DKIE CH87: The Winner Ascends 

This unexpected answer left the Demon King speechless for a second.

He stared intently but saw no hint of a joke on the other’s face.

The Saint suddenly shook his head. “To be honest, I don’t quite understand what you’re up to.”

The Demon King and the Saintess deceived each other constantly, but in front of the Saint, he didn’t lie. “The rules of the starry sky.”

Both fell silent for a moment.

“Without shattering the established rules of the starry sky, one cannot become a god.”

The rumors were not wrong. To ensure their own supremacy, the ancient gods had blocked off the various paths to godhood. Gods were not immortal; after death, they transformed into the rules of the starry sky, ensuring no successors could follow.

The Demon King sneered. “Believe it or not, the Demon Ancestor and the Ancestor of Humanity were also unwilling. For their entire lives, they could only remain trapped on the verge of godhood.”

The Tree of Life was the only hope.

It could independently control the time and climate of a realm, clearly unbound by the will of this plane’s world. It was most likely some sort of unholy object from beyond the heavens.

As long as he could possess it, he could break through the rules and ascend to become a new god.

As for the Saintess’s claim that the Tree of Life could communicate divine oracles and provide him a way to godhood, the Demon King found it as laughable as a bedtime story.

The demon royal family had risen through possession; no one understood the path to power better than them. From the first moment he saw the Tree of Life, he knew it was no good thing.

“I was very disappointed when that child was born,” the Demon King said softly.

He had thought it would be a congenitally powerful soul, and he would only need to seize the moment of weakness when the Tree of Life devoured that soul.

Unexpectedly, many years later, there was a new twist.

The Saint said seriously, “If you read more books, you would find that at the turning points of every era, the side of light is victorious the majority of the time.”

“Is that so?”

Where the Demon King’s gaze fell, translucent branches crawled across the sky, and moist liquid turned into a watery mist.

When it fell upon the wounds of the injured priests, those wounds healed at a visible rate.

Relying on the blessing of the Tree of Life, the tide of battle was tilting in the Holy Court’s favor.

The Demon King’s tone held a hint of magnanimity. “Soldier against soldier, general against general. It’s been a long time since I’ve fought such a clean battle. I’m a bit unaccustomed to it.”

The Saint sneered. The demon generals and the witch had not yet made a move, clearly protecting someone.

It took him some effort to see clearly, and a rare emotion appeared on his face.

It was a curse master.

“A natural-born curse master, tens of thousands of Holy Court soldiers, plus the princes lying in ambush in the spatial rifts around… all likely aimed at Luka. You call this clean?”

According to this blockade, approaching the Tree of Life would inevitably result in horrific casualties.

The biggest problem now was clearing these ‘roadblocks’, otherwise, even with the Sage’s Sword, Luka would be of little use.

As they spoke, a peculiar aura suddenly appeared in the air.

In an unnoticed corner, where the tree’s roots were shallowest, wisps of grayish-white mist began to seep out silently.

The Demon King was the first to notice the anomaly.

Within the mist, a figure with thin threads wrapped around his hands stood in mid-air, having appeared at some unknown time.

The newcomer’s grayish-white hair floated eerily, just like the threads in his hands.

The newspapers had long published photos of the young love and the twilight love; he recognized him at a glance.

The Demon King coldly uttered two words: “Alex.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it. This name, well-known throughout the continent, caused the battlefield to fall silent for a moment.

Some names were taboo, and no one on the continent would share them. Someone muttered, “Alex already…”

The rest of the sentence was left unsaid.

Necromancers were legendary undead creatures. Every few decades, rumors would circulate that this darkest of beings had not been annihilated and was still causing trouble in the world.

The High Priest, currently entangled with the Elven King, showed little surprise.

He immediately divided his attention to issue a command. “Form squads of one hundred. Each squad must maintain a distance of at least one hundred meters from the others.”

Necromancers could dominate people’s minds and cause chaos. Forming small, supervised groups was the most stable way to counter this.

The Demon King’s expression, however, gradually grew solemn.

Although the area around the Tree of Life was already an iron fortress, he always felt that something had been overlooked.

He hadn’t actually paid much mind to Alex. The fact that the necromancer had to be bound to Iliad was a clear indication that his condition and strength were far from what they used to be.

With diminished strength and his former subordinates long scattered over a thousand years, his threat level… seemed completely manageable.

But now…

Scrape, scrape.

There was a strange sound, its source unidentifiable.

The fine threads filling the air grew madly, their density almost rivaling half of the Tree of Life’s branches. The two sides were locked in a silent tug-of-war.

Pawns could only be pawns. The Demon King had never disclosed the matter of Alex to his ordinary soldiers.

Right now, the demon generals and Holy Court soldiers were still immersed in primal shock. To be able to counter the Tree of Life, was it really Alex, returned?

This necromancer, known for his love of war and his cruelty, shouldn’t he be standing on the side of darkness? Why was he opposing them?

The ground began to heave and shake, and the Holy Court squads halted their formations.

“What’s happening?” The army guarding the vicinity didn’t dare move far, but they could see the ground moving for ten thousand meters ahead.

Suddenly!

A white bone burst out from underground.

The surrounding Holy Court soldiers were startled. Just as they calmed down, a clattering sound filled the air from beneath the ground.

The gift package the ferret had taken away was finally being unwrapped. A bone fragment appeared out of thin air, suspended in the center of the mist, and a wind rose from the flat ground.

The Tree of Life’s massive canopy became an amplifier, and different sharp wails erupted from within its body.

Intense negative emotions eroded the minds of everyone present.

Hands, heads, patellas… a mudslide of white bones was erupting from the earth.

Skeletons, stripped of flesh and blood, scrambled out from underground, clutching the writhing roots that had once deprived them of life, wrapping them around their bodies like umbilical cords.

Above was the white frost condensed by the Tree of Life; below was the ghastly white of a bone-paved ground.

The figure in the mist still stood elegantly on the periphery, acting as a medium, communicating with the residual spirits of the dead within the Tree of Life.

The Demon King’s gaze swept quickly across the thousands of white bones.

Where is Iliad? Why has only Alex appeared? What is the other one up to?

However, just as he focused on the bones, all of them simultaneously pointed a single finger to the sky.

The Demon King saw countless middle fingers.

“…”

Before he had more time to observe, the mist threads and bones interlocked. Under Quill’s black gloves, an eerie ghost-fire flickered.

His smile was hidden behind the mist. “Now, it’s my turn to write the novel.”

Knowing he could delay no longer, the Demon King truly attacked for the first time that day.

The Saint sighed internally, finally done with his ‘standing punishment’. He used his fingers as a weapon, forcefully suppressing the Demon King’s offensive.

Several rounds of large-scale magic explosions flashed, so bright that those below couldn’t even open their eyes.

The High Priest wanted to shout at the Holy Court soldiers guarding the Tree of Life not to break formation.

Unfortunately, just as he opened his mouth, the Elven King’s arrow shot right for his O-shaped lips. This vile act made it difficult for him to find a gap to speak again.

As they fought, the Demon King looked at the Saint opposite him and suddenly thought of something.

Days ago, the other party’s raid on the Holy Court to test the Tree of Life and supposedly transfer the intern priests was a feint. The real reason was to hide something!

A single bone fragment hidden in a pile of skeletons was like dropping a single drop of water into the ocean; even the Tree of Life couldn’t have discovered it.

The High Priest also found the key to the anomaly, locating the medium.

Looking at the bone fragment radiating a malevolent aura, he shouted, “Destroy it!”

Before the words left his mouth, a gash was torn in the left corner of his mouth.

The Elven King frowned at the mangled corner of his mouth. A mark on only one side, it was enough to drive someone with OCD crazy.

Quill methodically manipulated the remnant souls of the flesh and blood that had been consumed by the Tree of Life.

“Prologue, Heaven.”

The Tree of Life did indeed possess terrifying healing powers, which had indirectly allowed the bones of those who died unjustly under its roots to retain some shattered fragments of their souls.

This place was an absolute heaven for a necromancer.

The Tree of Life roared in fury, launching a continuous barrage of attacks into the distance.

Quill raised both hands. “Novel content: Vermin.”

The skeletons underground outnumbered the Holy Court soldiers by more than ten to one. The sensitive roots were suddenly crawling with ‘lice’, and even the Tree of Life couldn’t stand the itch.

It tore itself from the ground.

“Ah! Save me.” Terrifying abyssal cracks split the ground, and nearby Holy Court soldiers were thrown to the ground and fell in.

The writhing, squid-tentacle-like roots frantically shook off the white bones.

The Tree of Life coated countless bone fragments with poisonous frost and scattered them back towards Quill.

Quill shifted his position, avoiding the poisonous mist, his tone carrying a playful laugh.

“Epilogue, The Widow.”

The Widow?

Anyone who heard these words would subconsciously have a basic thought: does it refer to these skeletons?

To shake off the lice, the Tree of Life was running high and shaking its legs.

Who would have known, a whistling wind shot past overhead. Without any warning, the space above was violently torn open.

—A figure holding a sword leaped out from the rift.

The figure descended with heroic grace, silver-white hair tied up high, a sword in the left hand, and clad in battle robes.

The arc of the wielder’s swing was a familiar diagonal slash, and around the Sage’s Sword, a bright, boiling crimson light churned.

The Ancestor of Humanity!

The residual consciousness of the souls within its body was in turmoil, and the itching sensation made it completely unable to concentrate. Distracted, the Tree of Life reflexively felt fear.

In that brief instant, the longsword chopped off half of its canopy and drove three inches deep into its trunk.

With its main body wounded, brown liquid spurted out. The Tree of Life convulsed violently, and the halo of light that erupted sent Luka flying a hundred zhang.

After half its canopy was lopped off, its angry, flailing branches looked inexplicably comical.

In the throes of pain, the bald Tree of Life finally came to its senses.

It had been tricked.

It wasn’t the Ancestor of Humanity!

A hundred zhang away, Luka reverted to his true form and tilted his head with a regretful smile. “Ah, didn’t one-shot it.”

…

Countless gazes projected over. From a distance, one figure controlled white bones like a terrifying ghost, while the other descended like a god, dazzling with light.

Upon closer inspection, their coordination was devious to the extreme!

The once-impenetrable defense line around the Tree of Life had completely shattered.

This split-second coordination, which even allowed the curse master to avoid the princes around the rift, left them all dumbfounded.

How was their strategy even dirtier than theirs?!

With the Tree of Life injured, it could no longer heal the clergy as wantonly as before.

The tilted scales of the battlefield returned to their original position.

The world suddenly fell silent, leaving only the moving white bones, which occasionally made a rustling sound as they shuffled along.

“Get him!” After the initial shock, the female attendants and several great priests transformed into streams of light. The witch cooperated by creating illusions, and together they formed a tight encirclement around Luka.

Demon generals were also closing in, but they were intercepted by the magical beast.

Luka wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked up. Above him were massive warships, their cannons aimed squarely below.

Within three steps, there is bound to be an antidote.

Several elven elders aimed their arrows at the warships’ magic stone loading points.

They made a gesture to Luka, signaling him to retreat as far as possible.

“Leave this to us.”

One arrow shot out, transforming into a sky-full of arrow rain. The cannonballs fired from the warships were shattered in mid-air with a thunderous roar.

Luka felt that after this, he could create a world-famous painting of himself titled: Little Boy Under the Nuclear Bomb.

Support me on Ko-fi