The world was pitch black like ink. The land, as far as the eye could see, was completely black with reddish tones, as if it were the banks of a river of blood. There was no sun, moon, or stars, and a malicious and cold feeling permeated every place; it was the purest Yin of death from a bloody war.
Their visions shifted to the side, and a black claw as sharp as a blade came from their blind spot, causing the space to break violently.
The strike aimed at their throat from above, but in a quick move, they dodged, not entirely. Their proud horns were hit and cut, and blood pulsed. But they didn't have time to worry; in the next second, the blood rose in their throat, leaving them incredulous.
"You... my children..." The demon murmured, looking at two other demonic creatures that thrust their bone spears into its body.
Then, Zane and Gael's minds returned to reality.
"These memories... it's the moment of the death of that giant demonic beast." Gael sighed.
The moment of death was quite striking and would certainly be the last memory to disappear. This memory was engraved in that fragment of the spiritual bloodline for some incomprehensible reason. Spiritual bloodlines shouldn't have a direct connection with the body's soul, so this event was very strange and beyond their understanding.
"Zanou mentioned that the second historical war on this planet was between the living races and demons. In this memory, only demons were present, and for one demon to kill another, these memories must come from the first war," Zane commented thoughtfully. "Following the logic, these three demons who killed the beast must be the instigators of the second war."
Gael agreed. Only then did they feel beneath their feet a direct connection with the earth. It was as if the earth and its laws were an extension of their own bodies.
This feeling was similar to what they had when they triggered their bloodline in the desert, but now they were in a place with few earth laws. Even so, this connection was stronger than in the desert.
"We are overflowing with affinity for the laws of the earth... it's like we are the very earth itself. With a thought, I can feel everything it touches for quite a long distance as if I were looking." Gael commented, amazed by this feeling.
Both were ecstatic and eager to explore the full extent of their powers. But they still had only two drops of this bloodline, even though they were fully recovered now after absorbing the fragment. With just two drops, everything would burn out too quickly; it was better to wait a little longer.
"There are two or three hours left until the end of the test. We have to make the most of the last moments and prepare for the exit." Zane spoke slowly, turning the whale's body.
Looking at the distant place, they saw Mira staring at them. "Hm? What strange feeling is this?" Gael commented, looking into Mira's eyes.
Zane then focused on her intensely while a very bad premonition made his consciousness tremble. Suddenly, an endless fury emerged from him.
"These are the queen's marks!" He spat, incredulous.
"What? Damn, did we attract too much attention..." Gael thought frantically. "No, something in Mira made the queen notice her, but what changed?"
Zane didn't want to wait, and controlling the whale, he took a firm step and seemed to disappear and appear in front of Mira, causing the girl to jump in surprise.
"Master! What..." She stopped, feeling his intense gaze.
They then covered Zanou and Langrum with earth runes and moved them far away. When they returned, they spoke slowly.
"Mira, I have to check something. It might hurt a bit, but it has to be done," Zane spoke as gently as he could, trying to suppress his fury.
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Mira just nodded in confusion but didn't hesitate; her trust in them was unwavering. They then touched her forehead, and Zane and Gael's minds invaded her body, carefully checking everything.
First, her meridians, then her bones and muscles. They knew perfectly where the queen's mark was on a person, but they were fearful and preferred to check it last, giving themselves time to calm down. But the time came, and they gently entered her mental sea.
As their minds invaded, a wave of golden power blurred their visions.
"NO!" Gael spoke furiously.
Their souls lit up together in total disbelief and hatred, pushing away that golden luminous power. Then, they saw that rune at the center of everything—the same golden rune they found after killing their entire universe. The rune that belonged to the total dominion of the one who caused their deepest pains.
Their rationality vanished immediately; only infinite hatred existed. They no longer cared about their wounded souls and just attacked with 100% of what they had available.
A divine arrow formed with their soul power as both Zane and Gael felt their presence merging with the laws. It was the call of death as their souls were gradually fading. But they didn't care at all.
The arrow condensed to the limit and advanced towards that rune. Then, it approached slowly, but when it was about to hit, it suddenly froze in the air.
A muffled explosion came from Mira's body, and her consciousness went blank. Then, outside, the whale was thrown far away by a wave of power.
The earth was like a soft fabric for them, their home and part of them, causing no pain or harm. They rolled for a few seconds and quickly got up, but they couldn't see anything around. Everything was covered in a supreme golden light.
"SHIT! DON'T CARE! DESTROY THAT BITCH!" Gael and Zane shouted simultaneously.
At that moment, without realizing, they became one person again, sharing the same thoughts and actions in a joint unity.
Their eyes glowed in brown, the earth cracked, and a suppressing presence seemed to descend from the heavens with a hammer, causing infinite earth runes to emerge and float.
That fat and round body lit up along with the eyes; then, the laws of the earth were sucked in as if there was a black hole. Along with the laws, a white and black veil moved on the earth with that call. They were the remains of the bones and blood of that beast, which immediately caused a final power to be triggered.
In a place far away but on the same planet they were on, a pair of eyes opened in the midst of total darkness. The eyes were giant and brown, emanating the purest power of the earth. Then, something that sounded like laughter echoed like thunder, and the eyes closed again.
Back in the fifth level of the prison, a humanoid being that seemed to be born from the earth, dozens of meters tall, roared.
ROOOOAR!
Its presence and will were infinite, and an even greater number of earth runes emerged from the ground. With a thought, the runes lit up and advanced towards the center of that golden power.
A wave of power swept everything away. Then, the earth creature managed to see a little girl floating; in its eyes, only an intense golden glow existed.
"GET OUT OF HER!!!"
Another even more intense roar came from it. And this time, all the runes on its body lit up and fell in that direction at their maximum and desperate power.
BOOM!!!
The entire prison plunged into chaos again, but this time, a colossal crack tore through the skies of all levels, visible to everyone, causing extreme panic. Was it the end of the world? Everyone trembled at the thought.
On the fifth level, the horizon and the earth were completely cracked, anticipating the imminent collapse of the entire place. Instinctively, Zane and Gael summoned the last traces of power from the bones and blood of the dead beast. This, combined with their wills and divine souls, merged with them, resulting in a power far beyond what they could normally achieve.
When the dust settled, the gigantic earth creature saw a golden rune floating gently. On the ground, lying there, was Mira unconscious.
"The rune had to come out from inside to protect her! NOW!" They both shouted simultaneously.
From the chest of the earth creature, where the heart should be, a hole opened. From there, a giant, round whale burst forth, with Yin and Yang tattoos shining on its fists and a spatial rune lit on its forehead.
They shot down from above like a cannonball towards the rune. When they were ten meters away, a golden pulse erupted from the rune.
Smiling in a macabre way, a crude hammer appeared in their hands, and their bodies were enveloped in black flame.
BOOM!!!
The violent sonic explosion caused the horizon of the fifth level to burst, and spatial cracks emerged, threatening to devour the entire place.
In the air, the whale retreated several meters, but the earth runes slowed it down, and it fell back towards the golden rune. In its hands, the hammer was completely cracked and destroyed, but they didn't care and stored it away.
Then, they quickly approached, and the golden rune trembled, trying to extract more power. Zane and Gael had already noticed something a long time ago.
All living beings in this universe had a proto-rune in their souls. Unlike their universe, where the runes were already complete and ready, directly influencing the laws of all living beings, the domain runes in the queen's universe remained dormant, as if waiting for something.
Seeing this rune float, they were sure: the queen only triggered her domain when she considered the cultivator worth something. She didn't need to directly dominate everyone here because everyone was already inside her domain. When talent emerged, she simply activated the rune.
This made her not have such intense control as in other places. But, in return, when she directly activated the golden rune, it wasn't the laws of the universe that influenced living beings. Their entire existence would be subjugated by her; it was almost like a slave seal that was born in everyone, just waiting for the call.
Back to the fight, Zane and Gael didn't care about the movement of the golden rune. All that power had to have a source, and the source was the cultivator's Qi and what was available around. But at that moment, Mira didn't have much, and the whole environment was collapsing. Soon, there wasn't much to draw from.
So, they came within a few meters of the rune, and the spatial rune on their foreheads was activated to the limit.
"DEVOUR!!!" They shouted, in their last desperate resort.
Then, with the sound of a swallow coming from a spatial throat, the golden light was extinguished from the world.
Inside the spatial inventory, an imperial power was activated, merging with spatial laws.
"SUBMIT!" They both triggered together as if they were two almost fading shadows, mirrored. They once again activated the Medium Emperor's Domination Technique!
Right after, the golden rune trembled. And to their utter disbelief, all the golden power was wiped out from existence. The true utility of the two techniques, which could be merged, was finally revealed to them, which surprised them with its success. (Chapter 93, if you don't remember the first time they fused these skills.)