[Rank C Artifact – Scouter]
[Artifact Description: A Scouter allows the user to perceive what the naked eye cannot. It can detect and display the power levels of all living beings within a ten-kilometer radius and offers multiple customizable settings]
"Woah—what is that?" Asta exclaimed.
El didn't answer. He pressed the button on the left side of the device fitted over his eye.
Numbers immediately materialized across his vision—power levels of everything around them, even grass and trees. He set the base filter to 10,000 and customized the results.
Nothing.
"Are you sure the ritual was supposed to be within a ten-kilometer radius?" El asked, unable to find any notable signatures.
"There are two more possible locations according to my intel," Nacht replied.
They searched for another fifteen minutes, but when nothing turned up, they moved on to the second destination—deep within a snow-capped Strong Magic Region.
The Scouter proved useless there. The dense, unstable mana caused its readings to fluctuate wildly, forcing El to rely on his ability to read Ki instead. Even then, there was nothing.
"T-too cold…."
Asta's teeth chattered as both he and Noelle shivered uncontrollably. Nacht shot El a brief look, but El ignored it, focusing instead on scanning the surroundings for any lingering signs of activity with his Ki instead.
The third and final location was a dormant volcanic site, the air thick with poisonous gas.
"Ahh… this is better…" Noelle Exhaled in relief.
The moment El activated the Scouter again, a single reading appeared underground.
Power Level: 25,667
"There's someone down there," El said.
Using Instant Transmission, they appeared underground with Asta and Noelle, not giving whoever was inside any time to react. He didn't bring Nacht because he preferred to use shadow travel.
Moments later, the three of them stood inside a massive underground structure.
It was a five-hundred-meter-wide dome, man-made and encased in Crystalised Mana stones, its unnatural purity clashing with the dull black volcanic rock surrounding it.
From the ceiling, human corpses hung upside down, their blood slowly draining to feed the enormous magic circle carved into the ground below. The entire floor was flooded with red liquid, the circle engulfing everything—including where they stood.
"We're too late," El said quietly.
At the center of the circle sat a man El immediately recognized, staring at them as if he had been expecting their arrival.
Decan.
A Stage Zero mage specializing in summoning magic. A self-styled scholar obsessed with uncovering forbidden history.
At least a hundred humans had been sacrificed to prepare the demon-summoning ritual.
They stared at each other but El didn't move.
Silent as ever, Nacht emerged from the shadows behind Decan. Before the man could utter a single word, his head rolled from his shoulders, blood splattering across the magic circle he had spent so long preparing yet never got to activate.
"Ahhh—!"
Noelle screamed the instant her eyes processed the scene. Her voice echoed against the stone as horror finally caught up with her senses. Across the chamber, Asta staggered away and vomited, his body rebelling against the sight of human corpses hanging upside down and the suffocating stench of blood that clung to the air.
"Weren't we supposed to capture him alive and interrogate him?" El said.
"I'll dispose of this place," Nacht said coldly. "You take them to the training grounds in the Heart Kingdom. I'll meet you there."
El nodded.
As he placed a hand on both Asta's and Noelle's shoulders, preparing to teleport, a sharp sense of wrongness rippled through all four of them.
In that split second, El sensed a violent distortion—like the entire ritual site being flipped upside down. Space twisted and the four were ripped away from their original location.
They reappeared on what looked like the same platform.
The magic circle beneath their feet was identical but Crude in structure—yet the blood used to draw it was black. Unmistakably inhuman.
El felt it immediately.
The mana here was thin, diluted and contrary to that, gravity pressed down twice as heavy as normal.
"This is impossible." Nacht muttered.
His words snapped El out of his thoughts.
"That bastard, Daric…" El said quietly, eyes sweeping across their surroundings. "He really outdid himself."
They stood within an enormous circular colosseum, nearly two kilometers in diameter, enclosing them like a cage with no exit. Towering Ice walls—at least hundred meter high—rose around them, built from layers of bone and stone fused together.
Perched along those walls were rows upon rows of demons, Salivating. Screeching. waiting.
Low and intermediate demons crowded the edges, their gazes filled with naked hunger as they stared down at the four intruders below.
Above the arena wall—far from the summoning circle—Twenty High Ranking demons stood in perfect formation, as if awaiting a single command.
And then El saw them.
At the far end of the colosseum sat two figures.
Their mana signatures were nothing like anything he had ever encountered—vast and oppressive. Even without seeing their faces clearly, El recognized them at once.
They were identical to the figures carved into the murals deep within the Spade Kingdom's ruins.
Lilith and Naamah.
Then his eyes narrowed.
Embedded in the center of each demon's chest was a divided sphere—two halves of a Dragon Ball. A single star, split down the middle, glowed faintly, shining like a beacon in the abyss.
El's breath caught.
Seven…
Does that mean each of the seven Dragon Balls is held by the ruler of each floor?
If that was true—
It was the worst possible news.
Beside him, Asta clutched his grimoire tightly, his hands shaking. The pages radiated an unfamiliar killing intent, tangled with fear. Noelle stood behind him, half-hidden, her body trembling under the sheer pressure bearing down on them.
"Calm down." Nacht said quietly, his voice firm despite the situation.
"Why aren't we running…?" Noelle whispered. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes—only to freeze, then evaporate instantly under the chaotic aura radiating from the twin devils. "Please… take us back to the Black Bulls."
"I thought Daric was trying to summon a devil into our world," Nacht said, ignoring Noelle's pleading voice. "But this was a trap. He lured us in and reversed the summoning."
El's jaw tightened as a memory surfaced. Daric fleeing the ruins of a human experimentation facility, blood and hatred blazing in his eyes.
"Vice-Captain Nacht… El…" Asta forced the words out, his voice strained. "What is this feeling?"
Nacht didn't hesitate. "Fear."
Before either of the rookies could respond, El vanished, appearing at the edge of the arena floor looking up at the demons. Shadows folded inward, and Nacht rose from El's shadow instant later, Asta and Noelle dragged along.
"Welcome to the Underworld, humans." one of the Highest level devil said lazily. "I am Naamah."
"And I am Lilith." the other added.
The two sat side by side upon grotesque thrones. Tall, pale, and almost human in shape. Fire coiled around Naamah's limbs, while frost crawled across Lilith's skin. Their smiles were playful, cruel, and bored.
"Lucifero said two powerful mages would arrive after we sacrificed a thousand demons." Lilith said, resting her chin on her hand. "But you four hardly seem worth the trouble."
"You can thank Lucifero for me," El replied lightly. "I've been searching for something—and didn't expect it to come to me on its own."
Naamah leaned forward, flames dancing in her eyes. "And what would that be, human?"
El raised a hand and pointed.
"That."
Both devils froze for a heartbeat, the arena was silent.
Then—
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Lilith burst into manic laughter, clutching her side. To her surprise, El laughed with her, his voice echoing across the colosseum.
"Oh?" Naamah purred, her flames flaring. "Do you even understand what you're looki…"
"I do," El interrupted calmly. "And I intend to collect all seven of them."
Lilith's laughter stopped. "So humans still remember. We wondered why no one had tried to find them."
She spread her arms wide. "Then come. Take it if you can."
"We will and this colosseum will be your grave." Said El and Nacht's shadow surged outward, swallowing the four of them whole.
A moment later, they disappeared and appeared at the very center of the arena.
And then the chaos began.
The restraints on the low and Mid-ranking demons shattered. Hundreds surged forward in a frenzied tide—some charging on foot, others flying from above. Screeches tore through the air while Lilith and Naamah remained seated, watching like spectators.
"I shouldn't have come…" Noelle whispered, shaking violently.
Asta drew his sword, teeth clenched but El knew the truth. At best, Asta could cut down five or six before being overwhelmed. Noelle wouldn't last even a minute.
"Why run…"
"Come fight us…"
"Play with us…"
Voices crawled through the arena, gnawing at their minds.
"Any plan?" Nacht asked sharply.
El's gaze moved fast, calculating. "I've had one since we arrived. We kill the highest-ranking demons. We worry about returning afterward."
Nacht's expression darkened. "Even weakened, they could crush the strongest captain. And don't forget we have to take care of these two rookies."
Three cards hovered before El—one black, two white.
"You have a black card?" Nacht asked.
Asta's eyes widened. "What does it do?"
"It can solve this mess," Nacht said.
Hope flickered across Asta and Noelle's faces but El's expression remained gloomy staring at the black card.
[Card Rank: S]
Ability Holder: Lion Sin of Pride – Escanor
Effect: Grants dominion over solar power. Strength, durability, mana output scale with the sun's presence.
Weakness: Severely weakened without sunlight. Become mortal at night.
Condition to Copy: Relinquish all other abilities and tricks. Have some pride.
Time Limit: 30 Minutes
Damn it… if only there was a sun here.
'World Memory', he asked silently, ' what happens if I use this without the Sun?'
The card flipped.
[You may burn your lifespan to fuel the required power. Would you like to make your last stand here?]
"Like hell I will," El muttered, sealing the card away.
Balance: 25,020 Xeni Coins
'S-rank cards cost around 50,000 Xeni Coins. Three years of effort hadn't been enough to buy even one.' El was contemplating when a black mission card appeared in front of him.
⚔️ [Mission Interface]
Mission: Dance of Ice & Fire
Rank: S
Time Limit: None
Objective: Survive
Failure: Death
Rewards:
• S-Rank Card
• A-Rank Card
• Xeni Coins ???
• A-Rank Treasure
Hidden Condition: ???
***
Author Note: I know I've made quite a few changes right at the start of the story, but things will align with the original story later on—and the story won't be as long as the original. We also have outside universe to explore.
For now, just look forward to the reward from this mission.