Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, a man dressed in black hid in the shadows, staring in shock toward where the Crack-Rock Bear King had just been.
His face was contorted, and he muttered in exasperation, “Damn it! Where on earth did another wild Tier Eight come from to disrupt our plans? What a cursed bastard!!!”
“Friendly tip: I'm not a Tier Eight.”
A gentle voice sounded from behind him, and he felt a tap on his shoulder.
What?!
The man in black widened his eyes, his body freezing for an instant. No other sound came from behind him, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.
Suddenly, the man in black leaped forward into the air. He spun around, extending his hands toward the spot where he had just stood. A red magic circle appeared in his palms as he roared, “Fire Magic—Dragon Flame!”
Blazing, dark purple flames erupted from the magic circle, transforming into a massive pillar of fire that swept toward his target.
Boom!!!
The area where the man in black had just stood was instantly swallowed by a dark purple sea of fire. The scorching heat warped the surroundings, making the very space look distorted.
Landing a short distance away, the man in black stared at the dark purple sea of flames and laughed smugly, “This is Lord Plutosas's Dragon Flame! No matter who you are, burn to a crisp!”
Immediately after, his figure began to fade into a blur as he prepared to teleport away.
However, a gentle voice echoed from the sea of fire once more.
“Seal.”
The voice was incredibly soft, yet it carried an inexplicable majesty, like the solemn decree of a god.
Then, to his horror, the man in black realized that the space around him had been completely sealed off, as if an invisible, seamless dome had dropped over him.
His fading figure rapidly solidified. He couldn't teleport!
Suddenly, the howling of a fierce wind erupted from within the sea of fire. In an instant, the flames were blown out as easily as a tiny, fragile candle.
A handsome youth slowly stepped out from the dissipating smoke. The man in black saw the youth's eyes curve into a smile as a soft chuckle escaped his lips, “What familiar flames. I feel like I've seen them on a certain black, four-legged lizard before. Although I don't remember its name anymore, that battle was the starting point of the explosive growth in my Combat Power. I probably won't ever forget it.”
Xia De walked up to the terrified man in black.
In truth, he had noticed this stealthy man in black back when he was fighting the Crack-Rock Bear King. Sensing the ominous aura radiating from the man, Xia De was certain he belonged to the same group of black-clothed individuals he and Hilia had encountered in Riri Village.
In other words, the Demon God Cult.
Connecting this to the sudden outbreak of the monster tide and the words spoken by the Crack-Rock Bear King before its death, he was absolutely sure that the Demon God Cult was behind this disaster.
The unknown always bred unease, so he had planned to thoroughly interrogate this fellow after dealing with Charles and the others.
He wanted to ask what their plans were, and check if there were similar monster tides brewing elsewhere so he could stop them.
Who would have thought this guy was so cowardly? The moment he saw things go south for the Bear King, he began to flee. This forced Xia De to move up his schedule. Fortunately, because the man had hidden in the shadows, Xia De had easily tracked him down.
Xia De snapped his fingers lightly. A strong gust of wind swept past, blowing back the man's hood to reveal his true face.
He had an utterly ordinary face with dark, gloomy eyes. Between his brows, a black demonic crest depicting a horned head pulsed with an ominous aura.
“Y-Who on earth are you??”
The man in black stared at Xia De with wide, terrified eyes. From how effortlessly Xia De had extinguished Plutosas's Dragon Flame and sealed the space around him, it was obvious that this was a powerhouse.
A powerhouse whose strength far surpassed his own!
After all, both his Dragon Flame and his spatial teleportation had been learned from Plutosas, a Tier Eight Calamity-class magical beast. Ordinary Tier Eight powerhouses weaker than Plutosas would usually be helpless against these two abilities.
Even as he asked, his mind raced, frantically scanning through the names of known peak Tier Eight Calamity-class powerhouses.
As for the Cataclysm above Calamity-class, he didn't even dare to consider it!
Xia De looked at him calmly and replied, “I'm just a passing, utterly ordinary C-rank adventurer.”
“But none of that matters. What matters is: what is the Demon God Cult planning?”
Hearing Xia De's words, the fear in the man's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a fanatical fervor that seemed capable of burning everything. A twisted, high-pitched voice escaped his throat, “Why, for the resurrection of the great Demon King, of course! Only the Demon King can baptize this rotten, filthy world and lead us toward glory!”
“Stop. I'm asking you what your specific plan is here in Toka City.”
Xia De spoke up, cutting off the ordinary-looking man's fanatical rant.
The man in black paused. Instead of answering Xia De's question directly, he said, “Naturally, it is for the resurrection of the Demon King. Once the Demon King awakens, the world will be purified, and we will be saved from decay and corruption. As for you—you filthy sinner, you shameless thief—the Demon King will settle all scores one day! As long as we have the Demon King...”
As he spoke, his tone grew fanatical once more. Watching this display of sheer madness, Xia De sighed softly, feeling a headache coming on.
He was reminded of the obsessive fans from his past life. They were completely brainwashed.
Impossible to communicate with, impossible to reason with.
“Forget it. I won't bother with gentle methods anymore. Interrogation time.”
A patch of shadow pooled beneath them, and several thick black threads shot out from it, binding the man's limbs and pinning him firmly in place, completely unable to move.
Xia De then extended his hand, summoning several white magic circles around the man. He said softly, “Seal.”
“Y-You sealed the flow of my mana?!” the man in black shrieked in horror.
Xia De ignored his shock and waved his hand dismissively, “Basic stuff, really. After having Starfall for so long, I had to research a thing or two, or else I'd be wasting my magical talent.”
“Alright, now that your mana is sealed, you're basically just an ordinary person.”
A few more thin black threads emerged from the shadow, prying the man's eyelids open so he couldn't blink. Then, Xia De murmured, “Earth.”
A dusty-yellow stone condensed in front of Xia De.
“Wind.”
The stone was instantly pulverized into countless fine grains of sand.
“Fire.”
A scorching fire began to bake the fine sand from below, producing tiny crackling sounds.
“W-What are you trying to do? No matter what, I will never betray the Demon God Cult or the Demon King!”
Even with his mana sealed, a Tier Seven powerhouse possessed a physical constitution far superior to an ordinary human's. He wouldn't feel any discomfort even if he couldn't blink.
Unfortunately for him, Xia De was a Tier Nine Cataclysm—and an absolute, rule-breaking monster at that. Let alone a Tier Seven, even a fellow Tier Nine would struggle to withstand the quality of his flames.
Under Xia De's deliberate control, the air in the immediate area grew rapidly arid. The man's eyeballs began to burn with a searing pain, and tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.
The man in black bared his teeth in agony, his features contorting like a demon. He wanted to blink, he wanted to struggle, but the shadow bound him in a death grip.
He could only let out agonizing wails.
“You damned bastard! You lowly sinner! I command you to release me immediately, or the Demon God Cult will never let you off! When the Demon King is resurrected, you will be the first to die!!!”
Xia De paid no attention to his curses, silently watching the flames bake the fine sand until they finally died down.
As the fire vanished, a milky-white, translucent substance with a glassy luster floated in the air. Extremely fine, dust-like fibers drifted loosely in the space before them.
“Special Glass Fiber (Western Fantasy Extraordinary Edition),” Xia De said, mimicking the gestures and tone of a certain blue robotic cat from his past life as he smiled at the man, who was now writhing in pathetic agony.
Then, under the man's trembling, terror-stricken gaze, Xia De, sporting a wonderfully gentle smile on his handsome face, guided the fibers toward the man's tearing eyeballs.
“Aaaaaaargh!!!”
Rate on N.U.
