Chapter 782

Game of the World Tree

【 PLAYER’S AMUSEMENT, A DEMON LORD’S ALLEGIANCE 】

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As they watched the terrifying figure suddenly burst out from the ugly palace, the players’ expressions changed drastically, and curses escaped their mouths one after another.

“Holy shit!”

It was a horrifying huge Demon with the head of a serpent and the body of a humanoid, with enormous bat-like wings spreading from its back.

Its appearance was savage and ferocious.

The moment it charged out of the palace, its gigantic frame nearly filled the entire passageway.

A dreadful pressure and overwhelming aura crashed toward them head-on, causing even the Silver-ranked veterans, who had just been eagerly preparing for battle, to feel their hearts tremble with fear.

As for the few Iron-ranked newcomers, they began trembling uncontrollably under that terrifying power, nearly losing control of their own bodies.

And when the thick stench of blood spread through the air, the newcomers caught sight of the censored, mosaic-like corpse beneath the Demon Lord’s feet. Their stomachs churned violently, and several of them nearly vomited right there on the spot…

Fortunately, that mass of mosaic-like remains quickly vanished amidst a faint glow.

However, that was only the beginning.

The terrifying Demon Lord charged out, its pupils burning with boundless fury and bloodlust.

“A Gold-rank Boss!? damn it! Run!”

The veteran players in the party immediately turned pale with shock and hurriedly fled.

As the labyrinth had expanded, the old mechanism that allowed one to leave the labyrinth with a mere thought had long since been removed. Now, the only way to escape was through the formal entrances and exits created after the labyrinth’s expansion. Without hesitation, the group of more than ten players cast every acceleration spell they possessed upon themselves and sprinted madly back the way they had come.

Watching them flee, a trace of surprise flashed through Samael’s bucket-sized eyes.

“Elves?”

But that surprise quickly transformed into savage hatred.

These elves were the race the Goddess of Life cherishes and protect the most.

Therefore, to Samael, seeing an elf was no different from seeing the face of the Goddess of Life, the very face that made him wish he could cut her into a thousand pieces.

He was like a powder keg that had been lit and was about to explode.

“ROAR!!!”

With a furious roar, Samael stomped downward with one foot, crushing several slower players into censored corpses once again.

“H-Holy shit!”

The remaining players’ faces turned green with horror.

Especially after seeing the ruined remains of their unlucky teammates’ equipment…

“Damn… can the Vice leader’s broken equipment even be repaired after that?”

Someone exclaimed.

Silence followed.

Then, as though they had suddenly realized something, the players’ faces instantly turned deathly pale.

The next moment, it was as if their backsides had caught fire, and they began running even faster than before.

At the same time, furious curses erupted among the crowd:

“Where the hell did this huge thing come from?! Have the devs gone insane?!”

“Screw this hidden quest! I quit!”

“AHHHHH! I just replaced my equipment!”

The players fled desperately for their lives.

While running, some of the slower players hurriedly stripped off all the equipment they were wearing and tossed it into corners of the labyrinth before continuing their escape, their bodies shining with dazzling holy light as they sprinted frantically through the Labyrinth.

Samael let out a cold sneer.

He casually grabbed several unfortunate players who had fallen slightly behind, then tore them into pieces amidst their miserable screams.

Afterward, he roared once more and continued chasing after the elves.

Looking at the terrifying figure rapidly closing in behind them, the players nearly felt their legs give out beneath them.

They screamed in terror while shouting for help, running with every ounce of strength they possessed, as though their very lives depended on it.

However, Samael did not continue slaughtering the weak elves indiscriminately.

Although he had fallen into a rage, he still retained a measure of rationality.

Samael could tell that these elves seemed extremely familiar with this strange place.

So if he followed them, then perhaps he might be able to find the exit…

At that thought, a glint flashed through Samael’s eyes.

He let out another furious roar and continued terrifying the fleeing elves, all while closely trailing behind them.

After being frightened so badly by Samael, the players became even more panicked.

Yet amidst the chaos, a few of them gradually began to notice something.

As long as they kept running toward the exit, and ran fast enough, this new Boss did not seem intent on killing them immediately.

This realization caused several quick-witted players’ eyes to light up.

In addition, quite a few players, after seeing how miserable and ridiculous they all looked, simply gave up caring altogether and burst into loud laughter.

And so, a bizarre chase that was both terrifying and absurd began within the Labyrinth Dungeon…

Although the war had not yet ended, the number of players inside the Labyrinth was nowhere near as high as it had been at the beginning of the conflict.

However, even if the number was smaller, the rigid demand for class advancement slots and promotion opportunities still meant that quite a few players continued to roam throughout the labyrinth.

Hearing the furious roars, laughter, and screams echoing from the depths of the Labyrinth, many players instinctively cast curious gazes toward the source of the commotion.

But very soon, countless players witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

From a distant corner deep within the labyrinth, the screams rapidly drew closer.

Then, amidst dazzling rays of light, a group of players wearing absolutely nothing at all appeared within everyone’s line of sight, their sensitive parts glowing with holy radiance.

Their running postures were both miserable and comical.

Some wore expressions of terror.

While others looked strangely excited.

And some were actually laughing hysterically while running for their lives.

Combined with their comical running style and the flickering holy light surrounding them, they resembled a group of deranged creatures whose minds had completely broken.

The surrounding players were left utterly dumbfounded by the eye-searing spectacle before them.

Had these guys all gone insane?

But in the very next moment, accompanied by an earth-shaking roar, the ground trembled violently as rolling clouds of dust surged out from behind the fleeing players.

Then, a savage and terrifying figure entered everyone’s field of vision.

“Holy shit!!”

The moment they saw Samael’s gigantic body and felt the overwhelming power and undisguised hostility radiating from him, even the stunned players were frightened senseless.

Shivering violently, they immediately abandoned the demon corpses they had yet to process and joined the ever-growing army of fleeing players.

The escaping crowd continued to scatter chaotically as they ran, becoming increasingly disorganized.

And every time they encountered new players, those newcomers would be swept into the fleeing procession while still wearing utterly confused expressions…

Some people had already started running before they even understood what was happening.

And so over time, the number of fleeing players continued to grow larger and larger…

Until they finally crashed into a dungeon raid party belonging to one of the Seven Major Guilds, the Azeroth Alliance.

The player leading the group was a guy named Black Friday.

He was the commander of the Knights Templar, the core combat force of the Azeroth Alliance, and a veteran player whose combat ranking was only slightly short of entering the top hundred in the leaderboards.

Behind him stood more than a dozen Knights Templar members.

Every single one of them wore gleaming armor, radiating an imposing and aggressive aura.

At the front of the formation, Black Friday, already a max-level Intermediate-Silver ranker, frowned slightly as he watched the fleeing crowd.

“Why are you all running? What happened? Why are you panicking like this?”

“The new Dungeon Boss escaped from its palace and It’s chasing us from behind!”

One of the players, whose lower body was still shining brilliantly with holy light, hastily explained.

“A new boss?”

Black Friday raised an eyebrow.

Then he let out a scoff and glanced toward his teammates beside him.

“Looks like we’ve encountered a hidden event.”

As he spoke, he raised the divine-grade longsword in his hand, a weapon that had only recently been repaired, and pointed it toward the depths of the labyrinth.

“Perfect. My divine sword has yet to taste the blood of this new Dungeon Boss… Heh, Knights Templar! Let’s meet it head-on!”

He appeared incomparably spirited and confident.

Behind him, the dozen or so Silver-rankers of the Knights Templar also drew their weapons one after another as their fighting spirit surged skyward.

Their synchronized movements, gleaming armor, and formidable strength instantly attracted the attention of the fleeing players.

Very quickly, someone recognized who they were.

“Look, it’s Black Friday from Azeroth Alliance!”

“Holy shit! That’s one of the veterans ranked within the top two hundred in combat leaderboard!”

“Then that means… they’re the Knights Templar?”

“It has to be them! They’re that famous raid team who managed to clear both Luria and Alissa’s palace without even following the strategy guide!”

“Damn, they’re that strong? If it’s them… then maybe they actually have a chance!”

The fleeing players immediately broke into excited discussion.

For a moment, the crowd gradually came to a halt.

Everyone turned their hopeful gazes toward the Knights Templar.

Black Friday enjoyed this kind of admiration from ordinary players looking up at his team.

The corners of his lips curved slightly upward as he straightened his posture. At the same time, he secretly activated the wind-attributed spell engraved into his armor, causing the crimson cape behind him to billow dramatically in the air…

His long hair fluttered elegantly, making him appear exceptionally handsome and imposing.

Mm.

All he lacked now was his own background music.

If possible, he very much wanted to play ‘For the Glory of the Goddess’ at this moment.

And it was precisely then that Samael’s enormous figure entered Black Friday’s field of vision.

Looking at the exaggerated size of this new boss, Black Friday’s heart skipped a beat.

But very quickly, he let out a cold laugh.

Pointing his sword toward Samael, he shouted loudly:

“Halt! Your opponent is—”

Smack!

A gigantic claw slammed downward.

Before Black Friday could even finish speaking, he was flattened into a cartoon-like smear by Samael’s single slap, just like the other unfortunate dead players before him.

Along with him, his divine-grade longsword, which had yet to claim its first victim, was also smashed into magical crafting materials.

Deathly silence followed.

The surrounding players stared with widened eyes, their expressions frozen in shock. Then, without hesitation, they all turned around and resumed fleeing for their lives.

The remaining members of the Knights Templar shuddered violently.

Swallowing hard, they immediately threw away their weapons and decisively joined the fleeing crowd.

Thus, an extraordinarily absurd scene unfolded within the Demon Lord Labyrinth as a massive group of players fled frantically through the labyrinth while, behind them, an enormous snake-like figure pursued them relentlessly.

That gigantic figure resembled a heavily armored tank rampaging through the relatively narrow labyrinth passageways, crashing recklessly into everything in its path and shaking the entire dungeon to its foundations.

Everywhere it passed became a complete mess.

Meanwhile, the players ran while crying for help and letting out miserable screams.

But gradually… as they continued running, the nature of those screams began to change.

They all turned into uncontrollable laughter.

Emotions were contagious.

Especially within a game.

Fear?

Of course there was fear.

After all, an unfamiliar Dungeon Boss chasing behind them was terrifying enough to frighten anyone.

But at the same time, as they looked at the other players fleeing alongside them, seeing everyone’s miserable and ridiculous appearances, that fear slowly began to be replaced by absurd amusement…

Especially after player after player discarded all of their bound equipment in order to prevent their gear from being destroyed…

Some of the newer players even began to experience a strangely subtle emotion in their hearts.

There had once been a famous veteran player in Elven Kingdom who said:

“If you’ve never laughed hysterically while fleeing for your life together with your companions in this game, then your gaming career is still incomplete.”

Now, as they were swept along by the crowd and forced into desperate flight, they vaguely felt that they finally understood the meaning behind those words.

Although they had truly been terrified when the chase first began, that fear was gradually fading away.

They looked at one another, seeing their companions’ bedraggled appearances and the wild laughter stretched across their faces. In that instant, it felt as though their hearts had become connected:

Perhaps…

This was what it felt like to share hardships together like brothers and sisters.

Holy light flickered everywhere as the players fled in all directions while the entire Labyrinth descended into utter chaos.

This continued until the players’ hysterical laughter completely enraged the pursuing Samael…

With a furious roar, he delivered a massive slap that instantly compressed several of the players laughing the hardest from three-dimensional beings into two-dimensional censored smears.

“Holy shit!”

The players’ smiles froze stiffly on their faces.

The laughter abruptly diminished, but their speed while fleeing became even faster than before…

And so, the frantic escape continued onward.

More and more unfortunate players who had been grinding monsters along the mandatory pathways were forcibly swept into the fleeing procession. In the end, the group evolved into a vast and mighty escape convoy, creating a truly spectacular scene within the Demon Lord Labyrinth.

And at last, Samael finally saw the light of the exit ahead.

He was almost out!

His spirits immediately lifted.

At that moment, however, his gaze swept across the elves fleeing before him, and a savage glint flashed through his eyes.

Now that he had found the exit, these disgusting creatures no longer had any use.

Without hesitation, he let out another furious roar and raised his hand toward the players once more…

However, just as he was about to strike, accompanied by ethereal holy hymns, a sacred and beautiful figure appeared high above the labyrinth.

Samael instantly felt his power become completely restrained, leaving him unable to move even the slightest bit.

The moment the players saw the figure descending into the labyrinth, their eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

“Whoa! The Goddess! It’s the Goddess herself!”

“The Goddess! In person!”

“Praise be to Nature! Praise be to Life!”

“Goddess! I love you!”

Evé: “…”

Meanwhile, Samael’s eyes blazed with hatred as he roared venomously:

“EVÉ!!!”

Why are you yelling so loudly?

Evé frowned slightly at Samael, feeling somewhat displeased.

And when she saw the devastation behind him throughout the labyrinth, her brows furrowed even more deeply.

With a light snap of her fingers, golden chains materialized around Samael’s body. Under his furious and horrified gaze, the Chains of Divinity wrapped around him once more, binding him tightly like a trussed bundle.

“EVÉ!!!”

Samael roared again while struggling violently.

But his resistance was destined to be futile. Not only did the glowing golden chains remain unbroken, they instead tightened further and further around him…

Then, amidst Samael’s cries of pain, his body gradually began to shrink, transforming from a colossal form that could barely move through the labyrinth passages into a tiny little lump.

With a thud, his reduced body dropped directly from the air onto the ground.

Immediately afterward, under the players’ excited gazes, and amidst the rapid-fire screenshots secretly being taken everywhere, Evé gracefully stepped forward.

Dragging the screaming Samael behind her as though dragging a dead dog, she disappeared into the depths of the labyrinth.

Only after her figure had completely vanished did the players finally recover their senses.

Many of them let out long breaths while staring excitedly toward the direction in which Evé had disappeared.

“As expected of the Goddess…”

“Seriously she’s so beautiful and powerful.”

“As expected of my wife!”

“Damn it! This punk actually said she’s his wife! Guys, beat him up!”

“Ahhh… don’t!”

Another wave of chaotic banter immediately erupted.

༺⟐༻

Evé tossed Samael back into his palace and casually sealed the gates behind him.

Afterward, She used divine power to completely restore all the damage he had caused throughout the labyrinth.

Once everything had been taken care of, Evé turned her head and looked toward a certain location deep within the Labyrinth.

Although Samael was undoubtedly the primary culprit behind this recent chaos, there was absolutely no way someone else had not been deliberately orchestrating the situation behind the scenes.

Evé let out a soft snort before her figure flashed and vanished from the spot.

The next instant, light shimmered, and she appeared within Azazel’s palace.

Golden radiance shone brilliantly as a divine throne woven from vines emerged behind her. Evé slowly sat down upon it, elegantly crossing her legs as She looked down from above at a certain Demon Lord whose gaze was filled with mixed emotions.

“Azazel… I require an explanation regarding this disturbance.”

Azazel was likewise seated upon his throne.

It seemed as though he had been waiting for a very long time.

He let out a soft sigh, his voice carrying a faint bitterness.

“Your Majesty, All-Divine Mother… if I had not used this method, how else could I possibly have met with You?”

“Hm?”

Evé raised an eyebrow slightly.

At the next moment, Azazel lifted His head.

“Your Majesty, All-Divine Mother…”

“Do you… wish to know where the Origin Core of the First Layer of Hell is located?”

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