Chapter 427: Archmage Claude

Atalante was a pretty lively main plane, as it was the main quest map for players when they first entered the game a few decades ago.

From this, Gu Nan could also infer that the timeline of the World of Gods was likely the same as in the game.

The day he transmigrated into the Myriad Heavens, the World of Gods was also at the same point in time when the player first entered the game.

But Gu Nan spent several decades in the Myriad Heavens, resulting in the main storyline of Atalante having ended by the time he came over here.

Just like the outcome if the player did nothing but watch the entire time, the Dark Faction achieved total victory.

The absolute protagonist of the storyline, "Dark Warrior" Goro, rose abruptly, and at less than fifty years old, he had gone from an ordinary person to a god, successfully igniting his divine fire.

And as the god who led the charge in this continental war, it was only logical for Lewis to get the largest gains since he achieved full results.

Lewis, who was already a Tier 10 god, saw his status within the Dark Faction rise once again.

The position of strongest under the greater gods was originally occupied by Rolensia, but now that she successfully ascended, Lewis was favored to take over this position.

But it was precisely against a Lewis with this kind of status that Gu Nan had no intention of giving face at all.

He stabbed the guardian of the Garden of Spirits to death, causing the protective laws of this grotto heaven to instantly collapse and revealing the garden's true appearance.

After losing the laws disguising it, the Garden of Spirits soon lost that mysterious and enigmatic aura, reverting back into an ordinary garden.

More and more people began to flee in all directions. When faced with an enemy they couldn't possibly defeat, most people didn't have the courage to fight back.

Gu Nan walked ahead of the others, mercilessly trampling the precious plants in the Garden of Spirits underfoot.

It wasn't as if no one tried to fight back at all. After the garden manager's instant death, Gu Nan could sense the two other Legend Ranks having a disagreement of opinion.

One of them fled quickly, presumably to report back to the empire, while the other activated the defensive magic formation within the garden in an attempt to stall for a bit of time.

The result was certainly nothing to write home about. With such a low level, it was impossible for those laws to trap even David—the other party clearly didn't realize the level of the opponents he was facing.

"Your Excellency Gu Nan…" David followed Gu Nan, his face somewhat troubled. "Since you have the divine spear in hand, finding the Blacksmith God's treasure shouldn't be too difficult, so why don't I take my lea—"

"This is part of your assessment, Mr. David," Gu Nan revealed a strange smile as he replied unhurriedly.

David stiffened, only then remembering that although his trip was an exam in name, his mind had already tacitly acknowledged it as a deal.

Since Gu Nan didn't want to let him go, he had no choice but to continue to follow along.

After all, he was also someone who had been hunted down for so many years. The God of Labyrinths gritted his teeth and finally adjusted his mindset, not uttering another word.

Even if he had never offended someone on the level of Lewis, the God of Tenebrosity, before.

"Hey, didn't you say you brought me here to fight?" Karina was even less afraid of Lewis and asked bluntly.

This Wrestling Goddess claimed she didn't fear anyone who wasn't a greater god, and it wasn't as if she hadn't fought Tier 10 gods before. The outcomes were all the same—no one could beat her super-durable divine body.

Although the law of wrestling was called "wrestling," among players, it was called the law of "taking a beating" or the law of "iron skin."

Because it wasn't just Karina. Players who picked a defensive build could also choose the law of wrestling and ultimately arrive at a similar route.

Superb defense combined with the Evil God phyqisue's own superb recovery, but lacking in damage output.

"You'll get to fight someone soon." Gu Nan said flatly, "The first Blacksmith God wasn't just good at hammering iron; he was also good at hammering people."

...

Busy figures could be seen everywhere in the Dark Empire's imperial palace, many of them government personnel dealing with official matters within the various palaces.

At the time when they just unified the continent, there were many matters to be dealt with and missions to be dispatched, and unexpected situations were occurring all over the place.

However, the number of unexpected situations that popped up today seemed especially high.

"Lord Claude, a mutiny broke out in the borderlands…"

"Lord Claude, a letter from Archduke Vanstorf…"

"Lord Claude…"

"..."

Archmage Claude was the figure that held the position of Chancellor within the Dark Empire. Almost all internal affairs had to be handled by him, and at the same time, he was also the Dark Emperor's strategist.

However, this wise counselor was a bit frazzled today. He felt that situations everywhere seemed to have all erupted on the same day, and there were so many matters to deal with all of a sudden that even he found it hard to accept.

For a moment, Claude even suspected that someone was constructing a large-scale conspiracy whose first phase was bogging down the entire internal affairs department of the empire with a large number of burdensome political affairs.

But he quickly ruled out this idea. After all, the geographical area where things had gone awry was too large and the types of situations were too complex, it really didn't seem man-made.

If it was truly man-made, then just how much time and energy had the other party spent to set up such a plot?

As the strategist of the Dark Empire that had just unified the world, Claude couldn't think of any force that could have done this.

"Lord Claude, there's a situation in the Garden of Spirits," another official hurriedly came in and walked to the Archmage's table, quickly reporting.

He didn't even have time to hand over the report and directly reported it himself, obviously feeling that this piece of news was too urgent and had to "jump the queue."

Claude, who was originally scribbling rapidly on documents, looked up when he heard these words, and his eyes were fixed on the messenger who just entered.

"Who did this?" The Archmage stopped the pen in his hand, a deep indifference in his voice.

This world was ultimately a world that belonged to the top powerhouses, and an army of mortals actually didn't have much power to oppose a Legend Rank expert.

The fact that the Garden of Spirits was easily breached despite having the protection of three Legend Ranks—and even the news had to be passed on by officials—meant the enemy's power was beyond imagination.

'Does a certain side's remaining forces still have top-notch combat power left?'

Claude furrowed his brows. This situation could be much more troublesome than those small matters from earlier.

"It's not forces from the continent." The official seemed to know what Claude was thinking and took the initiative to say, "It's gods… The last message we received from that side is that the invader is Her Highness Karina, the Wrestling Goddess."

The official's face was pained as he said this, but he also looked a little relaxed—after all, bigshots on that level were way above what he was expected to handle.

However, there was nothing relaxing about this for Claude, who was already neck-deep in governmental matters. For a famously powerful goddess to suddenly appear on top of that was the last straw.

"Go inform His Majesty of this. I will personally head to the Garden of Spirits," the Archmage pondered for a moment before quickly making a decision.