Outside the Belmont Holy Land, the battle of the demon generals and the Daiyu was reaching a climax.

Under the teamwork of Madeleine and Ri, the Daiyu were thrown into complete chaos.

The truth was that the weapon's hell formations they used could hardly damage most of the Daiyu, but the simple disruption it provided was more than enough to be useful. And, in some rare instances, would also heavily injure some of the weaker Daiyu, allowing for a much easier time for the demon generals.

River and Ronica seemed to never tire. It was to the point where the demon generals who were waiting to switch in with them pouted, accusing them of stealing away all of the fun. However, with River's domineering personality, she simply harrumphed and ignored them, causing Ronica to giggle as she usually did.

On the same hand, the fusion of Ri and Madeleine's souls seemed to have a stacking effect on their stamina, allowing them both to last much longer than usual. This was also, of course, in part to Kaeda's added support.

It all seemed like it would only be a matter of time before the Demon Generals overwhelmed their enemies and won.

In the back, Evelyn had long since lost her calm and collected smirk. She had thought that with her reveal, the situation would be too unexpected for anyone to recover from. And yet, that was exactly what Ri and Madeleine were doing now!

She had given up too much for this plan to work. Her dignity as a first in line genius. The woman she looked up to like a grandmother. And even her own chastity. All so that she could forge a brighter future for herself, a future where this universe's ceiling wasn't her own.

But, it felt like everything was crumbling down now.

"Do something." Evelyn looked at Lionel who had barely a flicker of emotion on his face. If it wasn't for her self-control, she would have shrieked this at the top of her lungs. It was taking everything in her not to lash out at Lionel.

The truth was that Lionel was in this hot water just as much as she was, which was why Evelyn couldn't blame him too much if she was being rational, that is. It was no secret anymore that if Lionel lost, it was quite possible that even his own father would want him dead.

As much as Lionel wanted to ignore Evelyn, he knew that she wasn't stupid. She didn't trust him with something as important as her virginity for an empty promise. If she had, Lionel would have long since ignored her after she outlived her usefulness.

No. Unfortunately, Lionel had signed a soul contract with Evelyn, much like the one Jade used to coerce the Daiyu clan. Except this one, tied their lives to one another. Lionel had to always keep Evelyn's best interest in mind, or he would die. He simply couldn't afford to ignore her.

Their 'marriage' was a thinly veiled cover for the truth of their relationship.

In reality, a contract that only asked for Lionel to treat Evelyn well was a small price to pay for the reward Lionel received. But, in retrospect, it would become troublesome.

The Demon General watching the two of them was a calm and stoic man named Thatch. He could hear their conversation clearly, but he couldn't bother to care. As long as he was here, he doubted that there was anything the two of them could do to escape.

Lionel could instantly tell that their 'guard' wasn't someone who they could easily trick. He seemed to have no emotions, and his eyes were constantly trained on them despite the vast disparity in cultivation.

'Using that could backfire' Lionel's mind raced as he thought of possibilities. But, as minutes turned to hours, and the Daiyu forces just seemed to continuously get whittled down, he realized that he no longer had much of a choice.

Thatch's eyes narrowed as he noticed the slight shift in Lionel's features. His nerves stood on end. With his years of battle experience, sensing danger was something very few did better than him. But, never did he think he would be sensing such a thing from an essence gathering expert.

Something was telling Thatch that even if he alerted the allies to his back, there would hardly be a difference made. Even worse, it would distract them from the task at hand.

Much to Lionel's surprise, Thatch didn't hesitate to pull out a saber. But, he quickly relaxed himself, looking up at the Demon General.

"Since you know the danger, you also know there's nothing you can do to stop it." Lionel said calmly.

His eyes flashed, causing the Belmont Holy Land to begin to rumble and resonate, humming along with his blood line.

Many didn't know the purpose behind the spatial energy that coated the Belmont Holy Land. And those who claimed to, often thought that it was simply a safety measure for protecting the treasures within.

The truth of the matter is that the spatial fluctuations are simply a result of the copious amounts of legacy worlds that were attracted to this location by the flow of Gama energy.

However, it served a secondary purpose in a system cleverly employed by the Belmonts

In a land they needed to protect at all costs, it was important to be able to call reinforcements to any location with the Belmont Holy Land in an instant. To do this, they utilized the spatial fluctuations as a fuel to connect to their most sacred place The Belmont family tombs!

Thatch's grip on his saber tightened as the air between him and Lionel began to distort, coming with it a calm purple-haired man adorned in pristine white robes.

In the face of this man, even Thatch couldn't help but to tremble slightly Because he was without a doubt

A celestial.

**

Within the depths of the Belmont Holy Land, Loki's laughter still rang through the once lush greenery that was now filled with endless craters and the smell of thick and slightly burnt blood.

The arcs of lightning continued to bombard Dyon ceaselessly, only pausing when Loki went too far and accidentally stopped his plaything's heart.

Dyon had lost count of how long this torture had gone on for. In fact, he was fairly certain that he had shredded his own throat apart to the point where he could hardly whisper a word because of all of the screaming he had done.

All Loki wanted him to do was give up To wave a white flag But the arrogance in Dyon's bones seemed to seep further and further in

The entity had accused Dyon of choosing a path built on something fake But with each passing moment, that path only became more and more real There was hope

Until that road abruptly ended.

Loki stopped, his brow raising. He unexpectedly realized that he could no longer feel Dyon's life force

"Well, well I was wondering if your soul could truly withstand being burned like that, but it seems like even yours has its limits." Loki chuckled lightly to himself as he shook his head. To him, it was only a shame that he had lost another toy

After hours of holding on, Dyon's soul could no longer withstand the strain of being burned away

That very moment, Dyon's soul had disappeared from the world