Demon Abyss King Castle, Demon Abyss.
The usually bustling castle was silent. Hundreds of elite Abyssals stood guard and advanced defense treasures were deployed, raising the security to an unprecedented high.
This level of deployment was only seen during the First Human-Abyss War.
At the same time, every citizen within fifty miles of the castle was evacuated.
The ones living around the area were influential figures that contributed greatly to the Demon Abyss.
Some were the veterans, who were spending their current time training new soldiers in the Demon Abyss Institutes.
Others were important civil officers who coordinate the Demon Abyss and allow it
to run seamlessly.
After all, Demon Abyss's land area was as big as Earth.
But despite the sudden evacuation, there were no complaints, no protests, only a uniform execution.
All because of two words.
Emperor's Decree.
The Abyssals, men and women, young and old, all revered his Majesty.
He was their Saviour. The beacon of hope.
He never disappointed them. Ever.
Now with their King acting on the behalf of their majesty, they must cooperate as much as they could.
In the Demon Abyss King's Castle, the atmosphere was heavy.
Except for the four Archdukes, no one was allowed in. Not even the princes. The guards were all maintaining a sizable distance from the castle.
In the central room, Demon King floated inside a capsule filled with red liquid.
He stood 8 feet tall.
Each of his muscles was honed to perfection. A single punch could smash a meteor to pieces.
His shiny grey skin was tough enough to endure even Level 7 attacks head on.
But the Demon King, the Sovereign in Body Path, was shivering slightly. Even though he tried to hide it, the Old Archduke didn't miss.
"We'll supervise it carefully, your Majesty." The Old Archduke softly said.
Demon King nodded imperceptibly. He wasn't really afraid of dying… he was afraid of failing. He didn't want to fail. Not after that sin.
The Old Archduke waved his hand and tens of thousands of aura crystals appeared under the capsule.
The capsule shook and a red light covered the aura crystals.
The red liquid in the capsule shone for a moment and—
"Argh!" Demon King yelled.
The bravest Abyss King, the one never afraid of pain, cried out in pain.
And his shrieks only increased.
"Argh!"
"Argh!"
The red liquid seeped in and quickly reached every part of his body. Then it dived in and assaulted every cell.
"Argh!" Demon King cried out, and the capsule shook.
"Please control yourself. We can't let it be damaged." The Old Archduke spoke anxiously.
Demon King gritted his teeth and stopped shaking.
His skin, which could even withstand missiles, broke little by little and his potent green blood flowed out.
It was a rare sight to see a Sovereign bleed. Rarer was to see him spasm in a capsule and endure it.
The green blood flowed into the red liquid and a few minutes passed with the yellings of Demon King.
The Demon King's strong body turned frail. His broad shoulders were slumped and his muscles were much less prominent. It was as like seeing a world class body turning to an average fit body.
The Demon King fainted.
The Old Archduke hurriedly ordered the capsule to stop.
It opened, and the other three Archdukes caught their King. After confirming he was fine, they sighed in relief.
Right after, they turned to the capsule anticipation.
It didn't disappoint.
The red liquid blended with the green and wriggled. The aura crystals under the capsule were quickly turned to dust.
Under the watchful eyes of the four Archdukes, they saw a body forming in the capsule.
It was eight meters tall. Had broad shoulders and strong muscles.
It looked exactly the same as the Demon King. It was the clone.
"Yes!" The Four Archdukes, the Level 9s, cheered like little girls.
The Old Archduke snapped his fingers, and the Demon King's clone disappeared into his space ring.
Then he turned to his younger colleagues "Take care of our King. It will be a few weeks before he could completely recover."
Before he walked out of the room, he glanced at the Demon King's pale face one last time and sighed.
'It's not just your fault, but you are the one paying the price.' He clenched his fist and exited the castle.
After coming to a particular location, he tapped his feet twice.
A staircase opened, and he walked down. The huge underground facility was similar to the one Varian encountered during his entrance test.
That was under a hill and was about the size of foot-ball field. This one was the size of a town!
The Old Archduke nodded at the guards and soon reached the bottom floor.
It was filled with aura crystals. There were too many of them to count. To an awakener, it would be similar to seeing a city constructed out of gold.
However, the Archduke wasn't bothered by the aura crystals. Instead, he glanced at the Altar in the center of the aura crystals.
The broken altar. The holy altar that they were supposed to protect.
'Enigma!' He recalled the moment she destroyed the Holy Altar.
The day he chased her to the ends and out of Abyss. The day he slaughtered 10,000 humans.
Looking at the broken altar, he felt like he was looking at the black clothed maiden.
He gritted his teeth as they bled "My king always blamed himself since that day. Now he convinced every Abyss Ruler to withdraw and took upon this mission himself. He is sacrificing his lifespan. He will die in 10 years."
"My brother will die in 10 years!" He yelled at the altar.
The broken altar was motionless.
The Archduke sighed and took out an archaic spaceship. The white beauty had too many cracks and looked like it would break down any second.
However, it was their only way in to Inner Space.
The Old Archduke retrieved the Demon King's clone and arranged it carefully in the Spaceship.
Then with reverence, he arranged a special space ring on the clone's finger.
'I wish we still had the technology to visit Inner Space. But alas, we can only send dead bodies.' He lamented and arranged the destination of the spaceship.
He ordered the spaceship 'Programme the clone to fetch the remains of Ancestor Last light.'
Then he set the destination: A Lost Dungeon.