MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

“As a human, I swore long ago that I would exterminate all the evil demons. But now? I myself am a demon. Am I supposed to exterminate myself?

“Hehe, Alenod found me a Potion of Revealment, but what use is it? If I turn back into a human, will my shame and humiliation vanish as though they never existed?

“The world is changing every day, but some things will never change…

“In the first few years after I became a demon, I had once escaped to the human world. In order to prove my identity, I went to my best friends, the Three Human Heroes, and showed them my signature attacks, but to what avail? They refused to acknowledge me whatsoever, determined as they were that I was an evil demon.

“But so what? I didn’t care about that. It was when I saw all the efforts of my hard work getting eliminated that I finally lost my temper. You can refuse to acknowledge me for what I am now, but I won’t stand by as you destroy the things I fought for a human, my contributions to the world!

“They’re despicable!

“The Four Human Heroes became the Three Human Heroes, but my name vanished forever…”

As he said that, tears welled in Aragon’s eyes.

“Human refused to acknowledge me and everything I did was forgotten. Tell me, even if I turn back into a human now, what can I do?”

Aragon turned around and pulled up his shirt, revealing a long scar.

“Do you know how I got this scar? When I was being pursued by humans, a little human child left that mark on me. That little punk did not have any power to speak of, but he still dared to try and assassinate me. Hehe, I could have killed him with a finger.

Li Yi chuckled and continued, “You didn’t kill him.”

Aragon asked. “How did you know I didn’t kill him?”

‘”It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. Your heart is still that of a human.”

Haha, you’re right. I didn’t kill the child. I just captured him and took him to a cave, spanked him, and then taught him everything I knew without holding back.

“That human child, hmm… His name was Augustus.”

Li Yi chuckled. He had heard this story once before in the past life, but after hearing it again this life, he still felt that this Emperor of the Continent was quite the loving guy.

Augustus’ teacher was Cassius, but he had inherited the role of Blademaster. This mystery confused many players in the past life until the introduction of the Foreignlands and the Luo Lan Empire’s Hall of Fame Quest finally cleared everything up.

“Right now, to me, it matters not if I can return to being human. I currently live as a demon, but I have the heart of a human. If you were me, friend, what would you do?”

“Ding!”

Three options appeared before Li Yi’s eyes.

[1. Help the demons.]

[2. Help the humans.]

[3. Do nothing.]

In the past life, Li Yi chose [Do nothing] and earned 500 Affinity Points with Aragon.

This time, however, he wanted to try something different.

Li Yi said, “Help the demons!”

Aragon was surprised. “Oh? Why?”

“The humans did not acknowledge you, and you have no standing in the human world. On the other hand, you’ve lived for so long here in the Foreignland, so shouldn’t you lend the demons a hand?”

“That makes sense.” Aragon nodded.

“Ding!”

System Notification: [Your Affinity with Aragon has increased by 1,000 points.]

That was 500 more points than he had gotten in the past life.

“Unfortunately, the demons hate me too. My identity is no secret among the demons, and many upper-class demons know who I really am. Can you guess why they haven’t killed me?”

Aragon sighed. “It’s because they believe that killing me would be granting me release. They think that having me live like this, neither human nor demon, would be even more painful and torturous…

“Helping the demons would only agonize me, but what would I get for helping the humans? I may as well do nothing and watch as the two sides fight it out. Wouldn’t that be carefree?”

Aragon said self-deprecatingly before he asked, “Do you still have the sword I gave you?”

Li Yi took out Aragon’s Emperor Sword and gave it to Aragon.

“This sword is an Emperor’s Sword bestowed by the gods. Legend has it that anyone who owns this sword will become Emperor of the Continent. Haha, back then when I infiltrated the demons’ inner circles in disguise, I had once lost this sword. It was only 300 years ago that I rediscovered it.

“For a short time, I had been Emperor of the Continent. However… all that is in the past. Haha, now I have no interest whatsoever in becoming Emperor of the Continent. However, I’m curious — why did the gods high above bestow upon us such a sword of power?

“Go and search for it. If you can just find the Ancient Emperor’s Capital of legends and take your place on the Imperial Throne with this sword, you will receive the blessings of the gods and immediately become Emperor of the Continent!”

Aragon caressed the Emperor’s Sword and returned it to Li Yi.

Compared to before, its display screen had clearly changed. There was no increase in attributes, but there was an additional, bad*ss line: Kneel Before Me!

When Li Yi accepted the sword, there was another round of system spam on the World Channel.

[The ruins of the Emperor’s Capital have been discovered on the North Pole Continent, and the Ancient King Quest Series has been officially unlocked. Players between Levels 100 and 200 may challenge it.]

[The Emperor’s Capital was created by the gods themselves. According to legend, anyone who ascends the Imperial Throne will become Emperor of the Continent.]

…

The announcement, all written in red, introduced the new quests over and over, stunning the players who had yet to recover from the shock of the Sixth Demon God’s death.

“Emperor? That’d make them the king of the three continents… No, not three, but four continents! They’d be the strongest person under the Pantheon of Gods!”

“F*ck, it’s hard enough becoming king, but there’s an emperor role too? Who can live up to that?”

“Sounds pretty bad*ss, but we ain’t interested. Either way, it ain’t gonna be us, hahahaha…”

The World Channel exploded again.

The Emperor’s Capital Quests were simply an addendum to the Foreignland map for a very simple reason— the Foreignland map did not have any dungeons, and all the bosses were wild monsters, so only a very few top-notch parties could take them down.

To regular players, the Foreignland map was extremely annoying because they had to fight over monsters and bosses, killing each other every day. If they were not attached to a large guild or faction, it was next to impossible for a single individual to achieve anything in the Foreignland.

The Emperor’s Capital and the Ancient King Quest Series neatly patched up the Foreignland’s distinct lack of dungeons. Players who did not like the Foreignland could then head straight for the Emperor’s Capital to challenge the Ancient King Dungeon, saving them time, energy, and attention span.

“Anyone wanna go to the new dungeon, Ancient King?”

“Hahaha, the Bladeforger Party is calling for members, those who want to try Ancient King are welcome.”

“Established boosting service Unpopular is back in business. Those who want to attempt Ancient King, come now with your equipment and Holy Points!”

When the players heard that there was a new dungeon, they were pleasantly surprised. Many had long since grown tired of the endless fighting on the Foreignland map, so the opening of the Ancient King Dungeon scratched their itch perfectly. No wonder they were ecstatic.

“Ding-ding-ding-ding…”

Li Yi’s inbox never stopped ringing, and he knew without looking that it had to be messages from the Iron Alliance leaders like Confused Fox and Flower Underpants. There was a new dungeon now, so should they try it now? Or should they stick to the Foreignland map? Either way, Li Yi had to give the green light. Without his approval, the others could not make a decision.

Li Yi replied quickly, “Brother Underpants, Brother Fox, tell the others that we won’t have any directives this time. Those who want to keep at the Foreignland can continue, and those who don’t can go ahead and try Ancient King. Up to you!”

Flower Underpants announced on the Alliance Channel, “It’s up to you, the Iron Alliance leaves it up to you! We won’t force anyone with directives. If you like the Foreignland, go for it. If you want to try the dungeon, feel free to. Do whatever you want, form your own parties. If you want to be part of our main party, please message Brother Fox!”

The arrival of a new dungeon would always cause an excited stir. Many even spammed congratulatory messages on the World Channel, much to the glee of the Pantheon company.

Leaving messages on the World Channel required money. While a couple of messages did not add up to much, repeated postings would see the prices skyrocket, rising rather than falling. Only the truly rich were capable of these exorbitant fees.

“If you want to be Emperor of the Continent, this Emperor’s Sword alone isn’t enough. You must first earn the acknowledgment of the Ancient Kings’ souls and have them recognize your strength. Only then will you have the right to take the Imperial Throne.

“Ding!”

Li Yi’s quest pane lit up and he automatically received the quest, Ancient King’s Summons.

[Quest Title: Ancient King’s Summons]

[Quest Details: Head to the North Pole Continent and find the Emperor’s Capital. Enter the Ancient King Series Dungeons and challenge several Ancient Kings who were revived due to certain abnormal phenomena.]

[Quest Difficulty: Rank SSS]

[Time Limit: None]

[Quest Hint: The Emperor’s Capital has mysteriously appeared and the Ancient Kings who once ruled the continent have been infected by a mysterious power. They are also lusting for the Throne of the Emperor. Hero, please cut their ambitions short!]

[Quest Reward: ???]

[Quest Full Title: Luo Lan Empire’s Hall of Fame Quest]

…

After all that work, the Luo Lan Empire’s Hall of Fame Quest had finally officially begun. What they had to do now was much simpler. They just had to head for the Ancient King Dungeon and kill the boss inside.

After he handed out the quest, Aragon returned to a corner to rest. However, Li Yi did not leave, choosing instead to look at Aragon smilingly and refusing to move.

In the past life, when he reached this step, Aragon had given him a rare material, a piece of Titanium. However, he had not received anything yet this time, so he was waiting.

Ten minutes later, Li Yi could not help but cough and ask, “Your Holiness Aragon, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Aragon looked confused as he shook his head.

Li Yi saw that he did not take the bait, so he decided to just come out and say it. “I’ll go become the Emperor of the Continent as you said, so shouldn’t you give me a prize?”

Aragon held out his hand. “I’m not forcing you. You can become Emperor of the Continent if you want to, but if you don’t, you can return the Emperor’s Sword to me.”

“F*ck you!”

Li Yi flipped Aragon off and left in a rage…

It was fine if Aragon did not give him a reward, but he was never returning the Emperor’s Sword now.

…