"Hello there."
Lifting the hem of her skirt and stepping through the dust, the White-Haired Demon God entered the long-sealed palace.
Inside the gates, numerous monsters stood ready in battle array. The Abyss Mages raised their weapons one after another, their elemental spells primed and crackling, waiting only for the Monarch's command.
Behind them, the figure on the throne was shrouded in darkness, looking down from on high with an inscrutable expression.
"Kill her."
The cold, icy words reached her ears. Baimeng raised an eyebrow in surprise; the voice of this master was far younger than she had anticipated. He didn't sound like the Monarch of a blighted land; rather, he sounded like a young boy deliberately deepening his voice to imitate an adult and make himself sound more majestic.
Having pulled similar stunts herself, she recognized the trick immediately.
In the brief moment Baimeng spent pondering, a blinding, overwhelming radiance crashed toward her like a tidal wave.
*Clap!*
Their palms met with a crisp, moderate sound. Yet wherever the resonance of that clap reached, the spells melted away like snow meeting a blazing sun.
*Looking effortless and cool, but it's actually quite tiring.* Feeling the Elemental Energy in her body depleted by more than half, Baimeng secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, she was a hardcore grinder who had maxed out both her level and her stats long before quitting the game.
Otherwise, she truly wouldn't have dared to venture deep into enemy territory all by herself.
Though calling it "enemy territory" might not be entirely correct. According to the original game lore, the God of Dreams Asmoday was supposed to be an entity coalesced from the malice and resentment of countless souls within the abyss. In other words, the abyss was actually her true home.
Viewed in that light, this was entirely the setup of the ultimate final boss in a story! An existence destined to be pierced through the heart by a sword while the protagonist party shouted about love and hope, only to dissolve regretfully into dust!
Besides! Logically speaking, her current body shared the same origin as the Abyssal Monsters—even surpassing them. These creatures shouldn't be attacking her at all! If anything, she ought to be the one sitting on that high seat, commanding this horde to charge at anyone daring to oppose her.
Baimeng complained loudly in her mind. But her opponents couldn't hear her inner monologue, and even if they could, they likely wouldn't show any mercy. After all, their current master was the entity seated upon the throne.
Just as the razor-sharp claws of the nearest monster were about to touch Baimeng's body, several streaks of red light flashed across the air.
They were the Red Butterflies that had just been concealed within the dust. They darted forward like unsheathed swords, piercing through the monsters lunging at Baimeng, weaving an all-encompassing net across the sky. Those crimson trajectories looked like splashing, dripping fresh blood.
These fierce Red Butterflies threaded back and forth, instantly stitching the numerous enemies in place right where they stood.
The God of Dreams raised her hand, and a butterfly that had completed its mission fluttered down to rest upon her fingertip. Against the backdrop of that dazzling blood-red, the Demon God's skin looked as though it had been carved from eternal winter snow.
"Don't you plan on coming down?"
Focusing intently on the butterfly upon her fingertip, Baimeng didn't spare the surrounding monsters a single glance. The words slipping from her lips carried no murderous intent, just like blowing away a tiny bug about to land on oneself while taking a stroll—not worth sparing a shred of extra attention.
And it was the truth; she genuinely didn't care whether these things lived or died. Just like when she was slaughtering her way through the game back then, the Hero only needed to think about how to have fun and win, while the Demon King had far more things to consider.
Those evil NPCs were as insignificant as pebbles by the roadside—or, more aptly, like bread that turned into nourishment.
Does a person remember how many slices of bread they have eaten?
They would all turn to ashes under the player's skills, transforming into numbers and items. At that point, the system would pop up to prompt you that your experience points had increased and that you had acquired such-and-such item.
Yielding either cheers or curses from the player—the latter occurring when the dropped item wasn't to their liking.
No one cares about the life or death of a string of data, even if it shrieks and wails in agony.
Perhaps some might think it too cruel? But they were the bad guys! These were evil monsters! Nasty creatures that would harm innocent people! Doing this was ridding the people of a scourge, after all, because how could a righteous Hero possibly harm innocent people? Besides, they weren't "people."
On the other side, the companions of justice certainly couldn't be subjected to such treatment. In the village where the Hero resided, no matter how foolish the requests made by the villagers might be, they were all taken for granted.
Even if it was just a package right in front of him, the Hero Lord had to deliver it to him personally. And both parties would revel in the joy of it.
How could a kind person who gave you rewards possibly be wrong? Therefore, anyone who harmed them must surely be evil!
And so the Heroes laughed and frolicked, charging enthusiastically into the Demon King's palace. They plundered the other side's treasures, annihilated every single monster they laid eyes on, and some even came to blows just to fight over a single monster, making quite a lively spectacle.
Baimeng drifted off in thought for a moment, recalling some memories that weren't all that pleasant.
Yet she had already decided not to care about those insignificant trifles. She had played the role of the Hero, and she hadn't been a stranger to being the Demon King either. Now, immersed in this reality firsthand, this young girl named Baimeng only hoped to live a little more simply.
Good is good, and ought to be protected; evil is evil, and since it harms others, it deserves to be punished.
So right now, she would defeat every last entity here, and then carve out a place of her own in this remote, subterranean abyss.
Since all her enemies were evil, Baimeng felt no need to show mercy.
*Thud.*
The person on the throne stood up. He walked down the stairs step by step, and with a grip of his palm, a dark sword materialized in his hand, reflecting a biting, chilling light.
The God of Dreams lifted her gaze at the sound. She was also extremely curious about the true appearance of the ruler of the abyss; being able to make all the monsters here willingly bow their heads and submit was no simple feat.
The path from the throne to where she stood was not long. The Monarch beneath the shadows was soon revealed before Baimeng's eyes.
It was a golden-haired boy who looked no more than ten-odd years old, dressed in exotic dark attire that left his midriff bare. With every step he took, the feather ornaments hanging from his earlobes swayed rhythmically, while the long hair braided into a pigtail behind his head and his long scarf bobbed up and down like a tail.
The golden-haired boy approached and raised his head to look at her. Only then did Baimeng discover that he was actually a head shorter than her, looking about the same height as Xiao. He also had golden eyes, but they lacked Xiao's bright, dazzling radiance; they were closer to the light of a lamp at night, the color of amber infused with honey.
His features and facial contours were also softer than Xiao's, making it easy for people to feel a sense of closeness even when he put on a stern face. Yet it was precisely such a boy who ruled the entire abyss.
Looking at that handsome yet solemn little face, Baimeng thought to herself: *I somehow feel like he'd suit smiling better.*
"What is the God of Dreams doing here?"