Old Gu had confirmed the darkness of the prophecy was Ozul Ashfall.

That day, his meeting with the Heavenly Emperor had convinced him to take the actions he did today.

Realizing that the threat to him was a child who had yet to harbor such thoughts, the Heavenly Emperor deemed it unbecoming of him to target an innocent who had yet to commit the crime.

With such thoughts in his mind, Old Gu had convinced himself to take matters into his own hands.

He had complete faith in his late friend, the Wise Seer. And according to him, the existence of the Heavenly Emperor was tied to the fate of everything alive.

To protect everything, he had to protect the Heavenly Emperor, the ’Eternal Light’ of all the existing Realms and Broken Worlds. To protect him, he needed to put down the prophesized ’Eternal Darkness.’

But killing him was something he also couldn’t bring himself to do.

Reminded of the Abyssos Prison, an item that was directly tied to the Heavenly Emperor and also sealed the consciousness of those imprisoned, Old Gu convinced himself that it was better than killing the boy.

For this task, he had even taken help from the man known as the Demonic Emperor.

Old Gu was convinced that as long as the Heavenly Emperor was alive, Yasashii Hito could only struggle endlessly.

As such, even if he owed that man a favor, it wouldn’t matter.

The only threat to the Heavenly Emperor was the Eternal Darkness that he had already sealed in the Abyssos Prison.

"It doesn’t matter now. What is done is done." He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. The deed was already done.

"What about the Prison? Do you have it with you?" Yasashii Hito asked, curious about the item that he had only heard about, never personally seen.

"I threw it blindly. Even I cannot guess its location now," Old Gu shrugged once again.

"Haha... Alright," chuckled Yasashii Hito, his eyes gleaming, as if realization was taking place in his mind.

If it was a friend of the Wise Seer, Yasashii Hito knew there weren’t many things he would want to hide so secretly.

He stared silently at Old Gu for a while before muttering, "...Was that boy the prophesized Eternal Darkness?"

Judging from the shocked expression on the old man’s face, Yasashii had his answer. Unlike what others thought of him, he was well aware that he wasn’t part of the prophecy.

Yet, he didn’t care.

It didn’t matter if he was the one in the prophecy or someone else.

He would still do it. He would still covet to devour the Eternal Light.

He would rebel against the prophecy as he was rebelling against the Eternal Light.

. . .

In the Realm of Abezan, the situation was dire.

The prolonged fight between the Virtues and the Celestial Phoenix had destroyed a great part of the continent, destroyed many cities, and taken uncountable lives.

The average cultivators, who considered the war as nothing more than temporary tensions between the two opposing forces, were finally faced with the cold reality.

It felt like a cloud of anxiety and depression had eclipsed over the continent. It was rare to find smiling faces even in the far corners of the continent.

In Phoenix City, there was no time to rest for anyone. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Fortunately, the barrier protecting the city had only broken near the end of their battle. As such, only a few structures had been destroyed, leaving most of the city intact.

Among the soldiers, there was a sense of loss that they hadn’t faced before in this war.

Still, they were trained to fight even in the most hopeless situations.

Among the Sages, however, there was a peculiar solemnity that couldn’t go unnoticed by Ember.

Ozul had disappeared, and his strength alone was a big factor in why they were all alive today.

Ember and the Phoenix had both pressed Baoshi for answers, but it was apparent that no one other than Old Gu knew what he was doing.

In the end, she could only swallow this defeat and instruct everyone to get things back to how they were before.

The Celestial Phoenix was enraged about what had happened, but she also had enough trust in Jinx to set aside any worries. What triggered her rage was the fact that this incident had undoubtedly caused her to lose face in front of her Mother.

Paying a special visit to the courtyard where Ozul usually slept, Ember went straight to the Raven, Blaze, and Zier’s spot.

It had been a day since the battle ended, but there was no news of him.

A collective silence had descended on their group since Blaze told the others what exactly he had seen happen to Ozul.

Raven was sitting in Ozul’s usual place, staring vacantly into the air.

On the other corner, Blaze was channeling his frustration in training even harder than before.

Meanwhile, Zier was distracting himself by instructing Alda and Rameel in their cultivation. The two of them had also made this courtyard their home.

"I already have a team searching for him. This is not the time to sulk around," Ember spoke, making her presence known.

Blaze kept training, and Zier also feigned obliviousness, continuing to observe Alda and Rameel.

Raven, on the other hand, finally blinked. Turning her face toward Ember, she mentioned, "He was taken by that Heavenly Virtue."

Not being able to put a finger on her tone, Ember nodded, "Yes. It was a confusing situation. They used the other Virtue as a distraction-"

"It wasn’t confusing," Raven interrupted her, standing up in defiance.

Staring straight into Ember’s eyes, she added, "Both sides helped that old man."

The trio hadn’t stayed in the courtyard all this time.

While Ember had been busy managing everything, they had gone directly to consult with the Celestial Phoenix. She allowed them entry into her dimension, knowing what they had come for.

There, the Phoenix also truthfully told them that the Demonic Emperor wanted her to allow Old Gu to do whatever he wanted and that she had refused him.

"The Demonic Emperor betrayed you, and he betrayed Ozul," Raven stated in a cold tone. No longer was she calling him the Lord of Shadows.

Ember couldn’t reply to that. She felt bitter about this ordeal as well. Her subordinate was abducted while she was kept in the dark about the whole scheme.

But she could only stay silent and gulp down her anger and frustration. In the face of absolute power, even an Empyrean like her could only complain verbally.

It seemed, however, that the trio had come to a decision by themselves.

Blaze finally stopped punching in the air, and Zier came beside Raven.

"Neither the Demonic Emperor nor the Son of God wants Ozul’s return. As such, we cannot work with either side." Raven shook her head once again, confirming that there was no changing their mind now.

Even Ember cared more about her organization as a whole than Ozul. Although sincerely worried for his safety, her priorities were evidently different.

On the other hand, the three of them wanted nothing more than to find Ozul, even if it meant disrupting everything else.

They could’ve silently left Phoenix City, but they owed Ember at least that much. Additionally, they knew she wasn’t one to hold them back against their will.

Ember silently watched as the three of them stood resolutely in front of her.

Behind them, Alda and Rameel, the new Dragon Hatchlings, were training and pretending not to listen. However, she knew that they would also sneak away with the trio. Only they were too scared in her presence at the moment.

"Where will you go?" she asked, sighing in her heart.

She had always wanted to groom this fierce girl into her successor, so the feeling of loss was only growing in her heart.

"It doesn’t matter," replied Raven.

They weren’t leaving because they thought they would find him if they worked alone.

In fact, the three of them had a thorough understanding of the situation. Since a Virtue had taken Ozul, search parties were never going to find him.

They needed to get strong and then go after that old man, wherever he was.

The reason they were leaving was clear: the Demonic Emperor was not to be trusted now that he had orchestrated all of this.

Here, not just most of the soldiers, even two Sages were sent by him. If need be, all of them would betray Ember in favor of his commands.

Sensing the roughness in her voice, Ember realized that she hadn’t rested even after the battle had ended.

In fact, Blaze and Zier hadn’t sat down to rest either.

"Stay for a few days," she replied, sensing their inner demons taking root.

Before Raven could shake her head again, she pressed, "I am not stopping you from leaving. Just take a few days before you go."

Even if she couldn’t help them, the least she could do was let them have a few days with their thoughts alone.

Once they left Phoenix City, everyone would be their enemy, and they might never have time to rest.

She was an old Dragon, and her maternal instincts prompted her to take care of these Dragon Hatchlings one last time.

Though she felt it was her biggest loss to have lost Ozul and these three, she understood there was no use in trying to stop them now.

. . .

In an unknown place, a dimension isolated by light.

A consciousness continued to flicker.

It was dark all around.

A prison made not by manipulating emptiness but by commanding light to such a degree that there remained none here.

’Hmm...’