Bexia had no idea that his reputation as the Demon of Misfortune had taken off overnight. The next day, as he walked through the Demon God camp, he noticed that many demons were giving him strange looks. The moment he got close, they’d turn tail and run as if they’d seen a monster.
With Lucifer trapped, Bexia was worried too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken on that mission.
Following the mission’s instructions, Bexia took a teleportation array to a valley. A simple palace had been built there, because the one besieging Lucifer was a Demon King!
“You new here?” As Bexia stepped out of the teleportation array, a demon guard immediately stopped him and asked.
“I took a mission to investigate Lucifer’s whereabouts!” Bexia showed him his token. The demon guard took it, gave it a glance, then impatiently handed it back. “Move along! Move along!”
“Another one coming here to get himself killed...” the demon guard muttered. Bexia heard him, though.
The place where Lucifer was trapped was an extremely unusual one. Time and space inside were in total disarray. One moment, you might be in the middle of a wasteland; the next, you could find yourself in a forest!
This was a place where time and space ran wild. Space folded in layer upon layer, while time sometimes sped up and sometimes slowed down. Without mastery over the power of time and space—or the ability to sense its traces—there was no way to survive in here. You might make it inside, only to find there was no way back out.
Following the map he’d obtained, Bexia arrived above a vast lake. Many of the Demon King’s troops were stationed nearby. As soon as he arrived, a squad of demon soldiers blocked his way.
“What kind of demon are you?” The demon squad leader was a pig-headed demon, his tusks reaching up to his nose. He looked terrifying.
“I’m here on a mission!” Bexia showed his token again. The pig-headed demon didn’t even look at it. He tossed it into the lake below, then pointed at Bexia and shouted, “I suspect this demon’s a spy! Seize him!”
The sudden turn of events left Bexia stunned. The pig-headed demon’s little performance was unbelievable—he was outright framing him with a charge pulled out of thin air.
“You’re framing me, you know?” Two demon soldiers had him in chains, but Bexia spoke with complete calm.
“When did I frame you? You don’t even have a token, and you can’t prove who you are. What else could you be but a spy?” The pig-headed demon grinned. “Take him away. I’ll give him a proper interrogation!”
“You’re sure about this...” Bexia frowned.
“Hahaha! Do you even know where you are? Here, I don’t care who you are! What, are you a Demon King or something?” the pig-headed demon roared with laughter.
Bexia understood now. They were picking on the weak and robbing them blind. Judging by how the other soldiers watched the show, this wasn’t the first time it had happened. Who knew how many demons had already fallen for the same trick?
Suddenly, he understood what the guard outside the teleportation array had meant.
“Hmph!” Bexia snorted. The chains around him shattered instantly. He grabbed both ends, swung the two demons still holding them, and hurled them at the pig-headed demon. Their bodies burst in the sky with a few “beautiful” red fireworks!
“What’s going on? Someone dares to start a fight here?” Bexia’s actions immediately drew the attention of the other demons. Guarding this place was their job, after all. Now that someone was causing trouble, they had to deal with it—or their superiors would make them pay.
Hundreds of demons immediately charged at him from every direction. Bexia frowned and released a portion of his aura. The demons rained down into the vast lake below like dumplings dropping into a pot. His terrifying pressure swept over the area like a powerful gust of wind. Any demon who got too close was slammed to the ground by an immense force, their bones seeming to groan in pain.
“Hm!?” Bexia quickly withdrew his pressure. He glanced back the way he’d come. An aura was rapidly approaching—the Demon King stationed at the palace he’d passed earlier.
“Better keep out of sight for now!” Bexia shot down toward the lake. He could fight a Demon King, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, he chose to lie low for the time being. Once he reclaimed the Demon Lord’s power, he wouldn’t need to hide himself anymore!
He passed through the surface of the lake—but not really. Instead, he went through a thin film formed by a strange power. The chaotic forces of time and space used the lake’s surface as their anchor, linking countless different spaces together. Below it, you might see a scene from some distant space—or a fragment from a time long past. In short, it was a real mirage!
“Splash!” Bexia emerged in an endless ocean. He broke through the surface and surveyed his surroundings. Two phantom gods stepped out of his body—the Phantom God of Time and the Phantom God of Space—and then fused with him.
This was a place where time and space ran wild. With the Phantom Gods of Time and Space bolstering him, Bexia was in his element. As soon as they had fused with him, he could see through the changes around him far more clearly. He could even avoid some of the unnecessary temporal and spatial turbulence.
