Away from the battlefield where the fight between the armies of the Magi invader force and the Heavenly race painted the ground with the blood of thousands of warriors was a volcano so immense that its peak broke through the clouds.
The heat in this place reached dangerous levels for Rank 1 life forms and even those at Rank 2 would find it a little painful. Besides those who trained spells and Path Techniques related to the use of fire natural energy, no one approached this place.
This was a desolate area, but today two individuals fought here. One was a Rank 3 demon with the form of a vulture and the other was a beautiful woman with blue hair and crimson eyes.
The demon was an Inferno Poison Vulture. The feathers on his wings were dark green and they released a yellow slime. His entire body freed an awful stench that contaminated the air around him.
There were orbs of black liquid that circled the woman and fired jets of pressurized water against the demon. On her back, there were ice tentacles that could extend for hundreds of meters.
Her body was filled with injuries, old and new and it was clear her path to this place had not been easy. Her eyes were filled with rainbow-colored flames and there was pure coldness as she attacked the demon.
The Inferno Poison Vulture received a slash from the tentacles that rotted his skin. The demon roared with fury and pain.
"I will kill you!" The yellow slime covered the demon completely and he propelled himself at the woman.
She waved her hand and the spheres of black liquid were fired at the demon. They exploded and stopped the Inferno Poison Vulture's dive.
The pain the demon felt as his skin rotted was immense but his screams stopped in the next second when several ice tentacles pierced his head and killed him.
The moment the fight ended the woman landed on the ground and her face was pale. She was very tired but determination filled her face as she moved into the volcano.
In her hand, there was a small tadpole that glowed while the information about the woman and her journey was transmitted.
Zatiel closed his eyes as he analyzed the information that reached his mind.
'Even if the worst possible outcome happens, I can still bring her back after a couple of hundreds of years.'
Although he was a little worried, if things can be fixed then it doesn't really matter. To someone like Zatiel, the passage of time no longer had meaning. The main reason why he increased his power so fast, was because he did not like the feeling of weakness.
His consciousness grew stronger and his body changed with every second that passed. The amount of energy a Rank 3 Neo-Demon needed was immense but Heaven Swallowing accumulated so much that Zatiel would not need more for a long time.
The Neo-Demon made a grey pill appear from his ring and eat it. Invigorating energy filled his stomach and it moved to his brain.
The energy in the pills was exceptionally pure and concentrated. Two minutes later, Zatiel took another pill and devoured it as well.
Those pills were made by Sophia. They were known as Brain Devourer and were composed of the brain of angels, demons, and magic creatures. The recipe was a taboo of the Mind Ruler race because its main ingredient were pieces of an Elder Brain.
The pill was very difficult to create, but when Sophia became a Rank 3 Neo-Demon, the upgrade in the power of her consciousness increased her mastery in alchemy.
They took the parts from the Elder Brain that contained a piece of Dante's consciousness. It was just small pieces and thanks to the golden flames of Zatiel, they regenerated in an instant.
Since his soul was a Rank higher than his power as an Animus, his Mind Force faced no bottleneck and it grew very fast.
While Zatiel enhanced his mastery over Clairsentience, a solemn expression appeared on his face and it became graver and graver.
The discipline helped him identify threats, even those that would occur in the future. While his Mind Force grew and his mastery increased, a feeling of great danger appeared on his heart. Although it was just a vague sensation, the Neo-Demon trusted his instincts.
....
Close to the coast of the continent, there were two Angelic Paragons. They stood in front of an altar and their expressions showed how displeased they were from being here.
The altar had all types of runes inscribed in it and the power of space acted chaotically around it.
Oliver waved his hand and a small box that contained an ocean of magic crystal was absorbed into the altar.
The altar started to shine with such power that harmed the eyes of both Rank 4 life forms. A grey aura rose from it and its power was immense.
Lightning and thunder filled the sky, huge waves appeared on the ocean and the ground around Tomas and Oliver broke.
The expression on the two dukes was somber. This was the first time either of them had met with this person and it seems they had underestimated his power.
The grey aura formed a faceless humanoid and the moment he appeared in this world, an omnipotent presence approached this place. A crushing pressure assaulted the trio which only made the elements and natural energy around them behave even more explosively.
The duo in front of the altar recognized it immediately. It was the World Consciousness and it arrived with undefeatable might.
The grey humanoid stared at the sky and then waved his hand. There was no flashy light or powerful energy in that action, but the raging elements calmed down and the pressure the trio felt disappeared.
The World Consciousness was still present, but it seemed it lost its target and after a couple of seconds, it left.
Shock filled the face of the two Angelic Paragons. Despite their power and bloodline, they were not able to feel anything in that movement but it was clear its power was not simple since it tricked the World Consciousness.
"My good friends allow me to officially introduce myself, I have had many names through the years, so many that I can barely remember all of them, but lately people call me Sage." The voice of the Sage was robotic, and you could not obtain any information about him with it.
Oliver and Tomas felt disgusted by the way the Sage addressed them, but they did not express their feelings.
Even if the Sage was powerful, he was not a member of the Heavenly race and in the eyes of the dukes, nothing more than a beast.
"I can see that fate has not been kind to the two of you, especially with you Duke Oliver. But worry no more, I will show you two the way to a glorious future."
Oliver's eyes narrowed when he heard that. It was clear for the Angelic Paragon with wings of lava that this person's knowledge was not simple.
The dukes communicated in secret. They were confident that the Sage did not know what they talked about.
The truth is that despite not having ears, he heard every word as if they were shouting them.
"Why did you choose this day and hour for our meeting?" The one who spoke was Tomas. The energy inside his body was ready to act the moment he felt something wrong.
The way they had been contacted was a very odd one. A message appeared in their dreams, which offered help against the Magi threat in exchange for an immense amount of resources.
The dukes would have ignored it if not for the fact that the message also had information about Volcano Eruption.
By the time they woke up, a piece of a foreign consciousness was left in their minds that they could use if they decided to take his offer.
When the canyon close to the force field and the void in the ocean appeared, Oliver contacted the Sage under Tomas's instruction.
He gave the duo the knowledge of how to create the altar and the date when they could meet.
At first, none of them thought too much of it but now it was different. Exactly twenty-four hours ago, they lost against the Magi and Zatiel gave his oath.
"That is simple my friends. Today is the day you two need me more than ever. When you are lost and don't know what to do next. When fear has invaded your hearts and the future resembles hell. I will be the beacon that will guide you out of the darkness and change your fates!"
