If one were to describe the relationship between the three Hells and the millions of mortal realms, the term [Ecosystem] would be most appropriate.
The Hell of Nightmare connects to millions of mortal realms through numerous nocturnal graveyards. The Hell of Pain connects through various Boxes of Sorrow. The Hell of Rage, however, is a bit more difficult, requiring the Hell of Pain as a stepping stone to connect with the mortal realm, usually relying on demons who have stealthily slipped through and intentionally left behind dark contracts to indirectly influence the mortal world.
Overall, for untold eons, these three Hells and the mortal realms have continuously influenced and constrained each other, maintaining a relatively stable dynamic equilibrium.
This is a unique kind of 'Ecosystem.'
However, for Seraphine, after 'devouring' a massive collection of books from the library, the concept of 'Ecosystem' was still inadequate to describe the relationship between these entities. She felt that this super-colossal 'Hell-Mortal Realm' structure resembled a computer program or an intelligent search engine.
It would always maintain the number of mortal realms connected to the three Hells at exactly ten million. No more, no less. If the number decreased due to the Elder Ouroboros or Uriel, it would immediately 'search' the endless three-dimensional spacetime for a new mortal realm to provide for the three Hells to trample.
Even more miraculously, if a mortal realm experienced a mass extinction event leading to the destruction of Human Civilization, that realm would be instantly replaced with a 'new' one.
Furthermore, if a mortal realm's human technological level developed too far—to the point of completely dominating its entire Solar System, breaking through the Oort cloud, and becoming a true spacefaring civilization—that mortal realm would also be rapidly replaced. It would be swapped for a classical era or industrial revolution era world.
Beyond this, Seraphine 'saw' in the books another extremely rare situation. If the overall human perception or societal structure in a given mortal realm underwent a drastic change—becoming unrecognizable, where humans no longer resembled humans—that connection would immediately disappear. Afterward, a 'normal' mortal realm would be reconnected.
This gave Seraphine a peculiar feeling. She felt that this colossal 'Ecosystem' formed by the three Hells and millions of mortal realms resembled a pig-rearing factory. The three Hells were the three pigs, and the millions of mortal realms were bags of pig feed.
The pig farm was equipped with an intelligent monitoring system responsible for feeding the pigs and ensuring their healthy development. It would constantly monitor whether the feed was expired, spoiled, or if the wrong brand was bought.
All just to prevent these three pigs from getting stomachaches. It was as if they feared these three pig-generals wouldn't fetch a good price at the auction.
Truly...
"Very interesting."
Seraphine grinned, baring her teeth. "Such a colossal scale, such exaggerated handiwork. Which divine entity is responsible for this?"
SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—
As she spoke and laughed, Seraphine, finding the 'book-devouring' speed insufficient, instantly conjured thousands of clones. They flew to various parts of the library, devouring knowledge.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH—
The sound of chewing was incessant.
Seraphine was certain that this 'Ecosystem' was a deliberate product. It was too intentional. To call this a natural evolution? Only a fool would believe it.
As for why Seraphine was so certain? Very simple. She discovered crucial evidence—the Box of Sorrow—that proved all of this was planned.
Earlier, in the Glorious Kingdom, an unknown distance from here, when Seraphine first opened a Box of Sorrow, she had paid particular attention.
She discovered that the distorted 'passage' that carried Ellincer through the hazy void to Ansel's world was, in fact, a branch of the Creeping Sea.
However, the branch Ellincer used was incredibly narrow, far inferior in scale to the Creeping Sea branch Seraphine had once summoned in material space.
Nevertheless, that 'pocket-sized' branch had its own unique qualities: it was fast. Its teleportation speed was incredibly swift. This drew Seraphine's attention, leading her to project a wisp of sensory power to meticulously study that peculiar branch opened by the Box of Sorrow.
Through her research, Seraphine discovered that this branch contained immense power of pain, existing in a repetitive, crystalline form. Just as numerous dark arts and Witchcrafts combined according to fixed rules could form intricate ritual arrays, these pain powers, arranged and layered like 'arrays,' possessed extremely bizarre functions.
Its function was to grant that segment of the branch a subtle spacetime structure that transcended the three-dimensional plane. For a segment of the Creeping Sea branch to possess traces of artificial 'editing' was highly unusual.
This made it very interesting.
Throughout her entire journey into Hell, an excited Seraphine conducted meticulous research on that twisted 'passage.' She finally confirmed that the structure of this Creeping Sea branch was indeed a true four-dimensional structure.
It was this structure that accelerated the 'flow' of this Creeping Sea branch and allowed it to precisely reach the Hell of Pain without any detours. This was entirely unlike Seraphine's first 'ride' on a Creeping Sea branch, which had been winding and circuitous.
Aside from this, the fact that a four-dimensional spacetime structure could exist stably within the three-dimensional Realm of Phantasm gave Seraphine enormous inspiration.
"Although the Realm of Phantasm, which exists based on the imagination of countless three-dimensional beings, cannot stably sustain the entry of a true body...
However, if I emulate the stable, short-term existence of the Box of Sorrow's spacetime 'passage' to create a segment of a Creeping Sea branch with a complete four-dimensional structure, connecting to the real material world, and simultaneously construct a small, four-dimensional spacetime area on the Realm of Phantasm side using the power of pain, or further, the power of wrath and hatred, then..."
Seraphine rapidly 'devoured' many large books while calmly pondering.
"Could my true body then enter the Realm of Phantasm and successfully reside there? Even if my true body still cannot stay here for extended periods, then a small part of my true body's limbs or a fraction of its power could exist here for a short time.
Even if I could only insert a single finger, and it could only exist for one second, I would still possess a trump card. This way, even if I later encounter Primordial Myth or even Archaic Myth, I could easily triumph."
At this point, she considered a deeper question. "So, this special Creeping Sea branch that emerged due to the Box of Sorrow... whose handiwork is it?"
"Could it be the pig farmer boss, that hidden entity?"
No matter who it was, it couldn't be Leviathan. Since Seraphine had completely taken over Leviathan's body and soul, her understanding of his craftsmanship regarding Spacetime Structures was profound.
She knew clearly that Leviathan fundamentally lacked such capability. His skill in manipulating and utilizing Spacetime Structures was merely comparable to Cadelon's.
Furthermore, this high-dimensional Spacetime Structure, cultivated using the power of Suffering, was far inferior even to Godshell, a pseudo-four-dimensional being. How could Leviathan, who was so far below Godshell, possibly achieve it?
Moreover, data in the library recorded crucial information: the origin of the Box of Sorrow predated Leviathan's generation by far. According to Practitioner researchers specialized in history, its roots could trace back to the very moment the Hell of Pain was born, untold eons ago.
"So... who could have done this? Who possesses the ability?"
Seraphine, having already devoured 99% of the library's books, understood that the design of the Box of Sorrow, while complex, was not so miraculous that a mortal craftsman using mortal materials could create a magic box capable of opening a Spacetime Passage with a four-dimensional structure. It was simply unimaginable.
Thus, Seraphine had a suspicion:
"Meme."
"Untold eons ago, a mysterious entity... perhaps the pig farm owner, drafted the design of the Box of Sorrow. And on it, he placed a Meme—a Memetic that allowed mortals to easily understand the design and successfully craft the finished product."
"So, if this owner truly exists, what is his purpose in doing these things?"
Seraphine narrowed her eyes, then thought:
"Is it for observation? To observe Hell's disruption of human society, and the changes in human society under this disruption. Could it be another Observer with unknown motives? Ten million parallel spacetime Solar Systems... what a sample size, lasting for untold eons. What an immense undertaking; this scale is even greater than that of the creator of the second Solar System and the creator of the super-brain chip."
With her thoughts leading to the concept of an Observer, Seraphine momentarily set aside this unanswered question. Continuing to ponder would only be a waste of Mental Power.
"After devouring these materials, I must prepare to ascend to Myth."
While contemplating, Seraphine devoured another bookshelf containing thousands of books. "A False God level of power is clearly no longer sufficient."
Although she had already achieved False God rank and was confident in her ability to defeat an Ancient Myth level entity, facing a more powerful Primordial Myth, or even a mightier Archaic Myth, Seraphine lacked such confidence.
This was because, unlike the Universal Sages in the material world who followed the Fundamental Force path, the Realm of Phantasm was different.
There, the four Fundamental Forces were faint, and Myth level entities evolved by acquiring the Beliefs of countless sentient beings to achieve godhood.
Resplendent Moon rank establishes sects, Shining Sun rank creates nations, and False God rank collects countless Secret Realms scattered throughout the void, using these Secret Realms as bricks to construct a vast world.
Indeed, the so-called world creation by False God entities is actually a pseudo-creation. The Ansel world, for example, is like this. This was a conclusion Seraphine deduced from the information she had gathered.
In short, False God entities would scavenge and patch together vast numbers of Secret Realms to form a world to sustain countless beings. By acquiring immense Beliefs, they would seek further advancement.
These patched-together worlds could not sustain a true moon and sun; they could only allow Resplendent Moon and Shining Sun entities to project a portion of their power and True Soul Image to act as substitutes.
Compared to False Gods, Myth rank entities were a step further. From Mycenae's data, Myth rank entities didn't need to gather scattered Secret Realms to patch together a world; they inherently possessed the ability to create worlds. Moreover, the scale of worlds created by Myth rank entities was far greater than those of False Gods, and their stability was on a different level.
For example, the Ansel world simply could not withstand fierce battles between Shining Sun rank entities. Such conflicts had once caused structural problems, leading to cataclysmic changes and extinction. But Myth rank entities were different.
Even at the lowest Ancient Myth rank, Seraphine saw in the Gendaya nation's data that entities of this level could create worlds with diameters reaching hundreds of billions of kilometers.
Above this level, Vassago, as a Primordial Myth, created a world with an even more exaggerated diameter of 56 quadrillion kilometers.
Regarding the Elder Ouroboros, which destroyed over 100,000 mortal realms, Seraphine speculated it was likely an Ancient Myth.
Otherwise, why would the three Hells and the Fantasy clan, who considered the mortal realms their own, not impede this tyrannical beast? A large portion of their interests lay within those realms.
As for Archangel Uriel, who was even more insane and seemingly more powerful than the Elder Ouroboros, Seraphine suspected he was at least a prominent figure among Ancient Myths, perhaps even a Primordial Myth.
Which brings up the question: if Uriel was also a Primordial Myth, then what level was Yahweh, the God who created Uriel? Archaic Myth? Or even beyond? If He truly was beyond Archaic Myth, then His power level would be comparable to a peak Sage—that is, capable of destroying an entire Milky Way with a single strike.
Such a character stands at the absolute pinnacle of existence. Regarding this missing Yahweh god... Seraphine had a bold conjecture. This conjecture was intimately linked to the three Hells and even the entire pig farm.
However, these needed further evidence, so there was no rush. Seraphine's immediate priority was to ascend to Myth.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH—
Accompanied by intense chewing sounds, she finally ate the last bookshelf; the tens of thousands of books vanished in an instant.
For a moment, this library, once filled with countless volumes, became utterly desolate. The thousands of Cursers in the reading room, trapped in the torture of reading, were, out of Seraphine's mercy, all banished to the luxurious Personal Hells scattered throughout the maze.
At the same time, her body, radiant like an illusion, abruptly shattered and dissipated into invisibility.
In the next instant, above the Hell maze, Seraphine slowly opened her eyes. Simultaneously, her colossal, star-like body instantly birthed millions of detailed, vertical, toothed mouths. All mouths opened at once.
SUCK!
HISS—
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH—
In an instant, the entire Hell of Pain trembled. From time immemorial, humanity had always feared darkness, fearing the invisible strangeness and terrifying evil that might pervade it, believing it would bring misfortune, calamity... even death.
Thus, darkness became a nightmare humanity could never overcome. To escape this nightmare, humans sought solace in bonfires, lamps, electric lights, and all things luminous; they sought comfort in fables, fairy tales, poetry, and all literary genres celebrating light.
But today, the Hell of Pain, almost synonymous with Darkness, feared Seraphine. It deeply feared her merciless consumption.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH—
Seraphine sat upright above the colossal Hell maze, her entire body covered in tens of millions of terrifying gaping mouths. As her figure stirred, all these mouths fiercely opened, revealing layers of slowly rotating, chillingly sharp teeth within.
Suddenly, countless pitch-black vortexes rapidly spun out from these mouths like ghostly voids. With Seraphine at the center, they surged like millions of Dark Hands, howling and screaming, violently engulfing the entire gloomy sky.
RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!!!
This vast, majestic, and singularly terrifying spectacle made Seraphine, observing from afar, appear like a pitch-black, supremely malevolent Great Sun, expanding at lightning speed in all directions.
The howling, roaring, frenzied vortexes, biting into the surrounding void, resembled solar flares violently erupting from the Great Sun's surface. Each of these solar flares possessed terrifying power, far exceeding Jupiter's Great Red Spot, enough to savagely tear apart the entire structure of Old Earth.
Under the devouring force of these horrific vortexes, the countless Hider skeletal dragons that had been soaring far off into the deeper void were, in a flash, violently squeezed of their vast power of pain from a distance, then instantly perished, transforming into circles of lifeless skeletal satellites drifting around.
Accompanied by the skeletal dragons' final, desolate shrieks, the entire vast, hazy void instantly became suffocatingly oppressive. An indescribable sense of crushing pressure suddenly emerged, as if a terrifying power, thoroughly surpassing the entire Hell of Pain in quality, had violently descended upon the Realm of Phantasm.
This was the power of wrath and hatred.
As the saying goes, 'a single thought of anger arises, a million gates of obstruction open.' The anger, resentment, jealousy, anxiety, sorrow, grief, timidity, weariness, suspicion, solitude, and pain: these ten emotions conceived and experienced by countless beings in the Grand Universe every single second are all wrath and hatred, and all converge into wrath and hatred.
Therefore, the power of mortal wrath and hatred, generated by Seraphine's cultivation of the profoundly mysterious "Bodhisattva of Radiance", was a power of a much higher order than the Suffering authority of the Labyrinthine Hell.
Thus, the Hell maze below, a structure hundreds of millions of times larger than the Sun, in the same instant, uncontrollably trembled, then explosively spewed forth millions of torrents of pain, surging and rushing towards the dark Sun suspended in the center of the boundless dark sky.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!!
The void vibrated violently, with continuous echoing sounds.
Perhaps Seraphine's devouring fervor was too intense, for the internal and external structures of the Hell of Pain below, composed of layers upon layers of gloomy mazes, were violently torn apart as if suddenly invaded by millions of frenzied, raging dragons. With agonizing screams, they collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Tens of thousands of miles, hundreds of thousands of miles, even millions of miles of world-ending collapse. Layers of walls, secret chambers, grand halls, courtyards everywhere, tunnels, and entire sets of stairs all collapsed, disintegrated, and were annihilated across vast areas.
Simultaneously, countless millions of materialized, dense powers of pain, intertwined with desolate shrieks, rapidly flew towards the dim sky above, leaving behind massive expanses of ruins, rubble, and shattered bricks below.
Simultaneously, the countless wandering souls, Cursers, Engineers, and Practitioners residing within these rapidly decaying areas were, in a moment of bewildered confusion, instantly torn apart by the colossal devouring force, condensed into threads of soul-energy essence.
Carrying thick emotional suffering and hazy spirituality across distances of hundreds of thousands, even millions of miles, they swiftly flew towards Seraphine, who sat cross-legged high above in the center of the dark sky, to be mercilessly and completely swallowed by her.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH—
Encircled by tens of millions of dark vortexes, Seraphine, whose image was overwhelmingly majestic and silent, like an ancient forbidden Evil God, was also like a perpetually hungry, humanoid black hole. She greedily devoured the surging torrents of pain from below, rapidly refining and dissolving them into her body and soul.
With every breath, this refinement and integration caused her colossal, Sun-like body, and her vast, abyssal demonic soul, to undergo visible mutations one after another.
WHOA—
Dark, yet incredibly scorching, sky-high demonic flames suddenly appeared, blazing fiercely around Seraphine's body, which spanned millions of kilometers. Within these crackling black flames, there was an incomprehensible intensity of ferocity, malevolence, madness, and frenzy.
It was as if the surging wrath and hatred of countless beings in the mortal realm, hidden deep within their souls, thoughts, minds, and even their species' inherent nature since birth, all emanated from these boundless black flames.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Under this forging by black flames, the internal and external structures of Seraphine's Leviathan body and soul underwent hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of nuclear explosions every single second. This cataclysmic event, powerful enough to vaporize Old Earth's entire atmosphere, oceans, and crust, signified Seraphine's grand transformation, a breakthrough in her life level.
Minutes and seconds passed. In this world-shaking frenzy of devouring and evolution, with every imperceptible blink of an eye, Seraphine grew even more powerful, even more terrifying. This filled her with immense joy and exhilaration, causing her to burst into laughter:
"Hehehehehe! Hahahaha!"
Her frenzied laughter reverberated across trillions of miles of void. This also caused the already scarce numbers of Practitioners, Engineers, and Great High Priests hiding within the collapsed mazes of the Hell of Pain below, after enduring immense hardship, to instantly freeze in bewildered stupor. Their souls shattered into ash in a flash, and their black leather-clad bodies rapidly dissolved like candles meeting fire, transforming into pools of filthy, dead blood.
They were annihilated, both in form and spirit.
Only Ellincer remained unharmed.
"My Great Mistress!!!"
He spread her arms wide, her expression fervent as she looked up and roared, "So mighty, so magnificent, so supreme... God of Wrath and Hatred!!!"
No sooner had she spoken than Ellincer knelt heavily, kowtowing frantically, bowing repeatedly. While prostrating, he rapidly muttered various praises and offerings to a god. The sequence of words he murmured was so chaotic and uncontrollable that it seemed as if he had gone mad.
But in reality, Ellincer was being assimilated by Seraphine's wrath and hatred, which had engulfed the entire Hell of Pain. His soul and body were undergoing an accelerated metamorphosis and conversion, his thoughts utterly beyond his control, leading to his frenzied and incoherent words.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH
After an hour, all the power of pain accumulated over untold eons in the Hell of Pain was completely devoured by Seraphine. The Hell, now a 'husk' of ruins, utterly drained of all life force, mournfully sank into an extreme silence.
The countless thought prisons that once permeated all the gloomy corridors, the untold numbers of Personal Hells, and the colossal Pits of Flame, reminiscent of mythological purgatories, all fell silent. The screams, groans, wails, and whimpers—sounds that had persisted in every corner of Hell for countless ages—now vanished entirely.
Aside from Leviathan, all souls, Cursers, Practitioners, Engineers, and Great High Priests within the Hell of Pain were 'swallowed' by Seraphine, leaving nothing behind. Other than the faint, myriad threads of Spirituality transmitted far away to her true body in the material world, all these dead and demonic entities of Hell became Seraphine's 'sustenance' for growth and power.
And the Hell of Pain, which had trampled and tortured Human Civilizations across tens of millions of parallel Solar Systems for untold eons, from this day forward, became history forever. Whether it would ever fully recover was an unknown variable.
However, Seraphine leaned towards the impossibility of its recovery, as its very 'foundation'—the physical framework of the entire Hell of Pain—had been forcefully absorbed and dissolved by her, utterly rooted out.
As for whether the colossal 'three Hells - millions of mortal realms' Ecosystem would face problems or shatter due to her actions? That had nothing to do with Seraphine. She was not someone who concerned herself with such consequences.
Simultaneously, after consuming all the delicious 'sustenance,' Seraphine's million-kilometer colossal body contracted inward at extreme speed amidst continuous cracking and popping sounds.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK
At a contraction rate of tens of thousands of kilometers per second, the millions of still, gaping mouths on Seraphine's body surface gradually blurred, twisted, and dissipated into nothingness, returning to their former dim, ashen appearance.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK
In just half a minute, Seraphine's body had contracted by over 300,000 kilometers, her height shrinking into the range of a million kilometers.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK
Another minute passed, and her formerly sky-obscuring, colossal body completely vanished into the vast void. In its place, only a jade-white, bone-like sphere, several thousand meters in diameter, remained, vibrating with a profound hum. It was as if it was nurturing some even higher, more terrifying entity.
From the depths, influenced by Seraphine's transformation, Ellincer, still kneeling and worshiping in the collapsing Demon Palace below, twisted and swelled into a pitch-black liquid sphere, beginning his unique metamorphosis.
At this very moment, in a region of space approximately ten billion kilometers beneath the Hell ruins, a colossal, smoky, roasted meat-like sac, tens of thousands of meters in diameter, suddenly expanded and emerged.
PUFF, PUFF ~ PUFF, PUFF
In the boundless, dim void, the city-sized meat sac suddenly ripped open from within, forming several hideous fissures, each tens of thousands of meters long.
ROAR!!!!
ROAR!!!!
ROAR!!!!
Accompanied by torrents of turbid blood spewing from the edges of the fleshy fissures, several blasts of frenzied, enraged roars suddenly erupted.
Next, three sturdy, demonic beings—each with broad shoulders, two massive bat-like wings, towering over a thousand meters tall, and foreheads covered in irregularly twisted bone crowns—emerged from the meat sac, their faces covered in dense, crimson eyes.
Following in their footsteps, hundreds upon thousands of relentlessly raging, demonic beings also poured out from the meat sac.
However, compared to the initial two-winged, bone-crowned demons, these later-appearing demons were significantly smaller in stature. Though plump and robust with sharp thorns, each was only about ten meters tall, merely three or four times the height of a fully loaded heavy truck.
Their forms varied: some had dozens of long, uneven, sharp claws casually growing all over their bodies; some had faces entirely covered in burnt, spewing mouths, all erupting with blazing flames; others were covered in putrid, greenish-black pustules, constantly popping; still others had wide, toad-like mouths growing all over their shoulders, necks, and backs, and when these mouths slightly opened and closed, one could vaguely see eyeballs continually roaming within.
These were the Raging Demons from the Pit of Hell. The first thousand-meter-tall demons to appear were the Demon Generals. The intensely burning fleshy sac was their 'gate' for invasion.
Without a single sign, these dark beings, whose brains were perpetually filled with rage, abruptly launched an invasion.
GURGLE, GURGLE, GURGLE, GURGLE
Besides the initial demons that had invaded this void, an even greater number of Raging Demons subsequently poured out from the 'gate,' surging forth like a black tide. Each of these demons had a ferocious face, their bodies emitting dark, phosphorescent glows.
As soon as they appeared in the boundless void, they activated the immense innate dark energy within them, roaring and flying at extreme speed towards the ever-growing demon army ahead.
Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand...
In just a few minutes, this Demon Legion swelled to a hundred thousand strong. The number of Demon Generals also reached over a hundred.
The tattered 'gate' seemed to be completely exhausted, slowly shriveling and becoming silent like a punctured balloon. But it did not vanish; it merely floated gently in the hazy void, motionless. It seemed to be waiting, awaiting the next command from the demons.
Simultaneously, as these demons poured in, the previously pitch-black void around them became agitated and crimson. Clearly, the tyrannical dark energy of this large gathering of Raging Demons had begun to affect the surrounding cosmos.
"CHARGE!!!!"
Without any specific pre-battle motivational speeches or tactical briefings, a tall, imposing Demon General roared and led the charge, flapping his heavy black wings, flying rapidly upward toward the Hell of Pain.
The dense, swirling mass of 100,000 demons hovering behind him, upon hearing this roar, could no longer suppress the rage that had long burned within them. They excitedly shrieked and roared, brandishing swords, axes, halberds, and hammers, charging towards the Hell of Pain.
At this very moment, at the highest point of the Hell maze, the jade-white bone egg suddenly split open with a pitch-black fissure.