Over three million kilometers from the human race's forbidden zone battlefield, at the edge of the Dark Demonic Morkaya Empire, mountain ranges stretched endlessly, and a towering peak stood over ten thousand meters tall.

Clouds and mist surrounded the peak, and under the moonlight, the scenery resembled a celestial realm.

On the cliff's edge, Chen Chu stood with his hands behind his back. His hair was tied, and he wore a high crown as he silently overlooked the endless forest below and the black mist swirling thousands of kilometers in the distance. Compared to just a few months ago, the entire Purgatory Empire had now become corrupted and demonized, sprawling across the land like a massive, dark beast.

A shadow flickered faintly through the sea of trees below. Soon after, the mist behind Chen Chu scattered. With heavy footsteps, a ten-meter-tall figure stepped forward, covered in dark-red scales and wearing heavy battle armor. It was a demon king.

Chen Chu turned around and gave a slight smile. "Long time no see, Bredos."

"It really has been a long time." The grotesque, hellish demon named Brooks, or rather Bredos, nodded in reflection.

This was likely their third meeting. The first had been during Yan Ruoyi's slumber ritual, where Bredos presided as the overseer. The second was during the path to divinity, after they left the ruins, when Bredos mysteriously disappeared.

In each of those three meetings, Chen Chu had left him stunned, especially now. While Bredos had relied on the Purgatory Demon Clan's resources and research to finally break through to the demon king level in half a year, this monster had already become the fourth supreme powerhouse of the human race, even earlier than Heavenly King Zhenwu and the previously favored candidate Heavenly King Yan Kuang.

From the start of his cultivation journey until now, he had taken less than a year and a half. Just thinking about it made Bredos feel like he was dreaming.This guy really is a damn monster.

While Bredos was still lost in thought, a thread of light appeared in Chen Chu's hand. It twisted slowly like a tiny white snake, releasing terrifying fluctuations that seemed to distort time itself. "According to the plan, once you return, give this pure time power to Deorus. Tell it that a hidden realm suspected to contain a rare treasure imbued with time principle has been discovered deep within the forbidden zone, four hundred thousand kilometers south of the empire."

Since they had to wait for Cardeos and the other demon gods, along with the three great empires' armies, Deorus and the others would still need ten days to complete their preparations. Chen Chu and the others certainly wouldn't just sit idle during that time.

To avoid alarming the sleeping Purgatory Primordial Ancestor, or triggering a massive power surge among all demons within the demonic domain, the human race didn't dare to recklessly launch an all-out attack on the now-demonized rear of the Purgatory Empire.

On the other hand, without all eight of their demon gods gathered, the Purgatory Clan currently remained at a disadvantage compared to the human alliance. Under such circumstances, they also dared not act rashly.

Thus, a strange standoff had formed. However, with the final battle approaching, Chen Chu and his allies were preparing to strike first. The goal was to lure out and eliminate at least Deorus, weakening the enemy before the decisive clash began; if they could kill more targets, all the better.

The key to this plan was Demon King Brooks, who had already infiltrated the Purgatory Empire. In order to bait Deorus, Chen Chu had personally condensed a strand of pure time power. As a demon god who possessed a time-based bloodline divine ability, such materialized, purified time was a supreme tonic for Deorus.

If the quantity was sufficient, it could even enhance and purify its bloodline further, triggering a surge in strength and possibly allowing it to break through to the late stage of the ancient titan level.

Boom!

Black flames leapt from Brooks' hand, emitting a heat that scorched space itself. It slowly wrapped around the strand of materialized time power flowing in Chen Chu's palm. However, the power of time was too potent. Even this single strand consumed thirty percent of Brooks' Abyssal Hellfire Law.

Roughly half an hour later, he finally exhaled, his face solemn as he looked down at the black, translucent crystal over three meters long in his hand.So this is my current strength. Just sealing a casually condensed strand of time power has drained me this much.

Stowing the sealed crystal away, Brooks revealed a twisted smile. "Lord Divine Might, to avoid raising Deorus's suspicion, I'll need two or three days to make preparations."

Chen Chu gave a slight nod. "No problem. We need time to make arrangements as well."

Just as Brooks was about to leave, Chen Chu suddenly looked into the mist-covered forest in the distance and coolly said, "Leaving now? Isn't it a bit late?"

Deep within the forest, a fork-horned demon king who had nearly merged with its natural surroundings showed a look of horror.Impossible. That human actually detected me?

The Todus Clan's innate divine ability, once cultivated to a high level, allowed them to become pure wood-elemental essence, merging completely with surrounding flora. As long as they didn't release energy fluctuations or exit their wood-merged state, even higher-level beings shouldn't be able to perceive them.

Boom!

A towering ancient tree over a thousand meters tall exploded. Countless black-green beams of light burst out, instantly merging into the surrounding forest and vanishing.

Seeing this, Chen Chu remained expressionless. "Did you really think you could escape me?"

With that, he gently pressed down his hand.

Boom!

The overwhelming pressure shattered space in an instant. Everything–trees, earth, matter–was reduced to dust. The mountain collapsed, leaving behind a massive palm imprint over a hundred kilometers wide and several kilometers deep.

At the center of the glassy imprint, where the rocks and soil had been crushed into diamond-like crystal, puddles of black-green blood pulsed weakly. It struggled to gather and reform, but under the oppressive, invisible will that filled the air, the blood and flesh slowly dissolved, their life aura fading away.

Just as that demon king was about to be crushed to death, Brooks suddenly spoke up. "Lord Divine Might, I beg you to spare it."

Chen Chu paused, but in the end, he withdrew the supreme will that had flooded the surroundings. Freed from the formless pressure, the black-green flesh squirmed and merged, quickly reforming into the fork-horned demon king.

At this point, Guludeen was gravely weakened, its life force shattered, and its body covered in deep, gruesome cracks. It looked miserably at Brooks standing in the distance. "Brooks... you're actually a traitor."

Brooks replied calmly, "I've never considered myself a traitor. Neither you nor I were ever truly of the Purgatory Demon Clan in essence. If we aren't of the Purgatory Clan, then what betrayal is there?"

He sighed. "Guludeen, you shouldn't have followed me. Now that you've seen what you shouldn't have, even if I wanted to let you go, I couldn't."

Guludeen forced a pained smile. "You're right. I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the better of me and followed you. I thought my race's divine ability would keep me hidden, but it's too late now. Do it. To die by your hand, Brooks... I have no regrets."

Determination filled its eyes. It knew that even if its friend Brooks wanted to spare it, that terrifying human wouldn't allow it. Rather than make Brooks bear that burden, it was better to die by his hand and save him from being punished by that human.

Whoosh!

Behind it, a massive phantom of its divine soul emerged, ready for Brooks' final blow. Brooks took a deep breath, then turned to the black-haired youth standing with hands behind his back and solemnly said, "Lord Divine Might, would you consider sparing him? If we can get Guludeen to cooperate, gaining Deorus's trust will become much easier."

Chen Chu indifferently replied, "Sparing it isn't out of the question. The only problem is whether it's willing to betray the Purgatory Demon Clan."

With his current power, a mere demon king could be crushed or controlled with ease. He could implant a restrictive barrier in its divine soul to control life and death, but not its mind. If the subject's will was forcefully manipulated, it would be noticed immediately by the demon gods.

In other words, Brooks was staking his life to gamble on Guludeen's loyalty, or lack thereof. Out of consideration for Brooks' contributions to the human race, Chen Chu chose not to reject the request.

Brooks, surprised by how agreeable Chen Chu was, paused, then gratefully glanced at him before turning to the fork-horned demon king. "Guludeen, did you hear that? If you release your divine soul and let His Excellency implant a restrictive barrier, and swear allegiance to the Human Alliance, you'll be spared."

"N-No, I can't." Guludeen's face twisted with struggle.

Brooks was stunned, unable to understand why it would refuse. "Why not?"

With unwavering eyes, Guludeen said, "The Todus Clan worships the soul. We believe the soul is sacred and pure. Even in death, it must never be defiled by other beings. Releasing my divine soul for him to implant a barrier is absolutely out of the question."

What kind of ridiculous belief is that?Even Brooks couldn't help but curse internally. Chen Chu had already agreed to spare it, and in the end, it still chose death because of its so-called beliefs.

Just as Brooks was trying to think of a way to persuade this stubborn fool, Guludeen added seriously, "But if you're the one to implant the soul barrier, Brooks, I can barely accept betraying that belief."

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