Chapter 232: A Bad Start, Gods Divided

"Aaaaaah!" The piercing scream filled the air once more.

The scorpion-tailed Demon’s massive tail pierced straight through a genius contestant’s chest, lifting them high into the air.

By now, the teleportation array was fully formed. The four remaining contestants watched their fallen comrade die in horror, but there was nothing they could do.

"Tsk, how boring," the scorpion-tailed Demon sighed, looking at the disappearing figures. "Just a bunch of cowardly scumbags. You’re wasting my time."

He gave a slight flick, flinging the impaled contestant down to the ground.

The contestant tried to struggle, but their insides were melting and rotting rapidly. Black blood poured from their mouth and eyes.

Even though they had lost their Strength, they managed to gasp out one last desperate threat:

"You... you cursed Demons... you will face judgment!"

A faint smile curled on the Demon’s lips. He glanced up at the flying pets rising higher into the sky and replied coldly,

"Judgment? Who would dare judge me? Who dares judge me at all?"

"Are you weak trash even worthy of judging me?"

The contestant’s eyes widened in disbelief. With their very last bit of strength, they screamed a single name:

"A-Aiden will... kill you!"

Aiden?

Hearing that familiar name, the scorpion-tailed Demon looked down at the rotting corpse, shook his head, and laughed.

"Poor thing," he thought. "They have no idea we planned everything. Even your precious Aiden can’t change a thing."

If not for the direct orders from Demon Grand Duke and Demon God Lord, he would have slaughtered every single human in sight right now.

"Can’t kill them, only defeat them and give a little torture... Ugh, how annoying," the Demon sighed again.

Still, if he did meet Aiden, he’d be interested. If this human was strong enough to make someone say that in their dying breath, Aiden might actually be worth his time.

Slowly lifting his head, the Demon stared at the flying pets, now so far away they were barely visible.

He crouched slightly, his knees bending, and suddenly drove his massive scorpion tail straight up toward the sky.

Suddenly, a rift tore open in space.

The scorpion-tailed Demon shot through it like a cannonball.

Right above the flying pets, which were already speeding ahead, a new rift suddenly appeared.

The Demon burst out of it, his speed so insane he snatched one of the pets by its neck before anyone could react.

"Hello, humans watching the livestream," he shouted, his voice echoing clearly. "You just saw what happened, right?"

"This is only the beginning. Before long, more and more so-called ’human geniuses’ will die by my hand."

"Remember my face. Soon, I’ll be the fear you can never forget!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

With a wave of crazy laughter, the livestream feed cut to black.

Down below, millions of viewers sat in silence. The chat room, which had been exploding with comments just seconds ago, was suddenly empty.

The match had barely started. The teams had only just reached the core zone of the frontline battlefield when they ran into a Mythic Rank Demon genius.

One squad, six contestants in total, had two killed and the other four fleeing in the blink of an eye.

Is this really the power of the Abyss Demon geniuses?

The thought flashed through the minds of countless viewers. Their faces turned pale, and fear flickered in their eyes.

This was a huge blow for everyone.

Human genius Reclasers had absolutely no chance to fight back against the Demon Clan’s geniuses. If not for those Teleportation Scrolls, every single member of that squad would have died right there!

"Can we really win?" one netizen typed into the chat, unable to hold back.

Almost instantly, others followed, overwhelmed with worry. "Man, this is too hard," one wrote. "That scorpion-tailed Demon was way stronger than a normal Mythic Rank genius Reclaser!"

"You’re still underestimating that guy. That tail of his is incredibly unique. Even if a Mythic Rank genius Reclaser ran into him, they’d be in serious trouble."

"Damn it, it’s only the start and we’ve already lost two contestants while four others fled."

"Ugh, if only they’d all used Teleportation Scrolls right from the beginning."

"Don’t you know? Similar things happened in other livestreams. Six contestants are dead total now."

"Huh? How did this happen?"

"We’re in big trouble. Are Demon geniuses really that scary?"

"Is Aiden okay?"

"I think only Aurelia’s contestant, the Great Shaw Empire’s Aiden and Nellie, and Jenna from The Amaranth Country have a real shot at beating those Mythic Rank Demon geniuses."

"That’s right. Now we can only hope the others get lucky and don’t run into a Mythic Rank Demon genius."

"General Aiden will definitely kill those Mythic Rank Demons! We have to believe in him!"

Meanwhile, Vincent watched the livestream from the military camp. He silently pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a long, hard drag.

In the Elephant Empire, Emperor Xander clenched his fists so tight that angry red veins popped out in his eyes.

Right beside him, Caleb stared at Aiden’s livestream feed, his expression a mix of worry and hope.

"Brother," Caleb suddenly spoke up, "compared to that scorpion-tailed Demon, do you think Aiden is stronger?"

Emperor Xander took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

"Hard to say. That Demon hasn’t even shown his full power yet, and Aiden probably still has some tricks up his sleeve. It’s too early to tell who’s better."

"Bro in my opinion, this match is far more important than we imagined. It might even decide the future of Earth."

Caleb turned sharply to look at Xander.

But Xander didn’t say much more. It was just a guess, after all.

"In the end, will the human divine powerhouses choose to hide, or stand their ground and fight the Demon Clan?" Xander thought to himself. "We’ll know soon enough."

Right then, in the sky a thousand meters up, Selene—one of Bella’s students—stood silently, gazing down at the frontline battlefield.

Beside her, the Radiant Blade glowed with a blinding white light, while Robert hovered behind, his face etched with worry.

"Two Lords," Robert finally asked, "do you really think they can make it?"

The Radiant Blade vibrated softly. "Trust them. And trust me."

"If they lose, the gods led by The Flame God Ignis will likely decide to give up on Earth for now. They’ll shift their full focus to the Secret Realm of Fallen Gods to buy more time."

"But I don’t think that’s the best solution. The more we retreat, the more we lose our courage and belief. The revival of the Abyss myriad races has just begun. If we back down now, what about next time?"

"This is Earth. It’s our home. We cannot let it go!"

Selene nodded gently. As Bella’s disciple, she naturally supported her master’s view.

If not for her master failing to break through to Supreme God, Ignis and the others wouldn’t dare to object.

Robert sighed deep down in his heart. He was still only a Great Venerable right now, with absolutely no say in these matters.

"When I enter the Golden Great Wall again and raise my soul intensity, I should master the power of the Wood Law," he thought to himself. "Once I pass the divine ascension tribulation and become a lesser god, I’ll be able to do more."

To ordinary Reclasers, he was an untouchable powerhouse. But in reality, until one became a divine powerhouse, they were never truly strong.

He didn’t know much about the "revival of the Abyss myriad races" that Lord Bella had just mentioned.

However, one thing was certain: many races stronger than the Abyss Demon clan would appear in the future. Without enough power, there would be nothing anyone could do but stand by helplessly.

Just then, Bella’s Radiant Blade incarnation suddenly moved, pointing toward Aiden’s direction and speaking:

"They’re here. Two Mythic Rank Demon geniuses are heading straight for the city ruin where Aiden is. Unless something changes, Aiden and his team are about to face real danger."

Robert’s eyes widened instantly. "Lord, I have to go then!"

"You told me to ensure Aiden’s safety. If I get closer to him now, I’ll have a much better chance of handling any accidents."

The Radiant Blade swayed gently. "Don’t rush. Aiden is much stronger than you think. There’s an aura around him that even I can’t figure out. It must be some kind of special Mythic Rank item, though I’m not entirely sure."

Robert froze at those words.

A special Mythic Rank item?

As a level 99 Great Venerable, he didn’t own a single piece of Mythic Rank gear. Yet this eighteen-year-old boy had a Mythic Rank special item?

That was a Mythic Rank item!

Robert dreamed of owning even one piece of Mythic Rank equipment!

"No wonder this kid stays so calm no matter who he fights. He must be holding back some secret trump card!" Robert realized he had once again underestimated Aiden, despite thinking he understood him well.

"Selene and I can’t move freely right now. The Mid-Level Demon Gods of the Demon Clan are watching us. If anything goes wrong, it’s up to you to handle it," the Radiant Blade said again.

Bella had no choice either. Since her attempt to break through to Supreme God had failed, she was currently recovering. For now, she could only act through the Radiant Blade projection outside.

Meanwhile, the livestream for the Great Shaw Empire squad flooded with viewers in record time. That was because Aiden and his team had finally met their enemies!