?


    Boom!


    A snow-covered mountain was blown to smithereens by a wave of energy that was sent by an outstretched hand. A few feet above the previously tall mountain, a white Dragon with frosty breath narrowed her eyes at the culprit of the destruction. The said figure emotionlessly stared back at her. She couldn''t see his face because of the mask covering it but could tell he was looking down on her.


    Swoosh!


    She pped her wings, sending sharp ice shards at him. Raising his armoured wed hand, he pointed his forefinger at the iing shards. In the blink of an eye, a dark purple beam shot out of it. The beam obliterated the shards, filling the air with snow dust. She muttered a Dragon Spell and the snow dust condensed into a sharp gigantic sword. It cut through the air, heading toward him faster than one could blink.


    To respond to the attack, he took out his greatsword and swung it horizontally. The ice sword was effortlessly blocked and shattered. He propelled himself toward her with his Mana, appearing in front of her faster than her sword had moved. She widened her eyes as he shed upwards. Hastily putting a Magic Barrier before, she watched in astonishment as it was shattered by the simple swing.


    A quick muttering of Spell allowed her to teleport somewhere away from him. The moment she reappeared; he was already pointing the tip of his greatsword at her. Another beam wasing at her as a purple energy ball was at the tip of his greatsword. She was quite curious about how powerful it was, so she decided to figure it out. Opening her maw, she readied her Dragon Beam.


    When he shot his beam, she shot hers. The two beams shed in the middle, overpowering each other. The space where the sh happened turned into a vacuum. The air was pushed away and eradicated. The space fabric was warped, threatening to rip apart.


    Before long, his beam overpowered hers. It kept inching closer toward her until it was just a few hundred feet away from her. Much to her relief, the beam lost its power. She also stopped powering her beam, but it was a grave mistake. Even though his beam was no longer powered, it still had enough power to shred a Sub-Dimension with its explosion.


    BOOM!


    Seeing the energy of destruction before her, she thought about teleporting. It was her means of escaping the situation uninjured. Unfortunately, she would risk disturbing the bnce of the Hidden World she was in by doing that given that the space was torn open because of the explosion. Gritting her teeth, she summoned the strongest shield she could afford at that moment.


    "This is going to hurt."


    She hadn''t been injured severely in a millennium. Although she was not foreign to excruciating pain, she preferred not getting hurt. The millennium-long peace had made her appreciate life without fights and injuries. She watched the explosion getting closer with a hammering heart. Time seemed to move slowly with adrenaline coursing through her veins.


    Just as the explosion was about to make contact with her shield, it disappeared without a trace. What she could see in its recement was the one who created the explosion. He was standing regally in the air with his glowing red greatsword on his side. She watched curiously as he pointed his greatsword to the sky as if he were challenging God.


    A vermillion energy ball the size of a child''s head shot toward the sky. It expanded until it was a hundred times its original size before exploding. The space fabric was bent and twisted but not ripped apart. The explosion was not concentrated in a single spot, unlike thest time. However, it was destroying everything within its vicinity. Fortunately, there was nothing in the eternally snow-covered area.


    The explosion ended half a minuteter. The aftermath left a crater that wasrge enough to make a ridiculously deepke. Mountains couldn''t be found in the vicinity where the explosion had urred. The surrounding snow was also melted and turned into sizzling water that quickly trickled down the crater. It was catastrophic.


    "Was it a casual beam?" the white Dragon asked in silent apprehension.


    "That was Rexorem''s new Skill: Bottled Rage. It absorbs any Mana-powered attacks and amplifies its power," the humanoid Dragon-like figure answered. "It was thebination between your power and mine. It didn''t cost much Mana, making it a cheat."


    "The amount of Mana that explosion generated was equal to over a fourth of my Mana Pool. I hope you have a bad sense of Mana usage to call that not much Mana, Land."


    Land remained silent, causing Albion to stifle a grimace. He received every right to be called a Demon. Sighing, Albion reverted to her human form. Land followed suit as his body rapidly shrunk and his scales receded until they disappeared. Albion watched as he swept his hair to the back, leaving some strands falling before his forehead. She wondered if he was seducing her because he looked irresistibly arousing doing that.


    Land quirked an eyebrow as his azure eyes met Albion''s silver eyes. The dangerous twinkle in her eyes told him he wouldn''t like what he would hear, so he didn''t bother asking what the matter was. As Albion was approaching, Aurelia appeared beside him. He was about to assure her that he could protect his dignity from Albion by himself when he noticed her tense look.


    Receiving his inquiring look, she handed over his Sound Crystal. "Please, keep calm," she said soothingly, nervously noting the hardening muscles in his outstretched hand.


    [AH! STOP IT!]


    Land almost crushed the Sound Crystal as soon as he infused his Mana into it. No matter how distorted the voice was, he knew to whom it belonged. Any hint of emotion disappeared from his eyes, reced by an abyss of cold rage. Sound Crystal could ry a recorded voice message. What he had heard was not a message. He was hearing what was happening to Winerva in real-time.


    [Was it a shocker to hear that, Land Kleinhaus?]


    A honeyed voice came out of the Sound Crystal. Itcked any genuine emotion, but you could tell the speaker was amused.


    "You don''t want to y this game," Land uttered coldly.


    [Ah, pardon me. My name is Rusceus Consio, the Seventh Demon King. You see, I was nning to meet the Verniculos'' Rising Star at the Demon Kings Summit. However, I couldn''t wait any longer. My bottled curiosity was—]


    "Tell me where you are."


    […oh. Eager, aren''t you?] Rusceus chuckled mirthfully. [Very well. Meet me at Consio.]


    "I will being alone, so put your fucking hands away from her," Land said threateningly, hearing the muffled scream in the background.


    [That can''t do. Our Hero wouldn''t work hard without proper motivation, would he? I will assure you, however, that she will not die. I would kill every one of my subordinates if she did.]


    "Consider them dead."


    Crack!


    The Sound Crystal turned to dust in Land''s hand. He was trying hard to not go on a rampage and destroy everything his eyes could see. He couldn''t react properly toward affection and any other positive emotions but reacted very well toward negative emotions. His reliance on logic was the sole reason he didn''t be a disaster right there and then.


    "Calm down, Land."


    Aurelia put her hand over Land''s in a cating manner. The air was getting heavier because of his Mana pressure. It was getting hard even for her to breathe. Land looked down at her, allowing her to properly look into his chilling azure eyes. The abyss in them made her feel like she would lose her soul if she stared too long. Fortunately, some warmth returned to Land''s eyes as he noticed how guarded she was toward him.


    Wordlessly, Land embraced Aurelia, afraid that she would see his unsightly side. She was his reminder that he couldn''t explode there and then. Taking a deep breath to settle down his raging Demonic Essence, he exhaled when it settled down. Separating himself from Aurelia, he said it was time to leave.


    Quetzalcoatl appeared at that moment with a frown marring his face. "Boy, you were scaring every living soul in Ne Okozmo with your unbridled rage. What happened?" He nced at Albion usingly. The said Dragon shook her head faintly. Her tense gaze didn''t go unnoticed by him.


    "A throne needs a cleaning and I can''t help my excitement."


    "What throne?"


    "A Demon King''s throne."


    Land''s answer made Quetzalcoatl blink twice. He couldn''t detect any emotion in Land''s tone but could tell the young Demon was seething. He didn''t ask for details and merely gave his blessing. He watched as Aurelia assumed her Dragon form. Land wordlessly jumped onto Aurelia''s back. They were about to depart when Land''s Rank Ne glowed.


    [You have been ignoring me for months, Land. I will ept no rejection. Remember who I am—your King. Go back!]


    "Motherfucker!"


    The unbridled killing intent swept over them once again. Quetzalcoatl widened his eyes and prepared himself to subdue Land now that he could feel the killing intent close to the source. Fortunately, the choking killing intent disappeared a secondter. Aurelia immediately took off and disappeared from everyone''s view. The ce remained silent as Quetzalcoatl and Albion thought about what would happen to the unlucky bastard that managed to rile the steady Land up that much.


    After an 18-hour-long flight, Land and Aurelia arrived at Lithandrel which was the closest ce to Ne Okozmo that had a Portal straight to Verniculos. Everyone greeted him as if they were expecting his arrival, but he paid them no mind. He wordlessly walked toward the Portal with Aurelia trailing behind him. No one dared to stand in his way.


    "What are you doing here?" He only stopped when he noticed Millonia standing beside the Portal.


    "I was waiting for you," Millonia answered emotionlessly. "It was my fault."


    "I see."


    Land passed through the Portal without sparing Millonia a nce. It hurt her, but she knew he could barely control his urge to rip someone''s head apart.