Unlike other instances, the world where S-rank instances took place was a real world.
It was called the Netherworld.
It possessed eerie powers and was ruled by gods.
Shen Hao had learned the general situation of this world from the Alliance Guild's forum.
The one who had once ruled this world was an evil, brutal deity known as the Lord of the Netherworld.
Under the brutal deity's rule, the beings of the Netherworld had suffered terribly. He had even wanted to conquer other worlds to satisfy his ambitions.
Later, the gods had joined forces and killed him.
But the evil, brutal Lord of the Netherworld's resentment had not dissipated. Instead, it had scattered across the Netherworld.
The gods had been tormented by the Lord of the Netherworld's resentment until they lost their reason and went mad.
Some of the gods had also fallen asleep because of severe injuries.
Even the humans here had lost their minds because of the Lord of the Netherworld's resentment.
The sky here was often gray and gloomy, and the sun was rarely visible.
Every player's main quest was to clear one instance after another and save the gods who had gone mad or fallen asleep because of the Lord of the Netherworld.
For the Lord of the Netherworld would eventually return, bringing hatred and fury with him. He would not only regain control of the Netherworld but also invade the real world.
Only by joining forces with the gods of the Netherworld would humanity have a chance to survive.
After learning this story, Shen Hao finally became certain that he really was a villain opposed to all the players.
No wonder his class was Demon.
That made it all the more important for him to hide his identity. If it were exposed, he figured all the players and the gods of the Netherworld would tear him apart.
He was only level 10 now. Any level 20 player could beat him up.
After entering the instance, Shen Hao appeared beside a large tree.
The tree was enormous, and its trunk was more than ten meters thick at its widest point.
The tree had withered.
It had no leaves, and it was charred black all over, as though it had been burned.
Its roots were unusually extensive, with a large portion exposed aboveground, tangled and intertwined.
This had to be the Headless Knight's dwelling. It was called the Undead Tree, and according to the guide, the Headless Knight appeared from here.
Because he was the boss, his spawn point was different from the other players'. He appeared right beside the tree.
"You have entered the instance. You will take on the form of the instance boss, the Headless Knight.
He was once a loyal servant of the great and respected Lord of the Netherworld."
Shen Hao noticed the words used to describe the Lord of the Netherworld. They were clearly rather different from what he had learned on the forum.
But that was normal. After all, being great and respected did not necessarily conflict with being evil and cruel.
A person could possess all those qualities at once, especially the Lord of the Netherworld, who had ruled an entire world.
Shen Hao began checking his quests.
"Quest 1: Hunt. As a Demon, you will cruelly kill the players who dare enter your territory.
They will lose their lives amid screams and terror. Enjoy your time!"
"Quest 2: Those players want the Bloodstained Holy Grail in your possession. You must not let them have it."
Shen Hao felt around on his body and actually found a crystal goblet. It was clear and translucent, but there was a trace of blood inside.
He immediately put the goblet into his inventory and saw the description of the Bloodstained Holy Grail.
"Although it is called the Holy Grail, this is actually just a goblet a certain deity used for drinking. It once held the Lord of the Netherworld's blood.
This is an important item for unlocking the next instance.
But to a Demon, it is a useless piece of junk."
After reading the description, Shen Hao took out the Bloodstained Holy Grail and crushed it.
The goblet instantly turned into glittering powder and scattered into the air on the wind.
Because he had not left the instance, the Bloodstained Holy Grail did not belong to him. If he died in the instance, the Holy Grail would still drop.
But now the Bloodstained Holy Grail was gone. Even if he did die, those players could never complete their quest.
As far as he was concerned, quest 2 was complete.
Now, all that remained was his favorite hunting quest.
The stronger his enemies were, the more pleasing their screams sounded.
At that moment, Shen Hao suddenly felt his body undergo an enormous change. A mass of green flames surged out of him, instantly engulfing his entire body.
The flames blazed fiercely, burning away nearly all his flesh.
Now, he had become a ghost with green flames burning all over his body.
All that remained of him was a headless skeleton wreathed in flames, clad in black armor.
The flames grew fiercer and fiercer. A warhorse neighed and flew out of the flames.
It was a tall, imposing black warhorse, also surrounded by flames, with a longsword hanging beside its saddle.
Now he had become the Headless Knight.
Shen Hao checked his attributes again.
Constitution: 0 Spirit: (130 + 230) multiplied by 50% (Your attributes will be greatly weakened during the day, but strengthened at night.)
The Headless Knight was an evil spirit, so he had no physical body and his constitution was 0.
He himself had 130 Mental Attribute, while the Headless Knight had 230, for a total of 360.
But because it was daytime, the Headless Knight's power was weakened by 50%, leaving him with 180 points.
That was already an extremely high Mental Attribute.
Even Ability Users above level 20 who specialized in spiritual power could not reach 200 Mental Attribute.
So even weakened, his attributes were still higher than those of most players.
He began checking his abilities.
He now had three additional abilities, all belonging to the Headless Knight.
But because he had no head, he could not use Gaze into Death.
"Soulfire: The flames on your body use souls as fuel. They can burn souls and cannot be extinguished until the target's soul has completely vanished."
"Mental Perception: Although you have no head, this does not stop you from seeing. Your powerful spiritual power allows you to perceive everything around you."
"Undying Will: Even without a head, you are still alive. What power, then, could possibly kill you?
You are extremely difficult to kill. Even if you are killed, you can still revive once, and all your abilities will increase by 20% after revival."
All three abilities were excellent.
He had Soulfire with its powerful attack, a perception ability that could sense everything around him, and an extra life, with enhanced abilities after revival.
He had both offense and defense. It was simply perfect.
But the original Headless Knight had no intelligence and could act only on instinct, so even with these abilities, he could not be considered particularly strong.
Even with the right timing, terrain, and people on his side, he could still be killed.
But things were different now. Shen Hao himself had 130 spiritual power, raising the Headless Knight's attributes by nearly 50%.
And humans were intelligent. As long as he avoided the Headless Knight's shortcomings, he would be invincible here.
He looked again at the tree beside him. His body turned into a cloud of black smoke and entered the tree, merging with it.
This tree was the Headless Knight's dwelling and could not be destroyed.
Shen Hao came back out of the tree. He had only been trying it out and did not intend to stay inside it.
It was not that the Headless Knight could not appear during the day; he simply did not want to, since he would be weakened.
If he did not care about being weakened, he could move about freely even during the day.
"Your prey has arrived. Please prepare for the hunt."
It seemed those players had arrived. Shen Hao decided to give them a surprise first.
It was still daytime, and those players would never expect the Headless Knight to appear during the day.
If something happened that did not match the instance guide, those people would surely feel anxious and afraid. It was also a good opportunity for him to harvest Fear Points.
It could be considered a little gift to welcome them.
Shen Hao leaped onto the warhorse. It reared up, neighed, and immediately galloped forward.
The wind howled, and eerie green flames danced through the air.
Wherever he went, the sky darkened.