Chosen Evolution: I can load the protagonist template

Chapter 744 Demolition...Initiated!
With the appearance of the Demon King's Castle map, the pitch-black sky that seemed to forever shroud the Demon King's Castle was torn open by a mysterious external force.

Sunlight streamed in through the opening in the sky, shining almost directly onto the top floor of the Demon King's castle, and through the open windows into the Demon King's chamber, completely enveloping Demon King Astaroth's body.

The demon king's corpse, which had been somewhat ethereal, became incredibly solid the moment it was enveloped by the sunlight, and then burst into flames.

The demons, who had been terrified and stunned by the death of the Demon King, began to flee frantically or wail as they began to act naturally. In an instant, chaos reigned among the demons.

This is the blazing sun's natural judgment upon the demons after they lost the Demon King's protection.

The Demon King is dead. This time, he's truly dead.

There was no rewinding, no delusion; the Demon King Astaroth was truly dead.

Strictly speaking, the demon king who was instantly killed by Cheng Tian's Inner Prison Killer was actually defeated by him and the deceased Arthur together.

Ghosts 'n Goblins is a game that requires a second playthrough to truly complete.

If players play the game normally, when they break the cycle of curses in the sixth stage of their first playthrough, officially enter the Demon King's Chamber, and slay Astaroth on the cross, they will not immediately experience the "kill the Demon King, save the princess, and reach the pinnacle of life" storyline. Instead, a prompt panel will immediately pop up with the following message.

[It's all an illusion! If you want to see the real ending, you have to do it all over again!]

Players will then directly enter the second playthrough, starting again from the first level of Ghosts 'n Goblins.

The overall difficulty increases in the second playthrough, mainly due to the increased number of monsters, their spawn rate, and their movement speed.

This illusion corresponds to the "illusion" characteristic of the Demon King.

The knight Arthur, who had bravely sacrificed himself, charged into the Demon King's castle in the first playthrough. After realizing that he had fallen into an illusion, he fought hard and fought his way out with the only map of the Demon King's castle that could break the illusion and guide the true path. The map was then passed on to Cheng Tian during the novice trial.

In other words, the novice trial in Demon Village that Cheng Tian experienced was actually a second playthrough.

With the map of the Demon King's city in hand, Cheng Tian is the only option to dispel the Demon King's illusions.

If Cheng Tian had not obtained the map entrusted to him by Arthur, the Demon King lying on the ground at this moment would have vanished into nothingness, and Cheng Tian would have been banished to the first level, starting from the outermost layer of the Demon Village, a graveyard filled with tombstones and zombies. When he returned to fight his way to the Demon King, the Demon King would have faced Cheng Tian again in perfect condition.

But with the map of the Demon King's castle, the Demon King's illusion was shattered, leaving only the truth.

Of course, for Cheng Tian, ​​death is never the end.

As the blade sliced ​​across the Demon King's neck, the Demon Gauntlet also began to operate at high speed, generating an unparalleled and powerful suction force on the Demon King Astaroth's soul, which was escaping from the corpse and preparing to flee towards the Demon Realm!
Yes, in terms of vital signs, Astaroth was indeed killed by Cheng Tian, ​​but his soul was not among them.

In fact, in the later "Ghosts 'n Goblins", Astaroth, who was killed in the first game, will be resurrected and reappear as an elite grunt, blocking Arthur's way.

As the saying goes, there are always five Heavenly Kings, and above the Demon King there is a Great Demon King, etc. These seemingly joking things are actually true.

Above the Demon King Astaroth, there is a new Demon King of the Demon Realm named "Loki"!

Astaroth in Ghosts 'n Goblins was resurrected by the power of the Great Demon King!
While this authentic NES version of Ghosts 'n Goblins dungeon likely won't involve the Demon King, Cheng Tian clearly won't give Astaroth any chance of resurrection. How could the Demon King's soul, already devoid of a complete body, possibly rival the flawless Cheng Tian?

The Demon Gauntlet completely captured the escaped Astaroth, leaving not a single fragment behind.

[You have successfully captured the "Wrathful Soul of Astaroth".]

[Your bonus skill 'Soul Salvation' increases the maximum number of innocent souls you can store by 100, currently at 999.]

[Your current progress in collecting the most heinous souls is as follows: Undying Vega, Unwilling Gith, Breath of the Storm, Flame of Destiny, Dry Earth, Wild Lightning, Qin Konglong, Qin Hailong, and Resentful Astaroth. (9/36)]

"The agreement has been reached."

As he spoke, Cheng patted his own buttocks.

To be precise, it's the strawberry-shaped underwear inside, called "Arthur's Proof".

In a sense, Cheng Tian even exceeded his promise to Arthur. He not only killed Astaroth and liberated the human world, but also cut off the possibility of Astaroth being resurrected.

Even if a "Ghosts 'n Goblins" storyline were to emerge in the future, it would only feature Astaroth's weaker members of his race, not Astaroth himself, who is below the Great Demon King and above all other demons.

Although Arthur passed away long ago, a part of his beliefs remained with the strawberry underwear, which even gave rise to a broken knight template.

And at this moment, it naturally has to respond.

The green magical aura representing the excellent-grade equipment began to change color, from green to blue, from blue to purple, and finally, specks of golden light appeared.

Bazett glanced sideways at the golden halo emanating from Cheng Tian's crotch, his face noticeably flushed, perhaps lost in thought.

You have exceeded your promise to the knight Arthur, and Arthur's heartfelt gratitude will be reflected in the certificate of your contract.

Your special story-related equipment, "Arthur's Proof," has undergone a significant upgrade and enhancement.

【Arthur's Proof: Golden Legend/Lv-, Certificate of Fulfillment, Men's Underwear. Equipment Requirements: Cheng Tian/Orange】

The lingering Arthurian will's heartfelt gratitude to you, and the unwavering promise between men, are perfectly projected onto these white boxer briefs with a strawberry pattern. Once you wear them, the power of Knight Arthur will be at your command.

As long as you continue wearing this equipment, you will be considered to possess the perfect protagonist template—Knight/Arthur.

At that time, you will simultaneously obtain the template-exclusive skills 'Knight's Throw', 'Knight's Magic', 'Mithril Chest', and 'Blessing of the Goddess of War'.

The sunlight scorched the Demon King's corpse, which had completely lost its soul, to ashes. This scene was like a bomb fuse going off, and the sudden tremor swept through the entire Demon King's castle.

Demolition...started!
(End of this chapter)