I walked inside as the Zadkiel handed me the required essence seed. The space inside the obelisk soon contorted and changed into a steep cliff. I stood below it and ingested the essence seed, wondering what kind of test I would have to face to be successful. Suddenly, I found my entire body frozen. I could think but not move. I couldn't even enter any of my worlds. At least I could talk with my family. I spent forty days and forty nights frozen. I thought that this must be how so many failed.

If they continued to be frozen, something must have happened to them that caused their demise inside. I was correct.

About twenty goblins finally came to attack me. Since I couldn't move, I couldn't defend. Over the next day, my HP slowly decreased. I summoned some skeletons and tried to bring out some blood servants, but the latter wouldn't come out.

Summoning all 500 of them did allow the technique's level to rise, giving me the skill >, which is self-explanatory and wouldn't immediately help me.

More goblins began to spawn, and some hobgoblins and orcs eventually joined the fray. The combined forces started to overwhelm my army, and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't call upon the void or use any other skill or spell.

Suddenly, Crimson reacted. Burning hot voidblood surged forth, forming a protective barrier around me. I could finally beat these monsters back, which was trivially easy.

At the same time, Annie announced that she had finally decoded the freezing. It was an ancient curse that was thought to have been destroyed long ago.

My curse absorption didn't even work. The curse itself was stored in the obelisk, and it was spread through the medium of the subatomic air particles floating around.

The monsters around, I soon learned, were fake. They could inflict actual damage but were completely virtual.

Once I figured that out, I finally felt my body changing. It didn't immediately become an archangel, though.

First, my wings turned pure black before becoming gray. Red streaks followed throughout them. It looked like arteries grew there. Even the halo's color changed. I realized my new race was a unique variant due to the effects of the voidblood. I was now a voidblood angel.

Due to my new race, I learned a new skill: voidblood feather shoot, which shot voidblood-infused feathers towards an enemy. As they could follow through the void, it worked at any distance.

The new skill had limited uses since I could use the voidblood to attack at any distance. I didn't need skills or spells to control its powers.

I still wasn't an archangel, though. I thought it was odd that my class didn't upgrade, but soon, my stats continued to increase. They jumped from 2500 maximum to 4000 maximum before finally reaching the new cap. That must have been the reason for the intermediate race change!

Upon realizing this fact, I was relaxed. It took an entire week for something to happen again. The feather reacted this time, as I underwent another variant race level up.

My wings returned to being white. They were a purer white than before, but it didn't last long. Each feather shimmered in a golden hue, and the wings expanded. They became wider and taller, becoming about double the height I was.

The halo turned into gray and red stripes. No longer were death and darkness associated with my race. Once the telltale gray and red-streaked feathers started to appear, I realized that I had become a Purifying Voidblood Archangel.

The confusing name of the race was because it seemed to combine two different variants—my unique voidblood as well as that of a normal purifying archangel.

The purifying archangel was said to be the antithesis of all evil, able to purify anything around the being, sealing and killing off all potential evil, even that which hasn't come to pass.

I didn't gain any new skills, as, just by virtue of being such a race, I could deal with all evil existences around me. I did, however, use some archangel spell books from my treasury.

Light of justice

Rank: A+

HE use: 500

Description: the light of justice descends, evaporating the target

Justice tribulation sword

Rank: A+

HE use: 5000

Description: creates a sword to pass judgment of the unworthy

Soul judgment

Rank: SS

HE use: 10/being

Description: judge a soul of being worthy or unworthy of anything, including if they can advance in class or race

Justice

Rank: breaker

HE use: 100,000

Description: determine justness for an entire planet, annihilating all those who are deemed unjust

The latter, of course, didn't appear in my status.

As soon as I learned them, I was prepared to leave; however, suddenly, I found my HE condensing. It began flowing as a new type of energy. Just like how one hundred SF was equivalent to one HE, 1 of this new energy was equivalent to 100 HE.

I walked out of the obelisk, my wings basking in the light.

Before Zadkiel could ask any questions, I asked two of my own. From his answers, I learned that there was a time difference. It was only April 15th, Tax Day. Of course, I didn't have to bother with it since my position was higher than the US Government itself!

The second was that the new energy was that which archangels used. It was just a condensed and more powerful form of HE, unlike how SF and HE were completely different energies. Archangels did, however, have some benefit from the new energy. They could store more of it, and it could contain divinity, which they may eventually obtain. The new energy could also be used to interfere with some laws if done correctly. It's Justice Energy, or JE. I had 200 JE, which was much more than I had in HE previously, as 100HE=1JE.

After some congratulations, I left the way I came—back through the rainbow bridges. Gabriel also congratulated me, and they together agreed to promote me to a general. They did so because archangels were customarily promoted to captain, but an exception had to be made since I was already one. Only commander archangels could usually make it to the general's position. Even then, a seraph had to intervene for the appointment.

The first benefit I gained was a new uniform. The second was I finally gained the method to access and traverse the rainbow bridges, as well as the second-ring and third-ring planets' coordinates.

Even though I only knew 8% of the divine law of space and 20% of the world law, along with the skill, subdimension hop (angel m), I found out the method of constructing a rainbow bridge to link sub-dimensions.

Now that I had completed the first evolution, I went to seek out Charon and figure out if it was possible to become a dusk vampire. I could also contact the other dusks with his assistance to see if they knew a method.

When I arrived in the vampire world, Charon soon found me. Since he knew I was the head of the Council of the Void, it wasn't difficult to get an audience with Aaron, Orion, and Mia.

I walked into the room, where the three of them sat at a heightened location. They asked Charon to leave.

I began speaking. "Honorable dusk vampires, before I begin the topic of why I came here today, I wish to offer you two drops of Restoration Water."

I had to butter them up to get their help. They gratefully accepted the gift, as it would be a big help for their plans. We then began discussing the main reason why I requested this meeting: increasing my race. I had the knowledge from their library, but I still needed a little of their power. Specifically, I needed their personal comprehensions of time laws. One requirement was an increased understanding of such laws, but this was a big request. They didn't even share their knowledge with each other!

After debating for about an hour among themselves, they called me back in and passed me three large books. I got what I came here for. It, however, did cost me three drops per book. I gladly paid.

I spent two years within this world where time was stopped comprehending the profound knowledge contained within.

Towards the end, Annie actually gave me more resources about time! It took another three years to finish the new material, and I was finally ready for advancement.

I went back into my special room. I took out the necklace I'd almost forgotten about. I summoned the crystal coffin and went to lie down inside, ready to evolve. This time, I stayed awake inside for three-hundred years. Also, I remembered what I thought about: the laws of time. The information couldn't all be given through written words. This was my time to make discoveries by myself, consolidating and applying the knowledge, working with it, and integrating it. I felt a similar bone-chilling coldness as my bones all broke. This time, however, they didn't reform. Instead, I felt my voidblood circling around my body, creating structures with the same function.

Suddenly, I felt enlightened. Crimson was violently reacting, helping me learn much more about time.

Next, I felt my death energy changing. Since I initially used DE instead of blood-based energies, I was surprised that it changed due to my racial evolution. It became much more powerful. This time, I found out that 1 of this new energy wasn't equivalent to 100DE but 1000DE! In the end, I realized just how much more of this energy I had—it was now at twenty-five.

I thought, at this point, that my evolution would be complete. It still wasn't done, however. Among other changes, my senses all increased about one-hundred times. I could also see the flow of different energies as clearly as possible. Furthermore, I felt like I could look at souls and peer into a person's true self without much difficulty.

Now, I finally removed the coffin's lid, but it caused the whole contraption to crumble! My new body absorbed the fragments, increasing all of my stats by 250, strength by an additional 100, and endurance by an additional 50. My HP also increased to 4200, and my level increased by one. Even luck increased by five!

I took the opportunity to look at my stats and noticed another change: my affinities were cut in half, meaning I could use double the amount of the elements! Darkness, heavenly, and void didn't change at all.

I decided to show Charon the new energy and see what it was called. After stepping out, I felt the air around me was lighter. Soon after, I finished searching for Charon. I used the void to determine that he was currently off the planet. As such, as a dusk vampire, I walked straight into the room where the other three reigned.

"Dusk vampires, I have a question," I began upon entering. "What kind of energy is this?"

I manifested some of the swirling energy onto the palm of my hand. It was wavy and almost looked as if it was an illusion.

"That's!" Orion exclaimed.

Mia was the first to recover from the shock. "That's nightmare force, or NF, unique to nightmare vampires! You entirely skipped dusk! How did you do it?"

"I don't know. I thought I was just a dusk vampire."

"No," Mia continued. "You are a nightmare vampire, all right. Just try moving your body, and you can tell. Looking at you, I can see an even greater surprise! There's very little information on the vampire's progenitor, the blood tyrant. One piece of information we do know is that their body is what's called an incorporeal body—it's just a projection of their true self. Using this special body type, they could project their consciousness into different dimensions, realms, worlds, or anywhere. They could even split it into different areas, controlling it all from the true body.

I can tell this is your true body, but I can feel your consciousness beginning to form a projection. It's a great protection mechanism, especially for you. The only currently-known method to find the main body is through the use of the void, but you have absolute control over it. I used to know some midnight vampires, but they never had this trait. I don't know of anyone who has seen it. The most important thing for you right now is to finish creating a projection of your consciousness. Don't worry—while it will look and act completely real, it can't be harmed and can be retracted at will at all times. With this body, even gods and devils may have a tough time dealing with you. In a pinch, your projection could disappear, and they would be unable to find you."

"Thank you for your advice. I'll work on this."

Aaron seemed to be contemplating something before getting off his throne and bringing out an ornate, small, silvery-black box. Inside, it looked to be a tomato.

"Eat this," he commanded me.

I didn't question the order since I sensed power coming from this fruit. I bit into it, and the juice coated my throat before being absorbed by my soul. Crimson reacted while I checked my status and watched my NF slowly climb.

100, 200, 300… it kept going until finally stopping at 750. It seemed to be the new maximum amount of power from the blood world I could control. Due to the infinite energy stored within, there was only one number on my status—it read NF: 750 instead of NF: 750/750.

Before I began working on the incorporeal body, I wanted to test out my comprehension of the laws of time.

My comprehension was now 100% of the natural laws, 50% of the world laws, and 25% of the divine laws.

Due to reaching complete comprehension of the natural laws, I gained a skill. It wasn't an absolute-titled spell like I expected due to the previous cases. It was a skill called lawful time. According to my various appraisal methods, this skill allowed me to alter the flow of time around myself and other targets I could interact with. It took NF to use it, with a proportional amount taken depending on targets and specific actions.

I could use this skill to prolong life, hasten death, pause or stop time, and any other function related to the flow of time.

I could also put this into an object. My comprehension was still far away from creating an entire world in a separate flow of time, though I did understand the basic principles behind it.

The flow of time was blocked before it could enter this world. It was rerouted, creating a void within spacetime. It was then reconstructed as it passed through, converging back into the normal flow as if nothing ever interrupted it.

An additional insight I gained was that, while the flow could be changed in regards to velocity, speed, acceleration, jerk, and rotational force, it could not be entirely reversed, except for a few seconds. I did not completely understand the timeframe and reason behind this, though.

Once done with that, I returned to discuss my enlightenment and comprehension with Annie in Persephone. She seemed to have already learned it all, but she was still shocked when I told her about the incorporeal body. Most gods and devils didn't even have this ability. I checked with Balam, and he confirmed even Solomon didn't know about this.

It wasn't in any library I had access to, either.

Seere seemed to have encountered it before.

"Interesting," she began. "I have heard of this phenonium only once before. It was only in a story, though. There were a group of ferocious beings engaged in a battle against a solar system with seven planets, trying to defeat the god who ruled it! They, however, were not gods themselves but some other race. A tyrant or something, if I remember correctly. They could control some sort of special energy and use it to physically tear off chunks of one of the planets.

The enraged god attacked them, killing one. Unfortunately for the god, it was said that the main body was not killed.

Apparently, the god fled from his solar system and tracked down an elusive voidmaster. He eventually bargained with the Council, which had an overlord. I never realized overlord meant a variant class, though. The overlord used his control of the void to find the hiding place of this being's true body, and they had to defeat three of them before both succeeded in killing the tyrant. The others' projections disappeared before they could be tracked. The overlord was a devil, and it was recorded due to it being one of the rare times a god and devil cooperated."

I never knew the very old overlord saint voidmaster had actually been a devil! I am nowhere near that powerful. Actually, I'm not quite sure what makes someone a devil or god. Was it a race or a class? The demons besides Balam didn't seem to have any idea.

Balam knew very little, except that their power is incomparable to other beings, and they are the pinnacle of power.

Annie seemed to know more, but she wouldn't tell me—she stated that I wasn't ready yet and she would only tell me when the time was right. She wouldn't even tell me, though, how I would know when it's time.

It was enough for now. Before the recent events that transpired, including me becoming the head of the Council of the Void, I never would have dreamed of having an actual possibility of joining such ranks.

It had barely been a year since I learned about the dungeon and everything else if counted in real time (in actuality, it's been hundreds of years). I had gone from a human to an archangel and nightmare vampire in such a short span of time. I was the most powerful vampire known! Even then, I could still evolve! I may even have a slim chance of becoming a blood tyrant!

I spent some time with my family for a few weeks, unsure of how long creating the projection would actually take. By June 1st, I was ready to try.

In the intervening time period, I had finished the remaining volcanoes and gotten through most of the lava-filled sea surrounding the rest of the floor. With my new powers, it was very easy to do so. With just a thought, the void could do it all.

I also acquired a transceiver from Victoria to be ready for the meeting regarding Furcas. Even though I wasn't part of planning this meeting, I would still be part of the early stages once the announcement was sent out—both my job in the void council and my level-eight authority in the dungeon guaranteed that much.

Annie had taught me the methods to use to create a perfect projection, undetectable by anyone who was not a god or devil. In fact, they would have to be either an ℵ3 devil or ℵ4 god to detect something was amiss—let alone actually figuring out why something was off.

Each projection of my consciousness and will cost one DF, so I could create hundreds of them. However, I was only planning on making a few—one to take care of the matters of the Council of the Void, one to act as Archangel Roberto as needed, another to act as Nightmare Vampire Roberto as needed, a fourth to conquer the dungeon, a fifth to stay in Persephone, and, finally, a sixth to practice my skills and spells to increase their level.

At all times, my main body would be hidden in Crimson, guarded by blood stewards. If needed, automatic measures were set up to transfer the main body into Annie's protection. I originally wanted it hidden in Persephone, but the odds were higher that I'd be found with the new human civilization. Additionally, because the blood world was related to the blood tyrants, I would be better protected and better able to use this new power.

Finally, with all of the issues sorted out, I brought my soul and my main body into the blood world and set up a palace guarded by the appropriate monsters. I was ready to try out this new method