Sorrow and Joy in Tandem

As Belial's avatar manifested, the evil aura throughout the City of Yellow Sand grew increasingly dense. Heavy clouds blocked out the moonlight, as though nothing but darkness remained between heaven and earth.

The Sand People resistance fighters holding torches gathered together, covering one another.

But before the BOSS, they were as tiny as ants.

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut, who had led his men back to the City of Yellow Sand, was startled by the sight at first, then overjoyed.

The Lord of Lies and Deceit was actually a Legendary BOSS!

And this was only an avatar.

How powerful must its true body be?

By that logic, the Deceiver Bloodline Factor had to be incredibly powerful!

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut was ecstatic. He said excitedly, "Brothers, with such a powerful BOSS, Night Wanderer is as good as dead. Those Sand People NPCs won't survive either. We're getting carried to victory this time—just wait to collect the Bloodline Factor."

Every member of Rakshasa Hall was delighted.

This trip had been an absolute windfall.

Although player levels were gradually rising and more Bloodline Factors were dropping, they were still extremely rare.

The few that made it into the outside market cost hundreds of thousands even for a Black Iron-rank Bloodline Factor. How could ordinary players afford that?

Besides, low-level Bloodline Factors provided very little bonus. A Black Iron-rank one only added one point to a primary attribute per level. What use was that?

Now, a Bloodline Factor that was at least Gold-rank was sitting right in front of them, free for the taking. How could they not be tempted?

In fact, even Gold-rank was probably underselling it.

Judging by the BOSS's strength, it might drop a Dark Gold-rank or even an Epic-rank Bloodline Factor. The bonuses from that would be enormous.

Rakshasa Mad Blood was equally excited. "President, once we complete this quest and obtain the Deceiver Bloodline Factor, Rakshasa Hall will definitely become Apocalypse's number one guild!"

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut beamed as he began imagining himself trampling the other guilds beneath his feet.

After thinking for a moment, Rakshasa One-Blade Cut said, "Come to think of it, we have Night Wanderer to thank for getting this quest. If he hadn't led his people straight into the Imperial Palace and put pressure on the BOSS, our quest reward wouldn't have been updated to a Bloodline Factor."

Rakshasa Mad Blood nodded repeatedly. "The president is right. Once we finish the quest, we have to promote it properly on the forums and thank Night Wanderer together."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut burst into loud laughter. He could hardly wait to see the look on Night Wanderer's face when he got humiliated.

He did not think anything could go wrong.

That was a Legendary BOSS, with 450 million HP and attack and defense attributes in the millions. What did Night Wanderer have to fight it with?

No matter how good Night Wanderer was, hadn't he refrained from attacking when he faced a Legendary BOSS before?

This time would surely be no different.

"What a pity!"

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut pounded his chest, his face full of regret.

Rakshasa Mad Blood asked curiously, "President, what's there to regret?"

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut analyzed, "We forgot to leave a few brothers at the respawn point. Think about it—Night Wanderer is about to get one-shot by the BOSS, so he'll definitely go to the respawn point. We don't even need to block him there. As long as we can capture footage of Night Wanderer appearing at the respawn point, that'll be explosive news. Don't you think?"

Rakshasa Mad Blood suddenly understood and praised him sincerely. "President, you really are sharp-minded and quick on the draw. How did I not think of that? Should we send some brothers over to wait there now?"

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut waved a hand. "Forget it. The quest comes first. Once it's completed, we need to submit it as quickly as possible to avoid any complications."

Just as Rakshasa One-Blade Cut was fantasizing about the future, he caught sight of the BOSS's sky-reaching health bar suddenly dropping by nearly a third!

Considering the BOSS's total HP, that single hit had dealt almost 150 million damage!

"Holy shit, am I seeing things?"

Rakshasa Mad Blood cried out before anyone else, gripped by a Bad Feeling.

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut's expression changed drastically as well. He could not believe what he was seeing.

He had Deformed Tendon and a full set of Gold-grade Equipment, yet his damage had only barely reached the ten-thousand range.

And now he was being told that Night Wanderer had dealt over 100 million damage in one hit.

The damage gap was a horrifying ten thousand times!

Unacceptable.

This was absolutely unacceptable.

"Fuck, is no one going to do anything about Night Wanderer's cheating anymore?!"

Rakshasa One-Blade Cut cried out in anguished accusation.

Meanwhile, Ji Xing and the others, hiding in a corner, looked at one another in disbelief.

Xue Zhong Yi Jian Xia rubbed his eyes and said uncertainly, "I just saw a nine-digit damage number. Did you guys see it too?"

Xu Changqing let out a long breath. "So you saw it too. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."

Ultimate Is Awesome lowered his head and calculated for a long time before saying bitterly, "Even if I threw out every one of my major skills, my damage would only be a fraction of the president's. What kind of damage is that? Isn't it a little ridiculous?"

Ji Xing sighed toward the sky. "Even ten Destroyers put together wouldn't be a match for the president. I'm tired. Destroy everything."

Yin Mie squatted on the ground and drew circles. "I want to change classes. Being an assassin isn't fun at all. If I'd known, I would've asked Sister Di for a rich-lady loan and bought that Death Knight Promotion Certificate."

Yingluo Yezakura was thinking further ahead. "This is a Legendary BOSS, and it's not low-level either. We're in the same party as the president, so we're benefiting from his presence. The experience alone will definitely send us straight to level 30 and unlock the Second Job Advancement Quest. We can't let the president down. We should improve ourselves as quickly as possible and work hard to keep up with him."

Ji Xing nodded in agreement. "The president has always been carrying us. That's not good. We don't have to be amazing, but at the very least, we should help him get some useful drops. Skills like Concentrated Snipe from before—I think the president could use those."

Before they had even finished discussing it, the BOSS's health bar in the distance had already fallen to one-quarter.

The players present were not the only ones shocked. Even Belial was somewhat slow to react.

What was going on?

Although this was only one of Its avatars, and it was suppressed by the Apocalypse world, it was still a Legendary entity with absurdly powerful attributes.

How had it looked ready to die less than two seconds after the battle began?

Was this outsider's strength not a little too far beyond the norm?

They had only been in Apocalypse for a few days, yet they could already fight Its avatar head-on. Given a few more months, would they not be slaughtering demons and gods outright?

"Mortals, your strength surprises me. Offer your loyalty, and I will share this world with you."

Belial's seductive voice rang out.

Qin Chuan received a prompt as well.

"Ding, you have triggered a choice quest. Please choose carefully."

"Option One: Pledge allegiance to the Lord of Lies and Betrayal. Reward: Special class, Abyssal Apostle."

"Option Two: Refuse the Lord of Lies and Betrayal. Reward: None."

As expected of an Abyssal Demon Lord. It was truly generous with its offers.