Meanwhile, Rune was able to find the location of the S.J.F. When he fell down from the hidden door below, he saw absolutely nothing. It was complete darkness. There was no sound, no light, nothing to tell him where he had landed. For a second, he just stood there, trying to adjust his eyes, but it was useless.
Rune decided to use his qi to light up the area and see where he was. A faint glow formed around his hand, slowly pushing back the darkness. The light spread just enough for him to understand his surroundings.
Right when he lit up the area a bit, he realized he was standing in the middle of a giant table. It was huge, far larger than any normal meeting table, and around it sat at least fifty people. They were all seated properly, as if they had been in the middle of an important discussion. Now every single one of them was staring directly at him.
Rune was pretty shocked and felt awkward. What was he doing in the middle of such a massive meeting, suddenly becoming the spotlight out of nowhere?
Before Rune could even question what just happened, half of them immediately decided to attack him. The other half quickly moved to defend. It was clear that some of them wanted him dead, while others did not.
"He is the perfect person to hold hostage against the Death King!" one side exclaimed.
"The Death King is not the type to be shaken by a threat like that!" the other side shot back.
The room quickly turned chaotic. Killing intent filled the air as attacks were thrown and blocked. Rune had barely even introduced himself and already he was at the center of a conflict he didn't understand. After some time, both sides slowly cooled down. The tension was still there, but they stopped attacking and returned to their seats.
Now they had to explain to Rune what was going on.
"You should have just gone away and never come back," one of them said, clearly annoyed by his presence.
"It's fine. I'm pretty sure he's strong enough to help us anyway," another responded.
Rune was about to speak when suddenly someone raised their voice.
"Attention!"
Everyone immediately paused and sat down properly. The atmosphere shifted in an instant. It seemed like that person was their leader.
"I am Gin. I control the S.J.F. Nice to meet you," said a man with long black hair as he looked directly at Rune.
"N-Nice to meet you too," Rune replied, still trying to process everything.
"I know this is very sudden, but we are already too late…" Gin continued.
Rune felt his chest tighten. That did not sound good at all.
"The Death King has already finished creating the W.T.S. All he needs now is a vessel to launch it."
Rune looked both angry and disappointed. The W.T.S, which stood for World to Sleep, was one of the biggest projects of the Death King. He planned to use that weapon to cause another war. Rune had hoped they still had time, but hearing that it was already completed made things much worse.
All the Death King needed now was someone willing to control it in exchange for their life.
Rune knew he had to find a way to stop him, but it already felt far too late.
Meanwhile, Karin was learning and getting stronger through the Heavenly Demon Scripture. It had already been a month since she discovered it. Every day she pushed herself harder, focusing on mastering what was written inside. There was still no sign of her father, the current Heavenly Demon. People claimed he was in isolation training, but Karin knew that something was wrong.
Even so, she did not let that distract her. She refused to repeat her previous mistakes. This time, she would continue improving no matter what.
As she continued studying the scripture, she began to understand more about the Heavenly Demon who originally created it. He was an ancient ancestor of the sect, the one who stood at the very peak during his era. This scripture was his creation.
What shocked her the most was the description of his nature.
Unlike other Heavenly Demons or cultivators who needed to release their qi or killing intent to intimidate others, this ancestor did not rely on such things. His presence alone was enough. His appearance was so disturbing and overwhelming that people were already terrified just by looking at him. He did not need to try to appear demonic. He simply was.
And yet, he was completely human.
At least, that was what the records stated.
Still, there were countless rumors written between the lines of history. Some believed he was not fully human. Some whispered that one of his parents might have been an ancient demonic being, a true demon not just in title or nature, but an actual spiritual demonic existence.
Ancient demons were said to have existed thousands of years ago, long before the current era. They were beings with no humanity, no morality, only pure destruction and instinct. Their existence led to the First Holy War. Entire lands were destroyed because of them.
According to the oldest records, it was during that chaotic period that the First Immortal emerged. That Immortal was the one who ultimately led the forces that defeated the ancient demons and ended their reign.