"Yes, Master. I will use every resource at my disposal to eliminate that bastard who was foolish enough to defy you," the Celestial Emperor said, bowing to the masked figure.
"..."
Without another word, the masked figure suddenly collapsed to the ground like a lifeless corpse, and the mysterious aura emitted from their body vanished like smoke.
Moments later, the figure stood back up without picking up the mask that had fallen off during his fall.
"Huh? What am I doing here?" the man looked around with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Y-Your Majesty! Please forgive this subordinate for intruding in your private chambers! I swear I don’t—"
"Leave." The Celestial Emperor interrupted in a cold voice.
"Yes!"
The man didn’t dare to linger and hastily left the room while still being confused.
Once he was alone again, the Celestial Emperor stared into the empty horizon and mumbled, "Where are you...? The moment you reveal yourself, I will end you once and for all!"
Meanwhile, after leaving the Celestial Palace, Selena decided to return to the Demon Sealing Clan’s Grand Library by herself, sending Heaven’s Madate away.
Shortly later, she was approached by Angela and Helena.
"Are you done speaking with the Celestial Emperor or whatever?" Angela asked.
Selena nodded, "Yes. What are you two doing here?"
"Yuan gave us permission to explore this world, so that’s what we’re going to do. What about you? Are you really going to play the role of the Demonic Realm’s ruler and help unite our worlds?"
"I am. It’s actually a lot of fun, and I get to travel, too."
Angela and Helena exchanged looks with each other, wondering whether to reveal what they had learned to her so soon, as it could disturb her mind.
Eventually, Helena said, "Selena, we have something to tell you. It’s about our comrades—the other Transcendents who were supposedly killed by the Demon God."
In the end, they decided to tell her everything.
"..."
Selena listened with a solemn expression. Although her face remained calm, a flicker of burning anger glinted in her eyes.
"I see... so there are only two of them left..." she mumbled.
"We must avenge our comrades, Selena!" Angela suddenly shouted.
Helena agreed by nodding silently.
Selena rubbed her eyes and sighed out loud. "And how are we going to do that? Have you already forgotten how miserably we lost before? How will it be any different this time? It’s not that I don’t want to avenge our comrades, but there’s really nothing we can do, and I don’t want to pointlessly lose our lives."
"B-But—!" Angela opened her mouth to speak, only to realize that she had no response to Selena’s words.
Selena spoke again, "I know what you’re feeling, but do you really want to throw away your life—your freedom, so soon after just regaining it? We have an eternity to figure out how to avenge our comrades and defeat the Demon God, so let’s take this slowly."
"What about Lucian and the other Transcendent, who are still imprisoned by the Demon God? Although we are free, they are still prisoners who have been forced to fight this entire time." Helena said. "They may be immortal, but they don’t have unlimited time like us."
Angela added, "And who’s to say the Demon God wouldn’t make us fight for him after they die? We got lucky because we weren’t as strong as the others, but once we’re truly the only Transcedents left, the Demon God will definitely come after us."
"I... will try to think of something, but for now, let’s just focus on our current situation."
"In that case, can we join you? Yuan said we could if we wanted to."
Selena nodded, "Of course."
’I wonder what he’s doing now...’ Selena wondered inwardly as Yuan’s face entered her mind.
At the same time, Yuan had just passed through the sealed gates and found himself surrounded by the Starry Sky, standing upon a lone path that stretched toward the distant horizon.
Without hesitation, Yuan began walking down the path.
As he walked, he carefully surveyed his surroundings.
Throughout his many past lives, Yuan had spent an immense amount of time in the Starry Sky—so much so that he remembered the position of nearly every star around the Nine Heavens. He could even immediately tell when a star had died or when a new one had been born.
At first, Yuan could tell that he was somewhere close to the Nine Heavens, as he recognized many of the stars around him. However, as he continued down the path, the positions of the stars gradually began to shift. Some vanished from view, while unfamiliar ones appeared in their place.
Eventually, the Starry Sky before him contained no stars he recognized, meaning he had traveled somewhere far beyond the Nine Heavens.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the Starry Sky became completely unrecognizable, and even the flickering stars seemed fundamentally different.
Eventually, Yuan caught sight of the end of the path, where a lone black door stood ominously in the distance, silently beckoning him forward.
After reaching the end of the path, Yuan stood quietly before the door, examining it with great interest.
At first glance, the door appeared ordinary. However, an engraving covered its surface, depicting a group of human-like figures staring up at a massive being hovering above them—one that looked down upon them like some kind of god.
’Humans... and an Eternal?’ Yuan wondered inwardly.
After pondering for some time, Yuan pushed the door open and stepped into the abyss beyond it.
In the next moment, he felt his consciousness being drained away, as though his soul had left his body.
When he finally came to, Yuan found himself lying in a field of grass, staring up at a clear, bright-blue sky.
He quickly sat up and surveyed his surroundings.
"Where... am I?" Yuan muttered, his face filled with bewilderment as his gaze swept over the towering skyscrapers around him—buildings that reminded him of Earth.
"Haha! You can’t catch me!"