Around the kings, nothing existed but the immense ring of black fire and a suffocating abnormal presence watching them. A strange and peculiar atmosphere enveloped everything; the air that entered their bodies felt icy, but when breathed in, a burning sensation emerged from their lungs. Their feet seemed to touch the ground, while simultaneously feeling like they were floating in emptiness; it was a total loss of their spatial awareness.
To accentuate the strangeness, they didn’t perceive Qi, laws, or cultivation in their bodies. It was as if they had stripped themselves of their bodies, becoming fragile souls dispersed in the void of the universe, distant from stars or any form of life.
In the midst of these supernatural sensations, everything lasted only for a few moments. The ring of fire dissipated, finally revealing the visage of something alive: four bestial eyes at the center of that world. These eyes observed the kings, and a heavy snort echoed.
The two kings found themselves in the Divine Sovereign Realm, the twelfth cultivation realm, the highest a mortal could ascend. At this point, all the laws of the universe were simple for their eyes and resonated with them. Despite being in the underworld, they still belonged to the same universe, and their bodies were slowly adapting to distinct laws.
In a matter of seconds, the kings sensed each other’s presence at opposite points. At their center, they finally discerned the anomaly that had caused all these impossible phenomena.
"That... is a Cerberus? No, it’s a beast with a bloodline of a..." The demon king muttered incredulously, noticing only two heads.
Another second passed, and it was at that moment that the presence of death solidified around the two bewildered kings. Yin and Yang runes lit up in the eyes of each of the Cerberus’s heads. An overwhelming feeling emerged; it was a dense and overpowering amount of Qi sprouting into the world from the void.
Strange laws held both sides in place. The demon king, finally regaining the sensation of his body and cultivation, exploded in desperation, releasing all the Qi stored in his meridians.
When the hero initiated the showdown, he forced both sides to withdraw all the Qi from their bodies and confine themselves in that world. Over the centuries, however, they managed to slowly master a small part of spatial laws, thanks to their cultivation. They then created a small space where a subtle Qi, smaller than that of an ascending planet, flowed from the outside. Even after centuries within this confinement, it was enough to restore a minimal part of their powers, providing them with a symbolic comfort and a sense of security.
The demon king spewed blood abundantly with the desperate movement; he felt his body release, and he was thrown several meters backward. At that moment, he heard a muffled scream of terror and pain, so he turned his eyes forward in shock.
A gigantic winged demon beast emerged, spreading its wings in a desperate metamorphosis. Its feathers were covered in blood, and its face and eyes contorted in agony.
BOOM!
Absolute disbelief overcame the demon king as he saw a pillar of black fire rise for hundreds of meters, completely engulfing the massive beast. There was no heat, just a deadly feeling emanating from that fire.
Agony-filled screams echoed from the beast king, but they lasted only a short while. Suddenly, countless stakes made of something resembling purple crystal, covered with black flames, appeared, covering the horizon. They cut through the air and flew, piercing through the king, breaking through his defenses without any resistance. In an instant, an explosion of blood and a suffocating death Yin enveloped everything around.
"That... is a technique from dark demons..." The demon king murmured, recognizing the unbelievable origin of these purple stakes. It was something he had glimpsed before but had deemed weak and pathetic.
At that moment, a spatial rune appeared on the Cerberus, and the entire existence of the beast king evaporated as if it had all been a dream. The demon king saw only four eyes turn toward him, and a cold sweat ran down his back. One of the Cerberus’s heads opened its jaws, and a guttural sound resonated, as if it were the laughter of a true demon king delighting in his primitive fear.
’Control yourself and let’s take this opportunity to test all the demonic techniques we’ve learned. This place is like an ocean, and the Cerberus is a shark swimming freely and without limits.’ Bruno excitedly conveyed mentally to Alm, who chuckled sinisterly.
This was the true underworld, and the Cerberus was a genuine underworld hound. All the laws of that place seemed to bow and surrender to Alm and Bruno willingly. They only needed to have Qi to use them, and to their delight, mountains of spiritual crystals were used to unleash an undefeatable oppressive power.
The beast king was the first target; unlike the demon king, he was foolish, his mind was slow, becoming completely stunned and unable to focus. Living for a long time as a king, without real dangers, had completely affected his instincts. Or he had always been pathetic like that, it no longer mattered.
In they went, the two were easy targets, like turtles in a jar. They could only rely on their bodies; they hadn’t adapted to the laws yet and only had a minimal residue of Qi. On the other hand, the Cerberus, despite not having a high cultivation, seemed to dominate the entire world, using everything at its whims. Its power depended only on its capability, and handing something limitless to millennia-old elders was the greatest weapon they could receive.
The space around the demon king closed in again, but this time, he couldn’t comprehend what was happening before him. Purple stakes covered the skies, black flames vibrated in the air, blood blades cut through space, and a gray smoke penetrated his senses... they were countless different demonic techniques, whose origins the king knew, and all were being unleashed simultaneously.
He no longer had Qi in his meridians, but he still trusted that he could fight using his physique and the demonic power of his lineage. However, in the face of this sea of techniques surrounding him, there was only despair and a lack of will.
Then, a faint message echoed in his mind. ’How pathetic, all the lives you refined, and they can never reincarnate again. But even in the face of complete death, they fought to survive. Don’t worry; I won’t let either of you die easily.’
Those were the last words he heard. Next, an explosion of techniques engulfed him completely, and the light of his life extinguished like the fragile flame of a candle.
***
Back in the closed world, the scene was surreal. The last man finally fell unconscious to the ground. Half of the demons and demon beasts were down, while the soldiers trained by Alm and Bruno, led by the generals, remained standing but completely battered.
They looked up, thinking about Lord Cerberus. Everything followed the script he had set. At the beginning of the battle, taking advantage of the momentary distraction of the kings, he activated a high-level beast technique that had been prepared in advance. This technique altered the time around them, and the kings realized it too late when Cerberus unleashed all his power.
It was the legendary bloodline power of the underworld hound. And something unbelievable was unleashed before everyone’s eyes: The legendary gates to the underworld appeared, taking the kings with them, and the two disappeared without even being able to see what really happened.
With Cerberus’s departure, his subjects were left with the mission of stopping the newcomers. Demons fought against demons, and demon beasts faced their counterparts. After a bitter struggle, they managed to knock out the majority without suffering too many losses.
Minutes crawled slowly...
In a distant and somewhat secluded place from the battle, inside the bone building, Malieka looked at the horizon with worried eyes. Even though her son insisted that she stay hidden, she couldn’t remain oblivious to everything.
Her hands were around her belly, feeling the gentle beating of her son’s heart in her womb. She sighed anxiously several times, and then she belatedly noticed, above the bone building, a ring of black fire suddenly rising.
Malieka watched in fear, and from its center, her eyes shone as she saw her two-headed little dog, covered in blood, emerging slowly on its own.
***
On a divine planet, enveloped by a transcendent and infinite aura, stood a castle of such imposing magnitude that it could be admired from space. From a great distance, there was no trace of ’evil’ or any ’impure’ life; no one in the universe dared to approach that place without permission.
It was the sacred abode of the great hero. Within the castle, at the highest point, stood a luxurious and gigantic hall. At its center, solitary, hovered a male figure radiating a golden and sacred divinity.
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Suddenly, the man opened his eyes. Infinite luminous white filled his eyes, which gradually dissipated to reveal emerald pupils, and then his lips moved slightly.
"Those idiots... are they dead?"