Zatiel left the Garden of Creation and appeared in the void near a High World. The Neo-Demon had planned to travel to Abyss once his condition improved, but first, he wanted to make sure of something.
He used his Rebirth Eye to see past the waves of elemental chaos and saw hundreds of objects with different forms rotating around the High World and slowly feeding it the energy and laws inside them.
When Zatiel saw this, he could not help but sigh and massage his temples.
"Ahhh, I guess even the best plan can encounter some complications. It doesn't matter. I am not an omnipotent being and cannot control everything. Besides, this is not a bad outcome."
The objects surrounding the world were the resources and artifacts belonging to the Neo-Demon's Armory.
Zatiel knew that he would need resources and weapons in the future when he created the Neo-Demon Realm, so he made sure to prepare everything and leave it inside a dimension in the White Sun.
However, something happened in the years after his demise and before his reincarnation.
The runic formation that covered the Neo-Demon Realm was not a static entity. It was alive and constantly evolving, just like the worlds it contained.
A few thousand years ago, a lucky chance presented itself, and the High Worlds entered a state of accelerated growth. For that condition to remain, they needed a supply of powerful energies and laws, and the NRAI chose to use the objects contained in the armory.
This decision was bound to generate problems for Zatiel, but the Neo-Demon Realm was the ultimate weapon, and the NRAI core directive was to ensure its growth.
"They are part of the High World right now, and trying to remove them would harm the realm's runic formation, so they are gone. I will have to search and gather resources again, but the Neo-Demon Realm grew almost twenty percent in power thanks to the actions of the NRAI. I would have made the same decision." The Neo-Demon did not longer bother what he could no longer change, and just when he was about to leave the realm, he received a message.
"Just in time." A small smile appeared on Zatiel as he returned to the Beta Heavenly World.
On the Fornes continent's, Heinz, Zitra, Totto, Tyrus, and the rest were waiting.
After the group finished their transformation and regressed to Rank 3, they were sent here by the NRAI and instructed not to leave the continent. The NRAI considered them alien entities and would not allow them to move freely.
"I am glad to see that you are all doing fine. How do you feel." Zatiel's voice drew the attention of everyone.
"We feel a little weak, but nothing more." Zitra was the one who spoke and gave the Neo-Demon a beautiful smile.
Zatiel returned the smile to his new lover and analyzed the condition of the group. The appearance of everyone was the same as before except for Totto.
The last time Zatiel saw him, he looked exactly like a mummified corpse, but now his appearance was that of a short black-haired man in his forties.
"So you took advantage of the procedure to undo your Lich estate and regain your human body. Good for you."
Totto limited himself to smiling and nodding. The Magus was pleased with his current condition. He became a Lich and renounced the worldly pleasures to overcome his lack of talent, but he would no longer need it.
"Ok, then let's start. You have to endure the attacks to your will and maintain consciousness. " Zatiel made a giant ball of pure Abyss Aura appear and signaled everyone to adopt a meditative position.
Heinz and the others followed Zatiel command, and the Neo-Demon created several whips of Abyss Aura and began to work on everybody at the same time. His consciousness was more than strong enough to make several Chaotic-Cores simultaneously.
Although they showed pain as the process advanced, none of the ones present had a weak will, and in a matter of minutes, several new Neo-Demons were born.
The group was too strong to obtain a noticeable upgrade in power for a newly created Chaotic-Core. However, the moment the knowledge about the Neo-Demon race entered their minds and how they could assimilate and combine bloodlines without any side effects like bloodline shackles, they were shocked.
They all looked at Zatiel with amazement and wondered how he had created something so miraculous.
Zatiel only smiled and waved his hand, teleporting everybody to the Garden of Creation.
"Although you all are Rank 3 life forms, you are still Rank 0 Neo-Demons. You have to complete your energy pool's conversion from their natural energies to Abyss Aura and transform your bodies. The moment you reach Peak Rank 0, you can choose one of the Peak Emperor Bloodlines in this place. I will see you all soon." Zatiel made a mountain of resources appear before disappearing.
The Neo-Demon found himself in front of a World Gate the next second. He put the coordinates in the gate but was more careful this time and sent a piece of consciousness first.
The process took some time and was extremely uncomfortable. Zatiel made sure that, unlike in Avernus, there was no power interfering with teleportation in the Abyss layer he would go, so without further delay, he went through the portal.
The Neo-Demon appeared in a dilapidated city. Other than some insects and mutated rats, he was all alone. A black and filthy fog filled the sky, and Abyss Aura was in the air.
Abyss Aura would constantly contaminate the body of any creature that was not a fiend, forcing most foreigners to leave after a short time, but that was not a problem for Zatiel. A Doom Bringer had Elemental Chaos running through their bodies, something much more dangerous than Abyss Aura.
'The Forgotten Lands have not changed much even after I harmed its origin. The price those fools had to pay to fix it must have been very high.' Zatiel analyzed the terrain around him, and there was reminiscence in his eyes.
He had traveled to Abyss' third layer, one of the many he had ruled in his previous life. This layer's name, The Forgotten Lands, was due to the laws in this place affecting its inhabitants' minds and draining their memories.
Only those who had awoken their True Soul could resist this memory stealing power, which made most individuals in this layer nothing but mindless beasts that act purely on instinct.
Zatiel did not let remembrance affect his mind and focused on his mission. The first thing was to locate the Demon Lords.
Using his consciousness to search was not practical. The process would be too slow, and a Rank 5 life form would detect it. Demons may be violent and chaotic creatures, but their battle instincts were second to none.
As a Neo-Demon, Zatiel had another scan and search tool that originated from his True Will, named Heart Scan. This ability not only covered more terrain than consciousness and was harder to detect, but it also perceived the emotion in the people inside it, making it easier to discover ambush and surprise attacks.
If he were a normal Neo-Demon, Zatiel would have used Heart Scan, but the Rebirth Eclipse Bloodline owner had an even greater scanning weapon.
The Neo-Demon rose in the air and focused his power in the Rebirth Eye. Immediately, he was able to see countless kilometers ahead of him. Thousands of demons and dozens of colossal cities appeared in his sight, but he kept looking.
After ten minutes of searching, a cold smile appeared on Zatiel's. He found a horde containing a few hundred lesser demons, four Rank 4 Demons, and a Demon Lord. They all had severe wounds on their bodies, and it appeared they had just left a battle.
'They are the perfect target. If I can take the Demon Lord by surprise, I may win the battle without draining all my energy.' A plan appeared in Zatiel's mind, and the next moment, he began to manipulate the Law of Death.
Slowly, every trace of vitality in his body began to vanish, and even his soul aura disappeared. He was no different than a corpse.
If his Law of Death were at the Potential level, that would be the most he could accomplish, but since it had reached the Initial level, there was something else he could do.
His body obtained a phantasmagorical appearance and became translucid before disappearing inside the earth.
Laws have a wide range of abilities. Just like the Law of Shadow can grant teleportation and swallowing skills, the Law of Death can hide your presence by giving you a lifeless body, and if your comprehension of it is high enough, you can become intangible like death itself.
