NOVEL NEXT Chapter 414
The sound of thunderous explosions echoed throughout the palace, as roaring flames engulfed the grand hall, turning it into a sea of fire.
Nevertheless, despite their surroundings turning into such hellfire landscape, the players still persisted on circling around the hulking demon, constantly dodging and moving about nimbly as they bombarded him with arrays of brilliant spells and dazzling sword skills which made Azazel roar in fury.
To counter their persistent attacks, he swung his massive flaming greatsword, chasing after the slippery players like swatting at flies within the palace.
Their battle grew more intense.
Truly, Azazel, the seventh demon lord, lived up to his fearsome reputation.
Even when his powers is being greatly restricted, none of the players dared to face him head-on.
Although the players had shifted their strategy to guerrilla tactics, the rookies on the team continued to fall one after another after being gravely wounded by Azazel’s relentless counterattacks.
Even the mere shockwaves of Azazel’s strikes as he succumbed into a state of fury, were enough to destroy everything within their path.
Except for the warriors serving as the parties’ tanks, none could withstand his attacks.
However, despite the raid team members being cut down like flies or swatted away akin to crushed watermelons one after another, Azazel’s mood didn’t improve at all.Not a single player had died.
These damned pests—none of them had actually died at all!
Every time he was about to deal a fatal blow to a critically injured elf, they would unhesitatingly pray and teleport away.
The one responsible for sealing him was teleporting them out so quickly that Azazel never got a chance to finish them off.
This feeling of hitting nothing but air deeply frustrated and aggrieved Azazel to no end.
Moreover, as the battle dragged on and the number of raid team members still capable of fighting in the palace dwindled further and further, Azazel noticed something else:
These cursed long-eared elves were becoming increasingly more crafty and harder to catch.
Not only that, but his power was also steadily being drained by their attacks…
Azazel could clearly feel it:
His strength was rapidly waning, while his movements were becoming slower and slower, and even his attacks were weakening at an exponential rate.
This realization filled him with shock, rage and fear.
He knew that once his demonic power was completely exhausted, the seal placed upon him would strengthen once more, and he would fall back into a state of slumber.
Although he had no idea when he would inevitably be awoken once again, the thought of being manipulated and not being the master of his own fate felt deeply humiliating.
This, to Azazel, was even more infuriating than simply being forced back into a deep slumber under a stronger seal.
At this moment, he finally realized that these long-eared nuisances really did have the capacity to seal him!
No…
It wasn’t just the strength of these elves, per se, but rather…
When another elf barely escaped Azazel’s blade and safely teleported away, he finally understood everything.
Yggdrasill!
You actually treated me as a mere whetstone for these insects!
You’ve also made me into a power source to draw power from!
Azazel roared angrily within his heart.
Indeed.
It was most likely her plan all along!
Since the other party already had the power to outright seal him into a near-perfect prison, then why hadn’t she done so in the first place?
Instead, she used a roundabout method of requiring these elves to reinforce the seal…
And if these elves were the ones tasked with reinforcing the seal, then why did she restrict his power to a rank only slightly stronger than theirs?
Not to mention those perfectly timed spatial teleportations that completely mitigated these elves’ chances of dying!
Sure, these ants kept calling for her name in prayer, but as a god himself, Azazel knew that divine beings like them rarely respond to such things.
The very fact that Yggdrasill kept shamelessly answering their prayers each and every time meant there was more to it than her wanting to save these elves…
With these clues he pieced together, Azazel had already figured it all out.
Simply put, the Mother of All Gods had somehow decided to use him as an unwilling tool to train her believers and siphon his power to restore her own!
However, despite knowing all this, Azazel also realized that there was nothing he could do about it…
By this point, with his powers sealed and every facet of his life under the other party’s control, he was simply nothing more than a puppet at the mercy of Yggdrasill.
Realizing this, Azazel’s expression grew even darker.
Everything had been set in motion from the very beginning.
No matter how much he struggle, he still probably wouldn’t be able to change the course of this battle.
Sooner or later, he would either be sealed again by these long-eared elves, or he would somehow critically injure them one by one, thereby forcing them all to eventually teleport away.
Azazel could already predict it:
Even if this first wave of elves failed, another would soon probably follow not long after…and they will continue on, at least until he couldn’t resist no more and was sealed once again.
—My fate had been decided from the very start.
Azazel roared in anguish and fury within his mind.
Yggdrasill!
Alas, due to both his ability to vocalize and his mental power being bound, all of his rage and curses were trapped inside and could not be heard by anyone else.
The battle raged on as the number of players in the raid team dwindled down to single digits, but at the same time, Azazel’s strength also continued to weaken further and further in return.
Their fight seemed as if it had no end, but at long last, with only three wounded players left from the original twenty-five, the demon lord Azazel finally reached his breaking point…
With a deafening crash, his body was suddenly engulfed in a radiant light.
It was the power of the seal.
Azazel’s strength had finally fallen to a critical point, thus triggering the self-preservation mechanism inside him which inevitably pulled him back to the high platform deep within the demon palace and transformed him into a statue once more.
It’s finally over…
For some reason, this very thought flashed through Azazel’s mind at that moment.
The seal had enveloped him once more.
But just before he was fully sealed, that familiar voice imitating him echoed through the hall once more:
“Damn it! I’ll definitely be back!”
Of course, this time the tone shifted from its initial condescending attitude to one of frustration instead.
Azazel: “…”
Yggdrasill!
He roared in his heart as he was sealed once more…
With the dungeon boss finally contained, the flames around the palace also began to gradually died out.
In the grand hall, only three players remained, collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.
“I-It’s… it’s finally over…”
Transformer Ji Gang gasped, looking at the demon lord that now reverted back into being a statue.
He panted for a moments before grinning through his exhaustion.
“Hahaha! We won! We actually won!”
The other two surviving players also burst into excited laughter.
Soon, the dim palace was illuminated by a soft glow, and a new system notification appeared in their field of vision—
【❗ 】
【Congratulations to players ‘Transformer Ji Gang‘ ‘Advancing Leghair‘ and ‘Come Fight Me If You Dare‘ for successfully clearing the Labyrinth of the Demon Lord and becoming the first players to defeat the Seventh Demon Lord 】
【 Quest Objective: Defeat the Seventh Demon Lord Azazel (Completed)】
【Quest Rating: Barely Satisfactory】
【Based on each participants contributions, all players that participated have been awarded with EXP points. Experience for teleported players has been reduced by 50%…】
【❗ 】
【Generating loot rewards…】
As the sweet sound of the system rang out, a dazzling light began to gather at the base of the platform.
Their rewards!
The promised loot was finally here!
The three remaining players, now reinvigorated, were overjoyed.
Dragging over their tired bodies, they made their way up to the platform.
As the light slowly faded, three familiar chests appeared before them.
They were three lucky treasure chests.
The three players stared down at it, utterly dumbfounded.
…That’s it?
— 414 —
【 THAT’SIT? 】
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