IRM Chapter 41

The Demon King raised his hand to catch the scroll, glanced at Ji Chi indifferently, unable to figure out what he was thinking. But he didn’t have the mind to pursue so much right now, only reminding him aloud, “You were indeed quite impressive to escape from the Pope’s hands, but if you underestimate the Church because of this, that would be too foolish.”

 

The Demon King tapped the scepter in his hand, and the demon god’s skeletal remains behind him extended their bone claws, grasping the body of a great swordsman wrapped in steel armor, and with a gentle squeeze sent him to meet the God of Light.

 

“I can see it now – you’re just relying on precious treasures and decent physical instincts. When facing a single strong opponent alone, you might still have some advantages.” The Demon King raised his chin, gesturing for him to look at the brilliant magic array chanted by the Archmage ahead, and the hurricane stirred up by the great angel’s ten wings.

 

“But if you’re unfortunate enough to be targeted by that pack of hyenas, then it won’t be up to you to decide.” The Demon King’s brow furrowed coldly, obviously recalling unpleasant memories.

 

Ji Chi hummed in agreement and humbly asked for guidance. “Then what would be the best way to deal with them?”

 

The Demon King laughed heartily, his profound eyes revealing long-suppressed wild arrogance. “Hahahaha, to tell the truth, I’m really fed up with that coward Harvey! In my opinion, we should bite back at them fiercely and make them so afraid they flee with their tails between their legs!”

 

Ji Chi looked at him with interest and casually suggested, “Then why not just bite them all to death here?”

 

The Demon King was stunned at first, then his violet-colored eyes showed a hint of amusement. “Ah, I’m starting to like you a bit… But still, arrogance without qualification isn’t a good thing.”

 

Ji Chi chuckled softly. He stepped forward and raised his right hand, opening his palm, and like the Demon King, raised his chin slightly. “The me from a few minutes ago wouldn’t have been so arrogant, but thanks to you, I now have that qualification.”

 

Skill: [lv.max–To My Master (Summoner)] Unlocked

 

Description: [Summoning penalty reduced, level cap increased to lv.99]

 

Mages use magic power to summon elements as their aid, while summoners sacrifice blood, transforming into loyal servants, dedicating their lives to serve them.

 

A ring-shaped wound suddenly split open in Ji Chi’s pale, thin palm. The wound tore along his palm lines, forming a seven-pointed star shape near his life line.

 

Crimson blood overflowed from the torn flesh, attracted by an invisible force, flowing against gravity into the void before him, weaving together to form a massive and complex summoning array.

 

The moment the Demon King saw the summoning array’s patterns clearly, his pupils contracted violently, and he stepped forward in disbelief. “This is… Stop quickly! This isn’t a sacrifice you can bear!”

 

Ji Chi’s face was somewhat pale. Performing summons always came with penalties, especially this kind of forbidden technique summoning – the price it demanded was the player’s maximum health.

 

The highest-level summoning technique could randomly summon a world-class Boss, but for each Boss summoned, the player’s maximum health would also decrease by 25% of the original amount. Each player could summon a maximum of three world Bosses at once.

 

However, while the reduction in maximum health was just a numerical change in the game, in the real world, Ji Chi felt very obvious penalty side effects. He felt a wave of weakness in his body, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

 

The summoning array was almost complete. The next step was the most thrilling and heart-pounding key moment, and also the soul of modern online games – drawing cards!

 

That’s right! For summoner players, they would never know what their next summoned creature would be!

 

Ji Chi was the same. The summoning array he drew could summon world-class Bosses above lv.80, but which specific one… this was all about the thrill.

 

But Ji Chi wasn’t panicking either. He coughed lightly and laughed in a low voice, “What do you think their expressions would be if they were suddenly beaten up by friendly forces?”

 

The Demon King was still trying to stop him. “You can still stop now!”

 

Ji Chi ignored him and instead turned his head, calling out, “Hey, Evan, come here for a moment.”

 

Evan walked over and looked up at him.

 

Ji Chi reached out and roughly ruffled his golden hair. “You must live longer than anyone else, and smile as you watch how all those bad guys meet their end!”

 

Having said that, Ji Chi suddenly pressed his hand, now touched with good luck, onto the summoning array.

 

The summoning array suddenly burst with golden-red light brighter than the sun. The brilliant flash covered half of the Demon King’s castle. The Church and demons who had been fighting fiercely couldn’t help but stop and look toward where the golden light blazed.

 

A figure slowly emerged from the depths of the light.

 

His long hair was more dazzling than the gold on a king’s scepter, his ice-blue pupils were more transparent than ten-thousand-year-old ice from the Northlands, and he was wrapped in flawless white ceremonial robes. From his boots to the crystal buttons at his collar, everything was spotlessly clean, like the most exquisite painting in the world.

 

When the light gradually faded, whoosh – twelve pure white, flawless wings spread behind him. This magnificent sight represented the pinnacle of power in this world.

 

He was the ruler of the Angel Kingdom, the Archangel who lived in everyone’s awe, and also the greatest Boss in the Demon Sword Continent holographic online game, the only lv.99 NPC – Akangie.

 

“Twelve wings… That’s the Archangel! How did he come too? Is the Demon King’s castle finished…” Some demons’ hearts filled with despair.

 

Theodore’s eight black wings trembled constantly. He forcibly suppressed his instinct to submit, his mind blank, filled only with exploding fear.

 

Compared to the demons’ collapse, the faces of the Church people showed joy.

 

The Pope’s eyes couldn’t hide his excitement, even ignoring a slight uneasiness in his heart. “How could the Lord come here? The demon god’s power remains the least, and we people are enough to suppress the Demon King’s castle. Where would we need the Lord to personally come to such a filthy place?”

 

A nearby Holy Swordsman looked with fanatical eyes at that figure descending like a god. “This must be divine favor! After all, that Lord is the incarnation of God!”

 

Just when everyone was certain the Archangel would raise his hand and destroy the Demon King’s castle.

 

Akangie turned around. His divinely handsome face showed no emotion. He raised his ice-blue eyes and gazed into a pair of pitch-black pupils for some time, then slowly lowered them.

 

The most noble and flawless Archangel raised his right hand, placing his pure white gloved palm over his heart, kneeling on one knee on the cloud stone path of the Demon King’s castle. His voice, clear and deep like a harp, was like a chant, yet like a sigh.

 

“My master.”

 

Ji Chi still wore the shadow equipment set, holding a ghastly white bone mask in his hand. His oversized death god sleeves fluttered in the wind, wisps of dark night aura falling onto the Archangel’s pure white wings.

 

He raised his face and gave the stunned, motionless Church members who seemed trapped in a dream a wicked smile. “Go, Akangie.”

 

The Pope was the first to come to his senses this time too. Shocked and furious, he roared angrily at those around him. “Wake up! Don’t be fooled by him again! This must be a fake Archangel!”

 

Ji Chi vaguely heard his angry roar and cast them a somewhat pitying glance. “No, this time it’s real, just with slightly less health, that’s all.”

 

To prevent the summoner class from being too overpowered, the summoned Boss’s health equaled the health cap the player lost, but their skills and attack power remained exactly the same!

 

The Archangel had no staff and didn’t need to chant. He simply fluttered his wings lightly, and an absolute domain spread around him, allowing him to control everything within the domain.

 

He walked step by step toward the Church members. Those who tried to rush into the domain to attack him instantly turned into beams of light, and when the wind blew, not a trace of life remained.

 

Ji Chi watched this scene and even felt somewhat nostalgic.

 

In the Demon Sword player rankings, Ji Chi wasn’t the first to kill the Archangel, but he was the one who killed him in the shortest time, and this record was far ahead – no other player had surpassed it in three years.

 

To other players, the Archangel’s seemingly invincible control domain was simply a nightmare. Even veteran players who had completed the game were unwilling to farm this Boss and suffer, even though the materials he dropped were all top-tier.

 

But Ji Chi thought it was alright, because he was almost omnipotent – his existence was like the antithesis of the Archangel.

 

“Divine Domain…” The Demon King looked toward the Archangel’s direction with complex emotions. The soul flames wrapped around the demon god’s skeletal remains behind him extinguished bit by bit. He knew this battle no longer required him to sacrifice souls.

 

The Demon King closed his eyes, then turned to look at Ji Chi’s calm profile beside him. After being shocked to the extreme, he instead calmed down. “Although I don’t know if this will be another disaster…”

 

Ji Chi quietly turned to look at him.

 

The Demon King met his eyes directly and said softly, “You must gain the recognition of all gods, and then become – a true god.”

 

As an existence infinitely close to divinity, the ceiling of combat power on the Demon Sword Continent, even though the Archangel only had over two thousand health points, dealing with a group of subordinates who were also of the Light attribute was still quite effortless.

 

Moreover, the fact that the Church had sent out so many strong fighters also proved that the Demon King’s castle was no pushover.

 

Ji Chi didn’t have the Archangel show mercy. From the moment he decided to complete the Demon King’s hidden quest, he knew he was completely opposed to the Church forces.

 

The sounds of distant slaughter quickly subsided. Akangie dragged one powerless person in each hand, walked to Ji Chi’s front, and threw two gray, dusty figures at his feet.

 

The Archangel didn’t have much health left now. His originally immaculate attire was somewhat disheveled, which was something the real Archangel would absolutely not tolerate. But this Archangel formed from health cap wasn’t so particular – he stood quietly beside Ji Chi, waiting for the next command.

 

The Pope was now barely clinging to life. Rather than whether he could return alive, he didn’t dare recall the losses the Church had suffered.

 

This should have been a perfect operation, yet it had destroyed more than half of the Church’s upper echelon!

 

The Pope struggled to lift his eyes from the ground and looked at Ji Chi standing there. “You… who exactly are you! That Archangel is fake, right! All of this is fake, right? All of this is your illusion, right…”

 

The Pope’s voice grew smaller and smaller. The divine love’s radiance around him had long since failed to maintain itself. Now kneeling and sitting on the ground, he looked just like an ordinary, dejected middle-aged man.

 

The Demon King bent down and leaned close to the bedraggled Pope, carefully examining him several times. “I really do prefer this appearance of yours. Unfortunately, I’ve only seen it once before, but I hope this is the last time.”

 

The Pope was still immersed in nightmare-like disbelief. He still couldn’t understand how things had evolved to this state.

 

The Demon King lowered his eyes to look at him, many emotions brewing in his gaze. He still couldn’t help himself. “Do you know what will happen after that false god takes away the divine status?”

 

The Demon King didn’t wait for his answer and said directly, “This world will become a circus in his hands. He controls everyone’s talents, professions, and futures. The entire world has been set with rules – you must follow his thoughts, and everyone must live by following his rules.”

 

“How utterly boring.” The Demon King shook his head.

 

The Pope had no reaction. He even felt this was normal – this was the right that gods possessed.

 

Seeing that expression, the Demon King knew what he was thinking and laughed mockingly. “As far as I know, your end isn’t much better… You’re just a dispensable chess piece in his hands, of course he would abandon you…”

 

The Demon King didn’t continue. He simply conjured a bright rose from thin air and gently snapped it in half.

 

Only then did the Pope suddenly raise his head – not because he heard about his own miserable fate, but because he understood something that made his blood run cold. “Why do you know so clearly about future events? Could it be that Toth… rewound time?”

 

“I see, I see…” he muttered with vacant eyes, frantically searching his body for usable items. “I must go tell God, I must tell Him…”

 

The Demon King laughed. “You’re really stubborn. Even time doesn’t allow his existence, yet you still believe he’s a god!”

 

“Talking with you is truly unpleasant.” The Demon King said softly, “But I have a premonition that this is the last time I’ll see you. Farewell forever, Pandiff.”

 

Ji Chi didn’t notice that another cluster of bright red roses had bloomed at the Demon King’s feet. He looked somewhat worriedly at Evan.

 

Evan’s emotions were very wrong.

 

He had no particular reaction, just quietly lowered his eyes to examine the priest collapsed on the ground.

 

This priest came from an unremarkable small town, but because he had handled several “unremarkable” sacrifices, he had deeply earned the Pope’s trust and was able to follow beside the Pope and enjoy glory.

 

Evan stared at him coldly and suddenly spoke, “You must have known I was hiding outside the door then, right? Do you still remember the words you deliberately said for me to hear?”

 

Evan repeated word by word. “Those children’s magic power and life force haven’t been lost for long. If only we could have been earlier, just a little earlier.”

 

“Do you know how many times I’ve replayed this sentence in my memory?” Evan walked toward him step by step.

 

The priest had long been scared out of his wits by the series of upheavals, retreating frantically while pleading. “Don’t come over, don’t come over!”

 

Evan stopped less than a meter away from him, tilted his head to admire his disheveled state, and said, “By the way, you probably spared my life because you took a fancy to my talent, right?”

 

The priest seemed reminded of the key point and hurriedly nodded then shook his head. “Yes, yes, I really never wanted to kill you! Look, I’ve been so good to you all these years! You can’t…”

 

Evan interrupted him, his gaze wandering around as if searching for something. “Mm, you’re right about that. I really do have talent… So, Father, would you like to see the new magic I’ve learned?”

 

The priest had a bad feeling, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Wh-what?”

 

Evan pulled down a long, sturdy rose vine, ignoring the sharp thorns that made his palm bleed profusely. He smiled slightly at the priest, smiling like a warm little sun. “I learned a magic array. It looks a bit complex, but I’ve always remembered it very clearly.”