The newcomer resembled an angel, boasting six pairs of dark purple flaming wings that made him look like some archangel of wrath. His blonde hair framed a face with a gentle smile, set beneath captivating purple eyes. He had an air of being meticulously crafted, akin to a finely made porcelain doll. "Greetings, I am Uriel, leader of the Dream Lords," he introduced himself.

Carpy noticed a pure white string extending from the man's head and connecting to the island. Similar to many other creatures in this place, it appeared that Uriel had entered into a contract with Avalon Island.

From Carpy's observations thus far, it seemed that some of the weaker beings in this place were compelled into contracts with the island, while the more powerful creatures had to willingly agree for the contract to take effect. At least that was how he was reading this whole thing. However the weaker creatures also had to borrow parts of the island’s powers, that would allow them to manifest abilities that ignored the balance of raw strength.

Normally, Carpy wouldn't hesitate to kill someone like this newcomer. However, he recognized that using his power recklessly could carry unforeseen dangers. He'd learned from Master Kon the importance of not underestimating opponents who seemed weaker. How many enemies had Master Kon defeated by exploiting their arrogance? Too many to count.

"What would be the benefit of me joining something like that?" Carpy inquired, making an effort to convey his words devoid of any emotional attachment or personal opinion.

"Your power will increase exponentially, and any abilities you already have will double or even triple in power," Uriel replied, his smile broadening subtly. "Due to the way the contract works, no matter how strong you are. It will still make you even more powerful."

For a fleeting moment, Carpy felt tempted. Not by the raw might, for he already possessed an abundance of it, but by the notion that aligning with the Dream Lords might help him Master Kon's revival.

The only thing that stopped Carpy from agreeing was Master Kon's last thoughts and the regrets he had at sometimes rushing things too much. Those very missteps led to Master Kon’s downfall. Thus, Carpy refrained from accepting, driven by the same motive that could have swayed his decision—Master Kon. The contract could potentially harm Master Kon in some obscure way, and Carpy would sooner kill himself than jeopardize the chances of Master Kon’s potential resurrection.

"No thanks," Carpy responded his gaze once again drawn to the string of fate. "Also, I think that a Dream Lord or anyone else who made contracts with the island can't leave this place. Right?"

Uriel's expression betrayed no inkling of whether Carpy's assumptions held true. His smile didn’t even falter.

"What a shame, you could have been the new Dream Lord if you had joined us," he sighed and disappointment clouded his features. "Now I will have to kill you since strong creatures aren't allowed to exist on this island."

"You sure do blabber a load of crap for a Walmart version of a knockoff angel," Carpy snorted. At first, he was puzzled by his own reference. However, after sifting through Master Kon's memories, he figured out what Walmart was and let out a chuckle.

Uriel's expression soured, and he unleashed his Ord, causing his blazing wings to grow larger, nearly large enough to envelop a mountain. The flames shifted to a darker shade of purple, with a hint of black woven in.

"Cursed flames?" Carpy arched a questioning eyebrow. Those flames felt dangerous even to him, so he had to tread carefully. "Not bad, for a second-rate angel."

But for all his words and caution, Carpy wasn’t afraid... never afraid. His form surged, morphing into the colossal shape of a dragon. Almost immediately, ominous clouds gathered, and the rumble of thunder echoed.

Uriel's brows knitted together, a bead of sweat tracing its way down his cheek.

Summoning violet flames onto his palm, Uriel compressed them till they became dense, dark blades hovering around his form. But he wasn't finished — some of the fire from his wings spewed out, hurtling towards Carpy like fiery missiles, Uriel himself charging in as well.

Carpy pondered his next move and came up with many strategies he could use. But no matter how he thought about it, any plans he would cook up would be useless. Even though they were both ultimate class level creatures, the difference between them was a bit too large.

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In the end, Carpy just swung his tail with all his might.

For all his size, he moved surprisingly fast, the air around his tail crackling as the flames fizzled into oblivion. Uriel barely had any time to dodge, the impact crashing into him. The aftershock birthed a violent tempest, uprooting every bit of flora in the vicinity.

The earth transformed into a barren wasteland of rocks and dirt, everything upturned. Uriel collided with a distant mountain, carving out a crater and a mushroom cloud of dirt.

Carpy inspected his tail, a slight scorch mark marring its surface. Before the strike landed, Uriel attempted to use his wings as a shield.

Despite the minor injuries, Carpy's wasn’t regenerating. "They really are cursed flames."

Yet, for someone like him, an injury of such measure held no weight. Activating Perfect Me, he effortlessly mended the minor scratch and waited for Uriel to clamber to his feet.

As the dust settled, Uriel ascended, revealing his broken form. His limbs emitted unsettling cracks, and his bones realigned beneath his skin, slowly but surely restoring his body. Despite being an ultimate-class demon, Carpy couldn't help but notice that Uriel's regeneration was rather sluggish.

"Usually my power makes up for my weak body, but it seems like I have met my match," Uriel commented, a cautious glint in his eyes.

Carpy found it difficult to tell whether Uriel's words were sincere or a well-acted facade. Whatever it was, the next attack was going to be a full blast at point-blank. He will see if the knock-off angel could handle that.

As if sensing his opponent’s wariness, Uriel lifted his hands and declared, "I give up."

"If you bother me again, next time I will attack the island," Carpy warned.

Uriel's eyes widened, a sigh escaping him. "It seems like you have figured out what is happening here. Then I see no reason for us to get in each other's way."

Under normal circumstances, Carpy wouldn't grant an enemy just walk away, especially not one as weak as Uriel. However, he couldn't afford to push him into a desperate corner, where he might resort to sacrificing his life force to amplify his cursed flames. The curse might affect Master Kon, and that wasn’t a risk Carpy was willing to take.

***

Uriel's body trembled, every pore vibrating with an overwhelming surge of pressure washed.

No wonder even the dormant will of Avalon Island sought to eliminate this dangerous unknown dragon that had come out of nowhere. This was something that could destroy Avalon Island, a danger of unimaginable magnitude.

But what could they do against something like that? Even if all the Dream Lords united and fought against the beast, their chances of victory were mediocre at best. Even if they were able to pull a win against such a creature, what would be the cost of such an endeavor?

Uriel walked with caution, his gaze never leaving the dragon. But when the creature seemed to be doing nothing about his retreat, Uriel spread his fiery wings and flew away with haste.

No matter how much distance he created between himself and the dragon, for some reason, it felt like that creature was still looking at the deepest part of his soul. Causing Uriel's unease to linger.

"How could something as dangerous as this be born in times like these. Weren't the people inside the barrier supposed to have grown weaker?" Uriel groaned.

What was the worst of all this was that the dragon was not the only one of their problems.

Perenelle of the Gardens of Babylon had met an unexpected demise, which was not concerning. Though she could be considered a resident of Avalon Island, she was far from being someone who was on the Dream Lord’s side. Before the dragon, she was their biggest troublemaker, and they would have been happy if she had died a normal death. But every Dream Lord knew of her invincibility.

This begs the question; how did someone unable to be killed die? The answer was obvious, it was due to self-sacrifice. What kind of monster was going to be born from the willing sacrifice of a person who couldn’t be killed?

"It's times like these that I wish I could ask my future self what the future had on hold," Uriel muttered. Regrettably, Dream Lords lacked the luxury most newcomers enjoyed, as they never met their past and future versions. Why was that the case? Uriel had no idea.

Focusing his Ord, Uriel conjured purplish flames, their intensity concentrating at his fingertip before igniting the sky like a firework.

Ordinarily, such an act would summon the island's ultimate class mindless guardians in seconds. But Dream Lords enjoyed certain privileges. This was a message to the other Dream Lords, and that they needed to meet up.

He flew across diverse landscapes, before Uriel finally arrived upon a snow-shrouded mountain peak crowned by a lonely cloud, showering the summit in a ceaseless blizzard. A phenomenon born of a human Ord wielder's death two centuries prior.

Humans and their special abilities—after Ord users died, weird stuff happened sometimes. When a demon bit the dust, the area got all cursed and funky. But for humans, postmortem shenanigans like that were pretty rare, usually a human’s death was more like a blessing than anything else.

Uriel, on the other hand, kind of envied humans for that. Because he knew that when he finally died, he'd just explode in a blaze of cursed flames, cursing everything nearby.

So there he was, sitting down atop a snowy mountain, snowflakes landing on him. The snow was run-of-the-mill, harmless to most folks. Unless, of course, you happened to be the one who killed the person wielding this power back when they were still alive.

Uriel winced each time a snowflake touched him, feeling that icy bite spreading through his limbs.

Thing is, since the power's owner was dead, the ability wasn't thinking for itself. So all he needed was something as simple as an umbrella to shield himself from the snowfall.

But in Uriel's eyes, this was all just payback for what they'd pulled 2000 years ago during the time when Gods walked the earth. He'd cut a deal with the island, and thanks to that contract, leaving this island wasn't on the table.

It was pretty ironic, really. The dude who used to be known as the Easygoing Skyfire Demon Slayer, the guy who considered himself the king of freedom, stuck in this place like some cosmic joke.

But that was his slap on the wrist for double-crossing Jason, the Strongest Demon Slayer.

Uriel snapped out of his reverie when the air started quaking. Ten eerie and different-looking creatures landed around the mountain.

"Why are we always meeting on this mountain?" An undead woman with one eye complained, she looked normal except for having a Cyclops eye and a couple more eyes in her palms. "It's annoyingly cold," she shivered.