The Demon King of Miasma laughed.
Within his Continent, the Players looked at the distance as the monstrous being, a gigantic titan that had left this entire continent in ruins started to laugh.
"Gahahaha… GAHAHAHAHA!"
As his laughter reverberated across the surroundings, the Players felt a strange feeling.
"Why is the Demon King laughing out of nowhere?"
"He had been staying still for an awful lot of time before it started laughing."
"Even if we continuously hit that thing, it hasn't even lost a 0.1% of its HP…"
"This is odd… Is this a new event? Maybe he'll die soon?"
"We just got some messages recently, that Player Planta dealt tons of damage to the Boss without even being here! Is she cheating the game or something?"
"Its HP went down a lot, it is around 20% now, but we can't even deal a single point of damage ourselves… Why the fuck am I even Level 200 then?!"
The Players had seen, just minutes ago when Planta engaged in a fight against the Demon King's soul how his true body was also taking large amounts of damage.
Yet at the end, such damage stopped, and he was now laughing ominously. The players had simply no idea what was actually happening.
All the way to the beginning of the game, in the Forest of Beginnings which barely any player has ever visited before…
The Demon King smiled through his main body, most of his soul now within the body of the Tree of Beginnings he had possessed.
Suddenly, he felt an overflowing amount of power getting through his body and soul, the more he absorbed and assimilated this power, the stronger it began to grow.
He looked maliciously at the Players nearby, as the System trying to keep him within its boundaries struggled to maintain him in a stable frame within the world.
"The power of the Gods is weakening…" He laughed. "The power of the Tree of Beginnings, the last child of Yggdrasil is mine. Now, I must simply… assimilate it and attain the power of fusing life with my miasma…! A new world will begin!"
Within the Demon King's soul, sparks of light converged with his eternal darkness. The power of creation of life within the child of the World Tree started to assimilate with his own as he devoured its soul.
"Once I break through such boundaries, there won't be anything stopping me anymore! Those Players in front of me, all of them shall become my meals, I will devour their souls while they struggle to understand what is happening to them! I've only tasted a piece of one of their souls, yet it was so delicious… And it brought me great knowledge."
The Demon King recalled the knowledge he learned from within Mark's soul. Although he didn't managed to devour it all, he ate a large piece of it, almost all if not for a small piece that survived and was later healed by Planta.
Not only was he able to absorb the power of souls, but the Demon King could attain their memories and knowledge, and see through what they have lived. He saw his connection with the other world, Earth. A whole world ready for the taking.
A weak world where most people had no magic or skills, or anything at all. It was overflowing with life and land to conquer; he could take over all of it once he freed himself from these boundaries… as long as he can reach the Root of this world through the soul of the Yggdrasil's child he had just eaten!
"I've already attained every piece of the puzzle… And my influence is seeping deeper into the Root of the World!" He laughed. "In less than an hour, all of you will perish."
The Demon King laughed once more, looking at the Players, confused about his strange change of ways. However, he swiftly resumed his attacks, blowing away dozens of Players nearby and killing them instantly. Of course, they could revive seconds later, players were like cockroaches to him.
No matter how many times he got rid of them, they simply kept coming back again and again. But this will surely end once he break through the boundaries of the System, their unprotected souls will be ready for the picking.
"I will not only take over this fragmented world, but I will take over and devour the world those Gods are trying so hard to protect… Everything shall be mine. That Planta… can no longer do a thing. I will devour her world, her loved ones, everything as a revenge for the damage she inflicted upon my soul. I have not forgotten that…!"
As I was having my own self-monologue, I heard Rita's voice.
"Of course it's not over yet!"
I glanced into the corridor that led to the Crystal Caves, finding Rita rushing here with everyone else, Lily, Florie, and their familiars.
"Everyone! You're awake already?!"
"Of course we are, Elayne! Now what the heck is going on? I am fairly sure we all got frozen once that gooey thing showed up and then I kind of blacked out…" Rita said.
"Yeah, I am confused…" Lily wondered. "But outside… everything's being destroyed. I am worried. Elayne, I had my own ideas but… is this world more real than it seems?"
"What? I know this is pretty bad, but this is all virtual reality stuff, right?" Rita wondered.
"I… well, no." I sighed.
"Hm?!" Rita was shocked. "Elayne are you losing some screws? There's no way this is real at the end, its just a game. Yeah it is pretty bad but still…"
"Rita this is real!" I said, quickly trying to get it into her head.
"What? That's not possible!" She said. "Magic and stuff doesn't really exists! Common sense, where are you?"
"I… I guess it would be better if she tells you." I sighed, as the Great Spirit emerged at my side.
"Everyone, what I am going to tell you is the truth, so please listen."