After all, a Space Container isn’t defensive equipment. If it couldn’t be destroyed, it would’ve been used as a Shield long ago.

But during a battle, attacks aren’t usually aimed at storage items, and besides, Lu Cang’s own were High Level.

Coupled with how deliberately he protected them, they had never been destroyed.

Aertemi had also deliberately avoided destroying her own Storage Ring.

She wanted to collect her spoils of war, too.

Lu Cang reached into the Ten Thousand Skin Bag. The Space inside was so vast it even surpassed the Space Containers of the Cold Church.

The aftershocks of the Soul Burst gradually dissipated.

The sky had cleared up again. Although a faint mist was still spreading, it was no longer as thick as before.

The sky had returned to its natural state.

’It seems Aertemi really is gone.’

He looked back at the entire battlefield.

Sel City...

There was no more Sel City.

Rather, with Sel City as the epicenter, as far as the eye could see—for probably tens of thousands of kilometers—there was nothing but a bottomless pit.

Lu Cang stood in the sky as if suspended in the center of the Void.

"Oh, found it."

A red stone appeared in Lu Cang’s hand.

’The Key of the Inside.’

Information about the key surfaced in his mind.

This was the key to open the Inner World.

As long as he found the corresponding node for the Inner World, he could open it.

Closing it, however, could be done at any time, from anywhere.

The moment he received the red stone, Lu Cang had already seen the node’s location.

It was the same passage Kumironi and the others had used, but now everything had been blown into nothingness...

Lu Cang went forward, holding the stone.

He pressed the red stone gently against the empty space.

A door opened, and a passage appeared before his eyes.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Cang took a deep breath and stepped inside.

But the moment he stepped through, he found himself looking at a massive rift valley.

’Hmm... I probably shouldn’t call it a rift valley. I can see a distant sea ahead. And when I look behind me, I can see the sea there, too.’

’It looks like the entire continent has been severed.’

However, he didn’t sense any other signs of battle.

Lu Cang looked around.

Suddenly, he felt a Perception connect with his own.

"Lu Cang!"

It was Lu Luwei’s Perception.

’Looks like she’s still alive. That’s good.’

After all, he didn’t know what the situation was like inside the Inner World. The enemy had come so confidently and well-prepared that Lu Cang had genuinely worried that Chi Cheng and the others wouldn’t be able to handle it.

BOOM!

A streak shot through the air at extreme speed, landing before him in an instant.

Immediately after, an emerald-green light flashed and appeared at his side.

"Lu Cang?!"

Kumironi stared at Lu Cang’s skin, which was continuously peeling away.

"Did something happen out there?"

As she asked, Kumironi immediately placed her hand on Lu Cang.

A faint emerald light flowed out.

Lu Cang’s skin and flesh gradually stopped peeling apart and began to return to normal.

Kumironi, however, frowned, her soft voice thick with worry. "Divine Authority?"

"Yeah..." Lu Cang said. "I ran into an enemy who called herself a god—Aertemi."

"I almost lost to her."

"Sister Kumironi, we should leave first."

"It might not be safe here, either."

Kumironi and Lu Cang exchanged a glance, and she nodded slightly.

The group gathered around, their faces full of worry for Lu Cang’s current state, while Lu Cang’s gaze swept over them.

’Looks like they’re mostly unharmed.’

The group left the Inner World...

Where there had once been sprawling mountain ranges and hundreds of great rivers, now only a deep, empty chasm remained.

Seeing this scene, Kumironi’s pupils contracted sharply.

"Lu Cang..."

It was hard to imagine what kind of horrific battle had broken out here.

Lu Cang spoke up. "All of Sel City had been taken over by the Skin Takers."

"Not many innocent people were caught in the crossfire."

’Actually, there were some.’

’A very small number of them were still innocent.’

At the beginning of the battle, the Submerged Land Level Demons had spared the lives of those innocent people.

But with Aertemi’s arrival, it was no longer a battlefield where ordinary people could survive.

The mere fact that he had won and survived was an incredible stroke of luck.

In fact, luck had played a huge part in it.

Lu Cang handed the Ten Thousand Skin Bag to Kumironi.

Kumironi gave the bag a quick scan and immediately had a rough idea of how terrifying the person Lu Cang mentioned was.

’A Storage Bag made from Tier Eight Demon Hide... and the items inside are just as extraordinary.’

"Kumironi, did you guys run into anything inside?"

Kumironi shook her head.

"Not really, no."

"They set up a Special Blood Array, but Chi Cheng and I broke it pretty easily."

"Before we killed them, they kept mumbling about a ’Lady Aertemi.’ That must be the Aertemi you were talking about."

"I guess their original plan was to trap us inside and then attack from both the inside and outside..."

"...but they never expected you to escape."

Lu Cang nodded slightly.

Under Kumironi’s treatment, his body was gradually recovering.

The agony from his skin being stripped away was already gone.

"Let’s go back," Kumironi said.

"There’s nothing left here. There’s nowhere to even start an investigation. We can hear what Lu Cang has to say on the way back."

"Besides..."

"This time, my decision was wrong. I let Lu Cang face a powerful enemy alone and put him in danger."

"Don’t say that," Chi Cheng said.

"You protected Leng Qingying, Lu Luwei, and Chum just fine, didn’t you?"

"At least, this time, everyone made it back safe and sound again."