Shuddering.
An unprecedented shudder.
Fear.
A fear steeped in absolute despair.
This was the truest feeling of the King of Terror in this moment.
The beautiful girl floating in midair, silver hair flying, tall and slender, dressed in silver robes, skin as fair as jade, and with a pair of golden eyes.
She was the very source of its fear.
She was the embodiment of its despair.
And at the same time, she was its revered Demon Emperor!
“Vanish.”
The Demon Emperor, who should have been standing above the clouds, watching its performance, extended a hand and spoke coldly.
Those three words felt as if the sky was collapsing, about to crush the King of Terror alive!
I was supposed to be celebrating her birthday, wasn’t I?
Why did it turn out like this?
Why must it be like this?
No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense, does it?
You are our Demon Emperor!
…Is that so, is that how it is? Because you are the most wicked and evil, you are so ruthless…
***
Heartless!
The King of Terror felt it had finally understood the reason.
Her Majesty the Demon Emperor was truly a demon among demons, a sovereign among sovereigns!
Admiration.
Reverence.
Worship.
Devotion!
If my death can bring joy to Her Majesty, then go ahead and kill me!
In this very moment, the King of Terror did not feel despair, but rather a strange sense of anticipation.
It was as if what it faced was a great blessing!
In the next instant, a basketball-sized black hole appeared before the King of Terror.
Immediately after, a terrifying suction grabbed hold of its skyscraper-sized body.
It devoured its flesh rapidly and violently!
The King of Terror did not scream.
This must be the reward of virtue painstakingly accumulated in its previous life, transformed in this life into a blessing.
Her Majesty the Demon Emperor’s Supreme Gift!
The small black hole devoured madly, visible cyclones stirring the heavens and earth until even their colors changed.
The King of Terror’s body continuously vanished, as if being drawn into another world.
It felt as if a second had passed, or perhaps a whole year.
At last, its body vanished with a whoosh, swallowed completely by the small black hole.
The remains on the ground also disappeared without a trace, revealing solid earth.
Finally, the small black hole contracted sharply until it disappeared altogether.
Space returned to normal, and the bloody rain stopped.
The [Dream Abyss Master], now without a user, did not end immediately.
Players remained immersed in the Dreamworld.
It seemed they could not wake up for a while.
“Could it be that the King of Terror is not dead yet?”
Ye Lian withdrew her hand, a hint of doubt in her voice.
That move just now was not a true black hole.
At most, it was a simulation.
Since it was her first time using it, she was unsure of its effects.
Perhaps she had simply banished the King of Terror.
Or perhaps the King of Terror was already dead, but the Dreamland Space hadn’t judged it as such, so the dream persisted.
“No, those Mutated Monsters are definitely dead, which means the King of Terror should be dead as well.”
Looking down, she saw that the monsters formed from mutated players had all become piles of black mud.
They were polluted and mutated by the Aura of Fear, and in theory, belonged to the King of Terror.
With the master dead, the followers should die as well.
Although inferring the King of Terror’s fate from the Mutated Monsters’ deaths was somewhat inappropriate, judging from the current signs,
It was closer to the truth.
However, the continuation of the dream world shrouded that truth in a misty haze.
Outside the city, the monsters had already fled, as if the banquet had never happened.
Better to run first!
“Count yourselves lucky you ran fast.” In midair, Ye Lian had already sensed those creatures’ presence.
She’d wanted to catch a few for materials, but they fled before she could act.
Now they’d scattered, and catching them would be too time-consuming.
Besides, she needed to find a way to wake the players up.
Otherwise, there could be danger.
After all, time in the dream differs from time in the Dreamland Space.
The longer they remained inside, the worse their bodies would get.
They might even die!
In other words, even though less than five minutes remained until the end of the closed beta, these people could still die!
Her gaze fell upon Mulin and Bai Xue not far away.
If she was to save anyone, she’d start with the ones she knew.
Those two were the highest priority.
Just as Ye Lian was about to move, Mulin’s body suddenly trembled, and her dull eyes regained their color.
She suddenly raised her head and looked up.
She saw that familiar figure hovering in midair, emanating an aura of utter terror.
That flying silver hair.
Those familiar clothes.
Those golden eyes.
That cold and indifferent expression, looking down on the world.
Everything—every detail—was so familiar!
At this moment, she no longer cared about the King of Terror or the other players.
Her eyes held only that person.
That person she wished she could kill a thousand, ten thousand times over.
“Yue!” All her hatred condensed into that single word as it burst from Mulin’s lips.
Even without deliberately sensing it, the seething hatred was tangible.
Ye Lian froze in midair, her face filled with confusion.
Logically, this should be the first time she appeared before the world in this form, so no one should recognize her.
But judging from Mulin’s look—wishing to skin her alive and tear her limb from limb—it didn’t seem that way.
It was as if she had committed some heinous crime in front of her.
And right before her eyes.
The powerful sense of dissonance sent Ye Lian’s mind spinning.
She couldn’t make sense of it.
***
(Maybe there’s something wrong with Mulin herself.)
After a moment of thought, Ye Lian pieced together what she knew and barely reached a reasonable explanation.
If I’m not the abnormal one, then you must be.
In an instant, she flickered down to the ground.
The terrifying aura pressed down like the sky itself, nearly forcing Mulin to her knees.
If not for her steely will—and the overwhelming hatred holding her up—
She would have collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
The Demon Emperor’s presence alone was this terrifying!
Those players should be grateful they hadn’t awakened at this moment.
“I’ll kill you, Yue, I swear I’ll kill you!”
Enduring the crushing pressure with all her might, Mulin barely lifted her head, eyes wide, staring hard at Ye Lian, screaming like a madwoman.
So different from her usual calm and indifferent self, as if nothing in the world could bother her.
It showed just how deep their hatred ran.
But—
Ye Lian didn’t remember ever having a grudge with Mulin.
In fact, she’d helped her with small favors.
Never mind the lack of gratitude—now she was being treated as an enemy.
Wasn’t that a bit much?
(Wait, she just called me [Yue]. Did she know from the start that I’m the Demon Emperor…?
No, that’s not right!
In her eyes, the White Knight and Moon’s Demon Emperor should be two different people.
So how did she recognize me?)
[Moon’s Demon Emperor] was just a title—it wouldn’t be displayed.
Her current name was Yin Yue.
But in Mulin’s eyes, she only saw [???].
No name appeared.
(This Mulin is just too strange!)
With this thought, Ye Lian’s figure flashed and she appeared before Mulin.
At this point, she had no intention of hiding her identity anymore.
It would come out sooner or later.
Since she was already exposed, she might as well do what a Demon Emperor would do.
“So weak. Why are you so weak?”
She slowly reached out, her pale fingers moving ever closer to Mulin’s forehead.
Mulin’s pupils shrank. She tried to resist, but her body felt pinned by some invisible force—she couldn’t move at all.
She could only watch as those pale fingers touched her forehead.
“Vanish, you eyesore of a bug.”