I Reborn as a God Within a Statue, And You Ask Me to Enslave All Gods?-Chapter 68 --The Aberration’s Castle

After all, the Divine War only mentioned that gods of equivalent Godhood rank would be matched for life-and-death duels.

If his Godhood rank surpassed the others, wouldn’t that mean he had no opponents?

The mastermind must have planned this all along!

In this realm, he might be ahead, but in other realms, that was far from certain.

After all, he had only recently become a god, while the gods of other realms had been developing for who knew how long.

Though this was just Owen’s speculation at the moment, judging from the mastermind’s grand schemes, it was entirely possible!

So even though he had already pulled ahead of the gods in this realm, Owen dared not let his guard down for even a moment!

He had not slacked off a single day, doing everything he could to grow stronger.

He had to become the strongest. He had to root out the mastermind!

"Coach Tommy?!"

Suddenly, a startled voice came from the distance.

A squad of knights clad in silver armor from the City Lord’s Mansion rode up on their warhorses, stopping beside Tommy.

Tommy looked at the tall man leading them, confusion flickering in his eyes.

"Ralph? Why are you all fully armed? Where are you headed?"

He recognized this squad—they were a well-known guard unit in Black Iron, and their leader, Ralph, was a tier-2 advanced awakener, notorious for his ruthless and brutal methods.

Back when Ralph served in the City Lord’s Mansion, he had even trained Tommy and a group of guard officers, making him something of a mentor to them.

Seeing that it was indeed Tommy before them, the knights dismounted, placing their right hands over their chests in salute.

"Coach Tommy!"

Despite the rumors they had heard—that Tommy had fallen out with his family and caused quite a stir in the city—the City Lord had not revoked his position.

Thus, Tommy was still, in name, their part-time instructor.

After saluting, Ralph said slowly,

"We’re headed to Annasi. The City Lord is very interested in the missionary who has been slaying spellbeasts and intends to invite him to the city for a discussion."

In truth, there was another reason for their mission—to investigate how Tommy had survived.

After Tommy had led his people in fleeing the city, the uproar he caused drew the attention of many nobles, who even employed various tracking skills to locate him.

Initially, everyone assumed he was doomed, but to their surprise, after entering Annasi, Tommy had survived, while the three terrifying spellbeasts that had pursued him had vanished completely!

Their investigation and tracking skills had all failed in a sudden burst of golden light.

All they knew was that Tommy was still alive, and the three spellbeasts had been annihilated.

But as for how those spellbeasts had perished—no one had a clue!

Standing beside Tommy, Thomas raised an eyebrow upon hearing their words.

"You’re looking for me? What exactly do you want?"

"I am a missionary of Deus Initium, from Annasi."

Ralph did not recognize Thomas. He glanced at Tommy, and upon seeing him nod, he immediately smiled warmly and stepped forward.

"Greetings, Thomas. I am Ralph, captain of the guard under the City Lord of Black Iron. I have come under orders to invite you to the city for an audience with the City Lord."

Thomas nodded. "I was already planning to go to Black Iron to meet the City Lord."

Hearing this, Ralph immediately smiled, secretly letting out a breath of relief.

Recently, Thomas’s name had spread throughout Black Iron, and Ralph had been worried that he might refuse the invitation.

"Since you already intended to meet the City Lord, let’s enter the city as soon as possible. The City Lord is waiting for you."

Ralph gestured invitingly and even offered his horse.

However, Thomas shook his head and said,

"Not yet. I need to enter the castle first, slay the Aberration, and then head to Black Iron to meet the City Lord."

With that, Thomas turned and walked toward the castle.

Watching his departing figure, Tommy, Ralph, and the others were stunned, thinking they had misheard.

Thomas planned to wipe out the Aberration’s castle?

This castle had existed for an unknown length of time. Any awakeners or spellbeasts who entered its depths had mysteriously vanished, never to be seen again.

It had long become a forbidden zone in their hearts.

Was Thomas insane?

Even though he had recently slain many powerful spellbeasts, he had often done so with the help of other awakeners.

Moreover, even the most formidable spellbeasts had always steered clear of the Aberrations!

This involved rules on a fundamental level, far beyond what people like them could comprehend.

Thomas was merely a tier-4 awakener. Even a tier-5 spellbeast had entered that castle once and never returned!

Thomas was being ridiculously overconfident!

To the point of sheer stupidity!

Tommy was equally shocked, but based on his interactions with Thomas, he knew the man was not one for blind arrogance or reckless action.

If he was so certain about slaying the Aberration, then he must have an overwhelming level of confidence!

Recalling the golden divine light surrounding Thomas, Tommy’s agitated mind gradually settled.

Perhaps Thomas alone was not strong enough to deal with the Aberration,

but standing behind him was the unfathomable Deus Initium!

At that thought, Tommy’s emotions surged, and he immediately followed after Thomas, rushing toward the castle.

If Thomas borrowed Deus Initium’s power, Tommy might even get a glimpse of Deus Initium!

"You all wait here. I’m going in with Thomas."

"I believe he’s right—it’s time to put an end to this Aberration’s castle once and for all!"

Tommy’s voice faded into the distance.

Ralph and the others watched as he quickly disappeared into the castle, dumbfounded.

If Thomas was being reckless, then why was Coach Tommy following suit?!

"Coach Tommy, that Aberration’s castle is extremely dangerous. You shouldn’t go in!"

"That’s right! Coach Tommy, you know full well what that castle is like! Even a tier-5 spellbeast never made it out!"

They tried to stop him, but their shouts fell on deaf ears as Tommy continued following Thomas.

Seeing this, Ralph and the others felt a sense of despair.

As guards of Black Iron, they had fought many spellbeasts before and understood their terror.

Yet even the most fearsome spellbeasts had always feared the Aberrations.

Even when powerful spellbeasts were slain, the Aberrations remained.

Like flowing waters washing away spellbeasts, yet the Aberrations stood like iron!

How could Thomas and Tommy dare challenge them?!

As they watched with increasing unease and shock, Tommy and Thomas followed a plump castle master into the castle, whose large gates stood open behind them.

Creak...

As soon as they stepped inside, the castle’s rusted gates let out a groaning sound... then slowly closed shut!

Watching the gates seal, Ralph and the others felt their hearts sink.

"Entering the castle is easy... but no one has ever come back out."

"This mission... what do we do now? If Thomas never returns?"

The guards exchanged anxious glances, seeing the panic in each other’s eyes.

"Let’s wait and see... maybe... maybe a miracle will happen."

Ralph tried to comfort them, though even he did not believe his own words.

"You all know that Thomas has recently slain quite a few spellbeasts. He even took down the Five Eyes spellbeast that had been causing trouble near our area. Maybe... maybe he has a plan," Ralph said.

But even as the words left his mouth, he found himself unable to believe them.

Spellbeasts and Aberrations are completely different things!

How long had the Aberrations existed?

They had never truly disappeared. No matter how powerful a spellbeast was, it would eventually perish over time.

But Aberrations? They remained.

"Even if Thomas isn’t the most reliable, you all know Coach Tommy well. He’s always been an extremely cautious and meticulous person. If he didn’t think they had a chance, there’s no way he’d follow Thomas into the castle just to throw his life away," Ralph murmured.

"I think they might have a way out," another guard added. "Otherwise, this would just be reckless—suicidal, even."

The guards exchanged uneasy glances, clinging to a sliver of hope in their hearts.

They didn’t dare to dream that Thomas and Tommy would eradicate the Aberration.

All they wished for... was that the two of them could make it out alive.