Although Ian Song had already anticipated this, his brows still furrowed when he heard the news.
"We absolutely cannot let Emperor Magnus Ironhorn ascend to godhood!"
Ian muttered to himself, then looked at Huang Yan and asked, "Did you find out anything else?"
Huang Yan thought for a moment and said, "I think Emperor Magnus Ironhorn might have deliberately let us discover the altar. Maybe he's just fixing the plank road in the open while sneaking through the passage in secret!"
Ian nodded. "That's definitely possible. Of course, it could also be a trap—a trap aimed at me." At this, Ian couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. "If Emperor Magnus Ironhorn just wants souls, why make such a spectacle slaughtering villages? With his power, collecting hundreds of thousands of souls in secret would be a breeze."
Besides, he built the sacrificial altar right in the royal city. Ha! Ascending to godhood is such a big deal—even if Emperor Magnus Ironhorn were a complete idiot, he wouldn't do something so reckless!"
Huang Yan agreed wholeheartedly with Ian's words. "So are you still going?"
"Of course I'm going!" Ian's eyes flashed with a sharp glint as he spoke.
............
In the Strongarm Bull Devils' royal city, inside a massive palace, Emperor Magnus Ironhorn sat in the main seat. Four other seats were occupied—one by an old man with three eyes. Aside from the eye on his forehead, his appearance was nearly indistinguishable from a Human.
Besides him, there was a middle-aged man covered in blades like a porcupine, a mature beauty with black wings growing from her back, and finally, a burly man whose size rivaled Emperor Magnus Ironhorn's, but whose face resembled a giant ape and whose arms were a full three meters long.
These four were the emperors of the Three-Eye Devils, Blade Devils, Winged Devils, and Devil Apes.
After three rounds of drinks and five courses of food,
The Three-Eye Devil Emperor put down his cup and looked at Emperor Magnus Ironhorn. "Old Bull, what did you call the four of us here for?"
"That's right! I didn't come all this way just to drink your lousy wine!" the Devil Ape Emperor grumbled in his deep voice.
"Don't be impatient, my friends. I invited you here because there's a major matter to discuss!" Emperor Magnus Ironhorn said solemnly.
The four Devil Emperors all looked at him.
Emperor Magnus Ironhorn continued, "This time, I've invited you here for two reasons: first, to ask for your help; second, to join forces and kill the Human Martial Gods!"
At these words, the four Devil Emperors all showed signs of being moved.
Emperor Magnus Ironhorn went on, "I've already lived over four hundred years, and I don't have many years left. So, I've decided to try to achieve godhood through a soul-sacrifice ritual!"
Hearing this, the Devil Ape Emperor couldn't help but say, "Old Bull, are you crazy? The risks of a soul-sacrifice ritual are enormous. Over the past ten thousand years, more than a hundred have tried it, but only three have succeeded."
"So what?" Emperor Magnus Ironhorn sneered. "I don't have many years left anyway. Why not take the risk? If I succeed, our Devil Race will gain a new Devil God. If I fail, I'll just die a few years earlier!"
At these words, the other four couldn't help but admire Emperor Magnus Ironhorn's courage.
"So you want us to act as your protectors during the ritual?" the Winged Devil Empress asked.
"No, I want to ask the Martial Gods of your clans to protect me." Emperor Magnus Ironhorn replied.
The Three-Eye Devil Emperor said, "That's not so easy. You know, even though we're emperors, Devil Gods are on another level entirely—we can't order them around!"
"If it's just to protect me, of course it's hard to get all four Devil Gods involved. But what if we could kill one or two Human Martial Gods?" Emperor Magnus Ironhorn's eyes gleamed viciously.
At this, all four Devil Emperors' eyes lit up. If the Human Race didn't have Martial Gods holding the line, they would've been wiped out long ago by the combined forces of the Devil and Demon Races.
"Let's hear your plan!" the Blade Devil Emperor said.
Emperor Magnus Ironhorn said, "To hold the soul-sacrifice ritual, I ordered my men to wipe out dozens of villages and deliberately framed the Human Race. At the same time, I built two sacrificial altars—the fake one in the royal city, and the real one in a hidden location. Unless something unexpected happens, the Great Martial Emperor should have already received this news."
"Old Bull, you mean you're using your ascension as bait to lure the Human Martial Gods?" the Three-Eye Devil Emperor asked. "But how can you be sure they'll show up?"
Emperor Magnus Ironhorn said darkly, "Right now, our Devil Race already has four Devil Emperors. If we gain another Devil God, we'll completely crush the Human Race. There's no way they'll let that happen—they'll definitely try to stop me from ascending! As long as they come, our Martial Gods can kill them!"
"If only one Human Martial God comes, we might succeed. But if two show up, we may not pull it off," said the Winged Devil Empress.
"Heh, no matter how many come, one of them will die!" Emperor Magnus Ironhorn said mysteriously. "If the Humans send only one Martial God, we just need to arrange for two of ours to team up—the odds of killing one are high. If they send two, that leaves only one Martial God back in Human territory, so our other two can go and kill that one! So no matter what, the Humans lose one this time!"
"But what if all the Human Martial Gods come, or none at all?" the Winged Devil Empress pressed.
Emperor Magnus Ironhorn replied, "If they all come, we'll have two Devil Gods on our side. Even with three Martial Gods, they won't be able to do much. If none come, our two Devil Gods can join forces in Human territory and escape easily. So either way, our side can't lose!"
Hearing Emperor Magnus Ironhorn's plan, all four Devil Emperors were deeply tempted.
The Blade Devil Emperor said, "Alright, I'll head back and tell the Devil God about your plan!"
"No time to waste. I'll go persuade our Devil God too!" said the Winged Devil Empress.
As for the Devil Ape Emperor and the Three-Eye Devil Emperor, they both expressed their willingness to go back and convince their own Devil Gods to join the God-Slaying Plan.
Sanctum Martial Academy, senior-student district.
Lynette Ji was playing Go with Greenie, but her mind was far from the board. She was a reincarnated soul-strand of the Fox-Demon Clan's Seventh Princess, and had come to Sanctum Martial Academy to cultivate hidden pawns.
But after tasting defeat at Ian Song's hands, she lost all interest in cultivating hidden pawns. If only... if only she'd managed to control Leon Huang back then, the entire Human Race would now be under her sway.
Every time she thought of this, she was filled with deep regret.
Suddenly, a figure flashed—a young man in blue robes appeared in the courtyard.
"Why are you here?"
At the sight of the young man, Lynette Ji was shocked. She immediately bowed, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"No need to be so formal, Senior Sister. Please rise!" Ian Song said with a smile.
Half an hour later.
Ian Song left Lynette Ji's courtyard, while Lynette Ji was left conflicted, unsure whether to accept that man's request.