r18novel Chapter 112 The Gate to the Demon Realm Opens
Chapter 112 The Gate to the Demon Realm Opens
Chapter 112 The Gate to the Demon Realm Opens
Virgil looked up and laughed.
"Haha, haha, hahahaha!"
He spread his arms wide, his ten fingers pointing towards the churning dark clouds in the sky, and laughter surged from the depths of his chest in waves, unstoppable.
The loud laughter made the surrounding rain curtain tremble slightly.
The thunder that had been booming in the sky gradually subsided amidst the laughter.
Even the lightning rolling in the clouds stopped flashing, as if it had been forcibly suppressed back into the depths of the clouds by this laughter.
After a long while, his laughter gradually subsided.
Virgil lowered his head again, looking at Dante standing opposite him, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Indeed, we two are brothers."
"You're right, the ultimate power in this world is the Demon Emperor."
What my father couldn't do—I can do for him, I can take his place.
He clenched his fist tightly.
"But now, your power is not enough, Dante."
As soon as he finished speaking, Virgil's entire body glowed with a pale blue light.
The light emanated from beneath his skin, growing stronger and stronger, enveloping him in a continuously expanding cocoon of light.
Sharp barbs suddenly sprouted from his arm, piercing the skin from the ulna and the sides of the bone, gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen.
His entire body was covered piece by piece with a layer of dark blue armor.
The breastplate, shoulder armor, arm armor, and leg armor—each plate seemed to grow directly from his body, covered with intricate magical patterns.
At the same instant, his head also transformed into the shape of a demon, with his forehead bones spreading out to the sides.
Two curved, sharp horns pierced from the temples, and two bright blue lights shone in the eye sockets.
The next instant, he appeared in front of Li En.
There was a loud bang.
The force exploded in the abdominal cavity, then erupted a second time, like two shockwaves superimposed one after the other.
Li En opened his mouth, and stomach acid mixed with rainwater gushed out of his throat.
The right hand that was holding the Yama Blade was completely numb by this punch, and the five fingers uncontrollably loosened, causing the Yama Blade to slip from the palm.
Virgil reached out his left hand, caught the hilt of the knife in mid-air, and gripped it tightly again.
The force of the second burst propelled Li En's body upwards into the sky.
He flew higher and higher in the torrential rain until he was about to crash into the churning dark clouds, when he was pulled back by gravity and his body began to fall.
As the ground drew ever closer, he finally snapped out of his daze, immediately drew his Rebellion Greatsword, gripped the hilt with both hands, and used the momentum of his fall to slash fiercely at the demonized Virgil.
Virgil did not back down an inch.
He stood still, raising the Yamato Blade as casually as if he were simply raising his hand to block the rain dripping from the eaves.
Clang! A dull metallic clang rang out.
The Rebellious Greatsword struck the blade of the Yama Blade, and sparks flashed and died out in the rain.
Virgil's wrist remained perfectly still as he steadily caught the heavy blow that came from above with a single hand holding the knife.
His arms were not bent, his shoulders were not slumped, and even his knees were not bent.
"I've already told you, your strength is not enough."
He stretched out his left hand, his five fingers gripping Li En's neck, his knuckles pressing into the soft tissue on both sides of the carotid artery.
Then, with a burst of strength, he pulled Li En down from mid-air and slammed him hard onto the ground.
The stone slab shattered, and the accumulated water splashed in all directions.
The moment Li En's back hit the ground, Virgil's fingers loosened from his neck and casually ripped off the necklace he was wearing.
The chain makes a soft "ding" sound when it breaks.
Virgil lifted his right foot, using the instep to lift the fallen Rebel Greatsword from the puddle.
The greatsword twirled halfway in the air before he gripped the hilt with his other hand.
Then he pressed his wrist down, aiming the sword tip directly at the center of Li En's chest.
puff.
The sword pierced through the skin, muscles, and ribs, emerging from the back and embedding itself in the stone slab.
A tearing, excruciating pain exploded in my chest, spreading along every nerve fiber to my limbs.
Blood blocked his throat, and Li En began to cough violently. When he opened his mouth, blood clots mixed with dark red liquid were spat out onto the stone slab beside his face. They were quickly diluted by the rain and flowed into the cracks between the paving stones.
Virgil did not continue the attack.
He stood up, walked to the side, and took his necklace off his neck.
The two necklaces slowly approached each other in his hands, then automatically adhered together, becoming one.
A soft glow shone from the metal seam.
"This is the key to unlocking the seal."
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure suddenly appeared on the platform at the top of the tower.
It was the bald man who first sent out the invitations—Arkham.
He walked up to Virgil, his expression revealing an undisguised greed.
"The conditions are met. We can now go and break the seal on the Magic Tower."
Virgil did not speak.
The next instant, a bright blue blade of light flashed horizontally.
The blade of the Yamato sliced across the center of Arkham's body, cleaving the bald man in two at the waist. His upper and lower body fell onto the puddles, separated.
"How dare you order me around?" Virgil the Demon looked down at the two still twitching bodies on the ground, his tone icy cold.
He put the necklace back around his neck, then turned to look at Dante, who was pinned to the ground by the Rebellion sword and unable to move.
He stood there quietly, neither approaching nor leaving.
The pain in my chest kept spreading to my limbs and bones.
The blade of the Rebellion Greatsword was still stuck in his chest cavity, the bone-spiked decorations on the spine pressing against the broken ribs, and he could feel the friction between the metal and the bone with every breath.
It felt as if thousands of ants were crawling inside my body, constantly tearing at every piece of flesh along the blood vessels and fascia.
Li En gritted his teeth and struggled to grip the blade of the Rebellion Greatsword with both hands, trying to pull the sword out of his chest.
But the excruciating pain surged up the arm from the wound, and every time he exerted force, his fingers would spasm uncontrollably, making it impossible to concentrate his strength.
Is this the end?
It seems we'll have to wait for the cooldown to finish and try again.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Before consciousness sinks into darkness, prepare to mentally review the actions taken during this instance.
From the club to the top of the tower, every battle choice, every route decision, which equipment to acquire, and which time slots to save.
Halfway through the review, a surge of anger suddenly erupted from the depths of my heart.
This heat is pumped out from the heart, flows through the blood throughout the body, and burns every blood vessel with its temperature.
The pain was actually suppressed by the fire.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and something was burning in his pupils.
"Are you kidding me? I could never lose!"
My blood started to boil.
My body temperature spiked instantly to the point where rainwater would evaporate upon contact with my skin.
Tiny bubbles began to rise from the water around him.
Then an even greater, more primal force burst forth from a place deep within the body that had been locked for a long time, instantly filling the entire body.
His body began to change.
Dark red armor emerged piece by piece from beneath the skin, covering the torso, limbs, and shoulders.
Barbs similar to Virgil's grow on the outside of his arms, but with a sharper curve and a dark red sheen at the tips.
Its head also took on a demonic form, with its forehead bones spread open on both sides and four curved, sharp horns extending backward from its forehead and temples.
He stood up, reached out and grasped the hilt of the Rebellion Greatsword, and pulled it inch by inch from his chest.
The sound of the sword being pulled out of the flesh was dull and viscous, and blood flowed down the spine of the sword, dripping onto the puddles and splashing into a dark red flower.
He held the Rebellion Greatsword horizontally in front of him, facing Virgil, who was also in demon form.
The two demons stood face to face, the torrential rain lashing against their armor with a dense, crisp sound.
Virgil nodded in satisfaction.
As the demonic transformation subsided, the deep blue armor gradually retracted into his body, along with the sharp horns and barbs that returned to his skin.
He regained his original appearance, his voice carrying a hint of approval.
"Indeed, we are brothers."
Li En did not speak.
He looked down at his right hand, which was gripping the sword hilt, and felt the power that had just erupted from his body slowly receding.
He got it.
Virgil's sword strike just now was serious; he really wanted to kill him.
If he hadn't awakened this demonic power at the last moment before his death, the dungeon would have ended at the top of the tower.
He gradually suppressed and gathered the surging, fiery magic power within him, and the demonic armor and sharp horns retracted into his body one by one.
His body had returned to a human form, but the wound in his chest from the Rebellion Greatsword still ached faintly.
"Let's go," Virgil said. "Let's break the seal on Sparta and then head to the Demon Realm."
"Didn't you think about going by yourself?" Li En looked up, somewhat surprised.
"This is an opportunity for you to pursue power, Dante."
After Virgil finished speaking, he jumped off the edge of the tower.
The hem of the dark blue coat was blown up by the wind as it plummeted downwards.
Li En followed him and jumped down.
As the two were descending inside the Demon Tower, they encountered a bat demon, which they killed in a short fight.
After the body hit the ground, it turned into a cloud of blackish-purple smoke. When the smoke dissipated, an extremely flamboyant electric guitar lay on the ground.
Li En thought for a moment, then walked over and kicked the neck of the electric guitar.
"This one's mine first, the next one's yours, let's take turns, there'll be even better ones later."
"I have no interest in this kind of weapon," Virgil said, standing to the side without even drawing his Yamato.
He only used a few hand strikes when the two of them dealt with this bat demon; the process was far too easy.
This weapon is probably not very useful.
Li En bent down and picked up the magic guitar, then slung it over his shoulder.
Anyway, if I can bring everything when I clear the gates, I'll bring it all; if I can't, it's not a loss.
The two continued forward, stepping into a completely destroyed ruin.
The walls and ceiling here were smashed to pieces by some enormous force, with rubble piled up into small mountains, and the air was filled with an extremely strong stench of monsters.
In the very center of the ruins stood a demon nearly several meters tall, its entire body covered in dark black fur, its muscles bulging from beneath the fur, each one swollen to an abnormal proportion as if it had been inflated.
It has an old scar on its right eye, a huge laceration that extends from the eye socket to the chin, with some kind of dried dark mark remaining at the edge of the wound.
Beowulf, a ferocious beast from the demon realm.
It had fought the demon swordsman Sparta many years ago, and Sparta slashed its face with his sword, leaving this scar that would never heal.
Now it smells the scent of Spartan blood.
The exact same smell wafted in from the same direction at the same time.
Without even confirming, it roared and charged directly at the two of them.
With the combined efforts of Li En and Virgil, Beowulf was quickly subdued.
Virgil's Yamato drew all its attention from the front, and Spatial Slash severed its prized claws.
Li En cut in from the side, his Rebellious Greatsword plunging into the side of its neck below an old scar. Following the lines of that ancient scar, he flicked upwards, severing the entire head from its shoulder.
Beowulf's body fell to the ground, and his fur and muscles began to turn into specks of light and drift into the air.
After the light dissipated, a set of glowing gauntlets and leg armor remained on the ground.
The metal surface gleamed with a very faint white cold light, and there were slightly raised ramming corners at the knuckles. The knee area of the leg armor was also inlaid with thickened impact plates.
Just as Li En was about to speak, Virgil walked over, bent down, picked up the boxing gloves and leg armor, and put them on.
The metal plates of the boxing gloves tightened automatically, conforming to the natural curve of his fingers, while the straps of the leg armor tightened automatically to conform to the curve of his calves.
He jumped twice on the spot, and when his feet landed, the shock-absorbing structure built into his leg armor emitted a very brief tremor.
He looked down at his new gear, his expression clearly showing satisfaction.
"The next one is mine," Li En said calmly.
The two continued on their way.
The passageways deep inside the tower grew wider and wider, and the air was filled with an extremely ancient atmosphere.
After passing through countless trials, they encountered Gryphon, a giant carriage demon with spatial abilities.
Its body merges with the horse, and the space itself is briefly distorted wherever its hooves tread.
The battle lasted for a while. Grün's spatial distortion ability caused a lot of trouble for the two, but in the end, they were forced into a desperate situation by the combined attack of the two swords.
The Yamato suppressed its last attempt to teleport away, and the Rebellion Greatsword cleaved it in two from above.
After Gryphon's body dissipated, a soft white light floated in mid-air.
The light slowly descended and stopped in front of Li En.
He reached out his left hand to touch the ball of light, but the light receded the moment it touched his fingertips, turning into an hourglass-shaped mark on the back of his left hand.
The fine sand inside the hourglass is slowly flowing down.
The two continued their journey without encountering any further obstacles.
The entrance to the Spartan Sealed Land soon appeared at the end of the passage.
It was a huge circular stone door, covered with densely packed magical runes, arranged in the same way as the ones seen on the base of the tower.
Virgil pushed open the door and walked straight into the altar in the center of the sealing chamber.
The altar was a single black stone slab that rose from the ground, with two sets of intersecting arc-shaped grooves carved into it, just enough to fit the necklace.
He took the necklace off his neck and put it into the groove.
Then he drew the Yamato sword, made a cut in his palm, and loosened his fist to let the blood drip onto the center of the altar.
Nothing happened.
Li En stepped forward, also slashed his palm, and dripped his blood into the altar.
The two men's blood mingled and flowed along the grooves in the stone slab.
The altar remained unresponsive, not even a glimmer of light appeared.
"What's going on?" Virgil frowned and began pacing around the altar.
His pace gradually quickened from slow to fast, and his voice revealed impatience.
"Everything is already in place. The necklace, the bloodline—what more is needed?"
"Don't rush, Virgil, we're still missing one thing," Li En said calmly, his voice low.
"You actually knew?" Virgil turned his head sharply to look at him, his brows furrowing even deeper.
He looked his brother up and down, his eyes filled with even more scrutiny and reassessment than when he confirmed Dante's demonic transformation at the top of the tower.
Li En did not respond.
A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the sealed room.
Lady burst in, her eyes red-rimmed, her expression a mixture of anger and grief.
She carried the rocket launcher she had used once at the entrance to the Magic Tower. After entering, without saying a word, she aimed at Virgil and pulled the trigger.
The rocket roared as it hurtled towards us, trailing a plume of flame.
Virgil barely moved his head, casually cleaving the bullet in two from the middle with his Yamato. The two halves flew past his body and crashed into the wall, exploding in flames and smoke.
In that instant, Li En moved, cutting directly behind Lady.
He grabbed Lady's wrist with his left hand and twisted it outwards, while his right hand drew a vibranium dagger and lightly sliced her palm with the tip.
Blood gushed from the gash, trickling down the lines of his palm and dripping onto the ground.
The moment Lady's blood touched the ground, the altar finally reacted, and the grooves in the stone slab began to glow.
It started as a pale gold color, then quickly deepened to blood red.
The light spread outwards along the grooves, instantly illuminating the entire sealing chamber in a bright red glow.
The two necklaces in the center of the altar also began to glow, and something inside the gems on the pendants was slowly rotating and accelerating.
"How could you—" Virgil's words were interrupted by an exaggerated and shrill voice that burst out from the side.
The demonic clown who used to jump around in front of Li En, dancing while dodging bullets, has appeared beside the altar at some point.
He opened his mouth wide, and his crescent-shaped lips, painted with bright red oil paint, were stretched into an extremely exaggerated oval.
His eyes widened as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, and he pointed a finger at Lady, his voice rising to a near-shattering crescendo: "How do you know! This girl has witch blood."
"And breaking the seal requires her blood—how could you possibly know that!"
The moment Lee En saw the clown appear, he released Lady's wrist.
He pushed off with his right foot, his body vanished from its original spot, and in the next instant he was in front of the clown.
The Rebellious Greatsword slashed horizontally from bottom to top, the blade cutting through the air with a low hum.
"It seems Virgil didn't completely kill you back on the platform."
The clown let out a strange cry, leaned back, and dodged the sword in an extremely contorted posture.
He was suspended in mid-air, and just as he regained his balance, Virgil's figure appeared directly above his head.
The Yamato sword slashed down from above, its blade cutting right through the center of the clown's head and down his spine, splitting his entire body vertically in two.
The split body flew to both sides, and began to deform and fade in mid-air.
The Joker's disguise completely collapsed under this fatal blow.
The one who fell to the ground was no longer the clown wearing a tricorn hat and covered in paint, but Arkham.
The bald man who initially delivered the invitation, was cleaved in two by Virgil at the top of the tower, and was recently blasted off the altar by Li En in the sealing chamber.
"What?" Lady's eyes widened.
Her fingers were still curled up naturally after being cut, and blood was still dripping from her fingertips.
She stared in disbelief at the ground, at Arkham, now broken in two.
His upper body was still convulsing, and the two pupils in his eyes, which were originally human, had turned dark yellow.
Virgil sheathed his sword, looked down at the two slowly writhing remains on the ground, and said coldly, "So that's how it is. After sacrificing your wife, you have completely transformed into a demon."
"What's killed up there is nothing but flesh."
"Go to hell!" Tears welled up in Lady's eyes.
Her expression shifted drastically between anger and pain. She dashed to the altar, grabbed the rocket launcher that had fallen to the ground, and charged toward Arkham's upper body.
She pressed the rocket launcher's tube directly against Arkham's still-convulsing chest, her finger on the trigger.
This demon—this monster who sacrificed her mother—must die by her hand!
The light at the center of the altar grew stronger and stronger.
Red light rose from the stone slab, transforming into an ever-expanding halo that spread in all directions.
The entire sealing chamber was bathed in a bright red light, and the ancient magical runes on the walls lit up one by one under the red glow.
The circular stone slab in the center of the altar began to rise, and a low rumble was heard as the edge of the slab separated from the ground, with gravel and dust falling down from the seam.
As Li En ascended the altar, he sheathed the Rebellious Greatsword and drew out Ebony and White Ivory.
His gun was aimed at the two still-wriggling remains on the ground—Arkham's upper body, which was not yet completely dead.
He didn't look at the other person's distorted face, but precisely positioned the crosshair in the center of the head and pulled the triggers of both guns at the same time.
A hail of bullets blasted Arkham's head, along with the upper half of his remains, off the rising altar.
"No!!" Arkham's scream fell from the edge of the altar, trailing off into the distance, before being completely swallowed by the rising roar of the altar.
Lady leaped into the air and followed suit.
Her figure disappeared into the surging red light below the altar.
The altar continued to rise.
The stone wall above them split open automatically, revealing a passage leading to a higher place.
"That guy was pretty careful," Virgil said calmly, turning his head to look in the direction Arkham had fallen.
"They didn't even put the demon core here, which is why they failed to kill him either time."
"The gate to the demon realm has opened."
Li En raised his eyes and looked at the slowly opening door above the altar.
"But this is just the beginning."
Virgil's lips slowly curled upwards.
"That's right, this is just the beginning of obtaining ultimate power."
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