Chapter 1132: Section 1133: Demon God Gamble
Void Tower, underground hall.
The unfolding of the statue’s wings was slow, but as the wings spread, a grandeur that seemed boundless gradually emanated from the statue.
Yadasai had intended to step forward to stop Popota’s actions, but he hesitated at this moment.
Such a limitless grandeur was something that appeared only among the topmost beings of the Abyss, Yadasai had never considered anything else!
As the statue’s wings fully unfolded, Yadasai suddenly felt a sense of suffocation, as well as a sense of inferiority, being gazed upon by a higher being.
He saw it! The true face of the statue!
It was a demon with wide black wings and a long tail, its stature quite petite, so when the wings wrapped around it, its form was completely concealed.
The appearance of the demon didn’t seem particularly striking, but there were two distinctive features that allowed Yadasai to recognize its identity at a glance.
First, the demon’s tail was extremely long, like a hook, entangled with stacks of exquisite tomes.
Second, were the demon’s eyes, cold yet full of wisdom. That gaze, as from ancient times, was flat and rippleless, yet it made one feel utterly abashed.
Just by gazing at the other, it felt like desecrating the divine, a sensation only felt in presence of a Demon God in the Abyss!
And such a Demon God, within all facets of the Abyss, there was only one, described in human terms—
“Even if you do not acknowledge it, you must admire its intelligence and knowledge, the Great Demon God—Cruel Scholar!”
The statue of the Cruel Scholar might well appear in the underground hall, for it was plausible. After all, the Abyssal inscriptions were created by the Cruel Scholar, and, moreover, all the inscriptions on the Void Tower were drawn by the Cruel Scholar.
It was normal for traces of him to remain here. However, what surprised Yadasai was that the Cruel Scholar had actually cast a strand of his main consciousness into this statue!
But surprise notwithstanding, Yadasai breathed a sigh of relief. With the oversight of the Cruel Scholar, he did not believe that the uninvited guest who had unlawfully entered the Void Tower would dare to continue pressing down.
Yet when Yadasai lifted his head to look in the direction of the “uninvited guest,” his pupils shrank.
Earlier, when the Cruel Scholar spread his wings, Popota’s actions had paused under the enormous grandeur, but after the Cruel Scholar retracted his grandeur to reveal his true form, Popota did not stop as Yadasai had expected but continued to press down with his hand.
His speed was slower than before, but the determination in his expression deepened even more.
“I know your purpose,” whispered a murmur from the mouth of the Cruel Scholar, “You do not need to destroy Lassudral completely in order to achieve what you desire.”
Popota seemed not to hear the Cruel Scholar’s voice, remaining unmoved.
The Cruel Scholar sighed softly, and a strange ripple spread outward from the statue.
When this ripple swept over Yadasai, it felt its thoughts become clearer, and even the speed of its thinking seemed to have increased a bit.
The ripple’s primary target—Popota—now had the crazed look in its eyes diminish quite a bit, revealing a certain clarity.
Regaining clarity, Popota finally turned its gaze toward the statue in front of it.
Gazing at the statue, Popota seemed to see through its unfathomable eyes, peering into the depths of the Abyssal Depth where there lay a vast, empty world. At the center of this world stood a library, and an unspeakable entity was lifting its head in the library, silently fixing its gaze beyond space and time, staring back at Popota.
Popota seemed to have some understanding of the statue’s identity, but it didn’t stop its actions and quietly responded, “It is only by doing this that I can get what I want.”
Though he said this, there was an indiscernible hint of defiance in Popota’s eyes, quickly replaced by obsession.
As long as the flames could be rekindled, the Fire of Baiyuan would burn for an endless future and the glory of our tribe would once again return to the world. Even if I were to fall into the profound purgatory, it would be worth it!
Yadasai, in the distance, had never imagined that Popota, facing the most revered Great Demon God, would still be so persistent. What surprised it even more was that Popota was speaking not in the Demon Language, but in the common tongue of humans!
Could it have been mistaken before? Could this huge alien being actually come from the world of humans?
“So, you intend to defy my will?” The Cruel Scholar’s voice remained calm, but the air in the underground hall seemed to freeze at that moment.
Yadasai watched Popota quietly, feeling a terrifying pressure. Even as an outsider in the distance, it couldn’t help but want to submit. It wanted to know Popota’s choice.
“Yes,” said Popota, his face showing no struggle. Despite the sweat forming on his forehead under the Cruel Scholar’s aura, he had no intention of changing his mind under this pressure.
“Although it is regrettable, to fulfill my pact with the Abyssal Demon Eye, I must stop you,” the Cruel Scholar said. The hall suddenly shook, and countless spike-shaped weapons emerged from the side walls, densely filling the space above the hall.
If one were to close their eyes and sense it, they would realize that behind these spikes were weapons covered with Inscription patterns. Controlled by the patterns, the sharp spikes all aimed at Popota.
At the same time, Popota also felt the boundless pressure of the Cruel Scholar, as if he had plunged into a dazzling world where scenes flashed by like a carousel.
On the other side, the pressure on Yadasai suddenly lifted. It looked up in confusion toward the center—Popota was still under pressure, but its own had been released? Yadasai’s thoughts raced, and it quickly understood what this meant.
—Clearly, the Cruel Scholar meant to make it a part of the execution as well.
It stood up, revealing its true form. Bone armor appeared on its body, and a cold bone knife was held in Yadasai’s hand, pointing directly at Popota.
As Yadasai raised the bone knife high, the countless spikes around also aimed at Popota’s vital points, while Popota still stood, unable to move under the overwhelming pressure of the Cruel Scholar.
Yadasai seemed to have seen that in the next second, Popota’s head would be chopped off, and countless spikes would tear Popota into pieces.
The thrill of dominating the opponent’s life made Yadasai somewhat excited, gripping the bone knife even tighter, determined to achieve a one-strike kill!
Whoosh—
The bone knife and spikes moved together, with Yadasai’s speed turning into smoke as it charged towards Popota.
Soon, Yadasai reached Popota and swung the knife down directly! However, just when the blade was about to touch Popota’s skin, it suddenly halted.
Or rather, not just Yadasai’s offensive move, including the numerous spikes, all stopped in mid-air.
It was as if time itself had frozen at that moment.
“What’s happening, what’s going on?” Yadasai’s mind was reeling, but its body remained frozen.
While Yadasai was confused, the Cruel Scholar suddenly let out a long sigh.
This sigh contained many unknown emotions, and just as Yadasai wished to delve deeper, the chains on Popota suddenly started moving, followed by a burst of bright light, Yadasai was repelled by a tremendous force.
Yadasai was violently flung against the wall of the underground hall, creating a deep crater.
It was covered in bone armor and thus wasn’t injured, but Yadasai still couldn’t move. Its eyes peered through the hole in the crater towards where the statue was.
It wanted to see what had happened. And what did the sigh of the Cruel Scholar signify?
But Yadasai didn’t see Popota, because at that moment, Popota was obscured by a dense black fog.
These fogs emerged from within Popota, and when they spread, a ring of light suddenly took shape in the midst of the black fog…
The black fog and the circle of light fused perfectly, resembling a “Solar Eclipse”.
When Yadasai saw this “Solar Eclipse,” it swallowed hard. It was beginning to understand why it got knocked away and why the Cruel Scholar had sighed.
It was familiar with the symbol of this “Solar Eclipse,” for it was—The Profound Pattern.
Full name: The True Name Sign of the Lord of the Profound.
And the Lord of the Profound was The Unparalleled Great Demon God of the Abyss!
In the world of Demon Gods, there were ranks too. The Lord of the Profound stood at the very top of the pyramid, whereas the Cruel Scholar was merely a Great Demon God, a tier below the Lord of the Profound.
Therefore, when the projection of the Cruel Scholar faced the Sign of the Lord of the Profound, it had no choice but to sigh.
At this moment, Yadasai felt helpless; it had never expected that two of the most supreme Demon Gods from the Abyss would descend their consciousness here.
“So this is the playground of Demon Gods,” Yadasai’s eyes dimmed, for with its power, it couldn’t possibly take part in such high-level contention.
“Indeed, you still appeared,” the Cruel Scholar sighed softly.
With a strange laugh, bizarre vibrations transmitted from the Profound Pattern.
The Cruel Scholar seemed to hear something from the vibrations, “The Eye of the Abyssal Depth indeed left, but Its consciousness had returned a thousand years ago, and here, It had Its listener.”
For the first time, the Cruel Scholar turned to look at Yadasai.
Yadasai felt tingles on its scalp, for it indeed had once received revelations from the Eye of the Abyssal Depth. However, it had never deciphered the true meaning of that revelation.
Vibrations came from the Profound Pattern again.
“Since you still intend to vie for Its power, I will step aside,” the Cruel Scholar responded calmly.
As the Cruel Scholar made his promise, a bizarre laughter came from within the Profound Pattern, and slowly, the black fog faded, and the “Solar Eclipse” disappeared along with it.
Left behind were only Popota, whose eyes had regained the gleam of madness, and the statue of the Cruel Scholar with its wings once again enshrouding its form.
As the wings returned to their place, it was evident that the Cruel Scholar, true to its earlier promise, was no longer obstructing Popota.
However, as the statue’s wings were about to close, another ripple emerged from the Cruel Scholar, causing Popota’s gaze, which had grown mad, to gradually clear again.
Feeling the return of his sanity, Popota looked at the Cruel Scholar with a hint of gratitude in his eyes.
“Your choice has doomed clarity to be short-lived,” the Cruel Scholar paused, then said, “Actually, I find you… very interesting. Should you choose to abandon It, you could come to my world.”
The Cruel Scholar left a deeply meaningful comment before being completely enveloped by the wings and disappearing from sight.
With the disappearance of the Cruel Scholar, no one else could prevent Popota from pressing the main Inscription switch.
But at that moment, Popota, having regained clear sight, hesitated in front of the main switch. In the end, after looking at the chains on him, he still pressed down towards the location of the main switch.