While Konrad obliterated the infernal flames running amok within his body, Talroth still clashed with the Overlord.
He made a grasping motion, causing the fiery red sky to shine in dazzling purple light. That light spread across all the corners of the wasteland world, and wherever it went, the infernal flames dispersed until only Konrad, Talroth and the Overlord remained.
"Talroth, today you've broken the laws of Hell. Tomorrow, Hell will not forgive you. Your punishment shall be dreadful."
"Overlord, just like you, I'm from Hell. I'm sure it can't bear harming me. Who could?"
Talroth jested, but his humor brought no smile from the Overlord's indiscernible face. In a twister of infernal flames, the Overlord vanished, leaving only Konrad and Talroth to remain.
With Talroth having deflected ninety-nine percent of his trial, Konrad didn't have anything to worry about. In such conditions, if he still couldn't succeed, then he might as well die.
But while he successfully crossed the tribulation, his mood soured. He'd personally witnessed how that newcomer withstood the bulk of it for him. Without him, what would his result be?
Death.
Therefore, he couldn't feel any joy. Because once again, he was reminded that the road ahead still held many hurdles he wasn't fully prepared for.
Thanks to the brief dialogue, Konrad knew to who he owed his life to. The southern king of hell, Talroth, his cheap father. The hardest debts to repay were those owed to close relatives.
Konrad really didn't want to owe him anything. However, it was now far too late.
Talroth could feel the unwillingness within his heart as he turned to face him. Seeing Talroth for the first time, Konrad was astonished.
Because he looked a hundred percent like the Flame Mark did when they met face to face. However, he quickly regained his composure. After all, the Flame Mark came from Talroth's blood. For it to bear his appearance wasn't that surprising.
What truly terrifying Konrad was that staring at Talroth, he felt a crushing suppression force stemming from his bloodline. As if in front of him, all lust demons should grovel and worship on bended knees, acknowledging his absolute dominion over lust.
"Disgruntled that I meddled in your trial?"
Konrad didn't reply because his face said it all.
"Good, I'd also be dissatisfied. Unable to cross a tribulation on your own, having to resort to external help, that is a shameful matter. Nothing to be proud of."
Konrad's face contorted into an ugly grimace.
"But although you're barely satisfactory, you're still my son. I naturally couldn't look on as you lost your life to that old fogey. However, this is the first and last time you will receive my help on the road to godhood.
From now on, you're on your own.
Transcendent, Semi-Holy, Holy, Divine. In each of those ranks, should you prove yourself worthy, the Overlord will appear. It is both an opportunity and a scourge. Still, if you can cross all his trials, then when we meet again in hell, I won't be ashamed of calling you, son."
Talroth chortled while Konrad's lips twitched.
"What do you want from me?"
Konrad didn't trust in a selfless show of fatherly love, believing that Talroth must have his own ulterior motives.
"You're wary, good. Of my three mortal scions, the first is too haughty, the second too crafty. Only you are the right middle.
Reach the limits of your potential, establish your dominion on this world, then return to the Infernal Realm, as a deity, to stand by my side. If you can accomplish that with the most absolute of foundations, then you will naturally know what I really want."
Talroth replied, then vanished in a purple haze.
"Contact your mother as soon as possible. She holds for you my last gift."
…
The scenery changed, and Konrad returned to Yvonne's chambers. Seeing the astonished gaze with which she stared at him, he concluded that while he crossed the Overlord's trial, his body underwent shocking changes that startled even her.
"Who did you meet? The Overlord, or the Warden?"
The Overlord was the sovereign of all demons while the Warden represented the same authority for devas in the Celestial Realm.
Having already concluded that he possessed at least one God-Parent, Yvonne wasn't asking him who he met, but the true nature of his lineage.
Demon or Deva?
"The Overlord."
Konrad directly replied, not hiding anything.
"You're not afraid that I will kill you on the spot?"
Previously, Konrad might have held that fear, but the more he analyzed the situation, the more he realized he misjudged it all.
The Supreme Overlord Physique belonged to the Overlord's house. According to the Flame Mark, Yvonne got it by refining a tremendous quantity of the Infernal Cult Founder's blood. This, Konrad could understand.
But what about the Extreme Dark Physique?
Especially the black flames Yvonne released near the end of their fight. Those were remarkably similar to the Overlord's infernal flames!
Therefore, Konrad concluded that Yvonne's Extreme Dark Physique also stemmed from an infernal house.
And if that was her natal physique then…
"Since you also faced the Overlord, why should I be afraid? I'm just wondering, did you challenge him or back off?"
For a brief instant, Yvonne's eyes contorted into a frown. However, as soon as it came, it vanished.
"I suppose that wasn't so hard to guess. Right, I also faced the Overlord. The ancestor of all winged serpents is the demon god Dulron while my mother is the daughter of an Infernal Cult's Faith Elder. She was sent to the Holy Continent to swindle my father into submitting to the Infernal Cult through guile and trickery.
I inherited my physique from her lineage.
A pity that my father had no interest in the clash for merit between the Infernal Cult and Celestial Church.
She's long since returned to the Barbarian Continent."
Yvonne replied without an ounce of melancholy as if her mother's abandonment held no weight on her. Her mother's true identity and the reason behind her disappearance had always been tightly kept secrets known only by her father and she.
Why she so freely revealed it to Konrad was a mystery.
"But unlike you, I didn't challenge the Overlord. Because I knew very well that I had no hope for success."
Konrad didn't probe further, closing his eyes to complete his first Fleshly Transformation.
Now that his meridians had reached the twelve count, he could finally take that step and officially break through the Transcendent Knight Rank! His twelve meridians shone with dazzling light, spreading their essence across his body and refining it from within.
His organs, bones, and marrow underwent drastic changes, while in the outside, his flesh glittered in multicolor light, with similarly colored fog swirling around his body.
"Miraculous Transcendence."
Yvonne appraised. Since she also possessed Miraculous Transcendence, recognizing it brought her no difficulty. However, Konrad's seemed to contain formidable hidden power that far exceeded hers at that level.
As Konrad's fist Fleshly Transformation ended, Yvonne suppressed her cultivation to the first step Transcendent Knight Rank. Then, without warning, she threw him a palm strike!
Undisturbed, Konrad reciprocated with a palm strike of his own.
*Boom*
Their hands met in a thunderous clash. Yvonne was propelled into the air, crashing against the wall behind her while Konrad remained still, as unmoving as a mountain.
"Ouch…"
