What exactly lay beyond the door?
Standing at the other end of the Passage of Immortality, "Metatron," the "King of Angels," asked himself the same question. The secret of immortality — the thing that countless generations of powerhouses had tried to touch — what could it possibly be?
Now that he had become "Metatron," Rudolf II paid no attention to his current form. He habitually narrowed his eyes, his majesty restrained, and muttered inwardly: "Once I learn the secret of immortality, I'll find a chance to eliminate Lucian Evans and Rhein Karendia together. Here, the Silver Moon shouldn't be able to descend."
The secret of immortality could obviously only belong to one person!
As for why he didn't ambush the two right now — Rudolf II was no fool. He was perfectly happy to have someone ahead of him clearing away the dangers. Who knew what might be hidden behind the "Gate of Immortality"!
What exactly lay beyond the door?
The Lord of Hell, hidden within the Passage of Immortality in a bizarre form, watched Lucian and Rhein ahead, watched the "King of Angels" nearby, and quietly asked himself.
The Necrotic Realm had always been well-concealed. Even during the Age of Myths, he had only sensed the existence of this secret world but had never found its entrance — until the "Silver-White Lord" Tifutidis, due to their similar attributes, stumbled upon it by chance, only to be sealed away by legendary mages like Maskelyne. Only then had the Lord of Hell truly come into contact with the Necrotic Realm. By that time, the mysterious entity of the Necrotic Realm was already close to awakening, having revealed traces of immortality to his subordinates such as the "Lich King."
And so, he too had learned of the Chamber of Immortality, learned some of the secrets of the Church of Truth. Over a thousand years of plotting, failure after failure — all of it was waiting for this very moment!
As long as the great door opened, the mysteries of immortality would be revealed before his eyes!
Although he was born a quasi-god, the Lord of Hell believed that he, the Silver Moon, and the Abyss had all first developed their own consciousness at the dawn of the Age of Myths, never having experienced the birth of the world or the emergence of the first life. Therefore, he did not truly understand the secrets of creation and genesis.
Moreover, his quasi-god-level premonition told him that even if Hell were not destroyed and he himself did not fall, one day Hell would still decay and perish along with the entire world. Nothing was truly eternal and unchanging. That was why, upon learning of the secret of immortality, he had become so consumed by it.
As for the mysterious entity of the Necrotic Realm, the Lord of Hell judged that it had likely gained consciousness during the same era. But after creating numerous undead creatures, before it could invade the Main Material Plane and share in the glory of the Age of Myths, it had discovered the Passage of Immortality in its own "homeland" and perished within. After a vast span of time it had managed to return, only to be betrayed by both him and the Silver Moon, falling back into slumber once more — truly a miserable fate.
"The secret of immortality can only be mastered by me, Maldimos, Lord of Hell! I have already roughly grasped the mysteries of transformation. In a moment, I will descend in my true form and, before the Silver Moon can react, erase Rhein Karendia, Lucian Evans, and Metatron all at once!"
By sacrificing this body of Gono, the Lord of Hell was confident he could descend in his true form outside the Main Material Plane!
What exactly lay beyond the door?
Lucian and Rhein felt this question surging endlessly in their minds, as though their very souls were suffocating. Why had Thanos, Vikan, and the monster all failed to hide their disappointment? Would what they saw be any different?
His right hand strained with effort. The small, dust-covered stone door seemed to bear the weight of the entire palace. It took tremendous effort from Lucian to push it open a crack.
As the crack appeared, the small stone door suddenly lost all its weight and swung wide open with a sudden lurch, revealing the scene within the Chamber of Immortality to Lucian and the others!
The Chamber of Immortality had no walls, no floor tiles, no matter of any kind. Beyond the small stone door lay a boundless starfield of infinite vastness, radiating an air of lofty detachment and transcendence.
The starfield was filled with profound darkness. Countless stars shed their light, forming galaxy upon galaxy — brilliant and cold, wide and deep, stretching on without end.
Lucian froze for a moment, then instinctively reached out his right hand. It passed through the image of the starfield without any resistance. The stars appeared to be there, yet were not — untouchable, unapproachable, like the Soul Hearth and the quasi-gods.
And yet, it seemed to share some inexplicable harmony with this world.
The galaxies within the starfield shifted like a film, moving from far to near, gradually enlarging, until a familiar star appeared before Lucian's eyes. And even more familiar than the star was that azure planet!
"This is—" Lucian's pupils contracted sharply as an overwhelming sense of uncanny familiarity surged through him.
This was Earth?
This was Earth!
This was the universe from before he had transmigrated!
"So this is the secret of immortality?" Lucian blurted out, his voice carrying intense shock and bewilderment.
"So this is the secret of immortality?" Rhein's tone held obvious surprise, disappointment, and incomprehension. Behind him, a silver moon suddenly rose in quiet majesty, while from Lucian's left hand, an aura of the Silver Moon wreathed in death energy leaped forth, bathed in the silver moonlight.
Because Lucian's body — including his aura — had been transformed into a bizarre spectral state, these two wisps of energy were no exception. Under the moonlight, they quickly grew into the golden-haired, red-eyed Etna.
"So the projection descended after all..." When they had encountered the monster, Lucian had considered the possibility that Etna might channel power through Rhein's body to help him fight it, but there had been no sign of it. Who would have thought that she had used Rhein's summoning combined with the aura left in his left hand to directly descend as a projection, rather than employing ordinary summoning magic.
So that aura left in his left hand back then had been for this contingency. Did she have to be this "cunning"!
Etna still wore that innocent expression. She gazed at the starfield within the Chamber of Immortality, furrowed her beautiful golden eyebrows, and said dazedly: "Where's the feast? This is the secret of immortality?"