Mr. Popo, sent from the Other World to Earth, stopped in his tracks. He looked into the distance, sensing the rapidly approaching energy.
"Are these humans choosing to fight the demon race?" he wondered.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—powerful demon figures closed in on him.
"Mr. Popo must first complete his duty..." Mr. Popo mumbled to himself. As he spoke, he pulled out a blanket covered with mysterious patterns from nowhere, tossing it into the air. To his surprise, it floated. Mr. Popo gently jumped and stood on the flying carpet, his hands behind his back.
"There!" The demons who had arrived at the scene saw their target and laughed maniacally. "This black, short, fat, and dumb fool thinks he can challenge Lord Samuel? How foolish!"
"Die!"
The demons transformed into black shadows and charged towards him, intending to tear apart the carpet along with Mr. Popo. But before they could…
Whoosh! The flying carpet with Mr. Popo on it disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The demons were left dumbfounded, bewildered at what had just happened!
---
Inside the underground cavern of Demon King Samuel's ancient castle, a terrifying toxic gas filled the air.
A giant cauldron, large enough to require several people to embrace it, stood in the center.
The colorful and even slightly hallucinogenic toxic fumes in the air seemed unable to approach the cauldron. The closer one got to it, the weaker the poison became, and the more stagnant the air grew.
"Stop struggling uselessly, human," a grand yet sinister female voice echoed throughout the cavern, coming from above.
"As long as you leave that precious furnace, you will die in my toxic mist without pain... But if you stay inside that strange cauldron, you'll only experience the agony of the poison slowly creeping through your body... The pain of poisoning is long, and death becomes a luxury..."
Inside the giant cauldron sat a woman with a delicate appearance. She wore armor and appeared to be a female general. Her complexion was pale, her eyes showing faint traces of poisoning, and her lips had turned an eerie purple-green. Upon hearing the voice, Annin smiled indifferently, leaning against the inner wall of the cauldron and retorting sarcastically, "Sounds like you really care about how humans die... Is that right, Samuel... Demon King?"
Perhaps her sarcasm irritated him, for Samuel sneered. At the same time, the toxic mist in the cavern thickened.
"This strange cauldron... I don't know what kind of thing it is, but it can block the poison I release!" Samuel thought, confused. "Not only that, but I can feel... This cauldron is even suppressing the demon energy... Whenever I try to approach it, I feel uncomfortable! What kind of strange furnace is this? I wonder if Lord Satan is aware of this..."
She briefly considered reaching out via telepathy to the one who resided at the mouth of Hell, but as soon as his name crossed her mind, terrifying demonic images flooded her thoughts.
Samuel shuddered inwardly and forced himself to suppress the desire to contact Lord Satan. He coldly spoke, "You should know, the longer you hold out here, the more you harm your human comrades, right? With your ability, you must be able to sense it... How many of the humans who came with you are still alive?"
The female demon king smiled faintly, "Not only that, but those humans who heard you were here and haven't heard from you in a while, or those who are strong enough to sense your energy... They'll probably come running to their deaths, trying to find out what's going on... They'll be looking for death, and it'll all your fault."
Inside the cauldron, Annin endured the pain of the poison infiltrating her body. Listening to the voice: "... It's because you won't die quickly."
Annin's expression remained calm, and even Samuel, the Demon King, couldn't detect any change in her emotions.
"Is this human woman really so heartless?" Samuel wondered. It wasn't that she suddenly became kind, but rather, Annin's behavior... seemed far removed from the average moral level of human survivors he knew. "Or is it that she—hmm? Someone's coming?"
Inside the cauldron, Annin's eyes flicked toward the toxic air beside her.
Meanwhile, above the cavern, sitting on the throne of the ancient castle, Samuel's eyes grew cold. "Heh, so some humans are actually coming to die…" He tapped his fingers against his temple and quickly realized what was happening through telepathy. "So that useless Mala died, just like Maliza? What a disgrace... Moro, Minto, go!"
After issuing a couple of commands, two overlapping responses of "Yes!" echoed from the dim corners of the massive castle. Soon after, faint sounds of movement were heard leaving the castle.
In the underground cavern, Annin gazed at the flying carpet amidst the poisonous air, and the short, plump, black man standing on it.
"It's you..." Annin murmured softly, her surprised tone quickly fading. She then asked, "This mist is highly toxic, aren't you concerned?"
On the flying carpet, Mr. Popo did not catch the tone of Annin's voice, only responding calmly, "It is indeed uncomfortable... But Mr. Popo is from the Other World, so there's no need to worry."
"Other World, huh... Heh..." Annin, supporting herself against the edge of the Furnace of Eight Divisions, slowly rose to her feet. "A messenger from the Other World, appearing in a place like this... Are you here to defeat Samuel?"
"Mr. Popo will not interfere in your struggle," Mr. Popo replied calmly. "The hole that opened near that mountain connects with the underworld, and Mr. Popo was sent here to find a sufficiently competent mortal on Earth to become a god here..."
"So you think she's the 'sufficiently competent mortal'?" Annin chuckled softly.
At this moment, a chilling laugh echoed from the top of the cavern. Soon, Samuel's figure began to materialize within the poisonous mist, his murderous intent stirring the fog.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Mr. Popo's dark face. "That's right, Annin is the most suitable person to become a god on Earth..."
Murderous intent surged!
The mist parted as Samuel's poisonous claws shot forward. But just as they were about to strike Mr. Popo's face, they suddenly stopped.
"L-Satan, Lord of Demons!?" Samuel exclaimed in panic, speaking aloud despite using telepathic communication. His words came out in a frantic, involuntary burst, "You mean, you are—?"
"I won't say it for a third time, Samuel. Do not touch the person on this carpet. Otherwise... You know the consequences of defying me, right?"
From the other side of the telepathic communication came Satan's voice, sending a chill through Samuel's entire body. He trembled, "Yes, I understand, master."
The telepathic communication fell silent.
As expected, Satan was just as terrifying as King Yama had said... Mr. Popo let out a sigh of relief. Although he was from the Other World, returning alive and dead were two completely different things.
The poisonous mist swirled as Samuel's icy, gloomy figure quietly retreated.
"Heh... Is she really fixated on the Furnace of Eight Divisions that my master sent me?" Annin, deeply poisoned, smiled faintly. "Or is it that the great Lucife, whom she is so afraid of, is obsessed with the furnace?" She looked up with cold eyes, though it was unclear whom she was gazing at.
---
On Mount Five Elements, a towering demonic figure snorted coldly.
A figure silently appeared behind him. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Whis might have noticed the situation here, but there's no sign of action yet..."
---
'This furnace... It resembles Mr. Popo's flying carpet...' In the cavern, Mr. Popo studied the massive cauldron protecting Annin.
Bang! Annin slammed her hand against the inner wall of the Furnace of Eight Divisions. The pain from the toxins made it hard to hold on. She forced a smile and said, "Let's say everything you said is true. If I become the so-called Earth Kami you mentioned, can I survive to defeat that Satan Lord?"
"That's impossible," Mr. Popo replied, another bead of sweat forming on his forehead. "Becoming the Kami won't grant you power."
"Then forget it," Annin sighed and glanced toward the direction outside the cavern. "Maybe someone coming from over there fits your requirements..."
---
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