The Elf Ancient Battlefield was supposed to have been purified long ago. Noah himself had cleansed the mists that once cloaked this forsaken land.
And yet… under the cold, silver moonlight, the battlefield was once again shrouded in a sinister, pitch-black haze.
Confused, Noah opened the World Channel, scrolling through the frantic chatter of players.
"What the hell's going on? Wasn't this place cleared already?"
"Bro, it's the Demon God! He answered someone's provocation!"
"Some lunatic must've pissed him off… and now the map's been corrupted."
Noah raised an eyebrow, his lips curving into a complicated smile.
"So… the Demon God actually responded to me?"
He had taunted that ancient being more than once, but he never truly believed it would react. Yet the proof was right here—the swirling darkness that smothered the battlefield could only be the Demon God's handiwork.
According to a trembling Battle King who had reported his findings, the Demon God had rewritten the dungeon itself, replacing the final boss with an abomination boosted by dark power. Its level? Two hundred levels above the player's.
Normally, the Elf Ancient Battlefield scaled with the challenger's level, making it a fair test of skill. But now, any solo player who entered would be facing an enemy two hundred levels stronger—an impossible wall.
Even seasoned Battle Generals and Battle Kings had no chance.
In fact, just earlier, a confident Battle King had reached the final boss. He thought he'd at least test the waters. Instead, he was annihilated in an instant. Billions of experience lost, and worst of all, a 368-hour Weakness debuff.
The World Channel was still flooded with the aftermath.
"That guy went offline instantly. Straight mental collapse."
"Bro got deleted by the system itself."
"Whoever provoked the Demon God is a dead man walking."
Noah skimmed the chaos, then closed the interface. He gave the fallen Battle King a token half-second of silence… before smirking.
"Looks like my method works."
The discovery thrilled him. In the real world, he might fear the Demon God. But here, in the Land of Divine Punishment, he feared nothing.
"A boss two hundred levels higher than me? Fine. Let's see who gets crushed first."
Gripping his staff, Noah strode into the black-shrouded battlefield, the night air crackling with danger.
The battlefield was drenched in an eerie silver light, the moon above painting everything in pale frost. The ground was littered with corpses—beasts, elves, and fallen warriors—all now twisted by the haze.
Crunch!
Noah's boot pressed down on something brittle. He looked down—it was the severed hand of a beast, reduced to bare bone. A dull clatter followed as an elven skull rolled across the cracked earth.
Before Noah could react further, a shrill, bone-chilling shriek split the silence.
From behind him, a skeletal figure lunged forward, jaw gaping wide, its body wrapped in writhing black smoke.
Noah didn't hesitate. His reflexes were instant. Radiant Flash!
His body flickered to the left, light trailing behind him. The skeletal warrior slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, claws gouging deep scars into the soil.
Noah turned, his gaze sharpening. The thing had once been an elven soldier, but now its hollow sockets poured smoke like a furnace chimney.
"A corrupted elf…" Noah muttered, realization striking him.
Click. Crack. Clatter.
The sound spread.
Around him, every corpse began to twitch. Fallen beasts, slain elves, even the long-dead dark elves—all of them stirred. Their bones rattled, joints grinding as they rose again under the Demon God's corruption.
BOOM!
The haze thickened, swallowing the moon. Darkness crushed the battlefield, and countless skeletal soldiers emerged from the shadows, their whispers forming a chorus of death.
[ Corrupted Elven Warrior ]
Level: 210
HP: 125,000
Attack: 13,699
Defense: 9,999
Magic Defense: 11,888
Speed: 1,500
Skills: Elven Chant, Arrow Barrage
All around, Noah's Eye of the Gods activated, filling his vision with the stats of the undead army. Every single one was between Level 200 and 220.
This wasn't the dungeon it was meant to be. Originally, players were supposed to aid the elves and dark elves in resisting beast invasions. But now? Now it was nothing but a slaughterhouse, rewritten by the Demon God.
Noah's grip tightened on his staff. His voice cut through the silence, righteous yet mocking.
"To steal the will of fallen elven warriors… unforgivable! This mistake, I, the Demon-Slayer, will correct!"
The line was cheesy, he knew. But it wasn't for the skeletons—it was for the Demon God watching from above.
He could feel its gaze.
The skeletal army howled and surged toward him like a tidal wave. Noah sneered, sweeping his staff through the air.
Flame Cataclysm!
BOOM!
The world erupted in fire.
The earth split, geysers of flame bursting upward, devouring everything within a hundred meters. The night sky turned crimson as elemental fury raged, drowning the battlefield in searing heat.
-448,876!
Critical Hit!
-982,156!
-457,394!
Red damage numbers rained across his vision as screams echoed from the undead horde. They had no resistance. One by one, they were reduced to ash, vanishing in the inferno.
[ EXP +36,000 ]
[ EXP +35,800 ]
His experience bar rocketed upward, billions gained in mere minutes.
Ten minutes later, the battlefield was silent again. Not a single skeletal soldier remained.
In that short time, Noah had gained two billion experience. His max HP had skyrocketed, too—over 160,000 in total.
He looked up at the swirling haze above, sensing the presence hidden within. It was as if unseen eyes were glaring at him.
"Appreciate the gift, old man," Noah said cheerfully, raising a thumb toward the sky. "Feel free to send more next time."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and headed deeper into the battlefield.
But the deeper he went, the emptier it became. The ground was barren, stripped of corpses. There was nothing—not even a single pebble of loot.
"Where's the boss…?"
As if answering his question, the ground trembled violently.
RUMBLE!
The cracked battlefield split apart. Molten lava surged upward, spilling across the earth in fiery torrents. The night turned hellish red, heat waves scorching the air.
Noah leapt to a rocky outcropping, eyes narrowed.
From the sea of lava, a massive hand emerged—blackened and scarred, gripping the earth with terrifying force. The battlefield quaked as something climbed out.
With a deafening roar, a towering minotaur general rose, its enormous axe gleaming in the firelight. Muscles like mountains, horns curling like blades—it radiated sheer dominance.
Any ordinary player would have collapsed from fear, logged out before the thing even looked at them.
But Noah? He only spat out a curse.
"Go to hell."
His staff pulsed with light.
Judgment! Sanction!
BOOM!
-2,315,674!
Critical Hit!
-31,572,846!
The Minotaur General froze, its burning eyes widening in disbelief.
"…?"