Chapter 1 Chaotic Scorched Earth, Where the Fighting Demons Pass

"An interdimensional traveler, eh..." The head of all demons looked at the five players before him and said in a deep voice, "To dare come before me, your courage is not small..."

"Alright, stop trying to put on a brave face." Uncle Wasted sighed and replied, "We can see how badly you're hurt. We can also see our own strength..." He paused. "At this point, all this posturing just makes you look worse."

"Indeed..." Honghu adjusted his glasses and added, "Although there's a chance I'm insulting myself here, I still have to say, oh demon lord, a tiger has fallen into the plains. Why not... let go of your pride and have a nice chat with us?"

Upon hearing this, the head of all demons sneered. "Hmph... What is there to discuss with a defeated demon like me?"

"Heh... Demon Lord... you're being too pessimistic, aren't you?" Honghu retorted. "A single defeat in a single place doesn't mean you'll never have a chance to make a comeback. The things you can learn from failure far outweigh what you can learn from success."

"I don't need you to teach me philosophy," the demon lord said coldly. "Get to the point. What do you want from me?"

"Good, since you brought it up..." Honghu didn't stand on ceremony. "Let's make a deal."

...

Time Domain, atop the Millennium Disc.

After the Sengoku members finished beating up Sasaki and rested for a bit, they prepared to explore this space.

However, at that moment, a deep, resonant voice suddenly echoed...

"Sure enough, some unknown element has infiltrated the river of time..." The voice came from all directions at once, reverberating around the players. "Even my inviolable space has been encroached upon by you ants from another world."

As the voice faded, a shimmering silver light suddenly appeared in mid-air, like a mist or rain, slowly descending.

Looking closely, one could see... the descending substance was sand.

Seconds passed, and the sand coalesced, transforming into a towering giant, shifting from illusion to reality, and finally revealing its true form.

It was a bizarre creature about fifteen meters tall. Its main body... was a giant hourglass, with silver sands of time flowing within. Its head was a silver, perfectly round sphere floating above the hourglass, with no physical connection to its "torso" (the hourglass being the torso). On either side of its "body" were metallic silver arms, also suspended in mid-air, not touching the hourglass.

"The Lord of Time, is it..." Akechi Nobunaga raised his head, gazing at the towering NPC before him, and said in a low voice, "Come to think of it... we're probably the first players to see the true face of the Lord of Time."

"Perhaps," Takeda Tomokazu replied. "There are many rumors about his appearance, but most of them seem like nonsense..."

"The Lord of Time, hiding in the Time Domain, never showing himself, the most mysterious of the Four Pillar Gods..." Uesugi Jin stared at the Lord of Time, muttering, "...So that's what he looks like."

"In every sense..." Sasaki Mei's face was filled with bitterness. "...The pressure is immense..."

The Lord of Time clearly felt displeased by these otherworldy travelers' comments. "Ants..." His voice emanated from his head, giving off a sense of majesty and wisdom. "Entering my territory without permission is a capital offense..." He paused. "If you are reverent, I might consider..."

Chi—

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because a flash of light from a katana cut him off.

The narrow blade energy didn't cause any substantial damage to the Lord of Time, but it did trigger a layer of defensive force around him. In that instant, a wave of azure light rippled like water, automatically blocking the attack.

"Hey~ hey... What was that for?" Sasaki Mei's face stretched long as he raised his hands and covered his head, yelling at Oda Ai, the instigator of the attack.

"Ah... it's nothing..." Oda Ai replied in a listless tone, "I felt a little annoyed when I heard the word 'ants'..." As she spoke, she raised her katana and rested the back of the blade on her right shoulder. "I heard a couple more sentences, and I decided to chop this guy." She tilted her head. "But... come to think of it, he is one of the Four Pillar Gods after all. I'm a little surprised that my attack had absolutely no effect."

"Your attitude of 'I'll just chop at a god to test his defense' is a little too arrogant, don't you think!" Sasaki Mei could only express his feelings through complaining.

"Hmph..." Akechi Nobunaga lowered his head and chuckled. "Since it's come to this... fine."

Takeda Tomokazu added, "Anyway, we don't know how to look 'reverent,' do we?"

"Slaughtering a god..." Even Uesugi Jin, who was always serious, revealed a hint of a smile. "...Sounds pretty interesting."

...

On the other hand, in the Court of Truth.

"Thus concludes all the accusations against Devourer Ghost Xiao."

After an incredibly lengthy, vivid, and embellished statement, the brown-skinned being... Mr. Prosecutor... finally finished his speech.

Basically, anyone who had seriously listened to this speech would have been convinced of Ghost Xiao's guilt after hearing about a third of it. His "crimes" and the process of committing them were just too blatant... Unlike Feng Bujue, who was the type to sneakily eliminate a few unique data points, Ghost Xiao was a typical upright type. No matter what he had done in the main universe, he had made no attempt to conceal it.

However, even so, Ghost Xiao still had one chance to defend himself.

The system of the Court of Truth was unchangeable, not even by the judge. So...

"Then... next..." Although the black-robed judge's face was obscured by shadows, Ghost Xiao could feel the NPC looking at him. "Devourer Ghost Xiao, do you plead guilty to the crimes stated by the prosecutor?"

"Hmph..." Ghost Xiao responded to the question with a cold laugh. "What difference does it make whether I plead guilty or not?"

"Hehe..." The judge actually laughed, a laugh that sent chills down one's spine. "If you plead guilty, both sides can make their closing statements, and then we'll wait for the jury to discuss and come to a verdict... which I will pronounce." He paused for two seconds. "If you plead not guilty... we'll enter the trial process. You can defend yourself, or... you can have a lawyer defend you. If you need one but can't find one, the court will appoint one for you..."

"Alright... I understand," Ghost Xiao interrupted, shaking his head. "Don't waste time. I plead..."

Bang—

Just as he was about to say the word "guilty," the door to the courtroom was kicked open from the outside.

The light from outside cast a shadow on the high wall behind the judge.

"Objection!" As the shout rang out, the figure stood sideways and pointed a finger.

The most heaven-defying trial in the history of the Court of Truth... had begun.