*SLAP!*
Aslan's palm landed on Natsuki's waist.
Seeing that his hand didn't land on any other part of her body, Natsuki let out a sigh of relief. She felt a mix of relief and slight disappointment.
However, soon after, Natsuki was forced to change positions. Aslan scooped her up into a princess carry.
Seeing the faint, unidentifiable embarrassment on Natsuki's face, the corner of Aslan's mouth couldn't help but curve upward.
"Does Natsuki-chan really want me to spank your butt?"
Natsuki didn't open her eyes, as if she had truly been gravely injured by Aslan. Seeing her like this, Aslan, knowing you can't wake someone pretending to sleep, only smiled.
The faint, warm pink on Natsuki's face betrayed her. Could she admit she wanted more than that? Aslan might have needed to suck her blood. Vampires in this world had a special impulse when drinking blood.
But who would've thought Aslan only patted her waist and left it at that? She almost took off her dress, and Aslan just gave her this scene?
After that, Aslan looked up at the ancient, sturdy stone church and shook his head.
"It'd be such a waste to destroy a prison with such deep history."
"Better to turn it into a card, so even if it's taken to Little Garden, it can still serve its purpose."
Then, Aslan waved his hand. Pure white flames ignited out of nowhere, burning the surrounding space and the Prison Barrier enveloping the entire ancient castle. But upon closer inspection, the flames didn't seem to be burning the space.
While burning, the flames also forged the space. Tiny hexagonal crystals were formed, neatly encircling the entire Prison Barrier castle. They isolated the Prison Barrier, which had just emerged from the dream realm, from the world again, transforming it into a micro-plane with crystal walls.
In the end, the entire plane began to shrink, condensing into a gray card with the castle depicted on it, which fell into Aslan's hand.
Natsuki seemed to notice something. She opened her eyes once in the middle of it, saw Aslan turning the Prison Barrier into a card, slightly curled the corner of her mouth, then closed her eyes again. As if nothing had happened, she continued sleeping in Aslan's arms.
After that, Aslan stepped inside and carefully examined the interior of the Prison Barrier.
A massive three-story prison made of hard, thick gray stone. Above the prison, figures stood one by one.
Among them, the one that caught Aslan's attention the most was the figure in the center. A beautiful woman in exquisite Heian-period clothing, with glowing red eyes and a calm yet demonic charm.
The Witch of the Notaria, Tokoyogi Aya.
"What's this? The Prison Barrier is open?"
"Did something happen to the Witch of the Void? Is there such good news?"
"Either way, we're out."
"Wait, look down!"
Noisy voices echoed, conversations overlapping, until all eyes turned downward. There, Aslan, holding Natsuki, stood out starkly in the eyes of the prisoners eager to escape.
The scene suddenly fell silent. Everyone quietly gathered information with their eyes. Until, in the center, a well-treated and heavily guarded witch broke the deadlock.
"Minamiya Natsuki was defeated?"
"Whoa! Even this executioner has her day?"
"It seems we've been saved by someone."
"He's an incredibly handsome guy."
"I must admit, this is a great chance to escape the prison."
Hearing this, the other prisoners showed more or less amused smiles.
At this moment, Aya, the only one without expression, raised her hand with cold eyes, showing the silver bracelet on her wrist. "Look closely, we're not completely free yet. The prison's control system is still—"
"Alright, the prison's control system is no longer active."
Aslan looked at this lively group of lab rats, flashed a bright smile, and snapped his fingers, disabling the prison's control system.
As the lab rats he'd chosen, their vitality was, of course, crucial. He didn't want his lab rats to suffer from depression or other ailments during the experiment, as that would be a bit unpleasant.
After all, the diversity of species in the Prison Barrier was so rich, with every race so complete that even Aslan would need time to gather them now. There were Deva descendants, vampires related to the three Primogenitors, Beastmen, dragon-slayer descendants, Flame Spirit summoners, Ghouls transformed from the dead…
It could be said that most Demons in this world, and even humans with special abilities, could be found here. There was even a Dragon. For Aslan, who wanted to deeply research the principles of the Cleansing's life transformation, this was truly a treasure trove.
With so many lab rats, how could he not be happy?
Hearing Aslan's voice and seeing the control devices detach from their wrists, a spiky-haired young man showed a smile.
"Kid, you're pretty sensible. Tell us what you want. We'll give it to you once we're out."
Schtola D, one of the few surviving Deva descendants in this world, a rare lab rat.
"Oh?"
Aslan slightly raised his eyebrows, looking at Schtola above, and said with a hint of surprise, "Really anything?"
"Of course, as long as you hand over the witch in your arms."
Schtola looked at Aslan and said with a fierce expression.
He didn't believe the Prison Barrier would be freed so easily unless he personally checked and confirmed that Natsuki was truly dead.
"Then I want all of you to be my lab rats."
Aslan said calmly. It seemed these prisoners hadn't yet realized their true situation.
Schtola was stunned for a moment, then grinned and waved his hand. "Kid, you've got some bold ideas!"
With his wave, invisible air blades formed in the atmosphere, slashing at Aslan without hesitation.
The fierce wind seemed ready to tear Aslan apart. At that moment, Schtola's face was filled with a cruel smile.
*PU-CHI!*
A not-too-piercing sound rang out. It was the sound of Schtola being sliced in half at the waist.
When did it happen?
Schtola was somewhat in disbelief.
However, he was a Deva descendant, after all. His regeneration ability was no weaker than a vampire's. An injury like this wasn't too serious for him.
"Ah, so wouldn't it be better to quietly be my lab rats?"
Aslan shook his head slightly and sighed.
The other prisoners saw that Aslan didn't even move. Schtola, a Deva descendant, was defeated by his own attack. They all showed expressions of fear.
Even within the Prison Barrier, Schtola was among the top. Aside from Aya, few dared to claim they were stronger than him.
"AI-chan, what do you think about using the Cleansing to turn them into Demons?"
The corner of Aslan's mouth curved into a smile. He casually asked Algol, still sealed in his wrist.
In a special dimension invisible to anyone, Algol frowned at the messy group around her.
"They're too ugly. AI-chan doesn't want such ugly demons." Algol said with a disgusted expression.
Just standing there made her feel suffocated. In contrast, the demons in Little Garden were all handsome and beautiful because she was their ancestor. None had poor appearances. On the other hand, the angels' true forms were one weirder than the next.
"It's just an experiment. To truly help AI-chan complete the Anti-God Spirit Status, you need to turn at least one Mainstream Divinity into a demon to gain achievements."
"For now, we need to research how to turn them into demons, right?" Aslan said with a soft laugh.
Then, in an unseen place, a newly developed pitch-black virus, infused with part of the Cleansing ritual, spread from Aslan's hand. It infected the hundreds of prisoners in the Prison Barrier, except for Aya.
Almost instantly, their bodies began pulsing violently, as if they had become hosts, giving birth to new biological demons. Moments later, small demons with red skin and burns all over their bodies emerged from them.
"Tch, a failure. Of course, transforming a race into demons isn't that easy."
Aslan sighed. He snapped his fingers, reverting everything in the Prison Barrier to the moment before Schtola launched his air blades.
The Prison Barrier was magic based on a dream. If the Prison Barrier's owner wished, they could expend vast amounts of magic to alter everything within it.
Aslan, having turned the Prison Barrier into a card, could do the same. He could expend magic to change everything inside the Prison Barrier.
"Of course, the Cleansing virus design still has some challenges."
Aslan sighed helplessly and withdrew his hand, which had just released the virus. After all, to turn a Mainstream Divinity into a demon, he had to do it subtly or by force.
The latter might only be slightly possible for Three-Digit beings surpassing limits or even Two-Digit ones.
Did they think the Another Cosmology of Mainstream Divinity was just for show?
So Aslan chose the former, researching a virus that could turn gods into demons. But now, he couldn't even turn ordinary lifeforms into demons, let alone demons that oppose gods.
Hearing Aslan mention Anti-God, Algol fell silent. It seemed Aslan had touched her sore spot.
"How do you know about that?" Algol asked very seriously.
That was her true secret, unknown even to Two-Digit beings. The fundamental reason she declared war on gods and Buddhas across three thousand worlds back then.