Chapter 454 454-Combined Efforts
Chapter 454 454-Combined Efforts
Concentrating all his power in his hands, the man in black transformed into a wisp of black smoke and charged towards John with lightning speed.
Facing this aggressive move, John naturally chose to dodge, aware that the attack's power would be immense.
Just as John evaded, the man in black seized the moment when John couldn't immediately counterattack and swiftly turned into black smoke, rushing towards the upper levels of the Great Library.
Meanwhile, the four Servant Demons opted to launch a full-on attack against John and Adam.
Their objective was clear: to prevent John and Adam from following the man in black.
Although John didn't know the specific purpose of the man in black's actions, he felt that he must stop whatever the man was planning to do.
John swiftly pulled out a divine scroll named "Power of Sea God" from his pocket and tossed it into the main hall of the Great Library.
As the scroll transformed into a burst of blue light, all targets in the hall, except for John, were instantly frozen.
Seizing this opportunity, John quickly pursued in the direction where the man in black had fled.
The divine scroll John used harnessed the ice attribute power of the Sea God.
This authority of ice could temporarily freeze all targets in the vicinity.
While the scroll's power was immensely strong, its major drawback was its inability to differentiate between friend and foe.
As it froze Kingserp and the Servant Demons, it also inadvertently immobilized John's allies, Adam and Blue Sea.
However, John no longer had the time to concern himself with this.
His sole focus was on continuing the pursuit, as he had realized the true objective of the man in black.
The man in black's target was the topmost floor of the Great Library, where the most precious books and scrolls were kept.
If the man in black got his hands on these invaluable resources, he might be able to plan another attack against the Order Faction.
Almost simultaneously, John and the man in black reached the top floor of the Great Library.
The man in black had not yet breached the library's uppermost level, as some of Storm City's teaching magi were still present there.
These teaching magi, who were tasked with guarding the Great Library, had been retreating to the upper levels since the Dark Faction began their assault.
Upon seeing John and the man in black arrive at the top level, the teaching magi did not hesitate.
They immediately launched their most powerful spells at the two.
However, John and the man in black were not threatened by these attacks, as their levels were much higher than those of the teaching magi.
Ignoring the magi's onslaught, the man in black effortlessly breached their defenses and arrived at the most heavily guarded and only unnumbered book room in the Great Library.
At the entrance of the book room, the man in black was stopped by a seal spell guarding the door.
Unable to quickly decipher the seal spell, and with John not giving him any more time, the situation became tense.
John chose to ignore the magi's attacks as well, first using the ability [Abyssal Prison].
The effects of Abyssal Prison took effect rapidly.
Now, the man in black had to contend with breaking both the seal spell of the book room and the effects of Abyssal Prison.
At the same time, he had to face John's continuous attacks.
For the man in black, this was an almost impossible quest, prompting him to turn around and prepare for a decisive battle with John.
"You are truly a nuisance. I never anticipated having a decisive battle with you here. Why must you, as an adventurer, be completely antagonistic towards us? The NPCs of the Order Faction can issue quests, and so can we. Why don't you want to cooperate with our Dark Faction? Don't adventurers like you prioritize the experience and gold coins gained from quests?"
The man in black had always harbored a peculiar attitude towards John.
In his view, adventurers should be willing to undertake any quest issued by an NPC.
For instance, Kingserp and Karthus were easily swayed by him, and in the man in black's opinion, he hadn't even offered them much assistance.
The man in black had once attempted to sway John to his side, but he quickly realized that John had no intention of cooperating with the Dark Faction.
Not only did John refuse to ally with the Dark Faction, but he also showed no interest in collaborating with the Mystery Faction.
John's behavior was uncharacteristic of a typical adventurer; he acted more like a member of the Order Faction.
This puzzled the man in black for a long time, as he couldn't find a reasonable explanation for John's actions.
So, now the man in black directly posed this question, knowing that the decisive battle between him and John was imminent.
It seemed that, regardless of the outcome, they might not have another chance to confront each other.
Faced with the man in black's inquiry, John's expression remained calm.
He was acutely aware that, despite being a powerful demon of the Dark Faction, the man in black didn't possess extensive knowledge.
In particular, the man in black was unaware that the Dark Faction posed a significant threat not only to the Order Faction but also to John's world.
If the man in black had known this information from the beginning, he certainly wouldn't have considered cooperating with John.
Of course, if all players were aware of this information, none would choose to align with the Dark Faction.
While Kingserp and Karthus were indeed detestable figures, John believed that even they would not willingly betray their own world, as such a betrayal would bring them no benefit.
"Do you really want to know the answer to that question? You might not understand my response," John said, not directly answering but instead making a statement that further puzzled the man in black.
At this point, the man in black nodded emphatically: "I want to hear your answer now. Whether or not I can understand it, I am prepared to accept it."
"Since you wish to know, I'll tell you. You demons of the Dark Faction simply do not understand what drives us in the Order Faction.
You believe that all you need is to increase your power. But from my perspective, in addition to enhancing our power, we must also do good deeds. Can you demons perform good deeds?
You never do anything beneficial. Even if doing good could help increase your power, you wouldn't do it. All of you are born from the Dark Realm, a place that embodies all negative forces. You represent various negative powers, so how could I possibly cooperate with you?
My goal is to eliminate all you demons and send you back to the Dark Realm.
Ordinary demons like you can't continually resurrect through the power of the Dark Realm like other Devils can.
Even one of the ten great Origin Devils, Shadow, has been successfully resealed by me. Do you think you are more powerful than Shadow?"
During his response, John also revealed that he had resealed Shadow.
Hearing this news, the man in black was visibly shocked.
The man in black was astounded to learn that Shadow, one of the Origin Devils, had been resealed.
If John truly had the power to reseal Shadow, then it was also within his capabilities to banish the man in black back to the Dark Realm.
Quickly assessing the situation, the man in black realized he could no longer afford to be an enemy of John.
His primary objective now was to use every means possible to escape.
Just as he was about to flee, a loud boom echoed from the direction of Duke Arsena's palace.
With the help of Storm City's guards, Duke Arsena had finally lifted the seal outside his palace.
He could now rapidly reinforce the Great Library.
At this point, the man in black virtually had no chance of winning.
Facing the combined forces of John and Duke Arsena, he stood no chance at all.
Without any hesitation, the man in black chose to teleport away immediately.