Wasteland and lava, ruins and debris—the landscape was overgrown with jagged remnants, while a crimson moon gazed coldly down upon the earth as if it had fallen into purgatory.
Lockes was teleported here.
The scorched air immediately filled his nose and mouth, causing him to frown and instinctively cover his face.
*Boom!*
Suddenly, a streak of crimson fire sliced through the dim sky like a falling meteor, crashing violently into the ground. A scorching heatwave sent rocks flying, rushing toward Lockes.
He crossed his arms before his chest, activating a pale red magic shield to withstand the hot wind.
Through the blinding glare of the flames, a silver-haired youth emerged.
His azure eyes flickered with an intense radiance. With every step he took, the ground beneath him cracked with fine fissures as a charred blackness spread.
It was as if the earth itself feared his temperature.
**[Simulation scene running normally. Generating target: Celestial Hero: Purgatory. Rank: King Class Initial Stage. Numerical evaluation: 50%.]**
A cold female voice echoed in Lockes’s mind. Upon seeing the Hero appear, he settled into a combat stance.
‘If he only has half his strength, I should be able to hold him off,’ he muttered to himself.
As soon as the words left his mouth, a light chuckle accompanied by a wave of heat brushed past Lockes’s face.
“A Vampire grunt?” A contemptuous smile touched the Hero’s face as he tilted his head.
“Where is that red-haired Gothic Vampire beauty?”
Lockes’s eyes flickered with confusion at the unfamiliar words.
“What?”
Realizing the other party didn’t understand him, the Hero explained, “Your Crimson Empress, Demigula. I really like her. She’s exactly as cute as I imagined a Vampire girl to be. That slender waist… if I could get my hands on her, tsk, tsk…”
As he spoke, the Hero suggestively squeezed his palm, as if he were currently enjoying the girl’s slim and graceful waist.
This successfully enraged Lockes.
The Crimson Empress, Demigula, was the embodiment of perfection and elegance in his heart—and in the hearts of all Vampires.
She was an existence that absolutely could not be profaned.
Yet this human, the Hero who was the sworn enemy of the entire Demon Race, was speaking such frivolous nonsense.
Fury burned within Lockes.
Clutching the Blood-Entwined Blazing Sword, he charged forward through the flames.
“You’re dead!”
Lockes roared. His boiling blood surged through the hot wind. In just a few breaths, he reached the Hero.
A hint of playfulness flashed in those azure eyes.
Facing the Vampire youth’s sudden assault, he showed no panic, appearing as though he had expected this entire situation.
*Whoosh—*
A fierce wind carrying ash swept past Lockes’s eyes.
A startling flash of red light pierced toward him, forcing him to hastily raise his sword to parry.
*Clang!*
The Hero thrust a red spear.
Lockes looked closer and saw it was a weapon formed from obsidian, with molten lava flowing across it that emitted waves of searing heat.
“Oh? Decent reactions. Any typical low-level Vampire would have been skewered like a meat skewer by this spear already.”
Before his voice even faded, his arm blurred.
The spear swept out horizontally, knocking Lockes back several steps.
Before he could steady himself, several more streaks of flame light attacked, leaving several scorched holes in his body.
*Puchi!*
“Ugh…”
In only one or two rounds of exchange, Lockes had been heavily wounded by the Hero.
The subsequent outcome was easy to imagine.
Lockes naturally realized this as well.
Fortunately, the wounds the Hero inflicted had missed his vitals.
While these injuries would be fatal for a human, for Lockes, they only left him temporarily immobilized.
The self-healing ability of the Vampire race was among the best of the Demon Race.
He only needed a few breaths to recover, and then…
The Hero seemingly had no intention of giving him a chance to recover.
*Bang!*
A burning fist punched straight through Lockes’s chest.
The clinging flames continuously scorched the wound, significantly slowing his healing speed.
“Hmm?”
Intending to finish him off, the Hero noticed something was off.
He discovered that the opponent seemed to be intentionally enduring his attacks.
He clearly felt his own vitality and flame power being absorbed by Lockes.
“Going through all this trouble just to suck my blood?”
The Hero looked at his own arm, which was being squeezed by the other’s muscles, and laughed.
“Truly a lowly race. Even when you’re about to die, you can’t stop yourself from eating shit.”
“Heh, is the Hero’s blood made of shit, then?”
The mocked Hero’s expression darkened.
He reached out and grabbed Lockes’s shoulders.
With a surge of strength from both arms, he actually tore Lockes into two halves.
Suddenly, Lockes’s mangled body turned into blood in the Hero’s hands, flowing toward his true body not far away.
Blood Clone—one of the Bloodline Magics of the Vampire race.
It allowed one to divide their blood to create an existence identical to the main body.
The more blood poured into it, the stronger it became.
Just like that, the Blood Clone that had absorbed the Hero’s vitality and Magic Power returned to the main body.
Lockes’s aura surged violently.
*Vroom—*
Crimson energy erupted from Lockes. He took a step forward, and the terrifying heat melted the rocks beneath his feet.
“Blood God’s Fury, activate!”
Seeing this, the Hero’s lips curled into an interested arc.
“Not bad. You’ve earned the right for me to use my real strength.”
He raised his hand as white Magic Power condensed in his palm. It began to heat up rapidly, turning from a calm white to a boiling red, before suddenly expanding!
“Domain Expansion —”
“Flawless Purgatory Chamber!”
*Rumble!*
With the Hero at the center, the dead earth instantly transformed into an erupting volcano.
Rocks shattered, pillars of fire shot into the sky, and every trace of moisture in the air was completely evaporated.
By the time Lockes regained his senses, the ground beneath him had already collapsed, leaving only a few stone slabs floating on the magma like lily pads!
A strong sense of exhaustion suddenly welled up within his body.
He discovered that the speed at which his Magic Power was being consumed had accelerated several times over!
It was as if he were being used as kindling for a fire that refused to go out!
“Damn it, this is…”
The strength he had just gained was instead pushing him toward premature exhaustion.
“Inside my domain, everything about you will burn—your flesh, your Magic Power—until you are nothing but ash.”
The Hero casually extinguished a flame in the air.
As ash drifted before his eyes, Lockes charged at him.
“Haha, come on!”
Clutching his obsidian spear, the Hero clashed with Lockes in mid-air.
Both were warriors proficient in fire attribute magic. Every collision created sparks in the air, shattering and melting every rock beneath them!
*Splurt!*
Suddenly, Lockes bit into his own arm.
His blood surged, and his rapidly depleting Magic Power expanded once again!
“Blood God’s Fury: Continued!”
Borrowing this sudden surge of power, Lockes landed a punch squarely on the Hero’s cheek!
In an instant, the churning magma went still, and the searing air grew strangely cold.
Those azure eyes cast a startled glance toward him, which was immediately followed by a sliver of killing intent.
“Burn. Explosive Flame Art!”
Following the short incantation, a fireball the size of a fingernail exploded against Lockes’s chest. Before Lockes could even react, his body turned to ash within the raging flames.
—
He opened his eyes and returned to reality.
**[Celestial Hero: Purgatory. Trial failed. Battle difficulty: King Class Initial Stage. Time elapsed: 7 minutes and 8 seconds.]**
As the cold female voice rang out, he slowly stood up and instinctively touched his chest.
“It’s not like this is your first time using the simulation device. Why do you look like a novice every time?”
Loki leaned against the wall, looking at him teasingly.
“Why are you here? Weren’t you assigned to protect Mr. Jolin?”
“Same as you, I want to increase my strength as quickly as possible. I want to reach the King Rank soon.”
“Humph. With those opportunistic techniques of yours?”
Facing Lockes’s mockery, Loki simply shrugged, appearing as though she were long used to it.