Merely glancing at it, Nol felt as though he was struck by an invisible hammer, plummeting from mid-air to the ground. His head buzzed and his vision blurred like beaten egg drop soup, taking a while to regain focus.
In just that moment, Nol was certain that this was an opponent they couldn't handle right now.
The oppression from the awakened Demon King was incomparably stronger than when it was asleep.
If he had to describe the feeling at that moment… It was like a newbie in a game accidentally entering the highest-level map and being lightly hit by the boss. That sense of despair, with damage exceeding the health bar by thousands of times, now bit down hard on Nol.
Ignoring the black-red blood flowing from his mouth and nose and the intense pain in his front claws, he struggled to his feet, hurling purification magic at the shadowy figures.
A brief vacuum appeared around Anakin, and in the next instant, the Mad Monk's golden thread shot over.
The thread wrapped around Anakin's wrist, pulling her towards the main group. Teest acted quickly, successfully pulling Anakin under the dragon's claw, where Painter grabbed her clothes, clinging to Nol's claw.
Nol immediately spread his wings, ready to fly away from the Demon King—although it seemed like an "isolated island", the farther they were, the safer.
The giant dragon's wings stirred up a wild wind. The shadowy figures raised their heads as dry branches and leaves easily passed through their bodies. Just as Nol was about to take off, his claw suddenly sank.
A huge shadow hand grabbed his hind claw, bringing indescribable cold and pain. Nol struggled, flapping his wings hard, his vision once again sweeping past the Demon King's position—
The Demon King had vanished.
Nol's heart skipped a beat. He lowered his body, and his gaze met the Demon King below. The creature extended a twisted arm, tightly gripping Nol's hind claw, its six pale light spots spinning chaotically.
It had teleported there.
Seeing no escape from the Demon King, Nol suddenly exerted force, flinging the four people on him far away. Painter protected the still unconscious Anakin, Fischer adjusted his position in time, and the three landed steadily hundreds of meters away.
Teest, clinging to the dragon horn, stubbornly remained on the black dragon.
"Worthy of being the two gods' adversary," Teest said, looking down at the Demon King unconcernedly, blood flowing from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
He knew it!
Nol dissolved the flesh on his hind claw. The bones scattered, and he endured the pain of regeneration before flapping his wings again. The Demon King crawled out of the soil in an unimaginable posture, climbing up through the air.
Its six deformed arms opened wide, and its lower body was full of swollen black tumors. It hovered in mid-air, resembling a broken spider on an invisible web in the center.
The black dragon was almost enveloped in this deformed "embrace", and compared to the gigantic Demon King, the Dracolich's massive body seemed petite.
His nostrils were filled with the strong smell of the sea and decay. The corruption surged, and the temperature dropped so low that wounds started to freeze.
Nol's head throbbed dizzily, realizing that losing his claws didn't solve the problem—high-concentration corruption spread along his bones. The snow-white skeleton gradually turned black. The pain was like being flayed alive. Nol's eyes darkened with agony, almost falling again.
Near the Demon King's head, figures continuously emerged. They opened their arms, embracing Nol, seemingly having lost all interest in Anakin.
Damn it. Besides Anakin, there was another Earthling here—himself!
Nol tried his best to erect a protective shield, attempting to activate [To My Compatriots], but the Demon King showed no reaction.
Tap, tap.
Curiously, the Demon King bent a finger and tapped on Nol's protective shield. Then, with a "crack," the Demon King's finger easily broke through Nol's full-strength protection, as if piercing through a wet piece of paper.
The dry, black finger slowly pulled down, peeling away the shield layer by layer. Nol had felt this kind of despair before, but the power difference between him and the Demon King was far greater than a newbie facing Lich Valdorlock.
Now, Nol had to admit, Knight Eugene's judgment was spot on; this reconnaissance was necessary.
The unique terrain of the Brick Mountains somewhat contained the spread of corruption. If the Demon King crossed the Brick Mountains, Nol couldn't think of anyone who could stop it—with Earth Players spread across every country, the Demon King would have to traverse all the lands. And wherever it passed, only corruption, darkness, and death would remain.
They must quickly bring this information back, gather the elite forces near the Brick Mountains, and protect this natural fortress… The problem was, they needed to survive first to deliver the message.
Stay calm.
Ignoring the pain, Nol racked his brain. This was just an exploration. He could come up with a solution. There must be other ways…
In the cold corruption, he felt a bit of warmth on his forehead. Teest, having just wiped the blood off his face, casually patted the Dracolich's head.
[This opponent is more interesting than the Eternalists. I haven't felt this way in years.] Teest swallowed a mouthful of blood, grinning. [Let's have some fun together, Lord Nol.]
Only the Mad Monk could turn the simple message of "I'm with you" into such a lengthy statement. Ignoring the severe pain in his claw, Nol wrapped them in layer upon layer of protective shields. [You've killed countless. Any inspiration?]
[I was just thinking, if those legends are true—the two gods joined forces against this thing, and now we two are up against it. It's quite poignant.]
Wow, such a grand statement, as if they weren't desperately fleeing for their lives—
Outside the shield, the Demon King twisted its shadow-like limbs, patiently unwrapping layer after layer of protection, like a five-year-old excitedly unwrapping zongzi. They didn't have much time left to think of a plan.
[Speaking of which, I personally don't have experience dealing with 'gods'. But I don't want to die here either. Save me, dear Lord Nol—]
Teest's tone was soft and sweet, but the killing intent on his body was growing stronger. He stared unblinkingly at the gap in the shield while golden threads sparkled between his fingers.
Such a frivolous fellow. Nol almost wanted to laugh. The intense pain blurred his vision for a moment.
All his considered plans, ABCD, none had worked.
[To My Compatriots] had no effect on the Demon King, and Kando's spatial movement was directly blocked. They were firmly trapped by the Demon King, and transfer magic was distorted.
All escape routes were blocked, but to stay and fight, their power was no match for the Demon King.
It was a matter of life and death. Facing the Demon King, the system should at least give him a task like [Seal the Demon King]. The system had always been active in matters related to the Demon King… Wait, the system?
Nol turned his bloodshot eyes, scanning the distorted terrain and the bizarre behavior of the shadows, and finally stopping at his front claw, injured by the strange wooden talisman.
The environment twisted by the Demon King was a power not belonging to this world.
They were invaders of this world.
…Invaders of Tahe.
Runes. As the Demon King's hand drew closer, Nol tensed up. He burned away his injured front claw, turning the resultant magic power into a line.
[SE125839156]
The moment the pale blue characters formed, a burst of blue fire exploded, mixing with the noisy system notification echoing in Nol's mind. It was blurry and distant, but definitely there—
[Emergency. High-performance firewall initiating. Special data freezing…]
[Freeze failed]
[Emergency. High-performance firewall initiating. Special data freezing…]
[Freeze failed]
[Emergency. High-performance firewall initiating. Special data freezing…]
[Freeze failed]
…..
Accompanied by a piercing sizzle, hundreds of semi-transparent blue pop-ups appeared in front of the Demon King's palm.
The pop-ups had no writing, just a giant warning symbol in the center. Its colors were murky and constantly flickering, multiplying ceaselessly. The moment the Demon King's dark fingertip touched the pop-up, a terrifying black spark flashed. It recoiled in pain, retreating slightly.
The pop-ups kept appearing around Nol, almost enveloping him completely. The wall of pop-ups diminished the Demon King's oppressive aura slightly, giving Nol, dragging his two injured claws, a moment to breathe.
Before he could fully catch his breath, as if afraid that Nol would escape, the Demon King embraced him again recklessly. Black sparks ignited once more, this time seemingly without pain, forcibly piercing through the wall of pop-ups.
"Hey!"
Nol switched to Mandarin, shouting directly at the Demon King. "What exactly do you want? Did you send the message 'Please kill me'?"
"Can you understand me? You—"
Hearing Nol's call, the Demon King halted its movements, then suddenly intensified its actions. The pop-ups sliced through countless shadow fragments, but it pushed forward with all its might, wildly flailing its arms. Nol focused on controlling the "firewall", not daring to make any superfluous movements.
Tiny black figures came from all directions, charging at the blue pop-ups and banging against them with their bodies.
[Emergency. High-performance firewall initiating. Special data freezing…]
[Freeze failed]
[Freeze failed]
[Freeze failed]
...
The system announcement continuously sounded, then suddenly, they all turned from normal blue to bright red, the edges flashing even more exaggeratedly.
[Warning. Operation ineffective. Overload. To avoid complete program collapse, protective program will restart in thirty seconds. 30, 29, 28…]
No good. The Demon King was almost touching their faces. If the defense collapsed at this moment, even if it was just a one-second restart, both he and Teest would be undoubtedly obliterated.
...
Several hundred meters away, Painter removed his hand from Anakin's forehead.
His right arm had turned completely black, rotten as if it were a corpse left in the summer heat for ten days, with corruption crazily burrowing under his skin. A tourniquet was already tied around Painter's shoulder, and he stood up, giving Fischer a look.
Fischer spat, and with a swipe of two fingers, a jet of black blood sprayed into the air as Painter's arm was completely severed. The next second, Painter pressed the "Festival of New Green" onto the wound.
New bone, flesh, and skin grew at the severed site. The arm was healthy and strong, slightly lighter in color than the rest of his body, but otherwise normal.
For a living creature, the pain of limb regeneration was akin to being torn apart. Painter's lips turned white from pain, and his face was covered in cold sweat.
"The Temple's magic is still so dull," Fischer said coldly. "With this ability, why didn't you save a few people at the camp?"
"Those kids have been here too long and absorbed much corruption in their bodies. If I absorb their corruption, I might end up with nothing but a clean brain left."
Painter flexed his newly grown arm, maintaining the powerful purification magic around them. "I think Sir Eugene would happily chop it off—guess what would happen if my head got chopped off?"
Fischer: "…You'd die?"
"Very smart!" Painter exclaimed.
Fischer's facial muscles twitched, but he refrained from hitting this ace of purification. He ruthlessly summoned a ball of ice water and threw it at Anakin's face. She coughed twice, waking up confused.
"Mom, dinner…" She called out in her mother tongue, puzzled.
"Awake?" Fischer asked with a cold tone. "Get up quickly. Without another purification class, we can't even reach the front line."
Anakin propped herself up, looking around. Her eyes slowly reddened. "…I knew it was a dream."
"How's the situation?" A few seconds later, she sniffled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
"Not good. Those two are surrounded."
Fischer squinted through cursed vision, staring into the distance—he had tried looking directly at the Demon King, and just that glimpse made him lose a few seconds of sanity and cause his head to split with pain.
"In addition to the Demon King, those shadows are attacking… I don't recognize that protective magic, but it looks like it's about to fail."
"I suggest we focus on self-preservation, not adding trouble for those two. It's not a battle we can interfere with," Fischer added somewhat despondently.
Before, he thought the two Popes of Life and Eternal were the pinnacle of combat power in the world, even capable of battling dragons. Now it seemed, the peak in his mind was just an insignificant mound.
"That's a bit disappointing to hear." Painter shook his head. "You can't even match that one, and you don't have the confidence to chase the Mad Monk?"
"I'm not good at fighting!" Fischer retorted. "I'm an observer… Wait a minute."
He looked at Painter incredulously, fear creeping into his eyes. "You wouldn't…"
"Exactly what you're thinking, 'Eye of the Storm'."
Painter stroked his chin. "You bring the 'Festival of New Green' to those two, and Miss Anakin and I will jointly cast the top-tier [Kiss of the Goddess]. Using that gem as a medium, the effect should be excellent."
"'Eye of the Storm' will only allow me to avoid some damage. I'm not immortal!" Fischer's face turned ashen. "Besides, if we cast purification there, wouldn't you two be defenseless…"
"The 'Saint' and 'Flawless' naturally have resistance. We can also avoid some damage. Of course, if we're exposed for too long, we'll definitely die."
Painter sighed. "But I'm certain of one thing—if those two over there die, we definitely won't survive. Isn't it better to take a chance?"
Fischer's face turned from green to white, silent for a full two minutes before grabbing Anakin's wand.
"If it weren't for my God…" he muttered through gritted teeth. "My God… ugh…"
The siren clutched the wand, cursing as he ran towards the center of the battlefield. Splashes of black shadow fragments flew past him but seemed to be blown away by an invisible wind, not touching him.
As soon as the "Festival of New Green" moved away, the surrounding area grew colder. As if countless invisible insects were biting at her skin, Anakin instinctively clenched her hands. Her originally fair skin gradually turned dark gray.
"I'm sorry, miss." Painter turned to Anakin. His right hand hadn't fully recovered and had exposed red muscles. "You were mentally unstable just now, and we're short on time, so I took the liberty."
"You're… right." Anakin's voice still sounded dazed, but her hands were already prepared for casting. "We have no choice."
Fischer staggered, struggling to avoid numerous black shadows, barely reaching Nol's vicinity. He held up the large green gemstone, throwing it forcefully towards Teest on the dragon's head.
A golden thread wrapped around the emerald, and Teest deftly caught the gemstone.
At the same time, Painter and Anakin, not far away, raised their right hands, chanting complex spells in unison. Having completed his task, Fischer didn't stay put. He hugged his head and stumbled back, dog-paddling his way back.
Painter raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He had thought the High Priest would hide in the purification zone.
"Just like you said, maximize efficiency—I can only do my best. Don't expect too much." Fischer glared at him, holding his hands to his chest, and began chanting the piercing incantation as well.
Wisps of corruption emerged from their bodies, converging above Fischer's hands—a trick of the Eternal Church to collect curses and corruption, though somewhat slow.
…But effective.
…..
[15, 14, 13…]
The countdown continued as Nol desperately tried to purify the corruption, trying to disperse those deadly little shadows. Unfortunately, multitasking was ineffective. He managed the purification and the "firewall" with limited success.
The "firewall" was overloaded, and the system's countdown continued.
Teest could hear the countdown as well.
He had already tried attacking the shadows with golden threads, but they turned black and rotted upon contact with the shadows. The Death Knight wasn't skilled in magical attacks, and even if it were, he didn't have any purification spells.
Furthermore, everything that could die here had already died, rendering his profession's traits useless.
While Nol could still stand against the Demon King, Teest himself was powerless.
Now, it seemed Nol was more like his knight. Teest retracted the golden thread with a pout, wiping off the relentless blood—whether from corruption or blood loss, he was starting to feel dizzy.
"Ah, this feels terrible," he muttered silently.
[10, 9, 8…]
With no strategy to handle the Demon King, Teest narrowed his eyes at those annoying shadows. After a moment of thought, he used his only "beyond the system" magic—
[King of Sleep]
The magic spread among the dense shadows, with less-than-ideal effects. Their movements slowed down a bit, but they continued, not falling asleep like the warriors of the War King.
Truly the army of the Demon King.
Teest, like a beast lurking in the bushes, assessed the situation beneath him, continuously casting [King of Sleep].
Skill proficiency could strengthen it a bit. As for the rest, he could…
[5, 4, 3…]
"My God!"
An annoying voice called out, and a green light entered Teest's vision. The golden thread shot out, firmly hooking the incoming gemstone.
The next second, a burst of white-gold light exploded.
The powerful purification magic activated, pushing the surrounding shadows back several meters, leaving only the Demon King in place. The golden light barrier, like a city wall, kept the army of shadows at bay.
The system's countdown abruptly stopped.
Nol's body relaxed slightly. The red pop-ups turned blue again, holding a standoff with the Demon King. Teest coughed up a clot of blood. His [King of Sleep] continued relentlessly, this time targeting the Demon King itself.
At that moment, the system's voice resonated in Teest's mind.
It was too clear—not coming from Nol, but a message for him.