In the moment that they entered the tower, Du Ze involuntarily closed his eyes. When he opened them, he and Xiu had arrived at a completely unfamiliar place.
They were in a spacious round room about the size of half a football field. Several stone platforms were located around the hall. At the 12 o'clock position was a huge door made of light; it was so dazzling that people could not see what was beyond the door. That door was the only entrance he could see so it must be the entrance to the first level of the tower.
The hall was full of people. Du Ze looked around and thought that it would be impossible for more people to squeeze their way inside. However, even after the Thunder Regiment entered, the hall was still in the same state as before – it still looked as though it would be impossible for one more person to enter. Du Ze was puzzled, clearly there were more and more people entering but no matter how crowded it seemed, the bodies of the people inside never made contact with each other. Xiu had been embracing him but he did not know when he had disappeared.
Du Ze looked at Xiu and found that he did not voluntarily let him go. His hand was outstretched as though he wanted to touch Du Ze but couldn't. It wasn't as though his hand and Du Ze's body were virtual and could not touch. Rather, the two of them looked very close to each other but the space between them was infinite and could not be bridged.
Xiu frowned. He did not like this feeling. Du Ze was in front of him but he could never reach him.
– This man has always given him that kind of feeling.
Xiu knows that he is insecure, but that is because he cares too much about this person.
Du Ze saw Xiu say something but even sound was blocked. Du Ze realized that the hall was too quiet. They were all crowded together and people were speaking, but no voices could be heard. Xiu was aware of this and pointed at the door of light with a finger, signaling the others that they should pass through together.
Because everyone was in a different space, Du Ze's path to the door was unimpeded. He followed behind Xiu. As he approached the door, an invisible force made Du Ze lift his hand. A black flame floated on his palm. Du Ze couldn't describe this feeling but the moment he saw the black flame, he knew it was his ticket. He had three options: he could climb the tower to try to become a god; he could give up this ticket in the hall and be sent expelled by the tower; or he could give the ticket to someone else.
Du Ze looked at Xiu and found that the demon was gazing at him. A black flame was also in his hand. Du Ze did not hesitate to pass his ticket to Xiu. When the two black flames got near to each other, they spontaneously fused together. Du Ze did not know why he felt proud when he saw the flame surging upward.
Even if he did not come to this world to know Xiu, Xiu was the person that he believed in the most. For readers, they see the protagonist as someone all-powerful. Some of the readers who cannot achieve their dreams pin their hopes on the protagonist and derive enjoyment from seeing him achieve their dreams. As long as the protagonist succeeds, even if the reader doesn't have anything to do with it, the reader can still get great satisfaction and joy – the protagonist is their favorite hero and their ideal self.
The back of Du Ze's neck was suddenly grabbed and his head was tilted up to receive Xiu's kiss. After their black flames fused, they were in the same space. Du Ze's reaction speed was too slow. Xiu took advantage of Du Ze's mouth that was slightly open because of his surprise. Xiu knew that Du Ze was shy so he folded his wings around the two of them. To other people this action was just like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
The demon sisters watched as Xiu spread his wings open to reveal himself and Du Ze. Though the black-haired youth's face was still as cold as ever, his slightly swollen lips were quite charming. Alice gave her ticket to Violet who walked over to Xiu and carefully handed the fused black flames to him.
Now that he was able to hold his silly, cute person, Xiu's mood had improved. He took Violet and Muir's black flames. When he turned to Ariel, the dark elf princess seemed to be trying to say something. Du Ze read the words that she was expressing with her gestures and was finally reminded of the loyal mechanical puppet who was helping him take care of the fat chirp.
"Old John wasn't able to come."
For living creatures, they are all in their own separate spaces. Old John is not alive so the hall was too crowded for him to pass through.
"I'll pick him up."
Xiu walked back to Old John and said something. Old John nodded and handed the small Phoenix to Xiu. There was a flash of gray light as the mechanical puppet was loaded into Xiu's space ring.
Du Ze looked at the unusually well-behaved fluffy chick in Xiu's hand. When Xiu let it go, the fat chirp flew like a cannonball to the top of Du Ze's head. It made a precise landing with its wings open, like a gymnast jumping down from the parallel bars.
"Chirp chirp~"
Regarding that fluffy animal that was always in his hair, he has been fighting a losing battle against it from the beginning. Now he was resigned to its presence. Xiu took Du Ze's hand in his. Because of the spatial separation, he could not contact Rachel and others. Instead he gestured to the Thunder Regiment and led everyone into the door of light.
The light from the door was not that bright but it did make Du Ze squint as they entered. His line of sight was blank. After they entered and the bright afterimages in his sight had disappeared, Du Ze became speechless when he saw the place they were in.
It was as though they were not inside the tower but rather in another world. They stood on a circular arena surrounded by arches and an auditorium in the Ancient Roman architectural style. Burning torches scattered the darkness and there was only a black emptiness all around the arena.
Du Ze looked around him and saw that it was really like what Heidi said. Only Xiu and his followers were in this place, the Thunder Regiment and everyone else had entered the door together but now there was no trace of them. He did not know where the Tower of God had randomly sent them.
Xiu took out Old John and everyone began to look around. This arena should be the tower's first trial. Du Ze stared at a pattern on the ground. It looked like an artistic design of some sort, but it was actually language-based because he could read it. It simply meant "72."
Alice was also staring at the ground and she looked as though she had remembered something. She looked up; in the dim light of the torches, she could see that above them was a circular shape of roughly the same size as the arena.
"I think I know where we are..."
Everyone looked at her. Alice tugged in Violet's clothes, revealing a shy smile.
"I read in some ancient books that the demon race once had a very famous architectural complex. It was called the Demon God Arena."
When Alice said the name of the place, the flames on all the torches flared up. A demon holding a large serpent appeared. His face was cold and his eyes seemed empty. When he saw Du Ze and the others, he attacked without saying a word.
Xiu's reaction was the fastest, he quickly drew his sword and cut the demon in half at the waist together with the snake. Du Ze thought that the battle ended as quickly as it had started. The defeated demon turned into ash and was blown away by the wind. A rune formed in the air that transformed into a magical teleportation array leading to the top. They all looked at this, puzzled.
Xiu shook off the blood on his sword and looked at Alice. "Go on."
Alice composed herself then pointed to the top of the teleportation array: "If I am right, this is the same arena. In the first era, the demons built this place for strength rankings. There was only one at first, but once Bael showed his strength no one dared to challenge him. So the demons built the second arena under the first one but it was soon occupied by Agares... In the end the demons built 72 arenas. According to legend, the 72 demon gods are ranked in the same order as these arenas. Later on, the arenas were collectively known as the Demon God Arena."
Du Ze looked up at the teleportation array and saw that it really does lead to another circular arena.
Alice nodded at the pattern on the floor, explaining: "This is '72' in the ancient demon language, which means that this arena is guarded by the 72nd demon god – just now that man who appeared must have been the demon god Andromalius."
"He was very weak," said Xiu. He was a demon god but was only on the level of a Sword Master.
"This ... I don't know," Alice replied with some uneasiness.
The demon god Andromalius fell early on during the second era. The demon with the snake looked sluggish, like a puppet. He was clearly a virtual shadow of the real demon god made by the tower. Xiu looked at the teleportation formation and asked Alice: "Who is up there?"
"If this is the magic arena, it should be the 71st demon god Dantalion."
Du ze almost coughed up blood. They just met Dan outside the tower but now they must "meet" him again. Some silly, cute person was impatient to see "demon god Dantalion." Xiu was aware of Du Ze's excitement. The corners of his mouth curved up as he pulled Du Ze towards the teleportation array.
"Let's go."
The teleportation array sent Du Ze and the others to the next location. They arrived at an arena that was built in the same style. Opposite them was a demon god holding a book. "Dan" stood there blankly.
The moment everyone had been teleported in, "Dan" launched an attack at them. Even though his name was called, "Dan" didn't seem to hear and just continued to attack mechanically. Like the previous arena, the "Dan" here was just a shadow of the real demon god, with no intelligence and low strength. Even the demon sisters can stop him. This was the first time that Du Ze saw Dan's real demon form. Compared with the green-clothed businessman, the armor-wearing version was really a bit more majestic in appearance.
Violet and Alice are fire and water attribute demons at the Sword Master level, but when they fought together their strength became far higher than a Grand Sword Master. Their joint attacks were so fast that Du Ze could hardly follow their moves. "Dan" was completely overwhelmed with no chance of fighting back. Du Ze had to admit that even though he knew it wasn't that bas***d Dan, it was so cool to see the sisters beating him like that.
It's really hilarious.
Because it was not a real person, "Dantalion" was easily defeated and transformed into a rune. The situation is now clear; the Tower of God must want them to move up step by step. Du Ze thought that this was the Tower of God making up for the fact that Xiu had skipped over the 72 demon cities story arc in the novel. Therefore the tower deliberately placed the 72 demon gods to let the Moe Lord have fun.
The next two demon gods were also easily defeated; there was no problem until they came to the 68th arena. In front of them appeared the beautiful demon god with two bodies – Belial. In order to save them from the god of light, the demon god chose to sacrifice herself. The two demon sisters looked across them at the beautiful demon god who was driving her chariot of fire and their voices trembled as they said: "Lord Belial."
Compared to the other demon gods they had fought, it wasn't only emotionally difficult to fight her but her strength was also different. Xiu can feel that Belial and the shadows of the other demons gods were completely different, probably because Belial's body had been absorbed by "the rules." Right in front of them was a true demon god.
"Alice, Violet?" Unexpectedly, Belial spoke and did not immediately attack like the previous demon gods. Belial looked at them calmly and smiled when she saw the demon sisters. "You are here, too."
The demon sisters were so moved that their tears started falling. Xiu relaxed his grip on his sword. Belial is clearly intelligent, perhaps they can negotiate.
"I don't want to fight you." Xiu said: "Can you let us pass?"
"Unfortunately, there is no way to enter the next arena except to kill me." Belial took out her weapon. "That's the rule."
When Belial drew her sword, the atmosphere tensed up. The demon sisters looked at Xiu then at Belial, their expressions filled with helplessness. Belial turned from Xiu and looked at the demon sisters; her eyes were very gentle.
"So we must obey it."
Belial plunged her sword into her own heart without hesitation. Violet and Alice's eyes widened and they burst into tears. They cried out but couldn't fully express the grief in their hearts.
"... Lord ... Belial..."
Belial's body was turning into ashes, feet first. She looked at the crying sisters and whispered comfortingly: "Don't be sad, this is not death – I am here, caught between life and death."
Her body was almost completely grey when she spoke of a curse that was like a fairytale.
"I'll appear again when another person shows up here."
All of them stared in silence as the beautiful demon god turned to ashes then turned into a rune that transformed into a teleportation array leading up to the next level. Du Ze felt the cruelty of "the rules" for the first time. The mindless shadow clones are alright but the ones that have consciousness like Belial are imprisoned in this tower almost for eternity, killing or being killed by the people climbing the tower, endlessly reincarnated.
Du Ze suddenly felt very dejected. The Tower of God was built using the corpses of the dead gods. Therefore, when they reached the top of the Demon God Arena, the BOSS they will meet will surely be...
Demon God Bael.