"Congratulations on becoming an Immortal. How do you feel in general?" Princess Pandora asked the moment Kent opened his eyes on the outside.

"Pretty good. I don’t feel like abandoning these people anymore."

A pale smile formed on his lips. When he had only just recovered the Ruthless Bandits’ memories, he considered abandoning them. However, now, he doesn’t feel the need for that anymore.

If anything, he feels more like he must protect them.

In a way, they are the first race of people who cultivate true evil energy like him.

Their presence gives birth to natural evil energy, so they are unique and perfectly align with his evil path. If one day he becomes a god and inherits the power of faith, they would be his source of power.

Hearing his response, Princess Pandora smiled. "Good you said that. I was about to tell you to keep them protected because guess what, the entire Star Realm is about to change now that you have returned."

"Good for me, I suppose. In any case, how are they doing?"

"Those who had inherited the Mark of Evil have been pulled into a unique Trial of Evil that even I don’t know where it came from. Some have already passed it, including my mother.

She is now different and very dangerous. You would have to see for yourself what kind of monsters you have, in a way, created. Honestly, even I am in shock after seeing the kind of people they have become."

For someone who is stronger than a Celestial at the peak to be shocked by something Kent had created, that can only mean the thing in question is impossible.

"I will see them later. For now, I have to examine a few things before leaving for my mission."

Princess Pandora nodded.

She herself had to leave.

Now that Kent had returned, she had no reason to keep waiting for him in her afterimage. Her real body is hidden somewhere in the Tormented Chaos Abyss, so soon, they will reunite properly.

"Take this. It is the item you must take with you to the Tormented Chaos Abyss. The moment you get there, it will take roughly 66 days for me to awaken, so you must do your best to survive that long."

"I will."

After handing over the item to Kent, she vanished.

Kent examined the metallic item in his hand for a few minutes before tossing it into his space ring. He stood up and examined his body. Feeling the power surging through his body, Kent smiled and clenched his fist.

"I wonder how long it would take me to kill the Crimson Blood Demon General," he muttered, already anticipating the battle he would be fighting before moving to Elina’s Galaxy.

Kent examined more of his body before shifting his attention to the change he noticed inside his Faceless Shadow Realm.

The moment he activated the Faceless Shadow Realm, the entire space was covered in darkness. If someone were present, they would think the god of darkness had appeared in the space.

Meanwhile, Kent, who happens to be at the center of everything, smiled upon seeing three figures standing inside the shadow realm.

They are humanoids clad in dark cloaks that seem to ooze shadowy energy. Two of them are Immortal Monarchs, and one is an Immortal Lord.

"Since any shadow fiend is three realms above me, then this means the two Immortal Monarchs were True Immortals when they were awakened, and the Immortal Lord was an Immortal King.

This also means wherever the kill came from, they had killed 200 True Immortals and 10 Immortal Kings. Just which of my legion was responsible?"

The tower appeared and hovered before Kent. "It appears your soul warriors are doing better than expected. I just checked, and it appears they are itching to take down Stone City.

Honestly, I think the master shouldn’t worry about them at all. They will handle everything as it should, so the master should go to the Tormented Chaos Abyss and handle his mission there."

"So that was why, huh. Good to know." Learning his soul warriors were doing better than he expected, his expression brightened. As long as they are fine, he has nothing to worry about.

Turning his attention back to the three shadow fiends, he spoke, "Can you three talk?"

They turned and looked at Kent but said nothing. This told him they might not be able to speak. However, he could tell they understood what he said, so he issued a command. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Go to Stone City and aid my subordinates in subjugating it. Make sure they are protected from all kinds of harm."

They nodded and vanished from the shadow realm. After they were gone, Kent deactivated the realm and focused his attention on his mission.

He now has a chain quest that requires him to be inside the Tormented Chaos Abyss first before it would activate.

Knowing it would lead him to his final opponent, the Crimson Blood Demon General, he smiled and decided to go see the High Priestess again before leaving.

***

Meanwhile, standing atop a mountain 30 km from Stone City, Bello, Kenna, and Calix gazed at the towering fortress.

"So what did you two find?" Kenna asked, her focus rooted on a towering stone tower standing at the center of the city.

Calix was the first to answer, "It appears the King of Stone City had prepared well. Aside from him and his general being a demigod, there is another demigod hidden inside an underground chamber.

I don’t know where he came from, considering he looks nothing like any of the beings in the other cities. However, I can tell he is a bit stronger than the Stone King."

Bello took over, "I have also determined the meeting point of the three armies. The warriors of Wind City and Lightning City would meet the stone warriors in a forest 40 km away from Skull City.

They would each be sending 50,000 Immortal Lords and 400,000 Immortal Monarchs and below. If we don’t intercept them early, we might just miss the window."

Kenna smiled, her spear trembling beside her. "No need to worry, I have already killed over 200 important warriors and weaponized them in place. I was just waiting for you two to return so we can start the assault."

Bello and Calix turned and looked at each other. They never expected Kenna to have made this much progress already. However, upon hearing what she had done, they could only smile and give her a thumbs-up.

Just as Kenna was about to tell them her plan, three shadows appeared and transformed into dark-cloaked humanoids.

"Who are you guys?" Calix asked, his scythe poised for an attack.

One of the shadow fiends, the Immortal Lord, bowed slightly and spoke in a formal tone, "Greetings, fellow hunters. I am by the name Clipper. My companions and I were sent by Lord Faceless to come aid you in your conquest."

"Oh, so the master sent you," Kenna and her friends said, dropping their guard.

Just when she was about to introduce herself and her friends, Kent’s voice entered their heads,

"Guys, I will be going away for a while. While gone, use the time to subjugate all 11 cities and bring them under the control of Skull City.

I have sent three deadly assassins to your aid and will probably send more later. In a few days, you will receive 400,000 warriors to aid in your expedition.

I will leave 11 contracts inside the Soul Universe. Whenever you capture a city, they must sign that contract.

Lastly, make sure all warriors are sent to Skull City to undergo the Trial of Evil. A subordinate of mine will add more context when she meets with you."