Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
The Duke Fiend lowered its head and gazed at the pathetic little bugs. The aura of Order releasing from their body infuriated and disgusted the Duke Fiend. Not only that, it realized that there was a strange undulation in one of them. That was the undulation of a seal and the Duke Fiend was most familiar with it. It was this damn seal that trapped itself for more than a thousand years. The Duke Fiend frowned and the raging flames on its body surged along with its emotions. No one dared to resist its tremendous might. The Elderly Mage held his staff and stared with widened eyes while beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead.
Corina hugged her silver bow tightly and her slender stature shuddered as the Duke Fiend swept its glance at them. Di lowered his head unusually to avoid eye contact with the Duke Fiend. Although the Dark Dragon held similar presence, Di understood how pitiful it felt to be noticed by the Devil. The group felt as though they had been washed into a large whirlpool. Even though they were in the land of Order, there was an indescribable fear growing in their hearts and an unexplainable urge to scream frantically to vent their emotions. This instinctual conflict had almost broken their intellect and terrorized their heart and soul entirely.
The group was stricken into silence even though they were powerful beings that had entered the Legendary Stage. Although they had certain deficiencies in various aspects, they still had legendary strength. Not to mention, their beliefs and confidence had more resolution after entering the Legendary Stage. They could fail and make mistakes, but their willpower wouldn’t waver. As for them, there was nothing more frightening than the wavering of their souls because that was the first step in destroying everything that they had. At this moment, even the Undead Knight standing beside Di quietly was gripping her longsword tightly while her scarlet eyes trembled in fear.
A gaze from the Duke Fiend was enough to sway the most determined part in their hearts.
“Slaves of Order,” the Duke Fiend let out a proud snort. It had no intentions of being here and interact with these humble bugs. The seal was his pain and dead knot. The Copper Mirror wasn’t just a simple decoration. It was what remained of the power of the Dragon Soul Successors who once defeated it. If its strength was restricted by the chains that bound around it, the Copper Mirror would be the lock on the chains and as long as it was obliterated, the Duke Fiend would receive its true freedom.
After the Angel that it had contaminated was killed, the Duke Fiend ignored these tiny and weak ant-like presences because it believed that they would eventually fall within the Chaos Realm. However, it seemed that these ants were too stubborn which forced the Duke Fiend to take matters into its own hands and stop them from leaving. It would mean nothing but trouble if these lowly beings escaped with the seal.
“Lowly maggots. What you’ve done is all meaningless!” The Duke Fiend’s resonant voice buzzed in their eardrums. Then, it extended its arm towards Rhode. As a presence born in unlimited Chaos, the Duke Fiend sensed the faint Order Forcefield from Rhode clearly. Although this forcefield was insignificant, it was too glaring for the Duke Fiend to ignore. It couldn’t wait to annihilate this annoying presence entirely.
A five meters long hand swatted towards Rhode while the others froze to the spot from the Duke Fiend’s intimidating presence. But, in fact, they were actually focusing their willpower in holding down the franticness in the deepest part of their hearts. If they couldn’t hold it in, they would be devoured completely and lose their lives.
However, Rhode didn’t need to.
He lifted his head toward its gigantic palm. But Rhode’s mind was somehow clear and bright without any traces of nervousness. At this moment, not only was he aware of what the Duke Fiend was up to, but he also knew what he should do.
Rhode unsheathed his daggers.
An illusionary radiance emerged on their blades before extending and merging with Rhode’s arms as one. Rhode leaped skywards and struck towards the Duke Fiend’s palm with his arms in a crisscross posture.
Foolish mortals!
The Duke Fiend was slightly curious as to why this half-dead human wasn’t affected by his overpowering presence. However, this curiosity turned into unprecedented fury in a split second. The Duke Fiend snarled and grabbed for Rhode to crush him into minced meat. It wasn’t worried that this pathetic human could resist it at all—until the two daggers pierced its palm.
Rhode stared at the palm swatting towards him and gritted his teeth. He struck the twin light blades forward and the illusionary blades penetrated the Duke Fiend’s palm. Dark flames exploded abruptly and almost shrouded Rhode entirely. However, Rhode stared at the spot where his light blades had punctured forcefully.
A black spot emerged.
The dark flames that assailed Rhode’s face had as though been absorbed by a presence. Shortly after, the flames on the Duke Fiend’s arm began to surge and they were absorbed into the black spot swiftly. Not only the flames, but the Duke Fiend’s palm also began to twist towards the black spot.
“Ahhh!” the Duke Fiend let out a blood-curdling screech as it swung its arm and the powerful strength swept Rhode away. Rhode couldn’t resist the Duke Fiend’s immense strength at all. He crashed and rolled for more than 20 meters on the ground before finally rolling to a stop. Furthermore, the extended light blades on his wrists crumbled under its powerful might and shattered into dust. Also, the dazzling radiance on the two daggers flashed once and dimmed drastically.
Cough cough… Rhode’s physique had naturally toughened after transcending into the middle level of the Legendary Stage. But even at this moment, he couldn’t defeat the Duke Fiend in one blow. He lifted his head and gazed forward.
The Duke Fiend raised its right palm and this was the first time this gigantic, pitch-black figure began to tremble. The tiny black spot in its palm was absorbing everything around it like a black hole. Not only did it suck in the dark flames on the Duke Fiend’s body, but neither its palm and arm were also not spared. The Duke Fiend let out a furious outcry and the dark flames on its body erupted to match against the tiny ‘black hole’.
“Go! Do you people wanna die here?” Rhode’s voice startled the group. As the Duke Fiend wailed, Corina and the others could feel the pressure around them lessen and the frantic dark flames had been weakened significantly. They were less than 200 meters away from the Intersection Boundary which was the end point of their long, tiring escape.
As Rhode darted forward, he felt his body was on the verge of collapsing as though he was a tattered rag doll from his head to toe and any exertion of force would split his limbs apart. Rhode wasn’t sure if he could survive even if he made it to his destination. But now, he had no time to hesitate.
He still wished to survive, at least.
“Damn maggots. How are you…!” The Duke Fiend was in a towering rage. It was as though a child that tried to squash an ant got bitten by it in return. And afterward, the other ants seized the opportunity to escape from him too.
The ‘black hole’ eventually wasn’t able to resist the Duke Fiend’s strength. The Duke Fiend unleashed its powers fully and finally demolished the black spot. In order to destroy this ‘black hole’, it sacrificed almost half of its arm. But this little damage was insignificant to the Duke Fiend fueled by Chaos because, soon, the dark flames burst out from its body blazed along its lost arm. In a blink of an eye, the dark flames restored its missing arm and the Duke Fiend turned around to grab Rhode once more.
The Intersection Boundary was in sight.
Just ahead!
Rhode gazed at the scenery before him and gritted his teeth subconsciously. He could feel the anger and death threats spreading from the Duke Fiend behind him. At this moment, he felt that his body couldn’t hang on anymore. His vision began to blur and his steps were slow and in disarray. The eagerness in his mind couldn’t coordinate with his movements at all as though this broken body had reached its limits and crumbled…
At this moment, a blurry palm emerged before Rhode. “Grab onto me!”
The voice sounded so far away, but Rhode extended his arm without hesitation and grabbed it. He felt a strong tug and was lifted into the air instantly. Then, he crash-landed and rolled over the final dividing line.
Rhode widened his eyes and witnessed the pure, dazzling Light Dragon Soul above and also the contrasting, blurry, black figure hovering over him. But now, Rhode wasn’t worried anymore.
“Canary, Bubbles, I’ll leave it to you two,” Rhode transmitted his final thoughts and he sunk into endless darkness completely.
“S-Sir!” Corina rolled over in panic as she gaped at Rhode unconscious above her. She was clear that it was all thanks to this man with a black mask that they could hang on all the way. If not, they would never be able to escape the hands of the Duke Fiend with their strength. But, what about now? We heeded his words and escaped to the safety of the Dragon Soul. So what’s next?
Corina didn’t have an answer. She couldn’t even move and it wasn’t because of Rhode laying above her. Instead, it was the Duke Fiend’s stare that froze her on the spot. Just gazing into the pair of threatening eyes was enough for the fear in Corina’s heart to take over her mind. She tried to lift her silver bow innately, but her hand had weakened from her fears.
Is this the end?
The Duke Fiend stretched its right arm forward furiously. This time, it wasn’t in the mood for games anymore. It was going to annihilate these slaves of Order, destroy the seal, and reach its goal. Corina was helpless and the only thing she could do now was to gaze blankly at the black palm striking towards her.
However, at this moment, her entire world brightened in a flash.
An enormous, dazzling light column descended from the sky and crushed the Duke Fiend’s extended arm. The Duke Fiend shrieked mournfully and at the same time, its right arm dissipated under the mysterious white radiance.
“Oh, Lord. Duke Fiend?! That’s our Leader, indeed. Always luring extraordinary creatures.” A young lady clad in a white, cleric robe emerged within the light column.
“Its seal hasn’t been unlocked. Bubbles, it isn’t even level 70 now. Take it down and cut off its connections with the Bottomless Abyss!”
Canary gazed at the Duke Fiend before her and commanded with a stern expression. Then, the young lady lifted her arms and coalesced a magical rune bursting with unlimited powers. On the other side, Bubbles lifted her left hand, squinted and let out a snort.
“Return!” As the young lady snarled, a dazzling white column soared through the clouds and the shattered Dragon Soul protective barrier restored like a broken mirror transforming back to its perfect condition. The restored beautiful sky continued to spread all the way.
“No!” The Duke Fiend didn’t expect such a twist to the situation. All of a sudden, the Dragon Soul protection regenerated from the white radiance broke the Chaos Realm and once again shrouded the sky above it. At the same time, the Orderly Forcefield returned to its rightful nature and cut off the powers between the Duke Fiend and the Bottomless Abyss swiftly.
However, this was merely the start.
Canary extended her arms.
The green elemental wind gathered on her tender palms and diffused abruptly, forming hundreds of wind chains that bound the Duke Fiend to the spot. Even though the Duke Fiend was bellowing frantically and the Chaos Flame on its body was blazing, it couldn’t affect the manacles of the wind chains.
“Oh my goodness…” Corina’s jaws dropped as this brilliant scene unfolded in her eyes. The Moon Elf lady was dubious if she were in a dream. Was this the horrifying Duke Fiend that made us escape so miserably? Who are those two girls? How are they so powerful?
“Do you think you can beat me? Dream on! I am the Duke Fiend and I represent the will of Chaos. All of you ants can’t possibly defeat Chaos!” The Duke Fiend raved in rage. Dark lightning bolts burst out of its body and struck towards everyone. In an instant, the massive lightning strikes shook the entire earth violently and left horrible damage to the surface. These dark lightning bolts formed long whips that lashed out towards them. However, they collided into an invisible barrier and disappeared as they were smashed into bits instantly.
“That’s all you got? A brain-dead, powerless Devil like you wants to fight us? Did you really think we’re some dumb newbies?” Bubbles revealed a look of disdain. She pushed her right arm forward and displayed a complicated, yet holy hand gesture.
Meanwhile, Canary hovered in midair with her eyes half-closed. She chanted an incomprehensible spell and lines of runes emerged around her to form a halo as they revolved gracefully. That was the execution of the most advanced rule and was also a symbol of a player at her highest point.
The air began to turn hot and dry. Corina gazed at the young lady hovering in midair blankly. As a race that was extremely sensitive to the magical elements, Corina sensed how pure and intense the powers of the Fire Element gathering by her hands were. If one were to shut one’s eyes to feel it, perhaps one could feel that the young lady was holding on to a miniature sun.
Canary pushed her arms forward and stopped chanting at the same time. The runes spiraling around her drifted forward and gathered into an enormous and gorgeous ancient ritual circle.
A golden ray of light projected and struck the Duke Fiend’s body. However, it didn’t seem to deal any damage to it. Actually, it wasn’t meant to be used as an attack.
It was a guiding ray.
A blustering energy burst along the guiding ray and a scarlet, earth-shattering explosion devoured the Duke Fiend. The scorching heat and incomparable powers spread apart instantly and even the clouds high in the sky had dissipated. The tough Duke Fiend had to lift its arms to defend itself for the first time. However, it wasn’t able to hang on for long. It was as though its blazing dark flames stood against the overwhelming flames of the sun and vanished completely.
The Duke Fiend had lost its prestige and the protection of the unlimited Chaotic Forcefield from the Bottomless Abyss. The body formed by pure Chaos had been battered horrendously and began to rupture. The Duke Fiend lifted its head hopelessly and raised its arm for a final struggle.
However, at this moment, a hexagram formed by white rays emerged beneath the Duke Fiend’s feet. Then, its matchless, blinding radiance erupted into the sky from its six points before transforming into six enormous, spotlessly white swords aiming at the Duke Fiend.
“Return to the abyss! Slut!” Bubbles slapped her hands together.
The giant light swords whizzed and penetrated the Duke Fiend’s body while the hexagram ritual circle shone. The Duke Fiend yowled as bright, dazzling cracks emerged on its pitch-black body as though it were a fragile sculpture. The Duke Fiend gave up its struggles while the spider web-like cracks spread across its entire body.
Shortly after, a pure, holy radiance from above shone and engulfed it completely.
