Before Noya could ask further, Ed continued:
Do you remember the world map?
"Of course I remember."
As the administrator of the Root Network, Noya had an intimate knowledge of the database.
"Then let me ask you, if you were Hall, where would you choose to revive yourself?"
Noya fell into deep thought.
Seeing this, Ed asked:
Do you think he dares to come to the Second Holy See?
"That's impossible."
"Do you think he dares to go to the Eternal Domain?"
"That's impossible..."
" Wilderness of Chaos?"
" The Wilderness of Chaos is an option, but there are a lot of Soul Returner in the wilderness right now. You told him that you can observe the battlefield through the Soul Returner, so he probably won't choose it, otherwise it would be too easy to expose yourself."
"That's right, so now Hall only has two places to choose from."
Ed said with a smile:
"However, the Graycast Corridor has extensive experience in fighting Blood Corpse, and everyone entering and leaving must undergo strict checks. It is unknown how long it will take to recover strength in the Graycast Corridor."
"Furthermore, I can sense that those few surviving Soul Returner are currently within the Graycast Corridor, so Hall naturally also has a body within the Graycast Corridor. He should understand that it's not a good place for him."
"... Hmm, then there's only one possibility."
Noya, having grasped the logic, confirmed with Ed:
He's going back to the Demon Realm.
"That's right, if Hall had any brains at all, he would definitely return to the Demon Realm to strengthen himself."
Ed nodded and said:
"In terms of familiarity, the Demon Realm is his homeland; in terms of power compatibility, the creatures currently active there are all Blood Corpse; and there's also the most important point—"
What is it?
"It's a combination of strengths."
Ed revealed his deepest thought behind this arrangement:
"There are only so many Blood Corpse in the Demon Realm. Hall's increase in strength means that the other Grand Dukes are becoming weaker."
"Unless they can find a way to break out, Hall's arrival will not only fail to strengthen the vampires as a whole, but is more likely to cause infighting among them."
"Even if they reach a temporary non-aggression pact, it certainly won't last."
"I will exert subtle pressure on the Hall by revealing information to him, and then we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Noya finally understood Ed's line of thinking completely, and somewhat skeptically asked one last question:
"What if Hall really chooses the Graycast Corridor as the place for his revival?"
Ed sighed and said:
"Then there's nothing I can do. If he really doesn't know what's good for him, I'll make him grow all over with fluorescent plants, leaving glowing traces wherever he goes, and his body will continuously Tree Transformation to repel True Blood. At the same time, I'll make that body bind him like the cage he was in the wheelchair, preventing him from escaping."
"With the Graycast Corridor's tight security measures against the Blood Corpse, I'm sure they'll apprehend him or kill him soon."
Noya was completely speechless. After a moment of silence, the Dragon Soul looked at Ed and nodded, saying:
"You're still as insidious as ever."
"Actually, that's not all~"
Eternal Domain, Twilight Capital, Twin Kings Palace.
The colossal wings that blotted out the sky swept across the Twilight Capital, finally landing atop the spire of the Twin Kings Palace. From afar, they resembled a roof beast magnified countless times to scale, but misplaced.
The dragon's body was almost as big as the entire hall, and the spire at its feet seemed so small, as if it would slip off at any moment, like a cat that had accidentally fallen off a table.
As it watched the setting sun, it opened its enormous maw and let out a silent roar. At the same time, a portion of the countless Psionic Energy Circuit on its body lit up instantly.
The gentle sunset in the sky seemed to be bound by invisible shackles, and began to slowly move in the opposite direction.
After a flash of light indistinguishable from sunlight, the dragon's body disappeared from the top of the palace, and an old man dressed in magnificent robes walked into the main hall of the Twin Kings Palace.
With Aeldra's return, the sunset in the sky was once again frozen in its original position, as if nothing had ever happened.
The Amber Dragon transformed back into the form of an old man. Although he was somewhat exhausted, his face showed a long-lost joy.
He gently sat on the other side of the throne, and in the instant his body was completely pressed against it, everything, both physical and Psionic Energy, was reconnected.
The King of Domination on the other side of the throne opened his eyes slightly, looking a little sleepy. He watched as the setting sun once again shone on that almost eternally unchanging spot, and his expression softened somewhat.
"How is the situation?"
" Kebola wasn't seriously injured, but they took him away. Judging from my Psionic Energy senses, he should have gone to the Graycast Corridor. We can bring him back during the next prisoner exchange."
The Immortal King said:
However, there were some gains as well.
As he spoke, he reached out and gently slid his hand in front of him, opening a rift leading to the mysterious space in his abdomen.
A figure, bound by ice shards and lightning and unable to move, landed on the other side of the Twin Kings Palace, at the feet of the King of Domination.
Hall, wearing the player's face, looked up and saw a face that was all too familiar to him:
Vanessa...
"Long time no see, my... um, blood relative."
The ruler spoke with great interest, without deliberately mentioning terms like gender, but after thinking for a moment, he added:
"It hasn't been that long, has it?"
After a brief struggle, a relieved smile appeared on the Hall's face for the second time.
"My dear sister, I'm actually quite interested in that method you mentioned before, the one that can extract True Blood while keeping me alive."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, I was in a bad mood because I had just woken up. Please have mercy and tell me again..."
Somewhere in the Wilderness of Chaos.
Ed was pushing his wheelchair across the wilderness.
Noya's supportive performance had put him in a very good mood, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hall ( Number One ), in his wheelchair, rolled his eyes slightly upward upon hearing Ed's laughter, only to be met with Ed's classic smiling tiger expression.
That young man's laugh can't be anything good!
In that instant, most of the Hall's desire to explore vanished.
"Is there a question you want to ask me?"
"... No."
Hall said in a low but firm voice.
"I have."
Ed once again acted unpredictably, startling Hall in his wheelchair, who thought that the other party had discovered his operation of secretly hiding True Blood and creating a clone (which was indeed the case).
But then Ed asked with a hint of doubt:
"I've always been curious: you vampire dukes are quite formidable even among High Tier vampires. What kind of being was able to seal you all away?"
"In other words, what are the identities of that mage and that assassin?"