On a corner of the Fornes continent, a man was inscribing a runic formation on the ground using tendrils made of his own blood.
Zatiel's appearance had changed greatly over the last few weeks. The Neo-Demon appeared no different than a decrepit man with one foot already in the grave. His hair was white, and wrinkles filled his face.
His life force acted strangely. There were times it resembled an ember about to be put out, just to be fueled in the next second by a strange energy that gave the illusion of being the physical manifestation of powerful emotions.
Despite his frail appearance and the fact he found it hard to maintain his body straight, Zatiel's aura was as unwavering as always. His three eyes were bleeding without stop, but they also showed his endless determination as he pushed himself to work harder.
Next to Zatiel, there was a beautiful woman, and her gorgeous green eyes did not move away from him. Zitra's face revealed the distress inside her heart as she witnessed Zatiel's self-destructing behavior. On more than one occasion, she had wanted to tell him to rest, but the Magus knew very well that there was nothing she could do or say to stop him.
Zatiel had just finished the runic formation when he started to tremble uncontrollably. Zatiel grabbed his head while blood was coming from his eyes, mouth, ears, and he crumbled to the ground. The pain he was feeling was so great that he could not even scream, and he twisted on the ground as he attempted to take back control over his body.
When Zitra saw this, she instinctively approached Zatiel's side, but just as she was about to touch him, her hand froze. The pain started to grow due to the pressure Zatiel was putting on himself, and she already knew that trying to help him would be of no use. She just remained by his side and waited.
The Neo-Demon slammed his head against the ground as he resisted the agony. The pain the wound of his soul generated had evolved. If what he felt at the beginning was similar to breaking a bone, then now it was comparable to ripping his whole arm.
By the time the wave of pain had finished, Zatiel was panting. He took a moment to adopt a meditative position before looking at Zitra.
"Let's... go." Despite the inhumane torture that he had just felt and that he will have to endure very soon again, Zatiel's voice was still perfectly calm.
Zitra limited herself to nodding before covering both with shadows and disappearing.
......
In the void, an amorphous entity made of what appeared to be tentacles created of boiling asphalt moved through the elemental chaos. Time and space twisted around it, which made its already impressive speed grow higher and higher.
One of the greatest dangers you could find traveling through the elemental chaos was the mighty Void Creatures. The majority of these beings were extremely violent, and the moment they detected a foreign life form, they would attack immediately.
But these crazy killing machines behaved differently this time. They were running away from that amorphous entity. You could see how some of the wiser ones displayed immense fear in their eyes.
One of the Void Creatures was too slow and wasn't able to move away from the entity's path. Seeing that a fight was inevitable, the ferocious nature of the Void Creature took control, and he roared to the amorphous mass of tentacles.
The Void Creature had the appearance of a winged bear with protruding bones all over his body. The creature size was immense, being several thousand times larger than the amorphous entity, but the last one made no effort in changing its path or reducing its speed.
When they were about to crash, the tentacles made of boiling asphalt grew immensely. The entity took the form of a monstrous mouth full of spiked teeth, and the Void Creature wasn't able to do anything before being swallowed.
Cries of pain could be heard from inside the entity, but they stopped after a second. The entity returned to its original form before continuing its path.
.......
In the core of the territories dominated by the Eye Dynasty, there was an amazing forest known as the Sacred Forest. The trees were so large that they broke the clouds, and you could find all types of extraordinary fruits on them.
All kinds of animals could be found inside this forest, from tiny insects to large mammals, but that was not all since you could also see life forms made of rocks and other strange beings.
Even the weakest one of them was a Rank 4 life form, but the sentience of every single one of them was no different than a normal animal of the mortal world.
The life forms inside the Sacred Forest lived in complete harmony, and even those who had ferocious appearances were extremely peaceful.
In the center of the forest was a small dot of light, and from it, an unbelievable majestic aurora borealis was created. Those magnificent northern lights spread all over the forest, and they nourished every being in it.
The regions surrounding the forest were usually quiet, but that silence was broken when two young Eye Holders appeared.
The duo flew with all of their power to the Sacred Forest, and you could discern a sense of urgency in their eyes. Behind them, explosions could be heard, and they were so loud that it appeared as if a world was breaking apart.
As they approached the forest, Sigrid and Aren were assaulted by an unbelievable sense of danger. Determination filled the eyes of the duo, and they exploded the energy inside their bodies to obtain a push forward.
The instincts of the siblings were screaming, and they felt that their doom was near. However, that feeling vanished the moment they touched the aurora borealis.
An individual covered by a green miasma stared at Sigrid and Aren. He was in the sky hundreds of kilometers away from the duo and had almost fired an attack. Just a second more, and he could have killed the two Eye Holders.
The miasma hid this person's figure, but you could see that there was a large cut on his back, and his left leg was missing. The eyes of this person narrowed, and he transformed into streams of gas that disappeared into the distance.
Heinz appeared just when that person vanished. There was a thick killing aura around the Cultivator's body, and between his eyebrows, the Demodand Constitution could be seen.
There were injuries all over his body that were festered by green energy. His condition would be much worse If it wasn't for his powerful physique and the immense amount of blood energy running through his veins.
Heinz's eyes focused on the distance, but after a moment, he shook his head and turned to the Sacred Forest. It was only when he noticed Sigrid and Aren inside it that he was able to relax.
From the moment they entered the Eye Dynasty, Heinz had been forced to fight and run. All types of powers targeted them, and they were constantly being attacked from the shadows. The Cultivator did not understand how they did it, but their opponents always knew their location.
Thanks to Heinz's power and control over the Law of Space, they were able to advance extremely fast and left their enemies behind.
Unfortunately for the trio, they were ambushed by that person covered in the green miasma before they could reach the Sacred Forest.
Heinz had already noticed the abnormalities in their situation. They were very deep within the Eye Dynasty, so battles between powerful life forms should have drawn the attention of the Holy Clan, and yet no one appeared.
It did not take a genius to see that someone was interfering with the response of the guardian forces of the dynasty.
Heinz knew that the more they waited, the worst their situation would become. He acted decisively and teleported the duo the closest he could to the Sacred Forest before focusing all of his power on the opponent in front of him.
The person in the green miasma was not only powerful, but he also had all sorts of weird spells and artifacts. Their battle was impressive, but despite the efforts of the Cultivator, that person reached the area next to the Sacred Forest.
He transformed his left leg into a giant snake that immobilized Heinz for a moment, allowing him to get near Sigrid and Aren, but he was too late and wasn't able to stop the duo from entering the Sacred Forest.
Sigrid and Aren looked back at the Cultivator, and they nodded before flying to the dot of light in the center of the forest. It took them a moment to reach it, and their expressions were solemn as they stood in front of it.
The dot of light was the size of a grain of rice, but the truth was that it contained a dimension that could compare to a Low World, and it was in there that the Holy Trial was held.
The siblings exchanged glances and saw the determination in the eyes of the other. The next moment they touched the dot of light and disappeared.
