They all call me an Outer God.

"Sir, what are you saying..."

Triston's face turned ashen as the hand gripped him tightly, and no matter how much he struggled, the hand showed no intention of letting go.

Perlmand watched helplessly as his trusted subordinate died at his hands, showing no pity whatsoever.

"boom!"

He released his grip, and his subordinate's body lay motionless on the ground. Perlmand then pulled out his gun and fired several shots into the man's head until it was smashed to pieces, making him unrecognizable.

After that, Perlmand raised his foot and stepped on his subordinate's neck with his leather shoe, intending to crush his neck. However, the next second, a hand unexpectedly tried to grab his leg, but he dodged it.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"

The previously motionless corpse suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. Then, Perlmand saw the person, who should have been completely dead, stand up straight from the ground in a rather bizarre posture, his flesh and blood congealing into an exaggerated smile.

But the voice it emitted was utterly indifferent.

"It is an honor to see you again, Master of the Black Hand. In truth, I had no intention of killing your subordinate and replacing him; that would not be in line with the usual style of Hephaestus."

"But then I have to mention something—"

"You seem to have overstepped your bounds."

Perlmand found it ironic: "Overstepping boundaries? What boundaries have I overstepped?"

"You had thoughts you shouldn't have had."

Hephaestus's voice was hoarse.

“I’ve searched through our contract, and there’s no clause in it that says Ria is to be used as a sacrifice for the advancement ritual, especially since this action seems to have led him to know something he shouldn’t know.”

"He's trapped in my domain, so you shouldn't know his whereabouts. Does that mean you really are spying on him?"

Seeing that Hephaestus did not deny it, Perlmand immediately became interested: "You're angry."

"Why are you angry? Is it because I'm about to break your beloved toys?"

"Or are you afraid that he will be sacrificed to the radiant sun and come into contact with the real sun?"

Hephaestus remained silent, his attitude as if he were looking at a foolish creature: "Don't blame us for not reminding you, we have done more than enough as allies."

You said we were monitoring him, and that's not wrong at all. Just like members of the Order Association are responsible for guarding containment objects, we also have targets that need to be monitored at all times and record various experimental data.

The current state of this goal is becoming increasingly uncontrollable. I'm just here to warn you that your excessive arrogance will cost you.

"The only thing I ever did that was to cooperate with you, you..."

Before Perlmand could finish speaking, he felt the surrounding buildings tremble as if they had experienced a magnitude 13 earthquake. In that short time, he quickly drew his gun and fired several shots at Hefiesgtu before turning to look out the window.

Those towering buildings made of gold and silver have long since turned to dust, and towering tentacles have surged from the ground, wreaking havoc and destroying everything in their path.

It's getting foggy.

The astonishing number of tentacles slowly twisted together, eventually transforming into an incredibly large black dragon.

"Woo——————"

The black dragon slightly opened its mouth, and the surrounding mist thickened. It raised its claws and landed on the golden ground, then walked towards Perlmand. From Perlmand's perspective, he could only see a blurry black shadow and countless shimmering golden points of light. The golden light at the dragon's head drew closer and closer, until it was completely close to the spacious French windows. Perlmand could even see every clear line in the dragon's pupils. Through the glass, it silently watched him.

"He's here, I should go."

Hephaestus's body, lying on the ground, suddenly made a sound.

Then came an extremely harsh tone: "Some people are just born to be caged. Good luck, Sofia, ah no... Mr. Perlmand."

Perlmand noticed the body on the ground was moving again and instinctively wanted to turn around and fire, but the moment he turned around, his gun was grabbed by a hand wearing a black leather glove.

"good evening."

A distinguished young man stood before Perlmand, his every move exuding courtesy and elegance. However, to Perlmand, this scene was no less daunting than the sudden appearance of a vengeful ghost.

He quickly calmed down and smiled, "Good evening, junior."

What was it like behind the Gate of Original Sin?

"It was very nice, but I accidentally ruined it. You probably won't mind, will you?"

“What do you think?” Perlmand paused for a moment. “I mind, and it’s not nighttime, it’s daytime.”

"Really? It's rare to see such a huge red moon during the day."

Ria's gaze shifted to the window. The dragon stepped back a few paces to give him a view of the sky, which was a patchwork of blood-red and black.

"What happened to Crimson Moon?"

The young man had just begun to wonder when he felt his own strength rapidly draining away and weakening. Suddenly, his gaze turned playful: "So you were stalling for time, trying to take the opportunity to sacrifice me to the Radiant Sun."

"It seems you learned all this from Sofia."

"That's true, but how can you be so sure that the sun will accept me after you offer me as a sacrifice?"

Lia found a seat and sat down. When she noticed a wine glass on the table, she smashed it and kicked over the table in front of the sofa. She then crossed her legs on the table, appearing quite rude.

This is pure provocation.

“The corpse on the ground still carries the scent of Hephaestus. You killed him.”

"The patterns on the wall are the centipede patterns unique to the Radiant Sun, indicating that there is a sacrificial array beneath your domain, and it has already been activated."

"Furthermore, my own power is being constantly suppressed and weakened. It seems you are determined to use me as a sacrifice. But you must understand that my devotion to the Rising Sun is no less than anyone else's. Would He really have the heart to harm His most devout follower?"

Perlmand did not answer his question, but instead glanced at the broken glass: "This does not conform to the etiquette and aesthetics expected of a black marketeer."

"Yes, but etiquette is for better communication. My behavior only shows that I don't think you have any need to continue communicating with me."

The path to advancement for extraordinary individuals involves eliminating all their kind who stand in their way. I'm afraid that next, I'll have to find a way to kill you.

"You can try it."

Perlmand found Ria's rudeness laughable. He slightly raised his hand, and the patterns on the wall instantly transformed into millipedes as red as lava, waving their tentacles as they lunged at Ria.

(End of this chapter)