Bai Ye didn't know if Kermit believed him, but it didn't matter anymore.
After giving Bai Ye a resentful look, Kermit collapsed to the ground, his breath ceasing.
Pig-Head Emperor stared blankly at his cleaver, then without hesitation, grabbed Kermit's corpse and began to tear into it ferociously.
And then…
An incredibly terrifying aura erupted from Pig-Head Emperor's body.
This guy had evolved into Pig-Head Demon King.
Bai Ye didn't even bother using his bio-scanning computer system. The attribute increase was visible to the naked eye. Bai Ye definitely couldn't win, and to be precise, no chosen one present could defeat him.
This was Rimuru's opponent!
Li Jiayi grinned at Bai Ye, "It seems I've won this round. But don't be too upset. You let me win two rounds before, so it's only fair I win one back now!"
Li Jiayi made no effort to hide his triumph. Bai Ye had disrupted the Death Amusement Park, and he hadn't won when they met in the Twelve Great Battles...
Li Jiayi had been stifled!
Now, it was finally his turn to disrupt Bai Ye. He felt nothing but happiness.
"Die, you bastard!"
Bai Ye's teeth itched with anger, and he punched directly towards Li Jiayi.
Large masses of venom condensed at Bai Ye's fists, forming a venomous dragon that soared, its fangs bared, lunging towards Li Jiayi.
Li Jiayi nimbly leaped backward, evading the venomous dragon's attack. He casually tossed a nearly transparent, gossamer veil.
As the veil appeared, it transformed into grey smoke that enveloped Li Jiayi's body.
"This is where it ends for today," Li Jiayi said with a smile. "I look forward to our next meeting."
The smoke swirling around Li Jiayi grew thicker, completely obscuring his form before he vanished within it.
Bai Ye had no intention of pursuing.
While Li Jiayi was strong, he hadn't displayed the potential Jin Xiang Chuan had after obtaining the King's Scepter.
Of course, if he could eliminate a rival he had a grudge with, Bai Ye would choose to do so. However, Li Jiayi was cunning, possessing many means of self-preservation.
Whether it was the substitute puppet from before or whatever method he used to disappear without a trace now, killing him was clearly not easy.
Bai Ye mused as he withdrew his gaze from where Li Jiayi had vanished, turning his attention to the battle between Rimuru and Pig-Head Emperor.
The surrounding pig-headed people and Rimuru's subordinates had ceased their actions.
This was now a duel between kings!
Even the chosen ones had no room to participate, their task being to wait for the battle between Rimuru and Pig-Head Emperor to conclude, officially bringing this hidden mission to an end.
And Bai Ye's current mood…
Was one of wanting to cry, just wanting to cry, just wanting to cry…
The mission had gone awry!
And it wasn't just the mission going awry; among the rewards for Hidden Mission Three, aside from the Divine Stone Fragment, the other two rewards were "Hunger" and "Demon Qi"!
Bai Ye could see them now!
"Hunger" was Pig-Head Emperor's ability. By continuously feeding, he could strengthen his attributes, and any injuries could be instantly healed through consumption. He could even reattach his head if it were severed.
"Demon Qi," on the other hand, was Rimuru's ability. It could simultaneously enhance physical resistance, physical attack, magical resistance, and magical attack. It could even imbue attacks with Demon Qi, giving physical attacks an additional magic attack bonus and magical attacks an extra boost to their magical attack.
Both of these were divine skills!
Bai Ye felt like he could die. The continuous improvement of strength from "Hunger" might be comparable to the Five Spirit Disk, and while it lacked extra Taoist arts, it came with regenerative abilities.
"Demon Qi" was a perfect blend of offense and defense, greatly enhancing combat ability and adding an extra physical or magical attack effect, making attacks unpredictable.
Most importantly…
He didn't even have to choose; both were rewards, and he would have gotten them all!
Hidden missions were indeed powerful, especially large-scale ones like this.
And yet, it was gone…
However, the difficulty was undeniably high.
Although he was only realizing it now and felt like he was talking about it after the fact, Bai Ye truly understood.
The final task should have been to kill Kermit and prevent Pig-Head Emperor from devouring Kermit's corpse, thus stopping Pig-Head Demon King's birth.
The difficulty still lay in…
The time limit!
The time Bai Ye had to kill Kermit was from Kermit's appearance until Rimuru's arrival.
Once Rimuru appeared, it signified the time limit had been reached. Kermit, being no match for Rimuru, would seek help from Pig-Head Emperor, and then Pig-Head Emperor would slay Kermit, devour him, and become Pig-Head Demon King.
Therefore, when Li Jiayi saw Rimuru appear, he had happily given up the fight because he knew Rimuru's arrival didn't mean Bai Ye had gained an ally, but rather that Bai Ye's mission was failing.
The period from Kermit's appearance to Rimuru's arrival was roughly five minutes.
An extremely short time!
Such a short duration naturally implied difficulty, but the existence of a mission guaranteed a possibility of completion. Kermit's weakness was too obvious; he could be killed with a single close-range attack, and five minutes was sufficient, but Li Jiayi's interference made it another matter.
Although Bai Ye regretted it, he had to admit he was outmaneuvered.
Li Jiayi clearly had access to more information this time, understanding the mission better, and thus he had the last laugh, leaving Bai Ye to accept his fate.
"But…" Bai Ye pouted, "Life has its ups and downs. We'll meet again someday. Just you wait!"
Meanwhile…
While Bai Ye was lost in thought, the battle between Pig-Head Emperor and Rimuru had concluded.
Pig-Head Emperor was strong, and the "Hunger" ability was formidable!
However, Rimuru's true form was a slime, also possessing the ability to devour. And as the Lord of Monsters, Rimuru's devouring ability surpassed that of Pig-Head Emperor.
Ultimately, in a contest of devouring and consuming, Rimuru emerged victorious, completely devouring Pig-Head Emperor and absorbing his power.
After this battle, Rimuru would become even stronger, no longer just the Lord of Monsters, but on the path to evolving into a Demon King.
As Rimuru triumphed, all the chosen ones received notifications of mission completion or failure.
"Huh?"
Bai Ye stared at the light screen that appeared before him, a look of surprise on his face.
"What is this? Failure? Or success?"
"You killed the mastermind, the demon Kermit, but you failed to prevent the birth of the Pig-Head Demon King. Mission progress: 35%."