Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 594 "Demon God" Quesanx (6k)

Deep within the sprawling mountain range formed by the bones of the Night Beasts on the outskirts of Ammester.

The daylight had completely faded into darkness, and several hours had passed since Quesanx "absorbed" the true divinity of Helmond, the "child of the dragon god," and the cocoon that constantly surged with scarlet, deep purple, and dark light enveloped Him.

Luo Xiu watched Him, standing by the side the whole time, sensing the various changes in the aura of the ancient dragon with whom he had formed a contract, and waiting to witness the moment He became a "Demon God".

Over several hours.

He sensed the energy within the cocoon sometimes sinking and sometimes rising. In this cyclical rise and fall of energy, Quesanx was undergoing a transformation, causing His energy to gradually approach a certain limit.

Until His spirituality truly and completely transcends the limits of "celestial spirits"—

Buzz! ! ! ! !
A series of intense buzzing sounds erupted in the air, and from within the enormous cocoon enveloping Quesanx before Luo Xiu, a vibrating, newborn roar burst forth—

"Roar!!!!!"

As the cocoon shell shattered and peeled away piece by piece, crimson dragon flames burst forth from within, erupting outwards like a volcano, while the broken, burning cocoon shells fell around like meteorites!

Luo Xiu could clearly feel that the surrounding temperature was rising at an extremely terrifying rate.

It was as if one were in a boiling, scarlet furnace, with constant "whoosh, whoosh" sounds. It was the spiritual energy escaping from the air, unable to withstand such terrifying heat, that was exploding and burning.

A dragon claw then broke out of the cocoon.

What was originally a jet-black giant claw is now covered with overlapping and complex flame patterns.

And Quesanx's dragon claws seemed to have become thicker and larger than before.

Next, there was His dragon head—

The sharp dragon teeth tore at the cocoon shell, piercing it from the inside out as if it were steel!
"--roar!!!!!"

A thunderous roar echoed across the sky, and flames rose from the broken surface, but instead of burning Quesanx, they surrounded him, as if they had submitted to him.

One by one, the cocoon shells, scorching with black flames, peeled away. Quesanx's new form was thus fully revealed before Luo Xiu—

It was a dark red dragon, nearly half again as large as before.

Extremely intense dragon flames surrounded Him, and inscriptions resembling overlapping sword patterns appeared on His head, neck, wings, and tail.

At the top of His dragon head appeared a scarlet "ring crown"—a feature manifested by the true divinity inherited from Helmond, the "child of the dragon god".

The feeling He gave to Luo Xiu was also completely different from before.

The dragon's body contained a terrifying power no less than that of a world-destroying tsunami, and its spirituality had also undergone a transformation. In Luo Xiu's most direct perception, it was as if the person standing in front of him was an ancient dragon that was no less than a true "Sevenfold Fate" peak saint and infinitely close to a true "demigod".

He has absorbed and almost entirely inherited the power from Hermond, along with that profound part.

Luo Xiu could sense that within Quesanx's body at this moment, a dark, corrosive spirituality was flowing in its deepest depths.

The power He inherited from Helmond, who was tainted by the Abyss, also tainted Him. This was the price, but also a greater "gift".

"Roar……"

Quesanx was still emitting a low growl.

The roar was somewhat chaotic, as if it were hesitant, or as if it were resisting His instincts.

Luo Xiu knew that the true divinity of [authoritarianism] that Quesanx had inherited from Hermond and which had been corrupted, could very well lead him into the same chaos as Hermond if left unchecked.

Just like Quesanx at this moment, after his ascension, his consciousness seems to be chaotic and ignorant, occupied and obscured by a profound spirituality.

He gradually lowered his dragon neck, and the deep purple light emanating from the edges of the two dragon eyes embedded in his enormous dragon head continued to spread towards the center.

He seemed not to recognize himself anymore—

Just like Helmond, Quesanx is now closer to a beast.

But Luo Xiu had anticipated this, so he raised his right hand, and overlapping golden light appeared on the back of his hand.

Behind him, the divine form of another archangel appeared, activating a Level II authority of [Radiance] towards Quesanx.

That is the authority of the "divine proclamation seal"!

"—You will be baptized!"

Holding a sacred bell and with a compassionate expression, the archangel spoke this divine message to Quesanx, who was emitting low growls and whose profound spirituality was emanating from beneath his scales.

The angel's silhouette then emitted a dazzling light, covering Luo Xiu's and Quesanx's silhouettes with a golden light curtain.

In a flash.

Quesanx's growl ceased, and his profound spirituality, no longer radiating outwards, instead receded inwards.

The "Divine Seal" briefly suppressed the influence of the profound spirituality on Him. In Quesanx's dragon eyes, the purple light that had already spread halfway through faded further towards the edge.

His previously unfocused dragon eyes refocused, as if his mind had returned to clarity—his gaze toward Luo Xiu gradually became clear, and he had slightly opened his dragon jaws.

"……Roar."

He roared in a low voice, and this time, Luo Xiu could hear clearly what He was saying to him.

[...Luo Xiu.]

In Luo Xiu's mind, Quesanx's deep voice surged in—

Helmond's... divinity. I have successfully inherited... haven't I?

【…】

"Yes, Quesanx."

Luo Xiu smiled and nodded.

"You have succeeded, and you have found yourself again."

The Quesanx he knew had returned. And once His own consciousness had returned, the profound spirituality of the Abyss could no longer dominate Him.

His own spirituality had taken the initiative, and when Quesanx regained consciousness, Rosh was able to see His panel completely again.

So while communicating with Quesanx, Luo Xiu opened and quickly browsed through Quesanx's panel—

【Quisanx, the God-Slayer Dragon (lv.100)】

[Race: Ancient Dragon/Authoritative Dragon]

[Rank: Demon God (False God) (Contracted)]

Health: 8583223/12224563, Mana: 2729911/4825322

Physical Attack: 419940, Magical Attack: 543235, Defense Reduction: 154560

[Attributes: Strength 8930, Constitution 12248, Agility 6350, Intelligence 8921, Divinity 5441, Perception 3866, Resistance 4030, Luck 1221]

【…】

[Skills and Traits Overview]

【Quisanx, the Dragon of Godslaying (Dragon of Authority, Demonic Authority): A dragon who ascended to the throne by slaying kings and gods by slaying gods, who usurped the authority from "Helmond, the child of the Dragon God".

The primordial bloodline—Quisanx's bloodline has reached its purest form. He has become the divine successor of the new [Authority], and since the [Authority] shattered, he has been its sole demon god.

The Demon God's Authority—Quisanx can control all extraordinary beings, creatures, or gods on the [Authority] path. The greater the difference between them and Quisanx, the more pronounced the control effect. Quisanx can transform extraordinary beings and saints on the [Supreme] path into those on the [Authority] path, whose path originates from Quisanx, thereby severing their connection with the "Supreme Heaven".

The embers of authority—the more [authoritarian] transcendents and saints under Quesanx's rule, the more powerful Quesanx becomes. However, if the number and level of transcendents and saints who have transformed from [Supreme] to [Authoritarian] exceed a certain limit, it will attract the attention of the "High Heavens" and bring His wrath.

【Helmond's Curse (God-Killing Curse): Helmond has cast a curse. Some of his followers and bloodlines will be unaffected by Quesanx's "Demonic Authority" and will launch attacks against Quesanx.】

This portion of the [Authority] faction deals 50% more damage to Quesanx and ignores Quesanx's divine authority. (This god-killing curse will disappear in 1429 days.)

【Quisanx, the Dragon of Justice (Dragon of Authority, Divine Authority): The ancient dragon Quisanx, who is granted the authority of justice, is unaffected by any negative debuffs.

When Quesanx, the "Dragon of Justice," is granted a positive buff, the unit that applies the buff will receive a "Justice" feedback, gaining the same buff itself.

Quesanx's Authority (Unique Skill): "Dragon of Justice" Quesanx wields the power of authority. Upon entering combat, Quesanx will unleash "Dragon's Domain of Authority," reducing damage dealt to Quesanx by 25%~50% and increasing damage received from Quesanx by 25%~50% for all targets within the domain.

During the duration of "Dragon's Domain of Authority", all targets within the domain will be affected by the negative status ailment "Deep Fear". This status ailment can be refreshed and repeatedly added.

After accumulating more than 15 stacks of the "Deep Fear" negative status effect, the user will be trapped in the "Deep Deadlock" negative status effect, which cannot be cleansed or removed. Damage taken from Quesanx will be increased by 100%, and all skills and abilities at level 4 and below will be sealed until the "Dragon's Domain of Authority" duration ends.

[Quisanx's Judgment (Unique Skill): "Dragon of Justice" Quisanx wields the power of "Judgment," able to manipulate "Flame" and "Lightning" in different forms to launch judgment attacks, dealing "Fire" attribute damage, "Holy Light" attribute damage, "Dark Erosion" attribute damage, and "Primal Wounds."]

【Quisanx's Destruction (Unique Skill): "Dragon of Justice" Quisanx has been corrupted by destruction and endowed with the power of "destruction" - every 300 seconds, "Dragon of Justice" Quisanx can charge up the surge of destruction. During the charging process, 1% of mana and 1% of health are consumed per second. After charging for 5/10/20/30 seconds, "Quisanx's Surge of Destruction" will be released.

“奎桑克斯·毁灭的轰涌”将按蓄力时间决定覆盖范围与伤害倍率。最终造成1/2/3/5倍所消耗的“生命值”与“法力值”+80*50％/100*120％/120*300％/150*700％法术攻击的“火焰”属性伤害。】

【奎桑克斯的不屈（被动特性）：每日触发一次。当“公正之龙”奎桑克斯的生命值跌落至80％/50％/20％及以下时，奎桑克斯获得每秒2/5/10％生命值上限的恢复效果，并提高奎桑克斯造成的10％/20％/50％全伤害，持续20/25/30秒。

Different healing tiers can trigger simultaneously, with stacked healing effects and total damage increase effects having their durations calculated separately.

[Contract Deity (Contract Characteristics): This contract with a deity is formed autonomously and is not restricted by the contractor.]

【…】

"..."

Quesanx, the "Dragon of Justice"... He truly became a "Demon God".

Browsing through what was displayed on the panel, Luo Xiu thought to himself. No, he could no longer be called the "Dragon of Justice"—his name had been changed on his panel, and Quesanx was now the "Dragon of Godslaying."

His attributes also underwent a dramatic improvement, with almost all of them nearly doubling. The base values ​​such as "health points" and "mana points" even increased several times over, which is quite exaggerated.

In Quesanx's panel, under the "Rank" section, there is a brand new entry for "Demonic God (False God)".

That was something that could be explored further—Luo Xiu learned from this that the "Demon God" was indeed a divine status above the "Star Spirit," but those who were not among the nine existing deities of destiny were all "false gods."

In a destiny that is already shattered and only a tiny fraction remains, the "demon god" holds the same status as the "pillar god" of that destiny.

Throughout the entire history of [Authority], there is only one Demon God now: Quesanx. In other words, [Authority] is only regarded as a "Pillar God" by Quesanx!
"hiss……"

When Luo Xiu thought of this, he couldn't help but hiss.

The special significance of the "Demon God" title is greater than Luo Xiu had previously thought.

Perhaps the original "demon" in the "authoritarian" realm was either Hastia or Helmond, one of the two. However, Hastia's true divinity was taken away by Alfonso, and Helmond was under the domination and control of the Devouring Dragon for a long time, thus his authority as a demon was always suppressed.

Therefore, the demon god of [authoritarianism] seems to have always been absent.

Suddenly, Luo Xiu had an idea.

Before Quesanx regained his senses, Fafnir Ramziaz, the "Dragon of Devouring," was constantly suppressed by Rochester, the "Dragon of Destruction," and Quesanx.

It wasn't until Quesanx regained his senses that the "Devourer Dragon" was freed. His first act after being freed was to return to Fafnir and raze the city to the ground.

What was His purpose? It was certainly not just for slaughter and sacrifice. Perhaps it was also to reclaim Helmond, the "child of the dragon god," and seize true divinity from Him to become the new "demon god"!
As the progenitor of the Abyss, the Devouring Dragon, after seizing Helmond's true divinity, was also able to be sublimated, thus becoming a new "Primordial Demon" in the Abyss.

That may have been His purpose, but He failed—

"..."

Luo Xiu was thinking about these things.

It was somewhat belated, but he had indeed successfully prevented something from happening ahead of time. As he thought this, his gaze followed the panel downwards.

The most noticeable change to Quesanx's stats is the addition of two items: [Godslayer Dragon Quesanx] and [Helmond's Curse].

The former is the demonic authority that serves as "authority" equivalent to "pillar god," capable of dominating extraordinary beings, creatures, or deities with "authority," and also capable of transforming those with "supreme" destiny who are extraordinary or have attained sainthood into new "authority."

Luo Xiu knew that many of the existing "Order Killers" in the [Supreme] actually wielded power derived from [Authority]. Perhaps Quesanx could use the authority of a demon god to control them and achieve certain goals.

Another point Luo Xiu felt was worth trying: could Quesanx use his authority as a "demon god" to dominate or control Hastia? However, Hastia's rank was at the very top among the [authoritarian] gods, which might be somewhat difficult.

As for the second item, [Helmond's Curse],
This is simply a negative passive skill.

Since Quesanx stole true divinity from Helmond, it is only natural that he is cursed by him. As the "child of the dragon god" and one of the former demigods of [Authority], Helmond has a large number of followers and supporters, some of whom are even equivalent to Quesanx before his ascension.

This part of the authoritarian retinue may show hostility towards Quesanx. This is worth noting, and we must be prepared for possible "revenge" from them.

These are the two most important items.

Other improvements and changes include the fact that the divine authority of [Quisanx, the Dragon of Justice] is now immune to negative effects from authority; the multipliers for [Quisanx's Authority], [Quisanx's Judgment], and [Quisanx's Destruction] have been increased; and the "Holy Light" and "Dark Erosion" attribute effects have been added, among others.

That is related to His contractor, who is himself, belonging to [Radiance], and the true divinity he inherited has been corrupted by the spirituality of [Abyss], which indeed changed Quesanx's original attribute effects.

Furthermore, the cooldown of [Quizanx's Destruction] has been reduced, and the recovery effect of [Quizanx's Unyielding] has been improved. These are all significant enhancements. Combined, these improvements have elevated Quizanx's strength to an unprecedented level.

"How are you feeling, Quesanx?"

After browsing the panel, Luo Xiu looked at Quesanx and smiled as he asked.

"……Roar."

【……I feel good.】

In Luo Xiu's mind, Quesanx's voice surged in—

I felt... a joyful rebirth. Yet, deep within my soul, a whisper seemed to echo, "Helmond... my old king, He is howling like a drowning man."

I don't know what this feeling is like. I don't seem to feel joy, but I'm not sad either. Right now, I'm just weak and want to go back to the Sacred Abyss and get a good night's sleep.

【…】

He said these things.

He was indeed tired. Both physically and mentally.

"Then go ahead, Quesanx."

Luo Xiu then said to Him:

“You definitely need a rest. You’ve done too much these past two days.”

"After that, I will continue my journey to the dark capital. I will call for you again when you have fully recovered."

"..."

"……Roar."

Quesanx let out a final roar, tearing a rift in the sky above him. Then, he spread his dragon wings and flew into the rift, his enormous dragon body disappearing into it.

……

The Nolan Empire, capital city.

The Holy Court Headquarters, the Divine Pivot Sanctuary.

In its deepest part—in the underground palace that was originally built as a "prison"—"Dragonblood Knight Commander" Demosth stands.

Before Him stood the Cardinal Fafnir Ramziaz, the "Dragon Devourer," with his hands behind his back, watching as he was placed in the sacred cage of God's prison.

That was the chief of the "Holy Cardinals Bishops' Conference".

"First Cardinal," Finlak Saint-Lerran, his holy robes fluttered in the wind, even though there was not a breath of wind in the dungeon.

He stared at the Devouring Dragon for a long time, his eyes as still as an ancient well, without any ripples. After a long while, he let out a somewhat hoarse sigh.

“You’ve brought back something incredible… Demosthenes.”

Finlake murmured, saying.

Behind him, Demosth, who addressed Pope Lawrence by his first name, showed utmost respect to Finlake. He nodded to Finlake's retreating figure and said:

"Yes."

"'The Devouring Dragon,' a true 'Primordial Demon.' My master, you should be able to learn something from Him, or perhaps gain something from Him."

"of course."

Finlake nodded.

He didn't turn around to look at his most outstanding student, now the "Dragonblood Knight Commander" Demosth. Instead, in a calm and unwavering voice, he spoke to Demosth:

“You did a good job, Demosth.”

"Now, you should leave. Go back to the Divine Pivot. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them I will be back soon."

"Yes."

Demosth responded solemnly.

Then, Demosth turned around and came to the teleportation array leading to the Divine Pivot Temple above the underground palace. After a flash of bright light, his figure disappeared from it.

He had left the underground palace, while Finlake, the "First Cardinal" who remained there, showed intense disgust on his face.

That was disgust for the "devouring dragon" emanating a strong aura in front of him, and also disgust for Demosth.

"All right……"

Finlake murmured, looking again at the Devouring Dragon, and slowly spoke to its now fragmented form:

"Dermost has left."

"Only we are left, Primordial Demon."

A golden glint flashed in his eyes, and he raised his long, withered hand, the tip of which glowed with holy runes.

An invisible realm had descended upon him and was beginning to spread infinitely toward the edges.

That caused an invisible, intangible fire to ignite around him, imbuing the surrounding area with a sacred, intense heat—

“From the moment Demosth brought you here, your piercing, incessant noise has been constantly ringing in my ears.”

"Tell me, you progenitor demon."

As the First Cardinal Finlake spoke these words, his pupils narrowed inward, gradually becoming as thin as needles, like the eyes of a snake.

His voice turned icy, so starkly contrasting with the surrounding sacred heat. He slowly asked the Devouring Dragon—

"What kind of deal are you talking about...?"

……

(End of this chapter)