“How?” Zayn felt a chill crawl up his spine. Something was wrong. No citizen of Forgotten Lands should be able to tell that they were perfect replications. Not even a Demon King.

“Does it matter? I told you that your precious time is running out. You are not listening to me, kiddo.” The Demon King’s tone changed ever so slightly.

“I already told you that I decimated the–...”

“I’m not talking about the Demon Horde.” The Demon King interrupted Zayn.

“It’s good that you managed to kill a Minor God in your last cycle, but you don’t understand the Primordial Pantheon. Do you think they will give you decades to grow stronger as the inheritor of the Soul Lord? Don’t be foolish.”

Zayn was fairly sure the Primordial Pantheon couldn’t do much on Earth. They would have thrown more obstacles his way if they could modify Forgotten Lands actively on Earth, or they would have denied his access if they could. However, they didn’t have much power on Earth until the World Bridges opened. There were still two months until then.

“Why should I believe you? What are you trying to achieve?” Zayn had a bad feeling about this.

It was odd for him to trust the Demon King after he tapped into his mind to let him see visions of the past.

‘Maybe he is playing with me? He might have tapped into my memories and realized I traveled back in time?’ He shook his head. ‘No. He looks too calm. It’s almost like he expected all of this.

“I want you to kill me,” The Demon King said, “The sooner the better. You don’t have much time, after all.”

Zayn frowned again. This didn’t make any sense.

“If you want me to give you more information, you must promise I will give you permanent access to a Spirit Card. You have to infuse my Soul into the Spirit Card!”

Zayn recalled from the Primal Soul Lord’s knowledge and memories that it was possible to grant Spirit Wisps permanent space in his Spirit Cards, but he never intended to give any Spirit Soul a permanent space. It didn’t benefit Zayn enough to permanently link a Tier-2 Spirit Soul to one of his Spirit Cards. The Cards would be rendered useless if he outgrew the Spirit Soul linked to it.

But it was surprising that the Demon King knew about this. He was fairly sure knowledge like that was not known by just anyone.

“Is that all you want? To get killed as soon as possible and to be linked to one of my Empty Spirit Cards?” Zayn asked, not quite believing what the Demon King said. There had to be an ulterior move.

‘Is the Demon King already at odds with the Primordial Pantheon? Maybe…’

Zayn had to kill the Demon King one way or another. The reward for killing him was something Zayn needed for his next moves.

Still, the Demon King’s urging was confusing, to put it simply.

The Demon King’s eyes widened. It was like he sensed something.

“Hurry up, you fool!” He roared, confusing Zayn even more.

Zayn unsheathed the Verdant Saber and approached the Demon King.

“You are too weak to kill me normally. Pierce through my back. There is an old wound. You won’t see the spot, but two centimeters underneath my left shoulder blade is something. Pierce there, and you should be able to kill me.”

The Demon King leaned forward as much as possible. He cursed in pain as the onyx throne’s runes and the restrainment chains activated simultaneously. His lifeforce was drained and his mind and soul assaulted for trying to escape his eternal prison.

“Go for it, you idiot!”

Zayn tilted his head, but he didn’t hesitate any further. A surge of urgency overcame him, seeing the Demon King’s desperation. Something was wrong, and Zayn had no idea what it was.

He approached the Demon King and looked at his back. The Demon King’s black hide was tough yet stretchy. His leathery wings nearly slapped Zayn in the face when he looked for the spot.

“Keep your wings in check!” Zayn cursed, only for the Demon King to curse back, “I’m already on the verge of dying trying to help you kill me. Get your fucking act together and kill me, kiddo!!”

Zayn had no clue what was going on or about to happen, but he quickly concluded that the Primordial Pantheon was worse than a Demon King. Even if the Demon King had planned something for Zayn, he was certain he could survive. He had killed a Minor God. A Demon King was nothing in comparison.

“I killed you once, and I can kill you again,” Zayn cursed.

“Yes, please, you fucking brickhead!” the Demon King retorted, trying to move his wings to make enough space for Zayn.

At last, Zayn found the spot. He used Lifeforce Conversion to convert the majority of his lifeforce into power. After that, he triggered Draining Toucher, Double Impact, Blade Qi, Blade Strike, and Reinforce.

At last, Zayn pierced through the only weak spot of the Demon King.

The Demon King didn’t resist. If anything, he helped Zayn by ramming his back into the blade. The Demon King cursed quietly at the pain.

“Why is it necessary to be in so much pain to fucking die?!?” He cursed while the Verdant Saber dug deeper into his flesh.

‘This is so fucking weird.’ Zayn cursed alongside the Demon King but drove the blade deeper into the Demon King, who smiled faintly as he felt the last remnants of lifeforce escaping his body.

“See ya,” The Demon King said before darkness consumed him.

Demon King(Mythical), Alumare, has been slain.

+824 Soul Essences, +92 Common Cards, 21 Uncommon Cards, 19 Rare Card Shards, +6 Extraordinary Card Shards.

+Divine Physique Fragment.

[Divine Physique Fragment has been discovered.]

[Divine Physique Fragment reacts to Extraordinary Physique Card Set]

[Divine Physique Fragment integrates into the Extraordinary Physique Card Set]

[Rare Card Set ‘Extraordinary Physique’ advanced to Epic Card Set ‘Divine Physique’]

Zayn swallowed hard and collected the Cards and Card Shards, and the Demon King’s Soul Wisp emerged from his body. The Soul Wisp was massive, several times larger than normal Soul Wisps, and glowed much brighter than ordinary Soul Wisps.

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‘Well, that is going to be difficult.’ He swallowed hard and checked the Epic Card Set’s effect to ensure he could handle the Demon King’s Soul Wisp.

Card Set – Divine Physique

Epic – Set of 4

Level 82

Divine Physique Fragment – Legendary.

Effect – Stimulates an evolution in all Cards of the Card Set, strengthening them by half a Rank.

The Card Set’s Level increases by 50.

1) Power Boon – Rare (+) – Level 9(53%)

Effect – Augments the Card Holder’s Foundation.

+C%(+1% at Level 1)

2) Mind Power – Uncommon (+) – Level 6(3%)

Effect – Transforms the User’s willpower and mental power into Mind Power.

Passively augments the User’s mental fortitude drastically.

Accumulated Mind Power can be used to attack the target’s mind. Pierces easily through strong mental defenses.

3)Soul Fortress– Uncommon (+) – Level 14(34%)

Effect – Creates a Fortress around the Soul, protecting it from external harm.

The Soul Fortress augments the Soul’s fortitude and elevates it to a higher level.

Remark – High Synergy with the Class Path. The Card will level up quickly and use a Class Card Slot until the last Class Slot is occupied.

4) Enhanced Existence – Epic(Rare +) – Level 3(4%)

Effect – Grants the Card Holder an overall Enhancement(Physique, Mind, Soul)

The Card effect won’t be shown as a numerical value as the Card affects the quality of the existing Foundations.

–

Set Effect – Effective Card Level of all linked Cards will be combined.

-–

Energy consumption decreases with increase in Card Level.

Effect of Cards will increase with the increase in Card Level.

–

Zayn laughed aloud. He smiled from one ear to the other and summoned the interface of his Foundation Orbit right away.

[Foundation Orbit]

[Star of Vitality – Novice 370/1000] [+25%] [+82%]

[Star of Strength– Novice 380/1000] [+25%] [+82%]

[Star of Agility – Basic 500/1000] [+25%] [+82%]

[Star of Dexterity – Novice 325/1000] [+25%] [+82%]

[Star of Spirit– Basic 2500/10,000] [+25%] [+82%]

“Fuck yeah!!”

His eyes landed on the massive Soul Wisp with a vibrant smile, and he grasped it tightly. Simultaneously, he retrieved a Spirit Card, the only Empty Spirit Card he had left.

‘Once I have the Demon King bound to me, I can wreak havoc and deal with everyone coming through the Dimensional Anchors. If nothing goes wrong, I might even reach Tier-4 and be able to remove the Dimensional Anchors before they stabilize.’

He licked his lips, his heart beating wildly. Everything was going far better than he could have wished for.

Zayn activated Soul Link and pressed the Demon King’s Soul Wisp against the Empty Spirit Card instead of his chest. Both the Demon King and Zayn knew that he couldn’t contain the Demon King’s Spirit Soul just yet. However, the same didn’t apply to the Spirit Card. It was constructed to contain any kind of Spirit Soul.

Error

“What’s wrong now?!” Zayn asked, his mood plummeting at once.

Soul Wisp cannot be bound to the Empty Spirit Card. Cardholder’s Spirit is too low.

“That’s easy to solve!” He said, investing the massive haul of Soul Essences into his Spirit Foundation.

Integrate 855 Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit.

2500/10,000 → 3355/10,000.

A power surge swept through Zayn as his Spirit Foundation rushed to 3355 Units. However, that was only the start. His Lord Rune added 25% on top of the 3355, increasing his Spirit Foundation to 4193 Units, further augmented by the Epic Card Set’s Power Boon at level 82. His Spirit Foundation increased to 7632.

Zayn unleashed Soul Link again, pressing the huge Soul Wisp against the Empty Card Set.

[Powerful Soul Wisp has been detected. Calibrate successrate…]

[Powerful Soul Wisp surrenders to the Soul Lord. Success rate increases drastically.]

[Soul Link successfully linked Demon King Alumare to the Empty Card Set.]

[Proficiency of Soul Linke reached 100%. Level 61 → Level 69]

Zayn smiled vibrantly again as the Demon King formed before him. A massive body overflowing with power emerged before him. Zayn swallowed hard, but his smile didn’t cease as he watched the Demon King inspect his body.

His eyes trailed to his dead body, and he kicked it hard, smashing it against the onyx throne.

He turned around and stared at Zayn.

“Most of my power is sealed. You gotta get stronger if you want me to use my full power,” The Demon King said lightly.

“But it worked out. Your Soul is still intact, and you are not like one of those mindless Spirit Souls either.”

“Obviously. I’m a Demon King, after all,” Alumare responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

His expression distorted for a moment, and his body rippled. Zayn felt weird simultaneously, but he thought it was related to his sudden increase in power. It would take a while to get used to the increase in his Foundation Orbit and the evolution of his Card Set. Furthermore, his soul was occupied by the massive soul of a Demon King.

It wasn’t odd to feel weird and nauseous.

But the Demon King smiled wryly at Zayn, “It’s good that you made it in time. I can escape this fucking game, thanks to you. But you were a little bit too slow. We won’t reach my treasury. It’s too late.”

Zayn was confused.

“Too slow for what? We have enough time to–....” He couldn’t even finish his sentence when the world around him twisted. The Demon King was sucked into his Spirit Card with a sigh, only for the Spirit Card to be shoved back into Zayn’s Heart Deck.

All of a sudden, the world around Zayn turned black.

All that was left was a red glowing interface.

[Access Denied.]

Zayn frowned deeply.

He was forcefully logged out of the game.

‘This…is weird…’

Something didn’t feel right, but Zayn calmed his mind and tried logging back into Forgotten Lands.

[The game you’re searching for doesn’t exist. Please try another game.]

Zayn’s eyes narrowed to a slit, and he tried again.

[The game you’re searching for doesn’t exist. Please try another game.]

And he tried again.

[The game you’re searching for doesn’t exist. Please try another game.]

And again

[The game you’re searching for doesn’t exist. Please try another game.]

Zayn realized what had just happened but didn’t want to acknowledge it.

He couldn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t want it to be true.

However, Zayn couldn’t escape the reality unfolding before him.

Forgotten Lands was no more.

Zayn choked, his eyes widened in surprise and terror.

The Primordial Pantheon made their move.

The Descent was about to begin…far too early…

“Nooo….”