Heroes' Prison

Chapter 396 - 386: Demon King’s Gate

Huang Yi hurried through the city, a veritable human purgatory. The streets were rife with killings, powerful figures slaughtering the weak without restraint, even devouring their flesh in broad daylight, with black blood staining the streets and flowing down the drains. Outside the city, there would at least be guards to maintain order, forbidding murder and violence within the city walls. But here, things were entirely different; there was absolute freedom, freedom to deprive others of theirs at any moment.

Finally, Huang Yi arrived at the tall tower and stepped inside.

Inside the tower was pitch dark and empty, save for the hunched silhouette of a warrior in the center.

This person was cloaked in black, with dark skin and graying hair—an old man.

On the old man, Huang Yi sensed a familiar sense of comfort, the unique aura of demonic creatures. It seemed that this elder, much like the Sand Thief King, had likely become a lapdog of the King of the Fallen, selling his soul for the mighty Power of Corruption and thus becoming so formidable.

"I am the Black Demon!" At that moment, the figure turned his head, revealing an extremely aged face with grey-white eyes, appearing as if blind. He stared at Huang Yi and asked slowly, "You just said that the Sand Thief King is in danger and asked me to take you to seek help from the Fallen Messenger. The Sand Thief King and I are both top Holy Domain experts who should be able to act with impunity outside of the mainlands. Why would he be in danger?"

Huang Yi felt a confirmation in his heart upon hearing Black Demon’s words. The other party evidently did not know that he had trapped the Sand Thief King. This fitted his conjecture. When Huang Yi had trapped the Sand Thief King, the system had issued a regional announcement; only people in the Desolate Sands were aware of the matter. The Abyss, being many miles apart from the Desolate Sands, would have had no way of knowing.

Huang Yi looked at the Black Demon without revealing his emotions and made up a story, "The Sand Thief King is indeed a top Holy Domain expert and certainly has the clout to dominate this continent. However, the one who put him in danger is not from this continent but from the Central Continent, a Celestial Realm Expert from the Half-Beast Holy Land!"

"Central Continent! Celestial Realm Expert!" Hearing these two terms, Black Demon’s body involuntarily trembled slightly!

The Central Continent was the core area of this world, where almost all the experts from this world gathered. That was what Black Demon feared most because he had secretly pledged allegiance to The Seven Archdemons and completely turned against this world. Should he ever encounter those experts from the Central Continent, the only outcome would be a dead end.

Black Demon calmed his emotions and stared at Huang Yi, frowning, "The Central Continent is teeming with experts. Junior Holy Domain experts are a dime a dozen, Intermediate-level ones can be found everywhere, and only the Advanced and top Holy Domain experts have status. They usually do not interfere with the outer continents, unless something particularly significant forces them to intervene. The Sand Thief King has spent his life in the Desolate Sands, so how could he have provoked the experts from the Central Continent, and specifically a legendary Celestial Realm Expert? What exactly happened?"

Black Demon stared intently at Huang Yi, his face full of disbelief. If Huang Yi could not give a convincing explanation, he would not hesitate to kill him.

In the darkness filled with deathly silence, Huang Yi could even hear his own heartbeat. Lying to a top Holy Domain expert like Black Demon was extremely difficult; any discrepancy would be detected immediately.

Unperturbed, Huang Yi continued fabricating his story, "It’s like this. The Sand Thief King discovered the last treasure of the Continent Guardian Leizes and acquired half of an Epic Equipment piece, originally named Hand of Thunder, but only the left-hand part of it. The right-hand part just happens to be in the hands of that Celestial Realm Expert from the Half-Beast Holy Land of the Central Continent. For reasons unknown, that Celestial Realm Expert received this news and deliberately came over to snatch it, which is why the Sand Thief King fell into danger." After speaking, Huang Yi took out the golden "Continent Guardian’s Order" and continued, "Later, the Sand Thief King ran into me and gave me this Continent Guardian’s Order he got from Leizes’ treasure as payment to ask for help."

"Leizes’ treasure!" Black Demon was startled again, quickly taking the Continent Guardian’s Token from Huang Yi’s hand and feeling it. After a brief examination, he nodded and looked at Huang Yi, "This is indeed a Continent Guardian’s Token; it seems the Sand Thief King really found Leizes’ treasure. This makes you the God of Slaughter, then?"

The matter of Huang Yi becoming a Continent Guardian had been announced by the system across the entire continent. Since the Abyss was also part of the continent, people had naturally heard this news. Upon seeing the Guardian’s Order, Black Demon immediately inferred that Huang Yi was the Continent Guardian—God of Slaughter.

"Yes! Thanks to the Sand Thief King giving me this Guardian’s Order, I could become the Continent Guardian." Huang Yi nodded, as if the token were truly given to him by the Sand Thief King.

Black Demon handed the Continent Guardian’s Token back to Huang Yi and pondered, "I never expected the Sand Thief King to obtain half an Epic Equipment piece. It’s reasonable that the Celestial Realm Expert would snatch it. Unfortunately, though we are top Holy Domain experts, we are far from enough in front of a Celestial Realm Expert. We can only ask the Fallen Messenger to intervene if we are to save the Sand Thief King now."

Speaking, his expression softened a bit, "God of Slaughter, you have gone to great lengths to bring reinforcements for the Sand Thief King. I should have treated you well, but right now there’s no time to lose. Let’s head to the depths of the Abyss and ask the Fallen Messenger for help. This will take several days, I hope we can make it in time."

"That’s perfect, I also want to complete the task given by the Sand Thief King as soon as possible, let’s go!" Huang Yi nodded and said in an unperturbed tone.

"Hold on tight!" the Black Demon warned and immediately grabbed Huang Yi’s arm, turning into a wisp of black smoke that drifted out of the tower and sped toward the distance with the speed of the wind and lightning.

With the Black Demon leading the way, Huang Yi’s speed increased significantly. The landscape before his eyes whizzed by, creating fleeting shadows that passed in an instant, several times faster than when the White Dragon King had transported him.

Before long, a black line appeared at the edge of his vision, and it was none other than the slightly smaller Abyss.

The Black Demon looked at Huang Yi and said gravely, "Just ahead is the passage to the Abyssal Depths. We are currently only in the first layer of the Abyss, but to contact the Fallen Messenger, one needs to be at the very bottom. The base of the Abyss is extremely dangerous, especially the Five Lords of the Abyss. Each of them is a Holy Domain Warrior above level 190 with quirky tempers. Even if I encounter them, I have to greet them with a smile and try my best to appease them. When we get there, don’t make any loud noises to avoid being discovered by them."

"I understand, take me down," Huang Yi said with a nod.

His gaze was fixed tightly on the Abyss, filled with faint anticipation. The pure Dark Breath that the Beast God had spoken of must be down there.

The Black Demon plunged directly into the small Abyss with Huang Yi.

The environment here was even harsher than before, and the air carried a damp, chilly breath that seemed to freeze one’s marrow, causing Huang Yi to shiver uncontrollably.

"The atmosphere here is indeed hard to bear, just hang in there," the Black Demon said, feeling Huang Yi’s trembling and glancing back at him.

Suddenly, with a shift in expression, the Black Demon smiled and said, "God of Slaughter, the King of Hell, Yanmo, once named you King of Slaughter and designated you as The Eighth Great Demon King, placing great importance on you. Are you interested in joining the side of The Seven Archdemons? As one of the outstanding Heaven-Sent Man, your potential is limitless. Once you join the Archdemons, you will certainly be put to great use. Your strength will soar remarkably, and you might even receive personal training from Lord Yama himself, advancing your Strength several levels all at once. Your future Achievement could be boundless, far surpassing both myself and the Sand Thief King."

"Let’s talk about that later," Huang Yi said, knowing that the Black Demon was trying to recruit him. Although the offer was tempting, he had no intentions of joining the side of The Seven Archdemons and decided to respond vaguely for the time being.

Undeterred, the Black Demon continued to tempt him, "The power of The Seven Archdemons is extremely strong. If you agree to join, you will immediately gain an immensely powerful force. You know, the Sand Thief King was only a Mid-level Sanctuary Expert in the past, but since he became one of the subordinates under the King of the Fallen, his strength has risen sharply, bypassing the stage of Advanced Holy Domain Experts and directly becoming one of the Top Holy Domain Experts, dominating the world."

Pausing for a moment, the Black Demon continued, "You once obtained the Harbinger of Doomsday’s Footprints, remember? When the Harbinger of Doomsday ravaged the continent, he traversed mostly minor territories, barely touching the outskirts of the Desolate Sands, never daring to enter because he was no match for the Sand Thief King. In truth, the Sand Thief King’s real Strength was far inferior to that of his junior, the Harbinger of Doomsday, but obtaining the Power of Corruption changed that. Nowadays, the Harbinger of Doomsday has been submerged in the river of history, yet the name of the Sand Thief King still echoes across the continent and continues to exist in this world. If the Harbinger of Doomsday had been willing to join the side of The Seven Archdemons, with his qualifications, he may very well have advanced to a Celestial Realm Expert. He chose not to do so, and that was the most foolish thing he ever did in his life. The strength of The Seven Archdemons is so impressive that it can significantly boost your abilities. You should give it some thought."

Back when Huang Yi obtained the "Harbinger of Doomsday’s Footprints," it triggered a system announcement, so the Black Demon naturally knew about Huang Yi’s connection with the Harbinger of Doomsday. Now, he was bringing up this figure to convince Huang Yi to join.

Huang Yi’s expression remained calm, and he said nothing. The Black Demon’s offer was enticing, but it was a fair trade. By joining The Seven Archdemons, one’s strength could indeed improve rapidly, but there would be no turning back, forever set against The Second World. If The Seven Archdemons were to perish, one would also face the harshest rebirth penalty: character data deletion and the need to start over with a new account. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your Recommendation Ticket and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)