The End!

There's a saying, what's it again?

A person's words are good when they are about to die.

Iliphis was in such a state. As he saw the Black Swordsman's Dragon Slaying Sword getting closer and closer, his hatred and anger suddenly felt somewhat relieved. Before his fall, he was also a martial artist. If he could die at the hands of a strongman like the Black Swordsman, it would be a barely acceptable outcome.

Indeed, as he was dying, he began to numb himself, imagining himself as a warrior who could accept dying with honor, hoping to feel better when he died.

However, just as he was "calmly" preparing to accept death, the Dragon Slaying Sword suddenly stopped above his head.

"Null--"

The strong wind ruffled his hair and puzzled him. Why did it stop?

Because Sion didn't want him to die while he was self-anesthetized, this kind of person should be killed by the victims of the disaster he caused, just like the minister in Akame ga Kill!!

Therefore, when he saw that Jia Paer, Elsa and other experts had gathered in the Founding Plaza outside, Gong Qiying planned to throw Iliphis out and let the people outside kill him.

However, before throwing Iliphis out, Gong Qiying noticed something.

The thing on this thing—whether you call it slime or sludge—is a sticky, gooey substance that remains highly active and is still wriggling.

It was only because the various powers summoned by the Zane Dungeon suppressed him that he was able to recover. Otherwise, he would likely have already recovered by now. If he were simply thrown out like that, it would inevitably lead to him regaining his full strength and plunging people into crisis once again.

"Let's do it the same way we did in the Val Dungeon last time."

As Gong Qiying spoke, he opened the City Lord Panel and used the gale to blow away the Image Transmission Device that Lu Lu Wo was filming, causing it to temporarily lose its live broadcast. The adventurers also lost their vision due to the suddenly thickening fog.

After all, the following scenes are not suitable for children.

Just Iliphis was puzzled, he suddenly saw a campfire appear in front of him. Kneeling near the campfire, he felt his strength slowly returning.

Was Saine kindly treating him? How could that be? Restoring his strength was simply an inevitable result of coming into contact with the campfire. Iliphis knew Saine wouldn't be so kind, and he instinctively sensed something ominous.

What is the purpose of a campfire?

It is a safe haven for adventurers, providing convenient teleportation, a medium for performing Kindling Secret Ritual, and an excellent choice for restoring stamina.

Standing by the campfire means you're bound to this respawn point! You can only leave when you die and your Spirit Power is completely depleted!

A bead of cold sweat slid down Iliphis's forehead.

He suddenly turned and ran, no longer caring about the Black Swordsman behind him. He raised his hand, wanting to summon the slime on the ground to protect him. Although he had been enhanced, without that slime, his original strength was not enough to make him feel at ease!

Another large arrow shot out, its Gravity Magic suddenly spreading out and suppressing all the slime summoned by Iliphis.

If he were to come into contact with that Gravity Magic, he might be pulverized. Iliphis quickly turned around and ran away.

At this moment, Gong Qiying tried out the newly acquired permission to "Temporary Modification".

Iliphis he suddenly found himself in a dilapidated village. The villagers were all dressed in yellow and kneeling with their eyes covered.

As if sensing something, he suddenly turned around and saw a lighthouse at the end of the village.

The tower wasn't tall, but several villagers in yellow robes stood atop it, their eyes contorted in pain, like statues. Yet, a certain burning warmth emanated from them, a warmth that concealed a deep madness.

This is the [Frenzy Flame Lighthouse]!

A miniature sun made up of yellow flames!

"Ugh, oh."

The moment he saw the Frenzy Flame Lighthouse, Iliphis's mind was shaken. A faint yellow flame seemed to appear in his pupils, as if to be branded into them. The demon king bloodline given to him by the Fallen Devil Egg did its best to help him resist the erosion of the Frenzied Flame, and his body gradually regained the ability to move.

But at that moment, three Forbidden Touch Old Man him appeared beside him and plunged their staffs, wreathed in Frenzied Flame, into his body. Not only that, the villagers from the surrounding area who had also been infected by the Frenzied Flame rushed over, picked up Iliphis's head, and gazed at him with deep affection! The flames in their eye sockets exchanged tender words!

"Ahhhh—"

Being in such close contact with a large amount of Frenzied Flame, even the temporarily acquired Demon King Bloodline could not withstand this power. Iliphis immediately screamed and his whole body burned from the inside out until he turned into a human torch, at which point the screams gradually subsided.

I don't know if it was just my imagination, but when I saw the Frenzied Flame, besides Iliphis's scream, it seemed like there was another scream coming from inside his body, like an old man's scream.

Iliphis was resurrected by the campfire. His face turned deathly pale, his shoulders twitched as if he had been violated, his spirit was greatly weakened, and even the movement of the slime decreased instantly.

However, Sain gave him no chance to catch his breath; what appeared before him next was a bottomless abyss.

As the cold, deep abyss ripped him toward the bottom, he experienced the despair that Overlord Wolnir had felt. In his eyes, besides the yellow flames of his Frenzied Flame, there was also the pitch-black color of the abyss.

When he revives from the campfire with a dazed look in his eyes, he suddenly finds himself on a vast, scarlet plain covered with disgusting-looking fungi, with cooking smoke and spores mingling and drifting everywhere.

When the crimson juice gushed from the ground and landed on him, he immediately gained a new experience— Scarlet Corruption!

In a daze, Iliphis saw a red-haired woman wearing a hooded helmet amidst the Scarlet Corruption.

The next moment, Scarlet Corruption flowers bloomed brilliantly beside him, bringing with them a beautiful death.

Iliphis is dead again!

Frenzied Flame, Abyss, and Scarlet Corruption —the three most potent forms of corruption—took turns intensifying Iliphis's suffering. He didn't know how many times he had died and been reborn under their torment. The Demon King Bloodline's Spirit Power was indeed formidable; he had already died more than ten times before his Spirit Power was finally depleted.

With a gurgling sound, he finally curled up by the campfire, the slime no longer wriggling, and his eyes vacant as he murmured, "Kill... kill me."

This was Gong Qiying's idea, just like in the Dungeon War: to release the severely weakened enemy and let people finish them off.

At this moment, Iliphis no longer needed to worry.

"As you wish."

Gong Qiying snapped his fingers and simultaneously shifted his consciousness to the outside world to watch the show.

Iliphis felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, followed by a dizzying spin, and then the smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils, along with the sounds of shouting and killing.

"This is..."

He looked up blankly, only to find himself back at Founding Plaza.

The monster crisis brought about by the Meteor Shower is almost over; the number of monsters has dwindled to less than one-tenth, and victory seems imminent.

His appearance undoubtedly attracted everyone's attention.

"Iliphis! He actually came out!"

"He seems to be out of strength. I'll tear this bastard to pieces! I'm going to kill him!"

"Wait, we should arrest him and put him on trial!"

The crowd was outraged; everyone stared at him as if they wanted to tear him to pieces, hating him like a rat in the street.

This was the kind of look that Iliphis least wanted to see.

He had painstakingly planned for many years, all for the sake of becoming a superior person, receiving everyone's admiration, and never again being looked down upon!

Now, the way people look at him is more painful than killing him, the ultimate pain!

"Sean!"

He wanted to question why the Zane Dungeon didn't just kill him outright, but instead went through the trouble of sending him out to be judged by the eyes of these lowly people!

However, he suddenly remembered something.

The Zane Dungeon, it seems, was originally known for its underworld malice towards humanity, right?

So, this underground city, not content with his wish to die at the hands of a powerful being, sent him out to be judged by the crowd.

This is the greatest and deepest malice from Sion!

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Defeated, tormented by Frenzied Flame, abyss, and corruption, and then executed by the gaze of the crowd, all these things piled up, plunging him into an even deeper despair. The demonic bloodline within him responded to this despair, and even in his exhausted state, a new power suddenly emerged within him!

Demons are creatures with incredible resilience, several dimensions stronger than cockroaches!

A thicker, stickier slime appeared on Iliphis's body, and his size even swelled up, his body completely mutated into a humanoid black eagle, no longer resembling a human at all.

"I'll do it." Jia Paer drew his weapon, his expression serious, but a smile still played on his lips. "So Zane Dungeon wants us to defeat the demons ourselves? I understand."

However, Leon, who was panting and recovering his strength beside him, reached out to stop him and said, "Teacher, you should rest for a while. Someone will come to end Iliphis."

As he spoke, Leon pointed in a certain direction.

There appeared Elsa, carrying a giant sword and staggering along!

She leaned on her greatsword with one hand and carried Sally on her back with the other. Her face was pale and she looked unwell, but her steps were very firm as she walked resolutely toward Iliphis.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and her gaze at Iliphis was filled with a desire to tear him to pieces!

"Iliphis— "

Elsa let out a roar like a raging beast, put Sally down, and suddenly burst into flames that shot straight into the sky. She transformed into a fiery meteor and rushed in front of Iliphis, slashing down with her greatsword!

In an instant, Iliphis was split in two, but the mud reconnected his body, and demonic energy burst forth from the inside out, attempting to blast Elsa away.

However, the latter firmly plunged the greatsword into his chest, withstanding the impact of the demonic energy, and with an upward strike, almost cut Iliphis in two again.

"Ahh!"

The greatsword and the flames wrapped around it seemed to be particularly effective against Iliphis his current state, even to the point of being a special attack, causing him excruciating pain no less than that of being burned by Frenzied Flame!

"Dorian, you piece of trash! Why are you here?!"

The Demon King's blood caused Iliphis to evolve once again. His giant hand, like an eagle's claw, grabbed Elsa, but in a flash of fire, his five fingers fell to the ground!

"Roar--"

He let out a roar completely devoid of humanity, and the torrent of silt finally struck Elsa, knocking her to the ground. Countless upper bodies of the dead emerged from the silt, frantically grabbing at Elsa.

Upon closer inspection, all the dead were mercenaries from the Light Eagle Legion. In fact, the closest to her were members of the Assault Team, their eyes wide open, as if they were saying to Elsa, "Why didn't you come to save us!"

Elsa's struggles faltered for a moment, but when she met Iliphis's gaze and saw the smugness in his eyes, she erupted in flames once more.

The flames covering her entire body scattered all the corpses made of mud around her, and within the flames, the girl's form also changed.

Her hands and feet shifted towards the canine monster, and burning flames formed furry Beast Claw on her hands and feet. A beast tail made of flames fluttered behind her, and even ears like those of a female canine Orcs grew on her head, also made of flames!

She opened her eyes, now tinged with bestiality, her emotions burning fiercely!

No one knows what she just went through.

After being injected with Beastification Blood, her willpower struggled against the erosion of the beast form, and under the manipulation of a demon named Dorian, she witnessed all sorts of despairing scenes.

Sally's inhumane torture, the Assault Team sacrificed by Iliphis, and Dorian's gentle persuasion all contributed to her descent into depravity, causing her body to exhibit obvious bestial tendencies.

However, just before she fell, Iliphis reappeared in the world as Demon King Bloodline, and his demonic energy spread throughout most of the country.

At the same time she sensed the Demon King's aura, Elsa's identity as Brave underwent an unexpected change.

An unprecedented power appeared within her body, her will seemed to be purified, her beast transformation was forcibly stopped, and it was even assimilated into her power.

This power that appears in the body upon sensing the aura of the Demon King could perhaps be called the Hero's Power?

She immediately broke free from Dorian's restraints, slapped him away with her sword, and carried the weakened Sally on her back towards the Leyndell. The Hero's Power only appeared for a moment to help her escape danger, so on the way there, her body was staggering because of the pain of her beast transformation.

Now, facing Iliphis has once again unleashed the power of the Demon King's blood, the Hero's Power has reappeared within Elsa's body!

Iliphis he sensed the aura of a "natural enemy" emanating from his opponent!

"You, you are!"

Before he could finish speaking, his head suddenly separated from his body, flames scorching the severed area, making it impossible to regenerate.

Iliphis's face contorted, and he shouted with intense hatred:

"Brave!"

His enormous body suddenly condensed, splitting into hundreds of clones, each carrying overwhelming demonic energy, all attacking Elsa in unison.

At this time.

"Then!"

Matilda threw a suit of armor at Elsa, which appeared on her body in the blink of an eye—it was Hell March!

"That armor!" Someone recognized Matilda's weapon and knew something was wrong; they were about to see the person who had injured them.

However, things did not go as she expected. The Hell March unleashed its full power the moment it made contact with Elsa, and a golden phantom appeared around her!

Wait, gold?

Matilda, lying on the ground, stared wide-eyed again. How could she have never seen such a colored phantom before? How could the Hell March have abilities she had never seen before?

Elsa stood with her sword drawn, and countless golden phantoms appeared around her. When she opened her eyes, which were burning with flames, all the phantoms were fully formed!

All sorts of faces appeared in the phantoms: afterimages encountered in the Zane Dungeon, adventurers met during adventures, and the Light Eagle Legion's Assault Team —ten, a hundred, a thousand—and the number of phantoms continued to increase!

"Is that me?" Ta Mi stared in shock at the golden phantom that looked exactly like him, and was stunned.

When did I die?

The dead, the living, and all those connected to Elsa appeared in the phantom!

The weapons were once divine Divine Artifact of Brave. When the Hell March came into contact with the Hero's Power and the aura of demon kings, they briefly regained their effects as Divine Artifact!

When the Brave battles the demon king, all those who knew her in the past, those who showed her kindness or those she helped, those who loved her and those she loved will transform into endless golden war gods at this moment!

The golden phantom gave Elsa a sincere smile, then turned its gaze to Iliphis.

Iliphis's clones were like sand and waves in the face of the far greater number of golden phantoms.

"Wait, this isn't right!"

Those who appear as Elsa's phantoms are precisely the people that Iliphis hates the most and least wants to see!

Lu Lu Wo, the Assault Team, Sally— familiar figures Iliphis almost mad. At that moment, the triple effects of Frenzied Flame, Corruption, and the Abyss reappeared on him! Under the dual torment of physical and mental pain, he launched a hysterical attack, his clones almost covering the entire Leyndell. This single strike could destroy the Leyndell!

Elsa's face was no longer filled with anger, but rather with peace and righteousness, just like the idealized Brave in people's legends.

She looked at the golden phantom beside her, at those she would see again and those she would never see again, and nodded.

The phantom nodded slightly to her.

"Go! Go for it!" Ta Mi shouted from the crowd, and everyone cheered and swung their fists at Iliphis in the sky!

So, Elsa and the endless phantoms charged up towards Iliphis from below.

Darkness and golden light collided violently at this moment.

Even in the distant Warrior Country, the clash of the two distinct colors was clearly visible!

In the Royal Palace of the Warrior Country, an old man dressed in magnificent robes witnessed this spectacle and exclaimed:

"This is the true spirit of Warrior! I want to promote this!"

The darkness of Iliphis seemed capable of devouring everything, yet the golden light representing hope was endless. As long as the Brave remained connected to the people, the golden light would not disappear.

"No!"

Filled with intense resentment, Iliphis let out a final, agonizing scream!

Golden light pierced through the last darkness, and the night that had obscured the sky vanished in that instant.

The sunlight dispelled the shadows, and the purple starlight disappeared into the universe.

The turmoil brought about by the Light Eagle Legion began on this day and ended on this day as well. Today is destined to be a day that will be remembered in history.

All those who experienced the turmoil firsthand, when they later reminisce about this period, will recall an unforgettable scene.

That was the ray of sunlight that appeared on the horizon after the Brave broke through the darkness—

A golden skyline.