Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes
Beginning of Arc: Ascension to the Second Dimension
The war resumed, and the battles between the allied sects and the Moon Sect returned to their previous course.
All the competitors, including Scarlet King, stood before the elders and Kuang Wei.
Behind them floated the six universes, suspended within the deep, empty void between the infinite multiverses.
Kuang Wei began speaking.
"This is the final competition."
"It will determine your futures."
"Either you remain here… or ascend to a higher level of superiority."
All the competitors nodded and began moving toward the six universes, but Kuang Wei stopped them.
"Wait."
"This device will randomly transport each of you somewhere within the relatively small area of the six universes."
Kuang Wei took out the device.
It was a circular silver disk containing something resembling a tiny flying spear.
The spear immediately shot forward at tremendous speed.
It pierced through the first competitor's body and emerged from the other side.
The competitor was instantly transported away, disappearing completely.
The same thing happened to the remaining competitors.
One after another, everyone was transported into the six universes.
This time, luck was on Scarlet King's side.
He found himself beside Lin Yuan—
who immediately fell face-first into the snow.
Scarlet King looked ahead.
He saw nothing except a soft white haze of snow.
After observing his surroundings for a moment, he confirmed that they had appeared inside a snowy fogstorm.
(Getting out of here will be difficult since natural flight isn't available.)
(Fortunately, I have the jetpack.)
(Now everything is ready exactly as I planned.)
(As long as Lin Yuan is with me, finding Ikalat won't be difficult.)
Lin Yuan stood up and immediately sneezed from the cold.
"Brother, it's freezing here, and now we're stuck inside this fogstorm."
Scarlet King looked at him.
"Take out your daggers and use Dual Vision to see from Ikalat's perspective."
"After that, I'll merge my consciousness with yours so I can see where he is, and then we'll transport ourselves to him."
Lin Yuan placed a hand on his chin and thought for a moment.
"Hmm… makes sense."
He drew both daggers and began connecting to Ikalat's vision.
Scarlet King stood behind him.
He was much shorter than Lin Yuan, so he simply extended his body until he became slightly taller than him.
Then he placed a hand on Lin Yuan's head.
The consciousness-merging process began.
Scarlet King closed his eyes and inserted a fragment of his soul into Lin Yuan's consciousness.
His awareness successfully merged with Lin Yuan's.
Through Lin Yuan's Dual Vision, he began seeing Ikalat's location.
Ikalat was fighting three other competitors and was struggling somewhat against them.
Scarlet King immediately withdrew the soul fragment.
His body returned to its normal size.
Then he grabbed Lin Yuan by the back.
"Vaporization."
Mist appeared around the two of them.
They were transported directly to Ikalat's location.
Ikalat had been stabbed in the waist and had retreated several steps backward.
Then—
Lin Yuan and Scarlet King suddenly appeared beside him.
Lin Yuan immediately rushed into the battle with enthusiasm.
Scarlet King, however, abruptly disappeared from where he stood.
The battle began.
Ikalat manifested his chains and restrained the first opponent.
Lin Yuan rushed forward and struck him several times with his fists.
The other two moved at once.
They struck Lin Yuan in the waist, sending him backward.
Ikalat immediately moved.
He appeared behind the two competitors and drew his daggers, cutting across both of their backs.
Lin Yuan appeared in front of them.
He stabbed the first through the chest with a dagger.
Then he grabbed the second and cut him in half with his laser—
an ability he had not used in quite some time.
Pain immediately shot through his eye.
"Ouch! My eye."
Ikalat looked toward the first restrained opponent, who was still struggling to escape.
Suddenly—
an arm burst through the man's chest.
His heart rested in the hand.
The fingers tightened.
The heart was crushed with ease, spraying blood everywhere.
The man's head fell forward as his body slumped.
Scarlet King stood behind him.
Ikalat sat down.
"If you two had arrived a few minutes later, I would've died."
"I'm going to heal myself now."
He entered a meditative posture and began healing.
Scarlet King looked around.
They were inside a forest in the middle of the night, with moonlight reflecting across the snow around them.
The forest consisted of pine trees scattered across an open area, their branches weighed down by large amounts of snow.
Scarlet King quickly drew a teleportation formation on the ground.
Then he sat down and began cultivating.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuan took out some potatoes and started eating them.
[Two Hours Later]
Scarlet King stood.
"Vaporization."
He disappeared instantly.
Lin Yuan looked around.
"Where did he go?"
Ikalat, whose wound had completely healed, replied:
"Don't ask me. It's Scarlet King."
Meanwhile, things were very different on Scarlet King's side.
[The Enormous Black Hole]
Scarlet King stood near it.
He began moving around the surrounding area, drawing inscriptions and formations.
There were hexagonal and pentagonal inscriptions, along with orange and purple formations.
Each served a different purpose.
Some were meant for acceleration.
Some for stabilization.
Some for movement.
Some for randomization.
And others served different functions.
Scarlet King looked toward the black hole.
"Your true purpose begins now."
"Keep them away from me."
He moved his hand.
The inscriptions and formations activated.
Light erupted from them.
Powerful auras spread outward, covering the black hole like smoke.
Then—
the black hole began moving.
Straight toward the Moon Sect.