Chapter 996: The Death Spirit King At Last

The world of black rain was now little more than a smoking husk.

The moment they stepped within the domain of the world, Zhang Lie, Nightdemon, and the others could immediately sense a frightening energy, as though there were a huge black hole in front of them that was devouring everything in sight. It was a similar sensation as when Zhang Lie looked at the king of keys directly.

Zhang Lie couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat. "Is that the death spirit king?"

Nightdemon nodded. "That's right."

"We'd better rush over. Perhaps the decaying king might still be saved..." Wilbow replied.

No one thought that the decaying king would be a match for the death spirit king—the two kings were too different in terms of power.

Zhang Lie, Nightdemon, and the others could sense that the world's energy was currently being stripped away. The world itself wailed. Auroras appeared in the sky, along with scars of blood.

Nightdemon said, "If we follow the trail of the world's energy, we should be able to find the death spirit king.

The superior world was so large that, without anything to guide their way, it might have taken a year or more to find the death spirit king.

By the time the forces arrived, they found two flagships attacking a pitch-black tree. It was large and skeletal, without a single leaf on it. The thick trunk and branches looked like demonic claws. The branches were clawing at the battleships, and the trunk was embedded with wailing human faces, as though it fed upon dead spirits.

The tree was so large that it belied the imagination. In front of it, even Zhang Lie and Nightdemon seemed like grains of sand. The trunk was so thick that it would take a hundred men holding hands to circle it.

Zhang Lie had some impression of this tree, which seemed much like a Japanese pagoda tree.

The gigantic tree's branches were clashing against the two death spirit flagships' black bandages. Smaller battleships wove around the tree, cutting off whatever branches they could find.

The tree was pitted, pockmarked, and dripping sap. The two flagships simultaneously shot out two thick lasers of violet light, obliterating the branches and striking directly at the heart of the tree. The tree screamed shrilly, a cacophony of moans and wails which echoed through the skies and struck at the soul. The allied forces immediately clutched their heads in pain.

In the end, the gigantic tree was no match for the death spirits' weaponry, and it fell to the two flagships' combined attack.

On the ground remained only a stump burning with purple flame.

Wilbow asked, "Where's the decaying king? He can't be dead, can he?"

Nightdemon replied, "If he were dead, a rain of blood would pour from the skies. There's only black rain at the moment, not blood rain—the decaying king must still be alive."

"Could that be him?" Zhang Lie pointed in front of him,

at the mass of black substance on the ground, half-dead and pinned there by nine huge pillars. Above the black mass was a figure in a black throne above it, a colossal figure as large as a mountain, draped in black robes, seated in an ornate black throne that floated in the sky, with a gold mask on his face.

His head was like that of a cobra, and beneath his robes were a mess of black bandages. Though he did nothing, his aura alone represented a tremendous pressure for the gathered crowd.

The superior world's energy gathered around the throne, fed to the king by his black bandages, which stripped the energy from the will of the world. He would wring the will of the world dry of its energy, then devour it whole.

Zhang Lie's face turned serious. "That must be the death spirit king, then."

Nightdemon's face was likewise serious. For the duration of the entire war, he had kept up a relaxed expression—until now. "That is the death spirit king. Compared to the last war, he's grown far stronger."

The last war that Nightdemon was talking about was when the superior worlds first banded together to barricade the death spirits away.

Zhang Lie smirked. "Do you regret not having killed the death spirit king back then?"

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Nightdemon shrugged. "It doesn't make a difference to me, but I suppose that the decaying king, nailed down over there, is certainly regretting his inaction."

Wilbow was somewhat more curious. "How much stronger is the death spirit king now compared to then?"

This was the opponent they would be facing next, and Wilbow was certainly interested in knowing the death spirit king's strength.

Nightdemon sighed. "At least three times, maybe even ten."

Wilbow sucked in a deep breath. "Even back then, all the superior kings had to act together to seal the death spirit king away. What can we commanders do against such an existence?"

Nightdemon shrugged. "Back then, the death spirit king had yet to develop such frightening weaponry."

In truth, if the death spirit king had had such weaponry in his arsenal back then, the war against the death spirits might have gone very differently.

Wilbow suggested, "I think we need to consider whether or not we should retreat. We only have three people here at the level of a superior king."

Nightdemon smiled. "Isn't Zhang Lie here?"

Zhang Lie waved.

Nightdemon patted Zhang Lie's shoulder. "He counts for nine, I think."

Zhang Lie shrugged. "I'm fine staying. I'd like to see what it's like to clash with a peak existence in the third realm, but will the two of you be able to handle the two flagships?"

It had taken essentially their combined might to deal with the first flagship they had encountered, but there were two here—and they both had ample reservoirs of energy.

The stump of the Japanese pagoda tree, which had stubbornly remained alive, had burrowed into the ground to escape from the flagships. Neither the flagships nor the death spirit king gave chase, because an opponent they had to prioritize had appeared.

The death spirit king glanced toward them, his eyes as deep as the abyss, swallowing up all light. "You're here, primordial chaos?"

Nightdemon bowed. "I hope you may address this clone by his name. I'm Nightdemon."

The death spirit king asked, "Did you enjoy the welcoming ceremony I prepared for you?"

Nightdemon splayed his arms. "It was alright, not too boring. I hope you'll be more diligent in the future."

The conversation seemed like one between two friends, not two enemies.

The death spirit king was garbed in an ornate robe, his face held high. As he took off his gold mask, he revealed the appearance of a god of darkness, a fallen angel. "I know how useless that blood lord is, but I didn't expect the flagship to prove futile against you as well. As expected of you!"