--- Chapter 165 ---
A few days later, Nox Alexandra watched Huo Yuhao fly away from the alliance base and go to the Black Pearl Castle. She waved her hands still, knowing he wouldn't be able to see her at this point.
"This is unlike you, Titania." She commented lightly.
"Why haven't you explained what it meant to become Valstrax's Inheritor to Theo? His Ancient Ink Bloodline is becoming strong each second and ultimately reaches your level soon."
"Also, stop hiding." Nox Alexandra's eyes shine in mystical purple light.
"Even though I'm an incarnation, my sense has reached the Divine Revelation stage. Alexandra is quite talented, after all."
A drop of ink appeared, turning into Titania von Valstrax with an annoyed expression on her beautiful face. "What do you want?" She responded indifferently.
"Nox Emperor... No, Raki. You promised me 7.900 years ago not to step into my territory unless something emergency happened. However, not only you broke that promise so easily, but you dared to spread your incarnation here."
"Tell me a reason for not attacking Everlith Palace now. It might take five years to reach that place, but my blood(ink) will always paint your domain in death." Titania's golden eyes focused on Nox Alexandra.
Nox Alexandra raised her hands in defeat and returned, "Aih, still the same as always are you, Titania."
"Take a chill pill for a second, can't you?"
With a smile, Nox Alexandra snapped her finger and created a stylish table and two chairs. She sat down and brewed tea, waiting for Titania to sit down too.
Titania sighed and reacted by sitting on the chair, making Nox Alexandra giggle in amusement. Accepting a cup of tea from Nox Alexandra, Titania took a sip and commented, "Tch, too bitter."
"Like your love life."
"Oh, we are just going straight to it, eh?" Nox Alexandra didn't mind the comment. "As for your statement, my love life bloomed recently."
"Pu-!" Titania spewed the tea in her mouth, staring at this pretentious woman with frowns.
"Y-You what??"
Ignoring Titania's shocked look, Nox Alexandra brushed her fellow devil's disbelief with a laugh. "Hehe, you see. Master Theo has claimed my heart through Alexandra. He dominated every inch of my soul, mind, and boy with his touches. Those touches are engraved deeply in me."
"And since I still have the Astral Link, all my incarnations and the main body are affected by it. I'm a little flustered, but we have definitely fallen in love with him."
"Stop joking!" Titania released the pressure that made the alliance base shake violently. Everyone thought it was an enemy attack, but the source came from Huo Yuhao's room.
After that, they ignored it, and some ladies were blushing hard. They believed Huo Yuhao had intense "workouts." in his room.
"I'm not joking." Nox-Alexandra firmly said. Her resolution creates a field that scatters Titania's pressure away.
"Theomars is my beloved master. I'll do anything for him, even handing over the Everlith Universe to him."
"And you have no right to decide this matter. It's all up to Master Theo, Titania."
"He didn't reject my advance nor my proposition to become Absolute Ruler of our Universe. Soon, he will become strong enough to handle both my and your title."
"Don't be selfish, Titania... You knew very well that Valstrax and Krolamine needed a suitable heir. None is better than Theomars himself."
"I don't want to share him with you." Titania countered while slamming her hand on the table.
"He'll be my heir."
"He'll be my partner."
"He'll be Valstrax forever."
"Remember that..." She glared while vanishing into thin air.
Nox Alexandra knew Titania could still hear her and declared, "Even though he'll be your partner. You didn't say anything about serving under him, no?"
"I would gladly take that position in the future."
"As for the Wife's position, let's see about that later... His affection will decide it."
"Scram!" A hateful roar echoed in the room. Well, it's more like a defensive kitten to Nox Alexandra.
Nox Alexandra chuckled, staring at the boundless blue horizon with a relieved gaze. Titania isn't hard to convince as she only appeared tough outside.
The Ancient Ink Devil is indeed soft-hearted.
"Well, I technically didn't break my promise." She drank the tea. "Since I'm Alexandra's inactive personality who never meant to resurface more than emotional level and merged with her when attaining 11th Grade Devil Warrior."
"My existence lives because of Master Theo. He awakened my consciousness and separated it from Alexandra, birthing Nox Alexandra that possessed the body of his Shadow Warrior."
"At the end of the day, Master Theo still assigned me as his servant."
"He probably didn't realize this, but his Shadow Warrior's soul is also merging with mine. It increases my devotion and affection to an unpredictable level."
"My life is his now, after all."
"Shadow, huh..." Nox Alexandra finished her tea. "The balance between light and darkness. The gray area between the beginning and the end, his power compliments Ancient Ink Devil and Ancient Everlith Devil very well."
"Fufu~! I wonder how strong he could become until the main body arrives at Titania Bolos. 11th Class wouldn't be a question, but 12th Class is possible enough for him."
"Cutie Titania, let's see how long you can keep your secret from him."
...
...
Huo Yuhao used "Extreme Lightning Mirage." and traveled across the continent with tremendous speed, leaving no trail behind besides some light shockwaves he had generated from his step in the sky.
He kicked the air and glided through the cloud, observing the land with his Observation Haki. He marked some locations with Monster Nest for the alliance to subjugate and saw a familiar-looking castle afar. It's just a little dark dot, but a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
One might wonder why Huo didn't Yuhao use Shadow Exchange to return to Black Pearl Castle. The answer is pretty simple. It was for scouting the area the alliance never went to because this route to Black Pearl Castle is considered a forbidden path.
The reason behind the forbidden path is unknown, even to Karuta Empire's Empress, Lily de Kemos.
With a frown, Huo Yuhao noticed a massive energy coming from the ground and saw an enormous earthworm burst out of the rocky terrain, ambushing him.
Huo Yuhao smiled wryly and waved his hand, sending a wave of destruction down.
BOOM!
The painful roar escaped the gigantic earthworm as its entire body crumbled into dust.
Huo Yuhao was about to fly away, but a shimmering white light suddenly caught his attention. He used telekinesis, which was applicable after mastering inner energy, and grabbed this shiny thing.
A white crystal sucked into his palm.
[Name: Monster Core]
[Type: Material]
[Grade: A+]
[Description: The essence of a dying 9th Class monster race with immense energy within it. Upon consumption, there is a 30% chance to evolve one's body to possess the strength of 9th Class Monsters]
[Ding! The drop rate of Monster Core is significantly low. Only 9th Class Realm and higher Monsters could form it]
"Like... How low are we talking about, Evo?" Huo Yuhao curiously questioned because Monster Core is valuable for people on his side.
[0.69% chance to drop from 9th Class Monsters]
[1.42% chance to drop from 10th Class Monsters]
[3% chance to drop from 11th Class Monsters]
[And 6.9% chance to drop from 12th Class Monsters]
"Well, shit."
"Let's see how my luck affects the drop rate then."
Huo Yuhao didn't do anything grand and located all the earthworms underground with his observation haki, finding the source as quickly as possible. There are no 10th-Class Monsters there yet because the second phase just started.
He immediately gathered his inner energy into one water droplet and dropped it down. It might look ordinary, but this droplet contained his Eternal Shadow(Darkness and Death) and Ogre King's Power.
Thus the droplet is absorbed into the ground and activated under Huo Yuhao's order when reaching the nest, blasting the whole area in shadowy flames and metal smells.
Its application is similar to Armament Haki's inner destruction, but instead of flowing inside. This attack expanded rapidly and covered everything in destruction. Simply put, It's Outer Destruction.
BOOOOM!
Huo Yuhao's kill count of the monster increased by five digits instantly and was about to reach six soon. "I should train my Ancient Ink Devil's abilities more. The manifestation I could pull off is still too weak to meet my standard." He commented while hearing Evo's notification.
[You have killed 99.873 Monsters]
"How many Monster Cores do I get?" Huo Yuhao asked, checking the underground briefly.
[Scanning...]
[Out of 99.873 earthworms, there are only 156 that dropped monster cores]
"Not bad. I can use half of the drops to increase everyone's strength in the Black Pearl Castle. It's about damn time to make them stronger, so the castle won't go down so easily." Huo Yuhao nodded in satisfaction.
"One problem solved from the reports."
Huo Yuhao used the Spiritual Link he established with Nox Alexandra and told her to lead some alliance warriors to subjugate this place. Monster Core will be a precious resource for them.
'Okay, Master~! I'll do it quickly!' The new servant responded sweetly, which made Huo Yuhao smile a little.
After taking the monster cores, Huo Yuhao continued his journey to the Black Castle and arrived 40 minutes later. Landing in the garden, the servant and guards greeted him warmly.
"Your Highness, you're finally back." Damian cried in happiness, which left everyone speechless.
Huo Yuhao pushed Damian away and responded, "Yeah, stop hugging me!"
"I'm only away for a couple of months. And my shadow warriors should be able to protect this castle without any problem."
"But we missed you~!" Damian responded dramatically, gaining a glare from everyone. This guy.
Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, "My clone told me you want to become stronger. I have something to solve it, but it doesn't mean you can slack on your cultivation."
Grabbing monster cores from his inventory, Huo Yuhao explained to everyone its effect upon consumption. He handed two monster cores each to everyone, knowing the 30% chance was low.
Telling them to absorb the cores immediately, Huo Yuhao went to his room with Damian.
"You can talk freely now, Damian. What's your concern?" Huo Yuhao leaned on the wall.
Damian cleared his throat and answered, "Yes, Your Highness."
The butler explained the Black Pearl Castle's living conditions for a few minutes and continued the monster wave's topic, telling Huo Yuhao that some monsters use the mine shafts under the castle to breed.
Not very surprised by it, Huo Yuhao kept listening to Damian's report and was startled when "Grand Marshal Mountain." suddenly got mentioned.
"Go back a few lines... What did you say?" Huo Yuhao asked meticulously.
"Uh... Grand Marshal Mountain?" Damian tilted his head.
Huo Yuhao nodded and confirmed, "Yes, that's it."
"Do you know where Grand Marshal Mountain is located?"
"Grand Marshal Mountain is located deep within the Eternal Black Ocean, submerged by tsunami thousand years ago. If we used Black Pearl Castle as the starting point, the mountain is around 9.000 miles away from here."
"This information is old, Your Highness. I get the gist of it after reading an old journal in the castle."
"Where is that journal?" Huo Yuhao raised his brows.
"In the library... You have not been there for almost two years." Damian smiled while telling Huo Yuhao to follow him.
And Huo Yuhao could only blame Theomars for sleeping all day in his bedroom. Arriving at the library, Damian picked up some books and placed them on the table.
"Here, the books used Ancient Language."
Huo Yuhao picked the book at the top and skimmed through the content quickly. Damian said it was Ancient Language, but he sees it more like English.
"This..." Huo Yuhao stopped at a particular line.
"Monster Race used the passage below the ocean to invade... It's one of their characteristics. This gate stabilized using the sacrifice of countless monster's life, causing the spatial fabric to become weaker slowly."
"To stop the gate, someone must close it from the other side."
"Who..." Huo Yuhao checked the book's last page and saw the author of this book.
"Grand Duchess Ink Devil..."
"Satanichia von Admante."
"..."