Chapter 84: Huge Benefits
Roy’s claw scratched one of César’s eyes, which also made Roy aware of César’s weakness.
Just as Roy was about to seize the opportunity and follow up to destroy César’s other illusion demon eye, the large mouth on César’s abdomen opened wide and spat out a green mist with a strong smell at Roy.
Roy blocked with the frost s.h.i.+eld in his hand but found that the mist did not seem to be formed by magic power. The Magic Power Virus on the s.h.i.+eld did not react to it, but rather, the mist was corroding Roy’s s.h.i.+eld.
Seeing this, Roy knew he could not let this green mist touch him, so he flapped his wings and flew back.
This thing seemed to be César’s stomach acid. After the mist touched the ground, the corrosion became stronger, and even thick smoke rose from the ground.
Fat Tiger was at his wits’ end. After killing one of César’s physical illusions, he hid beside Roy. Upon smelling the green mist, his three heads were sneezing non-stop because his sense of smell was too sensitive.
After Roy retreated to a safe range, he flapped his demon wings vigorously, trying to blow the mist away. However, after the mist dissipated, he found that what he was left behind was a physical illusion. Roy’s Eyes of Nightmare clearly saw that this illusion was only a ma.s.s of magic power, and César’s true body was already running away!
“d.a.m.n, you’re an upper-middle-rank demon. Do you need to be so timid?” Roy cursed.
He knew that although César’s eye was injured, his magic power did not decrease that much. When Roy spread the cold aura just now, although some Magic Power Viruses had infected César, with merely that tiny amount, it was impossible to devour all of the magic power of an upper-middle-rank demon.
In fact, since the beginning of their battle until now, César had probably not used up a tenth of his magic power.
But in this situation, César still chose to escape, showing that he truly felt the threat Roy brought him.
While César had been hiding in another world, Roy had no way to deal with him, but in the same way, he had also given Roy time to make certain preparations. If not for the Eyes of Nightmare’s ability to see through and break illusions, Roy would not have been able to handle César.
Before this, some execution demons had tried to kill César but were instead killed by him. Illusions were actually very powerful. Given César’s skills, Roy felt that he might not necessarily lose even against high-rank demons. But at the same time, once targeted, the biggest disadvantage of illusions appeared—the lack of corresponding offensive abilities!
If César could not consume the opponent’s physical strength and magic power in the illusion, then he would not be able to deal the fatal blow. Although his strength was high, Roy’s frost s.h.i.+eld could absorb the impact, preventing him from breaking Roy’s defense. Even the commonly used flame abilities of many demons were restrained by Roy’s frost power, so how could he still fight?
César realized this point in the end and that it was useless to continue entangling with Roy. Even if he had more magic power than Roy, it would not be enough to consume all of Roy’s. Before Roy ran out of magic power, he might cause fatal damage to César.
With the cover of the stomach acid mist, César escaped, leaving behind an illusory body to stall Roy. However, it did not stall Roy for long.
After the magic power that condensed the illusory body dissipated, the illusion disappeared. Roy called out to Fat Tiger, and one demon and one dog flew up into the sky and chased after César.
Flying at the speed of sound, Roy did not take long before catching up to César!
Seeing Roy in the sky behind him, César roared angrily but did not stop. He just threw his ax at Roy in the air, but Roy easily dodged.
Boom! Roy landed in front of César, while Fat Tiger landed behind César, surrounding him.
“You can’t escape. Without wings, it’s impossible for you to be faster than me!” Roy emitted his cold aura while staring at César. “Also, don’t forget. I have the memory crystal that can track the location of the demon artifact you’re carrying. In this Abyss, I can find you wherever you flee!”
César’s chest was heaving, and the big mouth on his stomach was panting heavily. He knew that Roy was right. Facing this demon who restrained him, no matter where he ran, he would be found.
“Ahh… You’re right!” César said. “I’ve actually made preparations when I returned. I know that the power of the demon lord isn’t something that I can deal with. Even without you, there will still be other execution demons pursuing me. I can hide once or twice but not from all of them!”
“It’s good that you understand. Hand over the demon artifact,” Roy said. “To be honest, I don’t want to take it out of your corpse. d.a.m.n, your stomach is really disgusting…”
“Hahaha!” César suddenly laughed out loud. “The demon artifact is indeed in my body. I’m not lying about this. But don’t you want to know what the demon artifact I stole is? I can show you!”
With that, César opened his mouth and spat out an object covered with mucus.
César held it in his hand. Roy endured his disgust and looked at it. It was a small black cylindrical object, about twenty centimeters long and covered with engraved demon characters.
“This is what I stole from Demon Lord Rogeros.” César showed it to Roy. “This thing is called the Balotan Pillar! It is a demon creation made by a demon lord named Balotan using his own soul fragment. However, this demon lord perished in a battle with a high-level angel, and Rogeros obtained this magic weapon that has lost its function.”
“Lost its function?” Roy did not believe it. “If it has really lost its function, why are you carrying it?”
César did not answer Roy but instead asked, “Do you know what the original function of this Balotan Pillar is?”
“A powerful weapon?” Roy answered cooperatively, but at the same time, he put his guard up.
César took this demon artifact out, so he was definitely thinking about having a final struggle. Since a demon lord had created it, it might have astonis.h.i.+ng might. If it really was a weapon, the moment Roy saw César use it, he would Flash away without a moment’s hesitation.
Therefore, while being vigilant, Roy contacted Fat Tiger through the spiritual connection and made him retreat carefully.
However, César shook his faceless head. “Wrong. It isn’t a weapon at all! In fact, the Balotan Pillar in my hand isn’t complete because it still has a base piece…”
As he explained, red light began emanating from César. Under the Insight ability of Roy’s Eye of Nightmare, he could see traces of formidable magic power flowing around César.
“What are you doing?” Roy took a few steps back cautiously and asked in disbelief, “You want to… self-destruct?”
“Yes!” César laughed sinisterly. “There’s only one function for the Balotan Pillar—soul sustenance! It allows my soul to attach to it completely without any damage! But this thing lost its original function after Balotan died. To reactivate it, you must sacrifice your life!”
“Soul… sustenance! ?” Roy pondered over the term and was increasingly surprised. He already guessed what César wanted to do and could not help but exclaim, “You… want to attach your soul to it and escape to another world?!”
These words stunned César for a moment. He did not expect Roy to be so smart and immediately guess his motive.
However, César had already overloaded his magic power circuit, and this process was irreversible, so he had nothing he could not say. He nodded. “You guessed right. Did you think I did nothing while hiding in another world? Since I can’t escape Rogeros’s pursuit in the Abyss, then I might as well stay in another world and not return! When I sacrifice my life to activate the Balotan Pillar, the base piece I left in the other world will summon the Balotan Pillar back!”
“How is that possible?” Roy could not help asking. “How are you going to survive without a body? Moreover, the repulsive force of a world is effective even on souls! How can you stay in another world and not come back?”
“Haha. This is my last secret. I won’t tell you any more! You only need to know that I can do it!” César laughed maniacally. “That world isn’t barren like the Abyss, and I will harvest countless delicious souls in it! When I become a demon lord, even Rogeros won’t be able to do anything to me!”
With that, César’s magic power reached its peak, and his entire body exploded with a bang!
Flesh flew, and purple blood splattered everywhere. Even though Roy was far away, he was nearly drenched. A huge pit appeared at the center of the magic power explosion.
While self-destructing, César’s soul was drawn out and attached to the Balotan Pillar, leaving only the activated Balotan Pillar floating in the air and radiating light.
After the explosion, Roy immediately rushed to the small pillar, but before he could reach it, the black mist of a Gate of the Abyss appeared. The mist enveloped the Balotan Pillar and teleported it away!
F*ck! This guy is really ruthless. He didn’t even hesitate to destroy his body to make it out of the Abyss.
In that other world, are there really such huge benefits that he would do this?
The Gate of the Abyss, which teleported the Balotan Pillar, closed in a very short time. Even if it had not closed, Roy would not foolishly chase after him.
But the problem now was that Roy seemed to have failed his mission. Although César died physically, his soul escaped, and he had not managed to recover the Balotan Pillar. How was he supposed to report back on the mission?
Roy stood where he was, pondering. He felt he could only tell Edrach the truth. After all, no one could have thought that César would use this method to escape from the Abyss. Since this happened, Edrach would understand.
Just as Roy was about to turn around, an incomparably immense pressure suddenly appeared!
This pressure was far beyond what Edrach had shown when he appeared, and Roy almost fell to his knees.
A tall figure appeared in front of Roy. This figure was at least five meters tall, and Roy looked tiny in front of this figure.
The figure that appeared wore fiery red armor and stood with his fiery red cloak hanging onto the ground. At his waist under the cloak was a huge demon sword, and one of the figure’s gloved hands was resting on the hilt. Roy strenuously lifted his head to look at the figure’s face, only to find that his head was covered by a lord’s crown, and his face was unclear. All he could see was a pair of eyes s.h.i.+ning fiery red and powerful flames surrounding his huge body.
Roy instantly knew who had appeared.
He lowered his head. “Lord Rogeros!”
“I felt the fluctuations of the Balotan Pillar reactivating. What’s going on?” The person who came was indeed Demon Lord Rogeros. To be precise, it should be his incarnation. He stared at Roy and asked, “Are you the execution demon this time? Tell me what happened.”
Roy did not hide anything and told him the entire story.
“What is he trying to do?” After Roy finished speaking, Rogeros could not help but feel doubtful. “Stay in another world forever? Did he truly say that?”
“Yes, that’s what he said!” Roy nodded.
“Does that mean César wants to use that method…” Rogeros thought out loud. He suddenly said to Roy, “Since you have the ability to restrain César and force him to abandon his body, I want you to continue with your execution mission!”
“How do I continue?” Roy asked.
“The Balotan Pillar was teleported through a Gate of the Abyss, but after a Gate of the Abyss opens, there will be certain traces. My strength is sufficient to trace the world coordinates. Now, I will open another Gate of the Abyss. Your mission is to follow the trail, find César during your stay, figure out what he wants to do, then kill him, and bring back the Balotan Pillar!”
“Will this… work?” Roy asked. “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay in that world. What if the repulsive force of the world is too strong? Does this form of going to another world without being summoned increase the time I can stay through signing a demon contract?”
“Yes, but the Gate of the Abyss I open might not be able to locate César’s position accurately, and it might be far away,” Rogeros said. “Therefore, you’ll have to figure out the concrete situation…”
Facing a powerful demon lord, Roy certainly could not decline. But luckily, Rogeros knew that this mission exceeded the scope of his original execution mission, so he took the initiative to say, “I will also reward you accordingly after you complete the mission!”
“Okay!” Roy called the quivering Fat Tiger to his side.
Rogeros began casting. His hand glowed with the radiance of magic power, and he drew patterns in the air. It seemed like only with the strength of a demon lord could you open a Gate of the Abyss on your own accord.
A moment later, under the convergence of formidable magic power, a new Gate of the Abyss opened in the deep pit where César exploded.
“Go in!” Rogeros said. “I have left magic power on you. Once you complete this mission, activate this magic power, and you can open a Gate of the Abyss and return!”
Roy brought Fat Tiger into the Gate of the Abyss. The black mist enveloped them, and they disappeared in an instant.
After Roy left, Rogeros could not help but whisper to himself, “I didn’t expect César to be so daring… If he wants to stay forever, he can only create a half-human half-demon taboo body. How is he going to do it?”