Rael's face turned grim the moment the demon uttered "Crimson Abyss."
"That name… shouldn't exist here."
Hope blinked, startled by the sudden shift in Rael's usually carefree demeanor. The warmth that surrounded him drained instantly, replaced by an ancient, deadly calm.
"Rael?" she asked softly.
He didn't respond immediately. His hands clenched into fists as golden Immortal Qi surged around him, forming an invisible pressure that bent the air.
"The Crimson Abyss is not part of our world. It's from the Nether Realm — a forsaken realm of the dead. That place exists beyond all Myriad Worlds. No one leaves it. Nothing from there comes here… unless summoned."
Duke's brows furrowed. "You think someone summoned this thing?"
Rael nodded slowly. "Or worse… the seals between realms are weakening."
The demon's grin stretched across its blood-smeared face. "She's marked. The Heaven Devourer's vessel cannot be allowed to bloom. The Abyss has claimed her."
Hope took a step back, her breath catching. Within her chest, the Heaven Devouring Mantra trembled — not from fear, but hunger. Her spirit energy refused to respond, but she could feel another energy rising inside: cold, boundless… Immortal Qi.
Rael raised his hand slowly, his fingers inscribing ancient symbols midair.
"Immortal Art: Starfall Execution."
Above them, constellations shimmered, then cracked. Star-like bolts of golden fire rained down, crashing into the demon with explosive force. Flames and shockwaves ripped through the battlefield.
But the demon emerged still standing — its flesh charred, bones exposed, yet grinning still.
"Nether corruption fuels its regeneration," Rael muttered. "This isn't just any demon. It's a Rank 7 General."
Duke unleashed his own strike.
"Spirit Spell: Silver Arc Severance!"
A radiant slash carved across the demon's side, sending gouts of corrupted ichor flying. The monster shrieked but quickly began healing again.
Rael narrowed his eyes.
"We can't let this drag on. One mistake and she'll be taken."
Rael lowered his stance, Immortal Qi coiling around him like chains of light.
"Immortal Art: Celestial Vortex Palm."
He thrust his palm forward. The sky rippled — a vortex of spinning stars and gravity collapsed into the demon. This time, the creature staggered, screeching in agony.
But above, a new threat loomed.
The demon opened a portal — dark red, edged in bone. Rael's eyes widened.
"It's creating a Hellgate — a rift to the Crimson Abyss!"
The demon howled:
"Forbidden Art: Hellstorm Rebirth!"
Black fire erupted, raining down like a meteor storm.
"No time!" Duke shouted. "Silver Shift Array!"
A dome of spirit light shielded Hope just as the explosion consumed the land.
When the dust cleared… the demon was gone.
But from the smoke… a cloaked figure stepped forward. Silent. Watching.
It whispered in a voice like cold metal:
"You smell of slumbering power, girl," the mysterious figure said, each word laced with dread.
"Your soul is cracked… fragile. So much energy sealed inside… if I just push—"
"Don't you dare!" Rael shouted, stepping in front of Hope, Immortal Qi roaring to life again.
But the mysterious figure didn't move. He simply raised one clawed hand and gathered a sphere of abyssal energy. "I wonder… what happens when I crush your spirit core? Will your body survive the explosion? Or will you be reborn… as something greater?"
Hope clutched her chest. The seal within her trembled, the Heaven Devouring Mantra threatening to activate on its own.
Duke's eyes widened. "Rael—he's going to force her awakening!"
"That would kill her," Rael growled. "Her constitution isn't stable enough!"
The demon launched the energy sphere directly at Hope.
"NO!" Duke shouted, slashing the air. Time bent, slowing the sphere — but only by a second.
Rael flashed forward, drawing a radiant sigil in the air. "Heaven's Veil!"
A golden wall materialized just in time. The abyssal sphere slammed into it, detonating in a wave of black fire that scorched the sky. The impact shattered the veil, throwing Rael and Duke backward.
Hope screamed. Her body lit up from within — veins of white spirit energy cracking through her skin like lightning. Her knees buckled. The Heaven Devouring Mantra inside her core activated, greedily pulling energy from the air, from the demon's attack, from the battlefield itself.
"STOP!" Duke cried, appearing beside her. He grabbed her shoulders and forced a temporal seal into her spirit channels. "If this continues, you'll explode!"
Hope couldn't answer — her eyes glowed silver, her mouth open in silent agony.
Rael returned to her side, placing his hand over her heart. "I'll suppress the Immortal Qi. Duke, stabilize her flow!"
Together, their energies surged — time and Immortal force battling against the chaotic awakening within Hope's body. The earth quaked beneath them.
The mysterious figure watched with sick amusement. "So fragile… She's a bomb waiting to go off."
Rael's teeth clenched. "Then we better disarm her before it's too late."
Duke's voice was tight. "I need more time!"
But time… was exactly what they were running out of.
Suddenly, the ground split behind the mysterious figure. Another energy signature appeared — powerful, unfamiliar.
A deep voice echoed from the fissure.
"That girl is under my protection."
A cloaked figure stepped out.
He wore no armor, no insignia. His robes were simple, charcoal with fading silver trim, fluttering unnaturally in still air.
His face was obscured by a shadowed hood, but his voice carried the weight of an ancient truth.
"You should not be here, Mal'Karoth. This world is not yours to claim."
The Demon King turned slowly, his burning gaze falling on the newcomer.
"You…" he rasped. "You are not of this realm… You should not interfere."
The cloaked figure didn't flinch. "And yet, here I stand."
Rael, still protecting Hope with a glowing formation, squinted toward the man. "Who… is that?"
Duke frowned. "I don't know… but that presence—it's old. Older than Mal'Karoth."
The Demon King's flames twisted, flaring higher in irritation.
"You interfere in matters beyond mortals. Do you not know who I am?"
The man finally raised his head, his voice cold.
"I know exactly who you are. Mal'Karoth, Demon King of the Crimson Abyss. The last surviving Sovereign of the Abyssal Throne."
Hope stirred slightly, her breathing shallow. Duke pressed her back with a stabilizing spell.
The man continued, stepping forward, now fully revealing the insignia burned faintly onto his palm—a symbol of an eclipse surrounded by runes.
"I know the horrors you unleashed during the Second Era. You drowned ten realms in dark fire.
You enslaved entire planes to fuel your Nether Realms. And you were sealed by the Four Dao Saints at the cost of their own existence."
Mal'Karoth hissed, his voice reverberating like cracking bones.
"And yet I live. What does that say about the Saints?"
"It says nothing," the cloaked one said calmly. "But it says much about the weakness of those who let the seal fail."
He raised a single finger, drawing an invisible symbol in the air.
The runes shimmered. Spirit energy and something darker, older, laced around his hand.
Rael's eyes narrowed. "That's not spirit magic… and it's not Immortal Qi either."
"That's.. something else..", Duke said softly,.. Forbidden Arts.."
Mal'Karoth snarled. "You would protect her?
That vessel? She was born to bring ruin."
The man didn't answer. Instead, he raised both hands and slammed his palms together.
"Begone, Sovereign of the Abyss."
A blinding wave of energy shot toward the Demon King.
Mal'Karoth raised his arms in defense. The impact blasted the surrounding battlefield with enough force to crack mountains.
Flames and void collided.
The sky above tore open in a scream of unnatural light.
When the dust settled, the Demon King stood motionless. A crack ran down the center of his bone mask.
Then he grinned.
"You maybe strong… but so am I."
"This Universe will burn. And when this girl awakens—I will return to claim her body."
With a final roar, Mal'Karoth vanished into the collapsing rift above.
Hope collapsed, unconscious.
The cloaked man turned to Duke Silver and Rael and said,"We need to move her. She cannot stay in this world any longer."