Chapter 287

A few minutes later, Qi Xing held down the three rambunctious kids and finally started talking about the real business: "I have already collected thirteen "silver coin"s. Before challenging the final ancient Demon King, I plan to first challenge the "King of Hell" to collect the fourteenth, and then go to the United States to defeat their current President and obtain the fifteenth."

"When the final Demon King, Simon Magus, returns to the human world, don't give him a chance to prepare. We'll go straight for a 15-on-15, plus as many Giant Spirits as possible and you, Lin, and just gang up on him to finish him off."

The idea was good, but when Lin, Elaine, and Sasa heard Qi Xing say this, their first reaction was actually the same.

Elaine was the first to blurt out: "Go challenge the "King of Hell" first… that's an avatar of Christ."

"So, do you think there's any difference in the win rate between challenging him now versus collecting twenty-nine "silver coin"s before challenging him?"

Qi Xing retorted.

"At the very least, we all know that to defeat the "King of Hell", it certainly won't be by relying on the number of "silver coin"s."

Elaine was indeed speechless for a moment.

On the contrary, Lin said thoughtfully: "If we can defeat Father, the final Demon King will just be a warm-up match… That sounds almost too easy."

Indeed.

Qi Xing understood what she meant. If they could really defeat the "King of Hell", why would Qi Xing need to worry about the final Demon King, Simon Magus? Wouldn't that just be a piece of cake? Stories usually aren't told that way, right?

"Reality isn't a story after all. Or perhaps after we defeat Simon Magus and collect all thirty "silver coin"s, a new BOSS will pop out."

So Qi Xing shrugged, "But I think that's unlikely. Where would so many new BOSSes come from?"

After saying that, he laughed out loud himself.

…The others didn't laugh with him; Lin and Elaine both looked at Sasa suspiciously.

The devil was getting goosebumps from their stares and hurriedly waved her hands: "Don't look at me like I'm going to betray everyone and cause trouble at the last minute! If I did that, I really couldn't be the female lead and would only be doomed forever!"

"Besides, even if I were the final BOSS, could my presence be as imposing as my brother's?!"

That… actually made sense.

Thus, the topic eventually returned to the headache-inducing problem of how to defeat the barbarian version of Christ.

"Regardless, Qi Xing, I will fight for you."

Lin said, patting her chest, "Last time I challenged Father, I was being played with the whole time, but that won't happen again."

"Lin, I don't want to dampen your spirits," Qi Xing shook his head, "but there probably won't be much of a role for you in challenging the "King of Hell"."

Saying this, he looked at Sasa. "This is a trial for Samael, and possibly for me as well."

—When Lin last challenged her father and was being played with, whose trial was that?

It was Hinata Haruna. It was the past solar Magical Girl who passed the "King of Hell"'s trial to become the current "Lionheart Society" Magical Girl.

Lin also understood the implication of Qi Xing's words and couldn't help but frown.

True gold must be forged in fire. She was a "Valkyrie", and guiding heroes to the place of the gods to accept trials was her nature—but as the "King of Hell" had remarked, a "Valkyrie" is a grim reaper who leads heroes, but she herself cannot get involved in the final trial.

Nevertheless, she would still go.

"Qi Xing, it's no problem for you to decide the order, but have you really thought about how to fight my brother?"

Sasa took the opportunity to lean in and ask.

"No." Qi Xing was very calm. "How could I possibly imagine something I've never seen before? The "King of Hell"'s style certainly won't be fake with us."

"Thirteen "silver coin"s, the spear of longinus; with so many things in my hands, there's always a way to fight."

As he said this, he materialized all thirteen "silver coin"s currently in his possession and slapped them onto the conference table.

The first one, [Dominator] → [The World] card

The second one, [Illusion] → [The Moon] card

The third one, [Death] → [Death] card

The fourth one, [Truth] → [The Sun] card

These few were the ones Qi Xing was relatively used to using.

As for the remaining new things, he hadn't really mastered most of them yet:

The ones obtained from the remaining two Demon King children were the [Fairness] → [Justice] card and the [Wisdom] → [The High Priestess] card.

The one obtained from Papiyas was the [Destruction] → [The Tower] card.

Then there were the six that dropped from Duo Chenzi; aside from her core "silver coin", the [Reincarnation] → [Wheel of Fortune] card, Qi Xing basically hadn't explored them yet.

[Mother] → [The Empress] card, [Morality] → [The Hierophant] card, [Time] → [The Hermit] card.

In addition, there were two "silver coin"s that Duo Chenzi never had the chance to fully utilize, which were the [Victory] → [The Chariot] card, and another symbolic symbol within the Tarot deck that was not part of the Major Arcana: one of the four archetypes that make up the spiritual universe.

[The Eagle], capable of soaring high in the sky and looking at the whole picture, symbolizing transcendence and foresight, corresponding to intuition and insight.

"The "King of Hell" has one in his hand; it should be either [The Lion] or [Strength]."

Qi Xing pondered, "The remaining sixteen are all with Simon Magus. But looking at it this way, it's really strange; I haven't picked up a single one of the four "silver coin"s corresponding to the four Minor Arcana Tarot cards representing the four elements."

…Perhaps it's because although the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind are important and indispensable, they are ultimately too boring.

So, how was Qi Xing going to use these thirteen "silver coin"s to compete with the "King of Hell"? By swapping cards move for move?

That probably wouldn't be very reliable. Honestly taking the trinity of [The Sun], [The Moon], and [The World] to fight him might actually have a better chance of winning.

—Besides, this wasn't just a trial for Qi Xing alone; it also had to count Sasa's share. Who could predict exactly what would happen?

It was better to just go and fight to his heart's content.

Having decided the direction, Qi Xing said to Lin: "Lin, would you please go and tell the "King of Hell"? Tomorrow, Samael and I will go to visit him."

Since this wasn't a fight to the death in the true sense, but a challenge, Qi Xing had to be polite. Besides, a surprise attack was impossible anyway, so why not?

Lin didn't think too much about it, nodded, and flew towards "Heaven".

…As it turned out, the next day, when Qi Xing flew towards "Heaven" with Sasa again and arrived at that highest viewing platform once more, he saw that on the vast, boundless viewing platform, there were actually those battle monks wearing silver-white power armor, as well as those tall and burly golden-armored warriors.

What was going on?

The "King of Hell" certainly wasn't going to use them to gang up on Qi Xing. Qi Xing looked closely and discovered that Lin was standing at their head, dressed as a "Valkyrie", but her expression looked very unhappy.

Could they be here to watch the ceremony?

Qi Xing landed with Sasa. However, before he could stand awkwardly under the gaze of the crowd for too long, the "King of Hell" walked over through the crowd.

He was the same as last time, tall and magnificent, wearing golden battle armor, holding a spear in his right hand that was somewhat similar to the spear of longinus but even larger, while sitting on his left arm was someone who surprised Qi Xing.

It was the first time Qi Xing had met this lady face-to-face, but Qi Xing certainly knew who she was—she was Jingo Shinji's wife, Lin's mother, Asuka.

This mortal, who possessed no power and whose combat strength was even weaker than Elaine's, was now wearing a tight suit resembling an EVA pilot's, sitting on the "King of Hell"'s left arm, and had come over with him. Her expression was even a bit awkward and nervous.

Qi Xing was almost stunned for a moment before he realized the meaning behind the "King of Hell"'s action: "…You want to fight me with one hand while holding your wife?"

"Indeed." The "King of Hell" smiled slightly. "Since I promised to let her see the "World" through my eyes, how could I let her be absent from such a battle?"

Saying this, his golden eyes also swept over Qi Xing, as well as Sasa, who was also being held in his arms.

"Nine moves."

"Qi Xing, Sael, if you can withstand nine moves from me… then you win. How about it?"

Volume 8: The Free People and the Free World: 263: If Admitting Mistakes Were Useful, Why Would We Need the Police?

Nine moves.

Holding his purely mortal wife, who had absolutely no combat strength and was weaker than Elaine, in his right hand, and using only his left hand to hold the large spear, he was letting Qi Xing try to survive nine moves.

No matter how you looked at it, Brother Christ was holding back and playing around.

But Qi Xing wasn't naive enough to think that he and Sasa—especially Sasa—could easily pass the "King of Hell"'s trial.

If someone said this War God Christ could really hold his wife in one hand and crush the entire universe with the other, Qi Xing wouldn't be surprised at all: wouldn't that just be a matter of course?

Then again, why specifically nine moves, and not ten?

There were many points to complain about, but now that it had come to this, facing the strongest opponent in history, Qi Xing became exceptionally calm instead.

—As a warrior, having the opportunity to challenge the strongest, what was there to complain about?

"Fight right here?"

Looking around at the surrounding battle monks and golden-armored guards, Qi Xing asked casually, "Are your "Heaven" warriors all so bloodthirsty that they must watch an earth-shattering battle to get their money's worth? What if they die?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Xing realized his question was a bit funny: talking about this to Brother Jesus?

Sasa had said it before—the "King of Hell" is the King of the Dead.

"Let them watch to their heart's content; it doesn't matter."

Sure enough, the "King of Hell" smiled slightly. "Warriors want to witness the pinnacle of power, and you also need to show your power to the world. This is the perfect time."

…Qi Xing did understand the logic of these words, but these warriors around here could hardly count as the "world", right?

Was the "King of Hell" going to film this battle and broadcast it live for billions of people on Earth to watch?

"Hmm, that's not bad either."

Thinking of this, Qi Xing also picked up Sasa with his left arm. Although Sasa looked baffled, and it was the opposite side from the "King of Hell", it could be considered a bit of a contrast.

"What are you doing?"

Stupid Sasa hadn't realized what was happening yet, completely confused.

"I'm not the only one who needs to show myself to the world, dummy."

Qi Xing was speechless. "What did you come here for anyway?"

Just as he finished speaking, while Sasa was still dazed, the "King of Hell" didn't drag things out any longer.

"First move."

Holding his wife in his right arm and raising the large spear with his left hand, the god gave a gentle shake in the air.

Just this simple action caused the surrounding world to tremble and wail. In an instant, the watching warriors, and even the "Valkyrie" Lin, were stretched to an infinite distance, as if pulled away by the god's own hand.

"I am the one who carves the monument of history."

The "King of Hell" had begun to chant.

"I am the one who wears the crown of victory."

"I challenge the limits."

"I aim for the beyond."

"For all eternity! — Sin World · Asura Transformation! (Und das für alle Zeit — Gehennom · Valhöll)"

Just on the first move, the "King of Hell" released his world! A silent roar erupted from the depths of the void, and the world of Asura (Valhalla) instantly engulfed Qi Xing and Sasa!

The view flipped, and everything changed in an instant.

What had swallowed and enveloped Qi Xing and Sasa was already a ruin of a battlefield with raging flames, the world of Asura.

The sky was burning, and flames cascaded down from the horizon like a waterfall.

Countless collapsed towers and shattered houses burned in the heavenly fire, like the end of the world.

The earth was cracked, and the ground was stuck with various weapons from ancient times to the present: broken spears, snapped rifles, blood-stained broadswords, and scorched swords, lying in disarray, standing like tombstones.

But these things naturally couldn't scare Qi Xing and Sasa.