"Thank you, Glorious God!" Seeing the Star Patrol dragging three evil gods into the hall, the Ten Master Lords nodded in greeting.
"Just doing my duty!" The Star Patrol, referred to as Glorious God, tossed the three half-crippled evil gods onto the ground. Their bodies had been forcibly sealed and shrunk. "What do you want with these three? They're so weak, they're practically useless to you."
"These three evil gods were chasing us because of something we did. There's a powerful race behind them, and we need to learn more about it. We might end up at war with them."
"Oh!" Even upon hearing the Epic Titans talk about possibly going to war with a void-dwelling epic race, the Glorious God remained unfazed. It wasn't the first time. "So, you'll handle the rest?"
"Yes, leave it to us," the Ten Master Lords replied. "You captured these three evil gods, so we'll compensate you accordingly. How about three medium-sized worlds?"
"One is enough!" Glorious God waved his hand dismissively, as if he didn't care. He glanced at the three evil gods on the ground, who tried to speak but couldn't due to the soul seal he placed on them. "These useless things aren't worth that much."
Muria's lips twitched, but he suppressed a laugh. In situations like this, it was best for someone as weak as him, both in power and status, to keep a low profile.
"Lord Alysta, are these the extradimensional evil gods that were chasing you?" asked a curious Seraph, looking at the three heavily wounded, sealed evil gods lying on the ground.
"It's them!" Alysta said, her expression complicated as she looked at the evil gods. These were the ones who had chased her across countless worlds.
Now, these beings were lying there like worms, unable to move, even their ability to send soul messages sealed away.
"Let's interrogate them and see what we can learn. After all, they're from an epic race. We shouldn't underestimate them," the Ten Master Lords said, releasing part of the seal on the three evil gods, allowing them to speak again.
"You foreign demonic lords, let us go immediately! We are members of the Celestial Demon Race. If you don't, you'll bring an unstoppable disaster upon yourselves!"
None of the epics or seraphs responded. They just watched expressionlessly as these three captured evil gods continued to rant.
"Do you know what will happen if you attack us? This is a declaration of war against the Celestial Demons. Do you know the consequences of opposing us?" Even though none of the epics responded, the three foolish evil gods kept threatening them.
"Oh!" Only one Epic Titan responded, his tone bored.
"What consequences?"
"You will all perish. Your homeworld will be destroyed. All the stars in your star cluster will dim. Everything will fall into silence. All living beings and races connected to you will be slaughtered. Everything will be wiped out!"
Still, no one responded. The epics and seraphs just continued to watch them with blank expressions. At this level, words like these no longer provoked any anger or fear.
"Enough with the pointless threats. I have a few questions for you. Answer honestly!" said the Machinery Emperor impatiently, looking at the evil gods who kept spewing threats.
"How many beings like you are in your race?"
"We don't know!"
"Too many to count!"
"A lot."
The Machinery Emperor glared coldly at them and then asked a second question. "How many are stronger than you?"
"We don't know!"
"Far too many!"
The Machinery Emperor stared at them, his patience wearing thin.
"Alysta, how long did it take you to get from their world to our Star Patrol Cluster?" he asked, needing to know how much time he had left for interrogation.
"It took me about 120 years to return from their world to the Erathia World Cluster."
"One hundred and twenty years, huh?" The Machinery Emperor nodded, understanding that he had plenty of time to interrogate these three evil gods. He looked at the Ten Master Lords. "May I handle their interrogation?"
"Twenty years. If you don't get results by then, we'll give the task to someone else," the Ten Master Lords replied, aware that the Machinery Emperor had developed a device to extract power from evil gods.
"Deal." The Machinery Emperor immediately agreed and smiled at the three evil gods.
"What are you planning to do? I warn you, if you harm us, the true Celestial Demon Kings will not let you off!"
"Demon Kings?" The Ancient Prison Master caught onto the term. "How powerful are your Demon Kings?"
"How powerful? To measure such supreme beings by strength is an insult. They can destroy an entire world with just a thought!" the Four-Blade Demon Lord said proudly, which explained why he still maintained such arrogance in the face of so many extradimensional lords.
"Hmm!" The Ten Master Lords remained unmoved. Destroying a world? It sounded impressive, but it wasn't like they hadn't done that themselves. "How many Demon Kings do you have?"
"Seven!" The Four-Blade Demon Lord answered with confidence.
Neither the Ancient Prison Master, the Ten Master Lords, nor the Seraphs reacted.
"What? Scared now? Let us go, and maybe we'll spare you!" the Four-Blade Demon Lord said smugly.
"Machinery Emperor, take them away. Try to get as much information as you can!" The Ten Master Lords waved, silencing the evil gods once again.
"I'll get on it right away!" The Machinery Emperor descended from the throne and dragged the three extradimensional evil gods away.
"Lady Alysta, you may leave for now. If we need anything further, we'll let you know," the Ten Master Lords said, turning to Alysta as they seemed ready to continue discussions with the Seraphs.
"Understood, I'll take my leave." Having earned her forty drops of standard source energy, Alysta readily agreed. The Titans and Seraphs had things to discuss, and it wasn't appropriate for her, a newly ascended Dragon King, to interfere.
...
"Mom, you've become a Dragon King now, but you still need protection from others. How does that feel?"
"How does it feel?" Alysta's face lightened, and her whole demeanor became more relaxed. She smiled brightly at her daughter.
"It feels great to have connections! I never expected the problem that had been troubling me for so long to be solved so easily."
Muria remained silent as they left the Epic Titan council hall. He had witnessed everything, learning much again, but now he had a premonition that an unprecedented war was looming. However, this was a war he wouldn't be able to participate in. He didn't even have the qualifications to watch, and if it weren't for his grandmother, he might not have even heard about it.
"This time, I earned forty drops of source energy. Looking back at all those times I was hunted, it was all worth it!" Alysta said with satisfaction.
With this much source energy, advancing to the second level of the Epic Realm, World Simulation, would be no problem at all. This windfall had allowed her to surpass what others might accumulate in tens or even hundreds of thousands of years.
"You two came with me this time, so you each get two drops of source energy!" Feeling generous after her sudden wealth, Alysta offered to share her spoils with her descendants.
"No need. You earned that by risking your life. Every drop of source energy belongs to you. Keep it for yourself!" The usually greedy Gold Dragon Lady refused her mother's offer without hesitation. At nearly six hundred years old, she wasn't about to take something her mother had nearly died for. She had her pride.
She desired source energy, but she would earn it on her own once she reached the peak of the Legendary Realm.
"I can't use it all at once anyway! I got so much this time, giving you two drops is no big deal!"
Alysta still wanted to share her great fortune with her descendants.
"Mother, you can give us two drops now to help us ascend to the Epic Realm. But what about the future?"
The Gold Dragon Lady stood in the air, her expression serious as she looked at her mother. Her ambitions were far greater than just becoming a Dragon King. Her true goal was to become like the Ancient Prison Master or the Ten Master Lords, beings who could make entire worlds tremble and offer up source energy at the mere mention of their names.
"You can help Muria and me ascend to the Epic Realm easily now. But what about later? As we progress on the path of the Epic, we'll need more and more source energy. Can you continue providing it?"
"Well... grandson, your mom is being stubborn. Why don't you take your share?" Alysta, seeing her daughter's firm stance, turned to Muria.
"Grandmother, in order to ascend to the Epic Realm, we must earn source energy, and to do that, we must go through a challenging process. Only after enduring that can we become true epics."
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