reflection

She didn't just randomly find this royal blood demon. 

She checked the reflection on Original Duty, looked at many scenarios, and chose the best one to reach here.

"What are you?" Zagronan said.

"I'm a precious treasure that you need," she said. 

She had already looked at the future and knew, to some extent, how Zagronan would respond.

Zagronan, who looked like a 2-meter-high human with a thin tail, a pair of horns, red hair, and white skin, scratched his head and asked, "How can you help me?"

Rachel replied, "In two ways. First, I can give you pills to eat and enjoy, and second, I can help you find demons with royal bloodlines!"

"What do you want in return?" Zagronan asked.

"I want you to be promoted to rank 4. Now, let me show you how useful I am!" Rachel smiled. 

She then used 'Dive in Time' and explored a few scenarios based on Original Duty's reflection. 

The scenarios she examined included "what happens if Zagronan moves west for x days" and "what happens if he looks for demons with royal bloodlines for x days."

Rachel could inquire about "what happens" but not about "when" or "how." 

It was akin to a simulation.

She saw a reflection, then directed her attention to Protector and used 'dive in time' on it as well.

Even though Protector was not the 'real' river of time, she still could dive into it.

On its reflection, she saw Zagronan dead from old age.

"Protector is so messed up! I wonder what the consequences are now that the world operates based on half of the 'fundamental law of time'!" Rachel pondered.

She turned off the skill and instructed Zagronan, saying, "Move in the direction I show you."

Zagronan, impressed by the pills Rachel had given him, nodded and followed her guidance.

...

Hell had nine moons, each emanating a red glow. 

Each moon represented one of the Demon Kings. 

There were seven Demon Kings who were rulers of different sins, and the other two were outsiders—one was a Rank 9 mage from the mage world, corrupted by the dark element, and the other was a god from heaven. 

No other Rank 9 entities existed in Hell except for the nine Demon Kings. 

However, the number of Rank 8 and 7 beings in Hell surpassed those in the mage world and heaven combined. This disparity was due to the Demon Kings' reluctance to allow other demons to reach Rank 9, as they wanted to avoid competition. Nonetheless, these nine rulers had amassed unimaginable resources over countless years.

These Demon Kings were at the pinnacle of Rank 9 and possessed numerous Rank 9 weapons. They could withstand the assault of a hundred Rank 9 mages from the mage world all by themselves. 

Additionally, they had made other preparations, including numerous Rank 9 formations and many "nobles" who served as cannon fodder in Rank 9 battles. 

Among these Demon Kings was Tanoth, formerly the God of Knowledge.

Tanoth's betrayal of heaven involved stealing a precious Rank 9 treasure that was believed to be a clue related to one of the world's creators. 

This treasure held information about the world's creation, which had been a closely guarded secret of heaven before Tanoth's betrayal.

According to legend, the world was formed through the collaboration of two Rank 10 beings. 

One of these beings contributed the Law of Time, while the other contributed the Law of Space. 

These two fundamental laws were essential in shaping the world as it is known.

These two beings left behind inheritances for future generations before departing. 

One of these inheritances, the rank 9 treasure, was discovered by heaven and made accessible to everyone in heaven. 

However, Tanoth, driven by his desire to keep this inheritance for himself, stole it and fled to Hell. 

Over countless years, he has fully transformed into a demon, with no remnants of his godly origins remaining. 

It is rumored that he allows his princes and princesses to gain enlightenment from this stolen treasure.

This had stirred envy and jealousy among other royal blood demons who were not of Tanoth's bloodline, and precisely this dream drove Zagronan forward.

His end goal was to become a prince of Hell.

"Look over there," Rachel said.

Zagronan had already noticed it and grinned. 

It was a baby tiger, a rank 0 monster. 

However, its strength far exceeded typical rank 0 tigers, easily tearing through other rank 0 demons and devouring them!

"That monster has a lot of blood from Tanoth," Zagronan remarked, his senses detecting the strong bloodline even from this distance. 

He cast a rank 1 spell called "Shadow Bind." 

The tiger, a mere rank 0 creature, became completely immobilized.

No matter how strong for rank 0, against a rank 1 demon, it could only die in regret.

With the creature incapacitated, Zagronan cast "Blood Drain" and "Purify," draining all of the rich blood from the baby tiger. 

The tiger, born with great promise, met a premature end.

"In hell, the potential is worth nothing; only true power matters," Zagronan mused. 

He settled down and began absorbing the bloodline. 

After a considerable time, he absorbed the bloodline and rose to his feet with renewed vigor.

"My bloodline has strengthened! I feel like I can finally break through to rank 2 without diluting my bloodline too much," he exclaimed.

"No, you'll be enslaved by hell if you reach rank 2 with your current bloodline," Rachel warned.

She double-checked with Original Duty and confirmed her assessment. 

Zagronan shook his head in confusion and asked, "Now what?"

"We should head to the city in the north," she replied.

"You mean Hot Blood City? We're prohibited from hunting there," he pointed out. 

Hotblood City was under the rule of a noble.

The nobles held absolute authority over their territories, and breaking their laws, even for demons with royal blood, meant a death sentence.

"There's something very valuable there, so trust me and move," she insisted.

Zagronan, now convinced of her capabilities, nodded and began their journey. 

Getting there would take some time.

...

The Mage World

The fifth day of the second month in the year 1000000

Doris was attempting a time spell for the very first time.

"Time acceleration!" she exclaimed.

A freshly planted tree began to grow at a pace discernible to the naked eye. 

Within moments, it had transformed into a towering tree.

After a minute, it boasted a trunk as thick as a human wrist. 

Doris persisted with the Time acceleration spell, and after a total of five minutes, the tree bore fruit!

"A rank 1 apple! In just 5 minutes, I've produced a rank 1 apple!" Doris exclaimed in amazement.

Ordinarily, it would take 10 years for a rank 1 apple to grow naturally. 

Typically, each increase in rank added a zero to the years required. A rank 6 fruit would take anywhere from 100,000 to 999,999 years to develop, and a rank 7 fruit would necessitate at least a million years.

While Doris was conducting her experiment, Alivia, a rank 4 mage, arrived and offered a respectful bow.

"Your Majesty, the Seven Lights Academy has summoned you!" Alivia informed her.

"Let's go," Doris replied. 

She knew there was no point in resisting;

...

Lewis Bernard was the chief of the Blue Light Academy. 

He was a mid-rank 9 mage. 

Even a small gap in realms made a significant difference in power. 

If a mid-rank 9 mage were to battle a newly promoted rank 9 mage, the outcome would very heavily favor the mid-rank 9 mage, with little chance of winning for the newly promoted mage.

Upon his return, Lewis noticed that a mage named Alister possessed the only inheritance he had left behind at the academy before he had departed. 

As a mage following the path of destiny, Lewis decided to accept Alister as his disciple.

The Destiny Path was a fragment law that combined both the 'Way of Luck' and the 'Way of Faith.' 

The 'Way of Luck' represented variability, while the 'Way of Faith' represented certainty. 

In theory, Destiny should have been a complete law, yet it wasn't. 

The Seven Lights Academy had been searching for its defect for a long time, but they hadn't found it.

The Fragment Law of Destiny was the most powerful fragment law that the Seven Lights Academy possessed, and even the dean had chosen this path. 

Multiple mages could use the same fragment law without any limits since nobody truly owned their fragment law; 

In theory, all fragment laws already existed, and mages were merely uncovering and utilizing them, not creating them.

Regarding complete laws, there were only two: time and space. 

If a mage wanted to achieve rank 10, they had to learn how to master these complete laws or create an entirely new complete law from scratch.

Spells like "accelerate time" were considered superficial uses of the complete law of time. 

To truly master time or space, a mage had to be able to cast rank 10 spells based on them. 

Lower-ranked spells, even those at rank 9, were considered superficial and could be easily countered or nullified.

Exactly like what happened when time in heaven was locked. Hundreds of rank 9 mages and gods from heaven and the mage world were trapped because, even though they could use rank 9 time spells, they were utterly helpless in the face of time itself.

Nobody had ever managed to cast a rank 10 spell from the beginning of time. 

Lewis looked at the sky and waved his hand, causing the sunny weather to change to rain. 

"This is how I like it!" he beamed. Then, he disappeared. 

When he reappeared, he found himself in a room with another person – a woman wearing furry clothes, with black skin, and an overall attractive appearance.

She bowed but remained silent. 

Lewis spoke light-heartedly, "Doris, I'm happy to meet you. It's truly impressive to reach rank 7 with so few resources. Are you willing to join us in the Blue Light?" 

Doris hesitated before making her request, "Great mage, I have a request." 

Lewis responded with the same carefree mood, "What is it?" 

Doris stated her request, "I wish to retain my title as the King of Mortals." 

Lewis readily agreed, saying, "Just that? Of course, you've got it! Welcome to the Blue Light!" He offered a kind smile.

Doris was surprised at how quickly Lewis agreed to her request. She expressed her gratitude, saying, "Thank you!" with a warm smile. 

Lewis continued, "Now, I appoint you as the Deputy Dean responsible for the mortals' management. The other lights will respect it, so don't worry." 

Doris nodded in acknowledgment.

"It's truly fascinating," Lewis mused, "when you consider how many people have changed in the last million years, yet, nothing has really changed. We are still stuck at rank 9, with no hope of reaching rank 10."

"The situation is even worse," Lewis explained, his expression filled with concern, "with the fundamental law of time breaking into two. Now, the world itself is in danger."

Doris, also worried, asked, "Why is the world in danger?" She knew she didn't know enough about fundamental laws to understand the gravity of the situation fully. 

She felt like a mere novice in the presence of individuals who had lived for millions of years.

"Because the world is supposed to operate on two complete laws," Lewis elaborated, "and now, it is operating on one complete law and only half of another complete law."

He conjured an apple out of thin air and began eating it one bite at a time. In just a minute, only half of the apple remained.

"This apple used to be complete," he remarked, "but I ate half of it. Would you consider the remaining half in my hand complete?"

He didn't wait for an answer before continuing, "No, it's incomplete! The other half is inside my stomach. Similarly, in our world, the danger of collapse looms as it is missing one of the fundamental conditions of its existence – the presence of two complete laws."

"Now, it's not as bad as it sounds," he continued, "as the other half is still present. However, with time's passage, some loopholes will begin to appear. Eventually, these loopholes will grow so large that the world itself may be torn apart."

"We need to find a way to combine the two rivers of time once more," he explained, his previous carefree demeanor giving way to a somber tone. 

"But we cannot cast any rank 10 spells, so even approaching the rivers of time is incredibly dangerous, let alone attempting to merge them."

Rachel asked, "Is there nothing we can do?" She had no desire to die either, so if there were any item the system could provide, she would save up to acquire it.

"There are ways," he responded. 

"A mage, demon, or god must reach rank 10 and create a new complete law. Then, he or she can save the world." 

His tone grew more serious as he continued, "The part of the river of time that calls itself Protector is determined to kill everyone, so if we all perish, it might willingly recombine with Original Duty."

"Another way is connecting the two rivers with a tributary. This will have significant consequences, causing two contradictory things to be true simultaneously, but it will prevent the destruction of the world," he explained further. "The other way is if the fundamental law of space chooses both as the true river of time when it sees the world on the verge of destruction. But in that case, the fundamental law of space would also be split into two, effectively creating two separate worlds."

Doris knew there was a rank 10 item in the system, 'Domination.' It was a powerful spell that could be used once and could change the will of the target.

"If I can obtain it, then I might be able to change  Dominate Protector!" Doris thought.

"How long does it take for the loopholes to appear?" she inquired.

"Maybe 1 million years, perhaps even more," Lewis replied.

"I want to be part of the meeting. I have something important to discuss," Doris insisted. 

The rank 9 mages on the continent were scheduled to convene a meeting in a few years.

"Of course," Lewis agreed.