The Key

"Pass down my orders." Kong Sai's expression twitched violently. "Limbo is of paramount importance; under no circumstances can it be lost! Everyone in the hub, retreat to the Layer of Despair and defend the holy relic! "And..." He paused for a beat, squeezing the words through his clenched teeth: "Release the Dragon of the River Styx to buy time!" Soon, high-pitched horns blared once more. From within the city came the rumble of collapse. A colossal silhouette rose amidst the billowing smoke and dust, unfolding bizarre scaled wings that blotted out the sky and sun. A roar shook heaven and earth. The first to waver, surprisingly, were the surrounding angelic legions still struggling to resist. Their battle lines fell into disarray, and they were already scattering in frantic flight. "The Dragon of the River Styx..." "Have they gone mad?!" "We're still here! Why hasn't the hub given us any signal?!" "Kong Sai—!" Within the boiling river of magma, massive chains slackened as angels released them. A colossal dragon draped in desiccated corpses and twisted faces rose from the raging flames, snapping its jaws wide to devour whatever crossed its path. It made no distinction between angel and demon. Within those eyes remained only pure thirst and greed, gorging itself with unrestrained gluttony. The demons' advance ground to a sudden halt. It was simply too massive, and it regenerated too swiftly. Even spears that plundered divine power could hardly inflict fatal damage in a short span. Instead, the moment a weapon made contact with its hide, hungry flesh would snap around it, holding fast and refusing to let go until the wielder became just another desiccated corpse bound to its body. Over the course of countless ages, having swallowed the flesh, blood, and souls of untold sinners, this chimera-like Dragon of the River Styx radiated a despair and madness so thick it was almost tangible, frenziedly preying upon everything before it. Until its deformed, staring pupils landed upon a slender, delicate figure. Unlike those demons reeking of pungent motor oil and steel, and unlike the angels that stank of foul slime, this figure radiated a fresh, unchanged aura. So sweet. No matter the distance, the instant it detected the presence of such a delectable soul, it could no longer restrain itself. Disregarding the encirclement of demons, it dragged its chains and charged forward in reckless abandon. Its rotting wings could not begin to lift its bloated bulk. Crawling like a writhing mountain range, it stirred up howling gales and billowing dust, dragging itself hungrily forward amidst thunderous reverberations. Step by step, it advanced. In the blink of an eye, it crossed the vast distance. Through the churning dust, that face—still bearing a hint of tipsiness—drifted into its sight, sweet and alluring like fresh dew resting atop poisonous sap. As for the lazy figure strolling beside her with his hands behind his back, the dragon paid him no heed whatsoever. So heedless was it that it never even noticed the casually lifted hand lightly tapping the air from afar. It was as though someone had pressed the pause button. The whole world fell dead silent. Upon Ji Jue's raised arm, the hand of steel disintegrated, replaced by an invisible spiritus hand. Devoid of color and form, it was like the empty void itself, yet like a black hole, it continually warped everything around it, rewriting dreams and revising reality. With effortless ease, it took the colossal behemoth into its grasp. "Quite an interesting plaything." Amidst the dead silence, Ji Jue scrutinized the object in his grasp, kneading and rolling it between his fingers. "A bit too impure, but at least it can be salvaged as scrap. I suppose I'll keep it for now." *Boom! Boom! Boom!* The screech of grinding steel erupted from the void. Interlaced iron crystals sprouted, extending, expanding, tearing through flesh, and driving straight into bone marrow. Piercing layer upon layer like heavy shackles, they stuffed the monster into a tiny cage. It could not even howl in agony. Only an uncontrollable shuddering and muffled whimpers echoed from within the small cage. Meanwhile, the two figures had already moved on without looking back. Immediately after—the Central Sanctuary was breached! Cutting through the defense like a knife through melon, they drove straight in. Every blockade and interception dissolved, collapsed, and turned to dust before that casually waved hand. Beneath the Central Sanctuary, in the second layer of Limbo, separated only by the Sealed Gate, Kong Sai was drenched in cold sweat, trembling uncontrollably. *There's still a chance. Don't panic, Kong Sai, there's still a chance!* *The offerings have been prepared, the sacrifices have been made! As long as the holy relic awakens, as long as the passage to the Divine Kingdom of Paradise is opened once more, everything will be fine!* *Soon, very soon—* *Snap!* In the dead silence, the sound of fracturing rang out. Upon the Sealed Gate—sturdy enough to withstand ten thousand tons and heavy enough to rival mountains—a tiny fissure appeared, followed by a dense web of cracks spreading outward. In the end, the crisp fracturing sounds cascaded together, turning into the immense roar of a collapsing iceberg. The Sealed Gate was reduced to ash and dust! Bloodstained steel demons drove straight inside, thick gore dripping ceaselessly from their faces and armor like a red carpet unrolling before them, until at last, that silhouette stepped within. As though returning to his own home, he ambled forward with effortless ease. His gaze swept casually over the battle-ready legion, dismissing them entirely as though looking through empty air, before finally coming to rest upon the blood-shrouded holy relic atop the altar. A sudden flash of realization struck him. "I see. So there was actually a 'key'?" Ji Jue let out a light sigh. "No wonder I couldn't find the passage to the third layer." The moment he heard that voice, Kong Sai—who had just been rejoicing that the relic was awakened and ready to activate at any second—could no longer contain his terror. His vision went black, and he shook like a sieve. *The third layer!* *Where on earth did these damned heretics learn of a secret so profound it could shake the entire Divine Kingdom of Paradise?!* Even he, upon assuming the rank of legion commander, had only learned the true significance of Limbo through veiled warnings during a private audience with the Pope. Yet in that instant, the terror and hesitation in his heart suddenly gave way to a cold, unwavering resolve! There was no longer any room to retreat. Every fallen soul who had heard the heretic's blasphemous words and seductions had to be purged. The heretics had to be drowned here completely. This vital secret had to be protected at all costs—failure was not an option! Within the boundless gloom of the second layer, before the solemn sanctuary, Kong Sai raised his scepter high and slammed it down. A thunderous crash echoed across the earth, low and heavy, carrying an undeniable edict. And so, within the boiling darkness, pyres slowly rose— The first layer of Limbo was where sinners and heretics who violated taboos and disrespected the deities were held, subjected to ceaseless torment and eternal agony amidst myriad tortures. What was sealed within the second layer of Limbo, however, were all rebels and anomalies who had posed a threat to the Divine Kingdom—including madmen who attempted to destabilize its foundations, fools who exploited Paradise's loopholes, and arch-culprits who stirred up immense turmoil for personal gain. Here, there were no tortures or agonies that could be felt. Quite the contrary: there was only nothingness. At the end of that darkness, in the deepest depths of Limbo's second layer—within the realm known as the Well of Lost Light—time was accelerated to the absolute extreme, such that a fleeting instant was enough to equal eternity. Amidst torment with no end in sight, the absolute void following the loss of all perception was enough to grind away any consciousness or sense of self, leaving all souls thoroughly bleached blank by the weathering of time. And those empty shells stripped entirely of consciousness would then be salvaged by the Order, thoroughly remodeled, and implanted with various mechanisms, turning them into reserve vessels capable of harboring divine power! All so that, in the final hour, they could serve as the ultimate fail-safe guarding Limbo! At this moment, a forest of pyres rose beneath the holy radiance. Emaciated, gaunt figures were nailed to them, their expressions numb and their eyes hollow, with scorching, radiant light spewing incessantly from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses. Divine power overflowed, nearly tearing those vessels apart. That power had condensed into something so tangible it surpassed even that of a Saint! The instant the holy relic inside the sanctuary was fully activated, a pillar of light connecting heaven and earth shot straight into the sky, tearing through the boundaries of Limbo, piercing the sky, and punching through the tempestuous, chaotic storm outside. That slender thread of a conduit drove straight into Tiancheng. Inside the Hall of Descent, Saint Chengwei, who had been waiting for a long time, clenched his hand without hesitation, tearing his own body apart and disintegrating it into nothingness. His consciousness descended from the heavens. Plunging into the deepest depths of Limbo, he opened his eyes once more. The divine power bestowed by the Holy God was unleashed here. Unlike the Annihilation of All Creation: Thunder of Heavenly Scourge bestowed upon Yidela, as the Guardian Saint, he was the impenetrable bastion protecting the Divine Kingdom of Paradise. What had been granted to him was a blessing that, so long as divine power remained, allowed a single individual to hold back ten thousand armies in times of need! *One Source, Ten Thousand Streams; One Mind, Ten Thousand Multitudes!* Even though it was merely a wisp of consciousness descending across the void into Limbo, in that very instant, responding to the transmission of divine power and the illumination of radiant light, the empty shells atop the pyres convulsed violently. Amidst the surging torrent of divine power, their features shifted, transforming into the likeness of Saint Chengwei. In fact, it wasn't just the pre-prepared vessels; even Legion Commander Kong Sai, who had activated the relic, and every remaining angel within Limbo were corrupted and converted by Saint Chengwei's power, becoming his hosts! Seventy-one vessels prepared for the Saint's descent, along with several thousand surviving angels and legionaries, were now all replicas of Saint Chengwei. More than that, there was no friction or discord among these virally multiplied selves, as though they had been born this way. Divine power circulated among them as one. Any single individual could draw upon the combined strength of the entire collective at any moment, and even if temporarily shattered, they could reconstitute at tens of thousands of times their normal speed. Under the boundless supply of divine power, they possessed absolute immortality! "Heretic, die—" Every Saint Chengwei glared with wide, furious eyes as their bodies abruptly swelled, turning into towering giants that propped up heaven and earth, looking down upon the minuscule dust at their feet. Within their raised palms, holy light coalesced into nearly solid spears of radiance radiating heat intense enough to rival the scorching sun, and thrust downward without hesitation! Yet in that very instant, it all came to an abrupt halt. The moment Ji Jue raised his invisible hand once more and lightly extended a single finger toward the firmament, thousands of overlapping spear points froze in midair! It was as though they had been locked in solid ice. No matter how much force they exerted, they could not advance an inch. Then, amidst this silence, a helpless sigh drifted through the air. "Every single one of you suddenly making yourselves so tall... it's really terrible for other people's necks, you know?" Ji Jue gave a soft sigh and told him: "Kneel." With that, a terrifying shockwave erupted, violently rocking the entirety of Limbo. *Boom—!* Collapsing roars burst forth like landslides, and a tempestuous gale swept through, nearly scouring every speck of dust clean. In a single blurred instant— *What happened?* The Saint froze in place. By the time he came to his senses, every single one of his selves was sprawled flat on the ground, prostrating completely. As though attending an imperial audience, they worshipped the sworn enemy of their God before them. Piously kowtowing!