Demon from Hell

Necropolis of the Gods, fourteenth floor.

This was a desert world, rolling with heat waves and vast stretches of yellow as far as the eye could see.

Within the boundless desert, sandstorms raged.

Under the scorching sun, the sand was searing hot.

The entire world was abnormally dry, as if it lacked any moisture whatsoever.

"This environment is truly harsh!" Kolan appeared in the desert world, feeling that the conditions here were even worse than the scorching deserts of the Yulan Continent.

Kolan began to scout the world.

Soon, Kolan had explored it clearly.

Unlike the twelfth and thirteenth floors, the fourteenth floor had only one midgod as its guardian.

Kolan flew directly toward an earthy-yellow mansion; this was the residence of that midgod.

"Haha, someone has finally reached the fourteenth floor. As long as I kill you, I, Maiken, can leave the Necropolis of the Gods and regain my freedom!" Kolan radiated divine power, and then a loud laugh erupted from below.

The entire earthy-yellow mansion burst open, and a large man appeared.

Kolan's eyes narrowed slightly; the large man was actually wearing a badge on his chest.

A Fiend Badge!?

Kolan guessed to himself that the opponent was a Fiend, or someone similar to one.

Fiends were the elite of Hell; only midgods who were truly powerful could become Fiends.

A Fiend was a symbol of strength and courage.

This Fiend was at the midgod level, but his strength would be far greater than that of an average midgod.

"Remember, the one who kills you is Kolan from the Yulan Plane!" Kolan held his blade, a cold, sharp aura radiating from his body.

"Die!" Maiken slashed over with a sword shadow.

Kolan also slashed out with his blade.

"Boom!"

The two collided, and the violent force recoiled onto both parties.

"Such strong power!" Kolan was secretly surprised.

Since entering the Necropolis of the Gods, relying on a body comparable to a midgod artifact, Kolan was not weak in material attacks, though that was only relative; in truth, he did not suffer in the Necropolis of the Gods.

However, this Maiken before him was actually able to trade material attacks with him head-on without falling into the slightest disadvantage.

He knew that Maiken cultivated the Laws of the Earth, which were always known for their strong material attacks and material defenses.

But this also reflected Maiken's formidable strength.

Maiken's strength was far greater than the midgods of the thirteenth floor.

"I didn't expect you to have such strength?" Maiken took a step back, looking at Kolan in surprise.

Maiken was not angry but happy; killing an ordinary midgod provided no motivation or sense of accomplishment.

As a Fiend, what was there to boast about in killing a common midgod?

But now it was different; since the opponent was strong, killing him would bring a sense of accomplishment, and he could obtain precious freedom.

"Die!" Maiken struck with his sword, the power of which was significantly stronger than his first blow.

Kolan did not show any weakness, holding his blade and charging up to meet him.

The two fought head-on.

"Splurt!"

Maiken's sword struck Kolan, sparks flying, but it failed to injure him. However, Kolan's blade slashed across his body, shattering the Pulse Armor instantly. A gruesome wound that nearly pierced through Maiken's chest was carved open, blood gushing out, and broken white bones were visible.

"Good, very good, you have successfully angered me!" Maiken smiled hideously. "I, Maiken, cultivated for a thousand years to become a god, ventured into Hell for ten thousand years to become a midgod, spent ten thousand years becoming a Fiend, and roamed Hell for three million years. Today, I will chop off your head and stain my Fiend Badge with your blood!"

Being injured did not make Maiken retreat; instead, he appeared wild and arrogant.

"Cultivating for a thousand years to become a god, what is there to boast about! Maiken, the one who dies today is you, not me!" Kolan sneered.

"If it weren't for that highgod defensive artifact, that last sword strike would have been enough to kill you!" Maiken scoffed. "It's a pity; you are only a midgod, and you cannot use a highgod defensive artifact to its full potential!"

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~~" Maiken's divine power surged immediately, repairing his wounds instantly, while the Pulse Armor on his body surface recovered in a flash. As long as his divine power was not exhausted, this Pulse Armor could recover in an instant.

He appeared very confident—a confidence born from his own strength.

Highgod artifacts were powerful, but only highgods could fully unleash their might.

He could not break through the defense of a highgod defensive artifact, but his material attacks could ignore the surface defense of such an item.

The Earth Pulse of the Laws of the Earth could attack the opponent's internal organs directly through the form of vibrations!

"Die!" Maiken's aura surged, revealing his true form.

It was actually a divine beast—a massive, earthy-yellow bull with crimson eyes, its four hooves vibrating and emitting a terrifying ripple.

Kolan realized that both Maiken's defense and attack had been significantly enhanced.

"These divine beasts are truly the darlings of the heavens!" Kolan cursed inwardly.

He had no choice but to become cautious.

The Divine Domains of two midgods were propped up and stacked together, suppressing Maiken.

At the same time, he no longer held back his strength; by utilizing fused divine power, Kolan's material attacks became ten times more powerful!

Under these circumstances, Kolan's strength had increased significantly.

Conversely, Maiken, suppressed by his Divine Domain, found his strength remaining about the same as before.

"Boom~~" Kolan slashed out with his blade.

This strike caused terror to appear directly on Maiken's face.

The blade shattered the armor defending Maiken's body, though it did not continue forward; however, the terrifying soul attack instantly extinguished Maiken's soul.

Maiken's body collapsed to the ground.

Collecting the artifact and the corpse into his interspatial ring, Kolan dripped blood to claim ownership of the ring.

"As expected of a Fiend, he is far wealthier than the midgods of the thirteenth floor. There are one million Ink Stone, five lowgod godsparks, six midgod artifacts, ten lowgod artifacts, and fifteen midgod artifacts." Kolan inspected the interspatial ring, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

It could be said that the wealth possessed by this Maiken was far greater than the combined wealth of all the god-level experts on the twelfth and thirteenth floors.

A Fiend is truly a Fiend!

"The reward for this fourteenth floor should also be much more generous!" Kolan couldn't wait to head toward the passageway.

The entrance to the passageway was located inside the mansion Maiken had built.

At this moment, a flat boulder was placed at the entrance, and a black plate sat upon it.

There were fifty Soul Gold Beads, one hundred Amethyst, and a pitch-black ring.

"This is... a soul-defending artifact!?" Kolan gulped hard, his eyes locked onto the pitch-black ring.

This pitch-black ring was not an interspatial ring, but a soul-defending artifact. Judging by the fluctuations of its divine power, it was a Highgod soul-defending artifact.

Artifacts were divided into material-defending artifacts, material-attacking artifacts, and soul-defending artifacts.

Among artifacts of the same level and quality, material-attacking artifacts were the least valuable, material-defending artifacts were relatively valuable, and the most valuable of all were soul-defending artifacts.

This was because material-attacking and material-defending artifacts could be forged by any god who put in the effort.

However, soul-defending artifacts were different; they could only be forged by gods who had attained a high level of research into the soul.

This made soul-defending artifacts relatively rare and precious.

Kolan had not expected that the reward given by Beirut would actually be a Highgod soul-defending artifact!

Even the most ordinary Highgod soul-defending artifact was incredibly precious.