Downtown.
The terrifying black monster had been reduced to ashes.
Gu Qingshan stood at the edge of the enormous crater and tried to send his divine sense down into it.
—His divine sense couldn't reach the bottom.
"Is it really that deep?" Gu Qingshan asked in surprise.
Then reddish-brown flames surged up from underground, filling the entire crater.
Earth Sword spoke. "These are the flames of Purgatory."
"Purgatory? Is it a normal world?" Gu Qingshan asked.
"What do you mean by 'normal'?"
"Not shrouded by the Demon King's Order."
"It used to be normal, but I don't know about now," Earth Sword replied.
"What about these flames?"
"The flames of Purgatory have always been like this, sir," another voice answered.
Gu Qingshan looked over.
At some point, a person had appeared in the center of the enormous crater.
He wore a black suit, and was tall and refined.
Standing amid the flames of Purgatory, he bowed. "Hello, Mr. Gu Qingshan. I'm a representative from Purgatory. My master said that if you defeated that monster, you would be qualified to accept our offer of mediation."
"Mediation?" Gu Qingshan asked.
"Yes. My master wishes to mediate between you and the Demon King's Order."
"On what grounds are you here to mediate?"
"Mr. Gu Qingshan, actually, we shouldn't be here at all. Neither of us should."
"In other words, you have no official standing?" Gu Qingshan asked.
The man's expression shifted slightly. He smiled and continued, "World Apocalypse Online is the Demon King's Order, while you don't represent any Order. So we hope you'll stay out of this. In return, you'll earn Purgatory's friendship."
"Friendship... Do you belong to World Apocalypse Online?"
"No, we're mediating between the two sides."
The man in the black suit continued, "If you agree to stop fighting and