Because faith is ethereal and untraceable, believers are even more devout and it cannot be easily overturned.
Countless magical lights surrounded the demons, but they all vanished without a trace.
"You dare to use the abilities I granted you through our blood pact to attack me?"
The demon in the arena gave a cold laugh, its originally kind eyes turning sinister and terrifying.
"This...this is impossible..."
The attackers raised their dissipating magical artifacts, their eyes wide with disbelief.
"Is this the truth that could overturn the world?"
Her throat tightened, and Lingyan turned around to confirm with Gu Zhong in a hoarse voice.
"Ayan, perhaps—only you can save everyone."
After gently patting Lingyan's back, Gu Zhong responded with a word of advice.
If magic was a deception from demons from the very beginning—
The Imperial Advisor is a demon, and what collapsed was the Imperial Advisor's mansion, but the belief in eliminating the demon has not been extinguished.
But if the patriarch is a demon, then the belief of all demon hunters in the world will collapse. What are they relying on, what are they fighting against, and what are they?
—From beginning to end, they were nothing more than pawns in the hands of demons.
"Thank you very much for your support. Now it is time to reap the rewards."
The patriarch stretched out his hand and gently reached out.
What dissipated was no longer the magical artifacts; even human bodies began to melt away, replaced by black mist filling their shells.
A piercing scream echoed through the night. The once spirited and vibrant young people bent their unyielding backs, prostrated themselves on the ground, and transformed into howling monsters, turning their hostile gazes towards their former comrades, fellow disciples, or friends.
This is the truth about those who become demons. The so-called awakening is drinking the blood of demons—those who form a blood pact can all become demons.
"stop!"
Gu Zhong shouted, his eyes turning red.
She released her left hand, which had been pressing down on her wrist, and lunged at the patriarch, seemingly trying to use her body to prevent further tragedies from happening.
"Gu Zhong, are you ready now?"
The patriarch's hand paused in mid-air, and the trend of everyone turning into demons halted for a moment.
"This is unacceptable!"
Chu Cheng's golden seal hung above his head and enveloped his body, greatly slowing down the trend of demonization. Now, the black mist only surrounded his feet.
"The Demon-Binding Seal? There are even scraps of this thing?"
The patriarch looked at him following the sound, with a surprised expression as if he had discovered something new and interesting. He then reached out and easily took the seal into his hand.
"This is unacceptable!"
The half-demonized crowd roared in anger.
"Even if I perish here today, I will never be a plaything in the hands of demons."
"If I am to become a demon and become an enemy of my fellow disciples, I shall first commit suicide!"
Even if the spine bends, the unwavering will will never yield.
One, two, they rushed toward the patriarch, unleashed their final blows before him, and then self-destructed in front of him, their blood staining his deceitful face, their flesh and blood spitting out his delusions.
"If the exorcism is a deception, then only you—Gu Zhong—can slay this demon!"
Unable to suppress the demonic trend any longer, Chu Cheng roared at the top of his lungs while he was still lucid.
"Humans truly baffle me. Isn't it good to live in the world I created for you? Demons are my subjects, and you should be my subjects too. Isn't that good? Look up to me, worship me. Isn't that good?"
The patriarch's indifferent expression turned to anger; everything was unfolding differently than he had expected.
"Don't even think about it!"
Gu Zhong had already pounced on him, using his palm as a claw to fiercely scratch his forehead.
"Gu Zhong, where is your sword?"
The patriarch was surprised for a moment, then easily deflected her force. He then extended a finger and gently touched Gu Zhong's wrist, and the human and demonic forces within Gu Zhong's body began their fierce battle once again.
Unable to bear the intense pain, which was a hundred times stronger than before, Gu Zhong collapsed to his knees with a thud.
At the same time, a sword light slashed towards the patriarch's forehead, and before he could react, a clear bloodstain flowed down his forehead.
It turned its head and looked in the direction from which the sword light came.
A woman wielding a sword stared at it with a sharp gaze. Her aura reminded it of the height of human dignity, and a deep-seated fear welled up within it.
It seemed that the person before her was the one destined to end her life.
Why didn't you transform into a demon?
However, what it truly couldn't understand was that the blood pact, which had clearly seeped into its bones and blood, had not played its due role.
—And so, in this world, there are still people who can resist it.
Lingyan also didn't know the answer, and even if she did, she didn't intend to answer.
Gu Zhong, who had been kneeling, got a brief respite, suddenly stood up, reached for its chest with one hand, snatched the golden seal from the patriarch's hand with the other, and threw it towards Chu City.
The demonic energy that had spread across Chu Cheng dissipated considerably in an instant. He awoke from his painful nightmare and regained control of the golden seal.
The patriarch barely managed to dodge Gu Zhong's attack and prepared to seize the golden seal again, but the ensuing sword energy interrupted his intention.
Time and again, it was caught in a pincer movement between Gu Zhong's close-range attacks and Ling Yan's distant attacks, leaving it constantly on the defensive.
However, with each attack, the demonic energy overflowing from Gu Zhong's body also increased.
The Xuanjing, bound to the wrist guard on the right hand, began to flash with increasingly dazzling light. Fine lines gradually appeared, expanded, and finally shattered as if unable to bear the weight.
The jade fell to the ground, producing a crisp, ringing sound, like beads scattering across the floor.
The black mist instantly enveloped Gu Zhong, and the whites of her eyes completely disappeared, the pure black obscuring all human emotions.
Why be so stubborn?
The patriarch sighed softly, and his previously tense expression relaxed.
Gu Zhong's meticulous attack stopped, and the patriarch leaned close to her, whispering like a devil.
"Are you ready to become a complete enemy of humanity?"
Gu Zhong slowly turned around and looked at the empty place where only demons remained, and the only two living people in the field.
The moment Ling Yan saw Gu Zhong completely transformed into a demon, her heart tightened.
Scenes from the royal palace, the Taoist temple, and the Grand Preceptor's residence flashed before my eyes, and all the scenes I had experienced had one thing in common.
Gu Zhong will not hurt her; Gu Zhong can hear her voice.
"Please take heed!"
She shouted loudly.
Gu Zhong remained unmoved.
"Gu Zhong, kill it! Kill that demon in front of you!"
She kept calling out.
Gu Zhong moved. Her movements were obscured by the black mist, but she must have raised her arm and slammed it down on the demon behind her.
How could that be?
The patriarch's eyes were filled with astonishment. So many things that should not have happened tonight had actually happened, far beyond his expectations.
It turned its gaze back to Lingyan.
—It's this person. If we kill her, everything will go back to normal.
Thinking this, it commanded the countless demons that had already been turned to its own power to attack Lingyan.
For a moment's distraction, Gu Zhong attacked it again.
The strongest human being, when transformed into a demon, remains the strongest.
The patriarch, who was originally able to hold his own against the lucid Gu Zhong, was smashed to the ground, sent flying into the air, and his human form was shattered.
Even if it transforms into the form of black mist, it is still the one that is devoured and pierced.
"Hahaha! You can't kill me! You could never kill me!"
Even though it was at a disadvantage, it continued to mutter arrogant words, whether to build a defense against its impending mental collapse or because it was truly the truth.
With the silver sword, which became increasingly attuned to her, constantly wielding in her hand, Ling Yan couldn't bear to slaughter those who had once been her kind—the demonized ones.
She looked at the battlefield on the other side, where the outcome was clear but the result was still uncertain, and Gu Zhong's words from earlier flashed through her mind.
Only she can save everyone.
She looked at the sword in her hand.
"Chu Cheng! Demon-Binding Seal!"
She called out to Chu Cheng, who was also struggling to resist the demons.
Chu Cheng followed her gaze to the black mist that had merged into a single mass.
He endured the pain and threw the golden seal away, letting himself be overwhelmed by demons.
The golden light shone so brightly in the darkness, and the silver sword light rushed in like the only ray of dawn breaking through the impending eternal silence of the night.
The black mist paused for only a second before being pierced by the silver light, and thousands of rays of light began to shine and bloom from the blackness.
No...no! No—
The largest black fog was swallowed by the silver light, and the black fog that had permeated the capital city was suddenly halved. The rising sun slowly peeked out from the horizon, scaring away the remaining darkness one by one.
Gu Zhong transformed back into human form, her eyes closed, and fell heavily to the ground. Ling Yan rushed to her side in a panic.
The demons shed their brutal exteriors, regained their human sanity, and wept bitterly, filled with both regret and relief.
The black mist receded from Chu Cheng's body, leaving behind a half-eaten body that was still breathing weakly.
"The sun is coming out···"