C2154 Traitor

A hundred thousand years ago, the Secular Bird Queen fell in the Annihilation Nebula, with the Dark Phoenix as the chief orchestrator behind the scenes.

Due to the Dark Phoenix's machinations, she unleashed the power of destruction and death in a frenzied, uncontrollable state.

Yet, it was Bertain, the Demon God, who had ordered her execution.

At Bertain's behest, his two mightiest Demon Gods, Saca and Sable, were involved in the act.

The most formidable of the Starborn, Dawnbringers, and Shura also united to strike her down in the Annihilation Nebula, marking her first tragic demise.

Her will twisted as the death symbol deeply ingrained in her soul took hold, especially after Bertain's arrival.

She now sought to annihilate all Sky Fiends in existence.

Bertain, Saca, Sable, Kaiya, Youqian, and all known supreme Sky Fiends were targets she yearned to obliterate with her death force.

"Secular Bird, it truly has been ages since we last met."

Bertain was somewhat moved. His initial intent was to address Saca, but unexpectedly, the Secular Bird Queen was alerted to his presence before Saca even noticed him.

"You?"

Upon closer inspection, Bertain's demeanor turned grave as he inquired, "Those symbols within her soul?"

Here in Zagreus, Bertain was unrivaled in his mastery of Mind Magic. He could detect symbols foreign to Chen Qinghuang's very essence within the recesses of her soul, symbols that could not evade his scrutiny no matter how well concealed.

"She's been tainted by an object that emerged from a spring deep within the Ashlands," Yu Yuan clarified.

Bertain paused, then questioned, "A bannerless pole?"

"You've seen it?" Yu Yuan responded in surprise.

"Within that palace, my devil soul, even in stillness, could perceive all," Bertain acknowledged, nodding. After a brief silence, he continued, "The death symbols etched on the bannerless pole from the Otherworld have manifested deep within the Secular Bird's soul. It appears that the actions of this secular bird bear the marks of another's meddling."

Bertain fell into contemplation.

Before his devil soul ventured into the Abyss, he had spent considerable time in the Ashlands, never overlooking the thirty-six enigmatic energy vortices.

Before his arrival, he had witnessed the transformation of thirty-six energy vortexes and had seen Reid defending one of them. Reid was guarding what was known as the "fountain," a source emanating a death aura and spewing forth emptiness.

As they faced each other, Bertain's true visage, revealed from beneath his armor, took on an enigmatic quality.

"How do you plan to deal with her?" Bertain inquired softly.

"Teacher, she and I..." Yu Yuan began, his brow furrowed.

He remembered Bertain as someone who was not only almighty and fearless but also exuded an infectious optimism. Yet, Yu Yuan was acutely aware that Bertain was anything but merciful.

Should Bertain decide that someone's existence threatened the order and balance of the Origin Realm, he would show no mercy. The Zagreus Astral Domain was the domain of the Sky Fiend race, and the catastrophic acts of a deranged Chen Qinghuang were evident there, with millions of Ghouls and the instant deaths of numerous Sky Fiends serving as stark evidence.

A hundred thousand years ago, under his command, Chen Qinghuang met her demise, and now Bertain had come in person. Yu Yuan inhaled deeply, his expression resolute as he prepared to speak.

Bertain, however, interjected, "You must eradicate all traces of Kaiya, Youqian, and my devil soul from within you. As for the secular bird... I will pardon her transgressions in Zagreus and leave her a path to survival."

"But Saca," he added, "must die here."

"Father!" "Patriarch!" "Youqian!" Kaiya and Youqian, taken aback by his declaration, cried out in alarm.

Bertain gestured dismissively, signaling that he understood their concerns.

"Saca has long sought to escape my shadow. Before the one who consumed the Everlands Primal Soul, I had good reason to command him and Sable to remain in Zionidall indefinitely, to aid in its guardianship. My life is eternal, and so is theirs."

"As long as I live, he knows he can never take my place, never command the Sky Fiend race, nor ascend to the rank of eleventh level supreme."

"Saca doesn't have the courage to oppose me; he is merely afraid. He harbors treacherous desires but lacks the nerve to act on them."

"The one who emerged from the Abyss emboldened him not long ago. He was fully aware of his actions."

As Bertain spoke, his devil soul and armor descended onto the meteor sea.

Boom!

The armor, though not particularly tall, struck the meteor like the heaviest iron mountain in existence, shattering it into fragments and reducing it to dust.

The dust and smoke obscured the sky, the thick devil clouds blurring vision and perception.

The armor had shattered the rule of Mother Earth within the meteor.

Saca's devil soul let out a harrowing scream, seemingly more wounded than by Chen Qinghuang's death force.

"Lord Bertain!"

Saca's main devil soul drifted over from the mountain of corpses.

He came before Bertain, scrutinizing his devil soul intently before suddenly declaring, "Bertain, you have disappointed Him!"

Upon noticing the undeniable purple glow emanating from the depths of Bertain's devil soul, Saca's reaction was not joy but a change in address. He dropped the honorific "Lord."

To him, Bertain had become a traitor, an outcast among the Sky Fiends, a target for eradication.

"Saca."

The typically hearty and boisterous smile vanished from Bertain's face. He gazed calmly at the Great Demon God Saca and said deliberately, "I recall giving you something that could preserve your spirit for an extended period. I instructed you to return it to me when the time was right."

Saca remained silent.

"What thing?"

Beneath the Dragon Slaying Stage, Youqian looked at Kaiya with curiosity. "What could possibly preserve one's spirit indefinitely? Elder, why didn't you keep it yourself instead of entrusting it to Saca?"

Kaiya shook her head, her expression blank.

Yet, Bertain's words immediately raised the scent of betrayal, and her gaze towards Saca turned icy.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten everything," Bertain's voice was as dark and empty as the void, the twin purple lights in his eyes piercing the soul. "That was a contingency I prepared for myself. I intended for you and Sable to send it to me when necessary."

"You or Sable, if either of you had thrown the item towards the Evil Temple or even as far as the Everlands, I might have awakened and restored my spirit."

Bertain was visibly disappointed, shaking his head as he spoke. "No, you've all failed me."

"Neither you nor Sable delivered what I needed to the Everlands and the Evil Temple. You both depended on that artifact to preserve your spirituality for so long. You've become this way by your own choice, desiring to draw nearer to him, to become an extension of his will."

Disappointment saturated Bertain's tone.

Saca remained silent throughout.

As Saca's primary devil soul drifted away, a mountain of corpses, constructed from Ghouls, surged toward him, stepping on floating meteorites.

Countless Ghouls, spread across the meteorite sea, converged on Saca.

The pale glow of the white light, like the probing tentacles of a death deity, flickered in and out of the dark fog, guiding the Ghouls.

All of Saca's devil souls, both the primary and the fragmented, were targeted by the white light imbued with the death force, directing the Ghouls to assault.

In the meteorite sea's skies, the wings of the Blue-Grey Divine Bird unfurled, nearly obscuring the heavens.

The ever-strengthening Divine Bird of Death crafted a domain that slowly expanded, encasing the vast meteorite sea and preventing cosmic energy from penetrating, allowing the death force to brew unchecked.

As Saca kept his silence and Bertain continued to speak, the Blue-Grey Divine Bird's icy, piercing gaze shifted from Saca to Bertain.

The Divine Bird's eyes bore the profound symbol of death, resembling crossed sickles poised to slice Bertain into segments.

With a slash, the tangible death force transformed into a ghastly white sickle. Amidst the Ghoul's shrieks and the Divine Bird's cries, it lunged for Bertain's exposed head.

The rampaging mountain of corpses and the multitude of Ghouls, with their hollow, numb gazes, suddenly focused on Bertain.

Chen Qinghuang, at the perimeter of the meteorite sea, her pupils emanating a grey-white ripple, appeared sinister and malevolent, as if a foreign will had taken hold of her.

An overwhelming surge of death force rushed forth from the annihilated stars and the Ghoul-infested lands.

The wings of the greenish-grey Divine Bird crackled with electricity, inscribed with numerous arcane symbols linked to the mysteries of death, forming a formidable barrier against Bertain's devil soul.

At this moment, Zhong Chichen wielded the Book of Time, weaving through the void to draw Loong Jie and Green Willow into its influence. Layers of barriers, akin to those connecting different worlds, enveloped Loong Jie and Green Willow on the pages of the Book of Time, shielding them from the insidious death force.

The Dragon Slaying Stage transformed into a resplendent purple-gold, its divine radiance as imposing as the cliffs of the Holy Mountain, safeguarding the Sky Fiends from any affliction. In the vicinity of the Dragon Slaying Stage, ninth-level Demon Gods like Mitts shuddered amidst the boundless spread of the Secular Bird Queen's power.

The evil soul and consciousness of Hamm, the Evil God, lay dormant within a gleaming silver statue, engulfed in eerie silence. Yu Yuan's face was etched with gravity. He sensed the death aura of the Secular Bird Queen emanating from the meteor sea, seeping endlessly into the surroundings. Should this relentless expansion persist, the psionic power of the Star River in Zagreus would become corrupted by the death force, including the Soul Power he could harness.

Should the entire Astral Domain become saturated with Chen Qinghuang's death aura, it seemed inevitable that all beings below the Most High in this realm would succumb to death. The Demon God Mitts, a ninth-level bloodline warrior and a cultivator of the Unbound, understood that without attaining the highest echelon or becoming a bearer of the human primordial spirit, one would be no more significant than an ant in the face of such might, lacking even the capacity to utter a word against the Secular Bird Queen.

Yet, fully aware that the situation was deteriorating, Yu Yuan refrained from intervening. His Solar Spirit was currently in Straikepera, poised before the icy mountain ranges, capable of breaching the void at any moment. His inaction stemmed from his faith in the Great Demon God Bertain, trusting that upon his arrival in Zagreus, he would surely quell the brewing tempest.

"When I am engaged in serious conversation, I do not appreciate interruptions," Bertain stated, his countenance betraying his annoyance.

​