In one of the floating patches of land outside Somuli, several figures in white hooded robes stood, gazing down at the plane below.

All of them wore blank expressions, with their eyes giving a faint golden glow. The figure at the head of these figures was actually a familiar face.

Dues. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Like the rest of the figures, he appeared indifferent. However, if one looked straight into his eyes, one would see the contempt he harbored, reflected in them from what happened the last time he was forced to retreat from there.

Another reason for Deus's contempt had something to do with what happened to Midnight.

To be honest, he was relying on her innate ability to assist him in completing the task given to him by the Emperor without alerting Ruin. Unfortunately, her essence was killed in the Lower Realm, dealing a fatal blow to her original body. Because of this, she could not reenter the Lower Realm for the next few months.

As for who killed Midnight, Deus already had an idea. But he could not report it to the Emperor because he did not have proof of what happened. Even if he did, he could not report it either because he would then have to reveal that Midnight was helping him.

That was something Deus did not want the Emperor to know because he hated the thought of explaining what happened during his first attempt to capture their target.

In the end, Deus had to waste a few weeks, even close to a month, before he could return to the Lower Realm. His initial advantage of keeping Ruin away from their target was now wasted because the latter would definitely be on his way back as well.

"Master."

One of the white hooded figures behind him leaned over and called for Deus's attention. This prompted the latter to snap out of his reverie.

The white hooded figure then asked, "Shall we go down and look for the target now?"

The one who had spoken was MEx-δ 54.

As a matter of fact, all the hooded figures are Deus's MEx-δ automaton series.

Currently, there are twenty of them, with serial numbers starting from 34 and ending in 54. The higher their numbers are, the more advanced their programming is. Thus, the one leading these twenty automatons is MEx-δ 54.

A few weeks after Deus's return to the Higher Realm, he worked on MEx-δ 54 configuration. This was to ensure MEx-δ 54's decision-making capability would produce fewer risks.

"Go," Deus replied after a moment's pause. He added, "Activate the cloaking system and avoid the inhabitants. If you meet that person before the target... avoid her. If you can't, then you are granted permission to use code SD-x 00."

All eyes of the MEx-δ automaton series contracted upon hearing this code. There were several codes installed in their programming and those under SD-x were considered emergency protocol. The 00 code was considered a last-resort execution.

Basically, when they could not accomplish their task, which in the case of meeting that person, was to escape, then they would have to activate their self-destruct system.

These automatons all possessed something akin to a sentient, which was why self-destructing was basically ordering them to die. Nevertheless, they would not harbor any ill thoughts against their master. After all, they failed to accomplish their task, and their death was but a small price to pay.

"Yes, master."

MEx-δ 54 and the rest of the white hooded figures responded. Without waiting for their master to say more, the space around them distorted, and they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Deus remained in the floating patch of land and continued to gaze down the Somuli. The reason he did not go with his MEx-δ and the others was so he could wait for Ruin. He would not allow the latter to intervene again, which was why, this time, he would do a pre-emptive attack.

Unbeknownst to Deus, Ruin had long been waiting outside Somuli.

While Ruin was forced to retrieve his essence before escaping from the repercussions of Deus's supposed death, it was not hard for him to send a new essence to Somuli. He had several essences out in the Lower Realm, each of which was guarding every plane under his jurisdiction.

One of the planes that were a couple of weeks away from Somuli was actually under Ruin. Thus, after he retrieved his essence in Somuli, he already willed the essence in that particular plane to Somuli. After that, he switched another essence near that particular plane to another one, which was guarding a nearby plane he owned.

Ruin's action of replacing his essence continued until the essence he retrieved replaced the one guarding the plane close to where his original body was. Doing this ensured that all the planes under his jurisdiction would only stay unguarded for a week or two. As a matter of fact, some planes only stayed without a guard for a few days because of how close each plane was to one another.

Among the Sovereigns in the Lower Realm, Ruin was known to possess quite a lot of planes.

To others, his action seemed reckless, especially because leaving only an essence to guard a plane would not ensure its safety. This was especially true when another Sovereign decided to attack that plane and claim it for himself.

However, Ruin managed to accomplish that very impossible feat. This was how other Sovereigns came to fear him— for an essence to fight off other Sovereigns and emerge as the victor was truly a frightening thing.

In any case, after Ruin's new essence arrived outside Somuli, he chose not to enter the plane. Though he wanted to know Kyran's condition, he knew the latter would not die that easily. If he was someone like that, would Ruin even bother claiming him to be his prey?

Of course not.

With this in mind, Ruin stayed outside Somuli. As for the matter with Layla, he did not care. They could be considered business partners. But Ruin considered Kyran's welfare a priority over Layla's request. Since there was still a threat called Deus coming back for Kyran, Ruin would definitely prioritize dealing with him first.

It was fortunate that Kyran only had a superficial understanding of Ruin's obsession with him. If he did, and he knew what Ruin was thinking at that moment, he might have developed a certain type of allergic reaction.

Ruin smiled upon sensing Deus's presence. He roughly knew where the latter was, but he had not gone to him just yet. For now, he decided to observe. Besides, there were those annoying toys Deus had just ordered to enter Somuli.

Turning his attention to the plane below, Ruin's brow furrowed slightly. He was tempted to go after Deus's toys first. But he did not want to let Deus out of his sight either.

Weighing the pros and cons of each action, Ruin ultimately decided to stay outside Somuli.

As for the matter of dealing with those annoying toys, Ruin was confident they would not find Kyran that easily. Even he, who placed a mark on the latter, had trouble searching for him; what more with those annoying toys who had nothing with them to help in their search?

Magic signature?

Pfft.

Ruin knew Kyran could hide his magic signature really well. There were only a few instances where the latter exposed it, and even then, Ruin could barely recognize it. Ruin did not have any proof, but knowing that Kyran was a Regis, the possibility of him having the capability to use Dragon magic was high. Thus, Ruin was not completely surprised whenever he sensed Kyran emitting a different magic signature than the one he sensed when they first met in the Lignum plane.

To be honest, Ruin even had a slight inkling about what was happening in all of these. After all, he knew the difference between Dragon magic and Draconic magic. And the one Kyran emitted when Ruin first sensed him in Somuli was definitely not something as lowly as Dragon magic.

"Well~ he is my prey, after all. If he is not someone extraordinary, would I even allow him to be my prey?" Ruin muttered with a chuckle.

"Anyway~," Ruin turned his attention to a distant floating patch of land before him. "To go or not to go?"

His red eyes squinted mischievously as he observed Deus's profile once more.

Back in the Armakea castle, in its underground section, Kyran took almost half an hour to create the route that would assist Chrysanthemum and her people.

Dusk, who had been watching the whole process of creating a new world, was left dumbfounded. Although the one Kyran created was only a temporary one, the fact that Dusk did sense life in that world was enough to shock him to his core.

Was this the might of an Ancient magic user?

Of course, Dusk was aware that Kyran was probably the only one among the Ancient magic users to possess the ability to create a new world, given the nature of his magic. But from this, it was not farfetched to think that the other Ancient magic was capable of something similar.