Chapter 1021: Silver Wings of Time, Bloodline Extraction (III)

Brooks and the other demons soon crossed the demonic domain barrier and entered the imperial city of the empire.

Across the vast demonic domain stood countless grand and majestic structures. Demons radiating noble auras moved through the streets, and from time to time, the colossal silhouettes of demonized beasts could be seen passing by.

Before the demons who had never entered the demonic domain before had time to fully observe their surroundings, the group mounted a hundred-meter-long four-winged black dragon and soared into the skies, heading toward the demon god’s palace hundreds of kilometers away.

Because the visit had been ordered by Deorus himself, Brooks and his group faced no obstruction. Soon, they arrived at the imposing demonic palace and were received by Tarorya.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Seeing the stunning woman standing on the high platform, Brooks bowed respectfully. "Brooks, Head of the Intelligence Division, greets Your Highness."

Facing this great demon king whose strength neared the pinnacle, Brooks dared not show the slightest disrespect.

Except for the heavily injured and unconscious Guludeen, the other advanced demons knelt nervously on the ground, not daring to lift their heads before the majesty of the imperial princess.

Tarorya glanced down at the wounded Brooks and Guludeen’s broken true form, its expression calm. "His Majesty has permitted your audience. Follow me."

With a cold expression, Tarorya turned and walked toward the rear of the palace.

In the past, a mere beginning-stage mythical-level demon king wouldn't have even qualified to see it, let alone have it personally lead the way. However, after several successive battles, the empire’s once-vast talent pool had been depleted.

Currently, the number of demon kings and great demon kings had dwindled to just one-fifth of what it once was, and most of those remaining were injured and required time in seclusion to recover. In such times, even newly ascended demon kings like these two had been given important posts, including leadership over the Intelligence Division.

Fortunately, these two appeared to be competent. It had been less than a full day-cycle, yet judging from their urgency, they seemed to have genuinely uncovered something significant.

The demons following Tarorya all wore tense expressions. Even Brooks, as composed as he usually was, appeared solemn. As they passed through the palace halls, he keenly sensed an overwhelming atmosphere of danger.

It felt as if even a single misstep would trigger instant annihilation from some terrifying force. This was the residence of a demon god, after all. Brooks straightened his posture, his expression filled with deep reverence.

Soon, a massive dark vortex appeared before the group of demons. Before Tarorya could even make its report, a terrifying will descended from within.

Boom!

Under the demon god’s crushing might, all of the advanced demons collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling, faces full of awe and fear.

Brooks dropped to one knee and spoke with utmost respect. "Greetings to the great Deorus."

The demon god’s will spiraled through the void, shaking the heavens. Deorus’s deep and solemn voice echoed forth. "Brooks, your injuries... What happened to you and Guludeen?"

Brooks, still visibly stirred, replied, "Your Majesty, a primordial treasure has emerged in the Silver Tree Forbidden Zone to the south of the empire. It is a supreme treasure imbued with the power of time."

The dark vortex trembled. An even greater pressure exploded outward as Deorus's voice rang out again, cautious and grave. "You’re certain it contains the power of time?"

The great war was imminent. Coupled with the earlier ambush on the Blue Planet, Deorus had grown deeply wary of the cunning humans. His first reaction to hearing of a temporal treasure was suspicion.

Beside him, Tarorya’s eyes flickered with surprise. A primordial treasure born from a forbidden zone was usually at least on the level of a pseudo-world-level weapon, and a primordial treasure infused with the power of time would be even more valuable, rivaling a true world-level weapon.

If such a treasure were to fall into Deorus’ hands, one already mastering time-based divine abilities, its strength could multiply severalfold. It would stand on equal footing with the rulers of other empires like the Belvetan Empire.

Brooks, filled with fervor, declared, "Your Majesty, I can confirm this with one hundred percent certainty."

Deep within the dark vortex, surrounded by dense demonic qi and saturated with the essence of the world, Deorus sat cross-legged, its imposing figure motionless, expression cold and composed.

Gazing through the vortex at the kneeling Brooks and the wounded Guludeen, who still bore remnants of sharp spatial energy, Deorus’s eight arms simultaneously formed a strange seal.

Instantly, strands of translucent temporal energy emerged around it, merging into the void as it searched for something unseen.

A long moment passed before Deorus finally spoke again. "Brooks, recount in full every detail about the discovery of this primordial treasure."

Although it had just used its temporal bloodline power and sensed no danger, Deorus remained cautious. After all, a treasure of such magnitude appearing at this particular moment was a little too coincidental. While demon gods were considered indestructible, that only applied in times of peace. If faced with a truly formidable enemy, even a demon god could fall.

Brooks began his report. "Your Majesty, approximately two star-hours ago, silver light suddenly flared in the southern reaches of the empire, drawing the attention of our border surveillance. Tabor, the demon overseeing the sector, went to investigate immediately. However, the forbidden zone was too dangerous, and its strength wasn’t enough to approach. However, its awakened bloodline ability allowed it to sense powerful fluctuations of a primordial treasure from the pillar of light erupting through the forbidden zone..."

Brooks then recounted the full sequence of events: the explosive phenomenon at the forbidden zone, how he and Guludeen arrived more than a day later, how they entered to investigate and ended up severely injured.

At last, Brooks said with passion, "The forbidden zone is extremely dangerous. Both Guludeen and I were gravely wounded before we could even reach the core region. We only managed to glimpse the treasure from a distance. Your Majesty, this is what the treasure looks like."

Brooks circulated his dark law power, projecting a faint illusion into the air. It revealed a world flooded with endless white light. At its center was a vortex of twisted space-time, and within that vortex unfurled a pair of silver wings spanning over a thousand meters. The surrounding space and time warped violently.

However, due to Brooks’s limited strength, he could only project a vague image of the silver wings of time, along with the rippling silver waves they emitted.

"Your Majesty, although we couldn’t approach, Guludeen managed to capture a wisp of time power from the treasure. That is the basis for our certainty that the treasure is time-based."

Brooks excitedly retrieved a black transparent crystal over three meters long from his storage space. Sealed within was a thread of pure white light.

Boom!

The void trembled. A powerful suction force burst from the dark vortex, pulling the black crystal inward until it vanished into the vortex’s depths.

Within, Deorus’s gaze immediately locked onto the floating crystal before it. Upon sensing the extremely pure time power within, its usually expressionless eyes revealed a rare flicker of excitement.

Could it be real?

Crack!

With a slight squeeze of its fingers, Deorus shattered the crystal that Brooks had formed using thirty percent of his law-origin essence. Inside, a sliver of white light curled like a tiny serpent.

Immediately, that thread of white light released an utterly pure temporal aura. It twisted the surrounding void, faint and hazy, as if it might vanish at any moment.

"What an incredibly pure time power." Deorus’s voice carried a rare fervor. Its massive figure instinctively straightened as its belief in Brooks’ report deepened by half.

However...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Without warning, the nine advanced demons beside Brooks and Guludeen suddenly exploded. Their bodies burst into clouds of blood mist, which surged into the dark vortex under the crushing will of the demon god.

The abrupt change startled even Brooks. He had brought those demons merely to serve as witnesses to the operation, a means to bolster credibility should Deorus decide to investigate or scrutinize their story. He hadn’t expected Deorus to erase them on the spot.

As expected, these demon gods were all ruthless and cruel, completely devoid of anything resembling humanity.

Deep within the vortex, strands of dark-red blood mist threaded between Deorus’s fingers. Through their bloodline essence, it read all the sights and memories those advanced demons had experienced.

As the demon god of the empire, Deorus’s principle powers were entwined with all of the dark demonic qi across the land. It was the origin of every true demon’s bloodline. No true demon in the entire empire could defy its will, not even the demon kings or great demon kings. Brooks and Guludeen, however, were more valuable and competent, so the cautious Deorus had limited the extraction to only the advanced demons’ bloodlines.

After reviewing all of their bloodline memories, a faint smile appeared on Deorus’s face. Brooks hadn’t lied. Through the eyes of those demons, it had witnessed the towering pillar of silver light and sensed no warnings of danger within the temporal perception.

Deorus felt as if fate itself favored it. On the eve of the great war’s eruption, a time-based treasure had emerged at the very edge of its empire.

After some time, Deorus suppressed the surging excitement in its heart. Its colossal form slowly stood upright, and the entire vortex world trembled in response.

Moments later, the demonic domain quaked. A towering figure appeared high above, tens of thousands of kilometers in the sky, tearing through the void and speeding toward the Silver Tree Forbidden Zone.