This was the second time that Du Ze had seen Bael. Compared to when he was in a hurry to come and go, now there was enough time for Du Ze to really take a look at the legendary first demon god.
Across from them, Bael was like a towering mountain that stood in front of everyone – not because of his physical body but because of his imposing manner. He is about two meters high, with curved horns exactly like Xiu's and a pair of purple eyes so dark that they could be mistaken for black. The darkness of a demon's eyes are a sign of the demon's power. The darker the eyes, the stronger the demon. The demon god stood in the center of the arena, as majestic as an emperor, making people realize their own insignificance from the bottom of their hearts.
Du Ze looked at Bael as if he was seeing a future version of Xiu. Bael was Xiu's great-grandfather, but their faces were so similar that they looked like father and son. Du Ze thought that the last time they saw him, the god of light and Bael died together. That was probably more or less because of Xiu, right? So will Bael, like Belial, choose to let them pass?
Both emotionally and in terms of strength, Bael is a formidable obstacle.
At this time the arena was silent. It was hard to breathe because of the pressure emanating from the first demon god. Bael had been watching Xiu. His eyes were dark and nothing could be seen from them. Du Ze listened as Bael demanded from Xiu: "Your name."
"Xiu."
"Draw your sword."
Everyone was shocked. There was no exchange of greetings and the demon god immediately asked for a duel. Seeing that Xiu did not respond, Bael raised his hand. Purple-gold arcs gathered around him as he began to prepare an attack.
"You have almost finished the demon god arena. Do you still not understand? If you want to move forward, you have to destroy everything that is holding you back – or are you unable to deal with me?"
The glare from the lightning arcs made light and shadow dance around Bael's face. The demon god gazed at Xiu and he sighed: "You should not be merciful."
[The Demons gave away their mercy, received destruction.]
When he heard Bael's words, Du Ze almost automatically thought of "Mixed Blood." Before he could analyze the thought, he saw Xiu walking forward slowly
"Yes." Xiu expressed his agreement with Bael's words. He extended a hand and Qian Bian appeared then transformed into the Burning Desire Demonic Sword. "So I'll kill you."
He has something that he desires. For that goal, he can throw away everything, give up everything, even destroy everything.
Hearing Xiu's response, Bael's expression was more gratified than delighted.
"I will not be lenient. Rather than letting you pass through here just to be killed by the other gods, it's better for me to finish you off myself," said Bael.
There will be other gods? Du Ze was still speechless with shock, Xiu and Bael started fighting.
The whole arena was shrouded in lightning. Muir had to protect everyone at the edge of the arena. The terrifying energy of those seemingly weak tiny arcs even made the dragon afraid.
Bael stomped down with one foot. The lighting wove itself into a circle, centered on his foot, and quickly spread outward, too fast to see. Xiu protected himself with his bat-like wings. The instant the lightning swept past him, he flew up and moved to cut down Bael from above.
"Clang-"
The sharp blade swung down and sliced the purple lighting. The purple and gold bolts in Bael's hands condensed, forming sword made of lightning. Lightning flowed to the Burning Desire Demonic Sword and two blades were joined together by a glowing chain of electricity. Xiu tried to retreat, but Bael's lightning blade was like a magnet clinging to the Burning Desire Demonic Sword. A strong current was channeled to Xiu's body. Xiu knitted his brows; an expression of pain flashed through his face. He is very familiar with this power, but this time it brought him harm.
Bael gazed at Xiu. Balls of thunder began to gather around him. As Bael had said before, he wasn't going to go easy on Xiu and therefore didn't give him a chance to catch his breath. A ball of lighting struck Xiu; even though he protected himself with his wings, Xiu still suffered a slight injury. Xiu's lips thinned as blood ran down the corners of his mouth. Xiu also used the lighting of destruction, but when his attack touched Bael's lighting, it was instantly wiped out. It was like a child attacking an adult, unable to make a mark on the other.
"Only by being hurt can you understand its true power. We have the power to destroy everything – including ourselves," said Bael.
Three lightning balls pierced Xiu's wings. Xiu's eyes became bright. Lightning represents destruction. He knows of its power; its strength can even harm his own body. Therefore every time he uses this power, he instinctively suppresses it so that it wouldn't hurt him.
Xiu looked at Bael then closed his eyes. He had to move forward, so he has to destroy all the obstacles in his path.
"Buzz-"
The purple and white lighting suddenly condensed into purple gold lighting, then the arcs became thinner and thinner until they turned into purple and black. Xiu opened his eyes; the purple eyes became brighter and brighter until, finally, they looked like balls of mercury and the demonic slit pupils were clearly outlined.
Xiu's body seemed like it was about to fall apart. He began bleeding from every pore; just a little bit more and he would look like a pool of blood. His lighting was compressed into a hair-thin thickness. Rather than lightning, it would be more appropriate to call it an electric arc. The purple-black arc easily tore Bael's blade, breaking all obstacles and jumping towards Bael.
Bael looked at the bloody Xiu. Although Xiu is very strong, he is still immature. Even now, Bael can still counterattack. Although he was not able to evade the purple-black lighting, at the moment he was hit he could have grabbed Xiu so that they can die together.
——But that's not necessary.
Bael waved and the remaining ten balls of lightning hit the purple-black arc and were broken by the other side's power. At the moment he was engulfed by lighting, the first demon god narrowed his eyes slightly and seemed satisfied.
"Boom-Crackle!!!"
Thunder roared and the whole arena shook. When Du Ze came out of the shelter of Muir's protection, he saw a half-destroyed arena. The incomplete arena floated in the void. Covered in blood, Xiu was standing on the floor. Opposite him was not a teleportation array but a purple pillar of light that seemed to go up into the sky. It seemed to be a portal out of the demon god arena.
This is... It's over?
Xiu was badly hurt. His left wing was torn and his body was covered with wounds. Du Ze wanted to rush to Xiu to treat his wounds but the arena was about to collapse from the damage to it. Muir didn't hesitate. He grabbed everyone and flew straight at the purple light. Du Ze closed his eyes. When he opened them, he found that they had all returned to the circular hall. The hall was full of people but it felt uncrowded even with the addition of their group and Muir who was in his dragon shape.
Du Ze doesn't have the time to wonder why they came back. He was busy treating Xiu's wounds with the help of the demon sisters and Ariel. Du Ze was quite frightened when he saw all of the holes in Xiu's body. He couldn't see anything while he was under Muir's protection. He could only hear the sounds of the fighting, but from Xiu's miserable condition he deduced that both parties were equally skilled and powerful. Although he didn't see it and therefore couldn't verify, Du Ze felt that whether it was Bael or Xiu, they both got the result they wanted.
Xiu seemed a little tired. He lazily leaned on Du Ze, silent. There were a lot of people around, but, like the last time they were in this space, nobody could disturb anyone else. After treating Xiu's wounds with some highly effective medicine, Du Ze breathed a sigh of relief and found that Xiu was staring at something. Du Ze looked at the direction of Xiu's gaze and froze – was that statue here before?
There were several stone platforms around the hall. This time one of them had a stone statue on it. The statue was mostly very standard, a blank humanoid carving, but it had bat-like wings that showed it was a demon. Du Ze is certain that this statue was not here the first time they came to the hall. It probably appeared after they emerged from the demon god arena.
... Is this a sign that they passed? The demon god arena is just the first level of the Tower of God?
Du Ze looked at the stone platforms again and this time he carefully counted the empty platforms. There were seven. Du Ze thought of Bael and the Lord God's intention. Adding the number of stone platforms into the mix, Du Ze finally realized the author's evil intention – each race was one level.
****! To finish the demon god arena trial, the Moe Lord turned into a bloody ruin. Having to fight every race ... won't he be so weary he turns into a wreck! QAQ
Xiu also looked thoughtfully at the platforms. The hall only has one door of light, meaning they can only go forward; no retreat is possible. Except for the immobile Old John and the Xiu-equipped Du Ze, the others were sent by Xiu to look for Rachel and the others.
Du Ze then remembered Dan's information. The Thunder Regiment dispersed but, according to Dan, as long as they are able to finish the first trial, Xiu can recruit unlimited numbers of followers.
The others went around the hall several times but they did not meet any of the members of the Thunder Regiment. They didn't know if it was because they had not emerged from the first trial or if something unexpected happened. Both Heidi and Dan said that the Tower of God randomly sent people to different places and whether they could meet again was up to fate. Thus, they can only forget about the Thunder Regiment for now.
Although Xiu was wounded and needed some time to rest, they decided to enter the light door after a day's respite in the hall. In the hall, other people can see them even though they are in different spaces. With so many people watching, there was no sense of privacy, therefore many things are not easy to do and they could not even sleep at night.
Even seriously injured, Xiu still took Du Ze with him as he led the way. Although this was their second time to pass through the door of light, Du Ze still felt nervous at walking into the unknown. The bright light faded and before his vision was restored, Du Ze felt the wind blowing on his face, bringing with it the scent of grass and a faint smell of decay.
Du Ze blinked. They were in a small forest. Opposite them were hundreds of uniformed skeletons, including skeleton soldiers, skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, and a skeleton mage. Muir instantly transformed into his dragon form, ready to attack. A group of skeletons moved away to avoid being crushed to pieces. That was the only action they did.
All the skeletons knelt down to Xiu uniformly. Their leader seemed to be the skeleton mage, who opened its hollow mouth and, with a rattling voice, used a necromancy spell to speak: [Lord Commander,1 please lead us to the Chaos Continent.]
... What is this?
Xiu was a bit surprised. He asked the skeleton mage: "What did you call me?"
[Lord Commander, please lead us to the Chaos Continent] said the skeleton mage.
No matter what it was asked, the skeleton mage would simply repeat the sentence monotonously and mechanically. It looks as if this was deliberately arranged. Du Ze stared at the skeletons. Unlike the demon god arena trial, the Tower of God wanted to give them hints this time?
Xiu thought for a moment, then tried to give the group of undead instructions. They really did obey his commands. It seems as though this group of skeletons have accepted him as their commander. The first half of the skeleton mage's request was already clear and the other half seemed to say that Xiu should use these skeleton soldiers to conquer the Chaos Continent?
The situation was rather unclear and they didn't know if they should believe the information that the skeleton mage provided. They decided to leave the woods and explore the area. Based on their previous experience in the demon god arena, the starting area shouldn't be too dangerous. When the group of people walked off, the skeletons automatically followed them. Even when Xiu told them to stop, the skeletons would be slightly confused for a moment then continue following.
The forest was not big and they were able to reach its outskirts in about an hour. When Du Ze stepped out of the forest, what he saw made him think that he was in the Chaos Continent instead of inside the tower. The blue sky was endless and outside the woods was a small village with fewer than ten houses.
It was harvest time in autumn. Du Ze saw several farmers bending over to harvest the wheat. When those men looked up and saw them coming out of the woods, especially Xiu with wings and horns, their smiling faces instantly became panicked.
"The dead, the undead are coming-"
People screamed and the whole village was alarmed. Every household closed its doors and windows. The people who were in the fields were extremely frightened, shivering as they each held aloft a hoe.
Du Ze was rendered speechless by all of this. Old John kept a gentle smile on his face and came forward to try to communicate with them.
"I'm sorry to disturb you. Please do not be afraid, we have no malice towards you." Old John's voice sounded quite convincing: "If you wish, we will leave at once. However, before we leave can we ask...?"
Old John's words were interrupted. One of the peasants seemed to be frightened into reckless behavior and grabbed a stone. He threw it at Old John.
"D***ed undead!"
Old John retreated to avoid the stone. On seeing this action, the others seemed to be infected with courage and picked up stones to throw at Du Ze and the others.
"Go to hell!"
"Evil undead, get the hell out of here!"
Xiu grabbed the stone that was about to smashed into Du Ze and crushed it into powder. He stared at the group of people cursing them. He seemed to be thinking of some bad memories. Just then, the skeleton soldiers following them arrived. When they saw the village, the skeletons became excited and rushed out of the woods to the farmers in the field.
The next time the farmers proudly lifted more stones, they saw the skeletons coming. One person's neck was broken right away by a skeleton. Another reacted faster. He grabbed a hoe and pounced on a skeleton, cutting it in half. However, even if the skeleton had less than half of an intact body, it still used its hands to crawl. Reaching the farmer, it clung to his thigh then proceeded to climb up his body. The skeleton's dark hollow eyes and the farmers panic-stricken desperate eyes met.
"Click-"
In the blink of an eye, the farmers in the fields were wiped out. The skeleton mage staggered toward the bodies. Its hollow mouth rattled out a spell and black smoke enveloped the corpses. The bodies instantly melted until only their skeletons were left. Those skeletons stood up; they were a little dazed at first but immediately joined the skeleton army, becoming indistinguishable from the others.
After the farmers were killed, the skeletons began to flock to the village. Du Ze subconsciously look at Xiu; Xiu doesn't see what is happening or doesn't want to stop them. Xiu was looking up to the sky at the direction that they came from. Compared to the blue skies here, the sky over there was full of layers and layers of dark clouds; it had an ominous atmosphere.
"So that is what it is..." Xiu laughed softly. His expression was strange, like mockery, but with a deep sadness. After noticing Du Ze's gaze, Xiu put his hand on the back of Du Ze's neck. His voice was soft and low as though he was telling Du Ze a bedtime story.
"Have you ever heard of the Undead Scourge?"
********