[Warning! Warning! Your level is too low! The recommended level for this map is Level 120!]

Ignoring the system's warning, Jaden stepped forward without hesitation.

[Ding! You have entered the map: Devilwood Forest!]

[Ding! As the first player to have reached the Devilwood Forest, EXP and Gold gained increases by 15% for 3 days.]

As Jaden passed by what seemed like a formless and colorless barrier, he suddenly found himself in an eerily quiet forest with trees as tall as 20 meters, towering up to the sky.

Roar!!

Roar!!!

Left, right, and up ahead, he could hear countless howls of monsters as they reverberated throughout the whole forest, scaring the flocks of birds and even flying monsters away.

Unfazed, Jaden strode deep into the dark forest as he rechecked the quest that he got his master.

_______________________

[Hidden Quest - Devilwood Cleansing]

Difficulty Rating: Heroic

Description: To the north of EverGuard City is a place called Devilwood Forest. Reports have been sent to the city that Demon Spawns are appearing at a rapid rate and killing adventurers and warriors that passes through the forest.

Quest Clear Condition: Slay as many Demon Spawns as you can, figure out the reason for the rapid appearance of the Devil Spawns and destroy the source!

Quest Completion Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: ???

_______________________

Since the whole Devilwood Forest was crawling with Demon Spawns, it only took a few minutes before Jaden had found one.

Two large eyes viewing their surrounding from their sockets, a sharp nose rested below alongside its big underbite mouth that took one's attention. Several razor-sharp teeth could be seen followed by a forked tongue that displayed menacingly.

It had a tall and explosive build with two scaly black arms that dangled on both sides that ended with broad hands and incredibly long and sharp nails. A horn sprouted from its forehead which glowed with a powerful aura as the demon glanced at Jaden.

_______________________

[Demon Spawn] (Lord)

Type: Abyssal Demon

Level: 110

HP: 124,000

_______________________

GRAA!

Roared the demon as it charged at Jaden with its 8-meter tall body, brimming with ferociousness.

Without a hint of fear or panic, Jaden unhurriedly unsheathed his sword from his back. In just a few moments the demon had already appeared right in front of Jaden as it swung its arm from above, its sharp claws intending to slice apart the foolish human in front of it.

Ting!

Effortless, Jaden parried the dark claws as the shockwave of the clash blew the surrounding wind, fluttering his white robe.

Thud!

[You have dealt 3,500 damage to the target!]

Jaden kicked the demon spawn with a strength that was only a few points away from the 500 point threshold.

Landing tens of meters away, the demon took a few moments before it regained its standing as it gazed fiercely at Jaden, only to find out that the human had disappeared from his position.

Appearing at the demon's right side, a blind spot, Jaden swung Forsaken from above radiating a flash of golden light, filled with Fighting Aura.

[You have dealt 21,230 damage to the target!]

HOU!!

As if a butter meeting a hot knight, the Sword of the Forsaken cut the demon spawn's arm with ease as it hissed with fear.

Demons not only feared Holy Lights and Sacred Powers but also Fighting Aura.

Relentless, Jaden cast [Chop] as his sword shone with blue light, leaving afterimages in its path as it swung in the air.

Bang!

[You have dealt 75,660 damage to the target!]

The monster was flung away like a broken kite from the collision as a huge 60% of its health was chunked off.

Ending the battle, Jaden jumped towards the demon and released an onslaught of sword attacks; the overall battle merely took 5 seconds before the monster, which had a high level three times that of Jaden's, was killed with ease.

[The target has been slain!]

[Number of Demon Spawn slain: 1]

[You have slain a monster 80+ levels higher than you, experience points gained increased by 350%]

[You have gained 613,950 experience points!]

[You have obtained 2,000 gold]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You hav...]

[...]

[Ding! The Mysterious Pet Egg wishes to devour the corpse of the Demon Spawn. Agree or Reject?]

"???" tilting his head, Jaden was both surprised and confused at the system message in front of him concerning the pet egg that he had.

After more than a month in-game, the pet egg has been so silent and obscure that he would've forgotten about it if this message didn't pop up in front of him.

Taking out the pet egg from his space ring, Jaden confirmed the system question as the egg suddenly jumped out of his arms and hovered above the corpse of the demon spawn.

And then, a shocking scene took place that Jaden's eyes flew wide open from astonishment.

The 3-feet tall egg exuded an ancient aura as it devoured the surrounding mana and elements. The skies darkened and dark clouds hung above the entire forest as rumbles of lightning could be heard, crackling within it.

As if a storm was gathering around the whole area, the egg shone with a resplendent light as the luminosity covered the whole corpse of the demon spawn.

A few seconds later, the whole 8-meter body of the dead demon was gone, without even a single speck of dust in its place.

[Ding! Mysterious Egg incubation process: 3%.]

After "enjoying" its meal, the egg flew back to Jaden's arms. Surprised, Jaden lifted the egg as he inspected it.

"Hmm...nothing's different really..." he muttered before putting the egg back into the space ring.

"I should keep hunting, its incubation process should progress then."

Re-sheathing the Sword of the Forsaken, Jaden then walked deeper into the gloomy forest.

...

Three hours later.

[The target has been slain!]

[Number of Demon Spawn slain: 22]

[Ding! Mysterious Egg incubation process: 13%.]

[...]

[..]

[The target has been slain!]

[Number of Demon Spawn slain: 63]

[Ding! Mysterious Egg incubation process: 26%.]

[...]

[...]

[The target has been slain!]

[Number of Demon Spawn slain: 110]

[Ding! Mysterious Egg incubation process: 34%.]

After killing more than a hundred demon spawn, the pet egg's incubation seemed to stop as if unsatisfied with the quality of its "food".

Jaden's lips twitched. "This little thing...what a picky eater, Level 110 to 130 monsters can't even satisfy it?" shaking his head, he sighed. "It seems this egg wants a higher class monster. As it's incubation progress increases, I will need to provide stronger monsters upon stronger monsters then..."

'At least my level increased by a lot, so did my attributes.' he smiled as he consoled himself.

_______________________

STATUS

Name: King

Age: 19

Level: 71 (33%)

Title: Disciple of the Lord of EverGuard

World Rep: 22,499

Free Points: 355 stat points

Attributes:

• STR: 599

• AGI: 586

• CON: 438

• INT: 318

• VIT: 331

• WIS: 312

Innate:

• CHA: 159

• LUC: 60

• PER: 120

• FOR: 160

• Fighting Aura: 55

_______________________

The minimum attribute threshold of a [Gold] ranked warrior in this world was 500 points; It could be said that Jaden now possess the strength and agility of a [Gold] powerhouse!

Meanwhile, the player community was once more in an uproar after the refresh of the Level Ranking Leaderboard.

_______________________

★ Level Ranking Leaderboard ★

Rank 1: King → Level: 71 | Class: Swordsman | Guild: None

----------

Rank 2: Queen → Level: 36 | Class: Warrior | Guild: Eternal Glory

----------

Rank 3: Sword Emperor → Level: 34 | Class: Swordsman | Guild: Glory Empire

----------

Rank 4: Fist Emperor → Level: 34 | Class: Fighter | Guild: Glory Empire

----------

Rank 5: Lone King → Level: 34 | Class: Warrior | Guild: None

----------

Rank 6: Laurence → Level: 33 | Class: Swordsman | Guild: None

----------

Rank 7: Hidden Blade → Level: 33 | Class: Assassin | Guild: None

----------

Rank 8: Moonlights → Level: 33 | Class: Berserker | Guild: Eternal Glory

----------

Rank 9: Krystal → Level: 33 | Class: Pyromancer | Guild: Eternal Glory

----------

Rank 10: Lancelot → Level: 33 | Class: Knight | Guild: Front Assault

----------

Rank 11: Arianna → Level: 33 | Class: Saintess | Guild: None

----------

Rank 12: Severus → Level: 32 | Class: Paladin | Guild: Front Assault

----------

....

...

_______________________

"Damn is that guy cheating?! How the f*ck is he Level 71?!"

"I've already contacted the EGC administrators and sent an email, hoping for an answer soon."

"Don't be stupid, EGC can't be hacked, how can a measly cheat program bypass Prime?! He's a super AI for god's sake."

"To the guy above, how can you explain his level then?! It's beyond human capabilities!"

"..."

"..."

The same conversations and debate were being held at this moment in DF Forum and other platforms as the people were in a state of uproar regarding Jaden's monstrously high level.

One must know that the current players in the Leaderboard are overlords of all kinds of VRMMO games.

For example, the guild Glory Empire has been famous since the era of virtual reality. The company backing the guild is a powerhouse in the field of VR and they have been conquering games way before Destiny Forged. They've been hailed as one of the giants in the virtual industry, yet suddenly, an unknown player, King, came out of nowhere and stole the limelight of all the professional players in but a blink of an eye!

...

Of course, at this moment, Jaden was totally clueless about the shocking feats that he just did, leaving the world in an uproar as he focused on completing his quest.

After a few hours of killing demon spawns and other monsters, leveling up, and giving "foods" to the pet egg while roaming around the forest, Jaden finally found the "source" of the demons in the Devilwood Forest.

What caught his vision was the horrifying monster a hundred meters away from him, currently doing a ritual as a few magic circle were drawn on the ground, surrounding it. And right now, the monster was staring at Jaden as if he was already a dead man.

"Oh? A heaven's chosen? At this place? How interesting." a deep voice came from the monster as his words reverberated around Jaden's ears, trying to subject him into fear.

Three seething eyes stared at Jaden with ferocity as the power of heat radiated from the demon. Noxious smoke came out from its mouth alongside its sharp fangs that could bite steel in half, effortlessly.

Flowing shadows adorned its three horns that were 3-feet long each, pointing to the sky. Alongside its perpetual grin, the smell of death bored down on Jaden as a bellowing smoke were released from its stumpy nose.

Its wide head sat atop its gigantic physique as two skeletal flaming wings extended from its back fully as the surrounding trees and plants seemingly decayed as if the very essence of their lives were absorbed from them.

_______________________

[Ekress - Avatar] (King)

Type: Great Demon

Level: 210

HP: 2,488,095

Description: An avatar of the Great Demon Ekress, a feared demon in the Abyss realm. For some reason, he is in the Devilwood Forest, creating Demon Spawns for unknown purposes.

_______________________

Jaden's eyes sharpened as he became serious. 'A Great Demon, they're only below the infamous Demon Kings of the Abyss.'

At this moment, system announcements rang in his ears as windows of messages appeared in front of him.

[Ding! The ★ Hidden Quest ★ Devilwood Cleansing has been completed! The reward will be held until you finish the continuation quest.]

[Ding! The ★ Hidden Quest ★ Great Demon Ekress has been triggered!]

[The quest has been forcibly accepted!]

_______________________

[Hidden Quest - Great Demon Ekress]

Difficulty: Epic

Quest Clear Condition: Slay the avatar of Ekress at all cost!]

Quest Clear Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: Level -71, all attributes are permanently weakened by 30%, EXP -90% for 14 days.

_______________________

Jaden couldn't help but chuckle at the penalty for failing the quest. "What a despicable and despairing quest this is."

Of course, he wasn't the least bit scared. Excitement coursed throughout his body as his blood boiled.

"A Great Demon," he smirked as he stared at Ekress who ran towards him like a ferocious bull. "This demon's even stronger than the Corrupted Draconian back in the Millburn Town."

Unsheathing Forsaken, the sword vibrated as if sensing the formidable enemy. It let out a cry as power from the Silverfang Sheath flowed throughout the blade and the hilt.

"This'll be our first battle against a [King] ranked monster, my friend," said Jaden to the sword as he laughed.

As if responding to his words, the Sword of the Forsaken shone brightly as a golden aura wrapped around it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The earth shook as the ground fissured and was decimated at each step of the great demon.

Ekress raised his arms and clenched his huge fists as terrifying flames blazed around them. The flames ran amok as it engulfed his entire arms and then his whole body; At this moment, he perfectly portrayed the image of a demon that came hell.

"Human, don't resist any further and rejoice for you will die by the hands of I, the great Ekress. Oh but don't worry, I shall also lay waste upon the Kingdoms and Empires in this place so you have some companions to the other world!" Ekress laughed with a malevolent face as he stared at Jaden as if he was looking at an ant.

Jaden also laughed and replied. "You should also rejoice since you will be the first real demon that I will kill. Enough talk, try this technique of mine."

Jaden stepped forward as a golden radiance erupted from him. The golden aura cascading along his whole body was akin to the mythical divine powers as he resembled a divinity at this moment.

In a time that spanned less than a millisecond, Jaden had already pierced his sword forward.

The wind was split and space was severed; cracks appeared in the direction of Ekress as if reality itself had collapsed.

A colossal sword was formed as it penetrated time itself; the heavens cried and the earth shook as if the world was about to experience the apocalypse.

The gods above wailed and the devils below howled.

[Sundering Heavens]!