CHAPTER 301: DESTINED PERSON

First thing, Beleth pulled out another black box and handed it to Darian, asking him to open it.

Darian still had the one he’d gotten before, but he took the new one without fuss. With a simple motion... the second box opened.

Inside, there was a red ring — exactly like the first one. He tried to hand the box back to the demon, but Beleth refused.

"Unfortunately, only the one who opens it can take what’s inside. If I try, my body will be completely corroded by a curse... or at least, that’s what the legends say," Beleth explained calmly.

Then he took a deep breath. The second box was just confirmation, so there’d be no doubt left.

"Let’s start from the beginning. These boxes, which we call the Demonic Artifact, aren’t really an artifact — they’re more like a kind of key. And, like any key, they open something... in this case, the entrance to the Devil and Celestial World."

Tayluar tensed up when she heard the name. She clearly knew a few things, but not the whole picture.

Beleth went on, explaining straight to the point. In the early days of Spiritual Guardians in the universe, there were hardly any powerful figures. That’s why, in S-rank missions, it was common for several planets and races to team up to complete them. That was the same reason humans had used that Supreme Artifact together in the last tournament.

A long time ago, two planets had joined forces for one such mission. One was called Devil World, a place ruled by demons. The other was Dharma, home to a peculiar race called the Charming Eyes.

Hearing that name, Darian’s eyes widened. He knew that race well because of that book. They were Heaven’s favorites, and also the most feared — until the current Heaven’s Will won the war. In his powerless universe, it would’ve been impossible for that race to naturally appear.

Back to the story, Beleth himself had taken part in that S-rank mission. In it, they’d found one of the earliest Supreme Artifacts: the Mirror of Primordial Yin and Yang.

It was a small, circular mirror with two sides that reflected the world’s energies. It hadn’t been hard to find or bring back, since the inhabitants of that universe seemed to have been waiting for outsiders to arrive.

According to them, long ago, a Divinity had ruled that universe and created the mirror. Before leaving, they left a message: One day, Heaven’s Will will send its soldiers. On that day, allow them to take this. This opportunity was not made for you, but for another destined person.

It was confusing for everyone, but the locals explained what they knew: the mirror’s greatest power was sealed in an internal world, and only those who entered and accepted the divine trial could control it.

No one knew what that trial actually was, or what lay inside that world. The mirror had two sides, each leading to different worlds: one, the Devil World; the other, the Celestial World.

To enter, only a Devil Lord or a Holy Imperator would be accepted. No one knew exactly what those titles meant. But over time, the mirror would release a black box and a white box, which served to find those people.

After many years, they’d managed to create a mechanism using those boxes to detect the birth of someone with that potential in the universe. It wasn’t 100% accurate — there had been false alarms — but once the signal went off, all they had to do was track it down and hand the box to every suspect until they confirmed it.

In Darian’s case, Beleth had sent a box in secret — even before the system had detected someone’s emergence. When Darian opened the box... the mechanism instantly confirmed it, pinpointing exactly where it had happened.

"This mirror isn’t just an entrance," Beleth explained. "It’s connected to the universe it’s in, and to draw in someone capable of entering, it releases a small amount of the primordial Yin and Yang it holds inside. Just a bit of that... and because of it, Dharma and Devil World have now become the second and third most powerful planets in the universe."

"It’s a terrifying treasure, shared between the two planets. For demons and the Charming Eyes race, that primordial Yin and Yang pushes our bloodline to the limit and shatters every shackle. Thanks to it, I reached the level I’m at now. But... we never found a Devil Lord or a Holy Imperator who could actually enter... until now."

"With your arrival, all the demons went crazy. You — even though you’re not a demon — were clearly approved to enter that world. At the same time, Dharma, the planet ahead of Devil World in power, hasn’t found anyone. If you go in and master half the artifact... the future of demons would be beyond imagination."

Beleth ended with an expression that mixed excitement and seriousness.

Darian sighed. "Alright, but what do I get out of this? If I go in and succeed, shouldn’t the whole thing be mine?"

"Life’s not that simple..." Beleth snorted. "Before, after confirming you were the Devil Lord, Spiritual Sovereign Caliris would, without a doubt, have used your race’s power to dominate your soul and control you completely. That’s why I met with her and stated the obvious: a slave couldn’t do the job right. Demons couldn’t afford to lose this once-in-a-lifetime chance. It was better for you to go in on your own and be as motivated as possible."

He locked eyes with Darian and spoke seriously. "Caliris is the most powerful and the ruler of all demons. She gave me her word that if you can enter and complete the challenge, you’ll be allowed to use half of the primordial Yin freely, plus you’ll get half of all the resources our race earns for the next hundred years."

Darian listened without showing emotion. He wasn’t stupid — of course he couldn’t blindly trust promises. Would an immortal, all-powerful entity like her really care about keeping her word to him?

Beleth’s expression showed he understood that too. But he’d done everything he could to avoid something worse and make sure Darian entered the challenge under the best possible conditions.

Beleth had made it clear before — Darian had no choice. Once he was revealed as the Devil Lord, the demons would make him go in — whether he liked it or not.

So Beleth had helped a lot and given him an opportunity — not that empty promise, but the real chance to go in and find something inside that could help him get out of this mess.

"Kid... I know it sounds dangerous, but unfortunately, no one can help you. Still, as long as you’re alive, there’s always a chance. No one knows what’s in that world, only that it was built and left behind by a divinity. There must be incredible things in there," Beleth said seriously.

Darian nodded. He’d been thrown into this situation by chance, but it had indeed created a great opportunity. At the same time... a divinity that knew Heaven’s Will would send people?

No doubt, this had been left behind for a missionary of Heaven’s Will to take. Which meant...

"Great, I’ll go in there and take every good thing I can find. When I get back, we’ll see if the demons have the guts to try and rob me," Darian said calmly — making everyone in the room hold their breath.