Chapter 265: Dekan is so Unethical he’s Reached the Underworld of the Demon Realm |
“Shijiang, is this Shadow World related to you?”
Dekan asked with some surprise.
“I might have been here before.”
Shijiang’s voice grew fainter and fainter, as if she had fallen into extreme conflict and contemplation.
She was trying hard to piece together the shattered fragments of her memory.
If she missed this opportunity, she might never be able to grasp that sliver of memory again.
The last time Dekan had seen Shijiang in this state was at the end of the Shadow World 【The Secret Tale of the Waning Holy Rite】.
At other times, Shijiang would almost never show such emotions.
Since Shadow Worlds were almost all projections of a certain period of history from another world, Dekan could not be sure if the connections between the worlds and the timelines matched up.
But it seemed that because it was irrelevant to this Shadow World, or because it involved information that would seriously affect the difficulty of conquering other Shadow Worlds.
This was a mechanism of the Shadow World, to prevent challengers from obtaining key information outside the map of the involved Shadow World in a special identity and special situation, which could directly disrupt the normal operation of other Shadow Worlds.
Even if Artis mentioned the situation of the human kingdoms to Dekan, it would be automatically silenced and blocked by the Shadow World.
So Dekan could not determine whether the Demon Realm in this Shadow World 【Endless Purgatory of the Pursued Undead】 was the world where Shijiang was originally from.
Dekan could only infer based on the information collected in the previous Shadow World that the Holy Kingdom was definitely related to the world where Shijiang was from.
At that time, in 【The Secret Tale of the Waning Holy Rite】, Dekan had heard that the northern part of the Holy Kingdom was at war with the demons.
And the Demon Realm where this Shadow World was located was currently at war with the human kingdoms.
Coupled with Shijiang’s reaction just now.
Dekan could finally be sure.
The worldview of the 【Demon Realm】 was very likely interconnected with that of the 【Holy Kingdom】.
…
“Shijiang… No matter what, I will do my best to complete this Shadow World. I will cross the Demon Realm to see if the other side is the Holy Kingdom.”
Dekan recited silently in a soft but firm voice.
“Mm.”
Although Shijiang was deep in thought, she still heard Dekan’s inner voice and responded to him.
Dekan did not disturb Shijiang any further and focused on the scene before him.
The dome of this level was exceptionally high.
And under this dark dome dotted with crimson starlight was a magnificent mausoleum, and the portal from the seventh level was placed at the edge of this mausoleum.
Strangely, this mausoleum did not look as gloomy and dark as the previous two eviction zones.
On the contrary, it had a strange sense of sacredness, as if it were the meeting point of heaven and the netherworld. The dim light rendered the mausoleum solemn and a bit eerie.
The mausoleum was covered in green grass, and flowers of unknown varieties were fragrant. It could even be called a garden.
The branches and leaves of these Demon Realm plants, which contained powerful magical energy, were lush and verdant, swaying gently with a breeze from an unknown source. If not for the dim sky, one might even see dewdrops accompanied by a faint twilight mist.
Dekan kicked Morion a couple of times and found that besides sealing the prisoners, the Demon King’s magic also provided strong protection.
And the rules stated: 【The Warden will strictly enforce the rules and will not rashly attack jailers】.
So there was no need to worry that the Warden would engage in indiscriminate random destruction like the faceless demon on the fifth level.
The rules of this level actually did not violate the common sense of the Shadow World—there would be no guaranteed death situations under normal conquest routes.
As for Dekan almost falling for the rules of the eighth level earlier, it was mainly Clay’s fault.
If he had not killed the Warden on the previous level, Dekan could have bought some information and prepared for demonization in advance.
The situation in the real world was much easier to explain.
After all, they could not see the effect of 【Blood Mimicry】, so they would naturally assume that the Shadow World had also changed Dekan’s race.
After all, the rationality of the Shadow World needed to ensure that challengers had a possibility of clearing it.
This might be a rare opportunity for Dekan to use his demon form openly in front of everyone.
After temporarily confirming that leaving his companions here would not be dangerous, Dekan walked forward. Before he had fully entered the mausoleum, he felt a chilling temperature lingering around him. In an instant, he felt his footsteps become much heavier.
Visible dark magical energy surged out from the mausoleum. It was as if one could see phantom images of mythical fierce gods and demonic illusions raging within the mausoleum, and even hear the terrifyingly shrill roars of ancient evil spirits that made one’s scalp tingle.
This was the “Demon King’s magic” that had almost sealed him earlier.
Even a Rank 8 expert could not resist this magic.
Fortunately, no great demon was controlling this magic.
They were just ownerless magical energies lingering in the barrier of this level.
They merely maintained the rules that needed to be executed for the eighth level.
So after confirming Dekan’s pure demon identity, this dense magical energy, apart from making him feel uncomfortable, would not pose a threat to his life.
Along the way, the further he went, the stronger Dekan found the Demon King’s magic to be, and the greater the pressure he felt on his body.
Dekan did not see the figure of the Warden.
All that was here was a monotonous sense of oppression and an almost death-like desolation.
According to previous experience.
He needed to reach the depths of the mausoleum before the rule prompt on his demon bracelet would probably be triggered.
Walking slower and slower, after walking slowly for more than ten minutes, Dekan finally arrived at what seemed to be the center of the mausoleum.
Before him was a conspicuously small altar.
The environment here was completely different from the scenery he had seen on the way. It was surrounded by many huge black stone tablets, dozens of feet in size, covered with strange runes, and even faintly flickering with some light. As they flickered, they resembled countless eyes, gloomy and cold.
And by the time he got here, Dekan already felt it was somewhat difficult to take a step.
At the same time.
“You can stop now.”
A voice from an unknown source startled Dekan.
He turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a demon trimming flowers and plants, and cleaning the tombstones.
Dekan had not even noticed the existence of this demon just now.
Compared to other demons, this tomb-keeping demon did not have any outstanding temperament at a glance.
He did not even look like a demon, but rather an ordinary human with the racial characteristics of a demon.
But if you stared closely at this demon, you would find that his posture seemed to have a unique demonic nature, and no matter what, you could not see his true appearance clearly.
In just an instant, the indescribably strange magical energy emanating from this demon made Dekan certain that this was the most dangerous demon he had ever seen!
“May I ask if Your Excellency is the Warden of this level?”
Dekan asked tentatively.
This Warden should not attack him.
“Yes, I am Karst of Illusion.”
The Warden no longer paid attention to Dekan, just continued to do his work, and answered with his back to Dekan.
And after walking here, Dekan finally saw the prompt from his demon bracelet.
【Demon King’s Mausoleum】
【The burial place of successive generations of Demon Kings】
【On each stele is engraved the Demon King’s will and the Demon King’s emblem left behind before his death】
【The barrier has gathered the aggregate magical power left by successive generations of Demon Kings. By obtaining the recognition of the Demon Kings, you can invoke the Demon King’s magic】
【Placing the demon bracelet on the Demon King’s altar will initiate the Demon Kings’ review】
【The more Demon Kings’ recognition you obtain, the more of the Demon King’s magic blessing you can receive】
【The degree of blessing from a single Demon King’s recognition is determined by the strength of the residual will of the recognized Demon King】
【The more powerful the Demon King, the more recent the Demon King, the stronger the residual will】
【Do not attempt to take any prisoners away from the eighth level】
【After clearing the eighth level, you will receive a Devil Point reward based on the degree of the Demon King’s magic blessing obtained by the jailer】
Dekan frowned as he looked at the rules.
This level was simpler than he had imagined.
There was almost nothing to manipulate.
It was just a screening for traitors, to prevent other races from disguising themselves as demons and sneaking into the prison.
Then, the Demon King’s will would give a subjective score based on the jailer’s performance in the first seven levels.
And upon reaching this level, Devil Points were no longer that important. This huge amount of Devil Points could mainly be exchanged for Demon Realm currency at a certain ratio when leaving the Demon Realm Prison.
For most jailers, the eighth level was more like a bonus stage.
A chance to get rich in one go.
“Generally, how many Demon Kings’ recognition is needed to withstand the pressure of the Demon King’s magic and leave this place?”
Dekan asked.
“As long as you get the recognition of at least three… hmm, no, for you, you need the recognition of at least ten Demon Kings to pass through the Demon King’s Mausoleum and go to the ninth level.”
The Warden, Karst of Illusion, still did not turn his head as he explained.
He could see Dekan’s own frailty.
Logically speaking, any jailer who could fight their way to the eighth level would be at least Rank 7.
As long as they obtained the recognition of three Demon Kings, they could offset the pressure and walk through.
Karst had never seen a Rank 4 jailer before.
But for a mere Rank 4 to be able to come here, it showed that there must be something unique about him. Perhaps he would receive the recognition of a great many Demon Kings.
Of course, there were also some exceptionally powerful Rank 8 jailers who could force their way through with their own strength even if they only received the recognition of one or two Demon Kings, or simply did not seek the Demon Kings’ recognition at all.
Dekan nodded. He had quickly counted the number of these black stone tablets.
There were a total of 33.
With his brilliant performance, obtaining the recognition of at least 10 should not be a problem.
But Dekan started to feel a little scared.
These Demon Kings were the true kings of demons of successive generations. Their recognition, the value of it, needed no explanation.
If a large number of interested Demon Kings all left their lights on for Dekan, what would the audience in the real world think?
This was simply a public execution!!!
“By the way, is there any way for me to take the prisoners I brought with me?”
Dekan asked again.
Passing the assessment was not difficult, but the difficulty lay in how to take away the Saintess of Darkness.
The Warden would presumably not let him move the sealed Saintess of Darkness.
Then his companions were likely the same.
“Impossible. Any prisoner who reaches this level will remain at the border of the mausoleum forever.”
Hearing Dekan’s question, Karst of Illusion seemed to have finally had his bottom line touched. He slowly turned his head to look at Dekan, and a sharp killing intent actually flashed in his eyes.
“Unless, you have the confidence to defeat me.”
“…”
Dekan was finally certain.
The eighth level had another purpose, which was to reclaim the prisoners.
A prisoner who could be brought to the eighth level by a jailer had already proven their value and dangerousness.
They would be regarded as the highest-level prisoners and sealed here.
Sure enough, this level was not a simple Demon King version of a dating show for him.
Rather, he had to strengthen himself with the Demon King’s magic and then kill this Karst of Illusion.
Only then could he take his companions and the Saintess of Darkness to the final level to challenge the Chief Warden.
But here comes the problem.
Dekan did not rely much on stats; he relied on rank and tactical coordination.
Even if his magic stats were enhanced to a very high level.
He was still a support.
In other words, Dekan had never relied on himself to deal damage.
Because of the inherent flaws in his own magic attributes, Dekan had long abandoned trying to maximize the conversion ratio of magic power into damage when creating cards.
So without teammates, it was not that easy for Dekan to fight this Warden.
Unless, he could obtain an exaggerated number of Demon King recognitions on this level, to the extent that he could kill the Warden with one normal attack after another.
“By the way, have any jailers challenged you before?”
PART 2
Dekan decided to ask Karst a few more questions.
Karst: “Yes, he obtained the recognition of more than half of the Demon Kings, but unfortunately, he was still no match for me.”
Dekan: “…”
This guy was probably at the super-bishop level of strength, no doubt.
His strength was probably close to being invincible below Rank 9.
And after arriving at the prison, amidst that strange sense of déjà vu of always meeting old acquaintances, Dekan also had a rough idea of which bishop Karst of Illusion corresponded to.
If Dekan were to fight the Falsehood Bishop Carlos one-on-one, besides calling for backup, he would still want to call for backup.
He could not win one-on-one. There was no hope.
Fortunately, this was a Shadow World.
There were rules and mechanisms, so there should be a way to pass.
Let’s first see how big of a buff he could get.
Dekan stood in front of the altar and placed his demon bracelet on it.
Instantly, the altar reacted, and the demon bracelet floated above it. The light from all the Demon King tombstones in the distance began to flicker violently, as if they were reading the records on Dekan’s demon bracelet and analyzing his performance in the first seven levels.
Dekan watched this circle of Demon King guests with a bit of nervousness.
He hoped that more Demon Kings would give him their blessing.
But he was also afraid of too many.
This kind of official certification, Dekan felt he could not bear.
Not long after, the frequency of the flickering light on the Demon King tombstones gradually calmed down, as if the results were about to be announced.
The moment Dekan swallowed his saliva.
All 33 Demon King tombstones lit up with a dazzling red light!
“The f*ck!”
Dekan could not help but shout out.
All the Demon Kings recognized me?
Wouldn’t my reputation be completely ruined then?
You could at least symbolically turn off two lights!
I really don’t need that little bit of power!
And this scene made even the Warden’s eyes widen.
“There has never been such a demon…”
Karst confirmed again that he had not missed anything, and finally murmured.
“I, I really am…”
Just as Dekan was about to curse the Demon Kings, he suddenly realized that his body was still very heavy, and he did not feel like he could invoke the Demon King’s magic at all.
And.
The way the Warden looked at him did not carry a trace of appreciation or admiration.
Instead, his expression was complicated, as if he were looking at a weirdo.
Dekan suddenly realized the real situation.
If it was not full approval.
Then it might mean…
Full disapproval?!
“…It can’t be that not a single Demon King is interested, can it?”
Dekan asked tentatively.
Although the situation was a bit bad, an inexplicable ecstasy began to well up in his heart.
I told you, I’m not some demon!!
Now it’s officially certified, let’s see who dares to say I’m a demon in the future!
“Unfortunately, none of them recognized you. If they recognized you, they would light up with a blue light.”
Warden Karst put down the flower pot in his hand and looked at Dekan with an even more complicated expression.
“Then what should I do? I can’t go up or down, won’t I be stuck on this level?”
Dekan asked.
“You can only train yourself on this level until you can pass through the Demon King’s Mausoleum without the blessing of the Demon King’s magic before leaving. But for a Rank 4 like you, I’m afraid it will be a long process.”
Karst said helplessly, then added:
“Of course, perhaps it’s because your rank is too low. After a period of hard cultivation, and then undergoing the Demon King’s review again, maybe some Demon Kings will recognize you then.”
Karst had never thought that a jailer would have to stay on this level for so long.
Generally speaking, no matter how strange a jailer was, as long as they could reach this level, they would get the recognition of at least a few Demon Kings.
The main purpose of this level was to filter out traitors and reclaim prisoners. As for the jailers who reached this place, it was almost a pure bonus of dropping gold coins, it just depended on how much they could get.
“By the way, can I see the reasons why the Demon Kings don’t recognize me?”
Dekan asked again.
“Of course, you can see each Demon King’s evaluation of you when you take back your demon bracelet.”
Karst replied.
He was actually quite curious about what this jailer had done to be rejected by all the Demon Kings.
For a jailer.
They could repeat the Demon King’s review on this level.
If they could find their own problems and improve a little, perhaps they could gain the recognition of the Demon Kings.
But Dekan did not think so.
He wanted everyone in the real world to see how the Demon Kings had determined that Dekan did not have the qualifications of a demon!
He could not wait!
So Dekan triggered the prompt on his demon bracelet.
He saw a series of evaluations being displayed.
【The most evil, the most wicked, the most insane, threatening the stability of the Demon Realm】
【The threat to the Demon Realm outweighs his talent】
【It is recommended that the current Demon King execute him】
【…】
Dekan: “?”
His movements were a bit stiff as he closed these evaluations.
Everyone in the real world… saw it, right?
Dekan’s face instantly turned as black as a pot, and his entire aura was as if he had been corrupted.
For a moment, even the Warden could not help but feel a trace of danger.
Sure enough, a guy who could be rejected by all the Demon Kings for such reasons was not simple.
There was no room for improvement even if he wanted to change. To go to the ninth level, he could only level up and force his way through.
However.
The aura on Dekan’s body soon retracted, as if he had returned to his previous non-threatening appearance.
He looked at Warden Karst:
“By the way, as long as I don’t try to transport the prisoners to the next level, I’m not breaking the rules, right? You won’t actively attack me for any other reason either, right?”
Dekan’s tone was surprisingly calm.
“That’s right.”
The Warden acknowledged.
Dekan nodded and said nothing more.
On this level, one could not lie, so Dekan did not have to worry about Karst tricking him.
Dekan walked to the side of a Demon King’s tombstone, summoned a summon to test it out. Seeing that it did not trigger any counterattack or trap, Dekan finally went up personally and gently touched the stone tablet with his hand.
It seemed he was analyzing its structure.
As an expert in modern magic engineering, Dekan was able to analyze the Demon King’s tombstone to a certain extent.
“Sure enough, it’s this kind of ancient soul imprint connection technique…”
If the worldviews were interconnected and the timeline corresponded to the Holy Kingdom.
Then the magic engineering of this world was many versions behind the real world.
“??”
Warden Karst could not understand what Dekan was doing.
But he knew that it was extremely rude for Dekan to touch the Demon Kings’ tombstones so easily.
Just as Karst was about to say something to Dekan.
He saw Dekan take out a sledgehammer with lightning speed and start swinging it forcefully!
He!
Was actually digging up a Demon King’s grave!
“Are you crazy???”
The Warden’s eyes widened as he shouted.
He had never seen a neurotic jailer who would dig up a Demon King’s grave!!
Although there were no magic barriers on the Demon King’s tombstones.
But out of a kind of respect for the dead.
No one would specially place protective spells on the tombstones of the Demon Kings in such a safe and important place in the Demon Realm!
And the most crucial thing was.
Even the most heinous demon would not be crazy enough to dig up a Demon King’s grave!!
Doing so, let’s not talk about what the point was or whether it could succeed.
When the current Demon King finds out, he will be the first to kill you!!
“I advise you to stop! Even if you can dig open the stone tablet, you won’t be able to sever its magical connection with this level!”
Although Karst was a bit confused, he really could not stop this crazy behavior, because it was not within his duties.
The Demon Kings had also never stipulated that he had to stop jailers from destroying the graves of the past Demon Kings.
Such a requirement was absurd in itself!
However, Dekan ignored him.
He just slowly dug open the target grave mound.
And used all his strength to lift the black tombstone.
Karst looked at Dekan’s strange behavior and gradually felt more and more uneasy.
The next second.
Dekan summoned the 【Bandit Goblin】.
Then he began to order the 【Bandit Goblin】 to snatch the things from his body.
After trying a few times, the 【Bandit Goblin】 finally snatched the stone tablet from Dekan’s hand.
Instantly, the light on this stone tablet went out as if the power had been cut.
Karst: “???”
Under Karst’s gaze of doubting his demonic existence, he saw that the residual Demon King’s imprint on the tombstone, or rather, a trace of the soul imprint, had been completely severed!
“You?! You actually have such a familiar that can sever soul link techniques?!”
Karst held his head and shouted in extreme panic.
This jailer was not only crazy, but his methods were also bizarre!
Dekan ignored Karst.
He was very angry now!
You’re slandering my innocence, aren’t you?
Then I’ll open your eyes!
Dekan walked to the altar, placed his demon bracelet on it again, looked around, and asked with a sneer:
“Hehe, now, do you recognize me or not?!”