Sometime during the three years after the first battle with devils

In a secluded forest in the dark empire, a black silhouette appeared like a ghost. The person travelled at great speed but not a single leaf moved from its place. Even the dust particles in the path seemed to remain in the same place. Even Grimjoy would praise such a high level of stealth.

The black silhouette travelled between trees and foliage before arriving at a random location. After the person stopped, they stood in place for a few minutes. After checking for traces around themselves, they brought out a medallion from their pocket and pressed it in the ground. Immortal energy flowed into the medallion and deep blue lines appeared on the ground forming a neat but complex formation. The formation trembled and a small area in the middle of the formation collapsed revealing a dark entrance. The figure went through the entrance into an underground lair. They moved for some time through the tunnel finally appearing in a closed room.

At the centre of the room was an altar upon which, a device was placed. The device was pretty strange, nothing ever invented or used in Aterna. It looked like a box with a wire attached to it. The other end of the wire had a small microphone. This was a long-distance communication device with a range that would shock even natives of a primary plane. The person activated their immortal energy and poured it all in the box. A symbol began to glow on the box - the symbol of a flame - the symbol of the devil army. But at this time, a hand emerged out of thin air and attacked the heart of this person!

Immortal energy erupted and a battle ensued. In just the blink of an eye, several moves were exchanged. The room cracked and the shockwaves caused a great part of the forest to collapse. From the debris, two figures emerged. Both were coughing blood and having a hard time breathing. But just the next moment, they were completely fine.

One of the silhouettes wiped blood flowing out of their mouth and said

Grimjoy, you are truly extraordinary. Formless concealment. Quite something, alright! Even in the devil army, assassins who can match your calibre are given quite the status. If you manage to reach the demi-ascendant realm, you will perhaps even become the captain of your own assassin squad. What do you say? Help me escape and let me call the main army. I will recommend you to the Colonel. We can share the merit of bringing down this plane and you will be able to have everything that you wanted.

Grimjoy : Oh Morpheus, you underestimate your situation. Michael had already suspected you for a long time. Even before the descent of devils. I have been following you for quite some time. You were extremely cautious but you still showed your cards in the end. And I am pretty sure that you will not be able to escape death. As for your proposal, it is of no use to me if I die in Michael's hands before I get to enjoy the stuff that you promise.

Morpheus : Grimjoy, are you really that scared of that kid? Out in the law ocean, he would not even be worth considering. He is strong but a greart part of his ability comes from the plane-will. He is not as scary as you think. The devil-captains, had they not been suppressed by the plane will, would have killed him one-on-one. But you are from the same plane, so the plane-will will not favour him much. As long as you help me, I will give you a soul treasure that will increase your soul-cultivation by an entire realm. Adding my knowledge of cultivation methods, you will be able to reach the demi-ascendant realm in a few years. You should consider it. If you wonder how I have such a treasure, then look at my true power!

Morpheus' aura and power started increasing. His devilish powers emerged and he steadily climbed to the demi-ascendant level. But contrary to his expectations, Grimjoy was not too impressed.

Grimjoy : Morpheus, you don't need to try so hard to show your power. I know that you are a demi-ascendant. I also know that you have been injured very badly and a part of your soul has collapsed. You can hardly bring out your full power for a few minutes. All this has already been deduced by Michael.

Morpheus : It may be true but you have forgotten something. I have stayed in this plane for too long. In order to heal my soul, I have used the souls of countless beings from this plane. This has given me the same aura as the natives. I am not suppressed here! Even Michael Rageberg would not be able to kill me singlehandedly. I can escape as and when I want. I am giving you this offer because I feel that you have potential. As long as you assassinate Michael before the main army comes, you will have great contributions.

Grimjoy : Humph! What makes you think that I have not tried? He is not someone I can go against. Also, you are simply too ignorant. Michael is strong. But, there are others as well.

Before Morpheus could reply, a powerful attack came from the sky! It carried the momentum of a demi-ascendant! Morpheus barely managed to block the attack when he saw the attacker. It was a humanoid figure but there were two horns growing out of his head. A pair of wings could be seen on the back and golden irises shined through the darkness of the forest. Draconic aura surged around the figure.

This was the ancient dragon - Mesiran. He was the same ancestor who had guessed Michael's powers' origin. He was at the immortal realm in both body and soul. And his power was definitely higher than the devil-captains that had invaded the plane. Michael and the rest of the world had no idea that he was so powerful!

Morpheus was completely flabbergasted by the presence of the dragon. But he could not remain shocked for long. The dragon attacked the moment he appeared. The battle that ensued was very destructive. A huge portion of the forest was completely overturned and all the beasts and trees in the region had been broken. Morpheus initially was able to hold his own. But as time passed, his injury started acting up. In the end, he could not maintain his combat power. This gave all the initiative needed to Mesiran. The battle concluded after 10 more minutes with Morpheus falling in battle.

Mesiran emerged from the forest. He had a few wounds but they were rapidly recovering. Grimjoy could only let out a sigh. Mesiran said:

Tell the kid that his suspicion was correct. Morpheus was an injured devil-captain who ended up here many years ago. It seems like he wanted to gobble the merit of the entire plane by himself after healing his injuries. But die to that brat's growth, he had to change his plan and call for help. As the guy is now dead, we have some more time to prepare. I will leave now.

He did not even allow for Grimjoy to speak at all. In his eyes, among the new races, only Michael was worthy of his attention. Grimjoy did not mention anything else and promptly disappeared from the forest.

A few days after the battle, Mesiran entered the crypt in the most secure location of the god-beast race. As he entered, he saw four people sitting on four different hills. There was an empty hill left and Mesiran sat on top of it. In the hills' centre, there was a powerful formation.

Tiger : How was it Mesiran, did you kill off that spy?

Mesiran : Yes.

Roc : Humph, if it wasn't for the calamity back then, how could these devils have invaded our plane. Its not like our ancestors are weak or dead. The senior generation fingers and emperor are all ascendants. Its just that they don't have the time to look back at their home and we failed them. As long as even one of them returns, we will be able to live securely.

Pheonix : What are you talking about? It is the law of our clans. How long can one think of their home plane for. In the past, the seniors ascended after removing all the other races and threats from the plane. Heck, they even went to the few neighbouring planes and killed off almost all their experts and broke their martial and cultivation lineage. It was all for our safety. Expecting them to return to their home every few million years is unreasonable.

Qilin : In the calamity, our entire tribes were going to be destroyed. We five fingers and the emperor had to confront the brunt of the impact. As a result, we were all heavily injured and had to seal ourselves to keep on living. Only Mesiran was not as badly hurt and could leave this place. But now, the curse has been lifted and the plane-will is no longer hindering our recovery. We will be able to recover in just a few years' time. Even the emperor has begun recovering. In a few decades, he will be back to his prime. By killing the spy, we have gained sufficient time. In the next invasion, we will be able to participate as well.

Roc : Humph! Just let me get back to my full power. Then I will show all these new races who the boss of this plane is.

Mesiran : Humm. But you guys are underestimating the new races. Most importantly, you are underestimating that kid.

Roc : Mesiran, tell us more about him. We will need to know about him as he is going to be a future ally as well as enemy.

Mesiran : He is talented beyond anything I have seen. Even the emperor in his youth is no match. And he is likely to have an otherworldly master. So killing him is prohibited!

Roc : Why are you saying that while looking at me?! I don't want to kill a few years old child. It is hurtful that you even think that I will do that.

Mesiran could feel that the Roc race's god-finger was still going to challenge Michael. But, he simply continued with his explanation.

Mesiran : That guy is very powerful. He should have a decent law base. But he cultivates two grand laws - life and death. He also has a talent that allows him to use much more power from the laws at the same comprehension. He seems to have quite a few techniques as well - all of them are high class. His cultivation realm has recently reached the law-conception realm. But he was able to advance in both body and soul. If it would have been only this much, he would not have been a true threat. But he seems to wield this weird power that I have never seen before. It makes him much more powerful. If it is a blessing or something that his master taught him, I don't know. But adding that power of his, he is already quite close to the demi-ascendant realm. Also, I have heard that he has even cultivated internal energy. It has yet to be confirmed but it is extremely likely. After all, he did not get any other reward from the plane-will. If we assume this to be true, his raw power already equals mine when I was at my peak. But his cultivation realm is not at a bottleneck and he can keep getting stronger. If he can reach the condensation realm, perhaps he would even be able to fight the emperor.

Qilin, Pheonix and Tiger : Impossible!

Roc : You are saying that he will be able to fight ascendants at the demi-ascendant level. That is not funny. Ascendants are true powerhouses of the law ocean. If ascendants fight, the plane-will might collapse or even re-curse us! In any case, if his power-level reaches the ascendant stage, even if the emperor recovers to his peak, we will have to keep good relations with him.

Mesiran : Indeed, this is exactly the case. Besides, I know that he is planning on going to the super-plane - Jupyter. That is a true super-plane with numerous opportunities. The kid may be young but he is smart. He is very unlikely to die. And when he returns, he would be extremely strong. Even if he is not that strong, as long as he is touching the ascendant realm, we will not be able to do anything to him. Thus, the only way to deal with him is either in the superplane or through the devils. No direct moves can be made!

Pheonix : I have heard that he married a tribe-member of mine. While he is talented in cultivation, he is still not that experienced in politics. We can easily exploit him. There is no need to see him as a threat. We just need to know how to control him.

This was the highest echelon of the God-Hand, the five god-fingers and the emperor - the palm. Together they were the ancient rulers of the continent. While they were still injured and recuperating, they were not weak even now! If Michael knew about this group's existence, he never would have left his plane. But this was not the case.