Hadjar came to his senses and immediately unleashed his mysteries and will. This was the only way he could keep his body from being immediately reduced to ashes by the pressure of the incredible fire energy. This wasn’t an ordinary fire, but a completely different one that tormented his very soul and heart. The fire of pure chaos. Not mere destruction, but actual chaos. After all, destruction still had some purpose, but chaos was both creation and destruction at once, their insane symbiosis, a kind of passionate union of two opposites, simultaneously absorbing and devouring each other while also complementing and restoring each other as well. It was like…

“Hey!” Helmer waved his gray, clawed hand in front of Hadjar’s face. “Hadji, my dear friend, this isn’t the best time to indulge in meditation. Of course, I am aware that you’ve only recently made progress by becoming a Nameless and returning to your fashionable outfit, but believe me, your and my asses are hanging on by a thread right now, one that is thinner than the pubic hair of a virgin.”

Helmer’s words and the appearance of the swarm of nightmares scurrying around his feet, playing with the demon’s torn cloak, where every gap looked like a predatory, fanged maw, brought Hadjar back to reality.

He’d really almost started meditating on various mysteries. He’d been at the Lord level for too long, had learned too much during that time, and had fought against a lot of powerful opponents… It would’ve been better for him to go into deep meditation for at least a year in order to strengthen his mind and soul, strengthen the foundations of his path of cultivation, but time, as always, was playing on the opponent’s side. Whoever this opponent even was.

He looked around. He was standing in the middle of a scorched desert, though even the deadest of mortal lands would seem like a paradise, a true oasis in the middle of a sandstorm, in comparison to this nothingness. This area seemed not to know what life even was. It was as if death was your only neighbor here, as well as desolation and the abyss. There was nothing to see: no hills, no rivers, no mountains, no vegetation or living creatures at all.

Something that resembled white sand crunched under Hadjar’s feet. However, Hadjar already knew what white sand looked like, as he and Einen had travelled the Sea of Sand a lot. So, he would never confuse this substance with it. White, insular, shiny. It wasn’t sand, but ground bones. It glowed with a golden and crimson light because of the strange sky above. It was low, but, at the same time, seemed to reach unfathomable heights. It was densely covered with clouds. It seemed as if, instead of a proper sky, there were only bloody clouds swirling in whirlwinds because they were constantly being tormented by a fire of flaming gold. Flashes of fire plowed through them and emerged like birds of prey from the dance of blood and metal only to disappear into them once again.

The only thing that the eye could cling to in this unnerving place were the sharp rocks that rose up everywhere. Like broken swords or fangs, they reached for the bloody, golden sky, as if trying to bite it, pierce it, or at least wound it.

“Damn it, Helmer! Seriously, where are we?”

“Hey, dude, seriously, have you changed your hairstyle? You really do look different. Did you actually have sex recently, or what? It’s a shocking change.”

“Helmer…”

“I already told you. I’ve brought you to my home. Welcome to the Demon Lands!” Helmer even did a weird hand motion as he said it a second time.

Hadjar looked around once again. Well, this was probably how he’d imagined they would look.

“What are we doing here?” He asked.

Helmer adjusted his wide-brimmed hat and stroked the lump of fear that had jumped onto his shoulder. The lump whispered something in its master’s ear, then returned to the swarm.

“The Prince ordered me to bring you here for an audience.”

“The Demon Prince?”

Helmer turned to Hadjar. His single, red eye flashed from underneath the brim of his hat:

“Hadjar, please watch your tongue. I wasn’t kidding when I said our lives depend on how the next half hour goes. I have displeased the Prince too often lately to be able to count on his favor. And you... Well, you are Hadjar Darkhan. In the miserable period of time you insist on calling your life, you’ve somehow managed to get in his way several times. So we’re in a very... unpleasant predicament.”

Hadjar knew all too well when Helmer was putting on an act and when he wasn’t. Right now, the demon who was the Emissary of the Prince of Darkness, the powerful Lord of Nightmares, was more serious than Hadjar had ever seen him.

“But the Demon Prince is a being of a different level. He can’t-”

“He couldn’t,” Helmer corrected him sharply. “You and I have recently made a deal.” Hadjar’s fingers tightened around the hilt of the Blue Blade. “Let’s not discuss it further. Suffice it to say, this deal has made you vulnerable despite the laws that restrict mortals, Immortals, and those who stand above all.”

Hadjar swore. He knew perfectly well that everything always had its price, but sometimes, it was very difficult to trace what exactly you would have to pay for something, be it a service or an action you’d taken. Apparently, the fact that he’d managed to delay the deaths of Arkemeya and their child had turned into problems that not even most epic heroes from ballads and legends could deal with.

“You said the Demon Prince owed me a little.”

“That’s our ace,” Helmer nodded. “If things go the wrong way at all, you’ll definitely use that card, after which we’ll get out of here however we can.”

“We?”

“The Prince will skin me alive and boil me in the feces of dogs after the many times I’ve gone out on a limb for you.”

“By the way-”

“I still have some big bets riding on you, Hadjar.” Helmer glared at him. Ah, yes, the Lord of Nightmaresand his games. Everyone with such vast power always had their own games. “So please don’t shit yourself. If you feel like shit has already started flowing down your thighs, tell Daddy Helmer, and together we’ll try not to die under the nearest fence.”

Hadjar grimaced.

“Even the former bandits in my army were more gallant than you.”

“More gallant… By all the Extinguished Stars, what the fuck are you talking about right now? Are you the Mad General or a drunken whore? Why should I be gallant? Pull yourself together, man! We’re on our way to meet the Prince!”

The swarm of nightmares stirred, turning into a wave, then formed an oval archway, inside which space rippled slightly.

“Where does this portal lead?” Hadjar asked, checking whether his sword was firmly in its scabbard. It was purely a habit at this point.

“By all the blood and flesh in this world! Are you really that stupid? This is the gateway to the Prince’s Palace, Hadji. Nut up already and let’s go!”

Helmer easily lifted Hadjar by his collar, as if he weighed nothing and wasn’t protected by a shield of mysteries, will, and energy. He then threw him straight through the portal, like he was a mangy kitten.