An older man with a somewhat gray beard and scars all over his face was glancing over to a pillar of light. He could see two young girls holding hands together with their eyes closed.

He turned to the other side, there explosions and sounds of monsters being killed greeted him. The whole place was a warzone with many lesser demons trying to get to them. Everyone was busy with the fight so he was sure that no one would block his way towards his mission.

The man’s armor had the crest of the Hohenberg of Dragonridge noble house. He continued advancing while thinking about what he was about to do. His feet stopped directly before the golden light that signaled the beginning of this magical formation.

The man had observed other people entering this circle and after a short time, they would succumb to it, becoming nothing more than batteries. He knew that he didn’t have much time but with his skills, he knew that it was possible.

“Please forgive me but this is all for the house's future!”

From his side, he pulled out a somewhat strange-looking lacerated dagger. Its shape was unusually bent and it gave off an eerie light. The spirit was on the inside, battling with the demons and that is where it would remain.

His instructions were clear, kill the girl when the possibility presented itself. The old man didn’t believe that this demon king hunting plan had any merit. Leigong would be trapped in the demonic realm and the five demon lords were gone, there was no reason to fight anymore. The only thing important was that the kingdom remains peaceful and that his noble house survives.

He took a step towards the magical circle that was not made to repel humans. After the first step forward he began his charge. This was all done while being unaware of the red crystal that flew through the previously closed opening to the demonic continent.

The familiar feeling of flesh being pierced filled his hands as he delivered the killing blow. The girl before him didn’t even know what had happened. Her body slowly slumped forward against the lady that this man was sworn to protect.

“It is done…”

“What did you do!?”

The old man turned to the voice, there a maddened Leigong was seen charging. Before he could react two hands grasped his head and lifted him up. He could feel massive amounts of energy getting injected into his body that instantly went limp.

His body lit up like a Christmas tree and his screams filled the air. His hands and legs promptly exploded into chunks of charred meat before he was tossed to the side like a puppet with its strings being cut.

“Beatrice…No...”

Zhang Dong acted fast, after taking care of the old man he started injecting his healing energies into Beatrice’s body. The dagger was pushed outside while he was able to mend her heart back into shape. His advanced cultivation level at this moment allowed for him to use more advanced techniques but even then there was something off.

“Something is wrong… her body is healed… but her soul is crumbling apart…”

It was a bizarre thing, normally a soul would not receive direct damage or crumble before the body fully gave out. He reacted fast so the damage was minimized, the blood flow returned to normal but for some reason, the girl was not waking up.

“B-beatrice? W-what’s going on?”

Due to Beatrice being taken out of the grand formation, Isabella also found herself regaining her senses.

“I don’t know… we were betrayed by one of your men…”

Zhang Dong glanced to the side, the man that he roasted was close to being dead. His body was almost all black.

“Why would you do such a thing…”

“I…. I did it for the… l-long live house Hohenberg of D-dragonrige…”

Zhang Dong gritted his teeth. While pointing with his finger at the dying man.

“What did you do to her, what is this dagger! Answer me!”

“It’s too late… it’s the soul slaying dagger… p-please forgive me lady Isabella…”

Isabella looked down at the bloody dagger on the ground and picked it up before speaking out herself.

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“N-no… this dagger belongs to my father… it can kill a summoner and cut their connection to their summoned beast instantly… it was purposely made to kill summoners…”

“Cut the connection?... is that why…”

Zhang Dong could feel it, he was being pulled away into his soul dimension. He was losing his connection to this world and even Bob his AI was raising an alarm.

There was also the problem of the demonic beings surrounding the whole encampment from all sides. He was somehow maintaining his form thanks to this formation but his power was being diminished. If he didn’t mend Beatrice’s soul before it faded away, he would be forced to leave this realm. He would be fine in his soul dimension that was between the worlds.

‘I need to mend her soul but…’

Zhang Dong had a lot more knowledge of how souls worked now but it might not be enough in this situation.

“Bob… can I mend Beatrice’s soul with my own…”

His first idea was to lend her a part of his own overground nascent soul. His cultivation level would regress slightly but this would be something that he was willing to do.

“The probability is… 0%... the user's soul is not compatible with the souls of the residents of this world. “

This was something that he was aware of, even if he wanted his soul that was being rejected by this world was no good. Souls were also different, even close family members would mostly not be compatible with each other.

‘There is only one person here with a comparable soul to Beatrice’s but…’

He looked to Isabella who was crying. Beatrice was surrounded by a thin layer of golden light that was slowing down the decaying process of the soul slaying dagger. There was a possibility of healing when he used Isabella but there were also huge risks. He would be risking her life in the process that would probably shorten both of their life spans.

“Please Lord Leigong, save Beatrice! There must be a way!”

“I…”

Zhang Dong hesitated, he knew that these two were close friends, maybe even more than that. He knew that if he proposed the healing procedure that the young girl would instantly agree.

Before any decisions could be made, something else occurred.

“Bravo…”

A sound of clapping echoed through the whole battlefield. The group of defenders and heroes that were fighting the swarms of monsters was surprised by a strange occurrence.

The monsters stopped in their tracks and started backing off while the fog dissipated. The loud sound of clapping then intensified and brought all eyes to a certain man. He was floating up in the sky, this was someone that a lot of people here knew well while others to a lesser extent.

“You...”

Zhang Dong looked up to the man that was floating their way. He had met this man before and even then he never liked him.

“Father came to save us all!”

Ludwig the prince cheered while holding a bloody sword up that was covered with black monster blood.

“The king? What is he doing here?”

Takeshi and the others weren’t as ecstatic to see this person arrive. There was something strange going on, the man was just slowly floating forward with a strange crimson gem right next to him. The monsters were also parting to allow this man to land on a spot in front of the makeshift base that was created for the defense.

“Father? Ah yes, I guess this shell is your father.”

“Get away from him, that’s not the human king, it’s the true Demon King.”

Zhang Dong called out from the distance while glaring at the person from afar. He knew this fact after battling the Demon King on the demonic continent side. The face that the monster had was strangely similar to the one that this king was wearing. It was clear to him that the Demon King that he faced was some kind of clone and the real one had already been living among the humans.

This was clearly some farce, all of the demon lords could have easily invaded the human lands and taken them over. There was no way that the people of the races would be able to resist them. Not when the supposed strongest person in the lands was actually the Demon King in disguise.

“The Demon King? How is that possible?”

“Demon King? No, the Demon King died by the traveler’s hand already, I’m something else entirely.”

While saying this the ‘King’ looked to the crimson gem that was floating next to him. The stone started moving towards his hand and slowly entered his body through it.

“Stay with Beatrice, I’ll handle this.”

Zhang Dong floated up into the sky and towards this new foe that he was not familiar with. The man that was supposed to be the king was acting off-script.

“Did you call me the traveler?”

“Ah yes you, why are you still here? You got what you wanted, you don’t need to be here, no?”

The two looked at each other from afar. Zhang Dong was taken aback by the words that were spoken.

“The traveler?”

“Yes, traveler. Why are you still here, there is nothing more for you to gain. Do you wish to receive the last nucleus? You don’t need it to leave this world, you should have enough.”

The king continued to speak as if he knew who Zhang Dong was and what his main purpose was. He wasn’t wrong, with the current cubes that he had absorbed he would be able to go home. This would only be possible if he didn’t send Takeshi and the three girls home though. Without the last nuclei that this fake king had absorbed he would need to utilize the one that he received after the dungeon collapsed.

“You look surprised. I thought you knew more but it seems that you don’t…”

“Shut it! We don’t have time for this, call back those demons. We don’t have time for this.”

He looked from the corner of his eye to where Beatrice was. Isabella was still crying and holding her hand while he was slowly losing his connection to this world. His power wasn’t decreasing as much but if Beatrice’s soul faded away he would just disappear from this planet altogether.

“Oh? So it wasn’t an act? Do you really care for these creations? Why would someone that managed to escape the system have feelings for these things? Are you still not aware?”

“Shut up, what are you even talking about? Call back those monsters and give me the nucleus! I don’t have time for this”

Zhang Dong’s face contorted into rage as he approached the true Demon King. There was no time, he needed to act. If he defeated this person then surely he would receive the cube.

“This won’t do, you have broken the cycle. The world needs to be reset, I am unable to go against the system, everything must return to zero...”

The king proclaimed while his body began to turn crimson. His body started expanding and he revealed his true form, one battle was over but the next one was upon him...