Beyond the Apocalypse-Chapter 1041: Return to the Primordial God Tomb

Vlad clenched his fists and drew in a long, steady breath before finally shaking his head. The weight pressing down on his chest had not vanished, but he could no longer allow it to control him.

"I need to overcome this," he muttered quietly. "I have to regain my ferocity. I can’t allow myself to hesitate in battle—no matter how strong the enemy is, no matter how exhausted I become."

He repeated the words in his mind, engraving them deep into his soul. With a final nod to himself, Vlad turned toward the distance and vanished in a flash of distorted space, reappearing at the designated gathering point.

The moment he arrived, his senses sharpened.

"There’s already someone here," he thought. "It seems I wasn’t the first to win."

It did not take long for the familiar figure of a small yellow cat to come into view. Vlad arrived just in time to witness the final stage of the ritual as the Lord-tier Demon Soul surged forward and plunged into Jormungandr’s heart.

The small cat’s body trembled violently as pain washed over his features. Unlike Vlad, the other True Depravitas had faced far greater difficulty sealing Demon Souls. None of them—aside from Vlad—had yet fully evolved their Depravita Path to the Lord Tier, making the process vastly more dangerous.

Yet difficult did not mean impossible.

Using every ounce of willpower and spiritual strength he possessed, Jormungandr focused on restraining the raging Demon Soul. He compressed its energy, suppressed its instincts, and began the painstaking process of assimilating it into his body.

Vlad remained silent, watching closely. His eyes were sharp and focused, ready to intervene the instant he sensed Jormungandr losing control.

Fortunately, that moment never came.

As time passed, the violent soul waves radiating from the small yellow cat steadily weakened. The chaotic energy grew more stable, signaling that the sealing was progressing smoothly.

A small smile appeared on Vlad’s face.

That smile widened when he sensed another presence arrive.

Overlord appeared beside him, standing calmly as always. The A.I. Chip Clone was alone, carrying no Demon Lord in tow. At first glance, it might have seemed like failure—but Vlad immediately sensed the truth.

The Demon Cage was already embedded within Overlord’s heart.

Overlord had completed the sealing in Abyss, just as Vlad had.

When Vlad focused on him, a faintly amused expression crossed his face. After all, the sight was absurd in its own way: an Archangel body, housing an Archdevil bloodline, with an Archdemon soul sealed within. Three existences that loathed one another to their very core—now bound together under a single will.

Only Overlord could make such a contradiction function flawlessly.

Just as Jormungandr completed his sealing and finished his evolution into a Lord-tier Demon Soul Master, the rest of the True Depravitas began to arrive.

Freya, Ouroboros, and Fafnir emerged one after another, each dragging their paralyzed Demon Lords behind them. After brief nods toward Vlad and Overlord, they wasted no time and began the soul extraction process.

It did not take long.

One by one, the once-mighty bodies of the Demon Lords crumbled into dust as their souls were torn free and dragged into the waiting Lord-tier Demon Cages. As the sealing began, solemn and pained expressions appeared on the faces of the True Depravitas.

The agony was immense.

Their bodies screamed in protest as foreign power invaded their cores, threatening to tear them apart from the inside. Yet none of them faltered. Their wills burned fiercely, driven by the same resolve: they would never again be helpless when facing the horrors of the Alien Domain.

They endured.

Vlad and Overlord observed silently, analyzing the changes unfolding within their companions. The process was intense, but mercifully short. When the True Depravitas finally rose to their feet, the auras emanating from their bodies surged explosively.

Each of them now carried a Lord-tier Demon Soul within.

Their power did not merely increase—it accelerated. Growth that once required years would now take months, perhaps even weeks.

Among them, no one felt the transformation more profoundly than the True Depravita of Gluttony. Jormungandr’s Depravita Sun trembled on the brink of a monumental evolution, its potential expanding far beyond its previous limits.

Still, such progress was not something to risk in hostile territory.

Without hesitation, the True Depravitas transformed into beams of energy and fused with Vlad, allowing him to assume his Ultimate Form. The Quantum Eye awakened fully, radiating impossible power.

Vlad placed his hand on Overlord’s shoulder.

The Quantum Eye glowed brilliantly, generating a massive vortex that swallowed both him and the A.I. Chip Clone, tearing them away from Abyss and hurling them across space.

Now strengthened by the Lord-tier Demon Souls residing within himself and his companions, Vlad’s power had grown enormously. The return journey to Terra took less than half the time it had required to reach Abyss in the first place.

Moments later, they stood once more within the Xaos Tower.

The True Depravitas and Overlord gathered, their expressions serious as they began to discuss their next move.

Overlord’s eyes glowed with sharp, calculating light as he spoke.

"I propose we organize a summit of all leaders of the Six Sun Alliance within one month," he said calmly. "There are no more short paths to growth remaining. From this point forward, we must rely on collective strength. We will need it—because we must return to the Primordial God Tomb."

At the mere mention of that place, the True Depravitas shivered. Each of them had nearly died there more than once.

Yet none of them objected.

They knew the reason. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Dream of Madness," Vlad said quietly.

The others nodded in unison.

Dream of Madness was sealed within that tomb. And it was only a matter of time before the Alien Powers made their move to free him.

After all...

He was an Empyrean.

Just the presence of the Master put the entire universe in check, as no one would dare to enter the green fog with that monster waiting inside. If there were two, things would get out of control.