The pressure in the air was heavier than any time before, and Xiao Tangqiu almost couldn’t breathe.

Abyss Demon?

No way? They were actually facing the final boss!

He couldn’t believe that they accidentally ran into the final boss…

But this kind of terrifying aura and coercion was not something ordinary demons could possess.

Even Lily Marlene, who had enough strength to crush them, had never possessed it… Just from the momentum and coercion of the aura, Xiao Tangqiu was covered in goosebumps and thoroughly chilled.

When he came back to himself, his back was soaked with cold sweat.

The black shadow that seemed to be born from the abyss finally arrived before them. Xiao Tangqiu tried to make out the appearance of the abyss demon while covered in cold sweat, but the abyss demon was an obscure black shadow from beginning to end. He didn’t seem to have a physical shape, he was just darkness, just like the abyss.

Even his voice sounded very ethereal and resounding, as if the entire valley was echoing, “I finally… returned…”

As soon as he spoke, an overwhelming and terrible aura of darkness swept over.

Under this awful pressure, cold sweat burst out of Xiao Tangqiu again. He wanted to speak but found that his voice was gone. He wanted to turn his head to look at Shen Yuan, but found that he couldn’t move. He seemed to be frozen and suspended in place.

Soon he realized that not only that, his senses seemed to be gradually disappearing. His sense of smell dulled, his hearing dulled, even his vision gradually became blurred. It was as if someone was consuming his vitality…

At this moment, Shen Yuan suddenly spoke, “It’s you!”

Shen Yuan’s voice seemed to return Xiao Tangqiu’s five senses. He instantly returned to normal and was shaken with fear. What just happened?!

Although his five senses had returned to normal, his body was still unable to move. He could only try to turn his eyes to look at other people in his peripherals. But they all seemed to be in the same condition as him, their faces pale and motionless. Other than Shen Yuan, they all seemed to have lost the ability to move due to the repressive aura of the Abyss Demon.

Xiao Tangqiu’s face was pale. He didn’t dare imagine what other players would end up like if they encountered the Abyss Demon. Even if it was a powerful witch like Lily Marlene, they could put up a good fight. Even if they could not win, they could at least struggle a bit. But before the Abyss Demon, they didn’t even have a chance to struggle.

He instantly recalled that Shen Yuan had encountered the Abyss Demon in the last main mission. He remembered that other than Shen Yuan… the entire team was wiped out. Could it be that this time would just be a repeat of that terrible failure?

Xiao Tangqiu had no doubt that the Abyss Demon could crush them like weak ants with his fingers. The Abyss Demon had not even done anything yet, and they had all lost their ability to fight…

He couldn’t help but fall into despair. They would undoubtedly die here unless the Abyss Demon let them go. But was that possible?

“It’s you…” The cluster of shadow looked at Shen Yuan. The shadow that was originally blurry condensed a little as if agitated.

Shen Yuan didn’t know who the Abyss Demon was, but he could feel a bone-deep fear, as well as the trembling and miserable screams from the depths of his soul when he said this name.

This overwhelming fear cumulated with the trembling and misery, taking over his amnesia-caused blank mind like a flash flood. He suddenly shook.

…Abyss Demon?

Who was the Abyss Demon?

Xiao Tangqiu watched as the originally calm Shen Yuan suddenly trembled. He was worried, wanting to immediately rush over to ask what was going on with Shen Yuan, but he couldn’t move. Under the pressure of the Abyss Demon’s powerful aura, he couldn’t even lift a finger.

“Abyss Demon…” Shen Yuan whispered the name softly while shaking violently, and his expression became more confused and panicked.

The cluster of dark shadows became more and more solid, “You seem to have forgotten something… Then I will help you remember…”

The shadow raised his hand and a puff of black smoke rushed towards Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan wanted to dodge, but the puff of black smoke seemed to have a mind of its own and still entered Shen Yuan’s body.

Shen Yuan collapsed to the ground, flailing and rolling. His expression was filled with pain, but he stubbornly refused to make a single sound, struggling silently.

Xiao Tangqiu felt heartbroken. He desperately tried to fight the Abyss Demon’s aura, but he still couldn’t even lift a finger.

The cluster of black shadows looked at Shen Yuan who was on the ground in a condescending position, and spoke faintly, “You are not dead yet, that’s great… What a perfect experiment…”

A perfect experiment?

Xiao Tangqiu was shocked, what did this mean? Under this extreme shock, his finger suddenly moved.

“I have always wanted to create a perfect offspring, a powerful and perfect demon. I didn’t expect your body to carry my power… and there are even two powerful energies. How incredible…” The voice seemed very excited, “You are only one step away from becoming a demon. Let me accelerate your demonization process… Come, be one of us!”

Shen Yuan fell to the ground and struggled in pain. His body once again showed a large-scale Ouroboros tattoo. From his neck to face, his whole body was covered by that mysterious black tattoo.

“A perfect and powerful offspring…” the shadow’s voice was full of appreciation, “Once you become a demon, you will become my most outstanding work!”

Xiao Tangqiu didn’t even have the energy to cuss. Lippinobert was a mad scientist. Why was this final boss, the Abyss Demon, also a mad scientist who was keen on human experiments? Were Lippinobert and Lily Marlene both the products of his experiments?

…No!

Xiao Tangqiu suddenly realized something. Perhaps Lily Marlene was the Abyss Demon’s experiment, but Lippinobert shouldn’t be. Because from the beginning to the end, Lippinobert was chasing the ghost of Lily Marlene.

Only now did Xiao Tangqiu suddenly and belatedly thought about why this super S-level mission was called The Witch’s Tribute.

It was not that Kisaragi summoned the witch through the sacrificial offering of the mountain god, but the witch summoning the Abyssal Demon through offering herself!

Why could Kisaragi summon the witch only by making the mountain god into a tribute? Perhaps it was like some kind of alchemy, demons could not be summoned out of thin air and need an equivalent exchange. Otherwise, Lippinobert would not have needed to sacrifice the lives and souls of an entire town. It was because the summoning requires equivalent exchange.

Kisaragi sacrificed the mountain god to summon the witch because the mountain god was equal to the witch. So why didn’t the witch directly have Kisaragi sacrifice the mountain god and summon the Abyssal Demon? Perhaps it was because the offering of a mountain god was not enough to summon the Abyssal Demon. And what did Lily Marlene do before offering herself? She crazily absorbed the demonic energy of Shen Yuan!

And where did that powerful demonic energy in Shen Yuan come from? One half may have been from the Abyss Demon, but the other half was from their last instance, from Lippinobert.

Xiao Tangqiu shivered. So many coincidences added together was no longer a coincidence, this was clearly a trap! In the castle instance, Lily Marlene deliberately bewitched Lippinobert and sent the devil’s heart fragment to him. As a result, Shen Yuan received powerful demonic power. And in this instance, Lily Marlene absorbed Shen Yuan’s powerful demonic energy and offered herself to summon the Abyss Demon!

Why didn’t Lily Marlene directly sacrifice Shen Yuan? Naturally, because Shen Yuan was not good enough to be offered to the Abyss Demon!

At this moment, Shen Yuan, who was convulsing on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes that were filled with a clear and cold light.

He recovered his memory.

“Abyss Demon…”

This time his voice was no longer confused, now full of bone-stirring rage and hatred.

The cluster of dark shadows looked at Shen Yuan condescendingly, “It seems that you have perfectly blended my two powers. That’s really good. Just a bit more and you can completely become a demon.”

Shen Yuan’s voice was chilling, “I will never be one of you!”

“Don’t you yearn for powerful power?” The shadow dismissed, and began to tempt, “Only by becoming a demon can you have the necessary power to stand on top of the world!”

Xiao Tangqiu never expected that not only Lily Marlene was a brainwashing salesman, the final boss was also a brainwashing boss. But that did make sense, after all the Abyss Demon was Lily Marlene’s master!

Shen Yuan responded word by word, “Don’t even think about it.”

The shadow laughed softly, “It’s not up to you. You only have two choices: become a demon, or die.”

Shen Yuan said without hesitation, “I would rather die.”

The shadow sneered, “Then you can try to take on my power! If you can bear it, you will become a powerful demon, if you can’t bear it, you will explode and die!”

Shen Yuan said indifferently, “I refuse.”

As soon as his voice fell, he whipped out the silver gun and pointed it at the shadow.

The shadow didn’t dodge, and when the bullet penetrated his body, the black smoke swallowed the bullet instantly.

Without blinking, Shen Yuan continued to fire the second and third shots.

The next two bullets were also swallowed by the shadow, but the black smokey body flickered and blurred twice.

Xiao Tangqiu’s heart leaped. Perhaps due to the Abyss Demon’s form temporarily dispersing, but his body suddenly became able to move!

In that instant, before he could even feel excited, a bullet shot out from the black shadowy body at Shen Yuan! The shadow not only swallowed the bullet but also returned it!

Shen Yuan dodged.

Then came the second bullet and the third bullet.

Shen Yuan closely dodged it every time, but dodging a bullet was not something anyone could do. He broke out in a cold sweat. When he thought it was over, a fourth bullet suddenly appeared in front of him! It turned out that the shadow could not only return his bullets, he also could copy the bullets!

He didn’t have any mental preparation at all. He only fired three bullets, after all, so he could only watch the bullets shoot towards him.

This was naturally not an ordinary bullet. Once hit, the target would not only be injured and killed but would disappear completely!

At this critical moment, someone suddenly jumped in front of him and took the bullet for him.

Shen Yuan looked up in disbelief. It was Xiao Tangqiu.

It was beyond his expectation, but also seemed unsurprising.

He watched the bullet pierce through Xiao Tangqiu’s body. Xiao Tangqiu didn’t even have time to scream, and disappeared instantly.

T/N: Extra chapter this week. Happy holidays everyone!