“Primordial Beasts? Really?” Shiro raised both his hands up, staring at them with disbelief. The Mirror Deity may look the strongest, but he was by far the most mature of the three sleeping beauties. Shiro knew more than anyone else how hard it was to break through into the Primordial Realm, particularly since he’d been trying his hardest to do so for aeons.

“RARARA!!! The mighty me just got even mightier!” Feeling the heat pulsate through his body, Akai roared while raising both his arms in the air triumphantly. “With this power… RARARA!!! With this power! I can kill the son of a bitch who caused Midori’s death! RARARARARA!!!”

“Relax, you’ll get your chance.” The black-haired man who awoke them from their slumber tried his best to calm the agitated Akai down. Alas, how could the hot-headed Lion be tamed that easily? Fire-Elements danced about in pure euphoria, ready to burst out like a supervolcano. And the owner of those Fire-Elements was no better. Akai was geared up to fight, even if it meant going all the way to death.

“RARARA!!! IT’S TIME! IT’S TIME! IT’S TIME!!! WITH THIS POWER, I’LL REIGN...”

“OH SHUT UP!!!”

Amidst Akai’s impassioned speech, an aggravated siren’s wail burst the eardrums of any who dared stray close to the chambers. Needless to say, both Akai and Kuro stopped glaring at one another. In fact, they felt a sudden chill permeate their veins. When they closed their eyes, both the Noble Beasts saw a puddle of blood at the bottom of their ankles. Each time they looked down at the ever-growing puddle, they couldn’t help but feel a little inferior.

Such killing intent couldn’t be replicated, even by Kuro’s standard. Only a being that had seen millions of heads roll and personally executed all of their foes could possess that overwhelming killing intent. And who else was better suited for the intense killing aura other than the Queen of Pain herself?

“Murasaki, what are you doing?” Kuro screamed at the purple-haired woman, who was already floating about in mid-air. When Murasaki was still a Tier 9 Arachne Queen, she boasted a human torso and a spider’s bottom, making her the perfect half-human.

However, in her evolved form, Murasaki was no different than a regular beauty from the streets. Her eight legs were gone, her eight eyes were gone, her putrid stench of poison and death was gone… Barring her unbelievably pale complexion, no one would suspect that she wasn’t a real human being.

“Noisy...” Murasaki spat, wiping her eyes as she slowly came to be. Her chest rose and fell with each passing breath, quietly balancing the dense mana that was pulsating throughout her veins. Still drowsy, Murasaki quietly cried: “Urghhh, I’m hungry.”

The black-haired man expected Murasaki to spew out those words and reached into his bag for the gift that he’d prepared. A severed human head, with fresh blood flowing out from its base, was thrown out from the bag and landed squarely next to Murasaki’s fatigued body.

“Here, it’s a Spirit King that I found spying on the Tree. You can have him the way you like… Raw.”

“HAHA, great!!! How long has it been since I’d ate fresh brain matter!” The woman happily gouged into her new meal. “OH YES! This is so fucking delicious! Delicious! DELICIOUS!!!”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed before breaking into a sigh. “She may look different, but that’s Murasaki alright. Primordial Beast or not, Murasaki is the same glutton that eats everything that she sees.”

“Haha, what’s the problem?” Kuro laughed. “Now she has entered the Primordial Realm, her power would prove integral to winning the war that’s to come.”

“The war… Has the Alliance moved?”

“No, not yet. But it’s only a matter of time. The three superpowers had sent armies of Spirit Spectres and a good number of Spirit Venerates. If our intelligence isn’t wrong, there would be at least nine Spirit Saints joining their legions as well. That’s why it’s important for all of you to safely enter the Primordial Realm as soon as you possibly can.”

“That many, huh?” Shiro’s eyes glazed over. The Alliance had every advantage in the book. Overwhelming numbers of Spirit Spectres. Far better quality of Spirit Venerates and Saints. Deeper pockets with far more expendable resources. In all aspects, the Alliance were the superior side. Other than the fact that the Allfather was the most powerful being in the world, the Black Masks held no other advantages. “So… do you think that we can win?”

“We don’t have to, remember?” Kuro snorted. “Our job is to make the Allfather the next Spirit Immortal, and having all of these elites here is exactly what we need. Also, while you were sleeping, we finally gathered all of the necessary ingredients.”

“You can’t mean...”

Kuro flashed a wry smile, downright smug at how far the Black Masks had come.

“Yes… Heaven’s Gate will be opened.”

❖❖❖

The New Land of Dreams. Alliance Headquarters. Kjlose Yard.

The Alliance Headquarters in the New Land of Dreams was exponentially big. There was a central town hub where merchants could do business with the everyday soldier of the Alliance. Buildings upon buildings for bureaucracy and matters pertaining to the Alliance. Encampments for armies to rest and workshops for making weapons. There were even hospitals manned by the best healers in the world. Such was the benefit of having the Mercenary Guild, Blacksmith’s League and Healer’s Association move to the New Land of Dreams to build a central hub.

However, there lacked a particular area for one to do battle, especially one that involved a Spirit Emperor and Spirit Venerate. Fortunately for the Prince of Sand and Prince of Water, there was one place that the two of them could have a regular sparring session.

Kjlose Yard, fifty kilometres away from the New Land of Dreams. The only vast plain that was free of human dwellings. The majority of the time, the Alliance would use this area to perform drills and practice sieges. But on this day… It was the arena for the fated rematch between the two Elemental Princes.

“You sure you want to do this?” Shin rubbed his wrists while finishing the last bit of his warm-ups.

“What’s there to lose?” Lukman Ramal chuckled. “Our rematch had been long overdue. Also, I doubt there would be another opportunity for me to challenge the inheritor of the Celestial Dragon. I really hope you won’t disappoint me, Shin Iofiel.”

“Hah… Fine.” Shin closed his eyes, circulating his mana with overwhelming focus. The Celestial Dragon floated out from the Prince of Water’s inner body, all while his aura seeped out with great ferocity. His healthy skin started to be covered with draconic scales, and his spiritual energies spiked tremendously.

Lukman smiled, elated that his challenge had been met with great ferocity. Likewise, the Prince of Sand summoned out his glorious goblet with beautiful rubies on decorating its sides. The earth beneath Lukman’s feet shook violently, and they disintegrated into pure sand grains. Snapping his fingers, Lukman created various sand beasts, each one more savage than the next.

“Lukman Ramal. Rank 73 Spirit Emperor. Spirit, the Musnu Goblet. Please advise me.”

“Shin Iofiel. Rank 80 Spirit Venerate. Spirit, the Celestial Dragon. Please advise me.”