Chapter 659: Ready

Asmodeus’s relaxed expression had disappeared, replaced by a rare look of shock that almost never appeared on his face. He remained silent for several moments, staring at the hunched servant as if the words had somehow failed to reach his mind.

The servant eventually gathered enough courage to raise his head.

What he saw startled him.

His master was never shown an expression like this. Not in front of him. Not even when terrible news reached the Demon Realm.

The only time the servant had ever heard of Asmodeus displaying such an expression was during the disaster long ago.

As a low-ranking Demon, the servant had never known what really had happened back then. He also never heard the name Clyde before.

But among the higher-ranking Demons, that name would have caused a very different reaction.

’Clyde,’ The name belonged to someone who had caused chaos throughout the Higher Realm. Someone whose existence had become a subject of fear, hatred, and countless rumors among the higher beings.

"Who else knows about this?" Asmodeus finally spoke.

The servant immediately lowered his head. "Only me, my lord. I came directly here after hearing the message. I didn’t meet anyone on the way."

Asmodeus nodded several times to himself. A quiet breath escaped his mouth.

"Good. That’s good, " he said. The relief in his voice was unmistakable. "Make sure nobody learns about this. Not even a single Demon in our territory can become suspicious. Do you understand?"

The servant slowly raised his head.

Asmodeus’s expression had changed again. His face was cold and stern, with a hint of anger beneath his eyes.

The servant immediately straightened himself and nodded.

"I will do exactly as you command, my lord."

Asmodeus nodded.

"Then leave."

"Yes, my lord."

The servant bowed deeply before turning around.

He quickly crossed the enormous room and stepped onto the stone bridge. His small feet carried him across the long path suspended above the bubbling lava.

He glanced back one more time. Asmodeus remained seated on his throne.

The sight made the servant even more curious. Why had his master reacted like that? Who was this Clyde?

The servant’s mind began filling with questions despite his attempts to suppress them. The name clearly carried enormous weight, yet he had never heard it before.

But he quickly forced himself to stop thinking.

It was none of his business.

Whatever this Clyde had done, it had clearly caused his master enough distress to produce an expression the servant had almost never seen.

If a name alone could make someone like Asmodeus react that way, then learning too much about it could only bring trouble.

The servant shuddered. "Better not to know," he muttered.

He continued walking and soon disappeared through the distant entrance.

Once the servant was gone, silence returned to the cavern.

Asmodeus leaned back against his throne.

His eyes fixed on the empty doorway.

Clyde is back. The thought continued repeating in his mind. Could it really be possible?

Asmodeus had witnessed Clyde’s final battle from a distance. He had watched the confrontation with the Higher Beings. He had seen Clyde being destroyed.

He had believed Clyde was dead.

There had been no reason to doubt it. Clyde’s body had been destroyed, and the power surrounding him had vanished.

But now, someone delivered a message claiming that Clyde had returned.

Asmodeus slowly narrowed his eyes.

There was, however, one possibility.

Clyde possessed a strange power that even Asmodeus had never fully understood. A mysterious force had existed within his soul, and a fragment of that same power now existed within Asmodeus himself. It was a great power.

Perhaps that power had saved him.

Perhaps it had allowed Clyde to return from death itself.

Asmodeus had never understood the true nature of that power. It was ancient, mysterious, and immensely powerful. Even after everything he had witnessed he still could not determine where it had originated.

His fingers slowly tightened around the armrest.

Uneasiness spread through him.

But beneath that uneasiness, another emotion began to rise: Excitement.

If Clyde really had returned, then the balance of power throughout the cosmos could change again.

The thought made Asmodeus almost smile.

But he immediately pushed the emotion aside.

First, he needed to confirm it. He needed to meet Clyde. Or at least, he needed to establish contact without allowing the Higher Beings or any of the other powerful factions to discover it.

Asmodeus remained motionless on his throne for a long time.

The news had driven every other thought from his mind.

Eventually, he reached a decision.

Asmodeus stood.

His long coat shifted as he stepped down from the throne and walked toward a massive door behind it.

He opened the door and entered another chamber hidden deep within his domain.

If Clyde truly had returned, Asmodeus needed to prepare.

There were things he had to retrieve. Things he had to arrange.

—

Several days passed. Clyde was training in the vast grassland dimension when he noticed Mina entering the area. She did not see him and just walked forward with a solemn expression, her twin daggers already in her hands.

Clyde decided to approach her and see how much she had improved.

Mina eventually began her training. Clyde watched from a distance beneath the shade of a tree, his eyes following every movement.

She moved fast. Her movements were more dynamic and agile than before, with each step carrying more purpose.

Her body shifted smoothly when she changed direction, and her twin daggers followed the motion without hesitation. Her agility had improved drastically compared to when he first saw her train.

What surprised Clyde most was how naturally she had adapted.

Inside Sivagadh Fortress, she could not access the System. She had no status screen, no skills to activate, and no System-assisted abilities to rely on. But Mina seemed to have become familiar with her abilities so that she could reproduce their effects through her own body alone.

She was no longer simply using skills because the System told her how. She was beginning to understand how her body moved.

After several minutes of watching, Clyde finally reached his conclusion.

Mina was ready to enter a Ruin.

He stepped out from beneath the tree and approached her.

Mina stopped when she noticed him and turned toward him, still holding her daggers.

Clyde looked at her for a moment before speaking without preamble. "I think you’re ready."

—