"Ah, there you are."

I found the source of the darkforce in the basement of an empty house, not too far away from Times Square. It was a thick, black book with the name of the book engraved in the front cover: darkhold.

I lifted it up not by my hands, but by using telekinesis magic. Whoever made this book was a certified novice in doing so. Not only did the maker not conceal its darkforce, he also didn't bother to hide the fact that there's a 'curse-upon-touch' magic spell casted in this book. For someone who deals with magic, traps like these are considered as child's play.

As I examined the book closely, I was convinced that there is indeed a sealed entity residing in this book. I'm not sure how strong though, but I'm sure that it is somehow familiar with the darkforce that I am currently using.

My curiosity got the best of me. There's no way I'm not freeing this entity that may be related to me. Perhaps, it may also give the answers to my questions upon arriving in this world.

However, being a little cautious would be good in times like these. I laid out the book on the floor and put a hundred of protective barriers and destruction spells around it. Even if the entity harbors malice towards me, it can never break through those layers of barriers, while one snap was all it will take to detonate the destruction spells to obliterate it.

What I did next was simple: I supplied my darkforce to power up that entity inside. The entity will then be the one to break its own seal. It's not that I can't break it, but there's no way to do it 'outside'. It was the kind of sealing curse that can only be broken 'inside'.

After taking about somewhat 1/4 of my darkforce, I began to see changes in the book. Cracks started to cover its body like something's about to come out anytime. From those cracks, violet lights came out. When I felt that violet light, I was sure of it. That the one sealed inside is not an enemy.

*boom!*

The seal was finally destroyed. Half of the hundred barriers that I placed were surprisingly destroyed along with an explosion. Then, the whole place was covered with a violet mist. Ah, I missed this scent.

When the mist dissipated, the figure of a woman can be seen half-kneeling in front of me. The woman had an hourglass body, dressed in a slightly revealing green dress. Her hair is black while her eyes matched the color of her dress. This woman is without a doubt, a world-class beauty.

However, she was only a soul. An astral projection, so to speak.

"H-how I've waited for so long to meet you, My lord..."

Even though she was only a soul, she still shed tears as she said with a trembling voice.

"It is nice to see you again, Morgana." I greeted her by her name thus, her body trembled once more. She sure was in ecstasy, huh.

Morgana was one of the selected Generals that can order my whole army in replacement of me. She's also the only one among the Generals that have the rights to live inside my castle, so she's responsible for maintaining it along with the maids. You can say that she's my most powerful pawn. That's all in the magical world though.

More importantly, I was curious about what happened to her after I blew up that world.

"What happened to your body?" I curiously asked.

"I'm very sorry to greet you like this, My lord. My material body was destroyed along with the plan of offering this world to you. Please punish me for failing your expectations." Morgana said while lowering her head even more.

"Mm-hmm. Rest assured, I will not issue a punishment for what you did. For now, we should find a host for your soul first before we talk about what happened after you died in the previous world."

Because her material body is destroyed, her 'link' to this world was severed. If she did not seal herself inside that book, I guess she would've entered the cycle of reincarnation once more.

"Thank you very much for your mercy, My lord!"

"Alright. You can reside in this pocket dimension for now until I find you a host." Saying so, I opened a sub-dimension using space magic. This should prevent her soul from dissipating at least until I created a temporary homunculus body.

"Yes!"

Morgana entered without hesitation, showing her full trust.

Not forgetting the darkhold, I stored it inside my Storage magic as well and left the basement. The maker might be a careless one for placing an obvious trap, or he's just confident that it won't be broken by any normal means. That's why; the book survived even with an explosion that destroyed dozens of my barriers.

...

After finishing my business, I went out of the house where Lynn is waiting for me. Outside, I saw Lynn playing with a dog that resembles a pit bull. I said 'resemble' because that creature might look like a dog, but it is 'partly' not.

"Finn! Look at this! I found a talking dog!"

"Who are you calling a dog?! I am Hel-Hound. A Hel-Hound! Not some lowly creature." The pit bull with grey skin and red eyes rebutted.

See? No normal dog can speak. He also just said he's a Hel-Hound. I don't know about Hel-Hounds, but I know what Hellhounds are. They are mid-tier summons that can be used to either hunt something or guard something. I had a few back in the magical world as well.

"You, human! Where did you hide that darkforce?! Speak, or be ready to be fried!"

The Hel-Hound exuded fire from its mouth. It looks funny so I let him boast for a while.

"What's your name, dog?" Lynn suddenly asked.

"I am not a dog! I'm a Hel-Hound!" The Hel-Hound snarled. "Hmph. I suppose your little brains can't even distinguish something like that. Fine. Remember this, humans: my name is Thori!"

After speaking with Thori for a while, I realized that he was not some evil creature. I found out that his speech was also normally in a threatening or grim tone. And actually, he was here to eliminate the darkforce that he followed with his senses, that's why I said he's not someone evil. Although, he has severe anger issues.

"Out of my other litter mates, I am the only one with the ability to speak. I came here from Hel with the intention to seek destruction! That's why!" Saying until here, Thori suddenly turned to face me. "I need to absorb that darkforce to increase my powers! Give it to me!!"

Thori spat out orange flames in my direction.

"Mm-hmm. That's a cute fire." I casted a fire resistance barrier to shield myself from the fire. Lynn was in the opposite direction so the fire won't reach her.

"Im-Impossible! How can a human...!"

"It's magic. More importantly, how can a dog even breathe fire?"

"I'm a Hel-Hound!" Thori snapped once more. But this time, he did not attack carelessly.

"It's magic, huh. So there's a magic caster here too..." Thori pondered by himself. "However, a mere magic caster cannot beat the flames of Hel that easily!"

Thori's neck suddenly bulged up. In the next moment, he exuded black flames. This black flame obviously has a much higher temperature than the orange flames earlier. It is also a little similar to the tier 10 magic spell [Hell Flame], but Thori's black flame is considerably weaker.

"[Perfect Barrier of Fire Resistance]"

With just that, Thori's strongest attack was nullified.

"Whaaddd..."

"Okay. Are you done now?"

The strongest flame magic an ancient dragon can use.

"I'll show you what real fire looks like."

[White Inferno]