I, the Geo Archon Morax with 2.1 Billion Mora, Have Joined a Chat Group [260]

Gulp~~!

The sound of Demon Lord Ariel swallowing echoed with startling clarity.

At least, Kumoko heard it.

She couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh with her spider mouth—but the moment Ariel turned and glared at her with those piercing eyes, Kumoko squeaked and scrambled back a couple of steps, nearly slipping off the steep slope she was standing on.

Zhongli, of course, treated the small incident as if it had never happened.

He calmly withdrew his extended finger, and with that motion, the tiny black hole that had been hovering over Ariel’s shoulder vanished without a trace.

“I trust I’ve proven I wasn’t bluffing,” Zhongli said with his usual calm demeanor—but to Ariel, that serenity was more terrifying than any overt hostility.

Just like when she had once accompanied Gyuri-Gyuri to meet Evil God D, she could feel it now—this man, for all his handsome, youthful appearance, was concealing something far more dreadful beneath the surface.

“…Yeah.” Ariel gave a small nod.

“It seems you finally understand,” Zhongli offered a faint smile. “I truly did come to this world, to this planet, with sincerity and goodwill. The death of your kin, the Queen Taratect, was merely an act of protecting my friend—and myself.”

“…Yes.” Ariel could only nod in agreement to that.

“Then I suppose the misunderstanding between the three of us is resolved.” Zhongli clapped his hands gently, as if in celebration. But in the current context, the gesture came off awkward and oddly out of place.

Ariel simply gave a stiff nod in response.

“Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, I suppose I can tell you why I came to this dying world.”

Zhongli’s voice grew airy, almost distant.

“Though in your people’s memories, this world has long since fallen into despair… The gods who once protected it were forced to become the very energy that sustains it. The system blanketing the planet—something that barely keeps it alive—is nothing more than a twisted joke from an evil god.”

“But to someone like me, this so-called skill system is a work of genius—ingenious in its structure, exquisite in its design.”

“Whether it’s the cleverly cyclical soul-loop prison, the mechanics of evolution, or the soul-bound skill enhancements… it’s all quite brilliant. Even I would need considerable time to replicate a system of this level.”

“That’s why I came—to figure out what Kumoko referred to as the skill system. And, if possible, to obtain its administrative authority so I can properly dismantle and analyze it.”

At that, Ariel’s expression suddenly changed.

“You want to dismantle and analyze the system? Do you mean that literally?” she asked, her voice stiff.

“Of course. Exactly what you think it means.” Zhongli’s faint smile now looked, in Ariel’s eyes, like the gaping maw of the abyss.

Her hands clenched into fists, trembling slightly.

“You… you do know what sustains the system, don’t you?”

“Of course. The goddess Sariel herself is the core of this planet’s system,” Zhongli nodded slightly. “Dismantling it naturally includes her.”

“Then I’m sorry—but I refuse!”

Ariel’s shout rang out loud and clear.

Both her fists clenched tighter. A dim glow—representing death itself—began to pulse around them with magical energy.

“Why?” Zhongli tilted his head slightly, resting his hand under his chin in thought. “Oh, right. My apologies—I forgot you were once the goddess’s divine beast. Your bond with her must be strong. But you don’t need to—”

He never finished.

Because Ariel had already released her spell the moment he began speaking.

“[Abyssal Magic: Naraku]!”

Endless black light burst forth.

Beneath Ariel, Kumoko, and Zhongli, something began to awaken.

A colossal, pitch-black realm emerged the instant the magic activated, devouring the very ground they stood on.

An icy chill capable of freezing both body and soul filled the air. Black mist reeking of decay and destruction, imbued with frost and death’s blessing, seeped into the bodies of all three.

Ariel shivered, then immediately leapt back, stomping down hard and launching herself toward a distant patch of ground untouched by the black mist and light.

As she fled, she kept her eyes on Zhongli—still standing completely still.

Abyssal magic was designed to kill gods. It could obliterate not just the body but the soul. It was one of Evil God D’s specially engineered cheat-tier abilities.

And Naraku—its strongest spell—called forth the deepest reaches of death itself, summoning an underworld that would drag all it locked onto into its lowest depths.

Zhongli stood at the epicenter of that spell.

No matter how far he ran, Naraku would follow. It was unavoidable, inescapable.

So—

—This is my strongest magic. If this doesn’t work, then nothing will… right?

So thought Ariel. But just as that hope flickered in her mind, her eyes met Zhongli’s again.

He hadn’t moved a step.

That supposed “god from another world” simply looked her way with a mildly resigned expression—as though disappointed she’d taken things this far.

And then, in the next instant—

A soft golden light bloomed around him.

Faint runes began to rotate, and a golden barrier rapidly expanded outward, enveloping both him and that strange spider creature at his side.

The endless black mist and light continued to surge in from every direction, consuming everything in their path.

But the barrier—light as gossamer, seemingly delicate—remained utterly unaffected.

Naraku’s abyss spread to the very heavens and reached into the depths of the earth.

From Ariel’s experience, once her spell had reached this point, the abyss would soon complete its devouring, and everything it had consumed would be drawn back down to its own plane.

And as expected—

A few seconds later, the black light and mist began to recede into the ground.

Moments more, and the black vanished entirely. Sunlight once again bathed the world.

But all who had witnessed the land beneath Naraku’s reach could see the truth:

This place…

Was no longer the same.

The soil held no trace of life. The air—once breathable—was now gone without a trace.

This patch of sky and earth—

Was dead.

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This is a fan translation of 我，21亿岩王帝君加入聊天群 by 大一统. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!