Celestial Bloodline

After spending a challenging month traveling through one huge structure to another on the demons' planet to find information about the Dark Chamber of Secrets, Nine finally arrived in front of a massive building encircled by three towering pillars reaching skyward.

Perched atop each pillar was a majestic statue of a winged demon. The massive building stood amidst a bustling array of other structures, starkly contrasting the desolate and abandoned appearance it bore, as if forgotten by time itself.

He coughed due to the thick, dark smoke surrounding the building, then raised the edge of his cloak that covered his eyes to peer at the abandoned building covered in dust and spiderwebs.

"....."

Nine couldn't believe the Dark Chamber of Secrets had been right in front of him all along, yet he had ignored such a massive building simply because there was not a single guard stationed around it.

If it weren't for him kidnapping a drunken (S)-rank demon, who looked like a wealthy old man, and slapping the hell out of that bastard to extract information about the Dark Chamber of Secrets, he would have overlooked this building again, just like he did when he first landed on this planet.

Now he understood why he hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact location of the Dark Chamber of Secrets upon his arrival on this planet.

After using the hidden teleportation array that transported him to the demon planet, he had actually arrived directly in front of this very building, but he ignored it as it looked old and abandoned. He just never thought the demon race would be so idiotic as to not even station a single guard in front of such an important place.

"Do they not care about this place? Or are they overly confident, thinking that no one would dare to come to their land to steal something under their nose?"

Nine muttered under his breath and rubbed his aching forehead. He had the urge to go back and smack his past self who suffered on this planet for an entire month.

Just two weeks ago, he was nearly sold into a betrothal due to a cunning demon who had offered him and many others a room to stay in his hotel, only to secretly mix something in their drinks at night to auction them off.

It was fortunate that he did not consume the beverages provided in the hotel since he disliked the food available on this planet due to the dark energy radiating from almost everything here. Also, Nine did not feel hungry mostly due to his high rank, but even if he did, he simply took out the food he had stored in his storage ring to eat.

Otherwise, he might have ended up being sold like all the others.

"That bastard... he didn't even spare his own kind. It's good I ran off in time before they noticed something was off."

He covered his face and, after a cautious survey of his surroundings to ensure no one was watching, quickly slipped through the partially open massive steel door before sprinting towards the building.

Only after a few seconds, he arrived at the building's entrance and softly pushed the dark door open. He then effortlessly slid inside the door without any trouble and let out a sigh of relief.

"Damn, that was easy-!"

Nine almost bit his tongue when he saw an old pair of white slit pupils staring at him. It was an old demon who appeared to be sweeping the floor with a broom.

The old demon scrutinized him from head to toe as he froze in place, almost ready to sprint backward. But he blinked when the latter paid no attention to him and went back to sweeping the floor.

'Did... that oldie just ignore me?? Wait, he saw me but he's just going to ignore me? Really? Is it because of the insignia?'

Nine hurriedly reached for the insignia inside his cloak. After calming his nerves, he briskly walked away from the old demon towards the grand stairway leading upward. However, as soon as he stepped on the first stair, he heard an old voice behind him.

"Don't enter the third layer. He has just returned from the war, so it would be unwise to disturb his rest. You are only permitted to wander in the first two layers, even if you possess the demon's badge."

Nine held his breath and, after stiffly nodding his head, he began climbing the stairs. He only released his breath when he had climbed far enough to no longer see the old demon.

'That was a close one. My heart almost leaped out of my chest!'

This time, he took the insignia out from under his cloak and displayed it openly on the dark cloak so that everyone could see it since it had just saved him. But he furrowed his brows when he remembered the old demon's words.

'Who just returned? And from what war? Whoever it is, I should not take any risks and should quickly grab what I need from this place and leave. It's already bad that the old demon knows I'm here.'

He scanned the dimly lit first floor in front of him, illuminated by light emitting from a few round orbs embedded in the wall, and quickly ascended to the second floor.

Nine didn't even glance toward the third floor and started walking through the second floor. He glanced at the numerous doors lined in the hallway he was walking. Some were dark, some wooden, and there were even some sealed with old chains.

After a few minutes, he came to a stop in front of a wooden door that had a large horn drawn on it.

After taking a deep breath, he slowly grabbed the door handle and opened it. In an instant, a creaking sound echoed in the eerily silent space, sending shivers down Nine's spine as he entered the room.

However, no one could describe his shock when he saw many mountains of papers of various sizes haphazardly strewn across the room, stretching to occupy a vast space encircled by countless empty, dusty shelves draped in spiderwebs.