Chapter 6 Into the Depths of Hellraum Prison

Deep within the sixth level of Hellraum Prison.

Inside the illusion, a black-haired girl stood alone in a hazy, shifting space of light and shadow.

Her green pupils, like two bottomless lakes, silently reflected the changing scenery around her.

The black-haired, green-eyed girl, who had been inspecting the cell doors, suddenly felt the boundaries of the prison corridor distort. Space rippled like water, followed by a rain of knives falling from the sky.

The blades and swords gleamed with a silvery light, instantly piercing the girl's body and staining the metallic sheen with a layer of crimson.

Yet, like an immortal, the girl stepped through the blades, continuing her inspection work with unwavering focus.

On the black-haired, green-eyed girl’s skin, each wound was deep enough to reveal bone, and fresh blood flowed slowly along the blades.

Before long, the blood evaporated upon contact with the air, as if it had never existed.

The illusion dissipated, leaving the great love poet with black hair and green eyes unharmed.

However, before she could reach another cell's metal door, flames began to writhe and leap on the ground like living things, endlessly covering the floor from crimson to golden yellow.

The great love poet continued into the sea of fire. The flames scorched her snow-white skin until it was a bloody mess, then charred black, crackling as they burned. She proceeded calmly, as if without pain.

"Good thing it's me. Putting Hyperion through the [Upside-Down Path to Rebirth] would be a real ordeal."

The black-haired, green-eyed figure's lips moved slightly as she murmured to herself.

He knew these illusions were fake, so as a staunch materialist, he felt no fear.

As for the pain, since he was controlling a doppelganger, the main senses remained with his main body. Although the pain in the illusion was indeed painful, it wasn't enough to knock him unconscious.

As Lanqi thought this, the sea of fire suddenly cooled, turning into a vast expanse of ice and snow.

The edge of the prison rippled again, forming an even deeper world.

The great love poet was pulled into a new illusion by an irresistible, invisible force. All around was boundless darkness and piercing screams.

Snow fell from the sky. Each snowflake had a unique shape, crystalline and translucent, with a black luster that dimmed the world before the great love poet. The corrosive toxic snow steamed upon contact with her body.

Yet the great love poet's calm eyelashes were frosted with tiny ice crystals, and her steady breath turned into white mist in the cold.

She endured the pain, maintaining her balance as she moved forward.

Along the way, the illusions shifted countless times, and she witnessed countless collapses. The great love poet's figure never wavered, diligently completing the prison inspection duties.

Eventually, it seemed the illusions grew tired, unable to faze the figure slowly progressing through the corridor. The [Upside-Down Path to Rebirth] barrier magic ceased, no longer fluctuating.

Silence lingered in the corridor.

Until, after several breaths, the howl of the cold wind grew louder, as if the Grim Reaper of winter had swept through the empty corridor.

This time, it was not an illusion, because the interior of the sixth level was already an extremely cold prison covered in frost and snow.

In the surrounding air, snow mist and transparent magic converged, forming a chilling cold air that came for the black-haired, green-eyed figure, enveloping her in its domain.

At the deepest center of Hellraum Prison, the indestructible, ninth-tier ancient barrier began to ripple, triggering the supreme technique and causing subtle ripples to spread, filling the air with a layer of illusory mist.

In mid-air, powerful and heavy magic gathered, bearing not only the fluctuations of the [Upside-Down Path to Rebirth] but also an even deeper, fear-inducing power, as if a giant palm of a Great Demon from the ancient demonic realm had descended through time.

A translucent halo formed around the black-haired, green-eyed great love poet. Magic gathered and intertwined in the air, while the surrounding ice-cold air suddenly surged toward the poet's brow.

The magic grew stronger, causing Antanas and Sinora, on the other side of the sixth level, to feel an indescribable pressure.

In the teleportation hall.

"Your Majesty, did she succeed?"

Sinora gazed at the frost-covered dome of the sixth level and asked in surprise.

Even she was unsure of the conditions for obtaining the Great Demon mark in the [Upside-Down Path to Rebirth].

"She definitely succeeded. These trials of character are not difficult for her at all."

Antanas nodded. She was now convinced that the new king had caused similar fluctuations on the previous fifth level.

Although Antanas still didn't know how the King had defeated her own illusion unscathed in such a short time.

Now she only felt that the King was becoming more and more unfathomable.

It was truly Talia's blessing to have such a wise new king.

Antanas and Sinora were both curious and hesitant to investigate the situation on the sixth level, and only waited according to her orders.

Once the permissions for the sixth level were opened, they would immediately confirm the cell of Truth-Prajna and rush over to open it, waiting for the King to arrive.

Deep inside the sixth level's eternal frozen prison.

The great love poet was restrained by some invisible force, and the surrounding space formed an isolated domain.

After a few breaths, light and magic rapidly shattered, and a semi-transparent mark condensed on the great love poet's brow—

[Inverted Mark]

[Category: Soul Imprint]

[Grade: Orange Epic]

[Tier: 1]

[Passive Effect: Grants a small increase to mental attributes.]

[Note: Acknowledged by Inverted Tiberius.]

"...My mind got stronger again?"

Lanci felt the fifth mark. It was the first time he had encountered a mark that simply added basic attributes, the simplest and most direct passive.

Inverted Tiberius must have been an ancient Great Demon whose mental strength had reached its limit in life, thus transforming into this Great Demon trial barrier after death.

Currently, it seemed that the character trials gave defensive marks, the martial trials gave offensive marks, and the marks granted by the Great Demons would depend on their own characteristics.

However, the three conservative factions in the prison from the demonic realm a century ago were unlikely to give offensive marks. So when he previously asked Sinora the Lawbreaker for a mark, she was worried that her own mark would be very bad and became timid. Little did she know that Lanci didn't pick marks at all.

"If I get one more mark, will my demonic traits change slightly?"

Lanci remembered that, according to Hyperion, when the Great Demon mark reached six, it would further demonize him.

Then he would be even more noble than Talia as a demon.

What's more, Talia was a bankrupt heiress from the previous generation, and he was a modern emerging entrepreneur. The concepts were completely different.

(End of chapter)