The Purgatory Abyss and the Underworld King’s Challenge

A dark figure floated silently in the sky.

Black sunlight streamed down from above, casting an eerie, dark halo upon the shadowy nether-claws.

Boundless magical energy slowly diffused from him, filling the air.

Nigore’s nether-claws tightly gripped a time-manipulating artifact.

A low, soft incantation flowed from his lips like a gentle stream.

Each character of the spell pulsed with intricate, mysterious power.

Every syllable resonated with the highest arcane secrets of magic.

From a distance, his figure resembled an ancient demon god, one that had existed since time immemorial.

‘As a great soul merchant, I’ve finally encountered an interesting trading partner,’ Nigore mused with a soft smile.

In that instant, a spatial rift appeared in the sky above the Starfall Abyss.

It ripped open abruptly, then snapped shut just as quickly.

Bailuan, while desperately evading Rozwal’s bomb cluster, was inadvertently sucked into the rift.

Though he reacted swiftly, he was powerless against the spatial tear’s escape velocity.

The entire world suddenly fell silent.

Demon Abyss, Eighty-Sixth Layer: Purgatory Abyss.

A thunderous roar echoed through a corner of the Purgatory Abyss.

A Purgatory Cerberus, its body wreathed in crimson flames that burned like flowing magma, stood roaring before Bailuan.

This Purgatory Cerberus was a mutated variant of the standard Hellhound, far more formidable than its brethren.

The Purgatory Cerberus, a peak ninth-tier Abyssal Demon, stretched over seven meters long.

It possessed a monstrous physique, as robust as a colossal werewolf, complemented by three heads endowed with exceptional magical talent.

Its abnormal strength surpassed even that of typical Abyssal Demons, and its magically gifted heads could unleash fire, wind, and lightning elemental attacks.

Each head bore a gaping maw filled with razor-sharp fangs.

‘Who in the hell brought me to this place?!’ Bailuan snarled viciously, facing the Purgatory Cerberus.

‘Don’t let me find out, or I’ll flay you alive!’

His body erupted with deep purple battle qi as he sidestepped the Purgatory Cerberus’s Thunderfall.

He then drew his longsword and plunged it into the beast’s flank, dragging the tip along its abdomen.

However, the magical weapon failed to inflict substantial damage, leaving only a long, superficial scar.

‘This isn’t working, is it? Looks like I’ll have to try another move!’

As he spoke, his meter-long sword abruptly expanded to over five meters, its energy extending into a black, cicada-wing-thin lightsaber.

Bailuan advanced, raising the black lightsaber forged from his battle qi, and cleaved forcefully towards the neck of the Purgatory Cerberus’s central head.

A buzzing sonic boom erupted where the lightsaber sliced through the air, even revealing the deep purple battle qi burning around it.

Despite the move’s dazzling power, it only left a faint white mark on the Purgatory Cerberus’s neck.

While seemingly painless for the beast, it was undeniably displeasing.

Purgatory Cerberus were inherently proud creatures, and having a tiny ‘bug’ constantly tickle its hide, flitting about right under its nose, was utterly vexing.

Enraged, the Purgatory Cerberus let out a formidable roar.

Its left head conjured a tornado, unleashing countless wind blades that howled towards Bailuan, while its right head spewed forth a torrent of fireballs and instantly cast the Saint-tier spell ‘Meteor Burst’.

Meanwhile, the central head’s maw crackled with electricity, and peculiar runes glowed on its skull, evidently brewing something potent.

‘What a freakish physique!’ Bailuan muttered, frowning in disgust, before summoning his Dark God Mech.

As a mutated variant of the Hellhound, the Purgatory Cerberus was far more troublesome than ordinary Abyssal Demons.

It not only inherited the demons’ monstrous physique but surpassed it, coupled with innate magical talent that allowed its three heads to instantly cast Saint-tier spells below level seventy.

As a knight, Bailuan found himself helpless against this ninth-tier Purgatory Cerberus.

Prolonged attrition would only lead to his own defeat, forcing him to reluctantly summon the Dark God Mech.

It wasn’t that the knight system was weak; rather, Bailuan’s current knight cultivation only reached the level of a Paladin.

His true, formidable power lay in the mecha pilot system he cultivated.

The already dim sky grew even gloomier as the Dark God Mech tore through space with its hands, emerging from the rift.

With a flash of white light, Bailuan was instantly inside the cockpit.

The Dark God Mech, though heavily damaged in its previous battle with Ye Qi, possessed inherent self-repair capabilities, albeit slow.

As Bailuan’s ultimate trump card, he naturally wouldn’t wait for its gradual recovery, having instead used a certain secret treasure to fully restore it.

A Demonic Spirit-grade greatsword appeared in its grasp, and eight pairs of black wings unfurled from its back.

The Dark God Mech suddenly accelerated, swinging its greatsword down onto the Purgatory Cerberus’s spine.

What appeared to be an ordinary strike erupted with unparalleled destructive force just before impact, snapping the beast in half at the waist.

The bisected Purgatory Cerberus let out a mournful cry, but its two halves rapidly merged back together before their very eyes.

In the blink of an eye, it was completely restored.

‘I %#$@^%*&!’ Bailuan couldn’t help but unleash every curse he knew.

‘This damn thing is truly a monster!’

While Bailuan was momentarily stunned, the Purgatory Cerberus spewed forth a torrent of corrosive magma.

However, the Dark God Mech’s protective barrier held firm, not even allowing the magma to touch its outer paint layer.

As previously established, top-tier mechs possess formidable magic resistance, often leading to close-quarters combat between them.

Regarding the Purgatory Cerberus’s lack of human-level intelligence despite being ninth-tier, it’s understood that no race can be perfect; its immense power inherently came with significant intellectual deficiencies.

Nevertheless, the Purgatory Cerberus was not without intelligence.

Recognizing the Dark God Mech’s high magic resistance, it abandoned magical attacks in favor of close-quarters combat, confident its physical body surpassed Bailuan’s mech in strength.

Thus, demon and mech plunged into an earth-shattering battle.

The Purgatory Cerberus raised its sharp claws, aiming for the Dark God Mech’s chest armor.

From the Demonic Spirit Greatsword, black and white sword qi crisscrossed, tearing towards the Cerberus.

In an instant, it shredded the beast’s entire lower half, including its tail, into a pulpy mess, leaving a puddle of deep green blood splattered across the ground.

Yet, this was not the end.

The Purgatory Cerberus’s pulverized remnants vanished, replaced by a newly regenerated lower body.

With astonishing speed, the Purgatory Cerberus, using only its upper body, rapidly regenerated flesh and restored its entire lower half.

‘It’s still not dead? Is this Purgatory Cerberus truly immortal?’ Bailuan mused, stroking his chin inside the cockpit.

‘Wait, there might be a way to try.’

The Dark God Mech gathered volatile light and dark elements behind it, simultaneously summoning mysterious elements to dramatically enhance the Demonic Spirit Greatsword.

Bailuan massively channeled power from a Divine Beast-grade crystal core, fully activating six A-grade gems and further stimulating a B-grade energy storage gem.

Deep purple flames erupted around him, continuously flowing into the control center’s gems, activating the magic circuits.

This astonishing power was then fully transferred by Bailuan, via an alchemical array, onto the mysterious greatsword, mechanizing it.

‘This time, I refuse to believe you won’t die!’ Bailuan declared, piloting the mech.

The Dark God Mech raised the mechanized greatsword with both hands, adopting a world-splitting stance, and cleaved downwards towards the Purgatory Cerberus’s three heads.

The reason for the diagonal strike was simple: a horizontal cut would merely bisect the beast, failing to achieve Bailuan’s desired outcome.

The Purgatory Cerberus trembled deeply upon seeing Bailuan’s attack, its ashen pupils revealing boundless terror.

Yet, it was utterly powerless to resist.

The three heads fell in unison.

The Purgatory Cerberus then disintegrated into dust, scattering with the wind.

‘Indeed! As in those otherworldly novels, merely severing one of its heads is useless; it would just regenerate.’

‘However, cutting off all three heads simultaneously makes all the difference…’ Bailuan mused, retracting the Dark God Mech.

He bent down and picked up the grotesque crystal core from the ground.

‘Heh heh, interesting, truly interesting!’

The moment Bailuan pocketed the crystal core, Nigore made his move.

As the ruler of the Purgatory Abyss, he personally approached Bailuan.

Evidently, Bailuan had… likely passed the Abyssal Ruler’s trial.

A slender figure silently appeared before Bailuan.

His complexion was unnaturally pale, almost sickly, and his body was enveloped in thick, black nether-garb.

This was a young, strikingly beautiful man.

With crimson lips and pearly white teeth, his jet-black eyes gleamed, captivating all who gazed upon them.

He was more beautiful than any woman, his soft black hair cascading like a waterfall, his skin as delicate and smooth as snow.

His slender frame seemed somewhat fragile, and his black nether-garb rustled softly in the wind.

It was this beautiful, somewhat sickly young man who now stood before Bailuan, exuding an intense aura of suppression.

‘Who are you?’ Bailuan asked, his expression impassive, though a sense of alarm rose within him.

‘Me?’ ‘Allow me to introduce myself: I am Nigore, the ruler of the Purgatory Abyss.’ ‘You may call me Mr. Nigore!’ the Purgatory Abyss ruler introduced himself with an elegant flourish.

‘Nigore, the Underworld King? The strongest of the Nether Race from fifty thousand years ago?’ Bailuan scoffed with disdain.

‘How have you fallen so far as to become a mere ruler within the Demon Abyss?’

‘Though you possess power comparable to a Demon Lord, there is still too vast a gap between us.’

‘Are you certain you should be speaking to me with such audacity?’

‘…Is that so? Indeed, the difference is still too great,’ Nigore murmured.