"Boom!"
Synlos, the demon leader known as the Destroyer of Worlds, collapsed with a thunderous crash. His goat horns were broken, his face bruised and swollen, and his once expansive wings were riddled with holes.
Yet, in the battlefield, there was only one person and one sword.
"Who are you?"
As the final boss, his voice naturally carried an echo, but the words he spoke were a plea for mercy, making it all the more comical.
"I'm a player."
Xia Ya wiped the black blood off the Silver Mistletoe Sword.
"Or rather, an undying NPC."
1 hour, 24 minutes, and 15 seconds—the best record in history.
Remarkably, he controlled his strength well enough not to kill his opponent.
Thinking back to the last time he wielded the Holy Sword Narsil, he unleashed a burst of power that triggered the defeat dialogue, which was somewhat embarrassing.
Synlos didn't understand what a player was, nor did he care to ask. He only wished for death.
The Destroyer of Worlds would never truly die; he was the embodiment of the Will of the Abyss. As long as the world remained impure, he was tasked with purifying it, like a purple yam.
"Kill me," he said.
"Oh."
Xia Ya responded casually. Synlos closed his eyes, waiting for the sword to pierce his head.
But instead of the sword, he felt something cool and refreshing applied to his head.
"What is this...?"
His strength rapidly recovered, the lost demon blood replenished, his broken horn regenerated, and his wings repaired. Synlos stood up straight, his wings stirring up a fierce gale within the lair.
"Mortal, how dare you—"
Before he could finish his line, Synlos suddenly calmed down.
He saw the opponent holding the Silver Mistletoe Sword in his right hand, and a leaf shrouded in demonic energy in his left.
"The Leaf of the Abyssal Demon Tree."
A treasure to all demons, it was this very thing that had just saved him.
Yet, he was using it to clean his sword!
And then tossed it aside like toilet paper!
Synlos took a deep breath.
"Why did you save me?" he asked.
"Got bored, wanted to try something new."
"??"
"I've killed you 176 times before. The first 26 times with the human expeditionary force, the next 150 times solo. This time, I wanted to try something different."
Synlos raised an eyebrow.
"In the six deaths I've experienced, I don't recall meeting you..."
"No, no, it's unrelated to the six epochs of destruction in your backstory. It's just you in this era, whom I've killed 176 times. Of course, you can't understand what a system reset is, and that's not your fault. Just remember, I know you very well, even better than you know yourself."
Synlos had no doubt about the latter part.
That's exactly how it was. The fight just now was less a battle and more a one-sided thrashing. He couldn't even touch the opponent's clothes, and he was left bleeding all over, even though the opponent spared his life.
Even when summoning minions from the Abyss, the opponent could always predict his intentions, even anticipating the positions of his underlings and throwing a scroll in advance.
Every time the Abyssal Gate opened, the demons inside didn't even finish their lines before being crushed.
—He was like the creator of my Abyssal Mother.
—No, even the Abyssal Mother didn't understand her children this well.
"So this time, I want to try a different approach," Xia Ya said.
"What?"
"You summon your minions, and I'll lead you to fight."
Synlos was stunned. "Fight... fight what?"
The Destroyer of Worlds, leader of demons, the final boss of "Illusory Realm," was bewildered like a child.
"Fight the human expeditionary force."
"What??"
Even Synlos, known as the Destroyer of Worlds, was shocked.
"Why, why?"
"Don't ask."
Xia Ya finally finished cleaning his sword and walked straight to Synlos's throne, splitting it in half with a single strike.
The power was just right, dividing the throne without harming the "Seed of Calamity" hidden beneath—a tool that could awaken greed, violence, and bloodlust in people, irresistible to anyone but the purest of saints.
"How did you know?" Synlos exclaimed.
"The first time I killed you, a foolish paladin named Lorenth shot the throne with a spear, and this thing splattered everywhere. No one present, except for me and the Valkyrie Orinshiru, could resist the whispers of the Abyss, turning into perverts wanting to strip her and pose her in various ways. I killed those fools to save her, but ended up being marked as a traitor for pointing the Holy Sword Narsil at my own people, hunted by all humanity. Although Orinshiru turned dark because of it and provided me with many benefits on the run, she was a good girl, and I didn't like her BAD ENDING."
Xia Ya rambled on, raising the magic egg covered in tentacles and eyeballs, and smashed the sanity-draining object against the wall.
Splat.
Juices splattered, and the negative emotions mixed with shrill screams targeted the nearest living being.
Xia Ya had anticipated this, and splashed a basin of Primordial Holy Water to neutralize the demon instantly.
Synlos shivered at the sight.
Primordial Holy Water! It was said even the archbishop only had a small vial, and here was a whole basin?
This basin was enough for him to die repeatedly, yet the opponent hadn't even used it!
"But since you're close with that bit... woman, Valkyrie, why help me?"
"Trying something new."
Xia Ya pulled out the sub-god repair fluid of the master craftsman Krikto, restoring the broken throne, then sat on it, crossing his legs.
"After maxing out favorability with Orinshiru, she'll tell you a secret: a Valkyrie wielding the Holy Sword Narsil will unleash incredible power in dire straits. I want to see what it looks like, if it's impressive, just to collect all the CGs, only missing this one."
Xia Ya patted the armrest and looked up. "What are you waiting for? Summon your minions, hide them as I instructed."
"Oh, oh..."
"And your lines need changing. The original ones are too low and too short."
"Let me think..."
"No, I've written them for you. Just follow my cue."
"Oh..."
...
Three hours later, the human expeditionary force was nearly wiped out in Synlos's lair.
The ground was littered with human and demon corpses, blood mixing into blackish-brown rivers, flowing freely over the scorched and battle-scarred earth, consumed by boiling lava.
The paladin Lorenth, holding the "Eternal Spear Gungnir," was filled with despair.
Only the Valkyrie Orinshiru remained on the field.
Xia Ya sat on the throne, while the Destroyer of Worlds lay at his feet like a dog.
The recent battle gave Synlos a surreal sense of déjà vu.
Xia Ya was the Will of the Abyss!
He was the true child of the Abyss!
He never imagined he could withstand the human attack so easily, as if he could foresee and understand every move of the opponent! Rendering those two omnipotent artifacts useless!
The "Eternal Spear Gungnir," said to be blessed by the gods, would always hit and pierce the enemy's defenses.
In the previous six epochs of destruction, Synlos was always impaled by this cursed spear! But this time, the paladin fell before he could strike!
The "Holy Sword Narsil," the sword of hope promised to humanity by the gods, would ultimately lead to victory!
But the sword's follower was taken down by Xia Ya's minions...
Synlos's eyes were filled with fanaticism, willingly prostrating.
If bosses had favorability towards players, his would surely be maxed.
"Why did you betray humanity..."
Orinshiru questioned Xia Ya, her beautiful eyes trembling slightly.
More than the defeat, Xia Ya's betrayal was harder for her to accept.
"
Why did you betray me! Answer me!
"
The golden-haired, ponytailed Valkyrie trembled, her aura rising sharply.
[Orinshiru's favorability towards you decreased by 175,000: Intimate → Hatred]
Hatred, Hostility, Indifference, Neutral, Friendly, Intimate, Best Friend.
When you're just trying to make great content at pawread.com .
There was no "Love" setting.
But Xia Ya's personal experience proved that above friends, you could sleep with them, and at full lover status, more positions were unlocked, applicable to any female NPC.
He couldn't distinguish whether he was a player or an NPC, but this was an objective truth.
Orinshiru's reputation was one of the hardest to increase, though focusing on one person could lead to a conquest before the final battle—but that would increase the final battle's difficulty—the saint would lose many immunities.
But this time, Xia Ya didn't pursue her, only helping her obtain the Holy Sword Narsil, which pushed her favorability from Intimate to Best Friend in one go.
Now, her reputation plummeted to the bottom, clearly disappointed in him to the extreme.
But so be it, the flower of hope watered by despair, what kind of brilliance would it bloom?
Xia Ya licked his lips, a bit expectant.
He knew every inch of the Valkyrie's skin, had seen her in every form, but never witnessed her shine in despair.
He kicked Synlos.
"Recite."
The Destroyer of Worlds remembered his role, flapping his wings and hovering, his resonant voice echoing in the lair.
"I once harbored mercy, destroying those irredeemable beings, leaving a spark of hope."
"But the destruction of other worlds, your hostility made me realize,"
"As long as someone clings to the past, they won't accept the future."
"So this time, I grant you equal death."
"All things come from the Abyss and shall return to the Abyss."
With each line, the black mist in the lair rose, and by the end, darkness enveloped the entire lair, sparing no one, not even Xia Ya, leaving only Orinshiru struggling with the Holy Sword.
Narsil's light was suppressed to the extreme, until with a desperate cry from the girl, the light suddenly burst forth!
In an instant, Xia Ya's vision was filled with an aurora.
"So beautiful..."
He murmured, then fell into darkness.
***
[Beep beep beep...]
[Notice! Notice!]
["Illusory Realm" v1.177.0 beta test has ended, data deletion in progress...]
[Data deletion complete, public test begins, enjoy your game.]
***
Proofreader & Editor: Lyra
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Vol.1 - Chapter 1 – I'll take you to fight
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