“Why are you here?” I asked.

“Malice left her pouch when we were summoned. What about you, doing anything interesting?”

Hesitating, this might be the first time that I talk to her alone with a clear mind, but lying to a comrade would be a grave mistake considering how new I am to the group.

“Lord Hedrick sent me here.”

“Oh, let me guess. Grabbing his head back?”

I nod.

“Quite the task for someone so fragile. Hellblade Realm is the home of demonic creatures and they possess much incomparable power in comparison to the undead that we have. No offense to lady Goolag, of course.”

"Hm?"

Anyway, I’ve never been there myself, but from what I’ve heard from others who have been there in the future, the place is akin to a Demon’s hideout while having no relation to a real demon or their king at all.

“Need a hand?”

“N-No, it’s a task given to me. I can’t burden others to lift my own status.”

“…” suddenly she formed a grin.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just… quite surprised to see that you can shake off the demonic bite I gave you a while ago.”

“Right, what was that about?”

“A necessary thing to do, really. It’s so you can do these kinds of tasks a bit easier. I’ll talk more about it once you move up the ranks,” walking past me, “Now then…”

She raised her hand and grasped it, and then, a small ornated purple pouch that I haven’t seen before flew into her palm.

“I take it you’re having a problem getting into that realm, yes?”

“Mm. I um, most of the books here are in a different language than I’m used to. Well, to be honest, I don’t really know what to do here.”

Using her telekinesis once more, she grabbed a fruit and eat it as she walks out.

*Chomp*

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, and oh, mind if I ask you for something?”

“Yes?”

“Once you get into the Hellblade Realm, there is a certain creature there that is… ghost walking in the shadow. A Devil, if you ever find them, use this Miracle. Do that, and I will bestow a part of my power unto you and for real this time, accept you as one of mine.”

Pointing her index finger at my forehead, my eyes glow in a golden light.

! {A Miracle has been Granted}

~ {Magi Injection / Tier 5 / Transfer half of your maximum Mana to the target without a penalty}

! {New Quest has been Given}

~ {Hidden Behind the Surface / Rank SS / Objective: Use [Magi Injection] to any Devil you find / Reward: +100 Levels / Additional Reward: Recognition of a Dragon (Quest), Immortality Rank UP}

My eyes widened by the shock. Up until now, I have never seen a Quest that would reward this many pure levels. It’s a Rank SS, so it should be expected, but again, all of the other Quests that were given to me are vague in their rewards or only gave me a single book.

“Wh-What do you mean by ghost walking?”

“Basically, they roam around while being invisible and thus completely undetected by the naked eye, but the difference lies in their presence. Just like a Ghost, they can alter the amount of presence or aura they’re leaking to their liking, and they can even transfer their own presence to others. It's the ultimate stealth ability.”

‘Hmm, maybe they’re using skills or something, but if it’s a spell and it was the old me, I think I know how to shock them out of their hiding. Though, I don't have the access to do that at the moment.’

“Alright, be careful out there, Luosa. Never put trust on anyone other than us.”

“O-Okay.”

And there, she left.

I can’t honestly tell what she’s thinking at all, nor do I know what’s her objective by making me use this Miracle on an enemy(?)

“Right, this is my first Miracle. I wonder how it works.”

Just a few swings and a few chugs of blue jelly, I got myself the knowledge on how to use it which is pretty simple, just aim your hand at the target and the Mana will be transferred right away within an instant. It’s a sort of a touch spell so thinks might get tricky.

“Maybe it was only my assumption. Avarice may be a devil too, and had asked me to do this in order to help her kin.”

There’s no point thinking about it now, “I need to get in first, but the question still remains, how the fuck can I do it?”

In this place, I’m sure that there is something that I’ve missed. Lord Hedrick wouldn't lead me to this place had I can't go there.

I searched through all piles of ingredients, returning them to where they should be. Cleaning the entire shed and reorganize every book on the shelves. That was when I saw it, behind the only books that were ordered properly, lies a symbol.

Easy to guess what symbol it is, the Judgement.

*Clack*

Upon touching it, the mechanism behind it opens up a hidden space, containing a single red book with a wrinkled cover.

{Phased Intrusion / Unique / Allows one to enter another realm / Uses: 46}

My eyes widened, “This is…”

Without a doubt, it’s the item that I’m looking for. After looking through the many pages within it, every single page is the same as the other.

The texture of each page is the same, but they are not made of paper.

“A Scroll Book, I see.”

“That means, I’m not supposed to take everything. I’ll be taking two for now, just in case if I need another one later. I'm sure I'll need it.”

I put it back in place after tearing two pages.

“Now then,” there are several ways to activate a scroll, one can tear it out, look through the entire words of the scroll, or insert their Mana into them, and even by using their blood. The last method is typically being used if it's unsure that the scroll is going to work.

For now, I can just tear it.

*Crash*

As the scroll is glowing so brightly, Sombak appeared behind me and holds onto my shin tightly with its spider legs. It made me chuckle seeing how cute that was.

The bright light coming from the scroll page is shining towards me, and then I mumbled the name of my destination, “Hellblade.”

*Woooooooooooosh*

***

“The potent kind of Humanity's core can only grow so much within these corpses, Malice.”

The sound of concern from the draugr, Ludtleth, as he tries to have a flowing conversation with his subordinate.

“…”

“These experiments you’ve conducted not only harmed the existing pawn of ours but also prevent others from becoming one.”

“…”

“Even the Dark Elves have turned their back against us.”

“…”

Avarice soon arrives at the library, “My lord, I have returned.”

“Good, now would you kindly tell your pair here that this little experiment of hers on the Gifted Ones will soon be our demise. Forget Heroes, even a slime is quite the stretch.”

Black liquid started to appear on the ceiling.

"Of course, even Heroes themselves is uncomparable to our lady Goolag."

The black liquid slowly invertedly submerged back to the ceiling.

Handing Malice the pouch she took from the shed, Avarice then caught a glance of Hedrick sitting alone while reading a book. Then all of a sudden, “Hellblade Realm!”

“…”

“Can’t believe an initiate would be sent there right after she joined. I wonder how his majesty thinks about sending his precious Luosa of all people, right to a Ruler's domain.”

Both Malice and Ludtleth reacted, but the person Avarice talks to keep sitting still.

“Aha, I forgot that sometimes, I’ll have to knock some senses out of—”

Before she can make a move, Malice grabbed her wrist.

“Again! How lucky. It seems that your ‘Ancient King’ has truly blessed you for real,” shrugging off Malice’s grab as she walked out, “You better pray to him again so you can have the same luck the next time I see you, Paladin.”

Once she left the scene, both Malice and Ludtleth shifted their attention to Hedrick who has now flipped the book he read.

***

One speaks of a world that is in a constant state of destruction.

With the sun bleeding in the sky, it emanates no light, and the world itself is shrouded by darkness. Demonic creatures roam around this chaotic world, constantly searching for something to fill their belly, anything.

Under the rule of the War God, Dolemn, the Hellblade Realm is the second most well-known realm within the World of Ekolia while the god itself is the second most worshipped out of the 37.

! {Quest Completed}

~ {Transcendental Realm / Rewarding: Immortality Rank UP}

~ {Innate Ability: Immortality – has advanced to Rank 4 / Defy death upon reaching 0% Health. Negate any fatal wound and increased Pain Resistance to Maximum. Revival will occur every hour if death persists. Revival will restore all Primary Attributes}

*Cough *Cough

I can feel my head spinning as the both of my palms are resting on the dusty surface, “Ugh, I thought for sure it was going to be a smooth ride but damn…”

The teleportation, it’s shaking up my inside.

*Bwoooooooosh *Bwoosh

A clapping of wings, the giant bird that went past the rock behind me - a giant dragon flying in the sky. The scale of how big it is - I can't make sense of it, 'Not as big as the black one I killed back then, but damn...'

The world may not be the prettiest to look at, but I was mesmerized by what I saw. At that moment, I knew that I have just stepped into another world.

“So, this is a Transcendental Realm— No, the Hellblade Realm.”