"Not good! This is an illusion formation!"

Lineir looked at the ground and the body of the archer had disappeared! It was an illusory figure which had never really existed to begin with!

"Interesting. I wonder if that demon actually divined that I am not one of their race, or if the illusion just automatically showed me that as one of my fears." Lineir thought. But regardless whoever has trapped me has fatally miscalculated!

Swish!

There was a whisper of robes and a hooded figure appeared in the corner of Lineir's eye. This hooded figure, despite appearing to be trying to be stealthy was actually moving in such a way as to attract Lineir's focus as much as possible. Suddenly another stealthy hooded figure appeared on his right. Then another and another until there were hundreds of hooded figures. However...unlike most cultivators caught in such an intense illusion Lineir did not so much as twitch a muscle. He cocked his head as if listening, his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Phantoms? Hahaha I was worried for a moment. But it seems The Nine Paths cannot be swayed by falsehood. In front of my eyes...you might as well be naked!" Lineir said and suddenly dashed diagonally towards a distant rock! The demon hiding behind the rock, resembled a venus fly trap with arms and eyes panicked.

"How does he know? He can see past my Bewitching Scent technique so easily?" He cried. However, it was already far too late. This demon had chosen the wrong target this time. To say nothing of Mei's powerful Divine Sense which could help Lineir detect that he was in an illusion formation, Lineir possessed the red eyes of Madness! Once activated in the hellish red world he saw all illusions and lies were revealed for what they were! Lineir could faintly see the red outline of the demon hiding behind the rock and easily ignored the phantoms! Unless their cultivation bases greatly differed Lineir feared no illusion based cultivator!

"Die!"

Puchi

The venomous fly trap shaped demon was pierced through the center by Lineir's sword and let out a shrill shriek as it died. Before its soul could dissipate Lineir had Mizuchi soul search it!

"Why...Kaaaaak"

Fwip

Lineir pulled out his sword and shook off the green blood. An illusion user exposed was easy prey for a close combat assassin type like Lineir. He quickly escaped from the area.

"The center of the pit is that way. Hurry up I want to go back to sleep." Mizuchi suddenly mentally tugged on Lineir's mind and he felt himself compelled to head in the direction she wanted. Lineir sighed. She was acting as if this wasn't a big deal or that it decided the fate of an entire planet. However, he trusted that the information was accurate and went that way. Regardless, the ground continued to grow hotter so he suspected he was getting close.

"You....." Suddenly a voice came seemingly on the wind though there wasn't really any wind in the Hellhole.

"What?" Lineir said out loud however neither Mizuchi nor Mei admitted to saying anything. Eventually he dismissed it but when it came again Lineir began to question whether or not he had been entrapped in another illusion formation.

"Come here...." The voice whispered and Lineir shuddered. Unfortunately...faint as it was, Lineir could tell that by going towards the center of the Hellhole, he was also going closer to the voice.

"Great..." He tersely said to no one. "Better get this damn hole closed and get the hell out of here before I go even crazier."

After about half an hour of traveling Lineir at his fastest concealed speed reached the middle of the pit.

"The transfer formation is down there..." Mizuchi said. Lineir peered around the rock he was hiding behind and saw an enormous lake of lava. It went almost as far as he could see and had numerous tributaries which flowed into it from the surroundings. In the middle of the bubbling lava lake was a huge tablet standing on a platform. Once again the tyrannical words were engraved.

"An end to an end and a beginning to an end. The era of the Heavens has waned for so many eons. Now it is the time for us Hells to rise up again! The Pillars are falling one by one and though the mortals and Immortals hold us back now, the Heavens have already retreated. The Ascendance War is upon us and our enemies already cower in fear! Why not charge forth in this eon with all your might then??"

"So do I fly over and stab it?" Lineir somehow doubted it would be that easy. However to his surprise Mizuchi grunted,

"Yep."

"Huh. If you say so."

Lineir took to the air marveling at his good luck that there didn't appear to be any demons nearby. He didn't even need to enter the lava lake! He was sure that with his luck he would have ended up having to go down there but somehow he had lucked out and the Tablet wasn't even under the lava.

"Yes....." The voice came again. Lineir flying faltered as it sounded much closer than before.

"What?"

"COME TO ME!!!!!" This time the voice exploded as if it was right next to him and Lineir jerked in surprise!

"Who the hell are you?" He said out loud and heard a response in a deep gravelly voice. It sounded more animal than human.

"Below! Below that accursed sword!" The voice screamed and Lineir looked around. He was floating right above the platform in the middle of the lava lake. The tyrannical tablet was the only thing he could see on the platform.

"What sword? Where?" Lineir asked puzzled and the voice said,

"You're looking at it! Below the lava, go below the lava!" Frantically it yelled and Lineir sighed.

"This had better not be a trap." Drawing fire Qi from his Second Heart, he entwined it in his protective Qi and descended into the bubbling golden lava. When he breached the surface he gasped at what he saw.

"Holy...." He whispered as he entered a new world! Down below everything was shining like an ocean of golden water. Bright...very bright was the only way to describe it! When Lineir looked at the platform which held up the tablet he realized that in fact what he had assumed to be a platform was the top of the handle of an exceedingly massive sword! This sword was nearly so massive as to be classified as a pillar and was a hundred meters wide and extended several thousand meters down into the depths of the lava lake.

"Yes! Come down! I am down here!" The voice said in Lineir's mind but he frowned.

"I don't trust you. Why should I help you? Who are you?" He said and the voice roared in frustration,

"Damn human, I have been trapped down here for eons. That bastard threw this sword down to seal this Hellhole and I happened to be feeding here at the time!" The voice said and Lineir smirked.

"Hahaha and I suppose you want me to remove this sword for you? I'm not stupid, you're in a Hellhole, who goes down here for fun? I'm going to accomplish what I came here to do now. Goodbye!" He said.

"What? No don't leave!" The voice said but Lineir paid it no heed. Who was to say it was not some tricky demon trying to beguile him into removing its seal?

Lineir suddenly flapped his fire Qi wings and exploded out of the lava lake onto the platform with a shower of golden magma droplets. For all the world he looked like a human phoenix being reborn from the lava. He raised Mizuchi in his off arm and delivered a powerful slash onto the tyrannical tablet.

Kacha!

As Mizuchi descended, an iridescent blue flash of light shimmered through her blade and the sword smashed the tablet with little effort. For a second as the tablet crumbled to ashes there was a moment of silence filled only with the bubbling of the magma. Then all hell broke loose!

RUUUUUUUMBLE!!!!!

KACHA KACHA KACHA!!!!!!

The entire lava lake sloshed about and jumped around as the world seemed to come undone! The earth shook and before Lineir's eyes a huge maroon teleportation formation was revealed! Devilish runes and a massive complicated pentagram which originated from the lava lake and encompassed the entire Hellhole suddenly appeared on the rock walls. A second later there was a fracturing noise.

Kacha!

Then the formation shattered and the Hellhole began to collapse!

"You fool! You destroyed the support of this Hellhole! Let me out before this place collapses damnit!" The voice said but Lineir was frantically hoping to hear a different voice.

"Senior Bladelord! I have done as you've asked, please teleport us out!" He yelled. However....there was no answer!