The Blazing Flame Celestial Kingdom was hosting a grand ceremony. Thousands of chosen seraphim surrounded a large pool of platinum flames, and after a series of complex rituals, these seraphim threw themselves into the fiery sea. Immediately, the entire sanctuary began to tremble. After the sacrificial offerings of thousands, the sacred flames in the giant pool gradually shrank, eventually gathering together and forming into a burning holy sword.
Witnessing this, Takuto Sanya was filled with excitement. He murmured to himself, "This is the legendary Eternal Flame that never extinguishes!"
The sword wasn't just ordinary sacred fire; it was the Blazing Flame Kingdom's national treasure, an artifact powerful enough to safeguard the entire nation: the Eternal Flame!
The Eternal Flame had been sealed within the sacred pool beneath the Supreme Sanctuary for at least ten thousand years, never having been released. Each use required an extremely complex ritual and came at a great cost. Its significance to the Blazing Flame Kingdom was akin to that of the Hall of Heroes in the Thunder Empire. As a symbol of the kingdom's foundation, an item of this magnitude could not be used lightly. However, in response to the crisis posed by the Demon King, the Grand Guardian Emilia herself had requested the use of this powerful artifact!
The moment Emilia made contact with the Eternal Flame, it transformed into countless streams of fire, entering her body through every pore.
Emilia's strength was already at the level of a demigod. Now, after merging with this divine artifact, her power had risen to that of a pseudo-god.
"We can set out now!" she declared.
Emilia approached Takuto Sanya. Normally, she couldn't leave the sanctuary; all the eternal guardians of the temple possessed boundless life, but the price of this eternal life was that they had to remain within the sanctuary. The farther they strayed from the sanctuary, the more their power would be diminished, eventually leading to possible decay and death.
This was why Emilia, despite being the no.4 Hero, rarely left the sanctuary.
But now, that concern no longer applied. The core of the sanctuary's power was the Eternal Flame, and Emilia had directly fused it into her body. She had not only gained near-divine strength but was also no longer bound by the sanctuary's radius. However, she couldn't stay away from the sanctuary for too long. Without the support of the Eternal Flame, the sanctuary would eventually collapse.
Takuto Sanya asked, "Where are we going now?"
Emilia tossed him a teleportation stone and said, "We're going to the end of the abyss." With that, she activated the teleportation stone.
After leaving the Blazing Flame Celestial Kingdom, they instantly appeared in an extremely eerie and dark space. This place was bizarre, as if time and space had come to a halt, with projections visible in every direction.
It felt like being inside a super matrix made of countless mirrors. However, this was more complex than a matrix of mirrors; these were the unique dimensional mirrors at the end of time and space. Passing through these mirrors could potentially lead to an exit from this world. Of course, there was a greater likelihood of falling into the void and ceasing to exist entirely.
The entire space was filled with a foreboding atmosphere. Takuto Sanya didn't dare to move in such an environment, knowing that even the slightest wrong move could result in being swept into endless nothingness.
Emilia extended her hand, and the Eternal Flame burst forth from her palms, instantly forming a protective shield that enveloped them both.
"Follow me!" Emilia commanded as the two began to move. With the protection of the Eternal Flame, they passed through countless dimensional mirrors until one of the mirrors shattered, revealing an isolated and chaotic space before them.
"What is this...?" Takuto Sanya immediately felt a terrifying force invading him as soon as they entered.
[You have been corrupted by Evil God's aura. HP -5 permanently!]
[You have been corrupted by Evil God's aura. HP -5 permanently!]
[You have been corrupted by Evil God's aura. HP -5 permanently!]
[......]
Takuto Sanya's face turned pale. He had encountered Evil God seals before, but typically, the corruption would cause a loss of HP or a temporary decline in stats---never had he seen corruption that resulted in a permanent loss of life.
Emilia unleashed a burst of Eternal Flame, and under its radiant glow, the Evil God's aura was neutralized. Only divine power could counteract divine power. The Eternal Flame was a divine weapon, and a fully manifested Evil God was also a divine-level entity, meaning they could cancel each other out.
Under the light of the Eternal Flame, Takuto Sanya, relying on his exceptional vision and perception, was barely able to make out their surroundings.
They stood in an ancient and enormous stone temple. The entire temple was empty, save for a colossal stone statue towering a thousand meters high. The statue was indescribably eerie. Though it was a solid, lifeless object, Takuto Sanya found it impossible to describe its form. It was clearly a stone sculpture, yet it appeared different every time he looked at it.
At times, it had a thousand hands and feet; at other times, a thousand heads and tails. It seemed like a constantly shifting cloud of smoke, or perhaps it existed in a higher dimension, where lower-dimensional beings like Takuto could only perceive one aspect of it at a time, unable to comprehend its full nature.
There was no doubt---the source of the Evil God's aura lay within this enigmatic statue. This must be the physical form of a powerful Evil God.
Takuto Sanya was stunned. "This is..."
Emilia explained, "This Evil God is known as the 'Formless Black Nightmare,' a being of immense power even among Evil Gods. Eons ago, the Black Nightmare was banished by the combined forces of the celestials. The no.1 Hero, Isaac, is within this very Evil God."
The no.1 Hero was actually an Evil God---this was almost beyond belief.
Emilia continued, "I'm going to awaken him now. Be prepared for his nightmare creatures!"
As she spoke, she soared into the air, braving the aura emanating from the slumbering Evil God as she approached the statue. Then, Takuto Sanya noticed a sudden appearance of twisted black fog around the Evil God's body. From this fog, numerous terrifying, indescribable creatures began to emerge.These must be the nightmare creations of the Evil God.
These creatures didn't belong to this world. They were beings peeled away from the Evil God's dreams during its slumber. As a symbol of chaos and the most powerful disruptor of order, the Evil God's nightmares could be materialized. Over countless millennia, it was unimaginable how many monsters the Evil God had created within its nightmares. The more nightmare creations there were, the stronger the nightmare became, and if unleashed, it could lead to a cataclysmic event.
At this moment, the presence of Emilia and Takuto Sanya had disturbed the Evil God's slumber, causing its dream to loosen, allowing some of these nightmare creations to leak into reality.
"Hold off these nightmares!" Emilia commanded as she unleashed a wall of Eternal Flame. Any nightmare creature that touched the flame was instantly incinerated, reduced to ashes.
Takuto Sanya's body and weapons were imbued with the Eternal Flame, protecting him from the Evil God's aura and allowing him to effectively combat the nightmare creatures.
The two split up. While Takuto Sanya drew the attention of the nightmare creatures, Emilia transformed into a fiery meteor, swiftly ascending to the top of the thousand-meter-high statue. She gathered a mass of Eternal Flame in each hand and pressed them against the statue. In the next moment, the raging flames surged into the statue, spreading across its entire surface in the blink of an eye. The entire statue became covered in web-like patterns, with fire flowing through each line. At the same time, the aura of the Evil God suddenly intensified tenfold.
A second later, a deafening explosion shook the area. Like a volcanic eruption, the Eternal Flame flooded the entire temple in an instant, incinerating all the nearby nightmare creatures.
"Did it work?" Takuto Sanya cautiously retreated, fully alert. He could clearly sense that something within the center of the Eternal Flame explosion had awakened. Even through the intense blaze, its presence could not be concealed.
Soon, the flames died down. The thousand-meter-tall statue that had dominated the ancient temple was now gone, vanished without a trace as if it had been erased from existence. Simultaneously, the terrifying aura of the Evil God also disappeared.
Takuto Sanya looked puzzled. Could it be that Emilia's attack had been too fierce? The Eternal Flame, being a divine-class power, was indeed capable of harming divine beings. Had the Evil God, still in its slumber, been burned to death?
But just then, the remaining flames parted on their own, and a dark figure emerged from within. This figure was only about three meters tall, seemingly without a physical body, clad in a tattered black robe. Underneath the hood was a void of nightmare-like darkness. No legs were visible beneath the robe, only countless writhing tentacles.
Takuto Sanya's expression grew serious. The Evil God hadn't perished---this was indeed the rank 1 Hero, Isaac.
The Evil God, "Formless Black Nightmare," had no true physical form and could appear in any shape or form it desired, even manifesting as a purely psychic presence. At this moment, Isaac had suppressed his divine nature to avoid releasing the mind-shattering aura of the Evil God.
Isaac sent out a telepathic wave: "Finally, I am free. You understand the consequences of unsealing me. You wouldn't do this without reason."
Indeed, unsealing the no.1 Hero meant unsealing a fully-formed Evil God. No Hero could stand against such a being, and Isaac posed a significant threat to any nation or Hero. Emilia would not have released Isaac unless absolutely necessary.
Takuto Sanya stepped forward and said, "Honorable Isaac, we need your help now. You are the only one among all the Heroes who can defeat the rank 1 Demon King!"
"The rank 1 Demon King?" Isaac didn't ask for details. Instead, his all-pervasive psychic power directly invaded Takuto Sanya's mind, instantly reading all of his memories and acquiring all the information in a flash.
"Interesting," Isaac remarked. "A Demon King has become a god?"
"Very well, I understand your request. I will deal with him."
After processing the information, Isaac's thoughts flicked, and Takuto Sanya's head exploded.
"But you are too weak to be my ally," Isaac said coldly.