"You..."
Faced with the god-like presence of Fang Mo, Mateka was momentarily stunned.
Born on an extremely harsh planet, the Tartan race's survival philosophy was also based on survival of the fittest.
As the king of the Tartan race, Mateka had always believed this. In the great wave of life stirred by the Creator God Carloso, only the strongest could survive. This belief is what led him to guide his entire race onto Anton's body, using Odin's power to escape their collapsing planet.
Odin was already the most powerful being he had encountered.
Even the Apostles of the Demon World were, at best, on par with them.
But now, the man before him... The power he displayed even terrified Anton. This overwhelming strength, beyond comprehension, reminded Mateka of one being.
The Primordial Lord.
The Creator God Carloso.
"Are you... truly a god?" Mateka hesitated, instinctively taking a step back. "But how is that possible? You definitely aren't the Creator God Carloso."
"Short-sighted."
Fang Mo, hearing this, responded calmly, "In your eyes, is Carloso the only god in the world?"
"This..."
Mateka was momentarily stunned by the question.
"If Carloso were the only god in this world," Fang Mo lifted his gaze as if seeing beyond the endless stars to the other side of the veil, "then what lies beyond the universe?"
"... Beyond the universe?"
This question touched upon Mateka's knowledge gap.
This was not entirely his fault; after all, like Anton, he had died too early and missed the origin version, naturally missing the new worldviews the developers added later.
Yes, as an old online game, Arad Continent, like the neighboring League of Legends' Valoran Continent, was subjected to a group of irresponsible developers who kept rewriting the lore, expanding the worldview continuously.
Initially, in the game's worldview, there was only one primordial universe, created by the Creator God Carloso. He then separated his dark side, which eventually became the Twelve Apostles.
Of course, this was the ancient worldview.
As the map expanded later, the developers started wildly modifying the lore.
After a round of simple upgrades, it became that Carloso created the universe and then split off his dark side.
This dark power was discovered by scientists on Terra, who used it to create twelve Terra Gods. Eventually, Carloso descended to Terra, trying to reclaim his power, leading to a battle with the Terra Gods that shattered the planet, with both sides perishing, and Carloso being blown into countless fragments.
The energy released during their battle tore through space-time.
The original primordial universe shattered, giving rise to countless parallel universes or dimensions, introducing the concept of parallel universes to the game.
This led to the so-called Mirror Arad in the game.
After this, Carloso's will continued to search for his fragments.
By the game's 86th version, during the Great Transfer storyline, Carloso found a mysterious warrior in a parallel universe, who was the embodiment of his power fragment.
After absorbing this warrior, Carloso's power erupted, with immense energy radiating from Grand Forest, destroying the entire Principle of Bel Myre, turning Hendon Myre into ruins, collapsing Sky Tower, and even uprooting the Dark Elf Kingdom, turning it into a floating island.
Many NPCs known to adventurers died, causing an uproar both in and out of the game.
Thus, the Great Transfer version arrived.
The people of Arad called it the Era of Destruction.
By the Origin version, to continue expanding the worldview and introducing the Divine Realm, the developers added a new reason for Carloso's creation of the universe: to block the "Outer Gods" from descending.
Yes, you guessed it.
Those Outer Gods everyone imagines.
They are also Fang Mo's not-so-reliable friends.
Like Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath... though Yog-Sothoth might not consider himself Fang Mo's friend.
Notably, one of the job classes for the male Mage later in the game was the Dimensional Walker.
Its design was heavily influenced by Lovecraftian elements.
Many players speculated that the summoned creature, Nyarli, might be an incarnation of one of these Outer Gods, though exactly which one remained unclear. Some suggested it might be Nyarlathotep, considering the similarity in name and the numerous incarnations.
Fang Mo himself thought the same.
After all, this isn't the first time Nyarlathotep took on a soft girl persona, considering there was another incarnation named Nyaruko before, which Nyarlathotep admitted himself.
But let's get back to the point.
Outer Gods like Nyarlathotep.
Humans cannot comprehend their existence or concepts. They can even have a body and incarnations that are connected yet independent, existing simultaneously across countless dimensions, with separate consciousnesses. They can spread fear in one universe while simultaneously having children with humans in another.
To humans, this is utterly incomprehensible, bordering on the absurd.
But for Outer Gods, it's just routine.
Unfortunately, Mateka could not possibly understand this. He was still confused, repeating Fang Mo's words, "Beyond the universe... beyond the universe..."
"Outside the universe, it's all my buddies."
Fang Mo smiled slightly.
He wasn't lying; the Outer Gods indeed have their shadows everywhere. But Fang Mo liked it here, so he decided not to greet them this time.
"So..."
Hearing this, Mateka seemed to understand something. "Are you... no, are you a god from beyond the universe?"
Fang Mo said nothing but nodded in acknowledgment.
"A god from another world?"
Mateka hesitated but quickly asked, "Then, what is your purpose?"
"A pastime when I'm bored," Fang Mo replied casually. "You could say to amuse myself or have fun. In the end, the goal is just to enjoy myself."
"Uh..."
This left Mateka completely bewildered.
He initially thought Fang Mo was also a being that had fallen into a dimensional rift and, seeing that Fang Mo was friendly, wanted to communicate with him. But he never imagined that Fang Mo was a true god, and from the terrifying aura emanating from him, it was clear this guy was on the same level as Carloso, a supreme existence.
It was like a kindergartner meeting an online friend, only to discover the person was actually their kindergarten teacher... Pure dominance, right?
In such a situation, Mateka had no idea what to say.
Fortunately, Fang Mo noticed his confusion.
"Actually, I already know about your current situation." Fang Mo began directly, "You've been terribly tricked by Hilder, haven't you?"
"Hmm?"
Mateka froze again upon hearing the name Hilder.
But soon enough, it seemed Anton was enraged. With a thunderous roar, the volcano's core began heating up rapidly.
At the same time, a thumping sound grew louder and faster, like a heartbeat, becoming increasingly urgent.
Affected by this, Mateka's expression turned fierce. Sharing a mind with Anton, he knew it was Hilder's treachery. Unable to hold back, he blurted out, "I didn't expect you to know even this! Yes, it's all that woman's plot; she wants to get rid of us!"
"Not just you."
Fang Mo responded, "The other Apostles have also fallen for it."
"...Hmm?"
Mateka seemed surprised by this, "Why would she go after the other Apostles? They haven't consumed the energy of the Demon World like we have, right?"
"No, you didn't think it was because you ate too much and offended her, did you?"
Fang Mo facepalmed.
"Isn't it?"
Mateka said directly, "Our Odin race does have a huge appetite; we destroyed the Tartan star by consuming too much. But we did it for survival... How is that wrong?"
"She just wants to kill the other Apostles."
Fang Mo said casually, "Hilder has a plan to restore the Demon World by using the deaths of other Apostles. Several Apostles have already fallen victim to her, being transferred to other worlds through dimensional rifts."
"What?"
Mateka frowned at this revelation.
"Hard to accept, right?"
Seeing Mateka's reaction, Fang Mo didn't say more but summoned other Apostles directly, "Come on, talk to them yourself."
As soon as he finished speaking, two figures appeared beside Fang Mo.
They were, of course, the two Apostles he had previously saved: Black Plague Delezie and the giant legged Lotus. Both looked bewildered at suddenly being brought out.
Especially Lotus.
As soon as he appeared, his tentacles began to smoke.
You can't blame him; his power heavily depends on the environment. Back when he was on the back of the Beast of the Sky, just leaving the water weakened him severely, though rumors said he was invincible in water, even able to match Kahn in strength.
But now he was inside Anton, a place of extreme heat.
For a giant octopus like Lotus, this was like being on a red-hot iron plate.
"What is this place!?"
Lotus reflexively curled into a ball, looking fearfully at Fang Mo, "Friend! Are you going to kill me!?"
"Ahem... forgot to buff you."
Fang Mo facepalmed, then raised his hand and pointed at Lotus.
A pure white dimensional force enveloped Lotus, isolating him from the external heat, allowing him to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"You are..."
On the other side, Delezie, unaffected by the heat, examined his surroundings, sensing the strong Apostle aura, quickly recognizing Mateka's identity, "Apostle Anton?"
"Delezie? Lotus?"
Mateka, or rather Anton, looked at the two in shock.
Apostles could sense each other's presence, so there was no mistaking it. These two were definitely real Apostles, not impostors; Mateka was sure of this.
"So it is you."
Delezie continued, "Looks like you've been transferred too... but you seem to be doing well. I remember you rely heavily on heat and energy, right? Hilder didn't send you to the Snowfield of Stone?"
"Snowfield of Stone? Where is that?"
Mateka asked instinctively.
"Don't know, seems like a very cold place."
Delezie shook his head, "That's just what my subordinates told me; I've never been there. I was transferred to a village by that woman, and she tricked some foolish adventurers into teaming up and pushing me into a time-space rift, shattering my body."
"Then why are you still alive?"
Mateka asked curiously.
"It's..."
"Of course, I helped him!"
Before Delezie could answer, Fang Mo suddenly threw his arm around Delezie's neck, like buddies sharing a secret, "Though he died, I brought him back to life."
After speaking, Fang Mo even took a deep breath of Delezie.
"... That's the story." Delezie looked a bit helpless but surprisingly gentle, "He saved me and Lotus. Anton, though we're not close, I can tell you the truth: you can trust him. His character might be... but he's much better than that wicked Hilder."
"Indeed."
Lotus chimed in, "I can vouch for that too."
"Is that so?"
Seeing the other Apostles vouching for Fang Mo, Mateka instinctively nodded.
Having been tricked by Hilder himself and now hearing the testimonies of other Apostles, he believed many things: "So, what do you plan to do? Should we join forces to take revenge on Hilder?"
"Well..."
But to Mateka's surprise, the two Apostles hesitated.
It wasn't that they didn't want revenge, but they both turned to look at Fang Mo, "What are you going to do?"
"I..."
Fang Mo was about to share his thoughts—like first persuading Anton to join, then taking Silent City to the Demon World, defeating Luke and Prey along the way, and finally crushing Hilder and Kahn.
But before he could say anything, a message suddenly popped up on his screen.
[xiaoyao: Dude, get back to Arad, something huge happened. Hilder transferred Carloso over!]
"Plans have changed..."
Fang Mo took a deep breath, then drew out the Shoggoth Abyss Sword from behind, "I'll kill Hilder first, then come back to chat with you all."