Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

After leaving the Hall of Power, Yang Yu immediately found a secluded grove and, rubbing his hands together with anticipation, opened the Treasure Box from his successful conquest, ready to experience once again the feeling of being a Luck Emperor.

As long as nobody tells me that the rewards for completing a level are fixed, even if the Heavenly King himself were to come, the treasures I open would be mine.

”The Long Stick [Sky Fall]

Description: This weapon belonged to one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the War God Goblin, under the previous Demon King. Hero Lox defeated him and obtained this weapon.

Attack power +200, Basic Strength +100, Strength +10%, critical hit +20%, Critical Damage +50%

Effect: Deals 30% more damage to enemies in flight and can to some extent affect the enemy’s ability to fly.”

emmmm...

Attack power +200, Basic Strength +100, Strength +10%

Just by looking at the stats, it would only qualify as an ordinary Epic, but with the 30% anti-air special effect, it’s considered a targeted Legendary Equipment.

Unfortunately, the Long Stick conflicts with defensive Shields and can only be used on its own.

I don’t have many skills that can work well with it.

After some thought, Yang Yu decided to put this item away for the time being and see what to do with it later.

Next, Yang Yu looked at the other two treasures stored inside the Treasure Box.

This time, he received two Skill Scrolls.

”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats” — Increases Strength by 100%, max Blood Volume by 30%, lasting for 30 seconds. After the duration ends, the body enters a Weak state, with All Attributes decreased by 20%, lasting for another 30 seconds.

”Escape Expert” — Removes slow effects on the body and restores 20% of maximum health.

”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats” is, as the name suggests, suitable for finishing moves and desperate gambles.

I wonder if the Weak status that follows can be Dispelled by Iyas after she learns how.

If it can, this Skill would be a Divine Skill among Divine Skills, if not, it would be just average for a Defensive Battle warrior like me.

After all, dealing damage is not my main role.

I would much prefer more Control Skills, like ”Taunt,” ”Taunt,” and ”Taunt.”

So far, Yang Yu hasn’t figured out the conditions to obtain the ”Taunt” skill.

As for the other skill — ”Escape Expert”...

Finally, I have a skill that allows me to break free from control effects on my own.

In fact, I knew about this skill and contemplated whether or not to learn it...

But given its exceedingly long cooldown time of six hours,

After some thought, I decided to prioritize other skills with better cost-effectiveness and consider supplementing this one if there were any spare Skill Points.

But who would have thought that I’d encounter the Skill Scroll for it here?

The skill guide in the All Things Library claimed that only a few crafty veterans would use these types of skills that consider retreat as the supreme strategy...

But oh well.

The knowledge in the All Things Library isn’t absolute, and most of the time, it serves as a good reference.

Without much hesitation, I used both Skill Scrolls.

The actual effects of these skills can only be truly understood after learning and using them.

Only after using it did I realize that ”Escape Expert” far exceeded my expectations.

Along the journey, Iyas also managed to barely learn the ”Dispel Technique,” capable of removing abnormal statuses.

Blessed by the goddess, the power of Holy Light in Iyas was strong, and her use of the ”Dispel Technique” could even instantly remove the binding effect of my ”Thorny Binding.”

However, even with the strong Holy Light within her, she could not Dispel the Weak status ”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats” inflicted upon me.

I admit I may have underestimated the weakening effect of the Weak status from ”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats.”

The debilitation it brought was comprehensive, not just in terms of decreased attribute values, but it also reduced sensory acuity.

As soon as the effect of ”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats” ended, my senses became blurred.

I conducted tests.

Arrows that I used to dodge effortlessly now grazed my face due to misjudgments made while weakened.

If ”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats” doesn’t achieve a significant effect before causing a state of Weakness, it could end up putting me in an even more dangerous predicament.

But ”Escape Expert” seemed custom-built for ”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats.”

It could not only clear the sensory dullness caused by ”Breaking Cauldrons and Sinking Boats” but also forcibly remove the slowing effects it brought.

Even a slowing effect that couldn’t be Dispelled by Iyas’s ”Dispel Technique” could be removed, so slowing effects from other Skills or Equipment should not be an issue.

The 20% max health restoration could also be life-saving in critical moments.

After leaving the Hall of Power, Yang Yu and his team conquered several Underground Mazes on their path and only reestablished contact with Dongmu after approaching the defensive lines.

Upon meeting Yang Yu, Dongmu couldn’t stop talking about the recent battle conditions.

On the whole, after reclaiming Qinghe Volcano, the situation began to improve.

On one hand, the long-awaited victory had spread throughout all the troops of Wansheng Country, boosting Morale; on the other hand, it seemed like there was some problem on the Human side.

The news of the Holy Maiden’s Death swiftly spread amongst the populace.

Initially, many scoffed at the rumors, desperately trying to prove to the skeptics that the Holy Maiden was still alive, only to shoot themselves in the foot, as more and more believers of the Goddess Sect started to believe that the Holy Maiden was indeed dead.

As the saying goes, you can’t hide a fire with paper. The Goddess Sect had no choice but to disclose the truth, causing an uproar throughout the Luo Ze Empire.

The believers’ quest for truth quickly turned to condemnation and riots.

This not only affected the Church but also touched on many high-ranking officials in the Luo Ze Empire.

In the political system of the Luo Ze Empire, many were faithful believers of the Goddess Sect, placing their faith in the goddess above the state.

Perhaps, they would have maintained a sense of propriety for their own interests before, but with the revelation of the Holy Maiden’s death, many had lost their composure, demanding the nation to deploy more resources to investigate the matter, and to let those who blasphemed the goddess suffer thousands of cuts.

Expecting them to perform their roles effectively became an extravagant hope.

It’s uncertain whether it was a deflection of blame by the Church, but they started claiming that it was the work of the Curse Sect that struck down the Holy Maiden.

The higher-ups of the Luo Ze Empire also voiced this, acknowledging the same and under the pretext of ”weeding out Curse Sect members lurking within the army,” they began to purge a large number of ”untrustworthy elements” from the military.

These events provided Wansheng Country with opportunities to regain some advantage in the situation.