Chapter 39: The World Beyond the Dungeon

Adam’s sword came crashing down.

Daemon’s eyes widened.

There was no time to dodge normally.

The massive blade was already above his head, descending with enough force to split the ground beneath him.

I’m going to die.

Then Daemon remembered something.

A skill he had never used before.

A skill he had almost forgotten existed.

Hollow Veil.

"Activate!"

The instant the sword was about to reach him—

Daemon disappeared.

BOOOOM!

Adam’s sword slammed into the ground.

The earth exploded beneath the impact.

Adam’s eyes narrowed.

"What?"

A faint distortion appeared several meters away.

Daemon reappeared.

He immediately activated Thunderstep.

Lightning erupted beneath his feet.

He vanished into the forest.

But after only a few seconds—

Everything went black.

Daemon couldn’t see anything.

He couldn’t even tell whether his eyes were open.

All he could hear were sounds.

Screams.

Cries.

The clash of swords.

Explosions.

The roar of something enormous.

Daemon tried to move.

Nothing happened.

What’s going on?

His body wouldn’t respond.

Then his vision slowly returned.

But it wasn’t the forest anymore.

His sight was blurred.

Everything around him was painted in strange shades of red and black.

The sky was crimson.

Smoke covered the horizon.

Hundreds—perhaps thousands—of people were fighting across a massive battlefield.

Swords clashed.

Strange weapons released energy.

Buildings burned in the distance.

Daemon tried to identify the people.

He couldn’t.

Their faces remained blurred.

Where am I?

Then—

Two voices came from beside him.

Female voices.

Crying.

"Husband..."

Daemon froze.

"Please stop."

Another voice trembled.

"You already got what you wanted."

"You reached the peak of

Sovereignty

that no one else could ever attain."

"Please..."

"Stop this."

Daemon desperately tried to speak.

Who are you?

Why are you calling me husband?

But his body wouldn’t obey.

He could only watch.

Two women stood before him.

One had long hair flowing violently in the wind.

The other had pink-colored hair.

Something glittered on her finger.

A ring.

Their clothes resembled royal gowns from an ancient era.

Their faces were still impossible for Daemon to see clearly.

But something inside his chest tightened.

I know them.

He didn’t know how.

But he knew them.

Then a voice came from his own mouth.

A voice that wasn’t his.

"Look at me."

The two women raised their heads.

The voice continued.

"Do you still think I’m your husband?"

Both women began crying harder.

Daemon felt something terrible.

Stop!

Don’t say that!

But he couldn’t control his body.

His arm slowly lifted.

Daemon stared at his own hand.

It wasn’t human.

The bones were black.

The fingers resembled those of a skeleton.

Dark flames covered his entire body.

The ground beneath his feet was slowly corroding.

Black fire spread across the battlefield.

Daemon’s breathing stopped.

That’s not me.

That can’t be me.

Yet the body standing before those women was his.

Or something that had once been him.

Suddenly—

Pain exploded through Daemon’s real body.

"AAAHHHHH!"

His vision shattered.

His entire body felt like it was burning from the inside.

Daemon collapsed onto the ground.

He screamed.

Every muscle tightened.

His veins felt like they were filled with molten metal.

He clawed at the ground.

"STOP!"

The pain lasted only a few seconds.

Then—

Nothing.

Daemon lay motionless.

His body was covered in sweat.

Blood trickled from several places across his skin.

His breathing was ragged.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The battlefield was gone.

The forest had returned.

Daemon stared at the trees.

"What..."

He struggled to stand.

His legs nearly gave out.

Then he heard something.

The forest was moving.

Not because of wind.

Animals and monsters were fleeing in every direction.

Birds exploded from the trees.

Beasts ran past Daemon without even noticing him.

The ground began shaking.

BOOM.

Daemon turned.

Another tremor.

BOOM!

Trees collapsed in the distance.

Then he heard a familiar voice.

"You can’t escape from me!"

Adam.

Daemon’s expression hardened.

Adam wasn’t running.

He was coming toward him like a force of nature.

White energy surrounded his body.

His royal clothing was torn from the previous battle.

His remaining hand held the massive golden-patterned sword.

As Adam advanced, trees were smashed aside by the pressure surrounding him.

Daemon immediately summoned Void Reaper.

Adam raised his sword.

The two weapons collided.

CLAAAAANG!

Sparks exploded between them.

Daemon’s arms shook violently.

His knees bent.

One leg nearly collapsed.

Adam pushed harder.

BOOOOM!

The ground beneath Daemon’s feet cracked.

Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb.

Daemon gritted his teeth.

System.

No response.

System! I need my bloodline power!

The System finally appeared.

[Warning]

Nameless Bloodline: 18%

Bloodline power remains unstable.

Direct activation is strongly discouraged.

Warning: Uncontrolled bloodline release may cause severe bodily damage.

Daemon’s eyes burned with anger.

"Damn it!"

He pushed against Adam’s sword.

"System..."

His voice became a growl.

"Use my bloodline power."

[Warning—]

"Use it!"

Daemon roared inside his mind.

"If I don’t, this bastard will kill me!"

There was a moment of silence.

Then—

[Access Granted.]

The world changed.

Black energy exploded from Daemon’s body.

BOOOOOOM!

Adam’s eyes widened.

The pressure coming from Daemon suddenly multiplied.

Daemon’s bent knee slowly straightened.

His trembling leg became firm.

His arms pushed upward.

Black energy surrounded him while Adam’s white energy collided against it.

The two forces fought violently between them.

White against black.

The ground beneath them shattered.

Trees hundreds of meters away were ripped from the earth.

Then more.

And more.

The shockwaves spread through the forest for kilometers.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOOOM!

Daemon and Adam stood face-to-face, their swords locked between them.

Neither moved.

Adam’s eyes widened.

"How?"

Daemon didn’t answer.

His eyes burned with determination.

Adam pushed harder.

Daemon pushed back.

The entire mountain seemed to tremble.

Then Daemon suddenly shifted his weight.

He kicked Adam’s right leg.

Adam’s balance broke for half a second.

That was enough.

Daemon pulled Void Reaper away and drove his fist forward.

"Inferno Blast!"

BOOOOOM!

His flaming fist connected directly with Adam’s jaw.

Adam was launched backward.

He smashed through several trees before finally crashing into the ground.

Daemon stood there breathing heavily.

The black energy around his body slowly faded.

He looked at Adam.

"Why are you trying to kill us?"

Adam slowly stood.

Daemon continued.

"We didn’t do anything to you."

His eyes became cold.

"You were the one who harassed my companions."

Adam wiped the blood from his mouth.

Daemon pointed Void Reaper toward him.

"We’re the ones who should be furious."

Adam’s sword disappeared.

A strange smile appeared on his face.

"I don’t care about your face."

Daemon narrowed his eyes.

"But you insulted my mother."

Adam stepped forward.

"As the Prince of the Asteria Continent..."

His expression became cold.

"I cannot allow someone who looks exactly like me to continue living after insulting my mother."

Daemon froze.

Prince?

Asteria Continent?

His mind raced.

What is he talking about?

Then Daemon immediately turned toward the System.

"System."

The answer came instantly.

[System Explanation]

Current Location: Elarion Forest Border

Planet: Virendal

Universe: Virendal Universe

Classification: Independent Universe

Planetary Size: Approximately 100× Earth’s size

Current Location Status: Not a dungeon.

Solitary Trial Dungeon Status: The dungeon is located on the planet Virendal.

Language Modification: Active

Host and registered companions can understand and communicate in local languages without difficulty.

Daemon’s eyes widened.

He stared at the notification.

"Planet...?"

His breathing stopped.

Virendal.

The name he had heard before.

But now it wasn’t a mysterious enemy.

It was a place.

An entire universe.

An entire planet.

And he had been inside it this entire time.

He had thought the Solitary Trial was simply an isolated dungeon.

He had been wrong.

The dungeon wasn’t a separate world.

It was located on this planet.

This planet is one hundred times bigger than Earth?

Daemon felt a chill run down his spine.

He looked around.

The enormous forest suddenly felt completely different.

There could be cities.

Kingdoms.

Countries.

Armies.

Entire civilizations spread across this world.

And he had just attacked one of their princes.

Fantastic.

Daemon almost laughed.

I really know how to make things complicated.

But there was no time to joke.

His companions were still somewhere in the forest.

And they were being chased.

"System."

[Host Query?]

"Can you locate Roxanna and Sana?"

A notification appeared.

[Bonded Location Detection]

Roxanna Sterling — Located

Sana Whitlock — Located

Distance: Rapidly increasing

Movement: Extremely fast

Daemon’s eyes narrowed.

They’re moving fast.

Sana.

Shadow Umbral?

That was probably how they were covering so much ground.

Daemon clenched his fist.

He needed to find them.

Get them away from these people.

Then find a way back to Earth.

He had no intention of exploring an entire unknown planet while being hunted by a prince.

But Adam suddenly spoke.

"You’re thinking about escaping again."

Daemon looked at him.

Adam slowly walked forward.

Then he unsummoned his sword.

His expression became almost amused.

"Today, I won’t kill you with my sword."

He grabbed the edge of his royal shirt.

RIP!

The upper portion fell away.

Daemon’s eyes narrowed.

Adam’s body was far more muscular than his royal clothing had suggested.

His physique looked like someone who had trained for battle his entire life.

Blood still flowed from his severed arm.

Yet Adam didn’t seem bothered.

He raised his remaining hand.

"I’ll kill you with this."

Daemon stared at him.

Adam smiled.

"Come."

Daemon tightened his grip around Void Reaper.

He couldn’t move freely while Adam remained here.

If he left now, Adam might chase him.

If he ran toward Sana and Roxanna, Adam could follow.

No.

First, he needed to deal with this man.

Daemon lowered his stance.

The Nameless Bloodline still burned faintly beneath his skin.

His body was exhausted.

His muscles screamed.

His earlier vision still haunted him.

Two women.

A battlefield.

A monstrous version of himself.

And that voice—

Do you still think I’m your husband?

Daemon’s eyes hardened.

He didn’t understand any of it.

Not yet.

But there was something about that vision.

Something buried inside his bloodline.

Something waiting to be remembered.

Adam suddenly disappeared.

Daemon’s pupils contracted.

BOOM!

A fist came toward his face.

Daemon raised Void Reaper.

CLANG!

The impact sent sparks flying.

Daemon slid backward.

Adam was already attacking again.

BOOM!

Daemon ducked.

A punch destroyed the tree behind him.

Daemon swung his sword.

Adam dodged.

Daemon activated Thunderstep.

Lightning exploded.

He vanished.

Adam turned.

Daemon appeared behind him.

SLASH!

Adam twisted.

The blade cut across his side instead of his heart.

Blood sprayed.

Adam smiled.

"Interesting."

Daemon’s expression became serious.

"I’m just getting started."

The two men charged at each other again.

Black lightning and golden energy collided beneath the ancient trees.

And somewhere deep within the forest—

Sana and Roxanna were still running.

They had no idea that the man chasing Daemon wasn’t simply a powerful enemy.

He was the first living proof that Daemon had truly stepped into a world that had existed long before he ever knew it existed.

Virendal.