Outside the Forest of Truth, the setting sun cast a bloody hue across the sky.
Mike withdrew his gaze, puzzled, and asked, “Seven Bro, why would they bring Professor Gregory to negotiate with the demon gods if it’s so dangerous?”
“I find it strange too,” Shadow Seven’s voice came from above Mike. He glanced up, startled. Shadow Seven was standing on a ‘small mountain,’ crouching to talk to Mike. This mountain was entirely made of demon creature corpses. Unbeknownst to him, she had killed so many demon creatures.
“Seven Bro, isn’t it cold up there?” Mike asked, “Do you want me to burn the bodies for you?”
“Burn? Why burn them?” Shadow Seven was puzzled. She was used to killing but not burying. Slashing was all that mattered.
Mike explained seriously, “Burning the bodies erases the traces of your actions, making it impossible for the enemy to deduce your usual methods from the corpses.”
“That makes sense…” Shadow Seven recalled Shadow One’s words: “Deathsinger is good at staying alive and has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.”
Given his earlier performance with Professor Gregory’s paper, Deathsinger was clearly more than 50% smarter than her.
Shadow Seven nodded, “That’s a good idea. Besides burning the bodies to cover your tracks, do you have any other suggestions?”
As she spoke, she quickly drew her blade, separating all valuable materials while listening intently.
Shadow Seven’s question hit Mike’s area of expertise. “When you strike, you can hide certain elemental abilities and use them unexpectedly at critical moments,” Mike said quickly, drawing from his own experience. “Make sure every demon creature that sees your hidden abilities dies, so you can keep your trump card secret!”
“But I’ve been famous for years. I don’t have any trump cards left,” Shadow Seven said, a bit embarrassed.
Deathsinger’s words made her realize she didn’t seem to have any trump cards. When she went on missions, enemies who spotted her always found ways to escape.
Mike couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He’d bet that 96.7% of the top thirty shadow-level powerhouses in Guardian Shadow had their own trump cards. The remaining 3.3% was Shadow Seven.
“No worries!” Shadow Seven quickly shook off her dejection and rallied, “I’ll try to master some secret techniques as trump cards in the next few days!”
In the following time, Mike introduced Shadow Seven to several concepts:
“The Art of Trickery: From Novice to Master Manipulator,”
“69 Creative Ways to Defeat Your Enemies (And Make It Look Like an Accident),”
“My Secret Weapons: A Million and One Tricks Up My Sleeve”
…
Shadow Seven genuinely marveled, “You really do have a lot of tricks up your sleeve.” Deathsinger shared many things she had never heard of. Of course, these things weren’t very helpful to her, serving more as a reference.
In real combat, Shadow Seven would still follow her habits and instincts. However, Deathsinger gave her a new perspective: what if the enemy was as cunning as Deathsinger? What would she do?
Thinking about this gave Shadow Seven a headache. Soon, she felt relieved. There couldn’t be many as cunning as Deathsinger in the Abyssal Plane; it was a rare occurrence!
Shadow Seven even patted Deathsinger on the shoulder, saying, “Thank goodness Thor isn’t as cunning as you, or I’d have a real headache.”
Mike: …
Twice, she definitely insulted me twice!
Mike wanted to reveal his true identity: I’m not pretending anymore; I’m actually Thor. Let’s see if your blade is stronger or my lightning!
As they chatted, the Forest of Truth grew quiet, with no more demon creatures emerging. “Looks like the negotiations have started,” Shadow Seven said, pulling out a small black box. “Good thing Shadow One went. I can watch the negotiations live!”
Mike: There’s such a good thing?!
“Deathsinger, ahem, with your current status, you can’t watch this kind of live broadcast,” Shadow Seven said, opening the small box and looking at Mike. “But I find you pleasing to the eye, so you can sneak a peek. Just don’t let it slip, or else…”
Shadow Seven chuckled darkly, “You’ll get to try out the [Memory Seal] technique from that paper.”
Grateful for the opportunity, Mike nodded and moved closer to Shadow Seven. The small box functioned like a holographic projector, revealing a corner of a grand hall.
[Second Abyss, Demon Emperor’s Hall]
[Second Demon God, the strongest among the Primordial Demon Gods]
There wasn’t much introduction about the Second Demon God. Mike focused more on the situation.
The human negotiation team had twelve members. Shadow One, Shadow Eight, Shadow Eleven-the weakest being ninth-tier Battle Lords!
There were also Battle Lords from the corps command center, Wolf’s Den, and other places. Mike glanced around but didn’t see his old acquaintance Maxen Stoneheart.
Joseph Windrider was there, looking pale and weak, as if he hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries.
The negotiation team’s positioning was meticulous. Everyone stood apart, with Gregory Blackwell in the center, Shadow One on his left, and Joseph Windrider on his right. “Unfortunately, the live broadcast only shows the visuals, not the sound,” Shadow Seven sighed.
Mike remained silent, watching the screen. However, his screen had subtitles.
[Joseph: Professor Gregory, as per the plan, if anything happens, I’ll take you away.]
Gregory Blackwell nodded, saying nothing more, following the arrangement. He knew the
current situation was beyond his control.
As for why he was there, others might not know, but Gregory Blackwell had a guess.
“Those guys might know…”
“They know my talent can awaken a second time and want to kill me.”
Deep in the Demon Emperor’s Hall, eight demon god projections and the Second Demon God himself appeared. The human negotiation team had arrived, but the negotiations hadn’t
started immediately.
The demon gods had some internal disagreements and were still discussing privately. Even Shadow One couldn’t eavesdrop on these discussions.
But through the live broadcast, Mike could see the demon gods’ discussion!
[Twelfth Demon God: If humanity withdraws their corps, I won’t interfere in this war.]
[Seventh Demon God: Now’s not the time to discuss this.]
[Seventh Demon God: This war isn’t important. What’s important is Gregory!]
[Thirteenth Demon God: I thought we were discussing the threat of Thor.]
With so many people, meetings easily got chaotic. Soon, someone stepped up to maintain
order.
The Second Demon God slightly opened his eyes and spoke, “Humanity has produced three Supreme Beings. Even if another one appears, it will only make life a bit harder.”
“If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up.”
No demon god present refuted this. In fact, Supreme Beings posed little threat to demon gods. If they wanted to escape, they always had a way.
Except for Vortexarchon, who was a disgrace.
The [Primordial Demon God] faction had expelled him, claiming he was actually an [Exiled
Demon God].
The [Exiled Demon God] faction declared Vortexarchon a cock.
The Second Demon God spoke again, “If Gregory grows, none of us will have a good time!”
“He’s over three hundred years old. How can he grow?” Some demon gods didn’t understand.
Gregory certainly wasn’t the next Apollo because he only had an F-grade talent! “We spent a great deal to predict that a great calamity would be caused by Gregory,” the Second Demon God said solemnly. “He might awaken a second time soon!”
“When that happens, the calamity will come…”
No need for the Second Demon God to emphasize; all the demon gods present knew what would happen next. Gregory’s stance was unquestionable. If he grew stronger, his methods against the abyss would be predictable. The prophecy, jointly made by the Second and Eleventh Demon Gods, was genuine.
The nine demon gods fell silent. The intent to kill was born.
In this silence, Mike, watching through the projection, broke into a cold sweat!
“So that’s why they brought Professor Gregory over!” They weren’t here to negotiate; they
were here to kill!
The plot was revealed, and the situation was critical!
Professor Gregory was in danger!