Chapter 479 End of the demons (???)
At the Tower of Xalazar;
Xalazar was escorting Bael as a guide while touring inside the tower. The demon king from Ars Goetia halted his footsteps all of a sudden and stared at him in silence.
As Xalazar turned his head to look at Bael's face, he saw the latter's pupils dilated while mysterious black markings appeared on his forehead.
The scene took aback Xalazar; he called him out, "Lord Bael?"
As Bael stayed unresponsive while the markings spread all over his face, Xalazar's facial expression changed to that of a frown, "A sealing technique? Nope. Possession? No, that can't be... Perhaps, this is how he will return home?"
Before Xalazar got to the conclusion, Bael's hand was raised. Demonic energy was gathered in his palm, alerting him.
Xalazar jumped away to gain a bit of distance and observed the visitor, "A ploy from that human or is it something else?"
Meanwhile, the mage was getting beaten black and blue by the lightning clone. He was completely defensive, trying his best to reduce the damage inflicted on his body.
At the same time, Eol was in an intense battle against Sylvandria, who had her strength returned and then teleported far away with the demon.
As for Mark, he comfortably sat on the divine throne without any tension or so whatever.
He has no idea whether Sylvandria was able to defeat her opponent or not, but he could care less about her situation. He only cared about removing Vexiron and Xalazar from the situation. As saving Eol wouldn't give him great rewards either, Mark wasn't that interested in whether he was alive or not.
And due to the fact that his lightning clone completely dominated the battle, Mark eased up a lot and enjoyed the scene unfolding before him. The royal palace turned into ruins and the city was razed to the ground by the time Vexiron turned into a bloody figure with a little bit of life left in his body.
Mark saw the lightning clone reach Vexiron who was barely breathing and begging for his life. "P... please... le... leav... leave... me... al..."
The lightning clone raised its leg and crushed his skull with a powerful stomp, finally ending his life.
Mark nodded in satisfaction after confirming that he was dead and controlled his flying divine throne to land on the ground.
He came down from the throne and checked his hands to see if his storage ring was still intact. There was indeed a ring on his disfigured index ring, but Mark found nothing inside. It was empty.
"Hmpf, this sly would have stored his wealth somewhere else. Nevertheless, there's no need to search for it when the world is mine to mine," mumbled Mark as he turned around to walk away, leaving behind the corpse on the ground.
Currently, he has no idea where Steve and the others are but hopes that they are fine. During the little time he waited for the High Priestess to come out in her bridal attire, he ordered Steve to take away the remaining two ladies with him to the forest by giving an excuse that he doesn't trust the demons in fulfilling their words.
With the demon emperor fighting against the High priestess, the mage was killed by his lightning clone and Xalazar was busy battling against Bael, Mark was confident that no one else could stop a supreme being like Steve who was born with a powerful bloodline like the phoenix.
Roughly after an hour, he was done with his battle, he received the notification of quest success.
*Ding! You completed the quest, Kill Xalazar. You received a random Tier-5 Bloodline. Check out the inventory.
At that time, he was actually flying toward the forest while wearing the exo skeleton suit for enhanced vision.
If not for Steve, he would have returned to the forest with his teleportation skill now that he knew both of the locations. As Steve was traveling by land and Mark had no way to contact him, he had to go the hard way.
Of course, he was aware that they wouldn't be easily found as the High Princess mentioned that the princess knew various secret tunnels from the palace and the city. Not to mention, it is midnight in this part of the world.
But, since they will still have to end up at Sylvandrial Dominion, Mark assumed that they might meet at some point on the way. So, he was completely focused on the ground.
Unfortunately, he had yet to find success so far. Mark was torn between impatience to leave and regret for putting too much trust in Steve's strength, but fortunately, the notification momentarily improved his mood and shifted his attention.
"Oh, it was finally done," mumbled Mark as he looked at the glowing holographic screen.
He opened the inventory and scrolled until he found the image of a pouch with a question mark on it. n)/OvELB1n
As he clicked on the slot, a new window was opened with something like a slot machine displayed on it.
Mark clicked on the lever and the slots started scrolling down. It went for about ten seconds before the arrow stopped on the image of a muscled humanoid figure with the fur and the head of a monkey.
*Ding! Congratulations, you received the bloodline of Sun Wukong.
"Sun Wukong? As in the legendary monkey king?" Mark's first reaction was that of excitement but it soon turned into horror as the second notification popped up.
*Ding! Warning: Initiating a new Tier-5 bloodline integration with your DNA will put you to sleep for 280 days. Proceed?
"No." Mark quickly rejected it as there was no way he would want to sleep for another 280 days when he was preparing to return and reunite with his lover.
While it is an incredible reward, it is still something he received without working hard, and gaining it will not make super stronger compared to the present.
But, at the same time, would a greedy and opportunist fellow like Mark make such a reward go to waste?
Obviously not. Mark jumped into negotiations without wasting any time, "System, I'm satisfied with my current bloodline. Can I transfer this bloodline to someone? Or can I get materialistic rewards in exchange for this? Like a new android or some battle gear? Even credits or gold coins would be fine.
The system didn't respond for a few seconds, unlike its usual self.
Then, it sent the notification in reply, bringing a smile to Mark's face.
*Ding! The system accepts the host's proposal. *Ding! Trade request: Exchange non-integrated Sun Wukong's bloodline + Exo skeleton VIII for Integration of Mark's factory with the material world.
"Uhhh... What?" Mark stopped his flight and stared at the latest notification sent by the system in shock.
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away from the royal palace, somewhere in the snowcapped mountains near the north pole of the planet;
Eol was seen with heavy injuries all over his body while Sylvandria looked perfectly fine without a scratch on her body. Trapped inside a golden barrier that was shooting golden needles at him randomly, he looked like he was terrified at the moment.
"Just kill me you fuc*ing b*tch..." He roared in anger as three more needles pierced his back, left calf, and abdomen, simultaneously. They didn't inflict too much damage upon his body but surely increased his pain. The divine energy present in those needles only boosted that pain from inside and his recovery ability is also blocked.
Looking coldly at the trapped divine emperor, the high priestess spoke, "Without that mage on your side, you are nothing more than a toothless tiger. And you committed so many crimes on our race that instant death will be a blessing for you. So, beg for it. Apologize for all the elves you massacred. Maybe, I will have a change of heart."