After a brief, heavy silence, Warden Corendan managed to completely adjust his mindset and emotions.
Tossing his anxiety and panic to the back of his mind, he set about handling the tasks before him. Though his movements remained somewhat stiff at first, they gradually fell into an orderly rhythm, and the atmosphere in the office shifted toward harmonious efficiency.
The three Resurrection priests still did not step away from his side. Like professional debt collectors, their eyes remained locked on him, not shifting away until they had supervised him through completing every detail with maximum haste.
"I am processing everything for you at full speed. Please rest assured."
Warden Corendan kept his head down, meticulously signing and stamping document after document to ensure every detail complied with the regulations. He spoke much faster now, his voice dripping with an earnest plea for patience.
After granting these intern guards special top-tier evaluations, he added an extra annotation: The interns were exceptionally outstanding; at their request, he was making a special exception to send them into the prison's inner levels.
Immediately after, Corendan hurriedly handed the documents to the three Resurrection priests.
Taking the papers, the priest swiftly strode over to Hyperion and presented them with both hands.
"Lady Milian, please review them," the Domination priest requested in a low, somber voice.
"Everything is in order," Hyperion said, holding back tears as she accepted, examined, and confirmed the documents.
The priest respectfully took the paperwork back and handed it to Warden Corendan, commanding him to register the documents into the magic engineering apparatus linked to Herrom Prison's boundary barrier.
Hyperion watched it all unfold.
It certainly was effortless.
She could now appreciate just how easy and pleasant life was as a high-ranking figure in the Protos Empire's branch of the Resurrection Church.
Even setting aside the fact that she was a priest of the Church of the Goddess of Fate, however, she felt an academy graduation practicum should never involve cornering a department head and bossing him around like this.
She could only hope the Ice Snow Witch would still be willing to hear her explanation when the time came.
Two minutes later.
"Everyone, everything is taken care of. We may proceed."
Having finalized the procedures, Warden Corendan stood up, his posture somewhat stiff and deferential, and personally invited the intern guards to depart.
When he spoke to Hyperion, his tone bordered on consulting a superior.
After all, the three thugs answered to her command, and that intensely alarming black-haired, green-eyed girl was also led around by her hand.
It was glaringly obvious that Miss Milian Milford was the ringleader of this band of villains.
"Take us to the teleportation hall," Hyperion said, having lost any desire to talk.
"This way, everyone."
Warden Corendan raised a hand, gesturing for the intern guards to follow him out of the office, and led them through the prison's interior corridors.
The corridors were deep and tranquil, lined with paintings and lamps that cast a soft glow to illuminate their path.
Walking in front, Warden Corendan occasionally glanced back to ensure the interns were keeping pace. He inadvertently displayed a friendly effort to smooth over the earlier misunderstanding, offering minor tips about Herrom Prison or simple pleasantries.
While his efforts might not completely dispel the prior awkwardness and unpleasantness, the shift in his attitude at least showed he was trying.
"..."
All of this only made Hyperion feel more tortured.
She was certain the Ice Snow Witch watching from the higher-dimensional space was enduring equal agony right now, perhaps even questioning her life and wondering how the disciple she had personally raised could possibly behave like this.
Before long, the group arrived at the prison's teleportation hall.
At the center of Basement Level 1's hall, raised upon a high platform, stood the gigantic void teleportation gate. Mysterious ancient runes were carved into its dark gray frame made of crystalline marine ore, while the deep violet mirror surface in the middle shimmered with a mesmerizing, otherworldly brilliance.
Warden Corendan climbed the steps before the teleportation gate and drew his crystal key from an inner coat pocket.
He gently slotted it into the control console beside the gate. As the key engaged the slot, the gate trembled faintly, and its luminescence flared brilliantly.
"If you proceeded downward normally, you would only need to complete your assessment on Basement Level 3 before choosing to leave. But if you bypass the outer layer and go straight to Basement Level 4, your only way out of the prison will be to fight all the way down to Basement Level 6. Down on those bottom three levels, neither the prisoners nor the wardens are normal. Even Chief Warden Bakas is reluctant to set foot there. I have explained all the risks to you clearly. If any accident befalls you, I had no hand in harming you."
Warden Corendan emphasized this with exceptional caution. After carefully reading their expressions, he activated a recording crystal to capture this statement.
Herrom Prison's outer layer—Basement Levels 1 through 3—and its inner layer—Basement Levels 4 through 6—were essentially two entirely different prisons.
Starting from Basement Level 4, even without interacting with any inmates, merely lingering on that level posed immense mortal danger.
"Understood," Hyperion replied with a nod.
Long before coming to the Protos Empire, she had heard the Ice Snow Witch explain why the levels holding the three great demons were so terrifying.
Back in the ancient Demon Realm, the bottom three levels of Herrom Prison were once forbidden zones dedicated to the sacred ritual known as the 'Great Demon Trial.' At set intervals, the spell arrays and prisoners of those three levels were swapped and rotated, so there was no telling what one might encounter upon stepping into Basement Levels 4 through 6.
The only certainty was that they were miracles constructed from the magical arts of the ancient Demon Realm.
The Ice Snow Witch was confident that, as Efatia's daughter and a member of demon royalty, Hyperion's aptitudes would not be lacking.
Although Herrom Prison's renovation had reduced the danger by over ninety percent so that guards entering would not encounter perils equivalent to the ancient Demon Realm's rituals, anyone intent on courting death could still trigger the Great Demon Trials.
If a demon could rely on their own strength to fulfill the extraordinarily harsh conditions, conquering a Great Demon Trial or earning the allegiance of a great demon, they would obtain a title soul mark.
Nine fixed title marks corresponded to the nine Great Demon Trials.
And whenever a great demon attained a title unique to themselves, they gained a single opportunity to bestow a title mark upon another demon.
A century ago, the Demon Realm possessed nine distinct Great Demon Trials. Following their defeat, these had been scattered across several locations, and Basement Levels 4 through 6 of Herrom Prison were converted from three of them.
The rest had either been destroyed or lost to time.
Among the nine trials in total, four tested character and mind, four tested martial prowess, and one required the recognition of the Ancestral Soul.
Possessing three marks—with at least one of character and at least one of martial might—allowed one to become a great demon, commanding the submission of ordinary demons and unlocking the path to reaching the ultimate form of their demon innate magic.
If those three marks included the Ancestral Soul trial, or if they earned the recognition of the contemporary Demon King, they would further attain an official title.
Otherwise, even if they became a great demon, they would remain an unrecognized 'nameless great demon.'
With six marks, a demon's physical traits would undergo a metamorphosis, marking an aptitude bordering on that of a Demon King.
Any demon who attained all nine marks was known as a quasi-Demon King. If there were no other competitors in the same era, they were the Demon King.
Only a Demon King possessed the specialized dominance and commanding authority over all other demons.
Chapter 400