The enormous black hole was like a meteor from the Netherworld, roaring toward Black Demon One with an aura capable of annihilating everything in its path.

The commotion Nightingale caused naturally caught Black Demon One's attention. It had been enjoying a nice game with its master, its fun interrupted before it could even get to the next part. A surge of anger blazed within it; it was going to make this presumptuous interloper taste its power.

However, when it saw an unfamiliar woman continuously gathering strength to create an Annihilation Black Hole—a force with enough destructive power to severely injure it—it froze for a moment.

Women from the outside are terrifying! Uh... the one at home seems even scarier! I must stay far away from creatures like women in the future!

Black Demon One's thoughts raced, but its body didn't remain idle. As the massive black hole flew toward it, it first grabbed dozens of normal-sized Black Demons and hurled them into the projectile's path.

When the extreme black collided with the cold black, a dazzling white light erupted unexpectedly.

Its trajectory obstructed by dozens of Black Demons, the black hole's speed dropped sharply, and its power rapidly diminished. Just as it was about to make impact, Black Demon One nimbly dodged out of the blast radius.

POP!

The attack from the Annihilation Black Hole didn't cause a huge explosion but instead made a sound like a bursting bubble.

Nightingale watched helplessly as Black Demon One dodged her strongest strike. All the strength seemed to drain from her upright posture, and she collapsed onto the cold, hard ground. The flame of hope in her eyes was completely extinguished, leaving only endless despair.

The Black Demon Army beside Nightingale grew restless from her attack. If not for Black Demon One's lingering suppression, their eagerness suggested they would have torn her to shreds.

Black Demon One glanced at the underlings who had so generously sacrificed themselves for it. While mourning them, its rage completely boiled over. This crazy woman, who had appeared out of nowhere, was trying to kill it.

ROAR!

It decided to act personally and tear this presumptuous creature apart.

[Ding! Number of females with qualifying favorability +1. Current count: 4/10. Current level: Lv4. Exclusive Skill 1 preparing to activate.]

At that moment, Chen Pingchuan, who had been lying on the ground, was startled awake by the system notification, recovering from his earlier dizziness. He muttered to himself internally.

Black Demon One is still the same disobedient mutt. Its mischievous nature hasn't changed a bit. Like the old saying goes, "spare the rod and spoil the child." It's been a year since I last disciplined it, so I guess I'm partly to blame for it turning into such a little terror. So, now for the biggest problem… What am I supposed to do when I can't even beat it?

As Chen Pingchuan began to ponder how to handle Black Demon One, before he could even check the system message, he heard a woman's tragic cry. He followed the sound and saw a grief-stricken Captain Nightingale unleashing a powerful black orb attack, though this one seemed even more violent than the last.

Although the Annihilation Black Hole hadn't harmed Black Demon One, its terrifying destructive power still made Chen Pingchuan gasp. A sizeable crater had been blasted into the pale ground. Then, he saw Black Demon One moving to retaliate against Captain Nightingale.

The rapid turn of events left Chen Pingchuan no time to think. He had to stop Black Demon One's actions immediately, or Captain Nightingale would surely perish.

What Chen Pingchuan didn't know was that he couldn't change Nightingale's fate, even if he intervened. To unleash an attack far beyond her own capabilities, she had already consumed most of her life force.

"Number One, spare her! She's one of us!"

Chen Pingchuan's words not only stunned Nightingale but were also heard by the human soldiers fighting the Black Demons on the city wall. He could never have imagined that the phrase "one of us" would have an impact far beyond his expectations.

Hearing Chen Pingchuan's shout, a flicker of hesitation crossed Black Demon One's terrifying, scarlet eyes. Ultimately, it abandoned its plan to kill Nightingale. After all, it had to give its former master some face.

Indeed, Black Demon One was already considering switching sides. Since being set free by Ji Hongxiu, it had finally experienced what a Black Demon's life should be: free and unrestrained, able to do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted. It had absolutely no desire to return to that tiny Spirit Beast Island. Life there was so boring, just being cooped up in a big golden house all day, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. It had been a total waste of its beastly life.

Seeing Black Demon One obey his command, Chen Pingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. Although he couldn't fathom its thoughts, he could tell from his past educational efforts in the simulations.

This little beast is definitely not the obedient type, judging by what it just did to me. Defying authority and acting with gross insubordination… It needs a good beating!

Not far away, the armored vehicle squad monitoring the situation had naturally detected the commotion with their high-tech instruments. The black-robed uncle, who had been getting annoyed by the youth, suddenly looked delighted. The voice coming through his earpiece confirmed Chen Pingchuan's identity.

He urgently ordered the young man beside him, "Wuhua, go notify your second uncle, now! Target identity confirmed! Requesting a destruction strike!"

"I repeat, target identity confirmed! Requesting highest-level destruction strike! Coordinates…"

Hearing the black-robed uncle's words, the young man shot up and sprinted toward the missile launch vehicle at the rear, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle! We have target confirmation! Fire, fire now! Don't let that bastard get away! Blow him to bits, and we can go home!"

Inside the missile launch vehicle, the older man known as Second Uncle was not nearly as optimistic as the youth. He knew in his heart that they had come here with the determination to die. There was no chance of survival. Once he pressed the switch, the super-nuke, capable of leveling an area tens of thousands of kilometers wide, would flatten this entire place. When that happened, there would be no more talk of Demon Gods or Black Demons. For countless years to come, not even a blade of grass would grow here.

But then he recalled the records in the Doomsday Prophecy Book.

"A Black Demon Giant Beast several hundred meters tall, prostrating at his feet."

The Black Demon Disaster had come to pass last year, albeit only within the not-so-large Kailing Province. And the King of Black Magic's body had not yet reached a height of one hundred meters. Still, considering they were here to eliminate the threat of doomsday in advance—to nip the Demon God in the bud—their actions were entirely justified.

This also proved the accuracy of the Doomsday Prophecy Book. The secret tome that recorded the doctrines of the Doomsday Holy Sect… it was real!

I'm sorry, Wuhua. Your uncle lied to you. We aren't going back. We're going to die here together.