Chapter 1 Vivian's Intelligence

Remembering the terrifying red-haired Vivian they had encountered before, Hao Ren realized that the information Heather Anna brought was of great importance. He gathered everyone in the house, including Izhaks, who had just returned from outside, and pulled him into the discussion as well. Because Lily had smashed the coffee table in the living room with a paw, Hao Ren dragged the dining table to the center of the room. Heather Anna placed the "Infernal Ripper" mummy on the table and explained what the so-called Inferno was.

"It was during the age of mythology," Heather Anna said seriously, sitting across from Hao Ren, her solemn expression reminiscent of Vivian when she was "lecturing" people, "You should know that the Earth in that era was very different from now—magic was widespread in this world, and supernatural power was the norm. The humans without much magical talent and the weak city-states they built were rare and needed protection. The Otherlings at that time not only built many super structures that humans today can hardly imagine, but the magical environment of the world also made this planet very different from today. A large number of alternate dimensions were linked to the Earth—some of which were man-made, and others that existed from the beginning."

Hao Ren nodded slightly. He had heard Vivian mention these things before, so he took this as a review.

"The Otherlings built many things at that time, and many families who styled themselves as gods even built huge 'Divine Kingdoms,' such as Mount Olympus and Asgard, but today it is impossible to find these magnificent ruins on Earth, because these 'Divine Kingdoms' were built in alternate dimensions," Vivian took over Heather Anna's words. "These Divine Kingdom spaces were man-made alternate dimensions. In addition, there were some naturally occurring spaces that have been linked to Earth since I had memories. They include the Inferno and some demon planes. Some Otherlings even lived in such spaces from the very beginning. For example, the Shadow Demons came from such a space. Those guys' old home is called the 'Shadow World,' a cold place without the light of a star. I've been there once and have a deep impression."

This was something Hao Ren had never heard of before. The first thing he thought of was the truth about the Otherlings coming to Earth:

They were originally inhabitants of the Dream Plane, and were leaked into this universe due to the breaking of the Wall of Reality.

Could it be that the original alternate dimensions that existed in ancient times were also leaked from the Dream Plane? Or rather, did the breaking of the Wall of Reality not only throw a large number of races to this place, but also throw in some space fragments from the Dream Plane?

Hao Ren exchanged a look with the others, and everyone basically thought of the same thing. However, they didn't dwell on it too much: considering the condition of the Wall of Reality and the theoretical model of the "Unified Information," it was normal for the Wall of Reality to leak some space fragments into this universe after it broke, only the scale was different. Now it seemed that the leakage situation back then was probably more serious than imagined.

"After the collapse of the age of mythology, these alternate dimensions basically disappeared," Heather Anna continued. "The man-made Divine Kingdoms lost their support because their masters perished, and most of them collapsed. Some of the remaining ones were closed. The Olympus Temple space we found before was a closed alternate dimension. The naturally existing spaces were exiled: Demon Hunters didn't have the ability to destroy the spacetime structure, so in order to cut off the foundation of some Otherling races, they sealed those Otherlings in alternate dimensions and destroyed the latter's links with the Prime Material Plane."

"Now those alternate dimensions should still be floating in the cracks of spacetime. There is no way to rebuild the link from inside the space, so they will forever wander in the endless spacetime until the day the universe perishes," Vivian said, suddenly feeling a little scared. "Fortunately, I didn't think about going to some alternate dimension to find peace and quiet. Once I fell asleep inside, I'm afraid I'd still be floating in some corner of the universe by now."

Hao Ren looked at the "Infernal Ripper" mummy on the table, wondering what kind of environment could give birth to such a bizarre and terrifying creature: "What is the Inferno like?"

"The most insane of all alternate dimensions, there are no rational creatures inside, only beasts," Heather Anna pouted, looking up at Vivian. "You should ask Lady Vivian about this. I heard about the ancient times from others, but Lady Vivian really experienced it."

Vivian hummed and recalled the events of that year: "I haven't been to the Inferno either. Even in the age of mythology, few people have been to that place. The link between the Inferno and the Prime Material Plane is very unstable. Unlike other alternate dimensions that had a fixed space channel or access method, it almost randomly opened its doors on Earth. The first level of the Inferno is still slightly understandable. Some daring wizards would explore that place. There is poisonous air and hot springs, and the whole world seems to be boiling. The Infernal Rippers live on the first level, and the second level of the Inferno is where completely incomprehensible monsters live. They are all mindless beasts of flesh and blood, devouring each other, killing each other, and acting entirely on their instinct to kill. They will tear apart almost any flesh and blood that dares to trespass—Hadès once tried to form an undead legion to find out what was at the bottom of the Inferno, but those skeletons and zombies were also torn apart by the twisted monsters in the Inferno. In short, the Inferno is such a crazy place."

"A harsh space full of primitive beasts?" Hao Ren stroked his chin. "Why would wizards study this place?"

"The creatures in the Inferno are born with great power, and their flesh and blood contain special original energy," Vivian said. "Although those bloodthirsty monsters are dangerous, wizards regard them as treasures. Some ointments made from Inferno creatures can even be used to cast forbidden spells, such as promoting humans to immortal liches, or opening portals to deeper, twisted spaces. During the age of mythology, wizards were the lackeys raised by the Otherlings. At that time, they were forced by their masters to explore the Inferno, but after the end of the age of mythology, some wizards began to actively explore that place."

Lily immediately shouted, "Hey, wait a minute, wasn't the Inferno exiled by the Demon Hunters like other alternate dimensions after the collapse of the age of mythology?"

"Other natural spaces were exiled by the Demon Hunters, except for the Inferno," Vivian shook her head. "I said before, the Inferno is a very unstable place, and its connection with the Prime Material Plane is completely random. There are no native intelligent races in the Inferno, and no one can control its link rules—the Demon Hunters couldn't catch that space at all. So after the end of the age of mythology, the Inferno still occasionally linked to Earth, and there were often surviving Otherlings or wizards who went in. However, after that, the Demon Hunters kept interfering with the gates of the Inferno. They seemed to use a continuous force of spatial disturbance to 'push' the Inferno away from this world. Although they didn't completely destroy its connection with this world, they greatly reduced the frequency with which the gates of the Inferno opened. The Inferno hasn't appeared at all in the last one or two thousand years. I remember the last time it appeared was during the time of Augustus. A gate opened in northern Rome, and several villages were swallowed by monsters, but after that, there was no news of 'opening the gate' at all. Moreover, the scale of that opening event was not large, and there were no clues in history."

Hao Ren listened to these magical stories with wide eyes. He didn't expect such a thing to have happened after the end of the age of mythology. Then his gaze fell on the Infernal Ripper specimen: "Then this thing..."

"This was made into a specimen hundreds of years ago," Heather Anna nodded. "Which means that a wizard opened the gate of the Inferno hundreds of years ago and brought something out of it alive."

"Hundreds of years ago? That was already the era when humans and Demon Hunters ruled the Earth," Hao Ren felt incredible. "Didn't the Demon Hunters find out?"

"I don't know if anyone found out when the gate was opened, but the wizard obviously escaped the pursuit of the Demon Hunters. We found some clues about him, and the clues prove that the wizard was still active in Europe around the time of the American Revolutionary War."

"So the information we have now is: there is a wizard who opened the gate of the Inferno hundreds of years ago and brought something out of it, and at the same time, this wizard also left behind a magic book that can summon the evil spirit Vivian..." Hao Ren tapped the table with his knuckles. "What is the connection between the two things?"

"There is evidence that the summoning ceremony recorded in that book is just one of the wizard's many forbidden spells. We found some scattered manuscripts left by the wizard," Heather Anna glanced at Vivian. "His summoning of the 'King of Blood' is not the ultimate goal, but only to use the power of the King of Blood to enter the depths of the Inferno. He should have many other manuscripts left, and there may be more than one kind of forbidden technique related to Lady Vivian. These secrets should be hidden in the place where he opened the gate of the Inferno back then."

"Where?"

"Northern Europe."