I began thinking about what I knew and what I thought I could do. It was then that I realized the critical point: soul bound armor was still with me. I could also use my three soul bound weapons: Blackmail, Persuasion, and Pounce. I was most relieved to find that I could enter my spiritual world from this space and communicate with my demons.

"Do you know where we are?" I asked.

Balam seemed to have an idea, responding, "It's a very strong attack on your very soul. It uses that power to mortally wound or kill enemies. Luckily, your soul is so large and powerful that the most this foe could do was locking you in a prison made from your soul. Since we also reside around your soul, it will be effortless to break free."

"Will I be able to fight this enemy when I come out?"

"I can't tell, just from the skill, how powerful this enemy may be."

"Great One, choose your actions carefully," Andromalius said.

Vepar even chimed in, saying, "Perhaps a battle between souls may resolve this dispute."

I asked back, "what do you have in mind?"

Vepar's response was, "Use your basic soul techniques to slightly wound the enemy's soul. A few > should suffice."

"But how do I even find its soul?"

Amdusias answered my question. "I am not an expert on souls, but I think that soul battle should be enough to find it. You only need to wound the soul."

I tried out my skill, but it was tough to activate it. It was as if everything from the dungeon was lessened inside my own soul.

"This prison has been removed," Balam stated. "I wish you luck. Remember, I still want to see your accomplishments."

"Yes, I understand."

I immediately activated by > > and found its soul, which looked like a flower with sixteen petals. My soul was much bigger than it, and I used the slash from the techniques, along with Persuasion, a few times before returning to the real world. Once there, I finally saw the true appearance of the enemy who trapped me.

"You actually managed to wound my soul. As a fiendish soul apparition, I am stunned. Let's see, however, if you can defeat the real me," it spoke.

Before I could answer, however, Charon began speaking. "Don't count me out," he said.

It was then that I noticed his injuries. There appeared to be multiple puncture wounds on his body, he looked sickly and seemed to be unable to stand.

"I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," he said, literally taking something out from his sleeve.

"Soul restoration bead. Why do you have such a rare treasure?" the enemy asked.

"Easy. I knew I may need it to fight against races like you," he responded right back. "Also, as a vampire, I can absorb all of the souls refined within instantly."

Charon took the pill, and he immediately looked better. The next moment, his body briefly shown with a bloody light, before becoming completely recovered.

"Roberto, please let me deal with him. He made it personal, and I am one to hold grudges against those who attack me, especially with such a sneak attack. I will not let him off easily. I'm sorry, but they travel alone. It's the only one here."

"Go ahead," I said, secretly relieved. I did not know if I alone could win.

Charon used some sort of chains to tie down the incorporeal body before siphoning its energy away and into an artifact. He then crushed the oddly-shaped object, showing the defeat of the single enemy we encountered.

"Serves him right," Charon announced. "He should never have attacked me. I wish the angels were fighting instead of me. That would be fun to watch."

I just stayed silent while we walked forward. I didn't want to fuel the anti-angel fire. It seemed to have taken a few hours to defeat the enemy, although it appeared to take mere minutes.

The next hidden treasure we chanced upon were small cylinders capable of holding explosive energy. Charon took all of these since he had more use for them than I did. He didn't want me to learn his secrets in concocting bombs, so I went to my spiritual world.

"Look at what we built!" Bella announced when I returned. There was now a small town, and, surrounding it, a wooden wall stood. Outside the wall, an armory stood tall with the weapons collected previously.

"Looks grand," I responded.

"Persephone, can this world create any ores?" I asked.

"No, the great catastrophe won't descend until long after you've become a god or devil. As such, nothing valuable can be gained."

I had too much gold, so I gave some to them to build with. We also found remaining diamond, silver, and platinum-based constructions, so I did likewise. I still had enough gold bars for a few million dollars saved up. After talking with Bella and my daughters for about an hour, I returned.

"Charon, are you ready to continue?" I asked.

"Yes," he responded.

Together, we continued on while I took the precious ores left remaining in the desolate world. Finally, I had a somewhat intense sensation from my treasure sense. I instructed Charon to dig below us, and I wasn't disappointed.

About two meters below, we hit a metal roof. Charon commented it was most likely made of orichalcum or other strong ores before the world ended. Now, it was easy to drill through. In order to preserve what may have been on the inside, though, we spent the next hour carefully excavating around it.

[Skill dig acquired!]

[Level up! Skill dig has leveled up! Level three!]

I had even gained a skill from digging through the ice and dirt, even though we mostly used fire.

When we finished excavating, we found the entrance sealed by a few runes. I used the elementary unsealing and open lock runes on the ones I knew about, but Charon had a better idea.

"To be able to sustain such runes, this door is even a treasure! Unfortunately, I have no use for it. I'll just destroy it. Please stand back."

I complied, and Charon began using spells and skills to pulverize the door into dust.

"Let's enter," he said.

I followed behind him, and, on the other side, we immediately entered a small room. L ined on the walls and in exquisite cases, there were twenty shining swords, ten shining spears, three shining tridents, and two shining axes.

"Looking at the light, they must be between A- and A+ ranked," Charon commented. He walked up to a few he liked and took them while I took the rest.

"They even hid some more in the already-hidden room," Charon laughed before attacking the floor. A thin layer of diamond crumpled under his might before five coffins emerged.

"Four soul-bound, growth-capable A+ ranked swords, one soul-bound S+ ranked trident, one S+ ranked dagger," he commented. "You can take the A+ ranked, I'll take the other two."

I was glad, but I knew who I would give three of these swords to. I didn't need any more, and, even though they were strong, they didn't have any amazing functions I required. They could send sword light towards enemies, automatically repair, split into two, change form to a scythe, and absorb vitality while being used. With their infinite durability, I thought they would be perfect for the girls. I stored them in my belt, as I would wait a few weeks and give it to them for Christmas.

Even though we weren't Christian, we still celebrated the holiday. The major difference was the story we heard. That was the origin of the Black Dragon.

We continued on towards a second small room.

"I don't have any use for these. You take them all." Charon commanded.

I didn't even get a chance to look at what was stored, but it appeared to be seeds. There were even essence seeds in strange, diamond-like storage devices.

"These are for herbs and flowers with magical, medicinal properties. The essence seeds should be for normal animals and monsters. I recognize them. They're rabbit, robin, and bright turtle."

"Bright turtle?" I asked.

"It's a low-leveled monster. It can illuminate itself under the water, and it has teeth that can break through rocks. You need some authority in a world to use these seeds, so I'm sorry that they're of no use. At least you can make a small garden."

I was ecstatic. I could now have more animals in my world. I couldn't tell Charon, but these were some of the best treasures we found on the entire trip! I quickly added them and had Persephone plant them and create spawners relatively close to the turkeys but far enough away that they can each have their own territory.

The third room was designed oddly. It looked as if it surrounded the first two rooms and was about double the size on each side. On one hand, after the earring's scanning, I found they were history books. None of them mentioned the great catastrophe, unfortunately, and they only talked about the now-dead world. I had no use for them, even in my library, except for a few. These books were works of fiction, so it may be fun to read them sometime. I took those books.

"I like to read some fiction books," I explained. "You can take the history books."

"No reason," he replied, burning the books and other, magical storage materials. The latter I couldn't access since the world died.

On the other side, there were some books that contained knowledge about different subjects, some similar to science and architecture on earth. Others discussed magical phenonium, such as conjuring lightning and different monsters that spawned throughout the world. I scanned them and added them to my ever-growing library.

"If you like reading so much, why not go to the library in our world? Come, I'll show you."

He disappeared, and I followed him.

In the usual place, he led me through many more, different corridors.

"How do you know this place so well? I can't figure out even one hall away from me!"

"Easy, I've spent years doing nothing but studying the maps."

"Maps?"

"What a coincidence, they're in the library, where we're heading now."

I continued to follow him. It took a half hour to walk to a room with a large, ornate doorway.

"The mechanism is quite easy to operate," Charon explained. "Just put your blood force here."

He pointed towards a small circle, and I tried to put a drop of blood on top of it, which had the door begin to creak open. I recalled the blood drop as the door completed its opening.

"As a midnight vampire, you should have access to most books in this sub-dimensional space," he explained. "There are a few books off-limits, but even the dusk vampires can't bypass the restrictions. This space is also special since each person enters individually."

I thought it was like the dungeon, so I went past the threshold and saw bookshelves as high as the sky spanning forward unendingly.

There were histories of numerous worlds, appraisal guides, and listings of various types of artifacts, monsters, herbs, and other items, books on the many uses and research of blood, and many others. The earring scanned them all as I passed by. Unfortunately, there were neither skill nor spell books. The knowledge contained within was at a fundamental level, but, eventually, after what seemed like months, I arrived at a small door. "Master" was written above it, and I passed through. On the other side, there were more books. The topics covered were slightly more complicated. I spent a few years scanning them all until I finished the midnight section. I stood in front of the dusk door, disappointed. The history and research were complex, but it wasn't enough for me. Even with the entire database, nothing about the dungeon nor the great catastrophe could be found.

I tried going through the door, to see what it would feel like, but I surprisingly went through without even trying. The books here seemed more ancient, and they discussed some old gods and devils and their worlds and perceived powers, but it was, in the end, just conjecture. No one seemed to know the full power of the gods. The main thing I learned here was that there are at least five ranks of gods, each immeasurably more powerful than the previous.

I even found books about the current world, but the books weren't nearly as detailed and profound as those I previously found.

Past dusk, I was able to access the nightmare section. Here, I studied more about nightmare and daybreak vampires, as their overwhelming power was espoused completely. They were very powerful! In the end, I even found a book describing some of the powers of the fires of hell and rains of heaven. It discussed how they're opposites, impossibly difficult to control, how only one being could fully control them, and the destruction and salvation they could create.

The daybreak section was also open unto me, and, there, I found the names of the fires and rains. The books also showed that they were the supreme fire and water in the entire universe, incompatible to mere sources. The books here and in the previous section also allowed me to gain insight into many laws. I learned there are world laws below natural laws, which are unique to each world. I could completely control them for Persephone. I also learned all of the natural laws for dark, ground, air, space (10%), fighting, and a few others. I even grasped the eternal laws of fire, thanks to the assistance of my skill.

The final books I read were about the mysteries of the void. It connected everything together, but only void masters could gain insight into its many mysteries. The fog had its own properties, and traversing it would be much faster than the speed of light. Spying through the void would be completely undetectable.

I thought I was done, but there was still one door left. I already knew more about the powers and weaknesses of vampires, bats, and a few other monsters. Even demons were included. I wondered what was left.

The final door had nothing written above it, but it felt ominous. I went past it and found myself in a blood world. My own blood world began absorbing the blood seas flowing around me. My own grew double in size before I could see the library below.

There was one book here. It described the incomparable powers of blood titans!

[dominion: eternal blood congealing: 2%]

It wasn't the system this time since dominions didn't show up, but it was the earring giving me a message. Somehow, this book helped me get a dominion!

Finally, I left the library. It had taken me two centuries to get through it all, but, with time stopped, none passed on the outside. I also began using the earrings to copy important information onto books to put into Persephone's library.

"How was it?" Charon asked when I came out.

"Good, I spent a century reading."

"You must really love books."

"I do."

I now also knew the maps of this world and went to a room with a healing water spring. There I bottled some of the water. In the nightmare section, I learned, if anything happened to my world, this water could potentially heal it.

"You even learned the maps. Good job. Let's return now."

I followed his directions, and we went back to where we were on Ice Hydrangea. To get us back to the same spot, Charon expended some energy. To await its regeneration, we stayed where we were until the following day. If time flowed the same in this world as elsewhere, we would have been half-way done with our exploration by now.

During this day, we didn't get too far. Enemies from other worlds were invading more frequently, so we had to deal with them. That slowed down our progress a lot. At the end of the day, we received a message from one of the ghost kings to watch out. One of them has succumbed to a rare incorporeal poison underneath some of the ice. They may not know the exact poison, but, since it could kill one of their own, it must have been extremely deadly. Secretly, I wished I could absorb it for my skill.

On the sixth day, fewer foes fought with us, so we were able to get some weapons, armor, herbs, low-leveled skill and spell books, and other similar objects.

None of it was particularly shocking. As such, I stored it all—Charon didn't want any of it.

That night, he commented, "There's barely anything here. This whole trip has been barely worth the time I spent."

"But you are immortal," I responded.

"Still, I don't want to waste days. If someone has the right ingredients, killing me won't be a problem. I'm always vigilant."

He didn't know, but I had numerous combinations of such means against him. Luckily, my angel race made many ways he could go against me useless. I had even combined the materials to create the weapons, just in case Charon turned against me for a treasure.

When we reached the half-way mark, we went back to meet the other races. The angels weren't there, so Charon laughed and said they were too scared to meet up with us.

Together, we shared some of our gains and traded amongst ourselves. I didn't need anything, so I just sat there for the day of haggling.

Last time, the four groups each went according to one of the cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. This time, we rotated forty-fiveº. Because we were, now, still close to our previous path, it took the rest of the day before we could begin searching. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see.

We were in what appeared to previously be a wilderness, so, with no settlements from humans or other intelligent beings around, there were no treasures to find. There were a few broken weapons, but neither of us cared for them. Charon was the most annoyed that we chose this route. If we rotated the other way, we could have been reeling in much more treasure.

I already found so much that I was satisfied with this trip. I even found so much that I put a little in the smartwatch to give to the angels. It was nothing big, but it made it look better for our side.

Soon after, we saw an odd section of the wasteland. While still covered in a thin layer of ice, everything was made out of stone. There were stone outlines of trees, grass, flowers, and even people and animals!

"Cockatrice territory?" I asked as it seemed similar to their petrification.

"Maybe some had lived among them, but the monsters here were even more powerful. They didn't even need to eat and turned everything into stone. Maybe a higher-evolution of Gorgons live here, but it's too late to tell. Let's continue forward. If we touch too much, we could even turn to stone!"

Following his warning, especially with my low resistance, I followed behind him until we safely passed through. On the other side, we, again, arrived at an old ocean that we had to cross. I hoped that the other continent in this direction had similar treasures to the one in the past direction.

On the early morning of the ninth day, we had finished going past a few, small settlements and taking whatever remained.

Even though it was little, I still took anything I could find. I was lucky in the first city we approached. There were trapped souls in the weapons and items hidden here! It must have been some sort of evil organization that trapped them. Once I finished extracting them, there must have been at least a million! Countless years of effort to create these artifacts were all for nothing once they fell into my hands. At least Persephone would profit.

At the time when we left the city, I felt a strange rumbling beneath my feet. This was even odder since I was flying through the sky.

"An earthquake?" I asked, confused as to why I would feel it.

"Let's land," Charon responded.

It was just past midnight on the tenth day, according to the smartwatch (since there was no sun, and, therefore, no night and day).

As soon as we touched the ground, I felt like the whole world was spinning around, immediately dizzier than I had ever felt in my life.

"It's too early!" Charon exclaimed.

"What is?" I managed to ask in the middle of this predicament. If it got too bad, I would escape to my spiritual world.

"A devil doesn't want this place to exist, especially since it was once a world," he said.

I had read a little about how, sometimes, after a few million years, devils would pulverize entire worlds. I didn't expect to experience it, though."

Around us, the ground began tearing up, giant fissures in the ice threatened to swallow us whole.