A bright afternoon, the sun illuminating the surroundings with intensity. Han Yu merged with the shadows to reach his destination quickly.
"Inviolable Realm, huh... I'm curious what the aberrants there are like."
He was confused about where to go first—head to the Inviolable Realm that the Luminaries avoided, or go to the rank C aberrant area to increase his strength.
He paused for a moment and returned to his human form. Han Yu was slightly out of breath.
"It didn't even take a minute, and I'm almost there... But using Etherion to accelerate and strengthen my legs while combining it with elements really drains my energy. This is the first time I've felt it..."
Han Yu placed his hand on his chin, thinking about what he should do first.
"Before getting stronger, I want to test the limits of my abilities. Fighting rank C aberrants and above might not let me know my limits. That means... I have to fight aberrants far stronger than my current self. This is the most effective way."
Then he continued walking, this time leisurely since his destination was close. Han Yu walked while reflecting a bit; he pondered his decision to head straight to the Inviolable Realm. But this was the only way to see his limits.
"I don't need to worry too much... I feel my body getting stronger every moment; I don't know why... But I can sense all my senses becoming sharper. Now my sensory range is almost 100 meters... If I force Etherion to strengthen my body externally and internally, it could reach nearly 200 meters—but the risk is exhaustion..."
"Even so, this is more than enough."
He had arrived at the place Nikolas mentioned earlier. Han Yu was slightly shocked because the area was a gigantic forest, and this was the first time he'd seen trees so enormous.
"I see... There's a chance the Etherion here is abundant, to the point that even plants grow like this."
Suddenly, Han Yu's eyes widened; his body shivered—he sensed an extraordinarily powerful aura from within the forest.
At first, Han Yu felt a bit intimidated by that aura, but now he calmed down and dashed quickly toward the source. Along the way, Han Yu was shocked to see countless scattered bones, whether from aberrants or even human bones beyond counting.
After reaching his destination, he saw an area that was slightly different—the ground there was dark red, filled with countless human and aberrant bones, and parts of the area were destroyed with no trees at all.
Han Yu paused, observing his surroundings. He used Etherion to enhance all his senses to check for any living creatures nearby, but he was shocked to find that aberrants were avoiding the area.
"Is this the Inviolable Realm?!"
Looking at the region ahead, Han Yu hesitated again, but that doubt was overcome by his desire to test his limits. Han Yu stepped forward into the dark red soil area.
In that region, Han Yu felt tremendous intimidating pressure, compounded by the countless bones of humans and monsters, making the atmosphere terrifying. In front of him, numerous black particles appeared, gathering at one point—at the same time, Han Yu was utterly shocked as those particles transformed into Han Yu himself.
*"W-What... is this?! What kind of creature is that? Why does it look like me?! Aberrant?! Luminary?! What's going on?!"*
The creature in front of him focused on examining the body of Han Yu that it had copied, touching its face, hands, and other parts. A few moments later, the creature fixed its gaze on Han Yu; two pairs of empty eyes stared at each other.
"A fine body. I've been in this world for 700 years, but this is the first time I've copied such a perfect body."
Hearing that, Han Yu was shocked; he couldn't believe there was an aberrant that had lived on Earth for 700 years.
"Who... are you?!"
Han Yu asked warily, afraid the creature would attack first.
"Me? How many times have I heard people ask my name... I am Aevum, the demon from heaven who came to this world."
"Demon?!"
"You seem unconvinced... That's true, because in human understanding, demons have horns, wings, and ugly appearances. But know that I am different."
"I am the king, I am the nightmare, I am despair, I am the being closest to God. The demon from heaven, Aevum."
Aevum's aura enveloped the area, a gripping aura that made people feel death staring them in the face.
Feeling that aura, Han Yu trembled slightly, but it didn't make him falter.
"What is your purpose?!"
"Purpose? I have none. If I wanted, I could have annihilated humanity 700 years ago and destroyed this world. This world is too weak and boring. I see everything—the stupidity of humans, how they prioritize themselves, even sacrificing others to achieve their goals—that's your foolish side, humans. But I'm glad, because it provides entertainment."
"Now it's my turn to ask you. What is your name? This is the first time I couldn't obtain information from the being whose form I copied. You've piqued my interest, human."
"My name is unimportant. What's important now is that you become the tool to test the extent of my current limits!"
Before Aevum could respond to Han Yu's words, Han Yu attacked with incredible speed. He suddenly appeared in front of Aevum and aimed a punch at his face, but Aevum merely tilted his head to dodge it. Aevum smiled mockingly at Han Yu's missed attack. As Han Yu tried to retreat, ice spears appeared, heading toward him. Han Yu reacted quickly, creating a massive ice wall to block Aevum's ice spear barrage.
Han Yu hadn't expected Aevum to use the ice element; he thought Aevum only copied his appearance, not his powers. Han Yu grew cautious, taking cover behind the ice wall he created.
"Damn, this is going to be tough... Can that creature copy all my abilities?!"
While thinking, Aevum charged at high speed to shatter the ice wall. Han Yu was slightly shocked, not expecting Aevum's spontaneous attack. As the ice shattered, Han Yu tried to back away, but Aevum appeared in front of him at high speed, directing a punch at Han Yu's face just as Han Yu had done earlier. Han Yu couldn't dodge it; Aevum's punch landed squarely, hurling Han Yu far away.
Han Yu stood up, holding his bleeding nose.
"This creature is insane! Its movements are faster than mine. Even if I can detect the attacks, I can't dodge them."
Han Yu tried to stay calmer against Aevum.
"Is this all your ability? Your speed is lacking, your reflexes are slow, your durability is weak."
"With abilities like this, you dare fight me?!"
Aevum stared sharply at Han Yu, intimidating him to break his spirit. But it was useless; Han Yu ignored Aevum's words.
This time, he created a sword from his ice. Simultaneously, Aevum created an ice sword as well. Han Yu moved quickly, freezing the surrounding area to restrict Aevum's movement—but it was futile because Aevum found openings and counterattacked by freezing Han Yu's feet. Han Yu couldn't move, and at the same time, Aevum charged with his sword. As the sword nearly reached Han Yu's neck, he quickly parried the slash, then strengthened his legs to shatter the ice binding him.
"You seem to be improving. I can see it—limitless potential! It's rare for someone to grow during battle."
"YOU'VE PIQUED MY INTEREST, HUMAN! GIVE IT EVERYTHING!!"
Aevum shouted enthusiastically, wanting to see Han Yu's full capabilities. Aevum charged, but Han Yu dodged the slash by creating an ice clone. This time, his reflexes improved; as he evaded Aevum's slash, an ice clone replaced his position, distracting Aevum. But Aevum was unaffected, finding the fight enjoyable against someone who kept growing stronger.
This time, Aevum increased his speed and charged at Han Yu. Han Yu could barely react, and his slash only grazed Aevum's left cheek slightly. Han Yu backed away a few steps, but Aevum quickly advanced and punched Han Yu's stomach. The solid hit hurled Han Yu dozens of meters away again.
"Heh... You're extraordinary. You've adapted to this fight. You reinforced your stomach with Etherion and condensed Etherion around it to create a shield, reducing the impact of my punch."
Aevum praised Han Yu's agility and how he handled the attacks.
On the other side, a fair amount of blood poured from Han Yu's mouth.
"I concentrated Etherion in my stomach and condensed it for protection, but the impact was incredible... If I'd been even a bit late, I'd be dead for sure."
Han Yu wiped the blood from his mouth while holding his stomach—Aevum's punch had caused several internal injuries.
Han Yu gritted his teeth.
"No way I'm losing this quickly!"
Han Yu immediately boosted his strength, speed, durability, reflexes, and reinforced his entire body spontaneously. He channeled Etherion to all his cells, bringing his body to peak power. Han Yu created a long ice sword, then condensed Etherion around it to increase durability and strength.
He then dashed at high speed. Aevum was slightly surprised by that speed—as Han Yu's sword aimed to slash his neck, Aevum dodged it, though with some difficulty.
"Hahahaha! Extraordinary. This speed, this power—you've pushed it to your limits. Impressive; you've grown this far. You deserve my praise!"
Aevum laughed happily, praising every new move Han Yu made.
"Now it's my turn!"
Aevum charged, this time at a speed surpassing Han Yu's—he couldn't react to the punch, but it had no effect on Han Yu; he turned the targeted part into shadow. Now, part of Han Yu's body had become shadow.
Seizing the opportunity, Han Yu slashed horizontally at Aevum's body, but Aevum dodged it. Han Yu was frustrated because his attacks couldn't hit Aevum, who was too fast with extraordinary reflexes.
"Still not enough! Grow, come on, grow, human... Show everything!"
Aevum placed hope in Han Yu to keep getting stronger to match him.
Han Yu gritted his teeth and dashed again. He froze the surrounding area to restrict Aevum's movement once more. But Aevum just smiled at Han Yu repeating the tactic. Now, his body turned to shadow too, allowing freer movement. Aevum created an ice sword and wanted to clash swords with Han Yu.
Seeing that, Han Yu strengthened his attack—and their swords clashed, but Han Yu's Etherion-coated ice sword shattered. This shocked Han Yu, as his sword broke against one without any coating. He quickly backed away a few steps to keep distance.
"Don't be so surprised, human. Be grateful you've fought me this far. I admit you're strong. You're the fifth person to impress me."
Han Yu ignored those words and charged again. Seeing that, Aevum just smiled. Then Han Yu's body cracked; blood flowed from his nose, eyes, and ears. Han Yu fell to his knees.
"Don't you care for your own body?"
Hearing that, Han Yu looked at Aevum.
"You've pushed your body beyond its limits. It does strengthen you, but there's a side effect your body must endure: exhaustion. Your body is too weak to sustain that state for long. Look at your condition now."
"You wanted to test your limits, right? This is your limit. With a weak body, you can't last long in that state."
Han Yu remained silent, listening.
"Your body is exhausted and has internal injuries. If not healed soon, you could die slowly."
"I know about your ability to copy others' powers, because we have the same ability."
Han Yu was surprised but accepted it, having seen Aevum copy his body and use the same powers.
"Go. Around here, there's a creature with healing and regeneration abilities. Go and copy that creature's power."
Han Yu was confused by Aevum's words.
"Why not kill me?"
Han Yu asked curiously.
"Because I need you."
Hearing that answer, Han Yu was puzzled by the meaning.
"You'll know when you get stronger."
Han Yu stood up, though panting from exhaustion, but he forced himself. Han Yu stared sharply at Aevum, realizing he wasn't lying.
"You want my help with a problem you can't handle alone, right?"
Aevum smiled.
"Impressive; you guessed that far. Yes, I need your help, because there's something impossible for me to handle alone. So, get stronger, human!"
"No need to call me that. My name is Han Yu."
After saying that, Han Yu left, holding his stomach while wiping blood from his nose, eyes, and ears.
Seeing that, Aevum just smiled.
"Well, Han Yu, let's see how far you can go. Or... should I call you, undefined?"
Aevum watched Han Yu leave, harboring great hopes for him. He knew that in the future, Han Yu would become much stronger because of this defeat. That excited Aevum greatly.