Aristoria flew above the True Dragon, finally catching up with it after the True Dragon showed a sign of exhaustion. The four of them followed the True Dragon all the way beyond the East Neva and had entered the North Neva continent. Aristoria knew where the True Dragon was heading, and she didn’t want it to go to the Dragon’s Maw.

"Rullein!" Aristoria shouted as her gaze fixed on the tumor on the True Dragon’s back.

Rullein who heard Aristoria’s voice immediately dispersed and reappeared behind Aristoria. Rullein gained a new knowledge about her power, and it was Aristoria who taught her. Rullein didn’t realize that when someone with strong emotions like anger, hatred, and resentment were released, she could move through space and time to be where that person was to leech and even possess them. Aristoria could manipulate such emotions and release something similar from within her, allowing Rullein to be by her side in an instant.

"Lend me your power," Aristoria said as she pointed her sword at the tumor on the True Dragon’s back.

Rullein didn’t hesitate and transferred her energy into Aristoria’s body. Aristoria purified Rullein’s energy and power, turning them into her own. Rullein gave almost everything that she had to Aristoria until the point where she slowly disappeared into thin air and went back to where her core was, which was inside Rasmus’ body. The power was so overwhelming for Aris’ body that Aristoria had to be careful or Aris’ body would be damaged beyond repair.

The whole moment, Rasmus observed Aristoria with a cold gaze, dissecting her like an anomaly that needed to be treated as a threat. Although he knew that Aristoria wasn’t trying to take over Aris’ body, he also knew that she hadn’t told the whole truth about her plan. He wanted to anticipate when the possible future would force him to fight her.

Aris’ hair suddenly grew longer and longer to the point her body could be covered with her hair. The light blue translucent color of Aris body looked both beautiful and threatening. There was another thing that changed from Aris’ appearance, and that was when a horn-like crown made of Mana was wrapped around her head. There were a lot of things that Rasmus knew nothing about an Aristoria’s kin and what they were capable of.

Aristoria suddenly spun around as her body glowed bright blue, absorbing all the light into her. When she suddenly stopped spinning, there was an explosion that happened inside her body that made her move hundreds of meters in just a blink of an eye, leaving a beautiful light blue trail. The trail showed evidence of her movements from where she was to where she went. The trail showed her sword moves as soon as it was close to the tumor and it went all the way down to the True Dragon’s neck until the trail showed where Aristoria was, which was beneath the True Dragon’s body.

The tumors were cut off clean from the True Dragon’s body, releasing immense demonic energy into the air. Videl didn’t hesitate to absorb the demonic energy, making it his before Aristoria decided to purify it.

The True Dragon suddenly lost its power and lost its ability to fly. The True Dragon was free-falling toward the frozen sea below. But it wasn’t just the True Dragon that lost its power, Aristoria also lost all her power after releasing such a move. Rasmus flew toward Aristoria and used Mana to pull her toward her until he secured her in his arms.

Aristoria was barely conscious when Rasmus caught her, and she stared into Rasmus’ eyes, searching for something in them. There was only silence for a moment before Rasmus noticed a small crack in her face, near her left jawline all the way down to her neck. He could see Mana was seeping out of her body like a stream of water.

"I will apologize to her," Aristoria said with a weak smile as she closed her eyes. "For now, we need to secure the True Dragon," she said weakly, her eyes fluttered open.

Rasmus glanced down and saw the True Dragon’s body turn bright right as the atmosphere resisted its colossal body. He watched the True Dragon hit the frozen sea and the whole world could feel the impact. The sea was completely frozen all the way down, so instead of sinking, the True Dragon created a massive crater and cracked the whole northern sea.

Rasmus and Videl landed next to the giant crater, a crater that was at least three hundred meters deep and dozens of kilometers wide. They both stared at the creature that was called the World’s Will inside the crater, realizing what kind of world it was back then when there were hundreds and even thousands of them. What made both of them unsettled was the fact that True Dragons were annihilated.

Rasmus was deep in thought, thinking about what kind of unimaginable power he should possess if one day the same event repeated itself. If he couldn’t even touch one undead True Dragon, how could he even fight something that could make the whole True Dragon race extinct.

"Put me down..." Aristoria said weakly as she placed her hand on Rasmus’ chest. "I’m fine now..." She muttered.

Rasmus slowly lowered his back and let Aristoria stand on her own. He was still under the Overlord’s influence when Aristoria suddenly pressed her hand harder against the frozen armor that he wore. Suddenly Rasmus felt warmth all over his body as the frozen armor evaporated and he was no longer in pain. He was surprised that Aristoria could push the Overlord’s power away from his body, and that made him even more wary of her.

"You shouldn’t rely on that power. Aris doesn’t want you to rely on it," Aristoria stared into Rasmus’ eyes. "I know you don’t want it either, and that’s why Aris chose to let me take over her body momentarily," she revealed as she tapped Rasmus’ chest gently.

"That was the only choice that could make a different," Rasmus answered.

Aristoria hummed and nodded with understanding. She knew that, and she couldn’t blame him for relying on it when a True Dragon suddenly appeared. She also didn’t expect that a True Dragon could be corrupted by something like that. She also had so many questions related to their discovery, and why something like that could exist in this world, a vile thing that went unnoticed by so many civilizations.

The three of them suddenly felt a presence in the distance, and they all turned to look where the presence was. The thick cold mist blocked their vision until suddenly they saw a silhouette of a person wearing a robe walking toward them. When they heard a snap, the mist was dispersed and it was revealed who it was.

"Sanya," Aristoria said as she stared at her with an unreadable expression.

"That voice," Sanya crossed her arms as she stared into Aristoria’s eyes. "You came back?" She asked with her brows raised.

"No, this body still belongs to Aris, not mine. I’m only borrowing it for a moment," Aristoria answered as she shook her head.

There was an undeniable tension in the air between the two, even Videl found it intriguing. Rasmus could feel the tension as well, it was a tension between someone who had been betrayed but also longing at the same time. He wondered why those two had that kind of tension even though he had seen pieces of past memories of them that showed nothing like this.

Sanya hummed and then she glanced at Rasmus, her gaze fixed on him, observing him. When their eyes met, that was when Rasmus felt like she had seen everything about him as if he was bare naked in her eyes.

"So? What happened?" Sanya asked as she stared at Aristoria, not taking a step closer and keeping a big distance between them.

"It’s a long story," Aristoria answered.

"I’m all ears," Sanya responded with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

(At the same time near the Efiva Mountain or it used to be)

Serena removed the barrier when she knew it was safe. She was about to wake Doloran and the others up when suddenly she felt a faint demonic energy coming from the pit of the abyss. She narrowed her eyes and decided to walk toward the pit to see what it was.

She carefully walked on the rocks until she reached the edge of the pit. She took a deep breath when she noticed the demonic energy grew stronger the closer she was from the pit. She felt something was off as she slowly looked down to see what it was, but there was nothing but darkness.

"My my..." A woman’s voice could be heard from behind Serena.

At that moment, Serena felt chills down her spine and immediately turned around. That was when she saw Satan standing right in front of her with a cold smile on her face.

"That was quite a show, isn’t it?" Satan leaned in and suddenly pushed Serena into the pit of the abyss.