As Victor delved deeper into the creature's memories, the truth finally revealed itself.
The Lord of Hell, Kagash.
A demon from Hell itself.
These extra-dimensional creatures weren't just any demons. They hailed from a place called the Hell Plane, an entire dimension dedicated to conquest and destruction. For tens of millions of years, they'd been waging war across countless planes, invading and devouring them, absorbing the souls of the inhabitants to grow stronger.
Most of the planes they invaded fell, becoming lower-level dimensions absorbed into Hell's hierarchy. The native creatures living on those worlds had their souls extracted, their flesh and blood corrupted beyond recognition.
This planet was one of those conquered worlds.
Victor's earlier suspicions had been correct.
Kagash, this Lord of Hell, was essentially a manager, someone responsible for governing the secondary planes that Hell had completely swallowed. His strength was roughly equivalent to the early Golden Core realm, maybe slightly stronger.
But above the Lords of Hell, there were many beings of higher rank.
The Hell Plane's power ran far deeper than Victor had expected.
Just as he was about to dig deeper for more information about the Hell Plane's structure, Kagash, whom he'd forcibly controlled, suddenly regained consciousness.
In an instant, the soul-searching technique was interrupted by a powerful force.
Victor's eyes snapped open just in time to see Kagash's face twist in agony. Blood streamed from his eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth.
His life force began to fade rapidly.
"The Lord will not let you go... you lowly creature..." Kagash's words came out in a choked rasp.
His eyes rolled back, and his breath stopped completely.
Victor frowned, staring at the corpse. "What was that power just now?"
He wasn't concerned about Kagash's death, what bothered him was the force that had interrupted his soul-searching technique. Victor was in the Nascent Soul stage. Even though the interruption had caught him off guard, the fact that something could interfere at all meant the owner of that power was extraordinarily strong.
"No," Victor muttered. "I need to destroy this planet immediately. If the owner of that power uses this world as a bridge to reach the other dimensions, it'll be a disaster."
Without hesitation, he raised his sword.
"One sword creates, all things perish! One sword falls, reincarnation ends!"
A surge of sword intent erupted from Victor's body, transforming into a massive golden sword larger than the planet itself. It hung in the void above the corrupted world, radiating devastating power.
"Cut!"
The sword fell.
Victor turned and bolted back through the spatial crack. As soon as he returned to the Seraph world, he swung his sword at the Blood Nest and obliterated it in a single strike.
The Blood Nest crumbled, and the spatial rift hanging in the sky sealed itself shut.
At that exact moment, the golden giant sword slammed into the Hell-corrupted planet.
A blinding light erupted in the once-dark universe.
The entire planet turned to dust in an instant.
Victor, of course, couldn't see that. He was already back at Krul's side.
Looking at the corpses scattered across the ground, he said, "Looks like the battle here is over."
Krul nodded, releasing a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "After you went through to the other world, those creatures stopped pouring out. Otherwise, we'd still be fighting."
Victor reached out, gently wiping a drop of blood from Krul's cheek. Then he raised his hand and summoned a ball of spirit fire, hurling it toward the former vampire city. The flames consumed every trace of blood and corrupted flesh that had desecrated this place.
Once everything was cleansed, he took Krul's hand, and together they left.
They returned to where Sayuri, Shigure, and Miju had been waiting.
Victor brought them back to the survivor base.
Arthur let out a sigh of relief when he saw them. Though the blood on Victor and Krul clearly wasn't theirs, he still asked, "You're not injured, are you?"
"We're fine," Victor replied, then gestured toward the disheveled red-haired woman. "But she got roughed up a bit."
"Hmph, I already healed," Miju snorted.
That pill had been miraculous. A wound that should've taken a month to heal had closed in minutes.
She just wished there'd been another one. If she'd had a spare, she could've given it to Guren.
At that moment, Shinoa and Mahiru walked in.
The moment Mahiru appeared, Sayuri and the others froze, eyes wide as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Aren't you dead?" Miju blurted out, pointing at Mahiru in shock.
A sense of dread crept into her chest.
The queen was back.
So... did that mean their chances with Guren were gone?
"Are you three losers disappointed to see me alive?" Mahiru said with a sweet smile. "But don't worry. I won't compete with you for Guren anymore."
"Asshole! Who are you calling a loser?" Miju snapped.
Then she froze mid-rant.
"Wait. What? You're not fighting us for Guren? What does that mean?"
Sayuri and Shigure also looked at her, confused.
"It means exactly what it sounds like," Mahiru said as she moved closer to Victor, wrapping her arms around his. "I don't like that guy anymore. I like this one now. He's my true love."
The three women stared at Victor with mixed emotions.
On one hand, it was good that their biggest rival had voluntarily stepped aside.
On the other hand... Mahiru had abandoned Guren without a second thought and thrown herself into another man's arms. Didn't that make Guren look... inferior?
And didn't that make them look like they were just picking up leftovers?
Really, losers, huh?
Ignoring their complicated stares, Victor changed the subject. "The Blood Nest in Sanguinem has been destroyed, but there should be more of them around the world, right?"
Each Blood Nest connected to a different plane. The demons had set up multiple fail-safes in case one invasion route was cut off.
Arthur nodded. "Yes. There are currently four more, one in Asia, one in Europe, one in Australia, and one in America."
"They need to be destroyed as soon as possible."
Shinoa felt a knot tighten in her chest at Victor's serious tone. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"I'll explain it to the group later. Right now, we need to focus on destroying the Blood Nests."
Victor began assigning tasks.
"I'll handle the Blood Nests in Asia and Europe. Krul, you'll take care of Australia."
"Shinoa, you're in charge of the one in America."
"Mahiru, you stay here."
"Got it!" came three voices in unison.
"Wait, why am I the one staying behind again?" Mahiru pouted, clearly unhappy.
She wanted to contribute to saving her world too.
"Because you're the weakest."
Lies don't hurt. The truth is the sharpest knife.
Victor's blunt words left Mahiru speechless.
Krul was in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. Shinoa was in the late stage. And Victor? Late Nascent Soul.
Mahiru looked down at herself. Peak of Qi Training, tenth level.
She really didn't measure up.
Resigned, she sighed. "Fine, fine. Just come back safe, okay?"
Miju opened her mouth, wanting to offer her help.
But seeing that even Mahiru had been rejected, she wisely kept her mouth shut.
After all, her strength was even lower than Mahiru's. No point in making things harder for everyone.
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