Roaring winds and the booming sound of explosions were the most common to hear at this time.

The firestorm raged for an entire day before stopping, and not everyone was lucky enough to find shelter during that time.

Specifically, Long Chen and Xue Fang.

These two, rather than finding safety, ended up finding each other!

They stood back to back with their swords drawn, sword intent blazing around them and slicing through the immaterial flames.

Their bodies were just as injured as Rose’s was when she escaped, but they didn’t have the luxury of rest. They were exhausted already, but they had no choice but to keep fighting.

Otherwise, they’d embarrass the Human Domain!

“Brother, can you hold out?!” Long Chen roared, his voice drowned in the air.

“Of course! Who do you think I am?!” Xue Fang responded, clearly understanding him.

Shing!

His sword slashed through the air, sending waves of ice into the inferno and weakening it slightly.

Long Chen joined him, using his own sword intent to break through the storm so they could once again push forward toward safety.

‘Dammit!’ Long Chen raged inwardly.

Despite all his improvement, he was still stuck in a situation like this?!

Unacceptable!

“Let the Heavens hear your cries, Empyrean Dragon Sword!” He yelled with all his might, slamming his massive sword into the ground.

OOOOOOOOOOOH!

A menacing bellow exited its blade as a titanic dragon shadow manifested itself and opened its mouth, letting loose a fierce devouring force that encompassed the surrounding flames.

Like a swirling torpedo, the flames entered the dragon’s mouth and sat in its belly. Long Chen could feel their heat in his own stomach, making him want to gag.

“Brother, let’s run!” He exclaimed, quickly ignoring the discomfort.

Xue Fang nodded and instantly shot to the west, Long Chen following not far behind.

The dragon shadow bought them a considerable amount of time. Its devouring force spread for several thousand meters, clearing a large path for the duo.

However, just how unlucky were they?

Regardless of their efforts, they could find no shelter at all!

ROOOOAAAAAAAR!

The roaring flames crashed through the surroundings and slammed into each other like colliding tsunamis. The force rapidly spread and found its way to the fleeing duo.

“Underground!” Xue Fang yelled hurriedly.

He stuck his sword into the earth and sent a pulse of mana downward, opening a large crater in the ground.

Long Chen jumped in with him and slashed his sword through the earth as well. The two spread their awareness in search of shelter, but they didn’t have any time!

WHOOSH!

Flames rushed into the crater and enveloped them, burning their flesh and bones.

“ARRRGH!”

“DAMMIT!”

The two roared in pain as they tried to put their mana up to block the attacks, but the corrosion force of the flame only seemed to grow with their insistence on fighting it.

“There is no way out!” Xue Fang said solemnly.

“Then…we can only fight and die honorably! We cannot disappoint the expectations of our peers and seniors!” Long Chen replied.

Xue Fang nodded in agreement.

It was unfortunate to be expelled from the realm here, but nothing could be done about it.

Rather than dying cowardly deaths like those they’d come across as they fought for survival, they would put on a beautiful show for those outside to make sure they were never underestimated!

The duo raised their swords in unison, their fighting spirit blazing with more heat than the surrounding inferno…

…and they confronted the world itself with everything they had.

A beautiful icy display covered one half of the world while dancing dragons of gold graced the other. The Laws they utilized were not only mystical, but filled with a complexity that allowed their mana to exist without being immediately burned away by the flames.

Their display almost usurped the flames’ light entirely, but it had to come to an end eventually. With so many powerful attacks being thrown out every second, their mana dwindled within minutes.

And when their mana finally ran out…

They stared the blaze in its face without fear and accepted the death that approached them.

WHOOOOSH!

BANG!

Long Chen’s eyes widened.

Mysteriously and miraculously, the flames slammed against invisible walls that formed around the duo.

On all sides, regardless of their attempts to burn through the walls, the flames were completely unable to penetrate their surface.

Long Chen cautiously pressed his hand forward and felt the mana of those walls.

A wry smile formed on his face.

“This bastard…is this how you say hello to an old friend?”

***

“Old friend? Don’t you mean little brother?”

Within the central region of the Holy Light Tomb, a small smile formed on Damien’s face.

He lowered his hand and shook his head.

‘That damn guy…I expected more from him.’

His words were those of disappointment, but the smile widening on his face gave him away.

How could he ever be disappointed? His companions were outshining almost every genius who came to the Grand Assembly, including those from great forces with huge status in the universe!

‘I can’t affect such long distances with anything else, but luckily Dimensional Cages directly affect natural space so it’s different. Otherwise, that idiot would’ve been kicked out so early.’

Damien’s awareness was extremely powerful, more than enough to wrap around most of Holy Light Star. When he felt the strangeness filling the air, he spread it to check on the situation, only to find an utterly calamitous atmosphere outside.

Dimensional Cage allowed him to alter portions of space that already existed in reality, thus its effective range was anywhere within his awareness.

For normal attacks that had to be exerted from the body, such distances couldn’t be covered unless Damien wanted to destroy everything in the path between him and his target.

Only Dimensional Cage operated on such strange principles.

‘Rose and Ruyue found shelter, Elena is also still in the other tomb, and I don’t need to worry about Su Ren. Now that those two are safe, it should be fine, right?’

He and Xue’er couldn’t even feel the heat from where they were, so he wasn’t really worried about being affected by the situation. Currently, Xue’er was challenging the main opportunity of the Holy Light Tomb, so what Damien wanted to do was be sure nothing would ruin both his and her concentration at the moment.

He was fortunate enough to save his friends, but seeing their outlines in his perception only made him want to meet up with them all the sooner.

‘Well, we should be able to reunite after this firestorm dies down, since Xue’er should also be done by then. But…’

He paused as a sudden thought entered his head.

‘…wasn’t there five of them?’

The timing was almost too coincidental.

Suddenly, Damien felt something wrap around his leg.

He looked down alertly, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

“This…you are…!”

What he found was none other than a certain little girl hugging his leg like a daughter overly attached to her father.

And in fact, that explanation wasn’t too different from the actual situation.

Because this little girl, Reva, who came with the Human Domain’s forces…

…was none other than the little girl who acted as Damien’s daughter while he was in Niflheim!

‘What the hell is going on?!’