“Unharmed.”
Alicia’s expression froze as well.
“Brother, come to me.”
Lilith had not joined the battle; she was the first to notice Lynn hiding behind a stone pillar.
She called out softly to him as she began walking in his direction.
Two Rock Guards immediately blocked the path between her and Lynn.
On their smooth faces, the light of the runes intensified.
Lilith stopped and tilted her head.
The shadow behind her began to squirm and transform, with countless pitch-black tentacles ready to strike.
But this time, the moment those shadow tentacles surfaced, the golden runes on the guards erupted with a brilliant light.
Under that radiance, the shadows emitted a *sizzling* sound and quickly retracted.
For the first time, a look of distress appeared on Lilith’s face.
Her power was being countered here.
The battle had fallen into a stalemate.
Vivian’s Battle Qi, Alicia’s Holy Light, and Lilith’s Shadow—three powers that were formidable enough to dominate the outside world—were currently pinned down by twelve indestructible, unyielding stone lumps.
Hiding behind the stone pillar, Lynn watched the scene as his brain worked at an unprecedented speed.
The fear was still there.
However, a wild thought was beginning to replace it.
“The murals. The Sacrifice Game. The Old Ones. And these… Rock Guards.”
It all matched the game settings he had created!
Although he was only a half-baked planner and couldn’t access many of the core codes, he had pored over the basic settings and background documents until they were worn out.
He remembered these Rock Guards.
In the setting documents, their name was Order Puppet.
They were the highest-sequence guards used by the “God” to guard the Forbidden Land.
They did not respond to any magic, Battle Qi, or Divine Art.
They only followed one type of command.
That was a command from the Highest Authority.
In this Forbidden Land, there was theoretically only one so-called Highest Authority: the sealed Original Chaos.
“But…”
Lynn’s gaze fell upon the Core Rune flashing on the chest of a Rock Guard.
The style of that rune…
He was far too familiar with it!
Back then, to save trouble, he had simply dragged it out of a free asset library! He still remembered that to make debugging easier for himself, he had secretly added a back door to this rune.
An emergency stop command that only he knew.
A plan that staked his very life instantly formed in his mind.
‘Either I get caught by these three crazy women here and repeat the ending on the mural, or I take a gamble!’
‘I’ll bet that as the Game Planner, I have higher authority here than they do!’
Lynn took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the stone pillar.
“Lynn!”
“Holy Son!”
“Brother!”
Three voices rang out almost simultaneously.
The three women, who were still entangled with the guards, paused their movements when they saw him reveal himself voluntarily.
Vivian’s eyes were commanding: “Get over here! Hide behind me!”
Alicia’s eyes were full of pity: “Poor Holy Son, do not be afraid. I will come and purify this evil!”
Lilith’s eyes expressed pure possessiveness: “Brother, don’t run around.”
Lynn ignored them.
He disregarded the puppets currently in the heat of battle and walked straight toward the platform in the center of the Shrine.
His actions left everyone stunned.
An Order Puppet immediately abandoned its fight with Vivian.
It turned around and swung a massive fist toward the back of Lynn’s heart with no hint of hesitation.
“Watch out!”
Vivian cried out, her eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.
Lynn, however, acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
He did not turn around.
He simply reached out his left hand, pressing it toward the Core Rune on the puppet’s chest from a distance.
From his mouth, he uttered a word in a strange tone.
It was a piece of meaningless debugging code he had set on a whim.
“**ALPHA-0**.”
*Hum.*
The fist, which was powerful enough to shatter mountains, stopped less than 1 centimeter away from the back of Lynn’s head.
Time seemed to stand still.
The runes on that Order Puppet turned from golden to a soft blue.
Then, it withdrew its fist and slowly knelt on one knee before Lynn.
Its movements were precise, like a most loyal Knight paying respects to his king.
The entire Shrine fell silent instantly.
Vivian’s sword was still raised in mid-air.
Alicia’s light spear was only half-condensed.
The shadows beneath Lilith’s feet had stopped squirming.
Three pairs of eyes stared fixedly at Lynn’s back with varying degrees of shock, confusion, and disbelief.
Lynn did not stop.
He walked step by step to the center of the Shrine, standing before that deep darkness and those massive, crimson eyes.
He turned around to face the three women and the eleven Order Puppets that had stopped their attacks.
The puppets had all turned toward him, maintaining a wary, protective stance.
The fear and panic from before were gone from his face.
In their place was a profound, mysterious calm they had never seen before.
Of course, it was an act.
His legs were still trembling, and he was holding himself up purely by sheer willpower.
“All of you…”
Lynn spoke.
He deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound raspy and unfamiliar.
“Are you going to kneel on your own, or do I have to… make you kneel?”
Lynn’s words were like a stone thrown into stagnant water; a heavy silence blanketed the Shrine.
Vivian’s sword lowered.
Alicia’s light dissipated.
Lilith’s shadows returned to their original state.
None of them moved, their gazes collectively locked onto Lynn.
The tension in the air made even breathing feel heavy.
No one responded.
Their pride prevented them from immediate submission, but the scene before them forced them to weigh their options.
A tall Rock Guard was currently kneeling by Lynn’s side like a loyal bodyguard.
Lynn did not rush them.
He knew this was a battle of endurance.
The voice of the Original Chaos echoed in Lynn’s mind: ‘Interesting. A little bug has learned how to deceive.’
Lynn ignored it.
He simply watched the three women quietly, his face showing no ripples of emotion.
The feigned calm caused every muscle in his body to tighten.
Alicia was the first to speak.
Her voice was cold, carrying a faint trace of undetectable anger.
“Holy Son, what are you doing? These blasphemers should be purified!”
Her gaze swept past Lynn toward Vivian and Lilith.
Vivian pointed the tip of her sword at the ground, letting out a sharp *clack*.
“Lynn, have you been bewitched by it? These statues and these ruins are all things of evil.”
She looked at Alicia and Lilith with wariness.
Lilith said nothing.
She merely leaned forward slightly, her eyes fixed on Lynn.
In those eyes, there was no longer any innocence—only a sense of pure scrutiny.
Lynn sighed inwardly.
‘They’re still thinking about their internal fight. I have to shift their attention to a bigger threat.’
“Purification? Bewitched?”
Lynn let out a soft laugh, his voice deep and tinged with self-deprecation.
“Do you think this place is still the outside world where you can do as you please?”
He pointed at the murals surrounding the Shrine.
“You all saw these, didn’t you?”