Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 423: Threat

Silvanus snapped his eyes open and discovered that, aside from Vivian who was still held in his arms right beside him, everyone else had vanished without a trace.

The space before him was a corridor built of golden bricks, with countless branching paths stretching forward and backward. Grass and vines sprouted from the gaps between the bricks.

Vivian yawned deeply. "This is awful. I was clearly eating chicken in my dream."

Silvanus gave her a slight shake and said, "Then wake up properly now. Hurry and sniff out where the others are."

Vivian said, "...I’m not a dog."

Silvanus said, "Sniff."

Vivian could only wrinkle her nose and sniff, even though she was furious inside.

"This way!" she said, both hands tilting as she pointed toward a passage on the left.

Silvanus did not hesitate and ran off.

At the same time, Matthew also realized that the space had changed. In an instant, he returned to his normal appearance.

Facing the maze before him, he walked forward calmly. Suddenly, the brick beneath his feet sank slightly. In the next moment, countless dark arrows shot out from all directions, yet Matthew simply stood still.

The dark arrows were absorbed by his body, causing no harm at all.

Ha ha. This was the lair of an Undead mage. Just in time to make up for the energy he had lost earlier.

He continued walking, deliberately stepping on every trap he encountered.

Suddenly, a shimmering pink mist burst forth without warning.

Matthew could not help stopping. He sniffed lightly, his gaze darkening.

He continued onward, and sure enough, it did not take long before he heard chaotic sounds ahead.

Someone was shouting in frustration, and someone else was crying.

It was the voices of Ariana and the members of Nick’s group.

"Heh." A soft laugh escaped him. Matthew stepped back a little, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall, clearly savoring the sounds of despair ahead.

Only after nearly an hour did he raise his hand. A fierce gust of wind instantly surged forth, sweeping away the dreamlike mist from the space.

The cold wind almost jolted the people tangled together back to their senses.

Ariana’s eyes flew open as she realized what was happening. The pain wracking her entire body, especially in that place, plunged her into near-instant despair!

"Aaaa!"

A piercing scream echoed out. The men seemed not to have fully regained consciousness yet. They roared like beasts. Ariana could only be dragged along, desperate and in agony.

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in her field of vision.

Matthew raised his hand, and in the blink of an eye, the four men collapsed, their heads separated from their bodies.

Ariana’s naked body was smeared with fresh blood, her state wretched and humiliating.

She glared at Matthew, then finally broke down crying, retching uncontrollably as she sobbed.

Matthew smiled at her. The smile he wore now was more sincere than any he had shown before.

He took off his cloak and held it out to her.

Ariana lifted her head in a daze and accepted the cloak from Matthew’s hand. Her lovely face was blurred by tears, her expression twisted and distorted. "Matthew, thank you. I... I..."

Matthew smiled again. "A noble young lady sleeping with a group of commoners. I believe this news would be enough to shake Lumina and the entire Samson family. Don’t you think I’m right, Ariana?"

Ariana trembled. The cloak slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. She looked up at him in a daze and saw that Matthew was still smiling at her. Beneath his chin and on his glasses were splashes of fresh blood from earlier.

"Matthew, you..."

Clearly, Matthew had been there all along, yet Matthew had ignored everything!

Ariana lunged at him almost without thinking, her expression contorted. Right now, she only wanted to kill Matthew!

But before she could even touch a single hair on his head, Matthew’s hand had already closed around her throat.

"Bang! Thud!"

A heavy sound rang out as Matthew grabbed Ariana by the neck and slammed her to the ground.

Ariana was choked tightly by the neck. She opened her mouth wide and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, her body in such agony that it felt as if her internal organs had been crushed to pieces.

Pain and humiliation surged together, driving her to despair, yet the fear of death overwhelmed everything else.

She stared wide-eyed at Matthew and hurriedly pleaded, "Matthew, I’m sorry, please, I’ll get out of your sight, I’ll never appear again, I’ll never bother Silvanus again, please, spare me..."

Her voice was extremely hoarse. The pain in her throat made every word come out broken and uneven.

Matthew gripped Ariana’s neck, hauled her upright, then picked up the bloodstained cloak to one side and gently draped it over her shoulders. He smiled and said, "I was the one at fault, Ariana. I lost control because I inhaled poisonous gas. From today onward, I will take responsibility for you. Isn’t that right, Ariana?"

Facing Matthew’s clear eyes, like the surface of a lake, Ariana only felt as if she were being dragged down to its depths. No matter how desperately she struggled, she could not stir even the slightest ripple on that calm surface.

She trembled. Her throat burned with pain, yet she still hurriedly replied, "Y-yes... that’s right, Matthew..."

Matthew smiled faintly and took Ariana by the hand, pulling her to her feet. "Let’s go. Silvanus is waiting for us. You should know how you ought to behave, and what you should say. Otherwise, you wouldn’t dare imagine the consequences."

Ariana nodded frantically. Tears continued to stream down her face, yet she did not dare make a sound.

An hour earlier—

Following Vivian’s guidance, Silvanus ran along the path ahead, perfectly avoiding every hidden trap.

"This way, no, not right, this way!"

Vivian kept pointing directions. Silvanus frowned and suddenly stopped.

He grabbed Vivian and lifted her in front of his face. "Can you really smell them or not?"

Vivian rolled her eyes inwardly. "I already said I’m not a dog." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Silvanus fell silent. Fine, this is all my fault.

Just then, a light suddenly appeared ahead. Silvanus could not help stopping.

Before him now was a vast space with countless paths leading in different directions. At the very center stood a large platform, and hovering above it was a book.

The book’s cover was dark purple-black, without any patterns at all. It looked more like a notebook than an ancient tome.

Vivian swallowed. "That definitely contains the secret of the century."

Silvanus looked around, then slowly stepped forward. Nothing appeared to obstruct his path.

When he reached the platform, the pages suddenly flipped open. They flickered with faint light, projecting lines of text that reflected in Silvanus’s eyes.

Darkness... sin... the past...

Silvanus’s eyes widened more and more. He leaned forward, as if about to fall into the pages themselves.

Fresh blood suddenly spilled from Silvanus’s mouth. He bit down hard on his own tongue. The sharp pain snapped him back to a sliver of clarity. He slammed the book shut at top speed, then turned and ran as fast as he could.

Vivian shouted, "Silvanus, what’s wrong?!"

"We have to get out of here as fast as possible!" Silvanus growled. "This is Lichina’s lair!"