The Demigod's Betrayal

Seeing the Water Elemental Lord before him remain silent, Sgelari couldn't help but speak up.

Sgelari (Hydra demigod): "Now, can you give me the Water of Life?"

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Of course, it's yours now." Xiao Yu said, throwing the Water of Life into Sgelari's gaping mouth.

If he had been worried about not being able to control Sgelari when he was still a high-level BOSS, now that he's a three-skull level being, his strength is quite similar to that of this Hydra demigod. In addition, with the bond of the oath, he's not worried about the other party betraying him. Besides, he has a backup plan.

Sgelari opened its massive maw and swallowed the entire bottle of the Water of Life. At first, it remained calm, but soon, Sgelari change occurred. Sgelari previously battered and broken body began to writhe, as if something was moving beneath its skin. The aged skin was torn apart, revealing fresh, tender flesh beneath. Layers of decaying keratin peeled away, revealing new skin growing underneath. Even its broken forelimbs grew new ones. It was as if the entire process of a creature's growth was being played out in fast motion. Almost instantly, Sgelari seemed to have grown larger. It shook its enormous body violently, and pieces of shed keratin fell off, as if breaking free from its constraints and radiating new vitality.

All nine serpent heads were raised high, no longer in their previous dejected state. The enormous hydra demigod let out a joyful roar, long and drawn out, which spread far and wide through the sea. The entire ocean seemed to be shaken, and the nearby sea beasts and fish scattered in fright. In the blink of an eye, only Azathoth and Sgelari remained in a large area of the surrounding sea.

Looking at the completely transformed giant beast before him, Xiao Yu suddenly noticed that its condition had also changed.

Sgelari (Hydra demigod), level 60, -- a four-skull-level BOSS. Perhaps due to drinking the Water of Life, he has actually increased his rank by 24.5 million HP, which is almost double what it was before.

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Good, it seems you have fully recovered."

Sgelari (Hydra demigod): "Of course, I feel more powerful than ever before, as if I've returned to the days when I was the ruler of the ocean. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for that. But I have to say, perhaps we should change our past relationship. Although I don't mind serving you, it seems a bit inappropriate for a noble demigod to serve an elemental being. It's time to make a change."

Xiao Yu was speechless. It was truly a case of good intentions gone unrewarded; did they have to turn on him so quickly?

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Heh, betraying me as soon as you regain your power, how utterly unoriginal. Is this how you repay my kindness?"

Sgelari (Hydra demigod): "I think you've misunderstood Lord Azathoth. Our relationship is nothing more than a transaction. Of course, I still have some respect for you. To avoid an awkward ending, I think you'd better break your oath to me; otherwise, I will have to do something I'm forced to do."

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Come on then, if you dare. But I must warn you, there are usually only two outcomes if you break your oath. The first is to break free of the oath and gain your freedom. The second is worse; if you fail to break the oath, you will lose all autonomy. The mark of the oath will be firmly imprinted on your soul, and from then on you will have no ability to resist, becoming my slave completely."

Sgelari (Hydra demigod): "Of course I know all this, and I don't need you to teach me, young Elemental Lords. But my destiny has been out of my own hands for far too long, and for all of this, I'm willing to give it a try."

As the demigod hydra spoke, it suddenly raised its massive head, opened its enormous jaws, and lunged at Xiao Yu.

System notification: Your sworn follower, Sgelari (a Hydra demigod), is attempting to break your oath. You are under attack by Sgelari. If you are defeated or killed, your oath will be forcibly broken. If you defeat him, your oath level will be raised to [Irreversible].

As the Hydra's massive maw lunged at him, Xiao Yu remained calm. Although Sgelari was now a rank higher than him, it had a debuff—a negative status effect—due to the oath.

Oathbreaker: You have broken the oath you made, and your soul is condemned as a result. All your attributes are reduced by 50% for 10 minutes. You must defeat your oath-bearer within this time, or you will never be able to break your oath again.

In the Sky World, oaths can be broken, but at a high price. To break an oath, one must defeat the oath-taker with 50% of their attributes reduced. This shows that the Sgelari is quite confident in its strength. It's no wonder it's so confident, as it's an enormous creature with an exceptionally high health pool. A fully recovered Sgelari has over 20 million health points, while Xiao Yu's health is only a "mere" 6 million.

Moreover, Sgelari is a demigod template, which is even more powerful than the lord template. Most importantly, Sgelari has nine heads, each with a different attribute. Therefore, stacking resistances in Sgelari is almost meaningless unless you can stack all the resistances. Otherwise, one of the heads will always deal you extremely high damage.

Under normal circumstances, Xiao Yu really couldn't guarantee he could win.

However, he is not in a normal situation now.

(Luckily, I was prepared. I dug a pit, and you bastard, you couldn't wait to jump in), Xiao Yu thought, and directly pulled out the Scourge of the Ocean.

Weapon special effect: Sea God's Command activated.

Sea God's Command: Commands the Marine Life in the surrounding seas to fight for you and obey you. This effect gradually weakens as the creature's template level increases.

Logically, this effect should be very poor for a demigod like Sgelari, but the Oathbreaker much for him to handle. Xiao Yu is an Elemental Lords, and the effect of the Sea God's Command is amazing. The combination of the oath effect and the Sea God's Command effect makes it irresistible for Sgelari. His big mouth is open, but he just can't bite it.

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "In the name of the sea god, I command you to submit to me!" Xiao Yu said to Sgelari.

Sgelari (Hydra demigod): "No, this is impossible, what is this thing?"

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "The Scourge of the Ocean, a legendary artifact of the sea god, how come I've never seen it? Heh, it seems your so-called oldest creature in the world is nothing special, not even knowing about the Scourge of the Ocean."

Sgelari (Hydra demigod): "This—this is impossible! I will not—yield! This shouldn't be— Sgelari's fate!"

It struggled, its enormous body twisting and turning as if trying to break free of invisible shackles. Its nine heads lunged at the Water Elemental Lord, but they seemed to have hit an invisible wall, retreating before reaching him. The power of the artifact overwhelmed him, preventing him from advancing any further, until time ticked by.

System notification: You have defeated Sgelari. Sgelari's oath of allegiance to you has been upgraded. It is now your property and cannot resist you in any way.

Xiao Yu thought to himself, "Hehe, this is really convenient."

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Demigod, the game is over. Your destiny now belongs to me."

Looking at the Hydra, now utterly dejected, Xiao Yu gave a cold smile.

Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "As punishment for your betrayal, I have a task for you."