Mystery: The Stranger

Chapter 15 The Queen of Another World

"Ha, does it matter who decides?"

"Anyway, we're on the same page."

Snow sneered, as if she really had some unique choice.

"Honey, you really love to spoil the fun."

Saratas rolled her eyes at him, then with a flick of her slender fingers, a thick book with a gold-embossed cover flew out of the bookshelf and landed steadily on the table, slowly unfolding.

This is the Fourth Age, not the Fifth Age. The influence of the Six Gods has not yet truly covered every corner of the Northern Continent. In the post-Solomon Empire era, it is still possible to access some true history. The Fallen God of a hundred years ago is still the orthodox faith of the entire Solomon Empire and the entire Northern Continent. The Six Gods simply cannot effectively and comprehensively smear and graft history onto the past.

Even real world history is not entirely untraceable, let alone the history of the vampires themselves. The vampires did not hide their past; they simply declined and became marginalized, not that they had to hide everything from the public.

Saratas traced the pages with interest, his gaze suddenly pausing on a particular passage. There, a title was clearly inscribed: one of the divine servants of Lilith, the progenitor of the vampires, universally acknowledged by all vampires—the Queen of Another World.

"The symbol of the other world is related to the moon, and perhaps it is more suitable for us than the void."

Snow spoke calmly. He had locked onto the symbol of "otherworld" from the very beginning, and he knew that once the scope was limited to the moon, Saratas would inevitably make the same choice as him.

He knew very well that the Queen of the Otherworld was a hybrid of the Lunar and Gate pathways, a fusion of a Sequence 2 Creator and a Sequence 2 Planeswalker, and the title "Otherworld" was a perfect match between the two pathways. The Astral Plane encompasses all symbols, and naturally includes the objective concept of "Otherworld."

"This is indeed a good fit for us, but the only problem is that this vampire queen from another world may not be dead yet."

Xalatas's lips curled up, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes: "If He is still alive, then when we inscribe our mark on the symbol of the other world, we may be able to establish a connection with Him."

No… Snow silently denied it in his heart.

He knew very well that almost all gods who followed a mixed path would choose to separate the characteristics of different paths, and this otherworldly queen was probably no exception.

"That's for later, and we won't leave our real names."

Snow didn't dwell on it too much. After all, even a Sequence 2 angel would find it difficult to develop a strong intuition unless their name was touched or their true name was spoken. Besides, the symbols of the astral plane weren't created by the Queen of the Otherworld; they objectively existed.

"It's worth the risk. Once you advance to Sequence 5 and further master the ability to become void, let's try it in the Astral Plane."

As he spoke, Xalatas couldn't help but lick his lips, his tongue tracing across his crimson lips, his eyes gleaming with greed: "Now, the Abyss is our hunting ground."

She still wanted to feast in the abyss. Although she didn't eat anything with extraordinary properties, she had a particular fondness for the fresh souls of demons, each with its own unique flavor. The pleasure of devouring souls was something that nothing else could replace.

"I also need to add some extraordinary characteristics to the Demonic Path."

Snow nodded in agreement, his fingertips tracing the baron's glove in his palm. "Otherwise, my demonization would easily tear apart internally, requiring a stronger cohesive effect."

His demonization, or rather, his etherealization, is essentially similar to the desire incarnation of a Sequence 5 Apostle of Desire, preemptively malice and energize himself. However, he currently only possesses a set of extraordinary traits from Sequence 9 to Sequence 6, which is far from sufficient in "quality." If it weren't for his powerful mental restraint, he would have already lost his way and disintegrated. Absorbing more extraordinary traits of the same path would actually make this form more stable, preventing it from being torn apart by his own demonic power.

Think about it, back in Azeroth, he hardly ever used his Voidform trump card—after all, it was his physical body, and he still had to cherish it.

But it doesn't matter in this mysterious world. Anyway, I wasn't human to begin with. I became a demon after advancing to Sequence 6, so I can just play around with whatever I want.

...

Snow raised his hand and summoned the Blade of the Dark Empire. The dark purple light flowing along the blade traced a complex summoning circle on the ground. As a deep incantation was chanted, the Abyss Summoning Ritual officially began, and a phantom door slowly opened at the center of the array. On the other side of the door, before the outlines of several low-level demons had fully projected, a blurry dark purple figure flashed out from the doorway first—Snow's ethereal avatar.

"Mind Blast!"

A dull thud rang out, and before the demon at the front could react, its head was struck hard as if by a heavy hammer. Then, with a crisp chewing sound, it exploded like a ripe watermelon, its dark green juice splattering all over the ground.

Snow landed, snapped his fingers with his right hand, which was wearing a baron's glove, and a twisted power instantly spread out—since the demon was dead, the twisted power accelerated the release of extraordinary characteristics.

A moment later, dark hearts flowing with icy blue blood emerged from the demon's remains and were casually picked up by Snow.

Due to the extraordinary properties of Sequence 8, Snow casually swallowed it, and immediately felt a bitter, fishy sweetness on his tongue, as if it were a mixture of rust and rotten flesh.

"Continue, I need more souls."

The sounds of chewing and the screams of the lowly demons gradually faded away, and Xalatas's satisfied voice rang in Snow's ears again, like a sympathetic whisper, yet tinged with cold cruelty.

"I don't need you to tell me."

Snow replied, his gaze sweeping across the dark and distorted abyss landscape. After quickly determining his direction, his figure, like a drop of water merging into ink, gradually disappeared into the boundless darkness.

The Abyss has no distinction between outer, inner, and core areas; it is a paradise of chaos and slaughter.

Aside from the demon king Fabti and a few blood dukes who serve him, no demon dares to claim absolute safety. All the powerful demons are scattered throughout the abyss, wary of one another, never knowing if they might stumble upon another high-sequence demon lurking and hunting in some inconspicuous corner.

The fate of the other demons is still unclear, and Snow doesn't play the kind of royal road where a powerful demon controls an area, as is common in traditional abyss games.

He is not a tiger that roams the land, but a cat that lurks in the shadows, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment, hunting only small creatures.

……

Time slipped away unnoticed in the endless hunt. There were not many dramatic stories; he simply managed his territory by day as Baron Hawke, disguising himself as a law-abiding noble lord, and by night he transformed into an abyss hunter, reaping the souls and extraordinary traits of demons in the chaotic lands.

Even after several months, Snow still hadn't encountered a single Sequence 5 Apostle of Desire. The Abyss was too vast, and any demon that could grow to Sequence 5 was a seasoned veteran, and none of them would easily reveal their coordinates. It required a great deal of patience and luck.

During this time, the two barbarians Snow sent out to find the whereabouts of the Children of the Forest finally returned, bringing back solid clues.

The Children of the Forest, extraordinary beings whose strength is close to that of a Sequence 5 Extraordinary, have core organs that are one of the key materials for a Sequence 6 Corrupted Baron to advance to a Sequence 5 Chaotic Mentor in the Black Emperor Path. Snow never expected the two Sequence 8 Barbarians to bring back the Children of the Forest's heads directly; their mission was merely to find clues—and now, they have clearly done a good job.

At that moment, in the hall of Hawke's Castle, the tall Fry, carrying a sealed burlap sack, spoke with an air of self-assurance to Snow, who sat at the head of the table: "Your Excellency, there's no mistake, this is definitely the excrement left by the Children of the Forest!"

As he spoke, he deliberately shook his bag; although it was already dried, an indescribable fishy smell still wafted out. For this bag of "evidence," they had staked out in the primeval forest on the border for a whole month, enduring mosquito bites and harsh conditions, and finally reaped the rewards.