Chapter 172
Ordinary interstellar players generally reach their first promotion and are still striving for the second, unlike Ye Bai, who has leveled up so quickly that she’s already contemplating this issue.
In Ye Bai's memory, the untested version didn’t have demigods; the third tier was the peak. She wasn’t sure if this version would allow further advancement, and she had no reason to gamble on it.
Moreover, transforming into the Inferno faction and becoming the lord of this layer of hell would grant her a powerful and chaotic infernal army, but it also meant she would become a target for everyone in the divine realm, much like an assassin.
Given the current desolate and isolated state of the divine realm, the difficulty of obtaining information for Ye Bai had undoubtedly escalated from hell to the depths of hell.
As for the fate of this crystal, Ye Bai had already thought of a better option.
In her territory, there was also a Felix with lava blood, a rare infernal bloodline. It would be worth trying to see if he could use it. If so, she could add another exceptionally talented practitioner to her ranks.
Looking at it this way, her mission in the divine realm could be considered a resounding success. Next up was the task of finding something for the paper figure. With Kraken around, they could easily search while dodging fireballs, as long as they didn’t recklessly test the unknown existence of the Infernal Demon Lord on the ninth layer. Other infernal regions were open for Ye Bai to explore.
Just as Ye Bai felt that all her problems were being resolved, two voices rang in her ears simultaneously:
“Eat! Go eat fireballs!”
“I can feel it; it’s right below us.”
The first voice came from Kraken, while the other was, of course, from the paper figure. Both were pointing towards the newly appeared crack of the ninth layer of hell, just ahead of Ye Bai.
Ye Bai: “…”
Can just thinking about it really make it happen?!
“Are you… sure?” Ye Bai swallowed hard and first looked at Kraken.
The status bar had once again changed to ‘Hungry,’ and that brief moment of ‘Normal’ during her recent promotion felt like a fleeting dream. The level 99 Serpent Demon Lord had been digested so quickly.
Her gaze fell on the paper figure holding the scroll, which gave her an affirmative response: “I can sense it… but inside is the ninth layer of hell. I can ‘see’ powerful forces awakening and overflowing.”
Ye Bai frowned and turned to Kraken, saying, “Let’s go eat some small fireballs first!”
They relied on Kraken’s strength while traversing the inferno; no matter the situation, it was essential to bolster its power.
“Eating small fireballs won’t work.” Surprisingly, Kraken, who had rarely voiced opposition, shook its head at this moment. Ye Bai noticed Kraken’s brow furrowing, its round face now serious: “If we eat now, the fireballs will grow… and we won’t be able to handle them.”
Ye Bai shifted her focus to the key point and asked, “Can you handle them now?”
“I can’t.”
Then what’s the point of fighting?
“Then let’s not fight. We’re leaving.” Ye Bai said immediately, wanting to take Kraken away from here, at least back to the deep sea.
There were two things that must exist in the ninth layer of hell: one was the Infernal Core, and the other was the Infernal Demon Lord.
The power of the Infernal Demon Lord would enhance the Infernal Core. Now that both the paper figure and Kraken said the power inside was awakening, it was clear that entering now would be unwise.
“We have to fight.”
However, Kraken shook its head again. At the same time, spatial ripples began to appear around it, and its body sank as if it had fallen into water, crossing through the spatial crack.
This time, it was Kraken that actively crossed the spatial rift.
“Kraken…”
“This is… responsibility.” In the midst of Ye Bai’s surprise, confusion, and disbelief, Kraken said seriously, clenching its fist: “Kraken is a king, and a king has responsibilities!”
Eating fireballs is Kraken’s responsibility?
Ye Bai’s mind buzzed. At that moment, she suddenly realized that she had misunderstood her description of Kraken.
Small fire, fireballs.
Kraken had always referred to other infernal creatures as small fire and big fire, but what she had been clamoring to eat was fireballs.
Fireballs and small or big fire might be essentially similar, so when Kraken kept saying it wanted to eat, could it be referring to the Infernal Core?
The Infernal Core is the essence of hell, the ‘Chaos Law’ within the game, and all the infernal creatures that continuously emerge stem from the power of the Infernal Core. The largest part of the Infernal Core is controlled by the most powerful lord of the ninth layer, the Infernal Demon Lord, which is also part of what grants the title of Infernal King.
But why did Kraken say that eating fireballs was its responsibility as a king?
There was no doubt that Kraken was the ruler of the deep sea, but the deep sea had been moved into the cracks of hell by that mysterious God King… Wait, could it be that the God King arranged all of this?
At this moment, a flash of insight struck Ye Bai. The chaotic laws of hell, in the face of Kraken’s hunger or rather its devouring law, formed a perfect spear and shield.
The deep sea and Kraken were deliberately sent here so that when hell eventually awakens on a large scale, they could serve as a counterbalance.
Only this could explain the reasons behind it all.
But… then the question arose: what was the purpose of this? What necessary connection existed between the need to suppress hell and Kraken as the deep sea king, and how did it become Kraken’s responsibility?
Moreover, wasn’t that God King also Kraken’s former master?!
Kraken’s massive body finally disappeared completely into the ‘ground.’ Ye Bai took a deep breath and stepped onto the surface.
“Ottofis, it’s dangerous inside. I’ll go take a look; you stay here and wait for me.”
After leaving this message, Ye Bai stepped into the spatial crack.
……
A sensation of shuttling through space washed over her, and the next moment, an even stronger wave of heat hit her, blinding light filling her vision.
There were no rocky lava rivers, only indescribably massive fireballs filling Ye Bai’s sight.
The space was twisting, flames were flowing, and at that moment, she felt as if she were facing a star radiating light and heat from a distance.
Then… she stepped into empty space.
“Ah—!”
Not only did it resemble a star in appearance, but that massive fireball also had its own gravitational pull. Caught off guard, Ye Bai began to fall toward that star, the scorching environment inflicting damage upon her.
The temperature of the fireball was already harming her from who knows how many meters away, let alone if she actually landed on it.
Ye Bai quickly cast Featherlight, but under the immense gravitational force, it only slightly slowed her descent; she still couldn’t stop falling.
—This isn’t reasonable! Who has an environment that kills you right at the entrance?!
“Smack!”
At that moment, Ye Bai felt a tightness around her waist as a red octopus tentacle wrapped around her, pulling her up securely.
“Whew…”
Ye Bai let out a sigh of relief, knowing it was Kraken.
At the same time, with this position, Ye Bai was pulled closer to the fireball, her gaze landing on it, and then her eyes widened in shock.
She saw a shadow on that fireball.
The outline of that shadow was humanoid.
**Chapter 121**
Compared to the eighth layer of hell, Ye Bai hadn’t expected the ninth layer to be like this. All scenes that could be called an environment were nonexistent—no scorching lava, no infernal creatures running about, no infernal specialties, and even the ‘ground’ to stand on was absent.
Kraken, due to its immense power, seemed to have arrived here later than Ye Bai, even though it appeared to have crossed the spatial rift first.
If Kraken had been just a moment late, Ye Bai might have met her first death in the myriad realms in a comical way, falling victim to environmental hazards.
This space was left with only that massive ‘sun’ below, making up the entirety of it. This was clearly not a normal situation.
Something must have happened in the ninth layer of hell, and the only remaining ‘sun’ in this space could only be the Infernal Core.
As for the shadow that could still exist upon it…
Ye Bai squinted slightly, ignoring the overly intense light projected by the Infernal Core behind her, and carefully discerned the figure’s shape.
From this distance, she could only see a robust, tall body, mostly obscured by a mane of disheveled red hair. Two slightly curved long horns protruded from between the red strands, and this unique feature already indicated the figure’s identity as a high-ranking demon.
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