At another battle location, in a clearing, two figures stood calmly under the broiling clouds of the night. This field had an eerie silence, as though no Lesser Variants dared stray near…

Richard's stalwart figure stood valiantly, facing off with the eerily human-like Finger of Gluttony. In fact, if not for the flickering screen in his vision, he might have mistaken this creature for an old human male.

[Warning! Fifth Finger of Gluttony — Alfred Detected!]

The Finger stood silently, wearing a kind, elderly smile from the distance.

"Honestly, I suggest you give up… Fighting against us is as futile as it can get," Alfred calmly spoke.

Richard raised a brow. "Oh? What makes you believe so?"

The Finger remained silent for a bit before speaking. "Alright, since you want to know, I will explain.

You see, the existence of us Fingers is too great a burden for this infantile ether plane to bear. But still, we found a leeway to force a descent by creating fragment avatars — we could descend holding a mere minuscule percentage of our true might. And even then, we are constantly suppressed by this plane, unable to use this trickle of power to its fullest.

Most of us — me included — can't even use our skills, as they are too broken for this plane to bear, even a watered-down version.

But even with all these constraints, the strength we are left with is still more than enough to decimate you younglings.

So I plead — kneel now and surrender to corruption. That way, you can escape a gritty and brutal fate."

Richard listened quietly. Though he kept composure on the outside, his heart was in tumultuous waves.

To think the Fingers still reeked of such dread even after being nerfed to such a degree… Richard realized the party on the other side of the rift seemed to be more of a big shot than imagined.

Richard shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline your offer."

With a confused expression, Alfred asked with a frown, "Why throw your life away? All for nothing? Vanity?"

"Hahahahahah!" Richard's head swung backwards as he suddenly roared in laughter at such a question.

"Don't get me wrong — I don't mean to belittle you. But I'm pretty confident that vanquishing you wouldn't be that hard."

Alfred was stunned at such bold words. To think a tiny youngling from a backwater infantile ether realm could look down on him…

He chuckled to himself. "I see. It's a pity then…"

His wrinkled, black-veined hand raised toward Richard as a staggering amount of dense corruption slowly condensed.

Richard frowned, his eyes glinting. To think such a delicate frame held so much corruption… No wonder it's a rank Five Finger.

Just as Richard readied to block the attack, suddenly a streak plummeted from the heavens, landing straight onto Alfred's hand. Forcing it downward uncontrollably, letting the cursed black congestion blast into the ground.

The earth trembled and rattled with terror. In the direction it blasted, all that was left was an unfathomably deep crater.

Richard perspired, a tingling chill running up his spine. He wasn't terrified that he would have been hurt by the blast — but that he wouldn't have been able to protect those far behind him.

At this level of battle he was pretty sure his trusted weapon LMG Holger of Disastrous Rain would be useless.

Wait what was that, that suddenly helped him?

[Legendary Tier Item: Five Hero summon coupon has been used!

All heroes have been distributed across battle field to help in Fight against the six fingers of gluttony!

You have received reinforcement of the Hero Death's Whisper Kraig the Ultimate assassin!]

On this Alfred felt the oppressive force of a new foe, "I see where your confidence comes from... To think you guys actually have help of these remnant divines."

Slowly levitating above that vast Abyssal crater of his own making, Alfred concluded his voice solemn, "this would be harder than expected..."

The hero who now stood besides Richard cloacked in night black tattered hooded armor, underneath it's hood was nothing but pure writhing darkness.

He could feel the massive power roiling within the hero, as Richards eyes lit up as he gave an order. "Stall for me as long as possible."

Shadow ether churned across Kraig's figure as the earth beneath his feet trembled from pressure, in silent response to the order.

There was no time to waste. He had to eliminate this foe before he used something even more cataclysmic.

His mind echoed in reverence, and he reached for a deep sacred part of his ability — Machine Demon Scripture.

I'm ready now. Take me, he surrendered clearly to a mysterious flickering force which descended the moment he reached for it.

The moment he made this mental statement — this mental surrender — everything burst into receding lights.

Everything blurred into a distance, and by the time his vision stabilized, he found himself before a colossal metal door that stood at the center of a cosmos-like space, filled with a sea of stars and celestial matter.

Suddenly, the door thrummed with a pulse of pure ether, and a cold regal voice called out:

"You finally gave it a chance…"

Richard remained silent. Since the moment of his evolution, his blood had yearned for this place, his mind in constant lust for this unknown force.

"I am the Heavenly Machine Demon, and this is my inheritance hall…"

Richard remained silent. He had deduced this much. What he was after now was the constant power the voice always tried to use to seduce him — and now that he was here, he wanted what was promised.

"I see you are clear on what you want. And I am clear on what I need…"

Richard frowned subtly. Indeed, the voice always said something about a true heir.

"You can be my true heir — if you can withstand all nine phases of absolute hell. Don't worry, here time is irrelevant. Take your time in enduring the first hell: Formless Hell."

Honestly, Richard's lips had long curved unpleasantly. The voice had enticed him only to start giving him conditions now that he was here… But he didn't have a choice. He had to undergo it.

For the victory of his Lord — and a clean triumph over the Fifth Finger.

He gritted his teeth and remained in place. Slowly, the star-dwarfing colossal door began creaking open.

Richard felt an unsettling chill, as though innately he could tell whatever was behind that door was no good.

But he had made up his mind.

[Welcome to the first floor of the Nine Absolute Hells — Formless Encompassing Abyssal Hell!]

And that was the last message he saw with his vision before everything vanished — all senses numbed.

It was as though he had dissolved into a formless mass of void. Unable to communicate. Unable to feel. Seeing was a privilege long gone.

He now became a formless mind drifting across an abyss.

At first, things were normal — his mental activity remained intact. But as time passed, existential fear began to creep in…

*What if I'm abandoned like this forever?

What if this was all an elaborate ploy to get me to leave my body — and whatever the voice was had taken my place?*

He panicked. He raged. He sulked.

But still — he felt nothing.

Very soon, things began to take a dark turn. He began doubting his existence.

Under the pressure of being trapped in an abyss-like darkness — like a mass of nothing — he slowly became nothing.

His mental activity dulled. He slowly lost sight of who he was. Time? He had long lost track. Without any sense, there was no plausible way to keep track of such an abstract concept.

His mind started drifting into long breaks of existential breakdowns. He would forget his identity for long periods before suddenly regaining it.

How did he regain it? How did he constantly re-actualize his existence?

It was all because of the single, still strand of connection he had tightly wrapped around his soul from the outside world.

The connection to his master. And as long as that bond remained tightly fastened, his identity as Richard, the Right Arm Vanguard of Lord Roy Vanders, would forever remain his lighthouse — constantly driving him back to his true self.

In this abyssal space of no feeling, the connection stood out like a brilliant beacon.

[Congratulations! You have withstood an equivalent of one year in the First Floor of Absolute Hell — Formless Abyssal Encompassing Hell!]

[Congratulations! You are being bestowed First Level Heritage Benefits!]

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