Chapter 800

【 EXPECTATION 】

After hearing Beelzebub’s words, the other demons looked at one another before lowering their heads, not daring to make a sound.

Seeing this, Beelzebub’s expression became unpleasant.

The massive demon took a bite of the unknown flesh offered by the serving succubus, his already bloated body trembled slightly as his eyes revealed a trace of impatience.

“A bunch of useless fools! Keep searching! The First Layer is only so large. Are you telling me you still cannot find a single Hell Core?”

As Beelzebub spoke, he swallowed the flesh in one bite and wiped his mouth. Then, when Beelzebub reached toward the tray in the succubus’ hands again, he discovered that the plate was already empty.

Beelzebub slightly frowned and looked displeasedly at the trembling Demons below.

“Leave!”

He snorted coldly.

The other Demons felt as if they had been granted mercy as they respectfully bowed before hurriedly retreating.

However, seeing their actions, Beelzebub’s anger only grew.

“Stop! Come back!”

The Demons froze slightly.

Beelzebub narrowed his eyes.

“How do you usually leave while serving under Azazel?”

The demons shuddered. Then, without hesitation, they threw themselves onto the ground and rolled out of the palace in a round, awkward manner.

Beelzebub nodded in satisfaction.

“Now that’s more like it…”

He subconsciously reached toward the food tray again, only to find nothing there. Only then did he realize that he had already finished eating.

Feeling annoyed, Beelzebub fiercely pinched the succubus’ thigh and under the succubus’ pale expression, he sneered.

“Prepare more food next time. Otherwise, I’ll eat you instead!”

All the demons hurriedly retreated in fear.

Soon, only Beelzebub remained inside Azazel’s palace.

Standing by the window, he gazed at the city outside with an unreadable expression.

“Lately, more and more Abyssal Myths are entering the First Layer… I must find Azazel’s core before those two bastards, Belial and Mammon could find it!”

༺⟐༻

Wasteland of Desolation, Fallen God Canyon.

The battle to attack the Demon Fortress was already nearing its end.

The three Ancient Dragons who had pursued the Abyssal Myths had already returned, and the remaining three Demon Kings ultimately failed to escape.

The strongest among them had been held back by Mars.

Later, Evé used the Gate of Reversal to teleport the demon directly into the Labyrinth Dungeon.

The other two, on the other hand, whose strength was slightly weaker, were just eliminated.

There was no other reason other than they were simply too ugly and might frighten the younger players.

These days, she did not accept just about any random creature into the Labyrinth. At the very least, one needed to be presentable and fit the right aesthetics to join the dungeon boss ranks and be inspected by the players.

Without the Abyssal Myths holding them back, the Legendary-ranked Demons within the demon army were even less of a threat to the three Mythical Dragons.

With just a single clash, they were completely annihilated by the dragons.

And after losing the protection of their strongest forces, the walls of the Demon Fortress were finally blasted apart by the players’ magic cannons.

Witnessing the fall of the Abyssal Myths, the demons had already lost the last trace of their fighting spirit and completely collapsed into an all-out retreat.

However, by relying on the incantation provided to her by Azazel, Evé had already temporarily taken control of the Dimensional Hell Gate, and so, the remaining demons could no longer escape back into Hell.

A brutal battle erupted inside the fortress.

The main force of the player army that had charged inside clashed with the demon army.

However… calling it a brutal battle was somewhat inaccurate.

It was more like a one-sided massacre.

The demons, who had lost their will to fight and had nowhere left to run, could only defend themselves while attempting to flee outside the fortress. In many places, internal conflicts even broke out as they began slaughtering one another.

Some demons even started destroying the untouched parts of their own fortress, grabbing whatever valuables they could find before escaping toward less crowded areas outside the stronghold.

Looking across the battlefield, the entire Fallen God Canyon had become scattered and chaotic.

This scene left Evé, who stood beside the Dimensional Gate, completely stunned.

She thought to herself that demons truly lived up to their name. Once they lost the restraints of their higher-ups, they immediately became nothing more than a scattered mess.

The reason these demons had survived until now was because of their enormous numbers and the fact that the the Abyss’ innate suppression against True Gods was quite powerful.

Otherwise, the entire Demonkind would have likely been exterminated by the armies of the gods long ago.

But from another perspective, if the demons were united like some races of the Prime Material Realm, the entire realms across this universe would probably have already been dragged into the Abyss.

This made Evé think of another possibility.

If the Abyss truly possessed its own consciousness, then perhaps its intelligence was not very high, or perhaps its control over the demons was simply too weak.

Otherwise, the Abyss’s Will would only need to select a single Demon Lord to unify all the Fallen Abyssal Realms.

If that happened, a disaster for the entire Prime Material Realm would arrive.

The battlefield within Fallen God Canyon had completely descended into chaos. The scale of the disorder was even more exaggerated than when the demons had fled during their failed invasion of the world of Seigües.

Unfortunately, the number of players was ultimately far smaller than the number of demons.

When the demons began fleeing in every direction, many players wanted to chase them down and stop them, but they simply lacked the manpower to do so.

Thus, rather than exhausting themselves chasing scattered escapees, it was far more efficient to eliminate the unlucky demons trapped inside the fortress.

At this moment, the bombardment from the magic cannons had already ceased.

The battlefield commander, Ji Gang, had also given up trying to control the situation.

Besides, there was no longer any need for him to oversee the command.

The main force of players that had entered the fortress had already descended into a frenzy of slaughter. Aside from members of their own guilds, most players could no longer be directed or controlled.

Only then did Ji Gang gradually calm down.

After being carried away by their continuous victories, he finally regained his composure and realized that although his commanding ability had improved greatly, there was still a considerable gap between him and Brother Li Mu.

“If it were him commanding… even after breaking into the fortress, Boss Li Mu would probably still be able to keep the main force under his control, right?”

Ji Gang could not help but think so.

Then, another thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

What if Sister Féng was the one commanding?

Although Sister Féng had never personally led a battle through voice chat, Ji Gang had received plenty of advice from her while commanding the army.

At first, because she had a very high reputation among the veterans, he had shown her respect on the surface, but he had not truly taken her seriously.

However, after several battles, Sister Féng had always been able to identify his problems with just a few words and help him fix his mistakes.

Only then did he realize that this Sister Féng from the Moe Moe Committee truly had impressive abilities.

To be honest, he had even considered recruiting her to become the vice leader of his guild, the Calamity Knights.

However, it was nothing more than a passing thought.

Féng was Little Salty Cat’s friend, and that monster-like middle school student was someone he still did not want to provoke.

With that thought, Ji Gang could not help but look around.

“Eh? Where’s Sister Féng?”

“Could she have gone to the front lines to kill monsters again because she got bored?”

༺⟐༻

The divine light of the Goddess shone brilliantly in the sky, resembling the most beautiful sight on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the players were filled with high morale and overflowing fighting spirit.

Whether it was because the continuous rewards from their frenzied pursuit and slaughter kept motivating them, or because the Goddess was watching over them from above and they wanted to perform well in front of her, no one knew exactly…

The fortress built around the entire volcano was enormous. It was more than capable of housing over a million demon troops, so the mere ninety thousand players had plenty of space to operate.

The entire fortress was now engulfed in smoke and flames.

The battle continued for an entire day and night before gradually coming to an end.

By that time, aside from the demons who had managed to escape, all remaining enemies within the Demon Fortress had been completely eliminated by the players.

Currently the fortress—still emitting thick smoke—now had the flag of the Elven Faction planted upon its walls, fluttering continuously in the wind.

It was also designed by Dōngdōng.

However, unlike the red background and golden scepter emblem of the Maple Moon Territory, which was filled with a certain playful charm, this flag appeared much more refined.

The main color of the flag was green, and it still contained the symbol of the Scepter of Life.

However, surrounding the scepter was a circle of blue stars, representing the players.

According to Dōngdōng, the scepter represented the Goddess, while the stars represented them, the Chosen Ones. The green color at the bottom symbolized the Elven Forest.

The overall meaning of the flag was that the Chosen Ones living in the Elven Forest were warriors fighting for the Goddess.

Originally, Evé knew that this girl had wanted to directly print her own appearance onto the flag.

However, considering that no faction in Seigües would dare to boldly place the image of a True God on their banner, and fearing that it would lower their reputation with the church NPCs, Dōngdōng had ultimately been forced to reluctantly abandon the idea.

Inside the fortress, blood flowed like rivers, and demonic equipment was piled up everywhere, with much of it still left uncollected.

The foul stench spread throughout the area, practically becoming a biological weapon. Even with their sense of smell blocked, many players still felt dizzy from it.

In the end, the various guilds had no choice but to send their members to clean and purify the environment.

According to the Mythical Dragons, this fortress and the Dimensional Gate beside it would be preserved.

It would become one of the players’ bases within this world, as well as a forward base for attacking the Sixth Layer of Hell.

Therefore, it was better to properly deal with the environmental hazard as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, in the corners of the fortress, many players had already secretly taken out the magic materials they carried and begun drawing formation arrays on the ground.

The quality of demons varied greatly, and naturally, their equipment was the same.

Aside from the higher-ranking demon equipment that attracted their interest, most of the remaining items were neither worth purifying nor repairing.

As such, offering them to the Goddess in exchange for contribution points was much more practical, even if the Goddess only gave back a tiny amount as compensation.

Of course, this was also because the Goddess’ holy statue had already been established inside the fortress.

Otherwise, even if players attempted sending their loots to the Goddess, they would only receive a system notification:

“Not within the receiving area, unable to perform the offering ritual.”

“So the Goddess also had her own service range…”

That was a phrase commonly joked about by the players.

The Goddess’ holy statue was placed inside the largest hall of the fortress.

The hall was packed with players praying toward the statue, while outside the hall, a long queue had formed.

This had become a routine activity after every major battle.

Players who had accumulated enough contribution points would enter the game store to exchange for or repair damaged equipment.

Those who had gained enough experience and obtained advancement or class change opportunities would complete their advancement or class change through their personal interface.

Occasionally, bursts of laughter or cheers could be heard from the crowd.

Most likely, another lucky player had drawn something amazing from the lottery, or the game system had rewarded someone with an excellent skill during their class advancement.

Then, the other players would reveal expressions of envy and jealousy before continuing to pray sincerely toward the statue, silently chanting:

“May the Goddess bless me this time.”

In the fantasy world of Elven Kingdom, where there was a hidden mechanic known as “Goddess Favorability,” superstition seemed to actually have some basis.

Many players believed that the game system had an internal luck value, and the value was connected to their favorability with the Goddess.

Just call out for the Goddess’ blessing!

Meanwhile, high above the sky, the Goddess’ figure had long since disappeared.

Only dark clouds remained, constantly flashing with lightning.

However, compared to before, those clouds had already dissipated significantly.

Not only here, but in many other places as well.

This could also be considered another achievement of the players.

As they continued advancing deeper into the Wasteland of Desolation, and as more and more holy statues were erected throughout the region, the Abyssal power within this entire world seemed to be gradually weakening.

After the battle ended, the players continued messing around for several more hours before finally calming down.

After such an intense battle, even the most excited players were completely exhausted.

However, no one chose to leave.

Because the quest was not over yet.

Or perhaps…

The hidden quest had only just begun.

Sitting against the fortress wall, Ji Gang took out his water pouch and drank some water before looking toward the enormous Dimensional Gate beneath the volcano.

It was sinister and majestic.

A layer of darkness seemed to cover the inside of the gate, while boiling mist continuously swirled within.

The scene beyond the gate could not be seen clearly but nonetheless, he smiled slightly and opened the hidden quest that had been triggered during the assault on the Demon Fortress.

【Epic Storyline Quest: Enter Hell】

【Quest Background: The Seventh Demon Lord Azazel has been imprisoned within the Demon God Labyrinth by the great Goddess. As such, the First Layer of Hell has become the main battlefield of the war between gods and demons. In order to save himself, Azazel has revealed the location of his Hell Core to the Goddess…】

【Quest Objective: Before the other Gods and Demon Lords, assist the Goddess in obtaining the Origin Core of the First Layer and gain control over Azazel’s dominion in Hell…】

Looking at the system quest description and the generous rewards listed below, Ji Gang’s eyes shone brightly.

“The main battlefield of the war between the gods and demons?”

“I wonder what the legendary Angelic Legion and the army of the Human faction would really look like. Are they the same as the ones shown in the opening cinematic when the game was first released?”

Thinking about the opening animation he had watched countless times before, Ji Gang became even more excited.

His level was constantly increasing, the game’s available maps were becoming increasingly vast as time went on, the players’ forces were growing stronger, and the main storyline of the Elven Kingdom was becoming more and more fascinating.

He had gradually grown to truly love this game world.

By this point in the game, Ji Gang had already confirmed that the world of Seigües was merely one of the realms within the game’s entire setting, and the countless stars in this otherworldly sky were not merely cosmetic.

Each one actually represented another realm!

If he had the chance, he hoped that one day he could travel to every corner of this universe and witness the unique cultures and landscapes of each worlds out there.

Oh right, speaking of which…

He had heard that the entire map of Seigües had already been fully unlocked and made accessible to all players.

Once this questline concluded, I should to take my time and explore the world of Seigües in its entirety…

Ji Gang thought.

Moreover, Seigües was currently undergoing a so-called “mana resurgence.”

As such, mutated magical beasts could be found practically everywhere, making the land increasingly chaotic and dangerous, which in turn, make it the perfect setting for him to role-play as a wandering hero, one who traveled the world slaying demons and exterminating monsters along the way.

With these thoughts and expectations quietly lingering in his mind, Ji Gang wrapped himself tightly in his small blanket, turned over, and slowly drifted into sleep.