Chapter 245: Chapter 129: The Holy Crown Demon’s Pursuit
The dark and silent basement smelled of rotting wood.
He took out an azure potion and drank it.
Zorn began to restore his Evil Energy while simultaneously drawing life from the Shadow Blood Race’s coffin within his Spiritual Realm to heal his wounds.
While recuperating, Zorn opened his system page.
[Star Trace Fighter]
Level: 8 (87%)
After a month of grinding hard for levels at sea.
Zorn’s Sequence Level Experience had successfully reached 87%.
Zorn had originally planned to stop hunting Demons on this trip once he reached Level 9.
But the Demons from the Demon Realm wouldn’t have it.
For an entire month, Zorn played a game of cat and mouse with the Demons on the ocean, relentlessly hunting and killing them.
He had thoroughly enraged the small Demon Realm that had been established on the ocean.
Just a few hours ago, three Level 10 Holy Crown Demon avatars had found Zorn and joined forces to attack him.
Against a Holy Crown Level Demon avatar, Zorn wasn’t even sure he could win a one-on-one fight at his current Level 8.
Against three of them...
Zorn was naturally forced into a constant retreat.
The erupting Power of the Holy Crown pressed down on him like a mountain range, making it difficult for him to even breathe.
After a desperate flight across the ocean...
Zorn used a previously hidden ritual node to activate the Calamity Spirit Bridge and escape, barely managing to save his life.
While recovering, Zorn’s expression sank slightly.
Thanks to his Spiritual Realm, his Perception of the outside world was exceptionally powerful.
Right now, three powerful Holy Crown auras were rapidly approaching.
’They found my precise location in such a short amount of time.’
’Did they... activate some kind of powerful Magic Ring Ceremony?’
Given Zorn’s Calamity Spirit Bridge technique and the traits of his Evil Spirit Wizard body...
...even Level 10 Crowned Demons would have a very hard time finding him now.
But these three were not only incredibly fast, but also unerringly precise. They were heading straight for him.
Clearly, they had used the power of the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring to pinpoint his exact location.
Zorn had a Tree of the Magic Ring too, but his was just a sapling. It couldn’t possibly contend with the Demon Realm’s tree, whose power radiated over a vast area.
’This place is over ten thousand kilometers from the island of the Golem Divine Race.’
’And the continent is tens of thousands of kilometers away.’
’It would take several days to fly back, and I’d never survive the pursuit of three Crowned Demons.’
’Looks like... I’m going to have to lose a life.’
Zorn thought to himself.
With that thought, Zorn quickly released a large amount of Calamity Black Mist.
He began to channel the power of numerous Forbidden Curses and Ancient God Curses.
When the three Level 10 Crowned Demons arrived and began bombarding the island’s buildings...
...Zorn shattered the Mirror World and charged out, launching into an all-out battle against the three Level 10 Crowned Demons.
The entire island and the surrounding ocean were swept up by surging waves and storms.
Zorn repeatedly unleashed his Ancient God’s Hand.
For a time, he forced all three Crowned Demons into retreat.
The female Demon with white Demon Horns and a body covered in white Scale Armor fixed her bright eyes on Zorn and said with a smile.
"Zorn, even if you can resurrect, you will surely die when the three of us work together."
"You’re so desperate to level up. How about... you join our Demon Realm?"
"Your Evil Spirit Sequence is quite a match for our Demon Realm!"
Her voice was incredibly seductive. As it reached Zorn’s ears, it made his heart race, and he felt an urge to agree to her offer.
Unfortunately for her, the feeling was fleeting. A World-level BOSS possessed extremely high resistance to such charms.
"Haha... My dear Demon lady, I have ways to resurrect and escape."
"Your charming threats are useless against me."
"If you’re really that powerful, then put me down for good right here, right now! Hahaha..."
Zorn laughed wildly.
As a World-level BOSS spawned in the World at the entrance to the Cosmic Demon Pool, Zorn’s very nature was tied to the Pool’s origin.
Zorn guessed they intended to use some power from the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring to suppress his Resurrection or otherwise imprison him in Death.
But Zorn knew that since he possessed a part of the Cosmic Demon Pool’s fundamental nature...
...his Evil Spirit Wizard Sequence would not be affected.
The only power that could restrain an Evil Spirit Wizard’s Resurrection was the Cosmic Demon Pool itself.
In other words, an Evil Spirit Wizard’s Resurrection Power was a cut above the ordinary kind.
That was precisely why Zorn dared to hunt Demon Creatures at sea, unafraid of them ganging up on him.
If any other conventional World-level BOSS with ordinary Resurrection Power were to be targeted by the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring...
...the Tree’s power would directly lock down their ability to resurrect.
...they would be forced to resurrect on the spot, only to be corpse-camped.
Even with multiple lives, they would inevitably be permanently killed right there.
The mighty Demon·Magic Ring Tree possessed a powerful ability to counter Resurrection.
Unfortunately for them, that power couldn’t restrain Zorn.
Though Zorn was confident they couldn’t hold him...
...he also knew that he would almost certainly have to sacrifice one of his lives in this fight.
About half an hour later.
His Evil Energy, which he had been continuously using to power the Ancient God’s Hand, had just begun to wane.
The three Holy Crown Demons erupted with power in unison, turning the tables and suppressing Zorn. One of them even produced a powerful Sealing Scroll.
WHOOSH...
The Scroll, like a massive celestial curtain, unfurled and descended upon Zorn.
It intended to seal him away completely.
Zorn had anticipated this.
His Evil Energy and Gang Qi surged and churned at the same time.
"BOOM—"
Zorn self-destructed on the spot, exploding into a surging, churning torrent of flesh and blood.
The three Holy Crown Demons had failed to seal him and were instead caught in the blast of his self-destruction.
Their expressions were grim.
「At the same time.」
Atop the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring.
After sensing the trajectory of Zorn’s death, the Level 10 Legendary Demon, Mole Dicks...
...immediately manipulated the power of the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring, attempting to lock down the Resurrection Power.
But no matter how he tried to block and contain it...
...the Resurrection Power slipped away like sand through his fingers.
In the end, the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring under Mole Dicks’s control had sealed nothing at all.
’So it’s just as I thought?’
Mole Dicks’s eyes narrowed as he took in the scene.
’This World is getting stranger and more interesting!’
’Unaffected by the constraints of the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring?’
’You must understand, most forms of Resurrection Power are supposed to be countered by the Tree of the Evil Magic Ring.’
’This is the core power accumulated by our Demon Realm’s Tree of the Magic Ring.’
Mole Dicks took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
’We need to dig deeper into this World, and with greater effort.’
’And we must also capture this World’s Lord Sequence for more in-depth research.’
After his death and Resurrection, Zorn chose not to reappear on the ocean and continue the fight.
Since they had discovered his ability to resurrect and had even prepared countermeasures...
...continuing to rely on his Resurrection Ability to fight them was clearly unwise.
This time, Zorn chose to resurrect in the Ancient Porcelain Holy City, at the site of his old castle.
His important plan at sea was already complete.
The rewards from fighting the Demons were just a way for him to grind more Experience.
Now that those Demons wouldn’t let him grind them anymore...
...there was no need to keep clashing head-on with those Demon Creatures.
After all, they had a Demon Realm and were backed by Legendary Powerhouses.
The fact that Zorn had managed to raise his Sequence Level to 87% was already quite an achievement.
...
「Several days later.」
Inside the dark, quiet basement of the castle in the Ancient Porcelain Holy City.
Zorn’s hazy, illusory figure came fleeing back through the Spirit Realm Gate.
Right behind him, a Shadow tentacle pursued him, bursting through the gate.
The Shadow tentacle emitted waves of strange hisses as it chased Zorn.
The entire space of the Steam Magical Castle rippled and undulated like the disturbed surface of a lake.
As formidable as this terrifying Shadow tentacle was...
...it ultimately couldn’t withstand the World’s power of expulsion.
A moment later, the terrifying Shadow tentacle was expelled by the power of the World.
A rustling whisper echoed from the Fissure.
"Intruder from an Exotic Realm, I’ll remember you!"
’Remembering me won’t do you any good. I’m not going back to that area anyway.’
’Who the hell knew a Crown Level guy from a Shadow Octopus Sequence was hiding in there?’
Zorn, having barely escaped, rubbed his temples with a helpless sigh.
’It’s a shame... My Star Spirit Ship got blown up. I’ll have to figure out how to build a new one.’
After returning from the sea...
...Zorn began to mull over his plans for traveling between Planes.
For a Transcendent like Zorn, who was skilled with his Spirit Body Ability and familiar with the Star Realm, there were many options when it came to traveling between Planes.
Combined with his astonishing margin for error...
...his range of choices was even more staggering.
The plan had been going well. But today, while piloting his Starship, Zorn had tried to take a shortcut through what looked like a decent Fissure in the Star Realm.
As a result, he ran into a Crown Level powerhouse from an Exotic Shadow Octopus Sequence hidden there.
Zorn didn’t know its specific Sequence, but as long as a creature had those kinds of Shadow tentacles...
...Players tended to call them all "Octopus Brother," or simply the "Octopus Sequence."
This Holy Crown powerhouse of the Octopus Sequence had shattered Zorn’s Star Realm Spirit Ship with a single lash of a tentacle.
Luckily, Zorn reacted quickly and instantly withdrew his Spirit Body.
But it still managed to pursue him all the way here.
Fortunately, with the protection of the World, his pursuer couldn’t actually do anything to him.
It was supposed to be a simple trip, and he almost got killed.
Such is the danger of the Star Realm.
Hooo...
Zorn rubbed his brow, exhaling the frustration in his chest.
’A little while ago, I was being chased by Demons.’
’Now I try to take a shortcut to save some time, and what happens? The Starship gets blown to bits.’
’The Star Realm is huge, and of all things, I had to run into a Holy Crown-level being. My luck... is just unbelievable.’
’Good thing my Evil Spirit Wizard Sequence has such a high margin for error.’
’If I were just a Fighting Master, I would’ve been mounted on a wall as a specimen long ago.’
Calming himself, Zorn decided not to enter the Star Realm again for the time being.
Based on Zorn’s understanding of the Goddess of Fortune...
...he had already died twice in a row.
Even though he had since recovered his Resurrection charges...
...Zorn could already sense the stench of "low luck."
’For now, I’ll just lay low in the Ancient Porcelain Holy City and ride the tides of the era.’
’The rewards from my recent arrangements were too explosive. It’s only normal for things to balance out for a while.’
Just as he came up the stairs into the main hall...
...Vanessa hurried over to greet him.
Vanessa was now Level Six, and her strength had grown immensely under Zorn’s training.
A while ago, Isaac had invited her to join him in hunting down the Mafia.
On her own, she had assassinated more than half of the Mafia’s members.
She had even insta-killed the Level Six Mafia Boss.
The two of them had joined forces to confront the Evil Fall Messenger behind the Mafia, ultimately killing him.
By now, Vanessa was more familiar with and better adapted to the Ancient Porcelain Holy City than Zorn was.
"Master, Lady Sun is here to see you. It seems she has something very important to discuss!"
"Something very important?"
Zorn raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Perfect. I have something important to discuss with Lady Sun as well."
