Chapter 279: Civil War Gods

Everyone hurriedly followed his instructions. Once the two were securely bound, Su Mu took off his Tinted Glasses. A crystalline blue light flickered in his eyes as he prepared to reverse their brainwashing.

Boundless spiritual power surged forth. A look of sheer agony instantly twisted Lin Nanxing's face. "Stop him! He's trying to distort me!"

Unmoved, Su Mu continued to manipulate his spiritual power.

But right at that moment, a gunshot rang out!

A Mithril Bullet shot toward Su Mu's head with lethal precision. The one who pulled the trigger was Zhou Hui!

Yet, as if he had been expecting this all along, Su Mu merely tilted his head and easily dodged the bullet.

"Zhou Hui, it seems you've been affected too."

Zhou Hui held her Mithril pistol, her expression grave but her tone absolutely resolute. "No, the one who has been affected is you, Captain."

"Captain, watch out!" Lan He suddenly roared. His entire body surged with the black Power of Curse and Resentment as he flashed to Su Mu's side to shield him.

Bam!

A delicate fist ruthlessly slammed into Lan He, sending him flying backward. The sheer force behind the blow nearly shattered his Power of Curse and Resentment.

The attacker was Su Qing.

Su Qing's brows were furrowed with hostility, her entire body radiating a torrential killing intent. "The captain has been distorted! Capture him!"

In an instant, everyone besides the downed Lan He rallied around Su Qing, glaring at Su Mu with lethal hostility.

Even Lin Nanxing and Yan Wu, who had been firmly bound by the Mithril Chains just moments ago, had somehow freed themselves.

Su Mu watched the scene unfold before him, a faint smile curling the corners of his lips. "It seems you were all affected from the very beginning. Everything just now was a coordinated act, a setup to strike while I was busy hypnotizing Lin Nanxing.

"If Lan He hadn't blocked that blow for me, you might have actually managed to touch the hem of my clothes."

His worst-case scenario had become reality. Everyone had been distorted.

That included Lan He, despite his recent help. Because Lan He had harbored a deep-seated grudge against him in reality, the distortion had ironically flipped him into an ally.

"Su Mu, you're the one who's been affected! We're trying to help you! Do it!" Su Qing commanded firmly.

In a flash, everyone sprang into action.

As the strongest combatant, Su Qing spearheaded the assault. Her delicate fist, wrapped in blazing golden flames, smashed ruthlessly toward Su Mu.

Su Mu activated [Phantom Stroll]. His figure shifted laterally like a ghost, putting distance between himself and Su Qing.

Swish!

A Mithril Arrow tore through the air, glinting with a biting cold light. No matter how Su Mu tried to evade, the arrow remained dead set on him.

This was Lin Nanxing's ability, [Absolute Hit]!

Seeing this, Su Mu simply stopped trying to dodge, allowing the Mithril Arrow to strike him.

Clang!

The sharp sound of colliding metal rang out as his Mithril Body effortlessly deflected the arrow.

Su Qing's follow-up attack arrived in the next breath. Just as Su Mu prepared to evade, he found that a thick layer of hard frost had somehow encased his legs.

A short distance away, Wen Xuan was manipulating the frost, causing it to continuously creep further up Su Mu's body.

[Absolute Zero]!

Su Mu drew Void Devourer—one of the Twelve Swords of Royal Power, its appearance currently disguised—and ruthlessly slashed at the ice crystals binding his legs. The ice shattered instantly.

However, Su Qing's attack had already reached him.

Suddenly, a radiant crimson light flared from Su Mu's neck, enveloping his entire body. It was the Artifact that Nangong Mengli had given him earlier—the [Crimson Heart]!

Amid the sound of shattering glass, countless motes of red light scattered into the air. Su Qing's devastating punch had been completely blocked.

But the others' attacks arrived in the very next instant. Zhou Hui opened her mouth, spewing a dense purple mist that wildly expanded to completely engulf Su Mu.

A sizzling sound of corrosion immediately echoed from his body. This bizarre mist seemed capable of dissolving even Mithril.

Silver Law: [Mist of Erosion]!

However, with the activation of his [Immaculate Heart], the mist's effects were instantly drastically reduced.

Su Mu felt a twinge of exasperation. Why hadn't they been this fierce when fighting the nightmare monsters in the Dungeon? It turned out every single one of them was a civil war god.

In truth, he had plenty of ways to finish them all off right here. He could use the Demonic Sword: Void Devourer to unleash Gold Grade power, or he could activate the Gold Grade Totem Stone, [Thunder Marsh], that Sikong Zhen had given him.

If he used any of those trump cards, everyone present—save perhaps Su Qing—would die without a doubt. And even if Su Qing luckily survived, she would be critically injured.

But he held back. He couldn't just slaughter his entire team before even catching a glimpse of the Twisted Divine Cult's true leader. In his eyes, resorting to that would be an absolute and total failure.

Thus, he changed tactics and activated the [Endless Demonic Sound].

Buzz...

Bizarre, delirious ravings suddenly filled the air. It was a noise that completely defied human comprehension, echoing as if from a primordial, chaotic Abyss. Every syllable felt like a writhing, distorted tentacle, violently tearing at their sanity.

"Ahhh!" The weaker members like Zhou Hui immediately clutched their heads, screaming in agony.

Seizing the moment their mental defenses collapsed, Su Mu immediately activated the [Thousand Illusions of Fleeting Life]. In the blink of an eye, everyone except Su Qing was left standing frozen in place, staring blankly into space.

Su Qing let out a cold sneer. "Perfect. Now that these useless burdens are out of the way, I won't have to worry about accidentally killing them."

Boom!

Blazing golden flames erupted into the sky. Bathed in the inferno, Su Qing's hair whipped wildly in the air, her aura surging to terrifying heights.

Su Mu's expression didn't change. He knew the real battle was only just beginning. Facing King Chi's avatar, he had no choice but to reveal a few of his own trump cards.

In a split second, the silver mark between his brows quietly split open, revealing a Silver Vertical Pupil. It gleamed like a resplendent silver star, radiating a mysterious, callous light.

The Primal Angel's Eye of God!

The moment the Eye of God opened, even someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Su Qing grew solemn. Being locked onto by that vertical pupil sent an involuntary shudder down her spine, as if she were being judged by an aloof, supreme God.

The explosive clash between the two was imminent. But just then, Su Mu's Eye of God seemed to sense something. Its gaze suddenly shifted, turning toward the massive Statue at the peak of the mountain.

The divine statue looked as if it had truly come alive. Its twisted, distorted eyes were now staring directly at him.

An unimaginably oppressive divine might descended from the heavens.

He... was being watched by a God!

Su Qing's face instantly drained of color. Abandoning all thoughts of fighting Su Mu, she swiftly snatched up the Mithril Chains, bound the rest of the team together, and dragged them away as she turned and fled.

Su Mu also realized that he couldn't afford to keep fighting right now. The Twisted God's Statue was a massive problem, and the hundred thousand Twisted Divine Cult zealots occupying this place were an even bigger threat.

Once they locked onto him entirely, he wouldn't be able to take a single step in this place.

Still feeling the crushing gaze of the divine statue, he immediately pulled out the Void Key. He thrust it into the empty space in front of him, and the tip of the key vanished seamlessly into thin air.

With a forceful twist, a Gate of the Void that resembled a swirling black hole tore open before his eyes.

Su Mu stepped through. As the Gate of the Void snapped shut behind him, the suffocating gaze of the divine statue was finally severed.

Inside a random peasant's house down in the village, the air rippled like water before tearing open to reveal the black, swirling portal. Su Mu slowly stepped out, his Eye of God already closed.

After that brief spatial jump through the void, the divine statue's gaze was no longer locked onto him.

"It seems I can't use the Eye of God just yet," he muttered to himself.

"But how exactly am I supposed to cure the distortion on Su Qing and the others? Maybe I can find the answer from the divine statue itself." There wasn't the slightest trace of worry in his murmurs; instead, his voice brimmed with utter excitement.

It had been a long time since he'd encountered such an interesting Nightmare World. Getting trapped in a twisted illusion the moment they entered, followed by the complete betrayal of his team, and now leaving him entirely alone.

Only a challenge of this magnitude could truly make his blood boil with excitement.

He walked out of the house and onto the street. When he laid eyes on the pedestrians walking by, he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from rising into a smirk.

"Hahaha... How interesting! This just keeps getting better and better!"

Before his very eyes, the originally distorted village and its mutated inhabitants had actually become completely normal!

The trees stood tall and straight, the houses were neatly arranged in rows, and the people all had perfectly regular features as they chatted and laughed cheerfully.