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Chapter 326: A Brief Presence from the Underworld 2
The presence of the middle divine-grade sword, combined with Aldrian concentrating his domain’s power into his body, made him appear like a god descending to the mortal realm. His aura was overwhelming, demanding reverence from all who beheld him. Golden energy radiated from Aldrian, his body glowing with a brilliant golden hue.
Sensing Aldrian’s intimidating presence, the Cerberus trembled. Though it was a creature of the death realm, it could feel the immense pressure and danger emanating from him. Its instincts urged it to prostrate itself in worship before Aldrian.
The devil atop the Cerberus fared far worse, feeling as though his body was being crushed under the weight of a mountain. He dropped to his knees, his energy circulation thrown into complete disarray. A powerful urge to prostrate himself before Aldrian overwhelmed him, barely allowing him to resist.
With Aldrian now at the Marquess stage, the synergy between his power and his domain had grown immensely. Even his mere presence became increasingly suffocating, an oppressive force that demanded submission.
"Wait, The Cerberus is a creature of the death realm...What if I use this..."
Aldrian then released the death energy that surrounded his body. The true essence of a deathly aura spread throughout the area, and the first to feel its overwhelming effect was the Cerberus itself. With the fusion of death energy and golden energy, the Cerberus felt as though it stood before the ruler of the underworld.
From Aldrian’s gaze, he could see the karmic connection binding the Cerberus to the devil begin to waver. There were even signs that the Cerberus was attempting to resist the slave bond, causing a satisfied smile to spread across Aldrian’s face.
"It seems my death energy is still stronger in the end," Aldrian thought, his gaze fixed on the trembling Cerberus. "For a creature as sensitive to death as this one, it’s impossible to resist. It’s even rebelling against the slave connection. Even though this Cerberus is just a clone, its essence remains the same as the real one—bound to revere a higher being of ’death.’"
Aldrian did not rush to strike the Cerberus with his sword technique, instead observing the scene unfold with calm expression.
Meanwhile, the devil, feeling Aldrian’s death energy for the first time, was overcome with terror. It was as if his soul was being dragged into a boundless abyss of darkness, stirring a fear he hadn’t felt in ages. The sudden rebellion of the Cerberus further shook his soul, leaving him teetering on the edge of madness. Yet, gritting his teeth, he forced himself to resist the overwhelming pressure. His face twisted with fury as he let out an enraged roar, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"You dare to rebel against me?! Against the devils?! The Devil Lord has already bestowed you upon me—you will obey my orders!" the devil roared, his voice filled with fury. Without hesitation, he activated the slave seal connection, inflicting excruciating pain upon the Cerberus.
Roar!
The Cerberus let out an agonized roar as the pain struck directly at its monster core. The slave connection binding it to the devil began stabilizing, forcing its rebellious instincts to subside. Watching this, Aldrian could only sigh. The slave seal’s power was truly formidable, binding the Cerberus so tightly that it even suppressed its true essence.
"If it’s come to this, then I have no choice but to kill this beast. The connection runs so deep that even killing the devil would result in the Cerberus’s death." Aldrian thought.
The Cerberus’s fierce eyes grew even fiercer as it let out a thunderous roar. In the next moment, Aldrian felt as though he had been transported to the heart of purgatory. His soul and body were enveloped by a horrifying realm filled with agony and overwhelming negative energy.
This place seemed utterly devoid of life—an environment so hostile that even the tiniest microorganism would find it impossible to survive. The scorching heat, the oppressive density of negative energy, and the complete absence of heaven and earth’s natural energy made this realm a true manifestation of hell.
Aldrian felt his soul under siege, assaulted by the nightmarish illusion. For the first time, he experienced the terrifying depths of the Cerberus’s abilities. The relentless torment attacked his very essence, even spilling over to affect his physical body. It was the kind of suffering that left its victim defenseless, unable to protect themselves, and at risk of being trapped in this tormenting illusion for eternity.
Cultivators could try to overpower the Cerberus, but how many beings could confidently claim they could face one of the guardians of the underworld? Only divine beings would dare to make such an arrogant statement. Although Aldrian felt shaken and uneasy—experiencing discomfort under an illusion for the first time—he remained composed.
Within the confines of this illusory space, he carried no sword. Yet, he concentrated as if the Eternal Spirit was still in his grasp. Closing his eyes, he envisioned the blade and its hilt, his fingers mimicking the gesture of unsheathing it. He had already begun channeling the power of the Forgeheart Kingdom’s domain into the technique he was about to unleash.
Meanwhile, in the real world, back in Larson City, every sword in the city trembled and rose into the air, pointing toward the Cerberus. It was as if the swords themselves were welcoming the arrival of the sword god.
The moment Aldrian opened his eyes, he unleashed a powerful diagonal slash motion. In the real world, his hand had already grasped the Eternal Spirit. The illusion shattered, splitting apart as the real world came into view. However, the Cerberus’s claws were already beside him, aiming to strike with its full might.
Before the claws could land, Aldrian’s slash had already torn through the creature, splitting the entire Cerberus in two. The energy from the attack obliterated everything in its path, tearing through the air and soaring toward the sky.
The Slash of Vanguard was already a powerful technique, but when combined with his domain power, it became devastating. Though it lacked the strength and complexity of the Slash of the End, it was more than enough to handle a threat of this magnitude. Over time, as Aldrian’s comprehension of sword techniques deepened, he found himself able to kill opponents far stronger than himself using simpler, more refined methods.
For Aldrian, the Slash of the End will be his trump card—a technique he would not use lightly. Its effects were far-reaching, and he had learned not to unleash it recklessly, as he had in the past.
The energy from his current slash cleaved through the Cerberus’s body and arms, severing the limbs that had been poised to strike him. A powerful gust of wind followed in its wake, rushing past the massive creature and sweeping across the surrounding area for nearly a kilometer. Along the slash’s path, cracks appeared in space, revealing a dark void. However, unlike before, no spatial storm erupted, only the silent, ominous emptiness of the void itself.
The slash continued its trajectory, soaring into the sky before finally dissipating into nothingness as its energy was completely spent.
Boom!
The massive body of the Cerberus crashed to the ground, sliding for several hundred meters before coming to a halt. Its blood, tainted with death laws, seeped into the earth, its corrosive properties corrupting the land it touched.
But how could Aldrian allow his domain—his own territory—to be defiled by such corruption?
Channeling his golden energy, he spread it across every spot where the blood had splattered. The purifying nature of his energy neutralized the contamination, returning the blood to an ordinary state.
Aldrian surveyed his surroundings, his gaze lingering on the widespread destruction. Ensuring he had missed nothing, he nodded to himself before turning toward the massive body of the Cerberus near a collapsed building.
He walked toward the three heads of the Cerberus, which remained still, their lifeless eyes a testament to the creature’s death. Aldrian had struck straight through its beast core, instantly destroying it.
At a distance of about a hundred meters from the Cerberus’s head, he noticed the twitching body of the devil. Approaching it, he inspected the fallen figure.
"His soul is gravely wounded from the Cerberus’s death... His condition is akin to a vegetative state," Aldrian thought.
Aldrian grabbed the devil’s head, performing the ritual he had come to repeat so many times—reading the memories. After a few minutes, he dropped the head, having crushed the devil’s soul in the process.
The information he gained was great. From the devil’s memories, he now understood the inner workings of the empire’s secret network. This particular devil had served as one of the messengers, delivering information through a hidden channel connecting all of the devil’s associates across the Vindas Empire.
However, the memories still did not reveal how the devil lord knew how to summon the Cerberus’s clone. After this event, Aldrian began to suspect that the rare and powerful beasts he had faced in the past were tied to the devil lord. If all of these beasts were unleashed simultaneously when the prophecy began, he could only imagine the chaos and despair they would bring.
If that was the case, then Aldrian had much to be wary of when it came to the leader of the devils. The knowledge of the methods used to summon such powerful beasts—creatures capable of wreaking havoc across the continent—and his understanding of beasts that should not even exist in the living realm suggested that the devil lord had many unknown tricks up his sleeve. An opponent with both immense strength and cunning was the most terrifying kind.
However, despite this, Aldrian remained calm, waiting for the day he would eventually face the devil lord.
After confirming there was nothing else of immediate concern, Aldrian vanished from the scene. The appearance of the Cerberus would undoubtedly cause an uproar across the empire—and eventually across the continent.
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The people who had fled from the battle zone halted their panic, having just sensed the overwhelming power of the sword technique. All the swords in Larson City flew into the sky, pointing toward the giant beast, before they felt the terrifying sword technique that split the creature in two, the slash even reaching toward the heavens.
Those who witnessed the technique and the phenomenon it caused couldn’t help but recall one figure—a figure who was still the subject of much speculation.
The mysterious swordsman.
