The air around Liam changed once again. Just as he was about to experiment on the soul fragment in his hand to see if he could access its memories or forge it to learn more about it, suddenly, the space in front of him started twisting. A wisp of blood seeped out of this anomaly, and the soul in his hand immediately flew toward this crimson essence. Wait, it was not just crimson, there were golden strands mixed in this crimson essence. Liam's eyes went wide as his brain tried to rapidly comprehend what was happening and why the soul fragment flew away from him before he could do anything to it, but everything happened in a fraction of a second, too fast for him. And once again, all he could be was a mere spectator as he watched the crimson essence steal the soul fragment right from his hands and depart. This was his only clue to what was happening, and this was also… "NO!" Liam gritted his teeth in frustration and started pulling back the soul fragment toward himself. He was not going to lose this time around! When there was no time to think and in his current state, he simply acted instinctively, not thinking about the consequences or whom he could possibly be up against. He was just sick and tired of constantly being overpowered by these unknown forces. A tug of war unexpectedly ensued between his own soul and the golden crimson blood essence. While his entire being held onto the soul and pulled it, the other end merely had a small bit of essence. Surely, he could win this? And perhaps if he did, then all of his questions would be answered?! Liam latched onto the soul with every ounce of energy and power he had left and pulled it and pulled it and pulled it. This, in turn, made the being at the other end raise a brow in shock. "Interesting." The tall, handsome man smirked. "I didn't expect someone like this in a place like this." However, the next second… 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦 "Interesting, but no. Not enough. You want to compete with me? Heh. You are just not strong enough yet." The man's finger danced as he drew another rune, which translated into one more yank that straight up pulled the soul out of Liam's hands and into the twisted space. The golden crimson blood essence as well disappeared along with it, leaving Liam only with a searing pain in his mind. "Survive. I am sure we will meet again in the future." A strange voice echoed. When Liam tried to see who was talking, there was absolutely nothing in front of him any longer, not even the twisted space, shocking him to his core. Coincidentally, there was also someone else who was equally as shocked as him. When the blood clone went down and the soul fragment was captured, the little kid who was running wild suddenly froze. And just as his soul fragment was yanked at the other end, the crimson-golden blood essence appeared next to him as well, and he found himself being yanked out too. The space around him twisted and crumbled, bright runes flashing here and there. He was being forcibly removed, and there was nothing he could do. Not just him but the entire island on which he and the demons were standing completely disappeared. In a second, there were no more traces of them on earth. However, they did reappear elsewhere. The kid found himself in a familiar grand throne room. He looked at the tall and handsome person in front of him and then looked around to see a full courtroom. His face immediately turned bright red. "Elias! You had no right to!" He shouted in anger and humiliation. "I did not need to be rescued!" "Oh? Is that so? But you were clearly going to lose, and even your soul was going to be damaged. Am I wrong?" The other party calmly chuckled. "NO! NO! NO!" Elmis was furious. "Stop throwing tantrums like a child." "You stepped on a lower realm! If someone had noticed it, there would have been consequences for it. Fine. Forget about that. What about your personal safety?" "Now, the fate of that realm has also been altered. Do you even understand the consequences of something like that? Do you really think that there would be no blowback from this?" "And for the bloody heaven's sake, stop chasing those divine bimbos. Your addiction to those witches is going to ruin you!" Having gotten an earful, Elmis became even more embarrassed. This was his sore spot. Though he looked like a child and talked like a child, he was already several centuries old. It was just that his growth was a little stunted. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I am not a fucking child!" No longer willing to remain in that place, he angrily walked out of the throne room, throwing a glance at the golden crimson throne that stood out majestically in the courtroom crowd. Tch. His face turned unsightly. He might not hold the throne now, but one day this throne was going to be his. He glared at everyone silently and then left the place in a huff. Meanwhile, the other person simply chuckled and sat down. The courtroom as well returned to its former state as if absolutely nothing had happened. Elmis walking out like this was quite a common occurrence, so no one paid any further attention to it. However, Elias, the vampire lord himself, seemed to be somewhat pensive, still thinking about the events. "What I want to know is, who was this in a lower realm capable of making my brother lose?" He mumbled under his breath. "Has another irregular shown up?" He then looked at the demon who was standing on his right side. "Find out from Elmis who sent him there. The person who did this definitely knew about this beforehand. I want to know their intentions. Why did they send him, knowing that he would be harmed?" "My Lord-" A demon tried to answer, but he quickly realized that the lord was talking to himself out loud and not to anyone else. So he quickly shut his mouth and listened. "Hmmm… On second thoughts. No. Not needed." Elias continued. "I think I already know who is behind all of this. It has to be that divine bitch. I am sure of it. I haven't seen a master strategist as good as her in a long while." "In fact…" He paused. "I don't think her main target was my brother. Hmmm…" He chuckled. "She did not try to play my brother. She tried to play me. If something had happened to him, I would have had to make a move personally, and if I did, then that entire realm would disappear." "Was that her intention all along?" "Why? What is she trying to accomplish? Why did she want me to act? Is she really trying to pit that nobody against me?" "Or… perhaps she is trying to hide him from me?" "Irregulars might have the potential to become strong, but very few make it. So, no. That shouldn't be it. There should be something else." "Is she perhaps trying to hide something else?" "Mmmm…" The vampire lord hummed. "Don't ask Elmis about that divine bitch. He is infatuated with her, so he probably won't give any details. Find out more details about that irregular, that human being. I want to know everything about him." "He should be the key to getting to the bottom of this whole issue." "Hmmm... Good. Good. Very good. Here I was getting bored, and something interesting has cropped up. He He." The vampire lord's laughter echoed in the huge throne room as no one else dared to make a sound.