"Holy Ser-Ghoul, there is a Veritas Soldier on the Sanguis battlefield..." A tall Lich announced towards his Overlord.

"So? Is he any good? Or did he die already?" The Serghoul asked in a bored voice.

"He is...impossibly good, your Holiness. Far beyond what we know Legion Captains could do...yet still in Elder God Realm." the Lich admitted in a fearful voice.

"Let me have a look then...oh! It's the Hero of the Gap himself. Make sure the collect the remains of the goliths then." he demanded curtly.

"Those cold flames purify all remains, Holiness. Well, whatever is left after the lightning strikes. And he also use Words." the Lich explained while making himself smaller.

"What's the big news? The Legion has Word Guns..." the Ruler of Death muttered with a careless voice. Annoying as well, giving the abilities of a Xian Realm Deity to a lowly Elder God.

"He doesn't use a Word Gun, Holiness. He just Speaks..." the fearful subordinate said while shuffling back, just before the Tier 8 skeleton exploded in a murderous Death Aura.

"What!" the Serghoul shouted before stepping away, leaving a crumbling ruin instead of his beautiful Bone Palace.

The Death Entity arrived in the middle of a cold inferno, blue azure flames bathing the entire Sanguis battlefield, Tribulation Lightning falling and evaporating golith stings, Void Cutters and Void Swords crossing the skies and bisecting thousands of goliths at once, and worst of all Power Words, golden Yin and Yang ripples that ensnared or froze the golith armies, and left them defenseless for the massacre.

Just then, a white glowing Avatar appeared beside him, and bowed a few centimeters in respect. "Overlord Serghoul, a pleasure to meet you. Hope you don't mind me training here for a bit...you know I died fighting Hualitep and need to recover my skills."

"Must have been quite a show in the Gap, when you had a Dian Realm Cultivation, Veritas Soldier." The Serghoul said in an impressed voice, as the show was even beyond he could do before he reached his Tier 8 Realm. And probably close enough to his own strength now, considering the Words...

"The goliths died just as fast, but Hualitep was something else. Nothing I have here could damage him one bit." The Avatar answered with a shrug, then turned and shot a Voidcutter into a large golith army, killing half of them outright. Azure flames burst out from his hands, and incinerated the other half, and just like the Lich had claimed, they purified the infected deceased spirits and sent them straight into the Reincarnation Paths.

"I am grateful for your help, Veritas Hero. Feel free to train here, as much as you want..." the Serghoul muttered in an envious voice, preparing to leave.

"You know, I have a good friend among your ranks, Overlord. His name is Arden, and used to be one of your Arch Liches. He was reborn in the Mirror Realm." the Avatar added as an afterthought, making the Serghoul skid to a stop.

"...Is he well? Cultivating at least?" the Serghoul asked with a nicer voice, while his aura diminished.

"He had ascended to Tier 1, last I saw him. Maybe 30 years ago. I even gave some some death mushrooms, because he was kinda slow at Ascending." The Avatar continued in a reminiscing voice.

"Good. He will return to us then, no matter how long it takes. Though I doubt there are many who emerge from the Mirror..." the Serghoul said while grabbing a stronger golith and dissolving it into a mist of Death.

The Avatar smiled politely and flew away, straight in the middle of another golith army, a galaxy away. In a few seconds, that galaxy was free and purified, and the Avatar flew further.

The Serghoul vanished as well, and emerged into a large Death Temple, sunk under the ghastly marches of the Red Tomb World.

'Nothing I saw could indeed hurt that Hualitep, yet...he is only in Elder Realm. I need to keep watch to see what abilities emerge when he returns to Dian Realm...' the Death Lord mused, mostly to himself.

A faint red specter arose from a brass cove filled with blood and stared at him.

'Supreme Devil, I would say it's an honor, but I detest lying.' The Serghoul growled at the specter.

'I hear you have a visitor. Quite an interesting one.' the Tier 8 devil spoke with a soothing voice.

"Well, he is strong. But still not enough for what you need. Go bother the Silent Monk if you want a real powerhouse.' the Death Lord muttered as he entered his Oblivion Pool to rest.

'I don't want to die, little ghoul. Her Majesty's search leads here, so here I am. Lady Kalima wouldn't give me any clues, but perhaps you might. There is something you want, after all...' the Devil proposed with a teasing voice, as if dangling a prize in front of the Death Ghoul.

'I do not know. And I doubt this young Pef knows either. I suspect it is related to the Mirror, but that is all.' the Serghoul growled as he closed his eyes.

"See? I knew I came to the right place. You've been very helpful, little ghoul.' the red specter laughed as he vanished, leaving behind a vial of fresh blood.

The Serghoul swiped the vial and sent it into his inner world, in an ice-cold cave where his daughter lay on a jade death bed, pale as snow.

His Avatar opened the vial gently and poured the contents into the girl's mouth, adding a bit of rosiness to the pale cheeks. 'Your father is sorry, little one.' he murmured between sharp teeth.

For a second, he thought about asking the blonde Soldier for help, before renouncing. The Veritas Legion was strong, but they excelled in killing not saving lives.

Two options left, the Fay Godmother or the new Alchemist Master. Both would be expensive, but all the wealth in the world would not be worth his daughter's soul.

Clenching his teeth, he sent a mind thought-form towards the Fay Goddess. A minute later, he tried the Alchemist.

Then he opened his eyes, still surprised at the answers. Both of them referred him to the young Legion Soldier, as if he was the greatest expert to ever live since the Jade Emperor himself. "Perhaps the Devil Majesty wasn't all that wrong...if the search ends here."

Energized by the news, the Serghoul emerged from his pool and stepped out, arriving beside Pef as he battled an especially large golith, that needed a hundred Avatars to hold it down and carve it up.

He added his own Death Mist, and soon enough the golith was destroyed, without even managing to retreat.

"Glad for your help, Lord Ghoul." the blonde teenager spoke with a polite voice and even bowed a little.

Not kowtowing as a mere Elder Realm God should do in the presence of a Xian Deity, but not disrespectful either. Then again, he was as strong as any Dian Realm he knew of.

"I have a different type of training for you, if you have time. Or even if you don't." the Serghoul explained in a mild voice.

Pef just stared at the Death Ghoul for a minute, as if deciding something. "If you can stop time for me to train, I am very interested." he answered in the end, blue eyes calm and clear.

"Good. The patient cannot be moved from my inner world, so you'll have to enter instead. But on the flip side, I can stop time for you." the Death Ghoul offered as he extended a skeletal hand.

Without concern, Pef took his hand and entered the inner world, and found himself in the frozen cave that kept the white dressed woman on her death bed.

And it was exactly a death bed, holding an almost corpse on it, despite rosy cheeks and intact skin.

"Keep quiet." Pef demanded as he stepped forward and placed his hand on the woman's neck.

'She was Preserved. There is still some blood infused with Preservation Dao in her stomach. Devil blood.' the glove concluded after finishing its analysis.

'Curious. I was in need of something like this. Must be my luck.' Pef answered inward, eyes glowing with mirth.