Chapter 17 - Chapter 17: The Demon Lord

The demon's laughter echoed directly in Han Xing's mind as the aura of death spread rapidly.

Han Xing gritted his teeth, desperately trying to control the floating island to escape.

Before him, the giant white bone horn trembled slightly, and the demon sneered, "Oh, a lowly human here as well? Very well, you shall be the first blood sacrifice for my arrival!"

Han Xing's face changed dramatically upon hearing this. The bone horn shook violently; the demon was about to descend!

Just when he thought he was doomed, the trembling of the bone horn suddenly stopped.

Han Xing was stunned. The situation felt eerily like the calm before the storm, filled with unbearable tension.

He thought the demon was preparing something and had already braced himself for the confrontation.

However, after a few seconds of waiting, the terrifying presence remained still.

"Huh?"

Han Xing could sense something was off.

He looked up at the horn, which shot into the sky, towering at least 20 meters high. In his mind, he roughly estimated the size of the terrifying being below.

Based on the scale, the demon's height alone would exceed 100 meters.

Compared to its massive body, the summoning array on the ground, which was only four square meters, seemed entirely inadequate.

It was like a human trying to squeeze their arm into a tiny pipe, hoping to crawl through it.

At that moment, a strange thought crossed Han Xing's mind.

"Could it be... that this demon is stuck?"

He unconsciously voiced his suspicion.

Upon hearing Han Xing's words, the previously motionless horn trembled slightly.

The demon sneered, "Hmph, insignificant human, you cannot comprehend the greatness of a Demon Lord!"

Hearing this, Han Xing became certain—the demon was indeed stuck...

The looming sense of death that had been weighing on his heart vanished in an instant.

Han Xing's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! This is killing me!"

"This is the first time I've ever heard of a demon getting stuck in a summoning array. I'm dying of laughter, hahaha!"

Han Xing laughed so hard he doubled over. "This is too embarrassing for the demon race..."

"Human! Silence, or I'll crush you like a bug!" the Demon Lord roared.

However, Han Xing, now convinced the demon couldn't get out, was even more brazen.

"I'm telling you, this is embarrassing! Hahaha!"

Han Xing stood with his hands on his hips, laughing and mocking loudly.

"Damn it!" The Demon Lord seemed to be cracking under the pressure of his laughter. "Human, if I get my hands on you, I will imprison your soul in the Abyss for a thousand years of torment!"

Han Xing's laughter suddenly stopped.

He wasn't frightened by the demon's threats. Instead, he turned and glared, "Seriously? You're stuck and still daring to threaten me?"

"You, uh, your name is Julius, right? Just wait! I'm going to record this and tell everyone how the mighty Demon Lord got stuck in a summoning array!"

"Oh, and I'll make sure to tell the elves!" Han Xing threatened.

Every survivor's system interface had a built-in recording and screenshot function. Han Xing had already started recording when the demon had first descended.

"No, not the elves! Those wretched creatures don't deserve to see my lordly form!" The Demon Lord was clearly flustered.

"You think telling me 'no' will stop me? I'm definitely telling the elves!" Han Xing was firm in his resolve.

"You..."

The Demon Lord was clearly infuriated by the human in front of him. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Fine, human, you win."

"Name your price."

Han Xing was stunned but quickly realized what the demon meant.

This guy wanted to bribe him to keep quiet?

What kind of person did he think Han Xing was?

Outraged, Han Xing declared righteously, "Don't even think you can bribe me!"

"Unless... you give me blueprints! Lots of blueprints for divine equipment!"

"..."

The Demon Lord was taken aback. After a moment, he asked, "By divine equipment, do you mean the toys made by those dwarves?"

Han Xing was confused. He didn't know much about this world's background, so he responded, "Uh, probably?"

The Demon Lord scoffed, "Those toys made by dwarves are nothing compared to the Abyssal Demon Artifacts. And we demons pride ourselves on our physical strength, so we don't even use those things. I don't have any blueprints for you."

"No blueprints?" Han Xing asked, "Then what's the point of bargaining?"

"Forget it. I'll just share the video with the elves."

He turned to leave.

In truth, Han Xing didn't want to linger with the demon any longer. This guy was terrifying, and even the slightest exertion of his power could kill Han Xing a thousand times over.

Sensing Han Xing's aura fading, the Demon Lord grew anxious. "Human, wait! You can tell whoever you want, but at least help me undo the summoning ritual before you go!"

Han Xing ignored him.

Finally, the Demon Lord said, "Human, if you help me break this summoning ritual, I'll give you a drop of demon blood!"

Han Xing continued pretending not to hear.

He didn't even know what demon blood was.

The Demon Lord became more desperate. "I also have a greatsword I've used! Oh, and I found a strange beast egg in another dimension. I can give you that too!"

Han Xing finally stopped, and the system message appeared before him.

[You have triggered an optional side quest: The Demon Lord's Request.]

[Quest Description: The Demon Lord is trapped in another dimension and can't invade your world. Only by breaking the summoning ritual can he return to the Abyss. Julius, the proud Demon Lord, has bowed his head and is asking for your help.]

[Quest Rewards: Choose one from 'Demon Blood,' 'Demon Lord's Greatsword,' or 'Unknown Beast Egg.']

[Note: This is not a system-issued quest. Survivors should carefully evaluate the quest information.]

"Did I really trigger a quest?"

Han Xing's eyes gleamed. He had been wary of this monster, thinking it was trying to lure him in.

But now he realized the Demon Lord was genuinely stuck.

At this point, the demon was in an awkward position—he couldn't enter Han Xing's world, nor could he return to the Abyss.

At the same time, Han Xing looked at the attributes of the three quest rewards.

[Demon Blood: The heart blood of a high-level demon. Fusing with it will grant you a demon bloodline, increasing all attributes tenfold, tripling stat gains upon leveling up, and automatically transferring you to the hidden class, Demon Hunter.]

[Demon Lord's Greatsword (Red): Abyssal Artifact, Quality - Epic, Attack 10,784~15,462, All Attributes +3333, Special Effect - Dominion (While wielding this weapon, demons of lower rank than high-level demons cannot harm you), Special Effect - Judgement (As a high-level demon, you have the right to deal triple damage to creatures of lower rank), Special Effect - Demon Flame (Successful hits burn the target for 10 seconds with demon flame), Special Effect...]

[Level Requirement: 60]

[Unknown Beast Egg: Attributes and species unknown, but it seems capable of traveling between dimensions and possesses some void-related abilities.]

"Hiss..."

Han Xing took a sharp breath.

It wasn't because of anything else, but because the attributes of these rewards were insanely powerful.

The Demon Blood seemed like an item that would unlock a hidden class, allowing him to become a powerful Demon Hunter upon fusion.

As for the Demon Lord's Greatsword, it was self-explanatory—an overwhelmingly powerful weapon!

And the unknown beast egg? While its description was vague, anything that caught the Demon Lord's attention couldn't be ordinary.

At this moment, Han Xing stared at the towering demon horn and felt tempted.