NOVEL WEB Chapter 230 Archimonde's Plan
Resurrected Liesuotus was still in a daze, for he clearly remembered burning his last shred of soul, making resurrection impossible.
"Did you save me?"
Archimonde indifferently looked at the translucent soul of Liesuotus before him and said sternly, "Liesuotus, upon seeing this king, do you not kneel?!"
With the words falling, the Demon King's soul surged out, its silent roar disturbing the heavens and the earth.
Liesuotus, startled by this sudden surge of aura, was stupefied and knelt directly on the ground, "L-L-Liesuotus pays homage to ... to His Majesty, the Demon King!"
He truly hadn't expected the Demon King to be alive, hidden within Archimonde all this time.
Pleased with Liesuotus's act of kneeling, the Demon King nodded and said, "Rise and speak."
"At your command."
As Liesuotus stood up, the Demon King continued, "Do you know why I, the one you sought to usurp, would save you?"
"I-I do not."
Liesuotus found himself without words. Now, he only felt that the Demon King held all the cards. The idea of ascending to the throne of Hell now seemed like nothing but a joke.
"Though you coveted my throne, it is a common human desire, which I can understand. Now that I have revealed myself, what will you do?"
"I will serve Your Majesty with my life unto death." Liesuotus, resurrected but only as a soul, unfamiliar with the power of souls, did not know how to truly bring himself back to life. In the current situation, it was clear to see who held his life in their hands. Prideful as he was, Liesuotus was not willing to gamble with his own life, especially since he did not wish to die. He still wanted to watch little Pudding grow up.
"Very well, enter my Soul Lake. When the time is right, I will resurrect you completely and restore your body."
Having given his instructions, the Demon King rose to pursue Lu Hong, disappearing from the spot.
As for Liesuotus, he was still not over his shock. He couldn't figure out why, if the Demon King had not died, he would have lain dormant for thousands of years. After much thought, it led to nothing but a long sigh: "So I was the first to be ousted."
Probably aware of the strength of Lu Hong and his companions, all demons had withdrawn their defenses from the routes that led to the final three domains of Hell.
Lu Hong and the others reached the domain of the Spider Mother without obstruction.
"Let's kill the Spider Mother first." Mentioning this creature, the Lionheart God was also quite resentful, having been chased and attacked by it in the past. Lionheart believed that once they broke through its domain, he would surely reclaim his prestige.
"Agreed." Lu Hong also supported the Lionheart God's proposal, for with every top-ranking demon of Hell they killed, the throne would face one less resistance.
Led by Song Quan, they quickly arrived at the Spider Mother's dark fortress, but to their disappointment, the Spider Mother, having received news of their approach, had already left and was not there.
Unable to find the Spider Mother, the group moved on, passing through the domain under Liesuotus's control, and finally arrived at their journey's end: the Demon King's domain.
Although the Demon King's domain was the ultimate domain in Hell, it was not actually very large, and the throne was towering. As soon as one stepped into this domain, one could see the majestic, cloud-piercing throne of Hell clearly.
At this very moment, resentful spirits wailed on the throne, with Archimonde ascending step by step toward it.
Seeing this, Song Quan hastily said, "This is bad, he's going to forcibly absorb the Demon King's power! Stop him quickly!"
Before Song Quan had finished speaking, Lu Hong unleashed a Sword Qi towards the throne of Hell.
The white Divine Power howled through the air, and it seemed about to strike the massive Formation shrouding the throne when, in a crux, the Spider Mother suddenly appeared, blocking the Sword Qi with its massive body.
In the next second, a purple fog erupted from the Spider Mother, enveloping the entire Demon King's domain in a haze.
The Lionheart God instantly became alert, shoving Song Quan aside and dodging a sharp spider claw that shot out from the void.
At the same moment, Lu Hong activated his domain, and the two domain Skills collided fiercely, followed by a shattering crack. The purple fog dissipated, the Spider Mother's body ruptured, and an arm pierced her heart.
"You..." The Spider Mother turned her head in disbelief, staring at Archimonde. "You're going to kill me?"
"Not kill you, but borrow your power for a moment. Don't worry, once I become the Demon King, I'll find a way to resurrect you." Saying this, Archimonde swiftly extracted the Spider Mother's heart.
The massive spider's heart pulsated in Archimonde's palm before it began to visibly shrink at a rapid pace.
"He's extracting the Spider Mother's power; be cautious." Song Quan stepped back uneasily. "Archimonde is powerful, an all-rounder in Hell. If not for being born three thousand years after the Demon King, he might well have assumed the throne."
"Then let's not give him the chance!" Upon hearing this, the Lionheart God immediately charged towards Archimonde, who was still absorbing the Spider Mother's power.
But before he could close within a kilometer, a demonic flame formation suddenly emerged, isolating everyone on the outside.
Lionheart slammed his fist into the formation's barrier, causing a massive force of recoil that flung him backwards and he embarrassingly crashed into the ground.
"This is a top-tier Hell formation; seems like we can't break through." Song Quan smirked bitterly. "I knew this guy wouldn't be unprepared."
"Let me try." Upon hearing these words, Lu Hong compressed his form and concentrated all his divine power into the holy sword.
After gathering strength for a mere three minutes, his Eternal Sword slashed out, sending two streaks of Sword Qi slashing across the formation.
This attack evidently had some effect, causing the demonic formation to tremble, but it still failed to break open.
"It's futile. This formation draws from the core energy of Hell's three thousand realms. Unless you destroy all those realms, the formation will continue to receive an endless supply of energy."
Upon hearing Song Quan's narrative, Archimonde, who was still extracting the power from the Spider Mother's heart, let out a slight chuckle, "It seems the Great Bright Heavenly God knows quite a lot about my Hell."
"Naturally, we had our fair share of encounters in the past."
"Indeed, back then I wanted to kill you, and now it should be much easier." Archimonde's hand cradled a tiny lump, now the shriveled heart, and the aura he radiated continued to swell mightily, the towering demonic flames almost rivalling the throne itself.
Now, going to destroy the three thousand realms of Hell was clearly impractical, and Lu Hong felt a strong sense of crisis: "Let's join forces and try to break it!"
With that, the Ancestor Dragon, Lionheart, and himself all took action, their combined divine power flooded the heavens, amassing together and emitting an apocalyptic terro r.
A silver-white spear materialized from nowhere, and under Lu Hong's control, it fiercely thrust towards the formation.
As the spearhead touched the formation, magical power instantly surged through the heavens and earth.
Underneath the Demon King's realm, a Hell realm immediately shattered, with countless demons also vanishing into the dark void.
Lu Hong felt unprecedented resistance, yet clenched his teeth stubbornly, resolute in his determination to break the demonic formation's defense.
As the deadlock persisted, Hell realms crumbled one after another from the formation's relentless absorption.
And Archimonde, now fully imbued with the Spider Mother's power, laughed coldly, "Don't waste your energy. Even the Demon King of old couldn't have broken this formation within seven days, let alone you."
With that, Archimonde once again took his place on the throne, taking strides towards the seat of the Lord of Hell.
Parting the dense mists, the throne of Hell loomed massive, with a thousand-foot decaying corpse lying upon it. Though its flesh had begun to rot, it still exuded a terrifying, heart-palpitating force.
Enhanced by the Extreme Spirit Resurrection Formation, every moment, a vengeful spirit was drawn to enter the body of the Demon King, repairing the rotting flesh and rekindling vitality within it.
Archimonde calmly gazed at the body of the Demon King before him, and said, "My respected Demon King, I truly didn't want to do this, but you see, the enemy has come knocking at our doorstep. If I don't borrow your power, there will be no one in Hell to stand against them. As the ruler of Hell, I believe you wouldn't want to see this vast Hell destroyed, right?"
As he spoke, Archimonde stepped in front of the Demon King and slapped his hand onto the skull.
His fingers clenched, drawing endless divine power from the Demon King, and his already towering presence surged even further.
Witnessing this scene, Song Quan understood, "He's not actually resurrecting the Demon King at all! He's using the Extreme Spirit Resurrection Formation to amass the powers from the Demon King's life! We can't let him succeed. Once he absorbs the power of the Demon King, even if he isn't quite as formidable, the difference will be negligible."