Chapter 583

【 YGGDRASILL, ARE YOU ACTUALLY AN EVIL GOD FROM THE ABYSS? 】

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“…Why? You’re really asking why I’m doing this?!”

Azazel’s grief-stricken voice echoed throughout his sealed prison.

Eve: “…”

Upon hearing Azazel’s words, Evé found herself momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

She had only learned about the matters regarding Azazel after receiving a wave of frantic complaints from the players.

Although she had reflexively posed the question rhetorically earlier, thinking back on it now… anyone in Azazel’s position would likely have gone mad as well.

And truthfully, it was her fault.

Before the public beta, Evé had noticed that Azazel was gradually becoming accustomed to the rhythm of the game. In fact, he even seemed to enjoy “playing” with them in the dungeon using his demon subordinates. Hence, believing there was still untapped potential in Azazel, she decided to relax the entry restrictions to the Demon Lord’s Dungeon after the public beta went live.

Since Azazel hadn’t reached his limits, she figured she might as well extract more utility from him…

All in the name of enhancing the player satisfaction, of course.

However, given the nature of players, once access to the dungeon was made more convenient, they began relentlessly farming it in pursuit of their desired rewards.

After all, this involved Silver-rank advancement slots. Even with the Artifact Repair system implemented, the slots remained the most sought-after prize for most players.

Especially after hundreds of thousands of new players flooded in during the public beta launch…

Ultimately, there’s a limit to everything and even the best bowstring will snap when pulled too tight.

Even Azazel, the ever-reliable demon lord with unshakable resolve, could no longer endure the endless cycles of being sealed and taunted by players day in and day out. In the end, he completely broke down.

“Just kill me already. I’ve had enough of this humiliation.”

Azazel slumped to the ground in the sealed prison, looking like a defeated orange tabby cat sprawled on the floor.

Even the flames on his body dimmed noticeably.

The massive demon with ram-like horns now resembled a salted fish lying on the ground awaiting death.

The sight made Eve’s lips twitch involuntarily.

“Kill you…? Then what, only for you to resurrect in Hell?”

The Seven Lords of Hell are immortal. As long as the Realm of Hell exist, they can always revive again and again.

“In that case, let me tell you the entrance to the place which I govern in Hell. Send your incarnation there and destroy my Divine Core. With your current strength, you should easily be able to break free from the World of Seigües. Compared to entering, exiting a material realm is far more easier…”

Azazel spoke in a tone of utter resignation.

The Divine Cores of the Seven Demon Lords are hidden within the seven layers of Hell and are fused with each layer’s core essence, which contains their most vital divine soul power.

It is precisely this special connection within Hell that enables them to resurrect endlessly.

So, if one were able to locate and destroy a Demon Lord’s Divine Core along with the core source of their respective layer for which they govern, it would theoretically be possible to completely and permanently eliminate one of the Seven Lords of Hell and simultaneously annihilate that layer of Hell.

However, true gods cannot withstand the corrupting influence of the Abyss, nor can they locate the Divine Cores hidden deep within the layers of Hell.

Evé, on the other hand, can resist the corruption of the Abyss but she wasn’t interested in doing that in the first place.

Destroy Azazel’s Divine Core?

That would be akin to uprooting a perfectly good field of leeks.

Only the Seven Lords of Hell, who have pledged their souls to the Abyss, can rely upon Hell to continuously resurrect and draw power from the Abyss.

Therefore, killing Azazel outright and destroying Hell might grant Evé power equivalent to that of an intermediate divine, but…

Why do that when she could just keep him alive and reap the benefits repeatedly?

It also entertained the players and helped train their combat abilities.

So in her opinion, a steady, long-term gain was clearly the wiser choice.

Moreover, not a single one of the Seven Demon Lords could be trusted. If Evé really followed Azazel’s instructions and sought out his Divine Core, who knew what kind of trap he might have laid?

“You know full well I won’t let you off the hook. Nor will I allow you to die so easily.”

Evé shook her head and replied calmly.

“Then I’ll continue to self-destruct every single time! Isn’t your goal to use me to train those elves, and let them steal my power through that skill war sacrifice? I’ll blow myself up every time, and you’ll gain nothing!”

Azazel roared in anguish.

“Then I’ll just reinforce the seal on you, so you won’t even be able to self-destruct.”

Evé responded without hesitation.

Azazel: “…”

“Besides, I have plenty of ways to extract your power. If I really wanted to, I wouldn’t have to rely on the elves. If you think you self-destructing yourself can be used to threaten me… you’re sorely mistaken.”

Evé shook her head once again.

Azazel: “…”

“Strictly speaking… I don’t actually need your will to continue what you’re task,” Evé said, thoughtfully stroking her chin.

“After watching you fight the elves for so long, I’ve more or less memorized your combat patterns. Worst case scenario, I can completely seal your consciousness and encode your combat behavior into a magical formula embedded in your body. That way, as long as your body appears, everything will run automatically.”

Azazel: “…”

His eyes widened, and for the first time, his gaze toward Evé was filled with fear.

Being repeatedly ganged up on by insignificant beings he would normally consider beneath him was already unbearable for a Demon Lord.

But to be completely stripped of control over his body abd reduced to a mere puppet forced to watch himself fight those infuriating elves in a grotesque and mechanical performance…

Just imagining it terrified Azazel.

He had no doubt about Yggdrasill’s twisted sense of humor…

Those automated three lines of dialogue she had written for him were already humiliating enough. Every time he heard them, they felt like bitter mockery. If she truly turned him into a marionette, that would be the final straw.

“A prisoner should act like one, Lord Azazel. You have no choice but to keep fighting the elves.”

Evé said cheerfully.

Azazel: “…”

“Yggdrasill… Are you actually an evil god from the Abyss?”

“No?” Evé replied with a smile. “Have you forgotten? I am the World Tree, the Goddess of life and nature and practically one of the holiest of gods.”

Azazel: “…”

He opened his mouth, then fell back onto the ground like a lifeless salted fish.

“…I’ll give you the location of my Divine Core. Just kill me already.”

Eve: “…”

Looking at the Demon Lord’s face, now utterly devoid of hope, Evé began to feel that perhaps she’d gone a little too far.

Although with her current power, she could directly control Azazel’s body and turn him into a puppet by embedding a standardized magical program to keep the Demon Lord’s Dungeon running…

Truthfully, Evé had no real desire to do that.

Since doing it in such a way wouldn’t be as fun.

The Demon Lord’s Labyrinth had been operating for quite some time now and was widely praised by the players. One of the main reasons for that acclaim was the boss’s ability to learn and adapt, which had pleasantly surprised many.

The fact that the boss could control demons within the Labyrinth and compete with players made the whole experience both challenging and entertaining.

If she replaced Azazel with a mindless puppet, then the Labyrinth Dungeon would lose its spirit.

The best solution she thought, was still to reignite Azazel’s motivation.

The key was to resolve the problem at its root.

Azazel had mental breakdown because the number of players had exploded, so one solution was to reimposed the entry restriction on the palace once more, thus preventing Azazel to being hunted down repeatedly.

Otherwise his mental state would have completely crumbled.

If he only had to fight once a day, he might still manage.

However, Evé had no intention of limiting how often players could enter the palace.

Sunce throttling player access might be an effective short-term solution to resource exhaustion, but it wasn’t a long-term fix.

—Expanding capacity was.

With that in mind, Evé said:

“Here’s the deal, Azazel.”

“You already know I won’t let you die,but I won’t halt the elves’ training either. And I certainly won’t release you.”

“But if you can help me find others who can serve as suitable training opponents for the elves similarly loke what you’re doing, then I’ll consider easing your current burden. I could return you to the prior once-per-day combat schedule…”

Hearing this, Azazel instinctively lifted his head. His eyes now carried a trace of uncertainty.

“…What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.

Evé smiled kindly.

“I’ve heard that you are the ruler of the first layer of Hell. All the demons in that layer serve you as their sovereign and dare not defy your will.”

“If that’s the case, then summon some powerful demons from your dominion. In return, seal their powers so that they’re restrained within the Silver to Gold ranks. Let them become the new targets for the elves in the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth.”

“You will still need to fight of course, but I’ll build you a far grander palace, and you’ll remain as the true final boss of the Labyrinth.”

“And, just like before, you’ll only need to appear once a day.”

“Of course, this is only possible if you can provide enough suitable candidates. If not…then you’ll continue to fight as frequently as you do now.”

“I can help facilitate this. I know Seigües is still sealed and that you can’t summon demons directly from Hell in your current state. But I have a way to bypass that since I know a path to the Abyss that will allow you to circumvent Seigües’ planetary barrier and summon powerful demons from the outside.”

“So, what do you say?”

Eve’s tone was calm and persuasive.

The path she referred to, of course, was the Abyssal Rift within her predecessor’s Shattered Divine Kingdom.

Using that rift as a channel, Azazel could indeed summon demons from layer of Hell he governed—if he cooperated, that is.

This method would allow Evé to retain control over the summoning process and prevent Azazel from pulling any tricks.

It was a safe and reliable solution.

Once the demons were successfully summoned, sealing and teleporting them into the Dungeon would be simple. They would serve as new mini-bosses within the Labyrinth, ready for the players to challenge.

Of course, as ordinary demons, once they are gone, they’re gone. After all unlike Azazel, they cannot resurrect. They are essentially disposable pawns who could only serve as tragic cannon fodders.

However, the number of demons living in the Abyss was overwhelmingly vast and even the gods could never exterminate them all.

As such, there are more than enough to satisfy the players’ demand.

With this approach, the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth would essentially receive a major upgrade. Not only would the content become more diverse, but Evé would also gain more power from the energy feedback provided when players defeat these demons.

After all, you can’t shear wool from the same sheep forever…

Do it too much, and the sheep might go bald… or worse, fall into depression.

Moreover, this also serves as a test run.

If the new system proved effective, Evé was even considering instructing Azazel to lure in a few more Demon Lords to participate in the future…

Surely, as an evil god himself, Azazel wouldn’t mind seeing his peers suffer the same fate, would he?

After explaining everything, Evé gave Azazel a cheerful smile and patiently awaited his response.

Azazel stared at her, eyes wide, as if he were looking at some terrifying monster.

The flames flickered in his pupils.

After a long silence, he muttered:

“Yggdrasill… are you sure you’re not an evil god of the Abyss?”

“No?” Eve replied, smiling. “I’ve already told you, I am the World Tree, Goddess of life and nature who’s an upright god among upright gods.”

Azazel: “…”

༺⟐༻

In the end, Demon Lord Azazel agreed to Eve’s devilish proposal.

For a being as inherently evil as he was, there was nothing he wouldn’t sacrifice if it meant preserving himself.

To him, the demons of his dominion were nothing more than servants or food.

And truthfully, the thought of those demons, who once lived freely in Hell, now having to endure the same torment he had, gave Azazel a strange sense of satisfaction.

It was a pitiful fall for a once-mighty Demon Lord.

Once Azazel agreed, Evé wasted no time in taking action.

Setting up a spatial channel was relatively easy. With the spatial rift located in the remains of the shattered Divine Kingdom, all Azazel had to do was provide the coordinates of his dominion. From there, Eve could lock onto the specific layer he ruled.

The next step was simply summoning the unlucky creatures.

The Demon Lord’s Labyrinth required renovation and expansion. This was to accommodate a larger player base and the newly summoned “demonic leeks,” as well as to further strengthen the seal on Azazel himself.

However Evé did not forget to remained cautious.

Demon Lords were cunning by nature. While allowing Azazel to summon powerful demons, she also had to be vigilant against any potential hidden schemes he might pull.

If things went sideways and Azazel escaped… well, that would be quite the disaster.

Thus, reinforcing the seal was a top priority.

At the same time, Eve released an official system announcement:

【System Announcement】

The Demon Lord’s Labyrinth Dungeon is currently undergoing an upgrade. Various internal data and mechanics are being adjusted. Due to operational errors by temporary staff, a malfunction occurred in the dungeon boss’s behavior logic. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our valued players.

To compensate for the disruption, Elven Kingdom will hold a special event during the upgrade process. All players who entered the Demon Lord’s Dungeon during the boss malfunction period will be exempt from resurrection costs and will have their damaged equipment fully repaired. Additionally, they will receive 3 Special Lottery Tickets, 30,000 Contribution Points, and 30,000 Experience Points as compensation.

The Special Lottery Pool includes Legendary Gold Equipment, Divine Artifact Repair Vouchers, and Rare Advancement Slot Tickets.

The event will last one in-game week. During this period, the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth Dungeon will be temporarily closed. The upgraded version will officially launch once the event ends.

Please look forward to it!

Once the announcement was posted, the official Elven Kingdom forum exploded with discussion.

“So it was a bug, huh? Typical corporate excuse… blame it on the contract employees.”

“They’re upgrading the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth? I wonder what the new version will be like.”

“Damn! The special lottery prize pool is back? And it akso includes divine artifact repair vouchers too? The people who went in during the bug are super lucky!”

“Honestly, the compensation is pretty generous, though it still depends on their RNG.”

“Wait, one in-game week? So that means the day after tomorrow?”

The players were generally pleased with the announcement and highly anticipating the launch of Demon Lord’s Labyrinth 2.0.

And as excitement built across the community, the in-game week had passed quickly…

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