Against the Gods (Web Novel)

The three projections weren’t very long. They definitely didn’t include everything those who lived through those experiences remembered because a lot of unnecessary details were removed, but it was still enough to present the moment the Devil Emperor arrived in hate, and the true reason she chose to leave them all completely.

The profound practitioners of the Eastern Divine Region felt like they had just experienced a grand daydream.

They didn’t know how terrible the crimson calamity really was… they didn’t know that the ancient Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor still existed to this day, and that she had actually returned to the world at a certain point in time.

She could’ve destroyed the entire world with one finger and a thought. Divine Master? God emperors? They were all equally as small as ants or dust in front of her.

However, the God Realm hadn’t been embroiled in a terrible disaster during the months she was back at the Primal Chaos. They didn’t even know she had returned in the first place.

It was again, all thanks to Yun Che.

It was him who made her choose to leave the Primal Chaos…

It was only now they knew that the Eastern Divine Region, no, the entire God Realm was teetering on the edge of hell.

It was Yun Che who saved them, the God Realm, the entire Primal Chaos from the brink of purgatory… had the Devil Emperor chosen to vent her anger, had she allowed the devil gods to return, the Eastern Divine Region might’ve been wiped out of existence already. That was how much they hated the descendants of the gods. Even if they survived, they would’ve had to live in an eternal hell of fear and slavery.

They saw countless god emperors, king realm experts and higher realm kings from every divine region except the Northern Divine Region in the projection… but not one of them had chosen to tell them the truth.

If the reason they hadn’t said anything before the Devil Emperor left was because she ordered them to keep quiet about it…

Then what about afterward?

Why did they tell the world afterward that they were the ones who saved the world, when all they could really do in front of the Devil Emperor was beg? Why did they tell the world that the Divine Masters and god emperors were the ones who sealed the crimson crack, when all they really did was cling to Yun Che for survival!?

They even took advantage of the situation and knocked the Evil Infant out of the Primal Chaos!

The first projection had shown exactly how futile their efforts were. Despite combining everyone’s power, the attack of the Divine Masters did nothing to affect the crimson crack at all! It was like a bunch of ants trying to topple a tree with brute strength!

There was no way they were the ones who ultimately sealed the crimson crack!

Still, no one had heard a peep about Yun Che’s achievements, much less the title “God Child Messiah”!

All they remembered was the order to kill Yun Che on the day the crimson crack finally disappeared; a bounty issued by every king realm in the entire world!

The irony ran especially deep in the case of the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, the man who bowed before Yun Che and addressed him as “God Child Messiah” again and again in the projection. He was the one who set up an irrefusable bounty and encouraged every realm in the Eastern Divine Region—even the lower realms—to hunt down Yun Che.

Of course, they could hardly forget that the king realms and upper star realms had taken Yun Che’s birthplace, a lower realm hostage to force the young man to show himself… and its subsequent destruction. After the Snow Song Realm King saved Yun Che at the cost of her own life, the young man ultimately escaped to the Northern Divine Region.

It was impossible to describe the emotion churning inside everyone’s stomach right now. They felt like their hearts and souls were twisted by something cold and unfeeling; felt like a bunch of lowly, pathetic and ignorant fools who were played like a fiddle by the people they looked up to… the projection wasn’t over yet. The fourth projection quickly followed after the third.

This projection was something no one had ever seen before until now.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor was standing in a dark environment. Dark mist could be seen rising from every corner of the image.

Both the eastern region profound practitioners and the devil people identified the dark space in front of her as the Northern Divine Region immediately.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor was gazing toward the distance with a bleak expression on her face. She said slowly, “I had meant Mo E no harm when I attended that meeting, but he had set up a trap and expelled me and my clan out of the Primal Chaos. Despite this, I could find nothing but praise for the man in all the historical records I’ve seen… heh, what a joke.”

“If it wasn’t for Yun Che… if I didn’t care if Ni Xuan’s name was tarnished because of me… Mo E and Xi Ke’s power, will and descendants; I would’ve gladly wiped out everything that was connected to the god race from this world forever!”

She slowly raised her hand and pointed at the infinite darkness in front of her. “Look at the descendants of darkness. They are permanently trapped in a cage of darkness and treated like livestock. If they dared to take even one step out of their cage, they would be hunted down by the successors of the god race.”

“If cruelty, murder and oppression are sins… then who are the true sinners here? The bearers of the so-called righteous way have brutalized, murdered and oppressed these people, but no one has accused them of sinning, have they?”

“These foolish mortals have never questioned why the devils are an evil that must be eradicated. They never even considered that the malice they applied to the devil people was tens of thousands of times worse than what they received!”

“If we must classify ‘devils’ as evil, then… who are the real ‘devils’ here, I wonder?”

She was addressing the question to herself and all those who heard her words. Every word she said shook the heart and pierced the soul.

Why were the devils evil? What had they ever done to deserve such a fate?

The question froze everyone present...

The Eastern Divine Region was undoubtedly facing a devilish disaster right now. It was unprecedented and absolutely terrifying.

That was the problem: it was unprecedented. The God Realm had never faced an assault like this until today.

From the moment they were born, they were told that the devils were heretics that couldn’t be allowed to exist in the world. They were told that the devil people were dark, cruel, sinful and malicious creatures, and that killing them was the righteous duty of any profound practitioner.

It was the most common of common senses just like man and woman; fire and water.

No one had ever questioned it because it was laughable—and in some cases, even sinful—to try.

Why were the devil people evil? What kind of unforgivable sins had they committed? Had they caused a calamity so terrible that there weren’t enough books in the world to describe how heinous it was?... they were shocked to discover they couldn’t come up with a single answer.

It was because they didn’t need a reason. It was the belief and common sense spread by the king realms and the upper star realms after all.

For a million years, the denizens of the Northern Divine Region had been forced to hole up in their cage under the oppressing power of the three divine regions.

Worse, the “cage” slowly shrank because the amount of darkness profound energy in the Primal Chaos was decreasing. Every year, countless devil people died to strive for an ever decreasing amount of realms and resources.

It was only natural to look down on the Northern Divine Region and make fun of them. It was a meritorious achievement that everyone took pride in.

If someone were to try and tally the number of devil people who died due to oppression for the past million years or so, they wouldn’t be able to. It was a terrifying and unimaginable number.

If murder and oppression were sins, then the three divine regions wouldn’t be able to repay their debt even if the next ten thousand generations of their people spent their whole lives atoning.

“To think that I, the ruler of devils actually chose to sacrifice myself and my remaining clansmen for a bunch of lowly mortals who mistreated my kind… heh, what a joke, what a joke!”

Her cold smile was full of irony and sorrow.

When the denizens of the Eastern Divine Region recalled the “truth” they were told a couple of years ago and the truth they saw today… yes, it truly was a joke.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor slowly turned around and stared directly at her “audience”. It felt like she was gazing into their hearts through the projection.

This proved that the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor knew that she was being recorded by the Profound Imagery Stone, and allowed it.

“I will be leaving in three days. I have talked to the Evil Infant at the God Realm of Absolute Beginning and told her to conceal herself next to Yun Che three days from now.”

“Those mortals may be calling Yun Che the God Child Messiah and swearing to me that they will forever remember his benevolence, but I am too well acquainted with the filthiness of human nature to trust them blindly, especially those who sit at the top. They will never allow someone to surpass them unless they have no other choice.”

“I’m worried that they would conceal Yun Che’s achievements and turn against him the moment I leave the Primal Chaos… benevolence? Righteousness? Kindness? Why would they care about these things when they could have status, profit, and fame instead? To that end, they can go as low as you can imagine.”

“Of course, I hope that this is just my pessimism speaking.”

“I hope that the Evil Infant’s presence will be enough to dissuade them from exposing their ugliest selves. It is one of the reasons I feel like I can leave the Primal Chaos in peace.”

“But…” The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s gaze suddenly changed as she said slowly, “Even if the worst case scenario I envisioned or worse were to come true… you’ll save him and protect him no matter what, am I right?”

No one answered her question. The projection ended there and then, dropping the entire Eastern Divine Region into an unimaginable, oppressive silence.

When the projection ended, everyone felt like they had just awoken from a long, long dream… a dream that left them in cold sweat and a completely new view of the world around them.

The crimson calamity ended peacefully because of Yun Che. The irresistible calamity that should’ve embroiled the entire God Realm didn’t happen because of Yun Che.

Not because of those god emperors or Divine Masters!

Even the ruler of devils, the person they thought to be the symbol of pure evil and an unforgivable existence, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor… had chosen to exile herself and her people from the Primal Chaos for the sake of the mortals.

After that, not only did no one speak of Yun Che’s achievements, he was hunted down by the people who knew the truth, made to witness the destruction of his own birth planet, and forced to escape to the Northern Divine Region… in the end, even the fame that should be his was divided among the people who had destroyed his whole life.

Meanwhile, they, the profound practitioners of the Eastern Divine Regions, continued to look up to these monsters like a bunch of clowns, singing their praises and supporting their efforts to hunt down the God Child Messiah who had saved them all, Yun Che...

Were they insulted? No.

Were they angry? No.

Were they sad? No.

Were they lost?

No…

The revelation was so thoroughly shocking that all thoughts and emotions were wiped from their minds… including their faith.

The young man on the Conferred God Stage and the projection had looked so dazzling and courageous. His eyes had shone like the brightest stars in the darkest night.

That same man had massacred the Eternal Heaven Realm and ravaged tens of thousands of realms without mercy.

In that moment, they finally understood why.

After committing literally the greatest act in the God Realm—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every man and woman with the power of the god race in them owed him their life...

He had been repaid with the cruelest, most despicable “payback” one could think of.

Even they, the people he saved had unwittingly but surely become the accomplices who pushed him into the abyss.

There was a dazed expression on the face of every Eastern Divine Region profound practitioner. They would rather that what they just saw was a ridiculous dream, that their faith and common sense weren’t crumbling, that the people they admired and worshipped weren’t exposed for who they really were.

On the other side, the Northern Divine Region profound practitioners were losing all their killing intent and brutality. One moment ago, they were were trying to murder their hated enemies. Now, they couldn’t even stop the tears pouring down their cheeks.

The Devil Master had sacrificed himself for the sake of the world.

The Devil Master had single-handedly saved everyone.

The God Realm was peaceful because of the act of kindness of a devil!

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s words had punched right through the wall around their hearts and dragged out the sorrow they had pent up for far too long...