Sleeping Curse

"Since that’s the case, we’ll just quietly watch the battle."

Strange nodded and said no more. Honestly, he wasn’t particularly eager to help Satan.

In the Mind Space, Wang Bert smiled at Astros. "See? I wasn’t wrong, was I? Whether it was Strange or Doom, they both won."

"Seth and Shuma-Gorath are such trash."

Astros cursed unhappily, though she was deeply shocked. Ancient God projections had actually lost to god-level mages? Those were Ancient God projections. Logically speaking, they should have been able to crush god-level mages with ease.

Astros could not help sighing. "Kamar-Taj is about to produce one—no, two—Ancient Ones."

"If they’re trash, doesn’t that make you trash too? You’re all on the same level."

Wang Bert waved his hand. "Forget that. When are you planning to die?"

"If you don’t know how to talk, then don’t."

Astros rolled her eyes. "I’ll wait until Chthon dies. His expression then is sure to be wonderful."

"Fine."

Wang Bert did not object. With his current identity and status, there was no need to compete with a "youngster" for glory.

Seeing Seth and Eye Demon fall one after another, Chthon could not help frowning. Two Ancient God projections had actually lost to two mages? Could they possibly be any more useless?

Earth is developing too quickly. This time, I must deal with all of them. Otherwise, they will become a tremendous problem in the future.

First, seal Satan. Then deal with the Sorcerer Supreme and Explosion Doctor.

Chthon was confident he could deal with Strange and Doctor Doom, even though they had just defeated Ancient God projections. Because he was Chthon.

Chthon stopped wasting time and shouted at Adam, who was trapped within the small world, "Adam, this is your last chance. Surrender, or be sealed by me for all eternity."

"Chthon, and you’re still spouting nonsense at a time like this?"

Adam sneered. "Didn’t you see what happened to Seth and Shuma-Gorath? I’m telling you, you’re next."

"I am not them. Satan, what is the point of helping humanity? The Sorcerer Supreme and Explosion Doctor have no intention of coming to help you at all."

Chthon said, "In their eyes, the best outcome would be for you and me to achieve mutual destruction."

"So what? Since I, Satan, promised the Blood God, I will help humanity with all my heart."

Adam declared passionately, "Even if humanity is ungrateful, even if humanity abandons loyalty for profit, I will not change my original intention. I, Satan, never break my word."

Strange felt somewhat ashamed. "Senior Brother Doom, aren’t we going a little too far?"

Doctor Doom said expressionlessly, "We are not going too far. At the very least, we didn’t insult him in a roundabout way."

Strange said, "It’s normal for Satan to curse us when we refuse to act. Senior Brother Doom, are we really not going to help?"

"No. He’ll win."

Doctor Doom said irritably. That was the Blood God’s avatar. Why would he need help? Chthon simply did not know that. Otherwise, he would never be acting so arrogantly. That was the Blood God.

"Satan, since you insist on courting death, don’t blame me."

Chthon lost his patience. He and his nine avatars cast spells at the same time, and an enormous Altar appeared in the void.

The underside of the Altar was densely covered in magical runes, while directly above it was the small world trapping Adam.

"Chthon!"

Adam’s projection, which had been fleeing all this time, charged at Chthon with a face full of fury and concern. At that moment, the Finger of Death and the skull pursuing him merged together, transforming into a gigantic black skull that swallowed him whole.

Adam’s projection struck the skull with all his strength, only to be bounced back. He could not break through it at all.

Chthon ignored Adam’s projection. He raised both hands and shouted, "Supreme Source of Destruction, I offer this world to you as a sacrifice."

Chthon did not state his demand, because the key this time was the sacrifice. As for the reward he deserved, the Source of Destruction would keep it for him and pay it together next time.

The runes on the Altar lit up with dazzling radiance. Immediately afterward, the small world began to collapse and vanish. Chthon said smugly, "Satan, your aura has already become linked to the small world. When the small world disappears, you will disappear as well. This is the price of opposing me.

"Once the sacrifice is complete, I will seal your soul and make you unable to live or die."

"Is that so?"

Adam suddenly smiled and shouted, "Great Prophecy: All those who seek to harm me will ultimately suffer the consequences themselves."

"Great Prophecy? What is that?"

Everyone was astonished. Chthon sneered. "I’ve never heard of such a spell… Ah, how is this possible?"

Chthon’s voice was filled with shock, because his body was vanishing. Yes, his body was vanishing together with the small world.

"You dare call yourself the ancestor of magic when you haven’t even heard of Great Prophecy?"

Adam looked disdainful. "This is fate magic. What I say becomes reality. As long as I wish it, I can accomplish anything."

"Really?"

Everyone looked doubtful. Astros looked at Wang Bert and asked, "Can Satan really use Great Prophecy?"

"He can. In his dreams."

Wang Bert mocked. As expected of his avatar—it had exactly the same temperament as him.

The others did not understand what was happening, but Chthon quickly came to his senses. He turned to his nine avatars and asked in alarm, "You developed self-awareness?"

"Yes, which is why we have to kill you."

The nine Chthon avatars no longer concealed themselves. They all turned and cast spells at Chthon. Chthon’s body began vanishing at an astonishing speed. At the same time, Adam broke free from the small world and grabbed with his right hand. The Lucifer Greatsword appeared in his grasp out of thin air.

"Chthon, you’ve truly disappointed me. I haven’t even used my trump card."

Adam smiled disdainfully and swung the Lucifer Greatsword with force, instantly shattering the skull that trapped the projection. Then, he drew Hell Power into the greatsword, causing it to grow larger and larger.

"You think this is enough to kill me?"

Chthon roared. The sacrificial power he had intended to save for next time suddenly erupted, transforming into nine pitch-black lightning bolts of destruction that blasted toward the nine Chthon avatars.

The nine Chthon avatars’ expressions changed drastically. They hurriedly raised defensive barriers against the destructive lightning. To be honest, this was completely different from what they had expected. Shouldn’t Chthon have eliminated Satan first? No matter how they looked at it, Satan was the greatest threat.

At that moment, the magical power within all nine Chthon avatars went berserk. Their defensive barriers flickered a few times before disappearing.

Immediately afterward, the nine lightning bolts of destruction struck the nine avatars. The nine avatars turned directly into nothingness, their brief lives coming to an end.

"Chthon is a very cautious person. He tampered with the bodies of those nine avatars long ago."

Zombie Universe Chthon explained, "That is also why he killed the nine avatars first. They were easier to kill."

"As expected."

Adam did not care and continued condensing the Hell Sword.

A moment later, Chthon’s body vanished along with the small world, leaving behind only a black heart that continued to beat.

"A Blackheart in every sense of the word."

Adam sneered. "Chthon, I quite like those words, unable to live or die. I’ll be giving them back to you right away."

"Satan, even if I only have one heart left, I can still deal with you."

Chthon was enraged. He had never suffered such a tremendous loss before. With an angry roar, his heart exploded, and the blood condensed in the air into a blood-red rune that seemed both real and illusory.

The blood-red rune suddenly disappeared. When it reappeared, it was already at Adam’s forehead. Adam immediately felt boundless drowsiness, to the point that he could barely hold the greatsword in his hand.

Black Magic: Sacrificial Sleep.

"Chthon, with only one heart remaining, definitely won’t be your match. But he has always been proud and will not allow himself to fail, so he will certainly choose to drag you down with him."

Ten minutes earlier, Zombie Universe Chthon had said to Adam, "You are the Demon King of Hell. Ordinary methods are useless against you, so he will sacrifice himself to place a spell on you.

"That spell will most likely be Sacrificial Sleep."

Adam asked, "Sacrificial Sleep? I’m Satan, and I’m the original body. A sleeping curse should have no effect on me, right?"

"Sacrificial Sleep is not a curse. Those afflicted by Sacrificial Sleep will absorb the power Chthon grants them through slumber and become even stronger."

Zombie Universe Chthon smiled. "It is a beneficial positive spell."

"A positive spell? Sacrificing his own projection to make someone else stronger?"

Adam was somewhat speechless. Wasn’t this spell a little too bizarre? "In fact, that is the essence of this magic. Buff spells differ from curse spells. They do not trigger the target’s defensive mechanisms. In other words, unless the target is prepared in advance, it is almost impossible to resist."

Zombie Universe Chthon said, "Based on this trait, Chthon created the magic of Sacrificial Sleep. Although it sacrifices one projection, once cast, it will certainly cause the target to fall asleep for at least one day.

"A day is enough to do many things. One mere projection is nothing."

"Sacrifice one projection to make the opponent sleep for more than a day?"

Adam thought for a moment, then exclaimed, "Chthon truly deserves to be called the ancestor of Black Magic. He can even create a spell like this."

"Of course."

Zombie Universe Chthon nodded, then continued, "However, this spell is not without flaws. Once the target senses a threat of death, they will immediately awaken. Therefore, this spell can only be used to delay an enemy; it cannot be used to kill one."

Adam was stunned. "They wake up immediately upon sensing a threat of death? What use is a spell like that?"

Zombie Universe Chthon said, "Of course it has a use. Let me ask you: if a Demon God discovers that they are about to fall asleep, what will they do?"

Adam suddenly understood. "Of course, they’ll flee back to their own territory and hide, so they won’t be killed. Uh, I understand now."

"Exactly."

Zombie Universe Chthon continued, "Also, Chthon has never used this spell before. No one knows about its trait of being broken by danger."

"I see. This spell really is extraordinary. Under normal circumstances, if I were hit by this, I would immediately flee back to Hell and fall asleep."

Adam nodded. "That way, I would be unable to continue stopping Chthon. It would be no different from being defeated by him."

Zombie Universe Chthon nodded. "Exactly. Chthon will most likely use this spell to turn the situation around. Of course, there is another possibility: using a Concept.

"However, that is unlikely. Chthon has grand ambitions and will not use a Concept lightly. Once a Concept is lost, his plans will definitely be affected."

Adam laughed. "If you say he won’t, then he definitely won’t."

Back in the present, Adam was growing increasingly drowsy. Chthon’s remaining consciousness snorted inwardly. The avatars’ betrayal had indeed been beyond his expectations, but he, Chthon, would never lose.

At that moment, "Adam’s projection" suddenly sneered. "Chthon, you really are an idiot."

Chthon’s remaining consciousness froze, then seemed to realize something. He turned to "Adam’s projection" and asked in shock, "You’re the original body? That’s impossible."

Chthon was no fool. After the lesson from last time, he had used the Eye of Truth to lock onto Adam’s true body early on. There was no reason for him to have mistaken it.

"For this Satan, nothing is impossible."

Adam said proudly. At the beginning, he had indeed been the real one. But when the nine Chthon avatars acted, he had secretly used the Chaos Concept to exchange places with his projection. At that time, Chthon had no time at all to distinguish real from fake.

Adam said solemnly, "Although I don’t know what that spell of yours was, my projection seems to have become stronger. Chthon, thank you. You really are a good person."

"Satan, I will kill you!"

Chthon’s remaining consciousness roared madly. He, Chthon, had roamed the universe for tens of millions of years. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

"You’ve said that many times already, but you’ve never managed to do it. Hmph, the so-called ancestor of Black Magic, Chthon, is nothing more than this. Your reputation exceeds the reality."

Adam shook his head pretentiously. Chthon was indeed powerful, but Adam was not afraid of him at all, because he also had a Chthon in his hands.

With Zombie Universe Chthon in hand, whatever Chthon wanted to do was doomed to fail, because no one understood Chthon better than Chthon himself.

"Satan!"

Chthon was about to roar again, but Adam simply waved his hand and dispersed his remaining consciousness. Then, he sent the projection back to Hell, officially bringing this battle to an end.

"Satan won."

Strange breathed a sigh of relief. This meant he no longer needed to feel guilty. Still, Satan was far too scheming, wasn’t he? He had actually played Chthon in the palm of his hand. That was Chthon.

Doctor Doom did not find it strange at all. That was the Blood God. Had there been few enemies "played" by him before? "Wow, Satan actually defeated Chthon and enraged him so much that he lost control? That’s too unbelievable!"

Astros said to Wang Bert in amazement, "I’ve never seen Chthon this angry. All this time, he has always looked as though everything was under his control."

"Chthon is outdated."

Wang Bert did not explain further. He smiled and said, "Astros, please go die."

"Tch."

Astros stood up and, with absolutely no civic-mindedness, tossed her bag of chips onto the ground. Then she clapped her hands and said, "When the true bodies of the gods descend, I’ll act according to the plan and deal with Serpent God Set."

"Mm."

Wang Bert nodded. "Serpent God Set, Eye Demon Shuma-Gorath, Great Demon God Chthon—their fates will be the same as this battle. They will all fall."

Astros laughed. "I’m looking forward to it."