In another region with much denser darkness, meaning more void-born, two people strolled casually through it. They were a young man and a woman, and they looked to be a couple. At least that was what they were showcasing to the world around them.

The young man was tall, easily 7 feet with long silvery-white hair, deep red draconic eyes, dark skin, two long dark red draconic horns, and two tails, a blend of lupine and draconic, giving him a unique vibe. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt, folded at the hands, under a black vest, baggy brown cargo pants, and a pair of black boots. On the sides of his face were dark red scales that seemed to glow. Despite the loving atmosphere between him and the woman, his expression was cold.

The woman, on the other hand, was taller than him, standing at 7’3 feet. She also had long silvery-white hair but with gold tips, very pale skin that made her look like her skin lacked pigment. She was the perfect representation of a gothic with black lips and eyelashes. Her perfect figure was enhanced by the clothes she wore, which were the same as the young man’s, but with darker shades. Her left ear was adorned with multiple rings, and her eyes glowed with a deep golden light.

Unlike the man, her expression was lively, too carefree for the danger around them.

"Come on, babe! You shouldn’t act like that towards me..." she said in a cute voice, almost breaking the man’s focused expression.

"We are on a mission, Onyx. At least let’s focus and finish it fast, then we can go on our date," the young man spoke with a calm and assuring tone.

"I like this date more!" Onyx exclaimed, a faint blush adorning her cheeks, while her eyes gleamed.

For some reason, none of the void-born had attacked them yet, despite all her exclamations.

"Sometimes I wonder who is more childish between the two of us..." the man said with a sigh, though a faint smirk played at his lips.

"You hurt me with your words, Reggie," Onyx said as she stopped and squatted on the ground, her hair covering her face.

Regnare, seeing this, stopped, sighed, and moved towards her. He squatted in front of her, doing his very best to bonk her on the head, when she suddenly moved.

The action was so sudden that Regnare failed to react in time. One moment, he was squatting in front of her; the next, he was lying on his back with Onyx straddling him, her expression crazy, obsessive, and mischievous.

"Onyx..." Regnare tried speaking, but she placed her finger on his lips.

"Do you have another girl besides me?" Onyx asked with a smile.

"What are you up to?" Regnare exclaimed, finding the whole situation confusing.

Before Onyx could speak, they heard a ripping sound beside them. Onyx didn’t even turn; she just raised her hand towards the source.

"Do not disturb us!" she said coldly as a dark bolt shot from her palm. At the same moment, a huge 16-foot-tall void-beast with six heads had just come out of the crack in the darkness, only to meet the dark bolt.

It hit it with a resounding boom that erased everything 10 kilometers around it, including itself. It didn’t even know how it had died, while the void-born hiding in the darkness just happened to fall within the area of the attack.

Regnare just stared at this with a blank expression, but he was sweating inside.

’Is this what father has to deal with every time? I’m never going on the harem path. No matter what!’

"So... Reggie, back to my question. Do you have another girl besides me?" Onyx asked again with a cute smile, but what Regnare did was not what she expected.

"Cute," he said simply with a loving smile, making her blush profusely. If anyone told Ethan that his scariest spirit guardian was blushing like a teenage girl in love, he would have never believed it. Even if there was video evidence.

"Ah! Answer m~" Onyx exclaimed while hiding her face in her hand. She opened her eyes to see that she was now on the ground with Regnare on top of her.

"There is no other girl, and there will never be another girl. I assure you. Now let’s clear this region and go announce our relationship officially to my parents," he said with a confident smirk, and topped it up with a kiss on her lips, making her squirm under him.

’I don’t know how long I can keep calm with this girl under me...’ Regnare thought as he used all his willpower to calm down his raging little brother, while Onyx stared at it with a hungry look.

After that lover’s episode, they got up, patted each other clean of dust, and continued on their journey. Their mission was to locate the void core that was spewing the void-born, but it was protected by five Monarch-Realm void beasts.

Void-born were different from void beasts. Void-born were the original creatures created by the two dead Champions of Hades: Nyxirra and Kassiel. Void beasts were creatures turned by void essence. But most void beasts were stronger than void-born because the creatures who were being turned were already strong or had a certain level of power. Their transformation just enhanced their power and gave them more strength, making them much more powerful than void-born.

Soon enough, Regnare and Onyx reached an area covered by such darkness that even the sun would be useless there. The darkness was so dense that it felt tangible. It wasn’t like Delphina’s region, where they could at least pass through it and even use some light. This one was true tangibility.

The darkness formed walls all around them and above them. It was like they walked into a wide hallway. Regnare’s eyes suddenly glowed as he peered into the darkness.

"What in the Helheim are those?" he exclaimed in disgust, but his voice echoed loudly in the place.

"Those are abominations... I’m even better," Onyx said with the same disgusted tone.

"Don’t compare them to you, baby."

"I won’t again. Hehe!"

"You did this on purpose..."

"You can’t prove it."

"This..."

"Focus!"

Regnare’s hands shot out with a powerful force, muscles rippling as they transformed into claws and slashed a long, scorpion tail into pieces. The shockwave from his attack destroyed the walls of darkness four kilometers around him, revealing the attacker and its counterparts in full.

They were five in number, and they were truly abominations. One of them was a 23-foot-tall black spider with six snake tails, eighteen purple eyes that seemed to be dripping with tears, and claw ends on its legs.

The next was an 8-foot-tall scorpion with three tails, each with a differently designed stinger. One of the tails was missing a stinger, showing that it was the one that had attacked Regnare just seconds ago.

The third was a slimy creature with eyes all over it and screaming mouths on its human-like head and face.

The fourth was as tall as a skyscraper. It stood on two feet with three heads of different beasts: a lion, an ant, and a shark. Its claws were as long as a long bus. Just a single swipe could destroy half a city.

The fifth was a huge snake that seemed too fat to move. It lay, coiled protectively around a hovering orb, the side of a wrecking ball.

"That thing is definitely the void core," Regnare spoke in a dark tone. His eyes scanned through the void beasts in front of him. "I might have to use more than half of my power for this battle."

"You are free to use it. Remember that Master said you must win this battle. The more you use your powers, the stronger you become, especially with your Sin," Onyx said with a reassuring smile.

"But what if I..."

"That’s why I am here. You wouldn’t attack me out of anger, would you?"

"Never!"

"Good. Now teach those things that you are the bane!"

Like a signal had been given, the first two void beasts moved at the same time Regnare moved. Ice burst out of Regnare’s body, transforming into two long daggers. He moved...

The world snapped as Regnare vanished in a burst of frost, the air screaming as temperatures plunged past reason. The two ice daggers crossed in his hands, and when he reappeared, he was already inside the spider’s reach.

Its eighteen eyes widened... too late.

His blades flashed, one upward, one horizontal, and six serpent tails were severed at the same time. Black ichor erupted like boiling oil, hissing as it hit the frozen ground. The spider shrieked, a sound like glass grinding against bone, and slammed its clawed legs downwards.

Regnare twisted, ice forming beneath his feet, redirecting the force. The impact cratered the land, but he was already gone.

Just then, the scorpion struck. All three tails stabbed forward, space warping around the stingers.

Regnare caught the first tail barehanded.

Frost raced from his grip, crystallizing poison mid-flow. He yanked, spun, and used the frozen tail as an anchor, pivoting straight into the scorpion’s body. His daggers plunged in, detonating it from within. The scorpion howled as its armor burst apart, chunks of void-chitin raining down like meteors.

Before it could fall, the slimy one surged forward.

Its mouths screamed, their sound weaponized into psychic pressure. Regnare’s vision blurred as memories tried to claw their way out of him. Regret, rage, hunger, etc.

But that was the fuel he needed for his Sin to manifest fully.

Wrath.

A dark red halo snapped into existence behind him, fractured and jagged. His pupils bled into a crimson red surrounded by black sclera as frost-black flames wrapped around his arms.

"I am not ruled by you."