14: Chapter 14

The white mist formed by Luo Yu's consciousness slowly began to erode Apophis's planet of consciousness.

Immediately after, the counterattack of the planet of consciousness arrived. Countless torrents of consciousness poured into Luo Yu's soul like a tsunami, trying to assimilate his consciousness and make him completely lose himself.

Luo Yu was like a small boat, desperately trying to steady himself amidst the raging waves.

A single moment of relaxation, and he would be completely devoured.

The only thing he could do was grit his teeth and hold on. As long as he withstood the backlash of the planet of consciousness and held on long enough, he could slowly nibble away at it bit by bit.

The white mist continued to seep inward, eroding that planet of consciousness.

At the same time, the opponent's counterattacks grew increasingly fierce. It was like a contest of endurance between the two sides; whoever gave in first would be completely finished.

It was unknown how much time had passed.

In this hazy grey soul space, there was absolutely no perception of the passage of time.

The white mist that Luo Yu had transformed into had already penetrated the third layer of the planet of consciousness.

At this moment, Apophis seemed to sense that something was wrong and tried to force himself awake. The entire planet of consciousness shook violently, and a few wisps of independent aura began to surge.

But before he could do anything, a crimson beam of light slashed down from above, instantly crushing any spark of awakening.

Luo Yu ignored all of this and kept burying his head in the erosion, determined to completely make this planet of consciousness his own.

...

It felt as if countless years had passed.

Several times, Luo Yu almost fell into Apophis's torrent of consciousness, nearly causing his own mind to scatter. But every time he was on the verge of giving up, Ddraig, who was on the outside, would use various methods to wake him up, forcing him to continue this endless tug-of-war.

Now, Apophis's planet of consciousness had completely turned into a large, hazy cloud of white mist.

Luo Yu's consciousness had completely replaced Apophis's.

He could feel that the entire soul space was under his control.

...

"It's done!"

Ddraig stared at the emerald gem on the Boosted Gear.

The source dragon soul that had originally resided inside suddenly burst into invisible flames. Like a wildfire spreading across a prairie, the sparks devoured the entire source dragon soul in the blink of an eye.

This was a fire generated by the self-combustion of the dragon soul, burning entirely with soul power.

Within the invisible flames, the source dragon soul began to twist and warp.

One moment it took one shape, and the next it took another, as if desperately searching for the form that suited it best.

Luo Yu was forging his own source dragon soul.

That notorious Primordial Eclipse Dragon, Apophis, had completely vanished from the Three Realms.

In its place was a Holy Light Dragon possessing a source dragon soul.

...

Seeing that Luo Yu was still forging his source dragon soul, it would probably take quite some time.

With nothing else to do, Ddraig kept an eye on the forging progress while maintaining a state of suspended animation for Luo Yu's body.

He didn't want all their hard work to go down the drain because of a minor oversight.

That would be a massive loss.

For Luo Yu, condensing his own source dragon soul was ridiculously easy compared to the struggle for control with Apophis.

Within half an hour.

He had successfully formed his source dragon soul. A dusty, miniature Holy Light Dragon lay quietly inside the emerald gem of the Boosted Gear. Luo Yu stared at it for a couple of moments, feeling quite satisfied. From now on, his soul was on par with High-tier Dragon Species; at worst, he would only be sealed, not completely destroyed.

Then, the source dragon soul emerged from the gem and merged directly into his body.

In an instant, a terrifyingly immense dragon pressure erupted throughout the entire room. This was not a change in quantity, but a qualitative transformation.

The dragon pressure he released now would force ordinary dragon species to their knees on sight.

Luo Yu was now fully qualified to be called a High-tier Dragon Species. Although his actual strength was still a bit lacking, in terms of status, he already stood on the same level as the Five Great Dragon Kings and the two Heavenly Dragons, the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor.

Immediately after, a feeling of absolute clarity washed over Luo Yu's entire body. He had the illusion that his eyes could suddenly see everything with perfect clarity, and his body felt unspeakably comfortable. 'Before, using a human soul to control the Holy Light Dragon indeed had some flaws and gaps.'

Luo Yu instantly understood what was happening.

Aside from the characteristic of immortality, the source dragon soul actually wouldn't make him much stronger. However, this was an unavoidable step for him, as it determined whether he could break through to the Heavenly Dragon level in the future—the level of a Super Devil.

Luo Yu casually flipped his hand.

Several streams of black water emerged out of thin air, quickly gathering into a black water sphere in his palm. 'Black Water. Apophis did leave you something good.'

Ddraig froze for a moment, genuinely surprised that Luo Yu could snatch Apophis's Black Water. That stuff was no joke; back in ancient times, that guy had relied on this ability to devour many gods, and it was on the same level as the Crimson Emperor Flame. 'An offensive skill is nice. It's just that its function overlaps with the Crimson Emperor Flame. If only it were defensive or supportive...'

By the end of his sentence, Luo Yu couldn't help but chuckle.

Whether it was the Crimson Emperor Flame or the Black Water, countless gods in the Three Realms were terrified of them. For an ordinary person to obtain just one would mean their ancestors' graves were practically smoking with good fortune, yet here he was, unsatisfied even after getting both. A truly insatiable snake trying to swallow an elephant.

...

"Sigh. This time, both the Master and the Madam miscalculated."

In the first-floor hall, Butler Izumi stared up at Luo Yu's room on the fourth floor, his heart filled with emotion.

At that moment, he felt as if the young master-in-law's room had turned into a terrifying black hole, so dangerous it made his scalp tingle. Although it was just an intuition, and he hadn't detected any aura or perceived any abnormality.

But this intuition had saved him countless times and allowed him to survive The Great War.

At this moment, he no longer dared to view this nominal new young master-in-law of the Sitri Clan as a simple character.

Sona stared at the agreement on the table, unable to suppress the bitter smile at the corner of her lips.

It was written there, clear as day: the engagement would be dissolved upon graduation.

She had signed it herself, and Luo Yu's name was right next to hers.

Every line of text now felt like a slap in her face.

She had brought this on herself by insisting on showing off, and in the end, she even dragged her older sister into the mess. 'Hey little sister, it's so boring being here alone. Why don't we keep you company and have a few drinks?'

Three young punks with dyed yellow hair and flashy, gaudy clothes swaggered into the private booth.

Sona didn't even raise her head. 'I'm waiting for someone. Please leave.'

Her tone was cold enough to form icicles.

The leading yellow-haired punk grinned, leaning against the doorframe. 'Waiting for someone is so boring. Why don't you chat with us brothers in the meantime?'

He had seen plenty of girls like this.

Sneaking out to play at a bar, completely unbeknownst to their families—they were the easiest to trick.

The yellow-haired punk was about to take another step closer.

Sona raised her eyes, her voice cutting through like a razor blade. 'Get out.'

A layer of red light instantly flashed in Sona's eyes.

The eyes of those punks went blank, as if they had lost their souls, and they stumbled out of the booth. 'This kind of place isn't suitable for you. Neither your age nor your temperament fits.'

Luo Yu brushed past the punks and entered the booth, sitting down directly opposite Sona. 'An occasional indulgence isn't necessarily bad. It's quite fitting when your heart feels stifled.'

Sona smiled, but the smile was mostly bitter. She waved her hand and asked the waiter to bring over a few bottles of alcohol.

Luo Yu didn't know much about alcohol, but he could read the alcohol by volume on the bottles. The alcohol content of those drinks was far beyond what an ordinary girl could handle—they were pure hard liquor.

For any ordinary woman, a few glasses would leave them dead drunk. 'You like this... doesn't look like the person I know.'

Seeing Sona pour a full glass and gulp it down, looking exactly like someone trying to drown her sorrows, Luo Yu's brow furrowed slightly. A faint blush crept onto her face, making her look exceptionally alluring. 'Luo Yu, the me you know... do you mean the current me, or the me in the Underworld? Or perhaps, the me of the Sitri Clan?'

Sona asked three questions in rapid succession.

Luo Yu fell silent for a few seconds. He really hadn't expected Sona to bring things out into the open so directly; this was a bit unusual. She had indeed been acting strange lately. 'A bit of both, I suppose. The you in the Underworld is much calmer and more rational than you are now.'

Luo Yu didn't hide anything and spoke directly. Since she already had her suspicions, there was no point in being evasive. 'You know more than I imagined, and you hide it deeper. At first, I thought at most you had some secret techniques passed down from your ancestors, or some special power.'

Sona was taken aback, then let out a bitter laugh. 'It seems you've been to the Underworld more than once, and you've even visited my Sitri Clan. Was it because of our marriage contract? Looking at it now, that agreement was nothing more than self-consolation.'

"Perhaps... when we first met, in your eyes, I was nothing more than an opinionated buffoon."

Only then did Luo Yu notice the agreement they had signed earlier lying on the table. After a moment of thought, he decided to tell the truth. 'Going to the Sitri Clan in the Underworld was purely coincidental. As for the marriage contract, if you hadn't come to find me, I wouldn't have known about it at all.'

"With your reputation in the Underworld, anyone who stays there long enough would hear about you. One of the Four Kings among the new generation of devils."

"Sona Sitri."

...

"Four Kings..."

Sona murmured those two words, her voice filled with unspeakable self-deprecation and irony.

She and Rias Gremory were both leading figures of the New Generation Devil Faction. But in the end, they were nothing more than two caged birds, unable to fly away.

The music swirled endlessly in their ears.

Luo Yu never expected that his deliberate secrecy would instead completely disappoint the current head of House Sitri, making them want to directly tear up the agreement made with the Fallen One back then.

This outcome really left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry was probably the most accurate description of his current state.

However, Luo Yu also knew in his heart that even if he performed exceptionally well, Sona would probably still come to break off the engagement.

She was just like Rias Gremory; both wanted to hold their own destinies in their hands, whether it was their future path or their marriage.

Even if the thorns along the way cut their delicate skin until they bled profusely, they would not hesitate.

Yet, as fate would have it...

Sona suddenly laid everything bare at this moment, her posture almost like she was ready to throw caution to the wind, willing to sacrifice herself. 'Sometimes, things might seem to go your way, but in the end, they always turn out contrary to your wishes.'

"Gulp, gulp..."

Sona tilted her head back again, gulping down the alcohol in her hand, and immediately poured herself another full glass.

She was about to down it in one go when Luo Yu reached out to stop her, casually taking the glass away. 'What's the use of drinking alone like this? What on earth happened?'

This was the second time he had asked this question tonight. Luo Yu couldn't help but feel that Sona turning into this state was eighty percent likely related to him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked him out directly without saying a word.

Sona was already slightly tipsy by now; she stood up and walked over to Luo Yu's side.

Sona's actions caught Luo Yu off guard.

She leaned in, gently resting her head on his shoulder, and wrapped both of her arms directly around his neck.