Void Giant Tower, underground hall.
The statue's wings unfurled very slowly, yet as they opened, a vast, seemingly boundless aura gradually emanated from the statue.
Iyadase had originally intended to step forward and stop Bobota, but it suddenly paused.
This boundless aura—aside from the kind of existence found at the very pinnacle of the Abyss, Iyadase could think of nothing else!
When the statue's wings fully spread, Iyadase suddenly felt suffocated, seized by the humility of being looked down upon by a higher lifeform.
It saw it! The statue's true form!
It was a tailed demon with broad black wings. Its body was exceptionally petite, which was why its form could not be seen at all when its wings were wrapped around it.
There seemed to be nothing particularly extraordinary about the demon's appearance, but two distinctive features allowed Iyadase to recognize its identity at once.
First, the demon's tail was exceedingly long, like a hook, with heaps of exquisite books caught upon it.
Second were the demon's eyes. Though cold, they brimmed with wisdom. That gaze, as if it had come from time immemorial, bore no ripples; yet in its stillness, like an ancient well without waves, it made one feel ashamed of one's own inferiority.
In the Abyss, only Demon Gods could inspire such a feeling—that merely gazing upon them was like profaning a god!
And among all the Phase Faces of the Abyss, there was only one Demon God with such an appearance. In human terms, it was described as—
"Even if you do not agree with it, you must still bow in admiration before its wisdom and knowledge—the great Demon God, the Cruel Scholar!"
It was indeed possible for the Cruel Scholar's statue to appear in the underground hall. After all, the Abyssal Inscription itself had