IRM Chapter 40

The Demon King gripped his rose scepter, standing on the straight road before the castle that led directly to the distant Dark Night Forest. The red and white marble was like scattered fragrant and beautiful rose petals, paving the epic of the Demon King’s castle.

He stood with his back to the castle, quietly gazing ahead, his fiery red cloak billowing dramatically in the airflow stirred up by his demonic bone wings.

A ray of light appeared at the far end of the road, with a human figure faintly visible within the radiance.

The Demon King sighed deeply, as if exhaling the weariness pressed upon his soul. “It’s you again, Pope Pandif. Your surrounding radiance is as disgusting as always.”

Even from such a great distance, the Demon King’s voice still carried clearly to the Pope’s ears.

The Pope was slightly surprised. “Has Your Majesty the Demon King seen me before? I’m sorry I don’t remember, but to leave an impression in your heart is truly an honor.”

The Demon King let out a cold laugh. “Since you’ve become bandits, don’t speak such hypocritical words. It truly makes one sick to hear.”

The Pope wasn’t angered by these words and smiled cheerfully. “It seems you’ve known our purpose for quite some time, but calling us bandits is rather excessive. We serve the one true God, who is destined to possess everything in this world.”

“And then manipulate the world into this ghostly state? Racial segregation, occupational isolation… Just having control, he can already do such foolish things. When he finishes collecting the divine essence, do you think you’ll have any good ending?”

After his sarcastic remark, the Demon King frowned irritably. “Forget it, there’s no point saying this every time anyway… Hurry up then. Don’t bother hiding your archangels and holy swordsmen either. The Demon King’s castle isn’t your family’s vineyard – don’t think it’ll be easy to return safely!”

Although every time ended in failure, the Demon King had his pride. He would never bow his head directly because of a predetermined outcome. He would definitely resist the Church until the very last moment, even if the Demon King’s castle would suffer severe damage as a result.

This time the Pope wasn’t just surprised – he put away the hypocritical smile on his face.

The archangels were essentially a trump card they kept hidden. Apart from a few people beside him, no one knew that the Angel Kingdom was also participating this time… How did the Demon King know?

The Pope frowned and said, “We don’t wish to see casualties either. Your Majesty needn’t be so hasty. How about taking a look at this before deciding?”

The pale-faced Sheryl was pushed before the Pope. The Pope supported her gently, gazing at the Demon King with a half-smile, “The Church is willing to exchange the rights to the rules with the former saintess. What do you think?”

Sheryl raised her head, looking at the Demon King through the chaotic light and shadow where light and darkness intertwined, then gently shook her head at him.

Seeing this scene, the fallen angel’s fist suddenly clenched tight. What he feared most had still happened. He didn’t want to see Sheryl get hurt, and even less did he want the Demon King to hesitate because of this… Theodore’s Adam’s apple moved up and down, and he also slowly turned to look at the Demon King.

The Demon King’s expression showed no change, even though this was the first time he had seen Sheryl again after looping for so long.

The previous otherworldly visitors had never brought him such a result, and he didn’t know how things would develop next… but he wouldn’t indulge in illusory happiness either.

The Demon King gazed at Sheryl and said softly, “I don’t agree.”

Sheryl’s eyebrows curved as she smiled very gently, just like when she first met him.

The Pope’s expression turned cold as he stepped back several paces. “What a pity. A dirty and useless child – God will revoke His blessing upon her.”

As he finished speaking, a small circular magic circle bloomed beneath Sheryl’s feet. Golden mysterious patterns flowed across it, pulling out and absorbing strand by strand of magic power from within Sheryl’s body. Her beautiful face rapidly turned ashen.

Below the Demon King’s castle, Saintess Coralie had just gotten her companions to safety. The instant she came out, this was the scene she witnessed.

Her breathing stopped abruptly. Without thinking, she wanted to run toward Sheryl’s direction, but was tightly grasped by the arm by Evan beside her. “You can’t go there! You’re no longer with the Church…”

Evan looked up and swept his gaze over that magic circle, his gaze suddenly freezing. The hand gripping Saintess Coralie lost its strength and gradually began to tremble.

He stared blankly at those familiar patterns. No one would understand the function of that magic circle better than he did – the person trapped inside would have their magic power and life force sucked dry bit by bit, leaving only a withered, curled corpse with a hideous face that preserved the agony from before death.

“How could this be… It’s a lie, right?” Evan’s mind went blank. He moved closer to the Church’s direction bit by bit, eyes wide open, urgently searching for flaws.

The Pope had sharp eyes and immediately noticed the distracted Evan in the distance. “Oh, there’s another lost child here. I know you’ve been bewitched by demons. Come quickly, God will forgive you.”

Under his gentle voice, Evan walked closer and closer. He saw the priest’s face flickering vaguely among that group of people.

He had been staying at the Magic Academy recently and hadn’t seen the priest for some time. He even felt the priest’s face had become strange, even overlapping with another bloody and mangled face.

Evan stopped midway between the Church and the Demon King’s castle, not daring to walk forward anymore.

The priest also noticed him, frowning as he stepped forward and shouted sternly, “Evan! Come here! Do you want to betray the Church? You grew up under God’s mercy!”

Evan didn’t acknowledge him. He turned his head again to look at the magic circle beneath Sheryl’s feet, then asked softly, “Really? But I risked my life to escape from just such a magic circle. What does this count as?”

The priest hadn’t expected Evan to remember the events from when he was five so clearly. A trace of unnaturalness appeared on his face. “What are you babbling about? Come over here quickly!”

Evan looked at him quietly for a while, his pupils trembling slightly, then suddenly said without preamble. “Do you know? I can run fast enough now, fast enough to save everyone I want to save!”

Having said this, he turned around and rushed toward the Pope’s direction. The tip of his wand lit up with a piercing orb of light, shooting toward the Pope’s eyes with determination.

The Pope wouldn’t take such a small magical attack seriously. He sighed lightly. “Another disobedient child.”

He casually tilted his holy staff, intending to brush away that light orb—

Bang! The light orb suddenly exploded midway, and the light elements contained within illuminated the entire field of vision. Everyone couldn’t help but shield their eyes from the blinding flash.

Everyone except Ji Chi, who was wandering like a ghost behind the Church forces.

He was only a few dozen meters away from Sheryl, with over a hundred Church members between them, yet not a single person could notice him.

Only Evan, facing the Church crowd, discovered him the moment Ji Chi raised his palm. Evan was very familiar with that gesture – someone always liked to hold up a magic orb to fool Professor Joseph during training classes, and once the professor left, would explode it into fireworks for on-site appreciation.

As Evan’s fireworks bloomed at this moment, Ji Chi smiled slightly beneath his mask.

Taking advantage of everyone squinting their eyes, he swept past the dense crowd like a shadow, like a black wisp of smoke weaving through the pristine white robes, reaching Sheryl’s side in the blink of an eye.

The Pope sensed the unfamiliar aura the moment Ji Chi stepped into the magic circle. A trace of disdain flashed in his eyes as he snorted coldly, turned around and raised his holy staff, thinking that demons indeed only knew some third-rate methods.

But the instant he clearly saw Ji Chi’s full appearance, the Pope’s entire body froze. His lips were trembling. “Death God… How is this possible? No, He shouldn’t be here…”

Illusory black shadows floated ethereally beside Sheryl, like the god of death coming to harvest souls. He was a deity lurking at the boundary between life and death, coming and going without a trace, but the fear he left behind lingered forever in human hearts.

No one could escape the fear of death. Even the Pope was just an ordinary person in the face of life and death. He only felt his hands weighed ten thousand pounds – he couldn’t even manage to slightly raise his holy staff.

This situation also occurred to everyone around. Even the two archangels uneasily trembled their wings. The bright red demon patterns on that bone mask were deeply imprinted in their sight, causing their breathing to momentarily cease.

These ten seconds were enough for Ji Chi to accomplish many things. He lifted the mentally dazed Sheryl and flew toward the Demon King’s castle, even scooping up the pale-faced Evan along the way.

Evan clutched Ji Chi’s outer robe, still staring intently at the Church’s direction. He had been saved by the Church, bearing heavy guilt and shame, living every day in self-loathing, dedication, and seeking redemption. Evan suddenly didn’t dare imagine what it would be like once the faith that had supported him until now collapsed.

…3, 2, 1, 0

The ten-second countdown was over. The Pope instantly came to his senses and immediately understood this was just an illusion. He looked coldly at Ji Chi’s retreating figure, his face full of humiliated fury. “No matter who you are, go die right now!”

The chanting of high-level magic rang out, targeting all three people including Ji Chi, clearly not intending to let any of them live. Evan gently closed his eyes – so this really was the Church he had always believed in?

Evan’s usually lively and enthusiastic blue pupils gradually grew cold and desolate.

The Pope’s magic didn’t require a lengthy prelude. The dazzling cross-shaped blade quickly condensed and formed, catching up to Ji Chi’s back in the blink of an eye.

Ji Chi had one person in each arm and simply couldn’t block it. The Demon King reacted quickly by releasing familiars to pounce toward them, but by estimation they wouldn’t make it in time. Ji Chi sighed and shielded the two people in his arms in front of his body, prepared to take this wave of damage head-on.

“Help me kill that priest.” Suddenly, Evan gripped his shoulder and said softly.

Ji Chi was startled. Through his mask, he looked down at Evan. Evan smiled at him with difficulty, using his greatest strength to break free from Ji Chi’s grasp and block behind him.

Whoosh! The cross blade formed of condensed light pierced into Evan’s body the next instant!

Ji Chi’s pupils contracted—

Blessing: [Divine Protection]

Effect: [Forms a protective barrier within a two-meter radius around the character for 300 seconds, negating any attacks and reflecting five times the damage]

A warm yellow protective barrier gently enveloped all three people, like a benevolent god’s generous embrace.

Evan opened his eyes, once again looking around in confusion at the familiar barrier, and at his companion whose complex emotions couldn’t be hidden even by his mask.

Ji Chi held back again and again, asking him in shock and anger. “My friend, you’re definitely a bug too, aren’t you? Did you reverse that 0.01% probability?”

Evan couldn’t understand what he was saying, “Huh?”

Equally shattered in worldview was the Pope on the other side. He never would have imagined that one day his own magic would fly back targeting him!

The cross light blade pierced the Pope’s chest and abdomen at an unstoppable speed. Bright red blood quickly soaked through his pristine holy robe.

“Your Holiness!”

“Are you alright, Your Holiness!”

The Pope drank a healing potion with trembling hands. He looked ahead in fear and dread. “That is… the Forging God’s power? Just what kind of people are these?!”

A thick sense of crisis suddenly surged in his heart.

At this time, the Demon King had already quickly arrived before Ji Chi. His massive skeletal familiar strictly protected them from behind. He silently took the now-unconscious Sheryl, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Saintess Coralie also stumbled over to their side. Her anxious and uneasy heart only found some peace when she tightly embraced the two. She buried her head in the Demon King’s chest, her thin sobs muffled as they emerged.

The Demon King silently stroked her hair, raising his eyes to look at both sides already engaged in slaughter ahead. Smoke mixed with the scent of blood rose above the Dark Night Forest.

He suddenly couldn’t bear it anymore. This situation of hope and despair intertwining repeatedly was enough to gradually break even powerful deities.

He wanted to bet everything and end it all in this one attempt.

The Demon King gently placed Sheryl in Saintess Coralie’s slender embrace.

He turned to the side, looking at Ji Chi who had removed his mask. The blood color in his pupils gradually deepened, finally becoming a quiet purple. “Thank you this time. You really are different from other otherworldly visitors. I hope you can continue walking this path and not succumb to temptation.”

“Oh, and if possible, could you help me with one last favor?” The Demon King lowered his head, taking out an ancient parchment scroll from his chest and handing it to Ji Chi. “Please help me protect them safely through this day. If necessary, tear it open – my power will protect you all.”

Saintess Coralie tightly held Sheryl, noticing his tone of farewell, and looked up in panic. “Father?”

The Demon King smiled as he brushed aside her messy bangs, lowering his head to kiss her forehead. “Saintess Coralie, do you remember the first time I taught you to summon familiars with blood? Today I’ll teach you one more thing.”

“A living being, no matter what race, no matter where they come from – their strongest aspect isn’t blood and flesh, but an unyielding soul.” The Demon King’s gaze swept past Ji Chi toward the distance.

The next second, the white skeleton disappeared, and another even more massive demon god skeleton rose behind him, surrounded by purple flames. Mysterious purple light ignited in its hollow eye sockets, as if it possessed an immortal soul.

Saintess Coralie instantly realized something was wrong and stepped forward in alarm, trying to stop the Demon King. “No! Father! What are you trying to do?”

The Demon King didn’t turn back to look at her again, only silently walking forward.

Ji Chi reached out to stop Saintess Coralie, then caught up with the Demon King. He turned his head to smile lightly at him and tossed the ancient scroll back to him. “I should be thanking you, but my mission isn’t truly complete yet. As for the other task, let’s talk about it at the end.”

As he spoke, Yuan Yuan’s voice in his mind overlapped with his own.

[Congratulations player on completing hidden quest: The Demon King’s Wish]

[Congratulations player on obtaining Summoner skill]

[Lv.max–To My Master]