Emperor Lawrence

"See you at the next auction. Goodbye, Emperor Lawrence."

"Goodbye."

Lawrence bids them farewell with a cordial smile on his face, and something similar happens on the other side. As they board their carriage and depart from his house, Lawrence's smile distorts, no longer resembling that of a user of sacred magic.

"The kingdom with the most Archaic Ruins, huh..."

He watches the carriage disappear into the distance and only then enters his house. As he recreates a stationary door, Sky Petal and the others appear near him.

"I didn't think that woman would give up so easily."

To Coldness Divine's words, he responds: "Not giving up, it's losing today to win tomorrow. That woman lives off business. If there was a time she had to kill to survive, that's clearly no longer the case."

Perhaps a proud woman like her would think that stepping back is no different from a humiliating act, but only before a powerful enemy would such an action be considered honorable.

"I'm more interested in that cube. May I see it?"

"All yours."

Lawrence tosses the cube toward Serene Will without even looking back. She is surprised to see that inside it, a man is trapped. Seeing it in person is very different from hearing about it.

"Its name is Singular Space, a magic artifact that allows immortals to be trapped inside it. It is immune to countless external effects, which is why it can be placed inside a storage ring without harming the life within. This is its maximum potential, unfortunately, it cannot be improved."

Serene Will turns the cube in her hands, examining it curiously, while the man inside looks at her in terror.

"The interesting part is that it has no level limit. It can trap rankers as long as the user is at a similar level and the ranker is severely injured."

As the term is still fresh, Lawrence recalls something. "Is it resistant to chaos?"

"Nothing is resistant to chaos."

It is not Serene Will who responds, but Coldness Divine.

Lawrence nods, not pressing the matter further.

+++

"You bastard! I regret the day I met you!"

"AAAGH!"

Erratic Delirium punches the <expert> who once saw potential in him and whose actions brought his world crashing down. He could use a weapon to deepen the wounds on his body, but only by taking his life with his bare hands can he quench this fury, this sadness within him.

"AAAGH! Y-You were the one to blame--! Agh! O-Only a fool would fall for the promise of a bright future! AAAGH!"

"I trusted you. I was willing to follow you, but you betrayed me!"

"AAAGH! Agh! H-Hahaha... ha! My life may be in your hands, but I don't regret what I did. I lived quite well for a time, thanks to you."

"Don't speak! You're not allowed to speak!"

For hours and hours, Erratic Delirium beat the man in front of him. Slowly, his body turned into pulp, but he didn't stop hitting him until the other could no longer be considered human.

"Stop. He's already dead."

He comes back to his senses at those words. Erratic Delirium looks back and sees the sect master, Emperor Lawrence.

"Emperor Lawrence..." Forgetting his manners, he mentions his name directly. "Is this where it all ends?"

"That is for you to decide."

For over a minute, Erratic Delirium remains silent, only staring at his blood-covered hands. Then he lifts his head and looks Lawrence in the eye.

"Sect master, I am willing to follow you. I am willing to trust someone again. As long as you don't betray me, I will never betray you."

Lawrence smiles warmly. "I won't."

Erratic Delirium nods and once more looks at his hands. "Could I be alone for a moment?"

In silence, Lawrence walks away.

After walking for a few seconds, he finds Sky Petal.

"Your disciple is fine. Just let him finish this stage."

"Okay."

Contrary to her usual personality, Sky Petal responds curtly. Lawrence sighs and walks alongside her, leaving her behind. Master and disciple must learn to coexist on their own, they don't need him to interfere unnecessarily.

As Lawrence walks and admires the scenery of his personal dimension, he recalls the last time he was truly alone. When Serene Will betrayed him and later returned begging for his forgiveness.

"Soon it will be ten years since our promise..."

With a thought, his surroundings shift, and he appears before Serene Will.

"Lawrence... Is something wrong?"

He doesn't respond immediately, merely approaching her and caressing her cheek.

"It won't make a difference whether we fulfill our promise now or a few months later. This is a good time, nothing significant is happening--"

Serene Will interrupts him, "No. That is something you must ask me. Many things have happened in these ten years."

"You promised me... You gave me your word!"

He stops caressing her cheek and instead moves his hand to her neck, squeezing it just enough to allow her to speak.

"N-No, p-please, Lawrence..."

Serene Will might have the strength to push his hand away, to stop this man from having his way with her, but she doesn't. Instead, she gently strokes the hand that is taking her breath away, threatening her life.

"I-If I have your child, I-I'm afraid I won't be able to risk my life... I-I'll be afraid of leaving them alone in this world... P-Please, I need more time. P-Please, Lawrence."

Ten years of a promise, ten years he gave her to destroy the Unquenchable Fire Brothel and then bear his child. Ten years about to be fulfilled, yet she refuses to comply.

Back then, besides love, this was the only way to stop her. But after the time spent with her, he understands she is more sentimental than she appears.

Slowly, she loses air, yet she shows no intention of escaping his grasp.

"Tsk."

Until Lawrence releases her.

"Cough, cough... T-Thank you, Lawrence."

Contrary to expectations, after catching her breath, she doesn't scold him. Instead, she steps closer and hugs him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I love you. I love you, Lawrence. More than you can imagine."

He simply gazes into the distance, gently stroking the back of this proud woman.

+++

Heaven's Fortress City, capital of the Heavenly Path Kingdom. Divine Plane.

"Are you Emperor Lawrence?"

A man approaches Lawrence, and the latter looks him up and down before nodding.

"Reigning Myrias sent me. These are the documents, please don't lose them. You won't be able to access the Wind Divider Kingdom for at least 10 years if that happens."

The man hands a briefcase to Lawrence and then departs. The transaction lasts only a few seconds before Lawrence is left alone again.

Lawrence opens the briefcase and, after verifying the documents, smiles. "There was a time I thought I would live and die in the Heavenly Path Kingdom. Life sure is full of surprises, huh."

Without connections, traveling between kingdoms is impossible. Entry is strictly monitored, hunters with malicious intent, spies, criminals, individuals with unclear backgrounds, etc. are not allowed. A myriad of requirements must be met in order to use the portal that enables travel between kingdoms.

And now, he meets the conditions.

"Name?"

"Emperor Lawrence."

"Occupation?"

"Intermediary of the pill refiner Bearer of Light... Business in the Wind Divider Kingdom... I have no malicious thoughts towards any kingdom... No... Yes... Business in the Wind Divider Kingdom... Intermediary of the pill refiner Bearer of Light... Emperor Lawrence... No, I am not planning anything bad..."

As it is his first time traveling between kingdoms, the worker asks numerous questions and, not only that, repeats the same questions in a different order to catch him off guard and reveal any flaws in his answers. Not to mention, a hunter, likely with some innate ocular ability, keeps analyzing his actions.

"We've verified the documents. Everything is in order."

After an assistant handed the briefcase with Lawrence's documents to the worker, the latter looked at Lawrence and returned the briefcase to him.

"Have a good journey. Please follow my assistant."

"Thank you."

Lawrence sighs and gets up from his seat, then follows a man who leads him to an open space where seven portals exist.

"Each portal connects to a different kingdom. The portal to the Wind Divider Kingdom is that one. Please line up, there are people ahead of you."

The assistant walks away after saying those words.

Obediently, Lawrence positions himself at the end of the line. While waiting, he watches people enter and exit the seven portals. One would think that the Luminare River Kingdom, the kingdom of dragons, would have one of the most restricted accesses, but that is not the case at all. There is constant movement from this and the other six portals.

Until it is Lawrence's turn.

Like any portal, he simply walks through it, and then everything around him changes.

"Welcome to the Wind Divider Kingdom."

If not for those words, he would think he was still in the same place as before.

+++

Hours later.

"Hah... What a hassle."

After hours of travel and asking for directions, Lawrence finally secures a room in Nine Eyes City, the capital of the Wind Divider Kingdom.

"Once I manage to buy a house, no one will be able to prevent my access to the Wind Divider Kingdom."

His stationary doors have no distance limits, whether it's the Heavenly Path Kingdom, Immortal Radiance Kingdom, Lacrima of Fire Kingdom, Luminare River Kingdom, Divine Threshold Kingdom, Golden Blood Kingdom, or the Wind Divider Kingdom. As long as he is allowed access once, they will never be rid of him!

"Hahaha, maybe Reigning Myrias expected me to rely more on her with this deal. She doesn't know my methods are inscrutable."

There is no defense against his stationary doors because no other child of the doors of change had lived long enough to consume a Boundless Fruit and possess the core of an Archaic Ruin.

"...I'll ask Imperial Absence for a tour later."

After resting enough, Lawrence gets up from the bed and plans to create a Dimensional Rift to summon his women when...

"Huh...? W-What is this feeling?"

Looking out the window, specifically towards a bar, a strange feeling oppresses him.

He hesitates for a few moments before leaving his room and subsequently the hotel, heading toward the bar under the pretext of drinking, as he always does.

Unaware that...

+++

An earthquake shakes the personal dimension, and the sky begins to crack like a glass cup. The main branch of the Path to Heaven Sect collapses to the ground like a house of cards.

Coldness Divine looks up at the sky and sighs sadly.

"Lawrence is dead."