Miko and everyone else who was going to the Ruined World arrived at the royal palace. When they arrived they saw someone who they didn’t expect to see. It was a man in a blue blazer suit. He had black hair, golden slit eyes, a handsome face with a beauty mark under his right eye, an elegant smile on his face.

“Raven.”

This man in front of them had just as much authority and influence in the clan as Krow and the branch leaders.

“Who is this?”

Hina asked.

“Raven, he’s the Proxy of Ušumgallu, the oldest dragon after Tiamat, as well as her son. He’s the one who’s responsible for protecting the Primus Branch and one of the empire’s trump cards.”

Momo explained to the trio.

“Hello, everyone.”

Raven greeted everyone with a smile. He then looked at Miko.

“I see that you’ve grown once again.”

“I’m still a growing boy after all.”

“Hahaha! I guess you’re right.”

He then faced everyone again.

“I’m the one who has the key to the Ruined World. I was instructed to let you all in.”

“Then you’re going to guide us there?”

Tessa asked.

“No. That’s not necessary.”

Raven took out something out of his pocket. It was a key. While they were confused, Raven thrust his hand with the key out in front of him.

*Kacha!*

“Huh?”

Everyone heard a sound. Raven gently twisted his arm. The space in front of them become distorted and an old door with strange cravings on it appeared out of nowhere.

“The hell?”

Everyone was shocked by the sudden appearance of the door. Miko walked up to it and stared at it with wonder.

“So this is the entrance to the Ruined World?”

“Yup. The Ruined World doesn’t have a set location. As long as you have the key, you can enter it from anywhere.”

Raven explained.

“Amazing.”

Raven looked away from Miko who was observing the door.

“Is this everyone who’s going?”

“No, we’re going too.”

Raven turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Kimiko and Markus Saevus.

“Well, this is a shocker. I never thought you two would be civil enough—I mean I never thought I’ll see you two together.”

“We just met on the way.”

“Pure coincidence.”

Both Kimiko and Markus distanced themselves from each other.

“Um…Do your grandparents not like each other?”

Sora asked Kristen.

“I heard they tried to kill each other quite a few times when they were younger. I don’t know why though.”

“Mama, you’re coming?”

“You too, father?”

Leon and Sasha asked their parents.

“You’re going to the Ruined World to train yourself and your children to become strong enough to paved Miko’s way, right? Then who’s better than me to teach you.”

“I’m here for the same reason, Leon. I’m gonna turn both you and Kristen into proud demon kings.”

“So what about Tessa?”

Kimiko glared at Markus.

“Do you only have one grandchild?”

“I can say the same for you. Have you ever taught Kristen anything?”

Markus returned the glare.

“If you two are going to argue then don’t better coming.”

They turned to Miko who was rubbing the door.

“Mama and Tessa are death maidens like Nana, but Tessa can use Beleth’s powers if she’s trained properly. Father and Kristen are demon kin, but Kristen should be able to use a few of Hel’s abilities as well. Don’t neglect your grandchildren because of a grudge between the two of you. If you can’t treat them fairly, I’ll ask Raven to prevent you from enter the world with us.”

Kimiko and Markus looked at each other and back at Miko.

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“Fine.”

Miko smiled and then placed both hands on the door.

“Then, let’s go!”

He pushed the door and a bright light rushed out and engulfed everyone. In an instant, everyone other than Raven was gone. The door then closed and disappeared.

“Miko’s really matured again. I wonder how mother will react to this?”

Raven played with the key in his hand and then walked into the palace.

********

When Miko and the others opened their eyes, the first thing they saw a huge burst of flames.

“Oh, shit!”

Ace cursed and pulled Sora in front of him.

“You!”

Sora naturally got mad and but he was unable to whack Ace.

“The…Hell?”

He started breathing heavily and his entire body was drenched in sweat. His limbs felt like they were made of lead and he felt incredibly weak.

*Thud!*

He fell on his knees and immediately felt his skin burning, causing him to sprung up again. He then looked around and saw everyone except Markus and Kimiko suffering from the same symptoms.

“I can’t breathe!”

“I feel like I’m burning up.”

“What’s going on here?”

“So the effects are already kicking in.”

Miko said while sweat flowed off his chin nonstop. He turned around and looked at the scene in front of him. He saw a world of destruction and flames. The sky was crimson and the clouds looked like they were on fire. The land was scorched and filled with cracks with lava flowing out of them every now and again. There were buildings, mountains, and other landscapes but they were all one fire. Even the rivers looked like they were made entirely of flames. It was like a scene out of hell.

“Ah, shit. This is why I didn’t want to come here.”

Aeon said while trying to fan himself. He too looked like he was suffering.

“In this world as long as you’re not at the Divine Level you’ll endure constant suffering. Just breathing will make it feel like your lungs are on fire, your body will be constantly drained of strength, and you’ll feel like you’re being baked alive. This world is literally hell. Just surviving here will require you to constantly push past your limits.”

“That’s why it’s the perfect place to get stronger at a fast rate.”

Miko praised the hell he was in.

“To be honest, the only reason the Illusionary Beast Valley is considered more dangerous is because of the Divine Beasts that exist there.”

“Can we really survive here for half a year?”

Tessa asked. Kirika pulled her sword and lifted it. Her arm was visibly shaking.

“Damn, I feel so weak. I doubt that we will know how strong we’ve gotten until we leave here.”

“The moment you stop feeling the effects you’ve entered the divine realm and can now be considered a god.”

Kimiko said.

“For now, I think you all should try your best to get accustomed to your environment. You’ll never get used to it but you should eventually learn to bear it.”

“Bear it? What about sleep? I don’t think we can sleep under this suffering.”

“You’ll sleep. After all while, your body won’t be able to take any more and you’ll collapse out of exhaustion. It would be best if you try your to stay conscious for as long as possible. Otherwise, you’ll miss your chance of getting stronger.”

Markus said.

“So we train until we collapse, sleep, and do it again? What kind of hellish place is this?!”

Ace shouted.

“You won’t be training alone.”

*Boom!*

The ground burst open and lava shot up into the air like water out of a geyser. A creature crawled out of the ground. It was a humanoid monster made of magma.

“You’ll be trying your best to survive as well.”

“Roar!”

The magma monster roared. More lava geysers appeared and created more beings like it.

“The fuck?!”

The monsters started rushing towards them.

“Oh, we won’t be interfering. For now, we’ll observe you and see what needs to improve.”

Kimiko said.

“Huh?!”

“Ace, shut up and get ready to fight.”

Sora shouted and stepped forward.

“?!”

He became dizzy and started stumbling. He was caught by Leon who was next to him.

“Get yourself together. It’s harder to fight here than you think.”

He walked forward and cracked his knuckles.

“Let’s see how well I can fight in these conditions.”

He lowered his center of gravity with a sharp look in his eyes. He rushed forward. His speed wasn’t all that fast but his steps were strong.

“Ahh!”

*Bam!*

He covered his fist in crimson aura and punched the nearest monster. The punch caused the monster to explode upon impact.

“Tsk! I thought I would get at least a dozen of them with that. My strength is really limited here.”

He swung his hand and destroyed the head of another monster before destroying the body with a kick.

“It feels like I’m going to blackout after only three attacks.”

He stumbled back. A black wind fell past him. Sasha appeared in front of a monster and thrust her palm forward.

*Bam!*

Black wind hit one monster and sent it flying with a lot of its kin.

“Ugh?!”

She was assaulted by pain to the point of almost blacking out.

“I used the most powerful attack I could muster and almost collapsed. This really is hard.”

“Aeon, how powerful are the monsters here?”

Momo asked.

“The monsters aren’t that strong at all. Any one of us can defeat the strongest monsters here. But that’s only if we were at our full strength. Even if you can muster enough strength to defeat a few of them they will respawn again and easily overpower you.”

“Then how do we survive here?”

“You have to evolve.”

Miko answered while walking forward.

“As long as you’re in this world you’ll always be in pain and you’ll never be able to use your strength like you want to. Even if you can muster enough strength to defeat the monsters or train you’ll be on the verge of collapsing shortly after.”

He took off his jacket and vest.

“Then the only thing you can do to survive is to constantly extend the time you can fight and train here, and in order to do that you must keep growing stronger. In other words, you must constantly break your limits.”

Azure scales started appearing on his body as he become muscular and tall. His hair grew and harden. His teeth turned into fangs and his nails turned into claws.

Miko had taken his Dragonite form.

“You asked how we’re gonna survive here for half a year?”

He leaped forward and clenched his fist.

“We just gotta keep pushing!”

*Bam!*

He punched a monster in its head, squashed it, and then completely destroyed its body.

“Ishma, Regis!”

Ishma and Regis took their human forms and stood at Miko’s sides.

“Yahoo! We finally get to have some real fun!”

Ishma cheered while sweat flowed down her body.

“It’s really hard to move. This is a new feeling.”

Regis observed her body with interest.

“You two are training too. Let’s go!”

Miko charged forward with Ishma and Regis into the horde of monsters.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

They started killing their way through the crowd all while laughing.

“Constantly evolve huh?”

Kirika started grinning.

“This is the perfect chance to further hone my skills.”

She also rushed to fight the monsters. She beheaded one with a swift slash and was out of breath immediately after.

“Ahhh!”

She roared and moved again. This time killing two monsters. She looked like she was going to tumble over but caught her footing. She clenched her teeth and started swinging her sword while roaring.

“I’m going to get stronger!”

Tessa clenched her fists and joined her parents to fight the monsters. Kristen silently did the same.

“Let’s go!”

Sora and Hina also charged in.

“Aren’t you going?”

Aeon asked Ace who was in front of him.

“…….”

Ace didn’t answer and looked at everyone in front of him.

“You look like you’re wondering why they’re trying so hard to get stronger.”

“This place is hell, yet they’re all bravely charging through it in order to get stronger. This lacks logic.”

“And yet, you’re in this hell for a friend.”

“….People don’t move by logic, I learned that after killing my own gang….I suppose it’s the same for me as well.”

The two were having a casually conservation in this world of constant suffering. This caught Kimiko and Markus’s eyes as well.

“You know, I’ve been curious about something for a while now. ”

Aeon looked at Ace.

“You don’t like people do you, Ace?”

“…….”

“Not only humans. I can see it, you’re overflowing with hate. So much that I sometimes believe you hate everything in this world. Yet, I can’t understand. Why act the way you do? Why play the class clown?”

Ace took his eyes off everyone and looked at Aeon with an apathetic look.

“We’re here to train. Don’t pry into my business.”

He started walking away before breaking out into a sprint.

“Make way, monster! The boss is coming through! I’ll be the first the clear this shitty game!”

Aeon watched him with a nervous smile.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a look so cold.”

A face pretty similar to his own popped up in his head.

“You and my father are really similar, Ace. You’re both great pretenders.”