Within the Supreme Abyssal, Calderon effortlessly pulverized a demon creature’s head with a single punch.
Since entering this hellish realm, his power had surged, reaching a staggering level 999. He thrived in battle, growing stronger with each encounter, and the Supreme Abyssal, teeming with endless demon fodder, was his personal playground.
Glancing back, Calderon saw Shadow Nine still struggling. A smug grin spread across his face. “What’s taking you so long, gramps? Did you forget where you put your dentures?”
“Shut your trap!” Shadow Nine snarled, his blade flashing as he repelled several demon creatures. Calderon stepped forward, his fists a blur as he crushed their skulls.
*Bang* *Bang*
With a few well-placed punches, the demon creatures were dispatched. Both Calderon and Shadow Nine retreated, melting back into the shadows.
As they fled, Calderon couldn’t resist another jab. “Weak little Shadow Nine, only two days in, and the Blood Shadow is already taking over.”
“Mind your own damn business!” Normally, Shadow Nine would respond to Calderon’s trash talk with a swift punch to the face. But his body was acting up, and he had to hold back. Patience was a virtue, or so they said.
“Hold up!” Calderon stopped, pulling out his map again, studying it intently. “There are way too many demon creatures on this path!”
The route was correct, the shortest path to their destination. But they kept encountering unusually powerful demon creatures, and Shadow Nine’s Blood Shadow was getting worse… Their situation could be summed up in two words: seriously unlucky.
This level of bad luck was unnatural, even triggering some unpleasant memories for Calderon.
“Shadow Nine,” he asked, “doesn’t this path look familiar?”
Shadow Nine paused, his mind flashing back. “Now that you mention it… Isn’t this the same way we escaped last time?”
How did Calderon know that?
“Oh, crap.” Calderon smacked his forehead, groaning. “We can’t go this way!”
Shadow Nine’s eyes widened in realization. “You don’t mean…”
Back then, Shadow Nine hadn’t escaped the Supreme Abyssal alone.
Few people knew about the ‘lucky charm’ who had accompanied him.
That individual had a rather strange name: Afterskin.
Realization dawned on them both simultaneously. “We need a new route!”
===
“Afterskin went to the Supreme Abyssal?” Mike couldn’t help but feel a twinge of… schadenfreude.
Excellent!
With Afterskin’s bad luck, Shadow Nine and Calderon were in for a rough time.
This also meant that Afterskin wouldn’t be showing up at the Tower of Truth or anywhere near Mike anytime soon.
One less thing to worry about.
“Foreskin, I have a question for you.” Mike pulled Foreskin aside, lowering his voice. “I just got back from the ninety-ninth floor of the Tower of Truth…”
“What?!” Foreskin nearly jumped out of his skin.
Back from the ninety-ninth floor? What in the world…?
Had he already become a Supreme Being?!
“Relax, your boss just invited me in for a little chat, then sent me on my way.” Mike waved a dismissive hand. “The important thing is the robe he was wearing…”
Mike described the new butterfly pattern on Apollo’s robe.
Foreskin’s expression turned serious. “I’ve been with my boss for nearly a century, and I’ve never seen a butterfly on his robe. Only clouds.”
“So, what do we do?” When it came to Apollo, Mike only had a few people he could confide in. Foreskin was Apollo’s designated agent. Apart from Ares, he was Mike’s only option.
“I’ll ask Ares, and then I’ll have Afterskin ask Shadow Nine…” Foreskin paced back and forth, then made up his mind. “Mike, if all else fails, you could ask Master Fool in your private space.”
“Master Fool?” Mike was confused.
Asking a demon about Apollo’s affairs didn’t seem appropriate.
Foreskin knew this was a long shot. “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Ares first, then we’ll figure out our next move.”
“Alright, keep me posted.”
They parted ways, Mike returning to his dorm to await further instructions.
“Fourth Bro, I have a few things to report.” Shadow Four appeared, holding a ledger. “After the tournament, including prize money and expenses, the Guardian Shadow has a surplus of 9.6 million Lord merits. This month’s salary expenses are approximately 1.6 million, and income is 1.2 million…”
The increase in expenses was due to Shadow One, Shadow Two, and Shadow Three returning to the Guardian Shadow payroll.
As for income, it came from the tournament’s global broadcast revenue and Maxen’s… generous contributions.
Even so, they were still 400,000 Lord merits in the red!
Shadow Four glanced at Thor, gauging his reaction. Seeing that he was handling the news well, he continued, “Terenas, accompanied by an Ultimate Lord, has gone to the Shadow Fortress. He’s ready to purify the Blood Shadows.”
Accompanied, or rather, supervised.
Terenas had a lot of baggage. Richard Sterling was just one of his victims.
And as the former Fourth Demon Cult Leader, Terenas had a lot of blood on his hands.
Trusting him unconditionally would be foolish.
“Don’t let an Ultimate Lord supervise him.” Mike thought for a moment, then corrected
himself. “Send Shadow One. This is too important to mess up.”
Purifying the Blood Shadows was the Guardian Shadow’s top priority.
Guardian Shadow members trapped in their Blood Shadow forms were in constant agony,
even in their sleep.
The sooner they were purified, the sooner their suffering would end.
With Shadow One keeping an eye on things, Terenas wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble. And if anything unexpected happened, Shadow One could handle it.
“Fourth Bro, there’s another issue.” Shadow Four hesitated. “The awakened Blood Shadows… their back pay needs to be settled. And then there’s the matter of their… placement…”
The back pay was a simple matter of money.
Money could solve most problems.
Placement, however, was a headache.
Richard Sterling, for example, had broken through to Lord tier while in his Blood Shadow form, but after being purified, he had been suppressed back to Chief tier due to the Shadow
Sigil’s influence.
Similarly, Blaze’s three brothers, purified from their Blood Shadow forms, had lost their Lord
tier strength, reverting back to Chief tier.
This was a huge waste of valuable manpower!
Humanity didn’t have an abundance of Lord-level fighters. They were needed on the front
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And the Guardian Shadow had a limit of 100 Lords and a limited number of Chief positions.
If they didn’t address this limitation, the Guardian Shadow would tear itself apart from internal competition.
“Pay them their back pay. I’ll figure out how to cover the shortfall.” With over 9 million Lord merits in the account, Mike felt confident.
He frowned. “As for their placement… give me some time to think about it.”
Shadow Four nodded. “Understood.”
With everything reported, most matters would be handled according to established protocol.
The rest was up to Mike.
Before leaving, Shadow Four added, “Due to the changing situation on the front lines, the Forest of Truth’s defenses need to be reorganized. The Joint Corps has requested at least ten Lord-level Guardian Shadow members to be stationed there. Fourth Bro, what are your thoughts? Also… the summer camp has been canceled.”
This wasn’t surprising.
The summer camp had been organized ostensibly to train talented humans, nurturing the
seeds of future Supreme Beings.
But its true purpose was to keep Thor under Apollo’s watchful eye, ensuring his safety.
With Thor’s growing strength, this protection was no longer necessary.
Mike knew that the Supreme Demon God had his sights set on him, if it weren’t for Apollo holding him back, the Supreme Demon God would have attacked long ago.
The further Mike was from the Tower of Truth, the less pressure Apollo would face.
After dismissing Shadow Four, Mike took a short nap.
Technically, sleep wasn’t necessary after entering the Tower of Truth.
A Tier 1 Soldier could fight for a week without rest.
For Mike, at level 499, sleep was more of a relaxation technique.
He woke up, refreshed, and went through his usual morning routine.
Before entering his private space, he instinctively looked down, about to greet Shadow Three.
Then he remembered. Shadow Three was gone.
He chuckled, shaking his head. A flash of lightning, and he vanished.
…
Inside his private space, a split second before Mike appeared, a green light flickered on
Vladimir’s hat.
He had saved up his allowance, commissioning Master Fool to create this special piece of
equipment.
The hat had only one function: to alert him before Thor entered his private space.
Vladimir let out a piercing shriek, alerting the others.
*Our master will arrive in 0.5 seconds! Stop slacking and get to work!*