The Molten Giant Axe looked incredibly heavy, yet it was cleaved in half as if it were made of paper.
The golden blade's momentum didn't fade. It cut the towering Molten Fire Demon in two at the waist.
It took no more than three seconds.
Two Fifth Tier Devil Race warriors crashed to the ground, without even a decent chance to fight back.
As for the remaining two...
They were also badly wounded by the aftermath of the attack!!
Xuan Ye's eyes reddened as he forcibly unleashed a Fifth Tier technique again!
The two demons wailed and tried to flee...
Unfortunately...
The moment they moved, the berserk energy turned them into solid statues!
Three days ago, facing four Fifth Tier Devil Race warriors, Xuan Ye would have needed to struggle to hold his own.
But now, with the boost from the Glorious Grade "Revenge," his damage output had surged. Add to that the strength the system had forcibly accelerated him to, and the Fifth Tier Knight Technique he'd been rewarded with yesterday...
Killing Fifth Tier opponents in one blow had become as easy as drinking water.
After catching two of them off guard, the remaining two were naturally even easier to deal with.
But after releasing the Fifth Tier technique, the waves of emptiness in his Inner Spiritual Power left Xuan Ye trembling all over.
If the system hadn't been so overbearing and handed out a wave of rewards at just the right moment, Xuan Ye felt he might well have died from the backlash!
In truth... Xuan Ye knew the demons hunting him down weren't stupid enough to use a heap of Fifth Tier lives to set a trap.
But Xuan Ye's strength had surged far faster than they could have imagined.
Yet before he could even catch his breath...
The system's notification rang out in his mind once again.
Another light screen popped up.
[New threat detected. Divine Choice has been updated.] [Choice One: Kill the incoming Sixth Tier Undead Race Earl, Valen, and all his guards. Completion rewards: Innate Dark Inner Spiritual Power +5, Revenge Evolution progress +30%, one random Glorious Grade Equipment, and increased proficiency in all skills.] [Choice Two: Give up resisting and let Valen capture you alive. Completion reward: Revenge Evolution progress +1%.] (Warning: This option may lead to a major threat later!)
Xuan Ye fell silent.
The faint blue light screen hovered before him. The two choices were sharply distinct: one offered such an outrageous reward it was clearly payment for his life, while the other came with a bright red warning.
A dead end, or another dead end.
A few seconds later...
He suddenly let out a snort.
He wasn't laughing at anyone else. He was laughing at himself.
Did he really not know he'd been led around by the nose this whole time?
No. He knew.
From the Demon Race Squads appearing at just the right moment, to the encirclement tightening step by step, to the system repeatedly serving up a single forced choice...
An unseen hand had been manipulating everything from behind the scenes.
But the anger and hatred in his heart had drowned out all reason.
Counting on the system's support and his rapidly rising strength, he'd charged ahead like a maddened beast, straight into the hunter's carefully laid trap.
And now, there was no way back.
The rewards the system was offering were unusually generous.
Once "Revenge" had reached Glorious Grade, the rate at which he gained evolution progress should have dropped sharply.
The same was true of Innate Dark Inner Spiritual Power.
After all, the closer Innate Inner Spiritual Power got to its maximum of two hundred points, the harder every additional point became to gain.
His Innate Light Attribute had now reached a hundred points, while his Innate Dark Attribute had accumulated to fifty-seven, for a total of one hundred and fifty-seven.
Yet this time, the system was offering five points of Dark Attribute at once, as if generously granting him a last meal.
The system had clearly judged this to be a situation with no chance of survival.
As for the only option that seemed safe, "give up resisting"...
The line of blood-red warning below it said everything.
That wasn't a way out. It was a door leading to an even deeper hell.
"Guess I really am a bit stupid."
Xuan Ye tugged at the corner of his mouth in self-mockery.
Back in his previous life, when he read novels, he used to criticize protagonists who were nothing without their systems.
Who would've thought he'd turn out to be that kind of good-for-nothing too?
He wanted revenge on Long Xingyu. He wanted to return to that world and eliminate every threat. He wanted... to find Cai'er.
But when he looked back at what he'd actually done...
From beginning to end, he'd acted without a plan or much wit, charging recklessly through the Demon Realm on nothing but sheer momentum.
At last, he understood.
Reality wasn't a novel. There weren't countless "narrow escapes" waiting for him.
Frustration. Regret.
But there was no use thinking about any of that now.
Xuan Ye clenched his teeth. He didn't look at the sole option again. Instead, he slowly sat cross-legged.
He knew there was no point in running anymore.
The enemy would come to him.
His top priority was to recover the Inner Spiritual Power he'd spent killing four Fifth Tier Devil Race warriors.
Even if he could recover just a little more, it would help.
He raised his hand, and a completely black ring engraved with delicate patterns appeared on his fingertip.
It was the "Forget-Me-Not" Space Ring Cai'er had left him.
With a thought, several blocks of compressed rations and a pouch of water appeared in his hand.
Without hesitation, he began eating to replenish his strength.
His gaze swept over the ring's storage space, and he paused slightly.
In a corner among the odds and ends lay several brand-new parchment scrolls.
They contained information on the later stages of Knight cultivation.
These clearly hadn't belonged to Cai'er originally.
Given her background and experience, she wouldn't have had access to them.
The only possibility was that after Cai'er left, someone from the Assassin's Sanctuary had secretly slipped these into the ring.
It was an additional investment in him.
"What a shame..."
Xuan Ye rubbed the scrolls in his hand, and a trace of guilt welled up inside him.
"I'm afraid I'll have to let you down."
What hurt him even more than that was Cai'er.
He didn't dare imagine how she would feel if word of his death here got back to her...
How heartbroken would the girl who always called him "Xuan Ye" so gently, and sometimes even called herself "Mom," be?
It felt as though a hand had clenched around his heart, squeezing it in waves of pain.
Just then...
"Crack."
In the distance, a dry branch snapped beneath someone's foot.
Xuan Ye jerked his head up.
The first demon appeared at the edge of his vision.
Its body was wrapped in filthy burial cloth, leaving only a pair of eyes alight with eerie green Soul Fire visible.
In its hand, it gripped a staff carved from a spine.
An Undead Demon Race warrior.
Xuan Ye's pupils contracted slightly.
He recognized this type of demon. They served under Vornus, the Fourth Pillar Demon God, the God of Undead.
They specialized in controlling the dead and were natural Undead Mages. They were extremely rare along the borders of the Demon Realm.
Now even this rare troop type had been deployed.
The final encirclement was about to begin.
The Sixth Tier Undead noble mentioned in the system's notification was coming.
Xuan Ye took a deep breath and returned the food and scrolls to his ring.
A desperate plan took shape in his mind in an instant.
His strength had increased at a shocking rate. Earl Valen might not know all of his cards.
His Fourth Tier aura was the perfect disguise.
Perhaps... he could pretend to surrender.
If he could use the chance to get close and launch a surprise attack...
Even if he couldn't take the man's life, he'd tear a good chunk out of him!
Before you continue