As it turned out, the Dimensional Gap was indeed extremely dangerous; it wasn't just talk.
Although the original story hadn't showcased much in this regard and Leon hadn't had much chance to experience it before, after this excursion through the Dimensional Gap, he finally understood why so many people dreaded this place.
Here, not only was it completely impossible to identify directions, but one couldn't even feel the flow of time. Flying aimlessly, Leon had no idea how long he had been traveling or where he was heading. He felt utterly stranded, as if no matter how loud he called, there would be no answer from heaven or earth.
Along the way, Leon hadn't encountered nothing at all, but most of what he found were things exiled here since ancient times. Some were completely useless junk, while others possessed a certain degree of danger.
Leon had come across a corpse of unknown origin. It looked ordinary enough, but the moment Leon approached within a ten-meter radius, he was inexplicably poisoned. Unknown black spots appeared on his chest, which were highly corrosive and nearly rotted his lungs.
Fortunately, he was now a Perfect Devil with an extraordinary constitution. His self-healing ability was staggering, and his resistance to toxins was very high, allowing him to recover quickly. However, after that ordeal, he didn't dare approach that corpse again and wished to stay as far away from it as possible.
And that wasn't the most dangerous part. The most terrifying occurrence was when Leon nearly collided with a "Fragment of Nothingness" within the gap.
What was a Fragment of Nothingness?
As the name implied, it was a concept where existence itself was void. Upon touching such a fragment, whether it was a human body or an object, the final outcome was to be assimilated by it and turn completely into nothingness. It was horrifying.
The scariest part was that because its existence was void, it was invisible and could not be observed with the naked eye. If Leon's magic perception hadn't been outstanding—detecting something extremely eerie approaching him and allowing him to dodge in advance—he might have been in grave danger.
"I should have learned more about the conditions in the Dimensional Gap beforehand."
Having encountered several perils, Leon felt a lingering fear. Although the Dimensional Gap was a place people spoke of with deep apprehension, the various major powers still had ways to navigate it.
For instance, hadn't the Underworld developed trains capable of traveling between the two worlds? When riding the train, the magic circles engraved upon it protected the vehicle, allowing it to travel safely through the Dimensional Gap. This proved that the Underworld and even the Fallen Angel side possessed technologies to protect themselves here.
There were also specialized magic or sorcery specifically used for exploring the Dimensional Gap. In the future, Vali would rely on such means to explore ancient ruins or relics left behind in the gap.
For most, the Dimensional Gap was indeed dangerous, but for those seeking to trace history or explore for treasures, it was a natural storehouse. Additionally, since the gap existed outside of all worlds—whether one traveled from the Human World to the Underworld, or from the Human World to Heaven, or even from the Underworld to Heaven—one had to cross this Dimensional Gap. Thus, it was called the Dimensional Wall, meaning the wall between two different worlds. It was a mysterious zone that anyone wishing to travel between worlds would likely face. Consequently, research into the Dimensional Gap existed among all major powers.
This resulted in each faction possessing technologies born from the existence of the Dimensional Gap. If Leon had known some of those techniques, he wouldn't be in such a perilous situation now.
"I guess this is the penalty for lacking knowledge, huh?"
Leon sighed, yet he dared not be careless. His magic perception remained active at all times with maximum focus, seeking to catch any abnormal phenomenon and avoid danger in time.
His only hope now was to find a space crack or something similar that would allow him to escape. He didn't even insist on returning directly to the Human World or the Underworld; even accidentally entering Heaven would be better than staying here. It would be even better if he encountered an Underworld train or an exploration party from some faction.
Unfortunately, the Dimensional Gap was of unknown size and breadth, and since Leon couldn't distinguish directions, he could only fly aimlessly, having no idea what lay ahead.
"...I won't be trapped here forever and never get out, will I?"
At the thought of this consequence, a surge of irritation filled Leon's heart. Staying in such a place was a form of mental torture. Moreover, Leon wasn't someone without attachments. He wanted to know what happened to Cao Cao and how his own peerage was doing—whether they had been defeated by the Hero Faction.
What was the situation at the summit? The Old Maou Faction had attacked the meeting; was the outcome the same as the original story—alarming but not dangerous—or had his presence caused a butterfly effect that changed the result? Were Rias and Sona Sitri alright? Had they encountered danger?
These were questions Leon couldn't help but worry about. Thus, he truly didn't want to stay here for long.
"Forget it. Thinking too much is useless; it only makes me more frustrated."
Leon shook his head, suppressing those messy thoughts.
"I probably don't need to worry about the summit. With a Transcendent like Sirzechs present, he wouldn't just watch others get hurt. If he's pushed too far and his Destruction Form comes out, even a God arriving in person would have a hard time."
"Yukino and the others should be fine too. At least they haven't lost their lives, so the situation shouldn't be too dire."
Leon could only console himself this way. His servants were all devils reincarnated through his "Servant Transformation" trait; their souls were already engraved with his mark. Even if they died, at most it would be physical death—their souls would return to his side and could never be taken away.
Currently, none of the souls of Yukino Yukinoshita and the others had returned to him, which proved they were at least still alive. Knowing this allowed Leon to relax slightly and not be so frantic.
"Compared to them, my situation might be the one that needs worrying about."
With such thoughts, Leon continued to journey through the Dimensional Gap. This state of affairs continued for an unknown amount of time.
Just as Leon was about to give up and seek another way out—such as trying to break the Dimensional Wall with his own power—a massive shadow suddenly appeared ahead.
"What's that?"
Leon's spirits lifted. Without a second thought, he flew over quickly. He was getting desperate now; no matter what it was, it was better than encountering nothing. Of course, he didn't forget how dangerous the gap was, so he kept his magic perception fully active, shrouding the massive shadow.
Upon investigation, Leon finally figured out what the shadow was.
"An island?"
Indeed, the true form of the shadow was an island. No, rather than an island, it was more like a fragment of a continent. It was as if a piece of a continent had been cut out and thrown in here. A vast stretch of land drifted into Leon's view.
"Is there something on it?"
As Leon approached, he continued to scan everything on the land with his magic perception. He discovered a very ancient castle on the land, surrounded by desolate yellow earth, looking like a place abandoned by time, full of a sense of vicissitude and decay.
"...Should I go up and look?"
Leon thought for a moment and finally approached cautiously. What else could he do? Continue wandering aimlessly?
"I can only hope there's a way to leave the Dimensional Gap on there."
With this hope, Leon flew toward the desolate land. To avoid another incident of unintentional poisoning, he double-checked with magic perception. After confirming there were no abnormalities, he finally stepped onto that land.
Of course, even so, Leon was ready to activate "Nature's Hope" at any moment to evade danger immediately should he encounter something insurmountable. But this time, there really seemed to be no unknown dangers; Leon remained safe until he set foot on the ground.
"Good, at least this place can be explored."
Leon breathed a sigh of relief and then looked toward the castle located at the center of the land. The castle was huge, more than ten times larger than the Gremory castle Leon had seen before, as if the residents weren't humans but a group of giants.
The surface of the castle was covered in cracks and was extremely dilapidated, as if it had suffered some disaster. Part of the city walls had even collapsed.
"It seems this castle has a very long history."
Leon observed for a while and then walked toward the castle. Soon, he arrived at the entrance. Then... he stopped in his tracks.
Because he was blocked. He wasn't blocked by the castle gates. The gates weren't closed but were wide open—perhaps they couldn't be closed anymore. However, in front of the gates lay something that could not be ignored.
Grumble—Grumble—
It was the dull sound of heavy breathing that only a giant creature would make when sleeping.
In front of the castle gates, a dragon lay there, deep in slumber. It was a very beautiful dragon, even more beautiful than Tiamat. Its entire body seemed to have no scales but was covered in fur—fluffy fur at that. It didn't look fierce at all; rather, it was somewhat cute.
The dragon's color was also different from typical dragons. It wasn't a menacing red or black, but a very soft gradient purple that looked somewhat white at first glance. However, looking at this dragon that didn't appear fierce or menacing, Leon's expression gradually became grave.
The reason was simple. He could feel it. The dragon's aura was completely opposite to its appearance; it was terrifying. That massive draconic aura, even if it didn't quite match Tiamat, the strongest Dragon King, wasn't far off.
What did this signify?
"A Dragon King..."
This was simply a dragon at the Dragon King level! But Leon was certain this dragon was absolutely not any of the known Dragon Kings!
"Karma Dragon" Tiamat went without saying; Leon had seen her more than once. "Evil Black Dragon" Vritra was also out, as he had long been sealed within a Sacred Gear, part of which was on Saji Genshirou. Although the "Golden Dragon Monarch" Fafnir had been resurrected, he had formed a contract with Azazel and was currently by the side of the Governor General of the Fallen Angels. "Mischievous Dragon" Yu-long was at Mount Sumeru, having converted to Buddhism. The "Dragon of the End" Jörmungandr was extremely lazy; even the Norse Gods didn't know how to command it, so they let it sleep in the sea, only to wake up at the end of the world. Thus, the Dragon King before him could not be any of those five.
Most importantly, the appearance didn't match. Tiamat was a deep blue dragon, Fafnir was a golden dragon, Vritra was purple-black, and Yu-long was green. As for Jörmungandr, one didn't even need to check the color; it was the world's largest dragon with a body length of five or six hundred meters, whereas the dragon before him was at most several dozen meters long—a far cry from the former.
In other words, the dragon before him was an unknown Dragon King that did not belong to the Five Great Dragon Kings!
Leon couldn't help but rub his temples.
"Why would an unknown Dragon King appear in this gods-forsaken place?"
Could this be the territory of this unknown Dragon King? Or was the reason this place was so ruined and exiled to the Dimensional Gap because of this Dragon King?
Unable to figure it out, Leon pondered for a moment and then walked toward the castle. Regardless, he would try to make contact first. A dragon of the Dragon King level surely wouldn't be like lower-tier dragons; it should have the intelligence to communicate, right?
It was rare to see a living creature here. If they could communicate, Leon certainly wanted to talk to it. It would be best if he could learn a way to leave this place from it. Thus, Leon walked toward the sleeping dragon and intentionally released his own aura to wake it up.
Suddenly, the giant dragon woke. It felt Leon's aura, opened its eyes, and stared at him. Then...
BOOM—
Without any hesitation, the dragon unleashed a dragon breath toward Leon. It was a breath saturated with electrical power, carrying mountainous energy like a massive hammer swung by a God of Thunder. In an instant, it evaporated the atmosphere, shattered the earth, and poured toward Leon with overwhelming force.
RUMBLE!!!
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, Leon's figure was swallowed by the lightning breath. However, from within that earth-shattering lightning breath, another bolt of lightning quickly flew out into the air, soon resolving into Leon's form.
Leon looked at the dragon that had attacked him without a word, a smile full of anger crossing his face.
"It was my mistake. Even a Dragon King might not have the intelligence to communicate."
Whether the dragon truly didn't understand Leon's sarcasm was unknown, but it rose, spread its wings, and took flight. In the next second, it charged at Leon.
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