Countless demons and players from [Swallowing Heaven] no longer focused on the figure of Mephistopheles, as they believed he had been utterly obliterated by the attack and there was nothing left to see...
But suddenly, they sensed something was off.
As the light faded, the Demon of Terror and Cruelty appeared to be at the brink of collapse; having previously knelt on one knee, he was now half-kneeling, using both hands to prop himself up, barely managing to stay upright.
Clearly, he was exhausted.
Well, that was reasonable.
For a non-divine body to unleash an Iridescent-Level skill without paying a price would indeed be strange.
Several Supremes, serving under the Lord of Evil Spirits, saw this and quickly flew forward, ready to protect the strongest among their ranks.
Initially, they had been mocking him: "Lovic, look at you now!"
"Getting beaten to this state by a mere rookie? You really aren't what you used to be!"
"You were hiding this move all along?? What a pity! If you hadn't, I could have collected your remains."
"Lucky for me I didn't finish you off when I challenged you back in the day, or you would have surely killed me!"
Their sarcasm was palpable.
Despite serving a master, true friendship among demons was rare; the Supremes had been suppressed by the Demon of Terror and Cruelty for too long, and they seized every opportunity to taunt him.
However, just as they reached halfway, they suddenly heard strange sounds coming from behind them, sounds that seemed to express astonishment... and perhaps... fear!
What? Is it really that serious?
The Supremes scoffed internally; couldn't they be a bit more composed?
Although it was absurd for Lovic to use an Iridescent-Level skill, he had, after all, been a respected deity for a thousand years and had even shown signs of potentially breaking through to become a true god.It shouldn't be that shocking for him to use an Iridescent-Level skill, right?
Yet, the Supremes gradually began to hear the voices from behind.
"How is this possible? He managed to block an Iridescent-Level skill!"
"Is this a joke? Did Mephistopheles exploit a game bug?"
"I refuse to believe it! If he could block that skill, why didn't he just crush Lovic to death beforehand??"
What are they talking about?
Oh right! They were saying that Mephistopheles was fine and had blocked an Iridescent-Level skill, claiming his performance was outrageous.
Indeed, being able to block an Iridescent-Level skill was a bit excessive...
Wait, what did they say?
Mephistopheles is still alive??
The Supremes under the Lord of Evil Spirits were suddenly taken aback.
Out of the corners of their eyes, they caught sight of Mephistopheles, who they had thought would turn to ash, now standing tall and proud, wearing a mocking and defiant smile!
Mephistopheles emerged unscathed, with nothing more than a slight change in the color of his equipment, as if its durability had diminished?
No way!
He blocked an Iridescent-Level skill so effortlessly?
His gear didn't even break! Just a little durability loss??
The Supremes were utterly dumbfounded by this scene.
Of course, countless demons and players from Swallowing Heaven were equally bewildered.
They had gradually come to accept that Mephistopheles's strength was absurdly exaggerated, but blocking an Iridescent-Level attack, a feat that brushed the divine, was beyond their comprehension!
It was highly probable that the Lord of Evil Spirits had placed a mark on his strongest subordinate, and killing him would provoke the god's personal retribution.
But with the state Lovic was in now, Sterl had done enough damage; it wasn't as if the Lord of Evil Spirits would have the opportunity to erase him.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
Amidst the horrific screams, the Flame ignited Lovic's soul.
Ultimately, as Lovic's soul shadow dissipated, the Fire of Ten Thousand Souls in Sterl's hand slightly grew stronger.
He reversed his hand, retracting the Flame, and then stood still, his palm resting on the ground.
Thus...
The strongest under the Lord of Evil Spirits—the Demon of Terror and Cruelty—had fallen!
His body was shattered, and his soul was burned.
There was absolutely no chance of survival!
He did not perish in campaigns against other divine-level demons, nor did he die while exploring new layers of hell, or during the various high-difficulty instances that his strength should have participated in.
No, he fell in a simple matter of leading his fellow players and demons to seize contributions from others in the same faction!
And now he was gone!!
Meanwhile, Sterl regarded the other demons around him with malicious intent.
He didn't rush to act.
Instead, Sterl quietly tossed aside another Fate Token, activating the effect of [Consume].
"Ughhh!!!"
Sterl immediately felt as though steel blades were piercing through his entire body, a wave of inexplicable power surged into him, rampaging violently and recklessly.
At the same time, Sterl noticed a massive demon figure manifesting within his mental realm.
The demon was completely out of place against the surrounding starry sky, its mere presence triggering intense reactions!
Like boiling seawater, Sterl's entire mental domain was in turmoil.
In the end, it was the thousands of threads symbolizing the special ability [Consume] that surged forth rapidly, wrapping around the demon, refining it, and breaking it down. However, Sterl's mental realm was in complete disarray, requiring a significant amount of time to restore normal order.
This chaos left him feeling dizzy and disoriented in reality.
Yet the rewards were promising.
[You have acquired the Iridescent-Level ability [Destructive Light]!!]
The Swallowing Heaven system even expressed surprise with an exclamation mark.
Following that, detailed attributes of the skill appeared before Sterl.
[Destructive Light (Iridescent-Level)]+
[Description: The Demon of Terror and Cruelty race was once capable of advancing to the divine level upon birth. They originally belonged to the upper realms but were forcibly demoted to the lower realm by ??? using ???, resulting in the degradation of their race. Only the extremely rare ancestral Demon of Terror and Cruelty can relearn this skill.
Moreover, only by comprehending this skill can this race return to the divine level.]
[Effect: Disintegrate a portion of your own body while absorbing energy from the surroundings, releasing a beam of destructive light that can directly erase all existence below the divine level, ignoring all defensive, immunity, and resurrection effects.]
[Usage Restrictions: Must possess the divine authority of destruction/Respectable Position.]
[Usage Restriction 2: You must have the bloodline of the Demon of Terror and Cruelty.]
...
The skill description wasn't overly detailed, but what astonished Sterl was its mention of the upper realms and the secrets hidden within the Demon of Terror and Cruelty race.