Chapter 527: Thor, what will you do when you’re pushed to the brink?
Chapter 527: Thor, what will you do when you’re pushed to the brink?
The black beam completely engulfed Thor and then vanished into thin air, leaving behind an enraged Maxen.
"Thor's dead for sure," the Fifth Demon God said casually, pulling out a bottle of wine from who knows where and pouring himself a glass. "Unless, of course, the Supreme Mark is on him..."
The moment those words left his mouth, Maxen's fury was extinguished like a fire doused with water.
Before the Fifth Demon God could even take a sip of his celebratory drink, Maxen snatched both the bottle and the glass from him.
"You almost scared me to death!" Maxen exclaimed, still shaken, before downing the wine in one gulp.
Maxen knew one thing for sure: Thor might be greedy, but he was extremely cautious about his own safety.
If Thor said he had a 100% chance of surviving, then there was no need to worry!
Now that his mind was at ease, Maxen turned his attention to the Fifth Demon God, noticing something off.
The Fifth Demon God looked unusually weak, far from the confident and powerful figure he had been moments ago.
Maxen smirked. "So, you finally paid the price for that sneak attack, huh? All that effort to reach level 1000, and now you've lost it just like that?"
Even for the Fifth Demon God, attempting to ambush Ares came with a cost.
"Level 1000, huh? So strong?" the Fifth Demon God sneered. "What's the point of being strong if I can't even die? Whether I'm at 999 or 1000, it makes no difference to me."
For the human race, as long as Thor hadn't suffered any losses, this was a massive victory!
The Fifth Demon God's power had plummeted, leaving him unable to cause trouble for the time being.
The Supreme Demon God had made several moves, all of which had failed, wasting his own strength in the process.
Ares had also saved himself the trouble of having to intervene.
If the Fifth Demon God had remained at level 1000, Ares would have had to cut him back down to 999, or the Abyssal battlefield would have descended into chaos.
And they had captured the Chaos Prince...
No matter how you looked at it, this was a win-win situation!
Despite falling from level 1000, the Fifth Demon God acted as if nothing had happened.
Clearly, this guy wasn't right in the head!
After finishing the Fifth Demon God's wine, Maxen glanced at the pigeon perched on his shoulder and decided to try communicating with it.
Maxen: "Coo, coo, coo?"
The pigeon responded politely, "What's wrong? Did your language skills regress?" Maxen: ???
"So, you can speak human language?"
The pigeon scoffed. "You never asked!"
Maxen finally understood. This was a talking pigeon. It felt strange, but considering it was connected to his Second Godfather, it wasn't that surprising.
Maxen tentatively asked, "Are you this grumpy with my godfather too?"
The pigeon shot back, "Who is your godfather?"
Maxen scratched his head awkwardly. "Which one are you asking about?"
Now it was the pigeon's turn to be confused.
But it quickly pieced things together.
As far as the pigeon knew, there weren't many people in the human race with multiple godfathers.
And only one person could say it so confidently.
The pigeon's eyes widened in surprise. "You're Maxen?!"
After a moment, the pigeon raised one wing to its forehead.
"So that means Thor was the one who got sent away?"
"Oh no, oh no, I've made a huge mistake! I'm definitely going to be punished. I'm going to end up as pigeon soup..."
This cross-realm conversation was getting out of hand!
Even the Fifth Demon God couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Maxen quickly tried to calm the pigeon down. "Wait a minute, you didn't know he was Thor?"
"Of course I didn't!" the pigeon snapped. "You humans all look the same to me!" Maxen was stunned. The pigeon sent to save them was face-blind?
The pigeon, still confused, asked, "Isn't Thor supposed to be terrified of dying? Why was he so brave?"
Clearly, the pigeon hadn't recognized Thor at first. It never expected a mage to wield a hammer as a weapon.
Suddenly, the pigeon became agitated.
"Hurry! We need to act fast!"
Maxen's eyes lit up. "You have a way to save Thor?"
The pigeon roared, "Hurry up and get me some delicious burgers and fries!"
Before it became pigeon soup, it wanted to live its best life.
Maxen: ...
...
After being swallowed by the black beam, Mike felt like he had been thrown into a washing machine set to maximum spin.
The sensation of weightlessness hit him repeatedly, and his vision alternated between darkness and light.
He had no idea how much time had passed before the disorienting feeling finally stopped.
When he opened his eyes, Mike found himself in a small Abyssal Plane, the location unknown.
"Well, at least I'm not dead!" Mike thought, recalling that the black beam had lethal capabilities. If Maxen had been hit, he would have been killed instantly.
Thankfully, Thor had stepped in and saved Maxen!
Mike sighed in relief. "I saved his life. He really owes me a Mystic Market now!"
Since he wasn't dead, Mike decided to lay low for a while, ensuring his safety before figuring
out how to contact the human race.
Looking around, Mike spotted a few scattered demon creatures nearby, none of them
particularly strong.
The strongest one was only a nine-star Lord!
"Are the demon creatures here really this weak?"
After charging up, Mike unleashed Chaotic Lightning, easily dispatching the nearby demons.
Now, Mike was completely safe.
"So, I survived thanks to the Supreme Mark?"
Before the black beam had hit him, the Eye of Truth had given him that warning.
No doubt about it, the SSS-grade talent had proven its worth once again.
Mike scanned his surroundings, looking for anything unusual.
That's when he noticed something on his right arm, near his shoulder-a faint, gray ribbon-
like substance, constantly shifting as if made of gas.
If he hadn't looked closely, he might have missed it.
"What's this?!"
Mike's pupils contracted as a memory surfaced.
Two months ago, on the day Thor awakened his SSS-grade talent and conquered the beginner
instance, all the new students had received a gift.
A black ribbon that could conceal their ID below level 100.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
At the time, Mike had marveled at how generous the human race was, providing such a useful
item to help Thor hide his identity.
But now, looking back, he understood everything.
The ribbon that had been given to Mike was different from everyone else's. It had a special
quality.
This batch of ribbons had been personally delivered by Foreskin.
Mike's instructor had no idea that the middle-aged man who handed him the ribbon was the
richest person on Earth.
And there was only one person in the world who could make Foreskin run errands.
Apollo.
And this ribbon had another name:
[Supreme Mark Crest].
...
The Supreme Mark was divided into three parts:
Sigil, Crest, and Heart.
Mike already knew that the Supreme Mark Sigil was his Charge Up ability.
It was the most personalized part of the Supreme Mark.
Every potential Supreme Being had their own unique Supreme Mark Sigil, tailored to their
abilities.
Mike's version was all about maximizing damage output.
As for the Supreme Mark Crest and Supreme Mark Heart, there was only one of each.
The Supreme Mark Heart was known to be in Apollo's possession.
Mike had long suspected that the Supreme Mark Crest was in his hands.
And now, after surviving the Fifth Demon God's deadly attack, its true form had finally been
revealed!
Staring at the ribbon on his arm, Mike fell into deep thought.
"So... this thing has been with me since the day I awakened?"
When the Supreme Mark (Sigil, Crest, and Heart) was fully combined, the human Supreme
Being would be in their most powerful state.
This artifact was beyond priceless! And yet... it had been with Mike all along!
The truth left Mike momentarily speechless.
Apollo had used this method to deliver the Supreme Mark to Mike, fooling everyone in the
process.
Even Shadow Nine had no idea!
After a long pause, Mike let out a deep sigh.
He could guess two reasons for Apollo's actions.
First, to deceive Shadow Nine.
Mike knew that Shadow Nine had always coveted the Supreme Mark.
But in Apollo's eyes, the mark should go to Thor first.
If Shadow Nine wanted to take it back from Thor, that was Shadow Nine's problem.
Apollo always played by the rules. No exceptions.
The second reason was... "This thing is really good for staying alive!"
Looking at the ribbon, Mike's eyes gleamed. "It blocked the Fifth Demon God's attack and
only went on a two-hour cooldown?"
With the Supreme Mark Crest protecting him, Mike felt like he could afford to take more risks
in the future.
"No, no, no!" Mike quickly dismissed the dangerous thought.
The Abyss was getting more dangerous by the day.
After this, Mike resolved not to set foot in the Abyss again until he reached Lord-level
strength!
Shaking off the shock of the Supreme Mark, Mike began assessing his situation.
"I can't contact the human race right now, and if I run into a demon god, I won't be able to
take them down alone..."
Mike tried every method he could think of, but even his private space remained unresponsive.
For now, he was truly cut off.
"No worries. I still have my powerful SSS-grade talent!"
[Current GPS signal: weak...]
Alright, even an SSS-grade talent had its limitations!
"Let's purify this Abyssal Plane first, then figure out the next step!"
With that, Mike got to work, purifying the small Abyss.
...
While Mike was being exiled to a small Abyssal Plane, the First Abyss received two visitors.
Or rather, three.
"Coo, coo, coo!"
A pigeon spread its wings and glided gracefully onto the shoulder of a swordsman, looking
quite content.
Ares didn't turn around, continuing his chess game as he asked casually, "You're back?"
"Yeah," Maxen replied, scratching his head awkwardly. "Thor hasn't returned yet."
Behind him stood the Fifth Demon God.
The Fifth Demon God said, "How are you two feeling today? If you're in a good mood, could
you kill me? I really want to die!"
Cedric snorted. "You wish."
After returning from the Eighth Abyss, Cedric had shared his theory with Ares.
This whole trap wasn't aimed at Thor-it was aimed at Ares.
In a way, Ares not showing up had been a lucky accident.
Ares didn't seem too concerned. "Whether I joined the game or not, the result would have
been the same."
He stood up, casting a glance at the Fifth Demon God behind Maxen, his tone laced with
disdain.
"This game? You're not qualified to play."
"At least... not yet."
With that, Ares walked to the edge of the cliff, gazing off into the distance.
The reason he hadn't joined the fray was simple:
Ares wanted to see how far Thor could go.
"Besides, the Supreme Mark is on that kid. He's not going to die."
The Supreme Mark was something Ares knew all too well.
Apollo might have fooled Shadow Nine, but that was only because Shadow Nine wasn't strong
enough.
The moment Ares had laid eyes on Thor, he had seen through Apollo's little trick. He just
hadn't bothered to expose it.
Ares's gaze pierced through the void, focusing on a distant point.
"Thor, what will you do when you're pushed to the brink?"
Ares was genuinely curious.
...
In an unknown small Abyssal Plane, Mike had finished purifying the entire Abyss.
He swung his Thunderclap Hammer lightly, almost lazily, as if venting all the frustration he
had built up over the past few days.
Swish-
His movements were slow and gentle.
But they carried the weight of all the hardships Mike had endured.
Тар-
The Thunderclap Hammer struck a withered tree, leaving no visible mark.
Mike closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
He felt as though his state of mind had reached a new level.
Before him, the ancient, withered tree suddenly sprang to life.
Its branches were now adorned with golden leaves.
One of the golden leaves slowly drifted down, landing in Mike's palm.
A light, satisfied smile spread across Mike's face.
The Broke debuff, which had been a constant source of frustration, had finally disappeared.