In the endless heights above, the void had cracked open into a shattered maw, and within it one could vaguely make out colossal stars and bands of light.
Leilin, Burdak, and the young female envoy stood shoulder to shoulder, seemingly admiring the devastated scenery.
"When the Dream Primordial Force waned, the entire world fell into deathly silence..."
A hint of sorrow crossed the young envoy's face. Then she turned to Burdak: "I can see Ceruthus's mark-curse upon you... and the glow of the Soro Gem..."
"Uh... ha ha... you must be mistaken. I'm such an honest dragon... why would I ever steal someone else's things... ha ha..."
Burdak's expression stiffened, but he kept up the act.
"You're mistaken. I have no friendship with Ceruthus—quite the opposite, in fact. We have something of a grudge."
The young woman's voice was pleasant as silver bells, yet her eyes held a clarity that seemed to see through everything.
Under that gaze, even the One-Eyed Dragon hung his head in embarrassment: "If you say so... then so be it!"
One had to admit, Burdak's thick skin was something even Leilin had rarely witnessed.
"Ha ha..."
This shamelessness clearly amused even the Dream Demon, and the girl it inhabited pressed her lips together in a smile.
"I only wanted to warn you—Ceruthus's poison curse is the most malicious amalgamation in the multiverse. Once, in order to gather enough resentment, it deliberately pushed an entire minor plane into the Plains of Despair... simply to harvest the hatred of every living soul on a continent before they died..."
Leilin's expression shifted slightly.
The Astral Plane was naturally dominated by worlds, and planes were a tier below worlds. But even so, they possessed standard continental modules with populations in the tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.
To destroy an entire plane merely to harvest the resentment and malice within—the sheer atrocity of such an act defied description.
"Or rather... has it already gone mad? Become chaotic?"
Though Leilin was no saint himself, compared to beings like that, he suddenly felt he had principles.
"The vengeful energy of billions of lives. Combined with Ceruthus's own power of catastrophe, the resulting curse isn't something that shabby Yuse Blood Ring on your head can suppress..."
"So that thing is called the Yuse Blood Ring? Doesn't seem very useful..."
Burdak grumbled dissatisfiedly, toying with the silver ring on his head that resembled a headband.
"Shut up, don't touch it, you idiot!!!"
Leilin's expression changed as he watched Burdak curiously lift the ring from atop his head.
"Woo woo..."
In an instant, a blinding red light burst from the Yuse Blood Ring. Countless blood vessels writhed across its surface, producing women's screams and wails.
The blood-red glow intensified, until it finally burst the ring apart with a muffled pop, leaving behind only a puff of silver ash.
"What... the hell... just happened?!"
The One-Eyed Dragon Burdak stared dumbfounded at the silver granules in his hand and let out a curse.
"I! Found! You!"
A powerful psychic force erupted from the purple eye on his back, carrying cold, peak-level malice and killing intent.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The curse that Leilin had previously managed to suppress exploded violently. Purple eyes burst open one after another, splattering yellow pus and making Burdak scream in agony.
Within the range contaminated by the pus, even more and finer purple eyes kept emerging, nearly enveloping his entire body.
Leilin could feel a powerful soul signature lock onto Burdak completely—the aura belonging exclusively to a Calamity Lord was steadily awakening.
South of the Dream Demon's Domain—in another Calamity Lord's territory of the Northern Reaches.
"Damn thief, despicable plunderer—Ceruthus has finally found you!"
Destructive Snow surged upward, carrying immense annihilating force, yet even this could not touch the massive ice-sealed crystal at the territory's center.
Crash!
Amid the roaring, vast quantities of ice melted and fell with piercing sounds. The ice layer instantly blazed with dazzling light as Rune Chains snapped apart one by one.
"ROAAAAARRR!!!" With the roar, the enormous crystal iceberg exploded. A colossal, pitch-black figure burst forth and merged into the distant clouds, hurtling toward the Dream Demon's Domain.
"What... what... what... what do we do?!"
Burdak clutched his head with both hands, barely restraining the urge to tear his own flesh away piece by piece, and looked to Leilin with pleading eyes.
Hmm? That's not right... no matter how thick-skulled Burdak usually was, he was extremely careful about his own safety. At the very least, he hadn't made any mistakes during their journey before—how could he slip up now?
The only change was the addition of a Calamity Lord to their company—one with the bizarre and unfathomable powers of the Dream Demon...
In the span of a thought, Leilin sensed something was wrong.
At that moment, the Chip's voice rang out. Under its atomic microscope, a strange layer of powder, centered on the Dream Demon girl, had appeared floating in the surrounding air.
Damn it! It really was you!!! If not for the Nightmare Siphon Body, I would have fallen for your illusion too...
Leilin seethed inwardly. The dream bloodline power within him surged, melting away the multitude of powder particles he had inhaled, and his mind cleared instantly.
Incredible illusion ability—so that vague anger I felt earlier was also caused by those powder particles... Truly worthy of a spirit that commands illusions and dreams!
A flurry of thoughts flashed past, but outwardly Leilin maintained his furious expression, scolding Burdak while keeping a wary eye on the Dream Demon girl.
"Don't worry! I told you before—I have my own grudge with Ceruthus. I won't allow it to enter my territory... I could even... form an alliance with you, to deal with Ceruthus together..."
When the Dream Demon girl saw the fury in Leilin's eyes, she was secretly delighted. Then she noticed his wariness—this was perfectly normal, as any foreign rule-level existence had to guard against being ambushed by the Dream World's Calamity Lords. So she spoke directly.
Leilin noticed that as the Dream Demon girl spoke, the atomic-level powder in the air also rippled subtly, emanating an extremely faint soul-enchanting power that could covertly influence the target's judgment.
Burdak, for instance, was nodding vigorously.
"Mm! Furthermore, once the enemy is defeated or sealed, I'm sure the curse on your friend here can be resolved as well..."
Seeing this, the Dream Demon girl played her trump card.
"Agree to it! Leilin! Agree to it!" Burdak nodded like a chick pecking rice, his soul fluctuations growing even more intense.
"Of course, I agree—"
Leilin seemed to waver as well, and the Dream Demon girl's heart soared with joy. She drew a few steps closer, fine soul dust constantly rippling from her body.
"Like hell I'll agree with you—"
Suddenly, a harsh glint flashed in Leilin's eyes, and he let out a fierce roar.
Hsssss...
The enormous phantom of the Tagarian Winged Serpent materialized behind Leilin, opening its terrifying maw to strike savagely at the Dream Demon girl!
Relying on his superb acting skills and the subtle concealment of his rule manipulation, Leilin had completely deceived the Dream Demon girl.
This sudden attack—especially the utter shock and disbelief visible in the girl's eyes—instantly improved Leilin's mood.
Crack!
The maw formed by the Devouring Rule clamped down, turning even space into void. Everything was absorbed and converted, then transformed into Leilin's own energy.
Although the girl's body that the Dream Demon had possessed was the product of a delicate balance between True Spirit devouring and its own dream-creation abilities—precious beyond measure—it was ultimately just an ordinary human body, recently modified, and had no chance to escape. It was instantly dissolved in the endless darkness, leaving behind a radiant wisp of will.
"You destroyed my avatar!!!"
Immense fury surged from that wisp of will. The entire territory trembled and howled, and the native inhabitants who lived there immediately dropped to their knees in prayer.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A native who had been kneeling and praying for the lord to quell his rage had his head explode. A mote of light shot straight out from the skull, followed by more...
Countless motes of light converged upon the ground, fusing together as seamlessly as water and milk.
And having received so many motes, the territory shuddered as a strange life force awakened within it, carrying a surging eighth-level will!
"A cornered beast, forcing the seal open, is it?"
A mocking smile played in Leilin's eyes. The opponent was still trapped in its seal, and the dwindling Dream Force was Leilin's best ally.
"Too bad! There's no time!"
Leilin sighed calmly, a flash of blood-red light passing through his eyes.
Boom... without a sound, the fragment of will that had been clinging on within the devouring void completely shattered. A flood of memories mingled with droplets of insight into the rules poured forth.
"Damn you! Damn you!"
The destruction of a portion of its will brought horrifying consequences. The entire territory erupted in fury—volcanoes exploded, earthquakes howled, the earth cracked open, and a titanic hand wreathed in molten lava rose to blot out the sky.
"Not much damage sustained—even its aura has only weakened slightly... It seems the portion that was conscious was only a small fraction of its will!"
Leilin remarked with some regret, then scooped up the still-stupefied Burdak and transformed into a streak of black arrow. It pierced through the massive raised palm in an instant, flickered in the distant sky, and vanished completely.
Barely a dozen seconds after Leilin disappeared, a dense swarm of moths had already blanketed the area, forming the shape of an enormous woman's face.
The face gazed in the direction Leilin had departed, hatred burning in its eyes. Then, upon seeing the Destructive Snow suddenly descend from the sky, a look of fear flickered across its features before it burst apart and vanished. The rioting ground grew still.