MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Chapter 498 Victory?

"I knew he was the evil big boss," Sophie said, as she slammed her fist into her open palm, her deep archaic voice not matching her actions.

"Auntie, you don't need to worry. I am a good person, and I will not work with that Demon King, no matter what he offers," Sophie said, her eyes meeting the ethereal beauty standing before her.

Lady Margaret could only stare blankly at the winged entity, her mind swirling with bewilderment and disbelief at the strangeness of the situation.

She was still worried sick about the whereabouts of Alex, but because the matter related to the Chaos Queen could not be delayed, she was forced to rush to the ruined capital at the orders of Varon.

She had arrived expecting to meet a fake or a terrible creature, but to her absolute surprise, she met with an innocent child, who described her age as ten, answered all her questions, and believed her words at face value.

On top of all that when asked to take a law oath to prove her words, Sophis did not even hesitate.

However, her innocence and naivety to the threat she posed and the danger she was in did not make the situation any better than if she had been an evil creature.

'What a cruel world we live in, to think such an innocent child would be given such a massive burden to bear,'

'She is too naive to the bottomless evil of this world, and while I cannot be certain what fate awaits her in her own world if she falls into the hands of Ahrimon, that bastard will break her, transforming her into a calamity fueled by hatred for anything but her kind, and that would surely ruin our world,'

'We can't be certain if cutting her soul connection to this world would permanently erase it like other immortal adventurers or if she would be an exception because of Malgortha's rebirth ability,'

'But in any case, her death would be for the best for both worlds, at least for quite some time,' Lady Margaret thought, as she quickly came to a decision knowing time was not on their side.

"Child, you do not have a choice in the matter of working for Ahrimon because he is the worst form of evil, and if he takes you to the demon continent, sooner or later, you will do his bidding,"

"So you, either sacrifice your subjects to leave this place, or I will need to erase your connection to this world and believe me, it's for the best," Lady Margaret said, in a calm voice.

"Sacrifice what? I told you that, I can not leave this place even if I use the Chaos Wish," Sophie replied, her voice tinged with confusion and resignation.

"I believe you know that creature better than us, so do you believe if he had left my queen alone, he had not prepared enough to make sure she could not escape?" The archaic voice sounded once more, and Lady Margaret knew, this time it was the creature speaking.

"Then please forgive me," Lady Margaret said before she used her Domain.

It was unknown whether Sophia could leave by sacrificing all nine of her subjects, but even if it was possible, she was not going to do it, and in her heart, Lady Margaret also knew it.

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'Should I contact Venedikt and have him ask Varon to stop Lady Margaret from fighting that entity?'

'But that would be considered informing the elders of the quest.'

'Damn it, if the return scrolls were working, I wouldn't need to go through this trouble,' Alex thought, frustrated at the situation.

"BOOOOOMMMMM!"

A massive impact thundered through the dissipating darkness, shaking the ground with a powerful earthquake. As Alex looked toward the source, all he could see was a growing cloud of dust and towering chunks of earth flying in all directions.

"Old man, you have grown weak," A deep, raspy voice pierced through the sound of breaking earth and falling debris.

Alex did not recognize the voice, but he knew to whom it belonged. With a quick look around, he spotted Elder Darrien standing in the sky, holding two crimson battle axes, his entire being oozing with a blood-red aura.

Elder Darrien's entire form was draped in his regal robes, exuding an aura of authority and power. The only visible damage was on the left side, where the fabric was torn away, exposing his ribcage.

The exposed area pulsated with an eerie blend of darkness and crimson light, seemingly a battle between two opposing forces. Yet, Elder Darrien's cold, emotionless eyes showed nothing but contempt as he stared into the rising cloud of dust.

Alex watched as a creature rose from the impact area, a twisted abomination in human flesh. The once pristine silver armor that adorned its body was now completely gone, revealing its vile form.

Its human face was intact, but the flesh below the chin was split open down to the neck, resembling a grotesque collar lined with fleshy, dark teeth pointing inward.

The creature's back was slightly bent, with a protruding, spiked spine that looked as if it could tear through at any time. Dark, fleshy tentacles grew from all over its twisted body, each ending in a faceless jaw that snapped hungrily at the air.

"It was fun while it lasted, but this body is falling apart, and I still need it for one last thing," Ahrimon said, raising his hand with a wide smile stretching across his face.

A thin line stretched in the space before Ahrimon, before it began to widen at a rapid rate, like a tremendous jaw opening into the unknown.

In the next instant, his figure vanished, and before Alex could think that Ahrimon had escaped, thundering sounds began to engulf the surroundings.

The land that was amidst recovery began to shift as shock waves tore through it.

Alex was sent flying by a random shockwave, followed by getting buried under a shifting piece of land, making him curse his luck as he used the Chrono Displacement skill to turn intangible and rapidly reached the surface.

Alex rapidly rushed closer to the opening portal, knowing it was the safest place, as getting hit randomly by Ahrimon and making that bastard aware that an invisible individual was present, waiting to ruin his plan, was the last thing he wanted.

Alex saw nothing besides the explosions of crimson and darkness, with the ground toppling like it was undergoing the highest-grade earthquake.

The slit in space expanded in size, and mere moments later, it was a gaping hole in reality. Before Alex could question what would come out of it, a twisted monstrosity tore through it, followed by another, and then another.

A creature that stood on six legs was the first to enter, its white skin hairless and wrinkled, marred with red spots that made it anything but pleasing to the eyes.

However, this was still more tolerable than the dozen or so gnarled tentacles protruding from its body, and its tremendous mouth that was a faceless, gaping hole lined with jagged teeth.

Similarly, there were other bestial creatures, armored with pointy mouths from which multiple tongues, or rather barbed tendrils, protruded menacingly.

With a single appraisal, Alex found out that they were the real Devourer Beasts, flooding the area by the dozens.

A few moments passed, and instead of a bestial creature, a humanoid figure passed through the dark curtain of the portal.

The creature stood at least four meters tall, its features alien in appearance, its stark onyx skin shining like a piece of spotless crystal, with its four hulking arms ending in clawed appendages.

Another humanoid creature arrived followed by seven more, each with a different appearance. Compared to the Devourer beasts, they all looked similar yet much superior, but even using appraisal on them gave Alex no results.

The chaos of continuous impacts suddenly subsided, and with a quick look around by jumping into the air for a clear view, Alex was welcomed with the sight of Ahrimon being held by his neck by Elder Darrien, who bore no additional injuries.

Ahrimon smiled before he expressed something, but his words were drowned out as his figure began to bulge grotesquely.

His body swelled unnaturally, veins throbbing and skin stretching to its limits, and suddenly, with a sickening pop, he exploded into a shower of gore and blood.

But till the end, his face carried a twisted smile, as if showing that he had won and they could do nothing about it or so he believed.