Beneath Li Palace, in the gloom beyond layers of heavy gates.
Voices of praise echoed through the vast hollow.
Boiling sounds continually rose from the crimson mist. An ocean of bloody, viscous flesh writhed and rose from the Pool of Infinity, gradually flowing into the enormous ritual amid the praises of hundreds of priests.
In the end, it became crimson rings like shackles.
They nested layer upon layer, grinding against one another with piercing shrieks as they slowly contracted inward.
Yet within that contracting ritual, frenzied, chaotic howls continued to rise. Enormous faces abruptly emerged from the blood mist and lunged outward.
Their shrill, miserable roars stirred up a hurricane.
At the forefront, White Snake stood motionless, merely watching coldly as those grotesque faces, mouths agape to bite, shattered against an invisible wall.
Then, behind the broken faces, one enormous hand after another condensed from the blood mist. Those grotesque limbs with twisted knuckles rumbled like thunder as they wildly attacked every living thing around them.
Terrified cries constantly erupted among the priests. Some unfortunate soul was dragged inside, and the crisp echo of bones being crushed came from the empty blood mist.
But soon, pale ash rose from the darkness.
The ashes of the hordes from the abyss seemed endless, layering over the crimson mass and forming a hard shell.
It bound the violent power surging within the blood mist.
Contract. Contract again!
Until at last, that endless violent power had no room left to resist beneath the suppression of the ritual of the fallen kingdom, and was forced back into that shriveled shell.
—Absolute Punishment Minister!
As the ritual ended, that aged body fell from midair and floated above the Pool of Infinity. The wrinkled face twitched slightly.
He casually raised a hand to scratch himself, his snoring