Chapter 514
"No, that person has absolutely no presence."
It seems they disdain side quests.
Yuki nodded, feeling that Mebius was a good match for him, possessing observational skills no less than Hiyori's, and ruthless methods that Hiyori lacked.
Using someone else to do the dirty work? This whole drama is just to kill a few players?
Thinking of this, a thought suddenly struck him, "Have you returned to the City of Gods yet?"
"Just as he stepped through the gate," Mebius said, entering the city. Before Yuki could ask a question, his snake eyes had already slightly narrowed.
This city in the clouds remains magnificent and sacred, with countless temples standing everywhere, but precisely because of this, several ruins are particularly striking.
When a god falls, the temple collapses.
"I know what you want to ask. In this round of trials, not only players, but even many gods have perished."
How many are there in total?
"Five."
It was as if they had crossed a critical point. Although there had been resistance before, there had never been a major event like the fall of a god, which made even the City of Gods tense.
I knew it.
This time, not only Yuki and Kalpas took action, but other trials also encountered problems. This was a coincidence, but it was also an inevitable result of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.
The demons will not surrender easily; the conflict will escalate further, and as more and more gods fall, the powder keg will be ignited sooner or later.
No wonder that group of the Demon-Hunting Army retreated in such a hurry?
"Wow, that's quite a sight!"
"What's wrong?"
"Another temple has collapsed." Mebius watched as a colossal temple crumbled, like building blocks collapsing, its ornate exterior walls and towering dome collapsing in an instant.
Frightened gasps rose from both sides. The Demon-Hunting Army, who had just suffered a crushing defeat, were at a loss. Then they saw a large group of silver-armored guards pouring out of the city, flying and roaring as they went.
"By order of His Majesty, the Divine City is sealed off; no one is permitted to leave!"
The seventh and eighth temples collapsed amidst roars, and the sacred cloud city was like the end of the world, with even many gods running out and looking around in bewilderment.
"It seems I have witnessed a historic moment." Mebius watched the chaos unfold, seeing the swirling clouds behind him closing the gaps, like shutting down city gates, even the Chaos Item were affected.
"You just killed someone, and the demons launched a counterattack. Was this all planned?"
"I have never had any contact with the demons, let alone cooperated with them. No, it should be said that the situation of the enemy being strong and us being weak has not changed, so I cannot take action."
Yuki, Yuki, frowned. Fortunately, with Mebius acting as an inside man, he learned of the strange occurrences in the City of Gods and gradually came to his senses.
Is this a sign of all-out war?
Impossible. The demon race doesn't have a leader. They're like a heap of loose sand, organized into tribes. The Snow Demon, for example, certainly wouldn't participate.
This organizational structure has one advantage: it ensures that the grievances are clear and the debts are accounted for. If a tribe kills a god, the Demon-Hunting Army will simply hunt down that tribe, without pushing the entire demon race to the opposite side.
That's too slow. If Isaac and the neutral faction were to go all out, how many gods would have to fall? Besides, the gods aren't stupid; they'll definitely be more vigilant when they go out for trials in the future.
Unless, the Divine Race feel a real threat.
With communications completely cut off, Yuki fell into deep thought. This was too much of a coincidence. Was he some kind of jinx, that his act of killing Godslaying had immediately triggered the demon race's attack?
That's not right. There are over a hundred gods. From a strategic point of view, this is far too hasty to start a rebellion.
He put himself in the demon race's shoes. If he were doing it, he would occasionally kill two gods through trials, keeping a low profile while constantly whittling them down. By the time the Divine Race couldn't take it anymore, the gap in strength would have narrowed considerably.
The scene of temples collapsing one after another while the uprising is indeed very satisfying, but even if ten demons perish, it will not fundamentally harm the situation and will only invite retaliation. In fact, most demon tribes will betray their own kind in order to protect themselves.
Did they intend to cut off the demons' retreat and forcibly bind them to the war chariot?
That's not enough; it only exacerbates the conflict. Such a reckless move could even incite Abomination.
As he pondered, Yuki's gaze gradually transcended that of gods and demons, as if he stood above the heavens, overlooking the entire chessboard. When his eyes focused on the chess piece 'Yuki Sorajima', his expression changed drastically.
Why did the God of Conflict have to intervene personally?
Players? Then why doesn't He go after the Fox Demon? The threat from Kalpas Tribulations is obviously much greater.
"It's the Sea Demon. Is it because the Sea Demon has its eye on Shan Jing that it's afraid this most complete demon race member will collude with the Snow Demon?"
"No, even if they collude, the Snow Demon has no power to resist. At most, he can only act as a middleman. In the end, he'll still end up back with the Fox Demon. If it were me, I would let them collude and then wipe them all out in one fell swoop."
Yuki couldn't understand it at all, but through this connection, he discovered a fuse that could instantly ignite the conflict.
If it is proven that the Sea Demon can leave the Abyss Grade freely, it indicates that there is also a problem with the dragons guarding them.
Yuki participated in the trial to investigate clues in the deep sea, but after going around in circles, he ended up back where he started.
With the Sea Demon, the dragons, and the demon tribes roaming the wilderness, the threat was certainly enough. The observing Divine Race had no choice but to go all out and completely annihilate all the demons, because this was enough to overturn the existing order.
Conversely, the demons who were merely observing were helpless. With a knife to their throats, were they simply waiting to die without fighting back?
Conflict is inevitable, but why now? Is that Morgas a fool?
This is an inexplicable problem. If the demons and dragons were to unite, they should be quietly accumulating military strength, without even touching a single god.
But that's no longer important. If the demons want to start a war, they're courting death. Right now, there's a fuse that can be lit, cutting off both sides' escape routes.
Yuki looked southeast, towards the place where he had first arrived.
Abyss Fortress.
Chapter Eleven: Unrivaled Grass-Cutting
Something must have gone wrong; there must be something I haven't considered.
The air whistled against his face, Yuki frowned, feeling that this dungeon was eerie in every way.
The Divine Race are overturning the order they created. Even if it can be explained, their methods are too brutal. The normal procedure should be to eliminate Morgas and others first, and then deal with the remaining minions slowly.
The demons' desire to wage a full-scale war could be explained, but enduring so many grievances makes it seem too hasty and foolish.
The only explanation lies in Yuki's Epic Metamorphosis: the demons mistakenly believed that the Sea Demon had been captured, their plan exposed, and thus launched their uprising prematurely.
But that doesn't make sense. The traces of the Sea Demon were fabricated by Yuki using 'War God Plunder'. Whether they were allied with the Snow Clan or not, wouldn't the Demon Clan themselves know?
Besides, since the God of Conflict has personally taken action, why not continue investigating along this lead instead of recalling all the Demon-Hunting Army?
The obvious logical inconsistency caused Yuki, who was speeding southeast, to suddenly stop, his confusion turning into shock.
Something really happened.
It was afternoon, yet the sky in the distance was pitch black, covering hundreds of square kilometers, and an extremely foul stench wafted through the air.
Is this the Abyss Grade? Is this the Sea Demon?
He couldn't see anything, but Yuki knew it was the direction of Abyss Fortress. Instead of getting impatient, he calmed down and quickly scanned his surroundings.
With no trace of the Demon-Hunting Army, it seems the entire army has indeed withdrawn.
That's the strangest part. The fact that the God of Conflict intervened proves that Yuki's deception was successful. Anyone with a brain knows that if the dragons rebelled and the Sea Demon escaped, the first thing they would attack would be Abyss Fortress.
Shouldn't those nearly ten thousand Demon-Hunting Army, who were only a few hundred kilometers away, have been sent to defend this area? Shouldn't they have been lying in ambush nearby to wipe them out? Unless—
"He wants to use the destruction of Abyss Fortress Keep to provoke a war, making both sides fight to the death?"
It's possible, like the foolish saying, "For the greater good, a small number of people must be sacrificed," but what's in it for him?
Abyss Fortress is humanity's most powerful city-state; it could be incredibly useful in the fight against demons. Why cripple ourselves before the war even begins?
If they knew nothing, that would be one thing, but the six main gods clearly knew.
I can't understand it, I really can't understand it. It just seems like the Divine Race don't consider annihilating the demons as their top priority.
Without Yuki delay, Yuki gripped his spear and flew forward. The Pegasus wasn't fast, but it grew more agitated the closer it got to Abyss Fortress.
It was a pitch-black flower that enveloped the Abyss Fortress, obscuring its interior and silencing all sound; the world was cut off.
As he got closer, he discovered that it was some kind of one-way barrier, concealing everything that happened inside.
"Could it be that you truly don't know what happened in the northern mountains?"
If we knew this was just burying our heads in the sand, we might as well surround the fortress from three sides and leave one side open, which would allow us to capture it much faster. This trap is like catching Abyss Fortress.
Realistically speaking, the demons don't want the battle situation at Abyss Fortress to be leaked. Could it be that they're afraid of reinforcements?
What a coincidence! Just then, all the Demon-Hunting Army withdrew, the City of Gods closed its gates, and I couldn't even contact Mebius.
For some reason, Yuki revealed a hint of mockery, spurred his horse, spear in hand, and charged straight into the barrier.
All that could be seen was foul-smelling black smoke, making Pegasus snort uneasily. Yuki widened, and after a few seconds, the view suddenly cleared.
A scene of chaotic destruction unfolded; the sea had turned pitch black, lava churned in the streets, plumes of smoke shot into the sky, and the majestic city walls were riddled with breaches.
Countless meteors flew over the walls and exploded with a deafening roar within the city. Exquisite houses crumbled, and people engulfed in flames screamed as they fled. Bizarre Sea Demon tumbled out from the meteors, brandishing countless tentacles and killing anyone in sight.
Indiscriminate attack; this is tantamount to massacring the entire city.
Regardless of the reason or whether it was foolish, Yuki immediately saw what the demons wanted to do.
Their aim is to ignite war and incite the wrath of both gods and men; the best way to do this, of course, is to annihilate a city-state.
"Fortunately, the city hasn't fallen yet."
Yuki repeatedly warned that Abyss Fortress was already on high alert, with a fierce battle raging on the wide walls, and several dark dragons spewing out high-energy beams of light that instantly obliterated anyone who touched them.
Are dragons idiots too, going crazy like this?
Yuki was shocked. The dragons had the most options. Could it be that they couldn't see that a hasty war would inevitably lead to defeat?
What good would it do to capture Abyss Fortress? The Divine Race's strength remains undiminished, with hundreds of gods and tens of thousands of the Demon-Hunting Army suppressing everything. On the contrary, if they were to actually massacre the city, then it would be a fight to the death.
Roar--
Several enormous black shadows pounced. Yuki had no time to think and spurred his warhorse toward the city wall. Before the Sea Demon blocking his way could even see clearly, they were instantly turned into minced meat.
With a level 9 physique, a passive 20% increase in strength, and the combined use of Immortal Crystal Armor and Reinforcement Magecraft, Yuki Shin transforms into a fierce warrior on the battlefield, riding a Pegasus invincible.
Kill!
With a gun in his left hand and a knife in his right, Yuki knocked the Sea Demon away and beheaded it. His ferocity attracted more enemies, but he grew stronger with each attack.
"You don't know, my specialty is taking on a dozen opponents at once?"
Epic Metamorphosis. Soul Extraction.
This skill excels at battlefield combat; enemies below monster level are merely energy sources, while elites above monster level...
Swish.
The long sword severed the head, and the headless corpse was pulled down by gravity, while the black energy surrounding it transformed into streaks of light that converged towards Yuki.
Epic Metamorphosis. The Void Conversion.
He transformed the Abyss Grade aura into soul energy, and with his right hand outstretched, this energy began to materialize again.
Void Alchemy.
A hundred-meter-long spear appeared in the sky. Yuki crushed a shrimp's head, threw it, and pierced through a hundred Sea Demon with the spear. He raised his right arm and punched the spear's tail.
Concept Enhancement. Penetration.
Concept Enhancement. Extreme Speed.
A blue arc of electricity covered the giant spear, which was then struck away by a force capable of shattering mountains and splitting seas.
Armybreaker!
Boom--
The exploding aura instantly turned the surrounding Sea Demon into minced meat. A streak of light swept across the sky, tearing apart anything in its path, and hurtled over the damaged city walls directly into the sea.
At this moment, a tortoise shell emerged from the water like a small island. The spear of the Armybreaker struck it, sinking the 'island' and creating a wave hundreds of meters high. A group of figures appeared on the sunken sea surface, one of whom was handsome with cascading black hair.
"These are the outsiders from Abyss Fortress?" Morgas tilted his head, somewhat puzzled, as if they Taiyi from what he knew.
He certainly knew Yuki; he had even arranged for Moresa to meet him before, but he hadn't expected this guy to be so formidable.
It charged in from outside the Abyss Grade barrier and was met with no match. It glanced at the 'coral man' beside it, but hesitated to speak.
"It's him. That armor is blessed by the sea god; it can't be faked," the humanoid monster behind him replied. It was ugly, and its skin was as uneven as coral.
This is the Shadow of the Sea Clan, its eight crimson eyes filled with rage, yet it manages to control itself with its last remaining shred of reason.
The Sea Demon hid in the Abyss Grade to preserve its strength, but the price was that it was corroded by the Abyss Grade over the years, and its rationality had become a very precious thing. Fortunately, this bloodthirsty frenzy was extremely effective for destruction.