The dark-purple array patterns on the wall of the giant crater flickered uncertainly, pulsing like breathing.
Mavi hovered in midair, the killing move she had originally prepared for the “Fake Demon King” held back without release.
Her deep eyes passed over Liya and locked firmly onto Jon’s left wrist.
There, a pitch-black mark shaped like a ghost’s head was emitting a heart-pounding evil divine power—only the followers personally chosen by the Second Demon God, the **“Eternal Night Nether King,”** were qualified to bear it: the **[Mark of Immortality]**.
“…So that’s how it is.”
The tension in Mavi’s nerves suddenly loosened.
The hostility in her gaze turned playful and subtle.
Although she didn’t know what exactly had happened in the Ascension-to-Demon space earlier, the result was obvious: that fool Jiera had failed, and the demon in front of her, wearing the armor of the National Guardian Army, had become the final beneficiary of the demon-ascension ritual.
“Put away your hostility, young man.”
Mavi dispersed the shadow spear condensed at her fingertips and descended gracefully from midair, though she still maintained a condescending and arrogant posture.
“Since you have received my Lord’s blessing, then you and I are of the same kind—‘Chosen of God’ who serve the same supreme existence. Although I don’t know how you did it, being able to snatch the opportunity from that madwoman Jiera means you do have some ability.”
She straightened the cuff of her black robe and spoke in the tone of a senior guiding a junior:
“However, since you’ve joined under my Lord, you must understand the order of superiority and inferiority. I am the Seventh Apostle of the ‘Lord.’ In terms of seniority… you should call me *senior*.”
“Senior?”
Jon repeated the word, frowning slightly.
He lowered his head and looked at his left hand.
The ghost-head mark was like a living creature, trying to seep evil demonic power into his blood vessels and meridians.
Abnormal power surged inside his body, making him feel instinctive resistance and disgust.
For the sake of survival and power—indiscriminate, confusing right and wrong…
…Is that it?
He thought of Jiera, whose “grand dream vanished like waking from the Yellow Millet Dream.”
He thought of Lord Rossi of the city, who was still muttering about his wife and children before death.
He thought of the happy, kind faces in his hometown.
He thought of the disaster victims in the Thousand Rivers Territory, crying in grief.
It was as if the fog in his heart had been torn open.
His mind became clear as a mirror, and his will firm like gold.
That’s right—my path does not need any will to interfere with it, whether it is a god… or the demon in people’s hearts!
Jon’s right hand slowly clenched.
“Yes, senior.”
At that moment, Mavi still hadn’t read the emotion in Jon’s eyes.
She raised her chin slightly and smiled frivolously.
“Come here. Stand behind me. Don’t get in the way while big sister is working…”
“Riiiip—”
A teeth-grating tearing sound interrupted Mavi’s words.
Under Mavi’s stunned gaze, Jon stretched out his right hand and unhesitatingly grabbed the flesh at his left wrist.
There was no magic chant and no ritual assistance—pure, violent, steel-forged muscle exploded with force.
“I don’t need this kind of filthy thing.”
Expressionless, Jon’s five fingers suddenly pulled upward.
That **[Mark of Immortality]**, which in the eyes of demons like Jiera and Mavi represented supreme glory and power, was actually **ripped out of his flesh** as if he were tearing off a medicated plaster!
There was no blood splattering.
Because at that instant, the enormous magic power within Jon surged back like a tsunami, forcibly expelling the demon god’s power that was trying to invade him.
It was squeezed into his right palm as a mass of black waste gas that was still shrieking wildly.
“Snap.”
His right palm closed sharply.
Dazzling light burst through the gaps of his fingers as the black gas was purified and completely dissipated.
The wound on his wrist rapidly healed under the effect of his powerful physique. Within seconds, it was smooth as before.
“Ah—?”
Mavi’s cherry lips slowly opened, from ^ to o, then to O.
Her entire being was practically shattered.
Her facial features twisted open—like someone watching a mountain of gold thrown into a cesspit.
It was an absurd heartbreak, mixed with the shock and admiration of seeing someone dig out their own eyeballs with bare hands.
“That was a blessing from the gods! That was immortality! How dare you—
Wait! No! **How did you dig it out???** Can this thing actually be dug out???“
Mavi felt as if she were dreaming today, as if her entire worldview had been thrown on the ground and crushed repeatedly.
Back then, how hard had she worked to obtain the Mark of Immortality?
Yet the guy in front of her just **tore it off… tore it off… tore it off…**
“I dug it out with my hand. I don’t like it. So what?”
Jon shook his hand, his tone as calm as if he had just thrown away a moldy piece of bread.
He raised his head, his gaze locking onto Mavi.
“I heard the Demon King calling for help. Were you bullying her?”
“…”
Mavi took half a step back.
At that moment, she finally realized something was wrong.
The guy in front of her wasn’t some lucky demon-ascender at all.
He was a complete monster.
A monster who could rip the Demon God’s mark off his body like trash.
A long-forgotten chill crawled up her spine to her scalp.
Meanwhile—
Liya stood behind Jon, tilting her little head up.
In her pink eyes sparkled an excited light of watching a good show.
Ah~ this damn sense of security~
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed that the **“Mark of Immortality”** torn off by the Hero had already devoured that small piece of the Hero’s flesh, replenished enough magic power, and turned into a thin layer like a tattoo sticker, lying quietly on the ground.
Beside the mark was a black, soft, chocolate-like daifuku—
It was the long-depressed Shadow Demon Jiera.
She was secretly… secretly… stretching out a shadow claw, trying to steal it.
“Tap.”
Shadow Demon Jiera failed, because the Demon King’s long boot stepped on her shadow claw.
“…”
Shadow Demon Jiera pretended not to see it.
Acting extremely sneaky and furtive, she silently retracted the shadow claw again.
“You have a very suitable shape,” Liya said with a grin toward Shadow Demon Jiera.
“Too bad you’re not a *Puff-Puff*. Otherwise my Liu-Guan-Zhang trio would be complete.”
After saying that, Liya picked up the **[Mark of Immortality]**.
The moment it touched Liya, the mark suddenly lit up, as if trying to forcibly merge into her body.
But Liya was prepared—
At this moment, her arm was still another **Puff-Puff**!
The instant the mark branded onto the “wrist,” Liya immediately removed the Puff-Puff forming her right arm.
At the same time, a large amount of the Hero’s magic power she had already stored surrounded it, firmly imprisoning the mark so it couldn’t escape or affect the other Puff-Puffs.
**[Oh ho, new Puff-Puff, get!]**
**[From now on I’ll call you Death’s Hand Puff-Puff~!]**
This scene naturally fell into the eyes of Jiera and Mavi.
Jiera felt immense pain in her heart, while Mavi’s eyelids twitched violently.
Not good!
The Divine Chosen mark has been taken by an outsider!
In fact, another reason the Demon Gods no longer helped outsiders was that… after the incident with the **“Emperor,”** the Demon Gods discovered something:
These damned outsiders, although passively shielded from the will of the gods, the guidance of the gods, and the teachings of the gods—
…could **freely exploit the rules and power of the gods!**
Although that power was like rootless water—once used, it was consumed and would not be replenished from the divine realm—
on the other hand, they could replenish it by hunting other great demons and absorbing them.
In the later stage of the **“Emperor”** incident, that outsider directly had seven children, calling them **“Primarchs.”**
He fused the demon-god power he had freeloaded from their father into them.
Each of them was fierce like wolves and tigers, undefeated in battle, and they frequently provoked, surrounded, and hunted great demons, playing a huge role during the Emperor’s ascension.
…But what does that have to do with me?
Mavi took a deep breath.
The shock on her face quickly vanished, replaced by **extreme coldness and killing intent**.
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