Muria felt that he must have left home on an unlucky day. If Erathia had such a thing as a bad day in the almanac, this void expedition had been extremely unlucky. Just after leaving the world, he was attacked by a rare swarm of insects, and now, after merely passing through a stargate, he encountered an entity at the epic and divine level.
There was no mistaking this kind of presence. Muria had experienced it many times before, but never as intensely as this. This being hadn't even bothered to restrain its aura. Muria saw the storm giants in his control room unable to resist their instincts, half-kneeling on the ground. These were soul-level giants.
"Warning, an epic-level presence is approaching. Scanning target level is..." The scarlet lights flashed in the cabin, and the mechanical voice of the ship's spirit echoed. But with an explosion, the ship's spirit fell silent, its detection array shattered, and its program plunged into chaos.
This sudden change made Muria's face darken. This presence hadn't even done anything yet, and his ship spirit had already crashed. Looking at the storm giants beside him, it was clear that the giants on other ships were in no better condition. His fleet, at this moment, had almost lost its basic combat capability. Only the legends could move freely, unaffected by this overwhelming aura.
"Oh, I forgot to restrain my aura and knocked out so many people. How embarrassing!" An apologetic voice rang out, and then the oppressive aura that made it hard to breathe, like a mountain pressing down, quickly dissipated.
"Enemy level undetectable. Please evade immediately. Enemy level..." The ship's spirit's mechanical voice started again, causing frustration.
"Idiot ship spirit, turn off the warning. This is not an enemy." Muria cursed softly. A completely mechanical entity, with no autonomous thinking, was incomparable to Cassio. At least Cassio wouldn't suggest evasion in this situation.
Faced with an entity that crippled three fleets with just a moment's contact, Cassio's suggestion would probably be to strike a pose that looked good and cool. If it were an enemy, that would at least ensure a dignified death.
However, Muria found himself somewhat lucky. The entity he had encountered didn't seem to be an enemy. So, Muria pulled the curious Indira, who was looking around in confusion at why everyone was down, out of the cabin to face this powerful presence in the void.
Behind him, six legends followed: the legendary synthetic beast Slaughtering Shadow Siwanlin, the ancient green dragon Fiona, the abyssal demon Maels, the legendary dragon-blooded sorceress Flame Dragon Princess Zephyryia, and two legendary frost giant leaders, Frostfang and Coldfeather. They knew there was no hiding from such an entity in the unrestricted void, and this presence didn't seem hostile.
"This is..." Muria, just stepping out of the flagship, looked ahead and felt dizzy. He saw thunder spanning worlds, space storms sweeping through the void, flames incinerating everything, and a giant god who commanded these forces and could shatter stars with mere physical power. "My future?"
"Ah!" Muria groaned in pain as his eyes burned intensely. Two streaks of golden blood dripped from his eyes, and everything he saw vanished.
Before him stood a colossal humanoid figure, filling his vision with an endless aura. Thirteen light wheels turned behind him, and faint, devout prayers emanated, carrying world-altering power.
"Ah!" "Ah!"... Unlike Muria's pained groan, the legends who followed him had their eyes explode upon seeing this entity, all without exception, in extreme agony.
"An unapproachable existence!" Muria thought, his eyes stinging as he looked at the figure before him, his heart filled with indescribable shock. What kind of monster was this? Legends couldn't even look directly at him. How powerful was he?
"Sigh, don't look around randomly!" Seeing the tragic state of the legends behind Muria, the unknown entity sighed. A gentle light burst from him, illuminating Muria and the others. Muria's eyes stopped bleeding immediately, and the legends behind him ceased their cries of pain.
"Huh, Muria, this light can be eaten!" Indira, whom Muria was holding, excitedly shook his arm. She also looked directly at the entity but was completely unaffected. Now, she was opening her mouth, excitedly swallowing the light emanating from the entity.
"Fortunate one!" The entity stared at Indira for a moment, then, seeing through her nature, smiled indifferently.
"Return to the ship!" The grand entity waved his hand lightly, sending the six legends behind Muria back to the ship. He was so powerful that his mere presence was a potent attack. He didn't need to do anything; just standing there could knock down some "weaker" beings who saw him.
"May I ask, who are you?" Muria cautiously inquired, sensing no malice from the entity.
"I am a god!"
"God?" Muria was stunned. Gods existed through faith and were bound by world rules. How could one appear in the void and be so strong?
"I am indeed a god, no need to doubt that!" The entity's light wheels turned, and grand sacrificial prayers echoed in Muria's ears. At that moment, countless people were praying to this god. Muria heard the name repeated most often: Nine Shepherds God.
Presumably, this was the god's title. But what did it signify? Hearing this title, Muria couldn't deduce his divine role or understand the powers he controlled.
"But I am different from the gods in your mind." As he spoke, Muria saw powers of earth, water, wind, and fire rotating on the entity's body. Then these powers vanished, and light and darkness, life and death appeared... All forces of creation manifested on him but then disappeared, leaving Muria dizzy and feeling like his head would explode.
"Enough, no need to talk about this. You haven't reached the point of choice yet." The Nine Shepherds God's body seemed to be evolving into a world, but it all stopped in an instant, returning to nothingness. "Can you tell me why you ventured into the void? You are still too weak."
"I am with..." Muria hesitated briefly and then recounted his story with the dragon princess. This god seemed to harbor goodwill, having shown mercy already.
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