand.

Lilith noticed that Iveron still wasn’t saying anything, and she clearly couldn’t resist teasing him further, she smiled.

"Iveron, you don’t deserve the Fire Authority, because you never seem to get angry like the usual Fire God."

At those words, the corner of Iveron’s mouth twitched slightly, almost as though he were silently telling her to look at herself before criticizing someone else.

Lilith noticed his expression, and her smile widened.

"Fufu~"

She then lowered her gaze toward Luke again, bringing the enormous crimson eyes slightly closer to him before speaking in a playful tone.

"Kid, we know you are awake."

"..."

Luke didn’t move.

Normally, after becoming a Titan, he rarely experienced something as ordinary as sweating from fear, yet those few words from Lilith somehow caused his Titan body to sweat anyway.

He still didn’t dare to react.

Seeing that Luke remained completely silent, Lilith continued speaking as though she didn’t particularly care whether he answered her or not.

"Sigh, kids nowadays are so troublesome, and my descendant chose such a boring husband for herself."

Luke’s mouth almost twitched at that statement, but he managed to suppress the reaction through sheer force of will.

[With fear, not with willpower. ¬‿¬]

Luke ignored the System’s message because by now he already understood that the System wasn’t going to provide him with any useful help in this situation.

[Luke, just chill. They wouldn’t dare to attack you directly, because the Goddess of Light is behind you.]

[And even if they actually tried something, don’t worry, Sevaroth is still here.]

Luke became slightly confused upon hearing that.

’Sevaroth?’

Sevaroth was currently in spirit form, and as far as Luke knew, he shouldn’t have been able to use his true power.

[Well, he can’t properly use it in Valtharion, but here, where Valtharion’s influence is only half-present, he can act, although the price will be sleep. Your Titan Spirits aren’t just there for decoration, after all.]

[That is also one of the reasons those two Gods were able to send their projections here, because outside this place, inside Valtharion itself, such a thing would be impossible without some kind of container.]

Before Luke could process that information, Lilith suddenly spoke again.

"Hmm, he is talking with someone~"

Her gigantic crimson eyes and beautiful mouth suddenly moved closer to Luke, coming so near that he felt as though she might simply swallow him in the next second.

Luke instinctively closed his eyes.

Nothing happened.

After a few moments, he slowly opened them again, feeling a small amount of relief when he realized that Lilith hadn’t actually done anything.

"Fufu~"

"Don’t worry, I am not going to kill my descendant’s husband, and your Goddess wouldn’t appreciate that."

Lilith’s gaze shifted away from Luke and toward Iveron, who was now looking toward the ancient gate with an expression filled with memories that no one else present could understand.

"And he wouldn’t dare kill you here either, since I am here."

Iveron still didn’t respond.

The next moment, his fiery eyes, hand, and mouth gradually disappeared, and along with him, Marrec, Mella, and Brynessa’s body also vanished from the Heavan’s Crucible.

FWOSH!

Lilith watched the empty space for a moment before sighing.

"Sigh, he’s gone, no fun."

’Miss, it’s actually good that he is gone, because he is a Demon God while I am merely a weak D-rank being, so staying around higher-ranked beings like him isn’t exactly healthy for my weak heart.’

’Hell, I’m just waiting for the moment you leave as well.’

Luke barely finished thinking those words when Lilith’s playful voice immediately reached him.

"Fufu~ Are you thinking about when I would leave?"

Luke’s body stiffened again.

He immediately shook his head, absolutely unwilling to admit that she had guessed correctly.

Lilith’s mouth curved downward slightly as though she had become genuinely sad.

"In my youth, there was a line of men who wanted to meet me and spend time with me, but now, here I am, and even the husband of my own descendant doesn’t want to spend time with me."

Luke’s face remained completely expressionless.

Inside, however, he was screaming.

’Miss, please think before saying.’

He desperately wanted her to reconsider the wording of her own sentence.

After another sigh, Lilith finally looked toward Peiro, who was standing farther away with his regenerated hands restored, although his expression was still extremely unpleasant after everything that had happened.

"Aww, don’t be mad, Peiro, I am leaving."

She waved her hand toward him playfully.

Then, without giving anyone another chance to react, all the remaining specters were suddenly teleported away from the area.

Lilith’s crimson eyes and mouth disappeared along with Selene, and the oppressive pressure that had been weighing upon the entire battlefield finally vanished.

"Huff!"

Luke finally released the breath he had been holding, deeply inhaling and exhaling now that the terrifying pressure from the two Gods had disappeared.

Meanwhile, Peiro repaired the two spatial fractures that had been torn open inside Heaven’s Crucible before turning his gaze downward toward Luke.

"Kid, all of them have returned to their places."

He was referring to the places from which the specters had originally come, meaning that everyone else had now been sent back to their respective locations.

Hearing those words, Luke immediately felt some relief because it meant that once he finally left this place, he would be able to meet Selene again.

However, another question soon entered his mind.

"Then why am I still here?"

A faint smile appeared on Peiro’s face when he heard that question, because if Luke succeeded in accomplishing what he was about to attempt, Peiro himself might finally be able to free himself from this place, where he had remained bound for so long while being forced to maintain and organize the arena.

"You have to open that door and defeat the being inside, and once you do that, you will find the strength you need to become stronger."

Luke looked toward the ancient gate.

He couldn’t help sighing upon hearing Peiro’s words, because he had already suspected that this ancient gate was connected to the Origin fragment gate he had encountered earlier, and after everything that had happened, it increasingly felt as though all of these events had ultimately been leading toward this exact moment.

"Fine."

Luke accepted the challenge.

The next moment, Peiro moved his power, and Luke’s body was instantly teleported away from the spectator area.

He reappeared directly in front of the ancient gate, while the arena and the space where the previous battle had taken place now remained behind him.

Peiro stayed where he was, folding his hands as he looked at Luke from a distance.

"Try your best, kid."

His expression carried genuine interest as he waited to see whether Luke could actually accomplish the impossible task placed before him, which even Iveron hadn’t able to do, because if Luke really managed to open that ancient gate and defeat whatever existed beyond it, then perhaps this young bring truly possessed the ability to reach the strength required for what was waiting ahead.

’Those Beings.’