Before the Azure Gate, the "Lord of Hell" Maldimotus held the Golden Trident in his right hand, while his left hand plunged into the Void.
Illusory ripples spiraled around that pitch-black arm wreathed in sulfuric flame, growing hazier the closer they drew to the palm, like a lake surface whipped into violent disturbance.
The area in front of his palm had gone completely blurred and translucent, as though the epicenter of those ripples led to an entirely different world.
The Golden Trident in Maldimotus's right hand radiated a gentle light that caused the Azure Gate to shiver almost imperceptibly, shedding empty cerulean radiance that attempted to envelop the entire hollow.
The "Elf Empress" Aglaya took a step back. Behind her, the phantom of the Spirit Tree abruptly solidified—its hazy roots sprouted one grotesque brown-green limb after another. They bunched in threes and fives, entangling with one another, knotted together like some abominable creature, and burrowed deep into the luminescence of the Azure Void.
The shimmering, water-ripple light immediately softened, like an ocean surface after a hurricane's fury had passed.
The space near Aglaya resembled the aftermath of a surging torrent, yet the "soil" gripped by those roots did not wash away—it remained frozen in place.
Thus she withdrew at a measured pace from the Azure Gate's range, avoiding being sealed within.
Still, having activated her semi-fusion with the Spirit Tree, her complexion had turned strikingly pale—the price was evidently considerable.
The moment she cleared the Azure Gate's area, Aglaya raised the bow of Nature's Retribution and leveled this fourth-tier Legendary artifact at the Lord of Hell.
Fleeing in panic made one most vulnerable to a strike from behind, so she intended to attack rather than defend, forcing Maldimotus to shift his attention to blocking her assault so that she could disengage safely.
A faint green glow blossomed at Aglaya's fingertips. Behind her, the Heart of Nature shone with a soft radiance, conjuring an idyllic natural scene that encompassed the entire cycle of seasons. The Golden Trident in Maldimotus's right hand was already aimed at her, as though he was preparing to unleash this body's most powerful class of five great arcane abilities—
At that very instant, Maldimotus's left hand, the one reaching into the Void, suddenly blazed with light, as though a miniature sun had detonated within his palm.
BOOM!
The illusory ripples shattered. His left hand was annihilated outright, yet the all-engulfing storm of energy did not relent—it continued surging toward Maldimotus.
Maldimotus's body went suddenly translucent, as though he had stepped into another plane of spacetime, or perhaps dissolved into the fabric of the world itself, living on in the heart of every sentient being who harbored negative emotions.
Feelings of transcendence beyond all matter, constant flux, omnipresence, and intangibility rose unbidden. The most essential aura of a quasi-divine being bore striking resemblance to the Azure Gate, the Spirit Tree, and the glow of divinity, yet all of them still fell short of the Soul Furnace by some crucial measure.
The storm of energy engulfed Maldimotus entirely, but from within it rang a "voice" so evil it defied description, like sacred scripture twisted into blasphemy:
"Sin reborn!"
Seeing that Maldimotus was swallowed by the energy storm and her Nature's Retribution arrow could not reach him directly, Aglaya lowered her bow. Her body blurred and then warped, vanishing from the spot.
If not now, when?
The Spirit Tree's lingering afterimage faded slowly in the pitch-black seawater. The energy storm finally subsided, and that spectral figure solidified once more—right hand still gripping the Golden Trident, left hand perfectly restored, covered in black scales and blazing with raging flame.
"What manner of arcane magic is this?" Maldimotus, who appeared entirely unharmed, gazed into the empty space before him.
A third-tier Legendary mage had actually managed, without anyone else's help, to wound him when he had nearly descended in his true body, forcing him to employ his transcendent power to recover. This was something that had not happened even in the Age of Myths! Had the material that "fellow" drawn from the Void been a fraction more, the power a shade greater, he might not have escaped so easily.
The Lord of Hell simply stood there in silence before the Azure Gate, neither pursuing the Elf Empress Aglaya nor continuing to reach into the Void to invade Lucian's Atomic Universe.
His body shifted, reverting to the fishman form of Haierkes, covered in scales that gleamed like sapphires, a cerulean crown upon his head.
However, those deep crimson eyes had turned to vivid scarlet, and the coldness in them had been replaced by mockery.
He appeared to be gazing up at the gently undulating pitch-black seawater above, a smile of equal derision playing at the corners of his lips.
From the sea surface, the dying light of the sunset spilled downward, stirring layer upon layer of golden shimmer—too beautiful for words.
And amid a stretch of reef, the "Mermaid Princess" Doris's golden tail gently lapped at the water's surface, sending up small plumes of spray.
She suddenly sensed an aura of extreme evil erupt from the seabed, tens of thousands of meters below. Then she watched as the ordinary fish beneath the surface saw their scales turn jet-black and their eyes blaze crimson, tainted with the stench of sulfur.
This sudden transformation did not surprise her. Rather, she murmured to herself, "Why not prevent the descent into the Material World? This benefits no one."
The moment she finished speaking, her expression twisted, and her voice became ancient and hoarse: "'Silver Moon' will be delighted to see one able to descend stably into the Material World, thereby lessening the pressure of dealing with me. In truth, Maldimotus's plan would never overlook his true opponent.
After all, they will never guess just how enormous my gains have been this past while. Once I succeed, even if they join forces, they will be nothing more than clowns in a circus."
The owner of that voice was none other than Pope Benedict III—the "Disaster King," Vican!
The "Mermaid Princess" Doris's voice became beautiful and lovely once more: "Could it be that 'Silver Moon' is nearby?"