As soon as they exited the cave, the orange light of that strange world gently struck them. In the skies, there was no sun, but the place was immersed in elemental laws, creating an environment of eternal twilight. Within seconds, as a breeze reached the cerberus’s keen senses, a strong smell of blood permeated the air from all directions. Soon, both Alm and Bruno directly felt in their souls a spiritual power emanating from the earth, as if underground rivers were flowing beneath their feet.
"This place is a legitimate killing field. I thought only demons had such a peculiar taste for these things, but I expected nothing less from a hero," Alm commented without much emotion.
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Moving a few meters away from the cave entrance, they didn’t spot any vegetation or nature around. The land was all black and lifeless, with only large mounds of dirt scattered in the vicinity. However, the sound of running water at a short distance stood out from the south of the cave.
"This place is completely isolated. Shouldn’t there be a constant war between two armies?" Bruno noted with doubt.
Alm, with no reference or QI to navigate, used a bit of his soul for location. After a minute, he commented, "The demoness is to the south, near the water, but she’s with someone else... seems to be lying on the ground... fighting?"
Bruno then furrowed his brows and immediately prepared to run and help her, but in the next second, something sounded in his ears. It was a sharp and feminine sound... no, it was clearly a strange moan.
Alm scoffed and turned to the opposite side, determined to head north. "It’s not a fight; she seems to be having fun with someone." Bruno understood the situation and didn’t question it.
They walked slowly for three hours, being extremely cautious of their surroundings. Soon, they realized there was no living being nearby and quickened their pace. Another hour passed, and they finally felt the extreme Yin of death covering the horizon in the air.
They climbed a mound of dirt and observed ahead attentively. At a considerable distance, they could glimpse a massive battlefield. Thousands of demons and demon beasts faced each other in a visceral combat without any use of QI or flashy techniques. The blood of both sides ran like a river over the earth, and even though some beings on both sides could fly, no one dared to foolishly become a target in the skies.
Alm and Bruno could clearly sense at the opposite extremes of the armies two auras of divine level; they were clearly the two kings observing and commanding the battle. Observing the soldiers amidst the frenzy of battle, the two heads of the Cerberus clenched their teeth with extreme force and fury.
They clearly saw golden runes in the eyes of all those poor soldiers and felt the power of the queen in them. It was as the system described: all those who died and fought in this battle were not there because they wanted to; they were kidnapped by the hero himself. Similar to the other universe they were in before, in this universe, queen’s runes were implanted in all living beings, and they were being used as a form of slavery from birth.
’According to the system’s description, this is the hero’s plan and not directly the queen’s doing. The hero must have found a way to command the queen’s dominion runes and used them to create this nefarious killing field.’ Bruno spat out his words with clear hatred.
Alm then coldly analyzed and noticed something strange. ’If everyone is controlled by the hero, how come that Demoness wasn’t forced to fight and was still isolated having fun with someone?’
Bruno then focused on this strange point, and the two became confused as they decided to continue observing.
The battle extended for quite some time, and both sides were perfectly balanced in every way. Neither of the two kings moved directly as if it were a tactical agreement. When a small advantage arose for one side, the king on the other side immediately reacted, and a suicidal counterattack occurred in an explosion of blood.
Then, after several hours in that unchanging twilight environment, Alm and Bruno saw with strangeness that both sides seemed to have been completely decimated. In a few seconds, a great spiritual power seemed to move in the ground, then everything split and focused on two locations, and then it disappeared.
’All the ground in this place is covered by a soul-refining formation,’ Bruno said, sighing. ’Regardless of the war’s outcome, all the souls of the dead are refined and used by the kings to elevate themselves.’
Alm then dryly commented, ’The two idiots fight and use these slaves without risking loss, prolonging this dispute more and more because they know that, in the end, they will benefit. But without knowing who is truly being used, the hero’s plans are to create a divine soul for himself. He’s probably just waiting for the souls of these two to become strong enough to absorb them, turning his soul into something divine.’
Bruno nodded slightly. Devotion to the hero is completely irrational and affects the minds of all living beings in the universe because of the queen. In their previous universe, in the fight against the hero, at various moments, the hero used suicidal tactics with several beings who had the same cultivation realm as him, and none hesitated or even thought of going against orders. The authority of the queen and the hero over these kings was so great that they couldn’t see they were being manipulated.
’In the end, the only question is how the demoness is not being manipulated; that must be the key to the mission,’ Bruno murmured, deep in thought.
But in the next second, Alm responded promptly. ’In the battle, neither side had any will or desire to live, as if everything had been severed. But that bitch was clearly different, without any chains. The system didn’t mention the queen, so everything was done by the hero. Probably, he can’t use it perfectly and has flaws, and the demoness managed to break free.’
Bruno listened, and it seemed like a solid theory. After all, a mortal manipulating the queen’s runes clearly couldn’t use them perfectly. ’The system placed us close to the demoness for this reason, so we really have to go back and find out what the trigger was... and pretend to be her dog...’ Bruno commented a bit strangely; he didn’t want to humiliate himself in this way.