Chapter 260 251: Billions of Forms: Slime Mod
This time, Luh Yao summoned Selena and Isabel.
Isabel would only need to cast a buff with [Forest Sword]. With Tyrant as the main attacker and Forrest summoned to help, dealing with the Curse Insect shouldn't be much of a problem.
Before he could even send the two Apostles into the Abyss Second Layer to join the fight, the Master of the Star Sea had vanished without a trace.
It had used some unknown method to disengage from combat, leaving behind a field of sludge.
Having lost its target, the Parasite Insect didn't pursue. Instead, it began to ravenously devour the many Grid Limbs scattered across the third layer, entering a feeding state.
Luh Yao aimed the [True Sight Curse] at the Curse Insect and pulled up its detailed information panel.
...
[Curse Insect LV95] Parasite Insect [Earth Elemental Sedimentation][Slow]
Life Value: 28,895/61,091
Mana Value: 7,562/12,142
Damage: 212
Defense: 177
Speed: 18
[Unity of Thought]
Completely merges with the host on a conscious level, becoming one of the host's organs.
[Egg Shell Manufacturing]
Creates Egg Shells to hatch its young and further expand its territory.
[Parasite Curse Seal]
Engraves special Curse Seals to acquire and store the Fire of Faith.
[Inhabitant Mystery LV19]
Resides within the host's body, continuously siphoning the host's power.
[Life Mystery LV52]
[Curse Insect]
...
[Divine Format]: None.
[Divinity]: Lowly as an Ant (72,033).
[Divine Body]: Gods Tier.
...
True to its name, the Parasite Insect's specialty was finding a host to leech off of long-term.
Luh Yao deduced that its previous host had most likely been the Star Sea God.
The Star Sea God had probably used some method to break free or feign death, causing the Parasite Insect to detach and return to the third layer.
It had quite an appetite for the Grid Limbs here, so much so that it didn't even bother to hunt down the Star Sea God.
Luh Yao glanced at the Abyss Second Layer.
The Star Sea God had dived underwater. With the [True Sight Curse], Luh Yao could still see its body lying motionless on the seabed. He couldn't tell if it was playing dead or recuperating.
'Forget it. I'll handle this myself.'
Luh Yao opened a portal, deployed the two Apostles to the third layer, and then activated [Apostle Soul Seal], consuming 6,000 Faith to summon Forrest.
The LV99 Divine Descendant Giant acted as a tank and heavy hitter, Selena went all-out on the attack, and Isabel focused on buffing Tyrant—unfortunately, [Forest Sword] had no effect on Summoning Creatures like Forrest.
The Parasite Insect had less than 30,000 Life Value remaining and wasn't a combat-oriented Curse Insect, so it was quickly killed under the combined assault of the two powerful fighters. The creature's corpse disintegrated into ash, from which numerous black shadows emerged and seeped into the ground.
A pile of Fire of Faith was left on the ground, along with an Artifact that looked like a green seed.
Luh Yao banked another 70,000 Power of Faith.
But the seed-like Artifact was neither a Miracle nor a skill card.
...
[Slime Mod's Sutra Bag] (128,000/128,000)
...
'Slime Mod? Sutra Bag?'
Luh Yao didn't understand.
An exclamation point flashed above Selena's head.
"My Lord, that belongs to Slime Mod of the Billions of Forms."
"I always thought he had fallen. I never expected to find him in the Abyss."
Luh Yao asked Selena to tell him more about this God's history.
Tyrant paused for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts.
"My Lord, Slime Mod was known for his Wisdom. The reason so many of the Gods remember him is because of the Fengyuan Divine War."
"That Divine War was fought between several Titled Deities over an Unowned World. The war was incredibly brutal, with no side willing to back down. The Titled Deities even temporarily recruited other Gods to join them, promising vast amounts of Fire of Faith or, for the best among them, a place as a Subordinate God after their victory."
"That Unowned World contained a lush grassland, and this grassland was an Exotic Object capable of transforming lifeless Artifacts into living creatures."
"Even in the higher Flying Districts, such a treasure is exceptionally rare. That is why this Divine War came to be known as the Battle of Fengyuan."
Text continued to appear in the dialogue box above Selena's head.
"...After paying an immense price to obtain the Unowned World, the Titled Deity [Golden Vault Star] discovered that the so-called lush grassland was nothing more than a fantastic illusion created from some Fire Seed Artifacts."
"Unless one is a Main God, it is difficult to enter an Unowned World directly. The only ones who can enter to scout are either ordinary Believers or Apostles weakened by Rule Power. So, the ones who were truly deceived were the Titled Deities' Apostles."
"Even so, this grand deception, which played everyone for a fool, sent the Titled Deities into a towering rage."
"Ultimately, the Titled Deity [Golden Vault Star] identified the mastermind behind it all: none other than Slime Mod of the Billions of Forms."
"Slime Mod possesses Billions of Forms and always appears as one of his avatars, making it extremely difficult to locate his true body."
"However, after that earth-shattering deception, Golden Vault Star came to hold Slime Mod in high regard. It is said that he invited Slime Mod several times to become his Subordinate God, but was rejected each time."
Luh Yao was a bit surprised.
'This Slime Mod sounds like quite the character. To trick a group of Titled Deities and get away scot-free…'
He was more concerned about Slime Mod's motives and what he stood to gain. That kind of behavior—dancing on the graves of titans, so to speak—wasn't something a normal God would do.
According to Selena, no one knew the answer to that.
"After the Battle of Fengyuan, Slime Mod appeared a few more times. Each of his appearances was accompanied by deception and trickery."
"His style was to never resolve issues through Divine War. Instead, he used various forms of fraud and Enchantment, causing many Gods to suffer great losses... Slime Mod also ended up with a bounty on his head from several Titled Deities."
"Then, Slime Mod suddenly vanished without a trace."
"Rumor had it that he had fallen. Having offended so many powerful Gods, refusing to become a Subordinate God, and with an infamous reputation, there was little room for him to survive. I never imagined he had been captured by the Dark God and brought here."