Chapter 43: The Sovereign's Throne
The massive doors of the Sovereign's Throne swung open, and black mist surged forth. Kukulin Bai Ye and his party instinctively leaped back to avoid being engulfed by the haze.
Even knowing that the [Contaminated Silver Coin] could resist secondary Abyss zones, none of them were reckless enough to step directly into the black mist.
"Let me handle this."
The Savior, Aisea, spoke up. In her female form, she excelled in speed, super regeneration, and controlling Mithril for mid-to-long-range attacks.
So-called Mithril wasn't actual silver; it was a manifestation of World Force. After becoming the Savior, Aisea's greatest gain was acquiring a portion of this power.
World Force differed from bodily energy—it was an extremely rare, consumable resource. Once used, it was gone. When a World Child obtained World Force, it would naturally merge into their Source Blood, creating the so-called Fate Blood within them.
Fate Blood primarily helped the World Child grow. When emotions ran high or life was severely threatened, Fate Blood would ignite, rapidly boosting the World Child's strength.
This wasn't cheating but an inherent ability—burning and depleting Fate Blood to grow stronger quickly.
Those granted World Force could fuse it into Fate Blood or other forms. For the Savior Aisea, she had already reached the top tier of her world before becoming the Savior, so she didn't need Fate Blood for growth.
Moreover, Aisea wasn't a naive World Child unaware of what she was receiving. She clearly sensed that her world had bestowed both responsibility and power, and she chose to use that power—World Force—as she saw fit.
The World Force Aisea obtained was permanently transformed into a semi-fluid metallic substance. Later, she stumbled upon the term "Mithril" in an ancient text, liked the sound of it, and named it accordingly.
Aisea stepped forward, raising one hand. Mithril coiled around her arm like water. As her fingertip touched the black mist, the cursed silver coin in her other hand grew warm. A faint film spread from the coin, enveloping Aisea like a cocoon, protecting even the finest strands of her hair.
Truly, the Demon Clan knew their craft when it came to Abyss energy. No faction in the Void dared compete with them in this regard.
"The silver coin works."
As soon as Aisea spoke, Kukulin Bai Ye was the first to step into the black mist beyond the door. As a Technique-type, he had the strongest close-combat perception among the group, making him best suited for sudden threats.
Lain Gold, also skilled in melee, excelled at head-on clashes but was slightly slower in speed and reaction compared to Kukulin Bai Ye.
Kukulin Bai Ye led the way, followed by Aisea, then the Sun Saint, Bubu Wang, and Baha. Lain Gold brought up the rear—a reassuring presence.
The throne room seemed vast, but the black mist limited visibility to less than three meters. The air was bitingly cold. The once-smooth marble floor had become rough, heavily eroded in places. Each step crunched, leaving footprints littered with gravel.
After a few steps, Kukulin Bai Ye noticed the surrounding black mist gradually fading. He realized it wasn't dissipating—his body was beginning to acclimate to this concentration of Abyss power. The mist became transparent to his eyes, eventually vanishing entirely. He had experienced something similar in the Dark Domain of the Treeborn World.
The throne room had sparse furnishings. Only faded murals lined the walls, depicting figures in armor. From their styles and builds, Kukulin Bai Ye guessed they were Wuying Soraro and his kind.
On the far wall hung a single massive portrait. It showed a towering figure seated on a throne, clad in pitch-black armor, with a two-handed greatsword thrust into the ground before him. The eerie green flames glowing within his helmet's eye sockets made anyone instinctively want to look away.
"This should be it. I once visited a realm where you could enter paintings. Touching this portrait is probably how you challenge the Nether Sovereign. Who's first?"
Baha spoke. Aisea stepped forward to try.
"Here goes."
Aisea held her breath, placing one hand on the portrait. She braced herself, arms crossed defensively, ready to counterattack with Mithril.
Nothing happened.
"Over here."
A shout drew their attention. Aisea, the Sun Saint, and Baha turned to see Kukulin Bai Ye and Lain Gold standing in the center of the hall. Lain Gold had pulled a lever, nearly 1.2 meters long.
Clank, clank, clank—
The floor in the center of the hall opened. A spiral staircase rose with the sound of machinery.
The mechanism groaned for a while before stopping. A winding metal staircase led upward. Kukulin Bai Ye was the first to ascend.
As he climbed, the cursed silver coin in his pocket grew hotter, indicating that the Abyss energy was becoming denser the higher they went.
Sensing this, Kukulin Bai Ye adjusted his plan, deciding to bring Bubu Wang and Baha along to the top of the throne room.
The path was clear. When the spiral staircase ended, Kukulin Bai Ye entered a cylindrical chamber. It was small—only a two-meter-wide ring of floor around the central hole where the staircase emerged.
Another metal door blocked their way. This time, there was no key. The door, coated in something like crude oil, had been deeply eroded by Abyss energy and would be extremely difficult to destroy.
"It's been a long time since I've had visitors."
A face on the door spoke, showing a harmless smile.
Seeing this, Kukulin Bai Ye frowned. He suspected this was a sentient Abyss Spawn—a parasitic or symbiotic entity. Most likely, it was trapped on this door, waiting for an unlucky soul to latch onto and escape the throne room.
Bubu Wang took action. He pulled out a phone, opened the camera, snapped a photo of the face on the door, and sent it to Kaisa. Then he started a timer.
Five seconds later, Kaisa appeared beside Lain Gold, startling him so much he nearly threw a punch.
"My dear friend, you always think of Kaisa when there's good fortune."
Kaisa rubbed his hands together with a lecherous grin. The face on the door lost its smile, its eyes widening. Before it could speak, Kaisa pressed his hand against it.
"Ahhh!!"
A piercing scream echoed as the face was peeled off the door, as if encountering its natural enemy.
Kaisa turned and leaped into the spiral staircase shaft, vanishing. He knew a battle with the Sovereign was imminent, so he made a swift exit.
With the face removed, the double doors blocking their way creaked as internal mechanisms disengaged, freeing the lock.
On the way here, Kukulin Bai Ye had changed into the more defensive [Wild Hunt Night] long leather coat. He activated a golden mark on his cuff. A blue-gold array, 20 centimeters in diameter, appeared in midair. Xianlulu emerged from it.
"Wow, big shot, you finally summoned me—"
Xianlulu popped out cheerfully. But as soon as it was halfway out, its cat-like pupils contracted to pinpoints. Its tail bristled to the max. The malice and terror emanating from the surroundings, like the depths of darkness and the endless Abyss, nearly made the timid Xianlulu faint on the spot.
Xianlulu tried to flee, but Kukulin Bai Ye grabbed it. Tears welled up in its eyes as it asked, trembling, "Wh-where is this?"
"The Sovereign's Throne."
"The Netherworld's Sovereign's Throne?!"
Xianlulu's voice cracked. Hearing this, Kukulin Bai Ye raised an eyebrow, surprised by its knowledge of the Netherworld.
"We... we're not here to challenge the Nether Sovereign, are we?"
"You guessed right."
Hearing Baha's amused reply, Xianlulu was so "happy" that tears sprayed from its eyes.
Since it was already here, Xianlulu couldn't flee until a certain time passed or Kukulin Bai Ye died. So it chose to "hang" onto him. In this state, it couldn't be attacked, but it was still terrified.
[Tip: Light Elf Xianlulu has attached itself to you.]
[When Xianlulu is attached to you, your True Intelligence attribute and maximum Mana Points will enhance Xianlulu's buff effects/healing output and reduce its skill cooldowns.]
[Your Intelligence attribute is 252 points. Xianlulu's buff effect increased by 23%, healing output increased by 17.3%, skill cooldown reduced by 2.2%.]
[Your Mana Points are 57,398. Xianlulu's buff effect increased by 3.5%, healing output increased by 5.2%, skill cooldown reduced by 93.6%.]
[When attached to you, Xianlulu's buff effect overall increased by 26.5%, healing output increased by 22.5%, skill cooldown reduced by 95% (95% is the cap).]
[You receive the following buffs.]