Before the drop of blood even hit the ground, it burst apart midair, exploding into a downpour of thick, crimson rain that descended upon the two beastmen.
"Not good—it's Crimson Resurrection! That's the signature spell of the Crimson Demon Lord's Blood Witch!"
The hawk-beastman's pupils shrank sharply as he recognized the spell. Cold sweat rolled down his temple uncontrollably. But he did not hesitate—his body erupted with a surge of death battle qi, forming a shimmering barrier of energy around both of them.
However, while his battle qi was finite, the blood rain was endless. Under its relentless corrosion, the barrier thinned with frightening speed.
Suddenly, the hawk-beastman let out a horrified roar.
"I know who she is now—she's the Witch of Death! Damn it! We've all been fooled! The one who broke through at the border fortress wasn't the real Witch of Death at all. Her goal was never to spark a war between us and the Saints' Inquisition—her true target was us! Or rather... the witch we captured this time!"
"The witch we caught? But those witches aren't from the Death lineage—what would she want with them?"
The wolf-beastman asked instinctively, but the moment the words left his mouth, he realized how pointless the question was.
It didn't matter what Hel's motives were. If they couldn't escape this world alive, knowing her plans meant nothing.
He turned toward his companion, expression grim. "Do we open our worlds?"
"Do it."
In the next instant, two pitch-black auras bloomed beneath them—one a barren land of decay, the other a rotting, frigid wasteland.
But before their Mindscapes could fully manifest, Hel's overwhelming domain pressure descended upon them, grinding their worlds down.
"Quick—merge them! Then strike that node!"
The hawk-beastman shouted the order, his voice strained.
At the final moment, the two similar Mindscapes fused together, compressing tighter and tighter until they formed a sharp, black spearhead that stabbed violently toward the world's edge.
The ground quaked, the air screamed.
For an instant, their fused world managed to collide with Hel's domain without immediately disintegrating—an impressive feat in itself.
But they had grossly underestimated the power of Hel's Mindscape. Her world was tainted with the Authority of Death—a divine fragment—something no ordinary Saint's world could ever withstand.
Cracks began to spider across their fusion. Chaotic spatial rifts tore through the air, slicing their protective battle auras apart.
The situation went from desperate to hopeless.
"We can't run anymore," the hawk-beastman said grimly.
"She's the Witch of Death. None of our attacks can harm her. Old Wolf… it's time to prepare for the worst."
Without hesitation, he condensed his death qi into his hand and slammed it against the coffin strapped to his back.
At the moment of impact, the countless runes etched into the coffin's surface flared brilliantly—then dimmed as drops of blood began seeping from its cracks.
The light of the runes faded, one by one.
Seeing this, the wolf-beastman gritted his teeth and began to do the same—but he was a heartbeat too late.
A figure in a white robe appeared silently beside them.
[Advanced Death Magic: Universal Annihilation]
In an instant, the already fragile energy barrier surrounding the two was shattered completely, bursting into motes of disintegrating power.
The crimson rain fell unhindered.
Just a single drop landed on the wolf-beastman's fur, splashing into a tiny scarlet bloom.
That was all it took.
He felt his blood boil uncontrollably, and the death energy in his body began to riot—thrashing wildly through his veins like a living thing.
Within seconds, his eyes turned blood-red, and his limbs began to stiffen. His immense willpower and strength were the only things keeping him from instantly transforming into an undead.
The hawk-beastman suffered the same fate.
The blood rain couldn't convert them immediately, but it froze them both in place—helpless, unable to move or fight back.
And in a battle between Saints, even a single moment of paralysis was fatal.
Hel showed no mercy.
[Advanced Death Magic: Lightning Chain of Death's Finger]
A sickly green lightning flashed across the battlefield.
When it faded, both Saint-rank beastmen—once names that shook the continent—were dead.
Their bodies went limp, tumbling lifelessly toward the blood-red river of the Styx below.
Before they could hit the water, however, a massive hand of death energy rose up and caught them midair.
Hel flicked her wrist. The Gate of the Undead Realm opened before her, and with a casual gesture, she tossed the corpses inside.
Only after finishing this did Hel withdraw her Mindscape World. She scanned her surroundings—no powerful beings had been drawn by the commotion.
Satisfied, she summoned her Little Archmage and had it teleport her back.
Haem City, Underground Sanctuary.
The moment Hel reclaimed her avatar's memories, she rushed here. With a wave of her hand, a rift to the Undead Realm opened before her, and she stepped inside without hesitation.
Two Saint-rank corpses—two Saint-level undead soon to be added to her legion.
But there was more.
Those coffins the beastmen carried—if she guessed correctly, they contained the captured witches.
Yet, as her gaze fell upon one of the coffins—the one still dripping blood—Hel's brows furrowed slightly. A faint unease stirred in her heart.
"That hawk-beastman… he tried to destroy the coffin, even knowing who I was. If he knew I was the Witch of Death, yet still carried out the order to obliterate it…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Does that mean he believed I couldn't convert a witch into an undead? Or… did they have some means to completely destroy a corpse, beyond even my power?"