Hail the King

Under the hot Sun, Fei and Elena appeared on top of a half-broken god statue in the desert. This god statue was at least 100 meters tall, and no one knew when it was made. It looked ancient and was cracked, and two-thirds of its body was covered up by the yellow sand. Only a portion of its upper body was exposed, and only half of its face was still intact.

Fei created a simple shed to block out the sunshine and looked ahead. In his vision, there was a magnificent and gigantic stone gate.

It was made from brown rocks, and this gate was half-inlaid into this cliff wall. All kinds of non-human statues were situated around the gate, and various ancient images and mystic symbols were engraved onto the cliff wall.

Looking from afar, it seemed like this giant gate was the mouth of a massive beast, and it devoured the heated sunlight; only darkness could be seen inside of it.

This place was the destination of Fei’s current trip, [Claw Viper Temple].

In the last while, Fei had completed all the quests in the first map, [Rogue Encampment], and he ventured into the second map, [Lut Gholein], which was like the pearl in the desert.

He had killed the monster named Radament and completed the first quest, [Radament’s Lair].

Right now, only one last step was required to finish the second quest, [The Horadric Staff].

Today, Fei was planning to enter the [Claw Viper Temple] and kill the boss, Fangskin, in order to get the Horadric Amulet. Along with the other components that Fei already obtained, it could be made into the complete Horadric Staff. Also, the third quest, [The Tainted Sun], would be completed with the death of Fangskin and the destruction of the altar that this monster was guarding, and Fei would be able to go directly to the fourth quest.

After killing the monsters that charged at them from the valley, Fei and Elena quickly approached the stone gate.

Fei had to admit that after the elevation in difficulties, Hell Mode was a lot more terrifying than other modes.

While he walked in the wilderness, any random monster that Fei encountered was on the level of Sun-Class. Since Fei couldn’t use his Sun Anomaly in Diablo World, he could only battle the monsters head-on.

In addition, it wasn’t just the increase in strength for these monsters.

Fei discovered that in Hell Mode, the entire Diablo World became a real living hell. All the monsters, including the lowest-leveled ones, had impressive combat intelligence. They could identify the power level of their enemies, and they knew how to escape, battle in groups, control the tempo, and even lure their enemies into the traps.

Fei felt like these monsters had their own souls and intelligence, becoming very dangerous and scary.

This was why Fei’s progression and level-up speed decreased by a lot since he entered Diablo World in Hell Mode.

He had to spend close to a month and a half on passing [Rogue Encampment], and the first two quests in [Lut Gholein] took Fei close to 20 days.

During the process of slaying monsters, Fei started to sense the huge pressure which wasn’t there before. Especially when he faced bosses like Andariel, he no longer had the advantage of intelligence and combat instinct which existed in Normal Mode and Nightmare Mode.

This time, Fei consumed many potions and battled for more than a dozen hours. He was barely able to kill Andariel who already had intelligence. By the time that he won the battle, he was severely injured and almost got the chance to experience death in Diablo World for the first time.

What disappointed Fei was that even though he killed many monsters and leveled up, he didn’t find the other components of the [Immortal King] item set. It seemed like his luck was all used up.

In Hell Mode, dangers were everywhere. If Fei weren’t careful, he might die for real. After all, the painful sensations that he felt when he was injured was no joke.

Since Fei wasn’t sure if he could be revived just like the game in his previous life, he had to pay a lot of attention and treat each quest seriously.

The [Claw Viper Temple] was known for the potential dangers in the second map, so Fei only came here with Valkyrie Elena after getting well prepared.

“According to Cain’s theory, the temple is divided into two levels. The first level is easier to pass, but the second level is filled with danger. Once we go in, don’t rush around, alright? Even if we must spend more time on it, that is fine. Safety first, ok?” Fei reminded his Valkyrie wife as he summoned his armor. Then, he stepped into the stone gate and walked into the darkness.

After the wedding, the king realized that he started to become naggy. Of course, one reason was that the Valkyrie somehow became more direct and fearless recently while she and Fei completed quests. When facing monsters, she never backed off and battled until the very last moment. Her new direct battle style did increase their speed, but it also made her sustain more injuries. Therefore, whenever Elena battled, Fei felt like he was more nervous, and his heart would race.

…

The [Claw Viper Temple] was a terrifying place; it didn’t get its name from nowhere.

Fei and Elena spent more than four hours on clearing the first level. When they discovered the pathway to the second level, all the potions that they had on them were depleted, and they had to pause their progress and go back to [Lut Gholein] using the [Town Portal Scroll] to replenish their supplies.

After they returned to the [Claw Viper Temple] and got to the second level, they had to spend more than four hours again.

Just before the daily gaming limit was met, they paid a hefty price and were finally able to kill the boss, Fangskin, and clear all the monsters on the second level.

Fei was covered in blood, and one of his arms almost got chopped off; all kinds of injuries were visible on his body. Elena’s abdomen was pierced by an arrow, and she was severely injured as well.

What disappointed Fei was that he still didn’t get any top-tier items.

However, his barbarian character leveled up, reaching Hell Mode level 22. Also, Elena got enough experience points and reached Hell Mode level 13.

With the increase in levels, two golden light beams shot down from the sky and enveloped them. The injuries on their bodies were quickly healed, and their stamina got replenished. Therefore, they didn’t suffer too much damage overall in this battle.

After quickly cleaning the battlefield, Fei found the Horadric Amulet which was on the Claw Viper Altar, and he completed the second quest, [The Horadric Staff].

Since he also killed the boss, Fangskin, during the process, he also completed the third quest, [The Tainted Sun].

Killing two birds with one stone! Fei’s quest progression was pushed forward quickly!

After all that, the daily gaming limit was met.

Fei asked Elena about the recent situation back at the Chambord Kingdom, and he learned that the renovation project was coming along well, and the Ormondians weren’t back for the revenge.

After spending some intimate time with the Valkyrie, Fei left Diablo World.

…

When Fei walked out of the cabin, it was already the evening.