“Hahaha!!! Hahaha…”

The Golden Roc’s laughter started out very loud, but it got softer and softer…

It felt like…

He was crying instead…

The blue fire and swords were still wreaking havoc in the fortress. The remaining demons were still crying, screaming, and helpless…

The fortress was quickly crumbling.

Arrow towers, forts, demonic formation…

They were being destroyed. There were no longer any strong demons that could protect the fortress anymore. Even a few ordinary imprisonment spells were enough to send this fortress to its doom at this point. Everything was about to be…gone!

Without anyone strong guarding the place, the fortress to the Golden Roc was just like the Newbie Village to Old Man Fang – easily exterminable.

However, this fortress was supposed to be a powerful and indestructible fortress!

“Hahaha…Little Four, Red Hair, White Feathers, Old Green…”

The Golden Roc was laughing and sobbing at the same time. He was saying names by one by one above the fortress…

“Our King, he’s safely rebirthed. I’ve not let you guys down…”

A sorrowful voice continued to speak above the Terror Fortress…

“It’s a pity…I can’t drag another Demon God down with me.”

“However, I’ve already exterminated the Terror Fortress and killed Valefor. At least…I’ve made some amends…”

The Golden Roc slowly spoke. His body was gradually getting old and his golden feathers were starting to lose its color. They were even…falling off.

His life was dwindling…

Blue Maple was watching everything from behind the black hole. He wasn’t moved at all.

Similarly, the ‘Black Eagle’ didn’t react emotionally. The ‘Black Eagle’ only stared at the Golden Roc as he slowly died…

Blue Maple glanced at the ‘Black Eagle’. He didn’t appear to be surprised by the reaction. He retracted his gaze and turned to look at the Golden Roc again.

Coincidentally, the Golden Roc also looked over at the ‘Black Eagle’.

“They’ve managed to sense whatever that’s going on here. But don’t worry. They can’t lock on your position.”

The Golden Roc’s gentle voice sounded very old by now. It felt as if…he was smiling.

“My life is almost gone. From now on, you must live with this human and become…strong!”

His gentle voice made him seem amiable. However…this wasn’t a joyous moment…

“Great, this is great. Don’t be sad…because this is supposed to be joyous!”

The Golden Roc was comforted by the Black Eagle’s composure. He knew…

That their King had truly reborn!

At the same time, he turned his attention towards Blue Maple.

“Kid, I don’t know what you’ve been through or what you’re currently going through. However, I hope that you can take good care of our King. Both of you are partners now, although you are bound by the equal contract.”

“However, I believe that both of you will get along just well. Although what you’re going through is different from our King, it…it still feels similar…”

As he spoke until here, the Golden Roc wasn’t the only one staring at Blue Maple. The ‘Black Eagle’ also twisted his head and looked at Blue Maple with a confused expression.

“Perhaps.”

Blue Maple replied very casually. He was back to his normal state. He was as indifferent as he was normally…

“Hehe…doesn’t matter. It’s good so long both of you can get along well. As for now…”

The Golden Roc suavely said. He then turned to look at the battered Terror Fortress.

“It’s time to light the final flame to mark the rebirth of our new King!”

“My life is almost reaching its end, but my body can still go for my last hurrah!”

After he finished speaking, the Golden Roc flew directly above the fortress. He was glowing completely golden right now!

A terrifying aura started to brew from the Golden Roc’s body. He was…ready to blow himself apart!

At this final moment, he had no intention of leaving anything better. He was just trying to conjure as much strength as possible to inflict even more damage to the fortress!

He wanted to rid the fortress completely of everything, even its foundation!

“Hee!!!”

He let out a stirring cry and started to vibrate above the Terror Fortress.

Blue Maple wasn’t the only one who heard his cry. Many of the powerful humans, including Old Man Fang and Old Man Wen, could hear him too.

The strong Demons were also able to sense his emotions from his long cry.

Sorrow, hatred, delight, grief, relief, and satisfaction were some of the emotions contained within…

“Boom!!!”

……

……

A tremendous explosion took place, and the booming noises reverberated around the entire place. A giant mushroom cloud rose above the fortress…

A fortress not guarded by any powerful individuals was just an ordinary structure. It could be easily destroyed. It couldn’t even handle the shockwaves of an explosion…

Everything was turned to dust…

Blue Maple and the ‘Black Eagle’ saw a brutal, golden energy storm from behind the black hole. The golden lights were blinding…

After a long while…

The energy storm started to dissipate, and the booming noises faded away. The vision from the black hole also started to become blurry.

Finally, Blue Maple and the ‘Black Eagle’ only saw a huge depression that stretched for thousands of meters. They appeared to have caught a glimpse of a blurry, golden figure smiling at them…

As for them, they slowly descended from the sky and returned to the Elven Forest…

At Old Man Wen’s side.

“Ding!”

Old Man Wen and the Despair Demon God ceased fighting. They separated from each other and just stared at each other.

They appeared to be rather rattled. They were hurt. However, the Despair Demon God seemed to be in a worse state. One of his arms was just drooping by his side.

“Despair, do you still want to go over?”

Old Man Wen’s voice was a little hoarse. He was holding daggers in both hands as he asked the Despair Demon God.

“Hmph! Looming Shadow, I won’t forget! I’ll take revenge!”

The Despair Demon God’s sonorous voice echoed in void space. His body also slowly disappeared.

Old Man Wen turned towards the Terror Fortress seeing that the Despair Demon God had left. He seemed a little…regretful.

He slightly shook his head and turned it in the other direction.

“This Old Gangster is really…”

Old Man Wen furrowed his brow as he sensed the situation at Old Man Fang’s side. He was speechless.

Old Man Fang was playing a game of chess with Belial. More accurately speaking, Old Man Fang was teaching him…

“Eh~this isn’t right. It should be this. You should make this move.”

Old Man Fang was excitedly teaching Belial how to play chess. He was very relaxed, as opposed to Old Man Wen.

“*%#&……”

Belial was feeling a little dizzy. He wasn’t stupid. Old Man Fang’s teaching was simply…all over the place!

“Eh? It’s over at your side? Do you want to come over and play chess? Idle is so stupid. He doesn’t know shit!”

Old Man Fang sensed Old Man Wen and turned to speak to void space.

Teach my ass! What are you teaching?!

Belial cursed to himself. But he wasn’t doing nothing…

“Scram! You can play by yourself!”

Seeing that Old Man Fang was so relaxed but he had been fighting the Despair Demon God for half a day, Old Man Wen was still infuriated that he almost went over to fight Old Man Fang.

“By myself?”

Old Man Fang was puzzled as he asked. He also turned his head towards Belial.

He discovered…that Belial had long slipped away.

“Jeez, that’s too sneaky. Where are you?”

……

He would be doomed if Old Man Wen came over.

While it wasn’t a certainty since the Despair Demon God wasn’t far away, he wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed.

Old Man Fang appeared very nonchalant towards the Golden Roc’s sacrifice. Only heaven knew what he was thinking…

Just as everything ended, an announcement from the system came!

Ding! Announcement: The pillar of the Spirit Birds – The Golden Roc King, has sacrificed his life for the birth of their new king. He destroyed the Terror Fortress, one of the Twelve Fortresses of the Demons. He also killed Valefor, the Bandit Demon God. He sacrificed his life to kill many demons!

His actions have triggered the Demons. A war will ensue very soon. However, it will be a war between NPCs. But it won’t be a full-blown war. If any players want to join in, you can choose to pick up a quest and join this war. The rewards will be handsome. However, the death rate will also be very high. Please think carefully before joining.

Now, the game will initiate the Rank 2 Main City System early. All players can teleport to a city apart from a Rank 1 Main City through Rank 2 and 3 Main Cities. Players can also choose to pick up the quest at a Mercenary Union and complete the quest at a border city.

At the same time, it must be noted that since this is happening early, players are suggested to claim the rewards after their third class advancement!

……

The announcement was repeated thrice. All the players were excited!

Only a game with a challenge was fit to be called a game!

However…

Some players were an exception. For example, Blue Maple was one of them.

……

Blue Maple and the ‘Black Eagle’ just landed from the sky. They were now on the ground.

Perhaps the Golden Roc intentionally arranged this before he died. They were exactly where Blue Maple first encountered the Multicolored Cheetah King. The burn marks left behind by the Heavenly Fire were still there.

Everything was charred within a region spanning ten square meters.

“Kacha…”

Crisp sounds were heard as both of them landed on the burned branches.

The ‘Black Eagle’ naturally landed on Blue Maple’s shoulders. Blue Maple wasn’t very used to it.

Just as Blue Maple furrowed his brow, he heard an announcement.

Ding! Announcement: Please give a name to your partner. Once a name has been given, it cannot be changed. Please ponder over it carefully.

Blue Maple twisted his head to look at the ‘Black Eagle’ as he heard the announcement. He realized that the ‘Black Eagle’ was staring straight back at him, as if he was waiting for Blue Maple to come up with a name.

Seriously…I have to do this too…Blue Maple was speechless as he thought to himself. He discovered that the Golden Roc King gave him the responsibility of naming the ‘Black Eagle’. He wondered if it was intentional or not.

Blue Maple looked at the ‘Black Eagle’ before glancing at the burned trees. Everything was the result of his fury and killing intent…

If that’s the case…

Blue Maple muttered to himself. Then, he slightly raised his head.

“I shall call you…”

He peered into the sky and slowly said.

“Feather.”

……

The ‘Black Eagle’ realized Blue Maple seemed to be a little strange as he stared at him. However, he was still rather pleased with the name.

Ding! Announcement: Your partner has agreed to the name. He’ll be called ‘Feather’ from now on.

There was a strange look in Blue Maple’s eyes when he heard this announcement…

Partner…Feather…?

He was slightly confused as he thought to himself. He brought Feather as they ventured further into the forest.

……

Blue Maple’s trajectory in the game appeared to have taken a turn…

No, it’d taken a turn much earlier, but…

When did it begin?

The change was subtle…