"Don't die."
That was Apollo's one and only request for Mike.
"Don't worry!" Mike patted his chest confidently. "I can't guarantee much, but staying alive? I can definitely handle that!"
The butterfly nodded, flapping its wings as it prepared to leave. Before it flew off, it left Mike with one final ssage:
"The Supre Demon God won't make a move against you."
Hearing this, Mike felt a chill run down his spine, as if a cold wind had swept across the back of his neck.
Suddenly, everything clicked. Mike now understood why Apollo had gone out of his way to find him.
When Apollo needed to seriously contemplate sothing, he would enter a state similar to seclusion. This had happened many tis over the past century, and it was never a big deal. Apollo didn't usually involve himself in worldly affairs, so whether he was around or not, wars were still fought, and parties were still held. Even the demons of the Abyss wouldn't be foolish enough to provoke a Supre Being.
In theory, Apollo's seclusion should have made things quieter, as the Abyss would avoid stirring up trouble out of respect for a Supre Being.
But tis had changed.
Now, with Apollo entering seclusion again, he could ensure that the Supre Demon God wouldn't act. But as for the other demon gods... that was a different story.
Any demon god who could kill a potential Supre Being of the human race would be rewarded handsoly. The Supre Demon God might even lift restrictions and grant them ascension to the Heavenly Realm.
Without Apollo's deterrence and without Shadow Nine's protection...
Mike suddenly realized that he was in the most dangerous situation of his life!
It was like entering a death tournant, thinking your opponent would be a baby, only to find out it was Maxen!
No, it was worse than that!
It was like stepping into the arena and finding out your opponent was one of Morpheus, Ares, or Apollo!
"Are we playing at this level now?" Mike shook his head with a bitter smile, not saying much
more.
If he truly faced a life-or-death crisis, Apollo would likely break his seclusion to save him. But that would delay Apollo's own matters.
In other words, Mike didn't need to face a true death threat-he just needed to avoid putting himself in a situation where death was inevitable.
After understanding the cause and effect, Mike didn't feel relieved. Instead, he felt a heavier burden.
Both emotionally and logically, he didn't want to delay Apollo's contemplation. Apollo feared death, but figuring out this question was more important to him than life itself. After so many years of effort, he was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. He couldn't afford to stumble now.
...
Back at New York Superpower University, Mike followed the instructions on his communicator and headed to the designated eting point.
Waiting for him there was Shadow Four.
Under Shadow Four's cover, Mike made his way to et Maxen.
As soon as Maxen saw Thor, he hefted his Flail and said, "Let's go, let's go! The Eighth Abyss is buzzing right now!"
"Wait a second," Mike said seriously. "Is it too late to cancel our trip to the Eighth Abyss?" Ever since his conversation with Apollo, Mike had been feeling that it might be best to avoid the Abyss altogether.
"It's not too late..." Maxen replied, though he was clearly confused. "But didn't you already take Poseidon's money and swear on Calderon's life?"
Poseidon had been spreading the word about this, using it as a sort of life insurance policy.
"That's no big deal," Mike said dismissively, pointing out a loophole in the contract. "I'll just kill Ace once, and we'll be square."
Calderon's life wasn't exactly valuable!
For soone like Calderon, who had the [Near-Death Power Up] ability, repeatedly killing him as a contract penalty would actually make him stronger!
In fact, the contract would only trigger once, putting Calderon in a near-death state, after which he'd revive thanks to his ability.
Maxen: ???
*I've really learned sothing new today!*
This only reinforced Maxen's belief that any contract Thor willingly signed was worthless! This guy always found strange loopholes to break contracts.
When Mike had originally drafted the contract, he had specifically chosen Calderon and given him the highest price tag. In doing so, Mike had set a trap for Poseidon. Poseidon, thinking that the most expensive option was the best, had fallen right into it.
If Poseidon had chosen the cheapest option-Joseph-Mike wouldn't have dared to risk breaking the contract by killing Joseph.
After thinking it over for a mont, Mike finally decided, "Let's go."
The Eighth Abyss and Poseidon were relatively weak compared to other demon gods.
Even though he had made up his mind, Mike felt the need to clarify sothing with Maxen.
"This ti might be different," Mike warned. "There's a chance a demon god might co after . Are you ready for that?"
"Ready for what?" Maxen asked, confused. "I've fought every demon god out there, and none of them can kill ."
"They're coming to kill !" Mike rolled his eyes. "We need to understand each other's combat abilities if we're going to work together. That's only reasonable, right?"
Although the two of them were close, they hadn't had much experience fighting side by side.
In fact, it was hard to imagine any enemy in the world, aside from a demon god, that would require both Mike and Maxen to team up.
Mike introduced himself first. "I specialize in damage output. I can deal over a quadrillion points of damage per hit..."
After finishing his introduction, Mike looked at Maxen, waiting for him to do the sa.
"?" Maxen thought for a mont before giving himself a modest evaluation. "I'm good at
defense. And I'm pretty strong too."
With their eting complete, Mike sent Shadow Four back.
"If a demon god really does co after , having one more nine-star Lord won't make much
a difference," Mike said, feeling confident. There was no need to drag Shadow Four along
of
as a bodyguard.
Shadow Four nodded and reported, "Shadow Fortress is on standby, with one-third of the Lords ready to mobilize at any ti, as per your instructions."
Maxen: ???
*What's Thor planning to do with thirty-so Lords? Form a cheerleading squad?*
Seeing the confusion in Maxen's eyes, Mike rolled his eyes back at him. "What are you looking at? I was thinking of calling in a hundred thousand Lords if I could!"
*Thirty-so Lords? What's that good for?*
After all the preparations, the two finally set off.
To disguise his identity, Mike changed into a new set of equipnt, keeping things simple but effective: a helt, invisible contact lenses, enhanced eyebrow powder, a custom mask,
and a mouthguard.
He wore dark heavy armor over a copper-wire chainmail, maximizing his defense.
Of course, the most important piece of gear was his weapon. With Thunderclap Hamr in
hand, he could walk through the Abyss like he owned the place!
Seeing Thor's complete transformation, Maxen's head filled with question marks.
"Is all this really necessary?"
Yes, it was absolutely necessary!
Mike proved it with his actions.
"Stone, let's talk about sothing," Mike began, only to be cut off by Maxen.
"If it's about Golden Abyss, forget it!"
"Look at you, so petty. I wasn't even thinking about Golden Abyss," Mike scoffed before
getting serious. "Can I hide in your shadow?"
Maxen: ???
"You... sigh, fine."
Fully geared up, Thor slipped into Maxen's shadow in the blink of an eye.
With everything ready, Maxen officially set off.
They hadn't traveled far through the void when Maxen suddenly stopped. Thor's voice echoed
from the shadow.
"Why is Professor Cedric here?"
Both of them had noticed a powerful swordsman approaching.
Due to Ares's influence, there were no demon creatures in the Abyss that used swords. And
among the humans, the only swordsman who could make Maxen wary was Cedric.
Beside Cedric was soone Mike recognized-Ace!
"Ace is here too?"
Cedric and Ace appeared in front of Maxen.
Ace's face was dark, clearly in a foul mood.
It was no secret that Cedric and Calderon didn't get along. Before they beca nine-star Lords, Cedric had always had the upper hand, winning most of their duels. But then Calderon
had broken through to Ultimate Lord first and had been beating Cedric ever since.
In short, their rivalry had only grown deeper over ti.
...
After exchanging greetings, Maxen asked, "What brings you here?"
Why wasn't Cedric playing chess with Ares in the First Abyss? What was he doing outside the
Eighth Abyss?
Cedric casually explained, "Your godfather was worried, so he sent to check things out." Clearly, Ares had already learned about Apollo's seclusion.
Since Thor was in danger, it made sense for Ares to send Cedric to help.
Mike glanced at Ace and was surprised to see that he had already reached Chief level!
"Ace, you're doing well!"
With Calderon's experience, a growth-oriented talent, and the ability to exploit the Near-
Death Power Up bug, leveling up was as easy as breathing for Ace.
Even so, his rapid advancent was impressive.
Mike nodded in approval. "Looks like you'll be able to pay back the seven million Lord rits
you owe soon."
Ace:...
Ignoring the banter between the younger generation, Cedric said calmly, "We'll split up.
Staying together would only draw more attention."
"Agreed."
Knowing that Cedric was in the Eighth Abyss and that Ares was keeping an eye on things gave
Mike a huge sense of security.
There was nothing to fear now!
After a brief eting, the two groups went their separate ways.
Cedric and Ace stood still, watching Maxen leave.
Staring at Maxen's shadow, Ace smirked coldly. "Thor's getting bolder."
A few days ago, a chess piece nad Birch had suddenly appeared beside him, already at
nine-star level.
When it ca to trash talk, Ace was never one to back down. He imdiately fired back, "You talk like you could beat him."
"Let think," Cedric mused for a mont before saying regretfully, "If I had to bet on a
fight between and Thor, I'd say it's 5-to-1 in my favor. But I can't think of a single reason
I'd lose."
Ace was indignant. "Why's that?"
*What a big mouth!*
"I'm richer than him. I can use Broke. I can use Golden Abyss..." Cedric listed his advantages
one by one.
But the most important point was:
"I can call for backup."
Cedric added seriously, "I can call Ares."
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