Mira pushed open the Grey Door inside the Gates of Purgatory, and just like the other times, she blacked out, her consciousness returning to her mind.
Suddenly, Mira opened her eyes, then slumped over as if she were made of jelly!
"What the…! What happened? Why do I feel so weak?" Mira muttered, feeling incomparably weak. Fortunately, it was just her physical body that was weak.
However, she did feel strangely more connected to the earth.
"...What's going on?"
The Guardian chimed in once again to help her out, "The door you just opened was the Hell of Weakness."
"Hell of Weakness?" Mira questioned.
"Yes, and just like the name suggests, it makes you weak. However, like the previous Hells, things aren't so simple. During this time, two things will happen. One, your strengths will be severely limited. Two, your weaknesses will be more pronounced. This hell will cycle through your strengths and weaknesses one at a time, and if you don't overcome them within the given time limit, you will lose all your strengths, and even your weaknesses will be locked."
Mira's mouth hung wide open as she could barely believe what she was hearing.
"Fuck me! This Hell is actually so ruthless?!" She muttered in shock.
"I know, right? This is only the 3rd Hell, and it's already threatening to take away all your powers! Maybe you shouldn't have opened that door." The Guardian teased, but Mira wasn't in the mood for it.
She wanted to know how to overcome it!
"Tsk! You're seriously no fun, did you know that?" The Guardian clicked his tongue, "The only way to pass this Hell is to equalize every aspect about yourself to the point where you have no weaknesses. So, for example, in this first cycle, you'll have to increase your physical strength and Earth affinity comprehension, each up to the same standard of power."
Mira nodded in understanding but frowned as what he said certainly wasn't easy.
"How long do these cycles last before I lose everything?" Mira asked, praying that it wasn't something ridiculous like a day.
"One week per cycle."
"Fuck!"
Mira cursed as that wasn't much better than a day! In this world, just to travel from one place to another might take a week. How could she improve all aspects of herself so quickly if just the travel time alone might take several days to a week? She couldn't, that's how!
"Ah! But don't worry. Your comprehensive abilities for your weaknesses will rise while the cycle is active." The Guardian suddenly added, which caused Mira's expression to ease.
"That's more like it. Otherwise, this Hell would be impossible." Mira muttered before looking off into the mountains. Thanks to her improved senses, including her eyesight, she could see that far with a certain degree of clarity.
Mira examined the peaks of each mountain to see if any were hollowed out. After a few minutes, she spotted a few that matched her needs.
"Rhydian! Change of plans! Head toward that volcano!"
*Woof!*
Mira and the wolf soared into the air and flew deeper into the Ancient Beast Mountain Range!
***
Meanwhile, three people appeared in the skies at the Crimson Slayer branch Sect. They each had indifferent expressions, but when they looked down, their faces went black, and a murderous rage swept over them!
In the center of all the rubble stood giant blocks of ice that read: "Thanks for the free loot!"
"Damn!! Who is it?! Who dared to degrade our Sect like this?!" One of the men yelled, waving his hand and destroying all the ice.
The other two were feeling exactly the same as him and were about to lash out when they suddenly realized that something wasn't right.
They looked around, and their faces went pale with what they saw.
"W…W-What happened here?"
"W-Who would do this?"
What should have been a small city full of roads, buildings, and houses was nothing more than a sea of blood and rubble. Aside from that, they also noticed that floating on the surface of the red sea were the limbs and guts of the fallen disciples.
There were no bodies. There were no signs of life. There was just complete and utter annihilation.
The three men could hardly believe their eyes. The Sect that had stood tall for many years was now reduced to a pitiful puddle of human soup. And it was done right under their noses, no less!
It took them a few moments to snap out of their trance, but once they did, dense killing intent leaked out of their bodies!
"Find traces of whoever did this! Hurry! We must find the bastard who committed this atrocity toward our Faction!!" One of the men roared in anger, and the other two didn't hesitate to heed his commands. They searched the area for any traces of the attackers but weren't successful in finding too many clues.
The only thing they could make sense of was that someone or perhaps multiple people came here for revenge. Nobody just randomly approaches a Branch Sect of a large faction and commits such bloodshed if it wasn't for some sort of vengeance.
There's also the fact that the attacker has an ice affinity and should only be around the Core Formation Realm, maybe higher. At least, that was their estimate based on the chunks of ice.
Lastly, whoever did this has no qualms about killing innocent people, given that someone also slaughtered all of their human 'farms'.
"Ice affinity… Core Formation Realm… Crazy strong for her cultivation… Ruthless… Hey, doesn't that sound kind of like the person that pink-haired bitch was talking about?" One of the men commented, feeling more irritation and anger bubble inside of him at the mention of said "pink-haired bitch."
"What was her name? Ah! That's right! I think it was Mira. That psycho sadist mentioned her name on that broadcast a few days ago."
"Fucking hell! Are you serious? So, you're telling me whoever committed this atrocity was doing so as revenge because of what that Sue Ming bitch did?!"
One of the men sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "We can't confirm that yet; this is merely speculation. There are plenty of people with an Ice Affinity, even more people in the Core Formation Realm, and all sorts of talents around the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. Not to mention, what cultivator isn't ruthless? To narrow it down to a single person just because of a few coincidences is a bit of a stretch."
The 2nd man raised an eyebrow, "So, you're saying you DON'T think this Mira girl did it?"
"..."
The man looked away, avoiding eye contact.
"See?! Who else, if not her, would do something like this?! It's only been a few days since the torture broadcast as well! This is too much of a coincidence!" The man yelled, causing the other two to sigh.
"Alright, that's enough. We can sit here, speculating all day, but right now, it's more important to report back. If Mira was the cause of this, then that might mean the entire Battle Maiden Sect is supporting her. We might start a continental war if we go after her without proof or permission."
At those words, their faces fell and became turned serious. A continental war was no joke. It would be a tough battle for the Unorthodox Faction if such a thing happened. While they might have more Mortal Shedding Realm elders, they have fewer Divine Sea Realm experts. Just that alone is enough to turn the tides of war, regardless of how many disciples there are.
This isn't even counting if they make enough noise and get the Beast Clans involved!
Needless to say, a war between factions is the last thing anybody wants, especially with the Central Continent Competition coming up.
The three men scanned the area with the Soul Sense one more time, double-checking that they didn't miss anything before sighing dejectedly.
"It seems whoever came here really sucked this place dry." One of the men teased, but the other two didn't find it funny.
The man just shrugged, "Let's head back now. I'm sure that Sue Ming bitch and the Faction head will be 'delighted' to hear the 'good' news.'" He said, heavy on the sarcasm.
The other two groaned before they all flashed away, disappearing.
After they left, spies from other Sects and powers found out about one of the Crimson Slayer's Branch Sects collapsing. However, they didn't come to the same conclusion that the Unorthodox Faction did.
Mira was still an unknown figure to the world, as she's spent most of her life secluded, cultivating, and not causing any trouble, but things are different now-now she has a reason to descend the mountain and wreak havoc across the lands!
Everything would've been fine if they had just left her alone, but NO! They just had to fuck with her!!
This world is in for a rude awakening as Mira's on a journey to uproot the status quo!
