Vision, hearing, touch...

All basic senses, everything is stripped away.

Even the soul.

In pure darkness, all are silently lamenting.

Demon God Valley seems to have merged with the surrounding darkness.

At every moment, trying to completely erase his existence, assimilating him into a part of this darkness.

Aster Grant dared not be careless, relying on his sixth sense to be fully on guard.

But after some time, there was still no sign of Demon God Valley making a move.

Gradually, Aster Grant noticed a clue.

It wasn’t that Demon God Valley hadn’t acted against him, but...

Demon God Valley had already merged with the barrier that enveloped him.

It is Demon God Valley, and Demon God Valley is this eternal darkness.

Realizing this, Aster Grant’s brows furrowed tightly.

To kill Demon God Valley, the darkness like a barrier must be destroyed.

But now, trapped within, let alone destroying it...

Even using his own power is a luxury.

He tried to move, but he seemed to be in the deep sea.

Every move, he endured boundless pressure.

Moreover, in this darkness, time had lost its meaning.

Every second was infinitely stretched, becoming a torture against his will.

The darkness wasn’t just a simple energy but carried Demon God Valley’s will.

Like worms, incessantly polluting his soul, attempting to assimilate him.

He even felt it.

He was slowly and irreversibly dissolving in this darkness.

The loss of perception magnified this feeling infinitely.

Fear and despair continued to grow in the depths of his heart.

If it were an ordinary Totem Fourth Tier.

They would’ve likely already mentally collapsed, voluntarily merging into this eternal darkness.

"I must do something..."

Aster Grant growled in his heart, forcing himself to calm down.

He tried to mobilize his inner power, but as soon as the Divine Power left his body.

It was instantly absorbed and extinguished by the surrounding viscous darkness.

He tried to call through the Soul Link to Lazuli, Vera, and Veridia.

But the other end of the link transmitted only extremely faint, intermittent fluctuations, as if it could extinguish completely at any moment.

Helplessness.

Unprecedented helplessness.

Almost drowning his rationality and swallowing him.

Is this the true power of the Demon God?

Not direct attacks, but creating an absolutely unfavorable environment, eradicating the opponent’s existence meaningfully.

In such a state, any skills, any techniques seemed pale and ridiculous.

"Is it really over?"

A thought uncontrollably emerged, but he fiercely extinguished it with even greater willpower.

No, absolutely not!

If he gave up, everything would be over.

Not only him but also Lazuli, Vera, these Beastbonds, and Zane Drake, Summer Gardner, and the Human Race Alliance.

Even the whole Alternate Space would be lost in the hands of Valley.

He couldn’t give up, nor fall.

However, reality was harsh.

His power seemed to have no effect on this darkness.

Where is Demon God Valley?

How to contact Lazuli?

How to leave here?

Everything was unknown.

Darkness itself was the most powerful weapon.

Just as Aster Grant’s mindset showed a slight fracture.

The Beast Taming Contract belonging to Lazuli suddenly started to beat violently and recklessly!

...

"Master... Master!"

"Where are you?!"

"Respond to me! I beg you... respond to me!!"

Lazuli’s consciousness, in the vast, suffocating depths of darkness, was already on the verge of collapse.

The weak and intermittent Soul Link with Aster Grant made her more fearful than death.

She couldn’t perceive Aster Grant’s position, nor could she know his safety.

She could only feel that the Beastbond Link was like a flickering candle in the wind, ready to extinguish completely at any time.

If the Beastbond Link extinguished, the consequence...

She dared not imagine it further.

Extreme fear and worry transformed into fuel, igniting her heart.

"Find the Master!! Leave here!!"

A silent scream exploded in her core of consciousness.

She no longer cared about her own consumption or considered the suppression of the surrounding darkness.

She even went as far as burning her divinely stabilized Divine Position.

Under her all-out self-destructive pressure, the growth within her body appeared exponential.

"Buzz---!!!"

A weak yet extremely pure and searing.

Carrying all of Lazuli’s will, the scorching white Heart Fire suddenly appeared in the darkness.

This Heart Fire was the coalescence of Lazuli’s existential will, the concentration of all her power.

Following that, this Heart Fire recklessly surged toward Aster Grant along the Soul Link!

"Sizzle---!"

The Heart Fire traversed the boundless viscous darkness.

Each inch forward was devoured, worn, and assimilated by darkness crazily.

Lazuli’s aura withered at a terrifying speed, her Divine Position’s essence violently turbulent, even showing tiny cracks.

But she ignored it, merely desperately and at any cost maintaining the transmission of this strand of Heart Fire.

Finally.

This strand of Heart Fire, faint to the extreme, pierced through layers of darkness obstruction, reaching Aster Grant.

"Lazuli?!"

Aster Grant’s entire body trembled!

The strand of Heart Fire accurately collided into his core of consciousness!

In an instant, coldness and helplessness were dispelled, a torrent of warmth and majestic power surged from the depths of his soul!

"I’m here! Lazuli! I’ve always been here!"

Aster Grant roared deafeningly in his heart.

Then he proactively opened his heart.

Transforming his own unwavering will, his trust in Lazuli.

Into an even more intense and determined golden flood, recklessly colliding with the strand of soon-to-be extinguished scorching white Heart Fire!

Two wills, in absolute darkness, at the edge of life and death, recklessly collided, melded, and resonated!

"Boom---!!!"

Silent explosions burst open at the deepest core of their souls!

As if two near-extinguished stellar remnants found their missing parts in The Void.

Instantly triggering a chain reaction, releasing light and heat beyond the limits!

Aster Grant’s pale golden Divine Light, as if injected with fuel, transforming into a fiercely burning blaze!

And Lazuli’s faint Heart Fire, after receiving Aster Grant’s will response and power nourishment.

Suddenly expanded and erupted!

Two beams of light, one golden and one white, in the fusion and resonance of wills.

No longer distinguishing each other, beginning to rapidly rotate and intertwine, transforming into a dazzling gold-white spiral light pillar.

Using the connection point of their wills as the core, fiercely breaking through the final darkness barrier between them!

Light was born!

At the core of this absolute dark domain tainted by Demon God’s will, devouring everything.

A strand of hope, born from the resonance of Aster Grant and Lazuli’s will, was born!

More importantly, through this light, Aster Grant could clearly perceive Lazuli’s presence.

Their consciousness, also in this survival and shared resonance.

Linking together more tightly than ever, becoming inseparable.

...

...