Before him stretched a sea of death. The black water was as thick as mud. Countless twisted shadows squirmed and changed shape. Grim ghostly claws reached toward the sky, then fell apart and crumbled.
Other black shadows looked like dazed people walking out from the woods. They waded into the sea of death, dragging themselves forward, then fell, climbed back up, fell again, until they too became part of that sea.
In every direction were black rocks and mountains. Farther away stood colorless, twisted trees. Some bore bright crimson fruit that looked fresh and ready to burst.
Gray-white flames rose silently from the black goat's head.
Ifrit awoke from the chaos and found himself lying on the shore of the sea of death.
Dark clouds covered the sky. Rain fell endlessly, but it could not put out the flames burning on the Duke.
His head ached. It felt as if he had been dreaming for a very long time, chasing something with all his strength in a world full of color.
Deep within the sea of death, countless arms stretched upward like a strange giant tree, holding something high.
Directly above it, a streak of white light could be seen through the gloomy clouds.
Yet at the center of that white light was a bottomless darkness, as thick as ink, dripping downward.
Just looking at it made one's body shiver.
Nothing specific came to mind, yet fear naturally rose from the heart.
Suddenly, the sky tore open.
Splendid light shone down, followed by a huge silver-white arm, clean and spotless, reaching down toward Ifrit.
Even Duke Ifrit was startled.
It looked as though someone had torn the world open from the outside.
He hurriedly tried to run, but how could he escape that giant hand descending from the sky?
Back at the Ever-Flame Mansion, to the left, the mechanical knight seemed to shine with magnificent light.
It was bright without being harsh, gentle and beautiful.
The surrounding knights looked at him with admiration.
The mechanical knight reached into a crimson crack, feeling the terrifying corrosive energy struggle against the radiance surrounding him.
He sighed.
"So cold. So lonely. This remaining energy seems to be connected to Nihility. What an overbearing power. Conclusion: Without the radiance of Beauty fooling it, I would have already been swallowed.", As he spoke, he finally pulled his hand back.
The frightening crimson crack slowly closed, like a wound carved into empty space.
The mechanical knight lowered his head to look at what he was holding.
The indicator lights on his metal face flickered slightly.
Then, with genuine regret, he said, "My apologies, fellow knights. It seems I have failed. I couldn't find Duke Ifrit. I only found this."
He opened his hand for everyone to see.
In his palm was a lump of filthy, sticky black mud.
The mud slowly squirmed, occasionally changing into the shape of Duke Ifrit, but it could never hold that form for long.
The mechanical knight's voice became steady again. The vibration of his voice unit gave it a faint metallic tone.
"He became distorted while I was bringing him back. Behind that doorway, when I caught him, he was exactly the same as Duke Ifrit Inferno. The visual sensor in my hand recorded everything."
"However, after I brought him out, he became like this. There are no records of anything similar in my database."
"We might be able to ask some Self-Annihilators or Chaos Doctors who have managed to keep their sanity, but we currently have no way to do so."
"..."
Argenti looked silently at the lump of black mud in his companion's hand for a moment.
"No, I think this is enough. The radiance of Beauty lets us see clearly. Since he was Duke Ifrit when you brought him out, then he should be Duke Ifrit."
The knights gathered around the lump of mud and discussed it for a long time.
In the end, they decided to take it with them to Penacony and let Nero examine it later.
Unfortunately, Acheron had already left.
If she were still here, even someone who had seen countless people and stories would have been shocked by what had just happened.
Without question, what the mechanical knight held was a Blood-Sin Spirit, a hollow soul born from an obsession within the shadow of IX.
Without understanding what they were doing, these knights had somehow reached into IX's shadow and pulled out Duke Ifrit's obsession with the Path of Destruction.
Not one of them had suffered any mental or physical effects.
The Blood-Sin Spirit remained completely intact.
It could even be said to be full of life.
'Absurd...'
'This is simply too absurd!'
'What exactly is going on with these Knights of Beauty?'
'Is the Path of Beauty really like this?'
———
Today was the day to set off.
Everyone gathered in the observation car.
Nero sat on the sofa, swinging his legs. He was a little excited.
Before heading to the next destination, they were having a route meeting together. For him, this was the first time.
After all, going to Jarilo had already been decided beforehand, and afterward he had immediately been taken back to the Luofu.
At the same time, Nero wondered if they could bring more people along since they were going to the Planet of Festivities.
Clara, Hook, and the others...
Yanqing and the others too...
The two girls from the Underworld had only recently seen the sky above the Overworld for the first time, let alone left the planet.
Yanqing and the others were usually busy with work and had little time to have fun. Bailu and General Sparrow would probably be very interested in something like this.
As for invitation letters, Nero didn't think that would be a problem.
After all, he had connections, and money.
Anyway, he'd discuss it with Himeko later.
Nero happily thought to himself.
As a good kid who liked sharing, how could he not invite his friends when there was somewhere fun to go?
After waiting a while longer, Nero rubbed Little Nero Cat, the colorful macaron-like cat cake in his arms, while watching everyone arrive at the observation car one after another.
Not far away, Qlipoth cake, a completely golden cat cake that looked like a golden pastry, stood by the window, constantly tapping the glass with its tail.
With each rhythmic tap, Qlipoth cake muttered, "Mew-nyo (build wall), mew-nyo (build wall)~"
Thanks to it, during the days the Astral Express had been docked at the space station, a translucent amber-colored shield with sharp edges had gradually formed around the train.
It looked very fragile, but its hardness, strength, and toughness were astonishing.
The Astral Express could now hit things even harder.
After waiting a little longer, March looked around.
"Has the conductor still not come?"
Himeko smiled lightly.
"So even Pom-Pom likes to keep people guessing sometimes."
Just as she finished speaking, the soft little sound of a plush toy landing on the floor came from nearby.
Pom-Pom walked down the steps in the distance and said, "Ahem. Sorry to keep everyone waiting, passengers. Since this is important, I spent a little extra time getting ready."
"So, what is it?" Stelle looked down at Pom-Pom.
March added, "Yeah, yeah. What's so important?"
"You should all know by now, right? Our destination this time is the Planet of Festivities, Penacony."
"Although I know everyone has been looking forward to that civilization's star hotel for a long time, before we leave, there are three things I need to remind everyone of."