Ian stared at the boundary of space ahead of him. This place is also known as the Veil. This is where humans could enter the Curtained Imperium and be randomly transported to one of the hundreds of marked, dangerous areas. It’s also where the dark races from the Curtained Imperium come out once they want to visit the Human World.
The conflict between the Human World and the Curtained Imperium didn’t reach the point of irreconcilability. Firstly, the dark races had no interest in the environment of Earth. The Curtained Imperium is only the most conducive environment for Dark Races to live because of the abundance of Yin energy that naturally strengthens the physique and energy concentration, nourishes the cells, and a lot many other benefits.
How about on Earth? The yin energy concentration was quite pitiful. Only a select few cemeteries had decent concentrations, but they still paled in comparison when compared to the Curtained World.
As for the Curtained World? It was how humans called the Curtained Imperium.
Ian hasn’t truly felt the benefits of yin energy when he was on the Curtained Imperium. But after living on Earth, he felt his body begin to feel sick in the first few weeks. He felt uncomfortable for some reason. Then, he understood that the effects of yin energy were so subtle that one won’t notice unless they went from a place with a high abundance of yin energy and suddenly switched to a place with almost no yin energy.
Fortunately, with his strength, he had managed to adapt quickly. But he still liked the air in the Curtained Imperium than Earth after he discovered the uniqueness of yin energy.
After a few months on Earth, Ian had come to know a lot of hunters. With his status as the only Ex-ranked hunter. The one that had defeated the strongest human. Not to mention, they, most B-rank hunters and above, had witnessed the malevolence aura of the Herald and the world-ending threat it possessed. Although only those A-rank hunters managed to have a glimpse of the silhouette of the Herald, most hunters understood that if not for Ian. They would be gone.
Ian’s wings had undergone a massive change compared to before. It had silvery white feathers covered with a silvery white glow. After his transformation to the Nine Paths’ race, his ability to survive in outer space and resist all kinds of radiation had taken a leap. Lastly, even without wings, he could already fly as his body reached the point of being able to escape the influence of gravity. Of course, the wings he customized aren’t useless. They multiply his flight speed by eleven times. Although he hasn’t reached the speed of light in terms of flight speed. He could feel that with the help of his wings, he was getting nearer and nearer.
In the space where Ian is, ahead of him, there was a massive blue flickering light in the shape of a vortex. Around the vortex, a visible suction force constantly devours the air. Swirls of air that turned into tornadoes with rotation speeds that far surpassed the speed of sound.
If a C-ranked human hunter or a true vampire hit even one of those tornadoes, their body would be cut to pieces.
Ian flapped his wings, producing a sonic boom. He dived into the sea of tornadoes. Amidst it, a phantom of a gigantic shark as big as sky skyscraper appeared on Ian’s path. It opened its huge maw that composed of a set of shart teeth that revelead a dangerous gleam.
"My luck is really bad. With such a low possibility, I actually encountered this one in a thousand phenomena."
Ian didn’t stop. His body directly entered the huge maw. Ian felt the thick liquid fall on his face, and he knew that it was the saliva of the terrifying shark. Following that, Ian entered the throat until his body penetrated the insides of the shark and went through the other side.
The gigantic shark began to fall from the sky, and its body completely went still.
"The rumors are right. These creatures don’t even have basic intelligence, yet they’re ferocious."
The creature that he had encountered is known as a Ferocious beast. They’re actually creatures that come from dangerous areas across the Curtained Imperium that accidentally wandered to space nodes, which resulted in them being transported in the Veil. Such occurrences are kinda rare. Ian didn’t expect that his luck was shitty to the point that he would experience it firsthand. If not for his strength, he would have died.
Why so? Space nodes are located in the depths of those dangerous areas. The type of creatures at the depths of those areas had strength similar to the beasts that had guarded the dimension where he got his Nine Paths Fruit. That’s why the morality rate of encountering Fericous Beast was almost 85%. One needs to have at least S-rank strength to barely escape.
Ian stopped right in front of the blue vortex. Ian forcefully resisted the pulling force as it tried to tug his body.
The Grand Elder was probably worried sick about me now. Before he had escaped, he had telepathically told the Grand Elder about the Dark God and told him not to search for him or contact him in any way, any shape or form. He didn’t want the Dark God’s attention to switch to his empire.
Blood Realm, Blood City, Blood Empire.
The Grand Elder, deep in seclusion in his private chambers, suddenly opened his eyes this time. "This presence... There’s no doubt about it. He’s back."
While most of the Elders in the Council were unaware at Ian’s presence, the Grand Elder had his means. Thanks to his connection with Ian through his technique. He could always sense when Ian appeared in the same dimension as him. After all, the King was his strongest power source.
He had been restless for months due to the incident involving the Dark God, a forbidden existence that had managed to make his king had no choice but to flee.
"Should I contact him now?" As this thought appeared on his mind, the Grand Elder quickly dismissed it. "No, it’s not the time yet. If I did so, I might attract the surveillance of that being."
Ian had told him that every nook and cranny of the Curtained Imperium. Now, a battle that could destroy the entire world is about to begin.
’Damn it!’ the Grand Elder wants to help but he knew that he’s only become a burden even with his newfound strength.