Lost and Found / The Underworld EEE ...

At that moment, the Core Flame spat something out again. Countless Voidrangers leaped from within it. This was clearly Afleet's prepared backup plan. Asta had merely been bait, meant to lure Caelus into letting his guard down before releasing the Voidrangers and maximizing the gains from the ambush.

Chapter 34: Regained What Was Lost

Caelus had not noticed the danger closing in beside him at all. He stared fixedly at Asta in his arms. Compared to her previously energetic appearance, her face was now pale, as though she had stopped breathing. Caelus carefully stroked her cheek and tested her breath with his fingers.

A Voidranger's blade was already within inches of him when purple lightning suddenly flashed. Acheron swept past Caelus and Asta, cleaving the Voidranger in two with a single strike. She had not even drawn her katana; she dealt with the Voidrangers using only its sheath. Her graceful purple figure darted across the battlefield, and no Voidranger, whatever its form, could withstand a single blow from her. In the blink of an eye, they were all wiped out.

At the sight, Afleet's flaming body trembled twice before gradually fading from where it stood. It had only been an avatar to begin with, and now that it had reached the end of its strength, it naturally dissipated.

Holding Asta's body, Caelus could not help imagining what he would do if something truly happened to her. A tear fell from his eye and landed on Asta's cheek.

Asta was groggy, feeling as though her body had been set aflame. But the cool sensation on her face brought her back to reality. She opened her eyes, and once her vision cleared, she saw Caelus crying while holding her. She was confused at first, but quickly realized that he had saved her.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

Asta raised a hand and touched Caelus's cheek. When he saw that she was awake, he immediately pressed down on the back of her hand in delight, holding her palm firmly against his face.

"Asta, are you all right? That's great. You're all right."

Seeing Asta awaken was like coming back to life for Caelus. He immediately picked her up and hurried out of the passage toward the Space Station's medical bay.

The Space Station was still somewhat chaotic, but after Dr. Ratio rescued the other researchers who had been transported away by the Core Flame, the unrest gradually subsided. Screwllum stepped forward to explain the trouble the Space Station had encountered and what Afleet, the true culprit, had done. The genius's prestige was high, and coupled with the victims' testimony, anyone with sound judgment could tell that Asta had been wronged. It had all been Afleet's conspiracy.

Asta lay on the bed in a light green hospital gown, undergoing examination by various instruments. Aside from a slight concussion suffered during the transfer, she was completely unharmed. Only then did Caelus finally relax.

"Look how worried you were. Aren't I fine?"

Asta said with a smile. What had happened to her was dangerous, but after the crisis had passed, seeing Caelus risk everything for her still moved her deeply. She had always believed that Caelus was serious when he said he liked her, and now he had proven with his actions that no matter how dangerous things became, he would not abandon her.

"You're my girlfriend. How could I not worry? What would I do if you were gone?"

Caelus said as he tightly held Asta's hand. Thankfully, this time he had regained what he had nearly lost. He had not lost his adorable girlfriend, or he really would have gone berserk.

"Stop right there. I'm not your girlfriend. Besides, you don't exactly lack women around you. If I were gone, wouldn't you still have the others?"

Asta raised her other hand as she spoke. She had never agreed to be Caelus's girlfriend. How old was she now? She was not even an adult yet. How could she be thinking about dating? Still, there was no denying that this incident had deepened the bond between her and Caelus. If they were to date in the future, it would only be natural. Who besides Caelus could enter her heart like this?

"That won't do. Every woman I like is like a piece of a puzzle. If even one piece is missing, my heart breaks. Back on the Xianzhou... I already lost one piece."

Caelus shook his head. It was Asta's first time seeing someone make being a playboy sound so fresh and refined, and she could not help rolling her eyes at him. She had actually heard a little about what he had experienced on the Xianzhou.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I still have a few lifesaving items on me."

Asta lifted her right hand and waved it before Caelus. A purple bracelet circled her wrist. There had originally been two of them, and the other was worn on Caelus's wrist. He also raised his hand and shook the blue bracelet, finally feeling more at ease.

Asta was still injured, so Caelus coaxed her into lying down and resting before leaving the medical bay. He stood in the corridor outside, leaning against the wall in silence.

"Acheron, I want Afleet dead."

Caelus looked at Acheron beside him. The warmth had completely vanished from his golden eyes, replaced by unmistakable killing intent. Even when facing a Great Extinguisher on the Xianzhou, he had never wanted to kill someone this badly. Afleet had crossed his bottom line. It had targeted his woman, and there was no way Caelus would let it remain alive.

"All right."

Acheron answered simply and directly. Caelus's killing intent immediately faltered, and he scratched his head in confusion.

"Um, I don't know where Afleet is, though."

Caelus was a little embarrassed. He had been the one talking tough, yet he had no idea where his target was. They still needed to head to Penacony, and it seemed they had no time for revenge.

"I know," Acheron said.

"You know!?"

Acheron startled Caelus so badly that he nearly jumped. He looked at his girlfriend with suspicion. She was someone who did not even know where Penacony was and could get lost walking through a room. How could she know where Afleet was?

"Remember the invitation I told you about? Afleet has the invitation I want. I'd already set my sights on it."

Acheron explained. Caelus showed a look of realization, but his expression soon turned strange. Was this too much of a coincidence? Afleet, which had come to cause trouble at the Space Station, was actually Acheron's target. Did that not mean it had been dead from the start?

"But you can't even tell directions apart. How are you going to reach Eternal Fire Manor, where Afleet is?"

Caelus voiced his concern. He was afraid that if he followed Acheron to find Afleet, they might not find it even after it burned itself to death. It was not that he had anything against Acheron; it was just that all her flaws seemed concentrated in getting lost. She was reliable in every other regard.

"We'll walk there."

As Acheron spoke, she placed her right hand on the hilt of the katana at her side. Then she drew the long blade and made a thrusting motion. Its slender tip seemed to pierce the fabric of space itself. Under the blade's cut, space slowly opened like a curtain. Caelus leaned forward to look inside and found a black-and-white space, with what seemed like a bottomless pool of black water beneath their feet. Acheron stepped in first, and Caelus followed closely behind.

"No wonder you were able to reach the Space Station. So that's how."

Caelus wore an understanding expression. The reason he had encountered Acheron on the day of his birth was probably because she had wandered through these spatial rifts and happened to reach the Space Station to get some fresh air. That was how their wondrous connection had begun.

Chapter 35: Acheron EEE

"From here on, we'll be able to find Afleet by following our instincts."

Acheron said something that made Caelus uneasy, but since they were already here, he chose to trust her intuition. So he followed her, stepping through the black water beneath their feet as they walked forward one step at a time.

No one knew how long they walked. The darkness ahead seemed endless. An ordinary person would probably suffer a mental breakdown walking through a place like this. Caelus glanced at Acheron and thought of how she had always walked through such places alone. He could not help feeling a little heartache.

If only I had met you earlier, Mei.

Caelus wished he could have been by Acheron's side sooner, so she would not have been so lonely. Her past was a mystery, but she must have had family once. Now, he could only become her family himself.

Acheron glanced at Caelus without saying anything, merely tightening her grip on his hand slightly. Mei was the name they used when they were alone together. Caelus would not call her that in front of others. Occasionally being called by her real name was, for her, a kind of warmth.

After a while, Acheron felt that they had gone far enough and used the tip of her blade to open another spatial rift. Caelus and Acheron fell from the sky. Below them was a manor engulfed in flames. The two controlled their descent and landed on the ground. This was the manor's entrance, and its massive doors were tightly shut. Acheron did not knock. Instead, she stepped forward and kicked straight ahead. With a thunderous boom, the manor doors burst inward, carrying a flood of flames with them.

Inside the burning manor, the flames on the ground formed twisted fire demons that rose one after another. These were Afleet's subordinates, members of the fire demon race. Upon seeing the intruders, they snarled and charged forward, determined to kill Acheron and Caelus here.

Caelus had already drawn his lance. After planting it into the ground, he used his own fire-element power to place a layer of protection around Acheron. He felt that she probably did not need it, but what if her clothes caught fire?

Acheron had already become a white blur. The sound of her slashes could be heard all around, yet she herself could not be seen. Only a few lingering red petals remained where she had stood. After the energy petals fell, they scattered away, along with the lives of countless fire demons.

Caelus merely blinked twice before seeing Acheron standing in the now-empty manor. The sheath rested at her lower back as she slowly slid the slightly drawn katana back inside.

"Let's go."

Acheron took out a packet of snacks in green wrapping from her sleeve and ate a few candies from it before continuing deeper into the manor. She knew Afleet was here, along with several powerful lifeforms that were likely its trusted followers.

After passing through a new doorway, Acheron arrived at a hall of fire. At the far end of the hall stood a series of steps leading up to a platform. A throne sat upon it, and Grand Duke of Fiery Nether Afleet was seated there. Four different figures stood beside it.

At the far left stood a man in sunglasses holding a cello. To his right was a purple fire demon with a scythe floating behind it. It had no physical form of its own, but a little girl doll acted on its behalf. Farther to the right stood a red-haired woman wielding chains. The chains in her hands were thick, with large metal balls of uneven shape attached at their ends. One could easily imagine how they served as weapons against enemies.

The woman standing at the far right was the most beautiful and elegant of them all. Her long black hair flowed loose over her shoulders, and she wore a pure white dress and a wide-brimmed round hat. Inward-growing demon horns protruded from both sides of her head, while a slender tail tipped with a spade swayed gently behind her.

"I never expected guests to arrive before we departed for Penacony."

Bright flames burned in Afleet's eye sockets. Caelus looked at it without speaking. Their grudge had already been established. This time, either Afleet would die, or he and Acheron would. There was no third outcome. He could not possibly allow a villain that constantly plotted attacks on the Space Station to live, not when that would put Asta in danger.

"Akash, Dubla, Katrina, Constance, give these two guests a proper welcome."

Afleet did not waste words. It called out the names of its four subordinates from right to left, ordering them to face the enemy. At this point, they could only fight first. Only the survivors would have the right to talk.

"Yes, Father!"

The four answered in unison. Caelus had not expected these fire demons to have adopted children. Aside from Dubla, the doll who appeared to be a fire demon as well, the other three had no fire demon traits and looked more like other kinds of demons.

Acheron walked forward alone, while Afleet's four children each used their abilities and lunged at her. But Acheron's figure merely flickered in place, like an old film reel. By the time her flickering stopped, all four of them had collapsed to the ground.

Akash's cello had split into two. The doll controlled by Dubla had shattered into scattered pieces. Katrina's iron ball and chains had been reduced to fragments. Constance's hat had cracked, and a section of her hair had been cut away, exposing the demon horn hidden beneath it.

A hand grabbed Acheron's boot. She looked down to find that Akash, the cello player, still had a breath left in him. He gripped her tightly, as though using all his remaining strength.

"Father, run..."

Akash had only enough strength left to shout those words. It was not because his vitality was extraordinary, but because Acheron had held back. She had not killed the four directly. Otherwise, no one could have survived her blade.

"Afleet, hand over the music box, and I can spare their lives."

Acheron ignored the four people at her feet. She raised her sheath and pointed it at Afleet on the throne. Her purpose here was simple: to take the invitation and the music box that came with it. The music box was actually the token used to register hotel guests.

"If you want it, come take it yourself. You understand the rules."

Afleet spoke calmly, showing no fear despite its children being in desperate straits. It was a villain by nature. Whenever it wanted something, it took it by force. Those were the rules: the strong devoured the weak.

Afleet rose from its throne, flames erupting across its body as it held its scepter. When it lifted the scepter, a blazing sphere like the sun appeared overhead. This powerful attack was not meant simply to win the fight; it was meant to raze this place to the ground, killing even its own children.

With human thinking, Caelus found Afleet's actions difficult to understand. Its children had just risked their lives to protect it, yet it immediately turned against them and did not care whether they lived or died. This was precisely what made the galaxy so strange. Things humans treasured might be worthless in the eyes of other races. Mutual understanding simply did not exist.

Faced with such an attack, Acheron remained calm. She bent down, placed her hand on her hilt, and assumed a standard drawing stance. The next moment, red lightning flashed. The fireball above Afleet exploded violently, while all four of its limbs were severed from its body. Its torso flew backward and slammed beside its throne. Without its limbs, it could only lean against the throne and stare at Acheron through flaming eyes.

"The music box."

Acheron repeated her demand. In her eyes, Afleet had never been an opponent requiring special treatment. Calling it no more than a stray by the roadside might have been an exaggeration, but it truly could not match her in a normal fight.

"...It seems the outcome was decided long ago."

Afleet's tone did not change in the slightest. At least now, Caelus could see that this was an enemy unafraid of death. That much kept it from being contemptible. It had wanted to destroy the Space Station, so it naturally had to face retaliation. At the very least, it looked better than crying and begging for mercy.

"You and they are still alive."

Acheron spoke. Her meaning was clear: Afleet did not need to stubbornly fight to the death. It still had companions here, so there was no need to cling to the music box.

"The blood-soaked path of Destruction has never tolerated hesitation."

Afleet spoke with absolute conviction. Though Acheron's tone had not been aggressive and even carried a hint of persuasion, it was still prepared to fight with everything it had.

"Tuofei'er's fire demons... Even if you offer your life to that Aeon, you will not earn Their favor."

Acheron watched Afleet with an indifferent expression. In a sense, she understood creatures like it well. Their minds were single-minded; they could abandon everything except loyalty to Destruction. Humans saw it as obsession, but fire demons did not.

"Ranger, you walk the narrow path of The Hunt. Naturally, you cannot understand."

"We came from fire, were born in fire, spread, burned, destroyed, until all fuel was consumed and only ashes remained."

"Burning is the life of a fire demon, its beginning and its end. We are born for death, merely to enact one reflection of the universe's truth: all things exist for destruction."

Afleet spoke its philosophy of life. Caelus roughly understood. Fire demons existed to destroy from the moment they were born. If there was material to burn, they would burn it away. If there was none, they would destroy themselves. No matter what, they could not escape the reach of destruction. It suited the Path of Destruction perfectly, which was why they fanatically pursued their patron. It was not as simple as being bootlickers, as he had previously thought.

"Your companions do not seem to think so. They fought to earn you a chance to live."

Acheron continued after Afleet's words. It meant that although Afleet wished to die, its children wanted it to live. Otherwise, they would not have held onto Acheron and told Afleet to run.

"They are my children. Like I once was, they are flames that have yet to turn white-hot. They are still young, and I will not blame them."

"But my flames have already grown hoarse. I do not have much time left. Do you see that festive star in the distance? I will bring hell there! So before that, I must overcome you."

Afleet gradually rose from the ground. It had never possessed a fixed form, and the flaming limbs it generated now were even thicker, gathering all the energy of its remaining life.

Caelus's expression became somewhat strange. He wanted to record this scene and show it to Uncle Sunday. The Family had sent an invitation here and invited Afleet, yet it was planning to bring hell to Penacony. Whether it could succeed was another matter, but inviting a terrorist like this meant there was a serious problem with the festival. It was at this moment that Caelus began to distrust the so-called Harmony Family.

"Why?" Acheron asked in confusion.

"Because on the paths They have opened, you have walked farther than I... Emanator."

Afleet calmly answered Acheron. Its words immediately silenced her. Caelus had not expected Afleet to expose Acheron's true strength in one sentence. Acheron's Path was The Void, and not many people knew that. Caelus now only wanted to know whether Afleet knew her Path, or had merely judged that her strength had reached the Emanator level.

"You cannot hide your identity. Draw that blade. We will indeed remain here, and we are destined to fight to the death, because I have chosen it."

"Destruction is a glorious instant. If one lives on in cowardly disgrace... then life is far too long."

"Even if the answer... may be your own destruction?" Acheron said.

"The answer is unimportant. What matters is that it exists, just as you exist. Everything exists to be destroyed, and Emanators are no exception."

At the end of its life, Afleet began discussing philosophy with Acheron. She had no answer, because she was not a philosopher. Everything in this world had a lifespan. When that lifespan ended, destruction naturally followed. It could be physical or spiritual. Nothing lasted forever, and even Aeons were the same.

"You will witness the most brilliant and violent fire in this world. May its blaze illuminate your bottomless dream."

As Afleet spoke, its body began to combust violently. Flames surged from within it like a fountain, and the intense heat began turning the surroundings into a hell of magma.

"All right. I accept. In return, I will be honest with you."

Acheron nodded and accepted Afleet's final challenge. She did not draw her blade, but she used the power of The Void instead, forming cross-shaped black holes around Afleet. Every flame it released was sucked into them and annihilated into nothingness.

"The Hunt is not the path I walk."

Those were the last words Afleet heard from Acheron. Afterward, its flames vanished, and its body gradually dissolved into nothingness. Yet at the end of its life, it still embraced destruction. It had remained true to itself from beginning to end. Caelus had wanted it dead, but he respected such an opponent and did not say anything insulting.

Chapter 37: Raising a Little Rich Girl

An invitation and a music box fell into Acheron's hands. The items had been obtained, and Afleet was dead. She looked at Caelus, asking what he intended to do next.

Caelus looked at the four people lying on the ground. With Afleet dead, it was naturally their turn. He drew his lance and walked over to Akash. With a swift motion, the sharp lance pierced the white-haired man's head. Akash twitched twice, then his body stopped moving.

Caelus showed no mercy to the other three either. Dubla, Katrina, and Constance all appeared to be women, especially Constance, who was beautiful as a flower. Yet Caelus still drove his lance through her heart. Blood spilled across the floor before evaporating in the heat.

After physically killing the four of them, Caelus did not stop. He began gathering the power of the Stellaron within him. A phantom Stellaron slowly emerged in the air. Once it had expanded to the size of a basketball, Caelus threw it out, then took Acheron's hand and entered the spatial rift she had opened.

The instant the spatial rift closed, explosive power spread outward. The entire Eternal Fire Manor collapsed, burying all its evil within. Grand Duke of Fiery Nether and the Annihilation Gang were erased from the galaxy forever.