Before parting ways with Hell, Aaron stored both books into his storage space.
Hell, who should have left immediately, was invited inside the Demon Castle by Aaron and settled into a room.
Although Aaron didn't know if Hell's activity time within the Demon Castle was still limited to half an hour, there was no harm in trying.
As for Hell, he didn't ask many questions about the Demon Castle.
Even though the young man before him was technically still lost, that didn't mean all his actions were wrong.
He believed that Aaron's actions were driven by certain considerations, so Hell didn't plan to inform the three girls outside about what he had seen and heard inside the castle after he left.
However...
Millennium City...
Is this evil castle, radiating the Power of Dominance, truly affecting this brat's mind as I suspected?
If it really is as I imagined, then the situation is a bit grim.
Although it was Hell's first formal meeting with Aaron, he personally didn't dislike the kid.
At least, based on what he had encountered and understood so far, this kid wasn't a bad person.
Naturally, Hell would want to assist a junior he looked favorably upon as much as possible within his capabilities.
But for now, after stepping into the Demon Castle, he temporarily had no time to think.
"Oh, what's this?"
Upon seeing the monsters before him, Hell walked towards the creatures that were eyeing him warily and said with a smile.
"What, want to fight?"
Even though the human soul before them was smiling, the Danger Beast soul fragments, having been beaten up several times, sensed an incomparably terrifying aura radiating from this man.
It felt as if they would be sliced into pieces if they made even a single careless move!
Under these circumstances, these originally incredibly unruly beast souls actually stepped aside in tacit understanding, not daring to obstruct Hell's path at all.
"Heh, animals are just animals."
With a sneer, Hell left those words behind and began to stride forward.
Let me see what exactly is inside this castle.
..........................................
After returning to the real world, Aaron connected to his storage space with his mind, and then...
He really pulled out the two books Hell had given him.
"This... alright, it's getting more and more ridiculous."
In the area near the Demon Castle, when he fought Hell, he could determine that the opponent had definitely transcended the category of a 'soul fragment'.
Aaron, who fought him in that place, could be certain that the opponent already possessed 'magnetic field power'.
And now, the two books the opponent hand-crafted near the Demon Castle actually had physical form...
Is this what it meant by the Power of Dominance having other uses?
Near the Demon Castle, even 'soul fragments' could potentially be converted into physical entities...
Ridiculous, truly ridiculous.
But forget it, these trivial details aren't what I should be considering right now.
From the current outlook, as long as Durandal doesn't fight with her life on the line, I should have the advantage when I face her... Even if she does fight desperately, I feel I won't lose, but the situation wouldn't be great if it reached that point.
We have no grievances or enmity, and there's no need for me to make things difficult for a little girl who's been hoodwinked by Otto.
As for other top-tier combatants...
Kevin is still in the Sea of Quanta, so let's leave him aside.
Pseudo-God Otto is a form the future Otto takes, so I don't need to face him right now.
Su is still squatting in the Cosmic Juggernaut peeping at parallel worlds, and he's on low health.
Don't even mention Old Yang; leaving aside whether we'd fight, he's currently squatting in St. Freya Academy recovering his health.
Looking at it now, apart from those Herrschers I might encounter, the remaining... I feel like there aren't many enemies left who pose a severe threat to me.
Cocolia is even less of a concern; that woman has plenty of mid-tier combat power, but zero high-tier combat power.
The strongest she has are probably a few Welt clones, and Welt clones would likely be beaten into the ground by the Herrscher of Thunder within minutes. That kind of strength... really isn't worth worrying about.
Senior Hell said my mental state is unbalanced... surely enough, should I focus most of my time on myself now?
But mindset, mindset... if that stuff was so easy to adjust, I wouldn't have a headache over it.
With these thoughts in mind, Aaron opened the *Royal Ultimate Book* and the *Bodhidharma Sutra*.
After quickly flipping through these two books, Aaron found that, unsurprisingly...
—He didn't understand a thing.
His cultural level was only that of a third-rate undergraduate. Expecting him, a non-Chinese major student, to immediately understand the profound meanings hidden in these ancient texts was a bit too difficult.
And he couldn't count on the three companions outside to figure anything out either.
Headache, such a headache.
I can only try to comprehend it slowly. After all, I can't expect Senior Hell to pave every road for me.
The martial arts he realized from the *Bodhidharma Sutra* were, after all, his martial arts.
And the current me... thinking about it carefully, the System did tell me to stop for a while and sort out my own power.
Indeed, as he said, my power is a bit too messy right now.
I should seize this resting period to sort out my own power.
While sorting out my power, combining my own understanding of strength and moves, and then reading these two books again, I might be able to comprehend some moves suitable for my own use.
Hah... can this really count as resting?
If I didn't have to guard against Schicksal investigating everywhere, I'd really like to go outside for a stroll.
...........................................
"Ugh... I'm bored to death!"
After finishing breakfast, Kiana watched helplessly as Aaron returned to his room, ultimately choosing not to disturb him.
Although she didn't know what Aaron planned to do, knowing that guy wouldn't consider resting when he had things to do, Kiana dismissed the idea of going to find him.
When they were in the village near the Empire, Aaron often showed such an expression.
And at those times, he was generally thinking about how to complete the mission, seize enough Teigu, and return to this world.
Running over to disturb him when he was busy... that wouldn't be appropriate.
Only now, after witnessing Aaron's actions, Kiana suddenly felt as if she had returned to about a week ago, to their mode of action when the two were still in the village near the Empire.
Sigh, I thought that after meeting Aaron in the real world, we could do many things together.
I wanted to ask this guy to go out and have fun with me, to let his tight nerves relax a bit.
But in the end... why is this guy still wearing a grave expression, hiding in his room to think about things?
Schicksal... right, it must be because of Schicksal.
No, maybe I should add Anti-Entropy to that!
Aaron didn't need to be dragged into this mess of the Third Honkai Eruption, but that guy...
Tch, saying something about mocking this lady? Did you think this lady couldn't see through your little thoughts?
This guy probably still feels guilty about 'dragging you into this' from when we first met. That guilt in his heart made him do this.
As a result, now, Schicksal, which he didn't need to get involved with, is investigating him, and Anti-Entropy is also investigating him. This forces him to stay with this lady, Mei, and Bronya, while also considering the issue of hiding our tracks. We can only hole up in this place—wherever this is—not even daring to go out the door.
Those organizations are so annoying!
Leaving aside what Schicksal is doing, is Anti-Entropy brain-damaged to cause a Honkai Eruption in Nagazora City?!
And Schicksal too, instead of fighting the Honkai properly, they actually targeted this lady...
This lady doesn't know why that damn old man betrayed Schicksal back then.
But looking at the Schicksal this lady sees now... with this kind of behavior, it was definitely a wise move for that damn old man not to play with you guys.
Not doing proper business, just staring at and monitoring this lady, an underage beautiful girl, every day.
Is the person in charge of Schicksal a perverted voyeur?
At this moment, the more Kiana thought, the angrier she got.
The angrier she got, the more she... felt her own powerlessness.
The System was right. Without sufficient power, this lady can ultimately only wait passively like this.
Waiting for Aaron to say everything.
Waiting for him to shoulder everything... This lady doesn't want to continue like this!
Harboring some thoughts, Raiden Mei walked to the outside of Kiana's room, knocked on the door, and whispered.
"Kiana, are you free now?"
"Mei? What's wrong?"
"Actually... I want to ask you to do something."
After Kiana opened the door, Raiden Mei looked at the friend before her, took a deep breath, and said to Kiana with incomparable seriousness.
"Kiana, I know this idea is sudden. But now, please fight me properly once."
"...Mei, what on earth is wrong?"
Hearing her friend voice this idea, Kiana immediately became incredibly nervous.
"Is she coming out again? Damn it, that hateful guy is causing trouble in your body again!"
"No, it's not like that... Actually, this is my own idea."
After taking a deep breath, Raiden Mei spoke with a solemn expression.
"That guy isn't restless right now, but I don't want to go on like this."
"I can't tolerate having power yet being treated like a tool by conspirators like Cocolia. I can't tolerate a guy like Cocolia, who killed millions of people, continuing to harm others in the world."
"So, to master this power, I should be slowly adapting to it right now. I thought about it... right now, only by finding you can I become stronger."
"Ugh, that kind of thought..."
Kiana wanted to ask 'Why don't you ask Aaron', but in an instant, she suddenly felt that saying that would definitely mean she had a hole in her brain.
Aaron was so brutal when he fought back then; he probably gave Mei psychological trauma.
Under these circumstances, asking Mei to actively seek out Aaron would be too oblivious to the atmosphere!
Compared to Aaron, who looked incredibly berserk at the time, she was indeed a good practice partner.
But a new problem arose.
As long as they fought during practice, hurting the other party was inevitable.
She could use mana to heal her injuries, but what about Mei?
"Don't worry about me. I've also thought of some means to repair my injuries."
After gently cutting her skin with power, Raiden Mei immediately used Magnetic Field Rotation power to repair the wound.
"As long as they aren't extremely severe injuries, I can use my own power to repair them completely."
"Is that so... Since you have such an idea, Mei, this lady will definitely help you!"
At this moment, Kiana spoke with incomparable seriousness.
"But... Mei, before fighting, you'd best be mentally prepared."
"Mentally prepared?"
"Yeah, although you are this lady's best friend. Once we start fighting, this lady will definitely fight seriously."
"Heh, that is exactly what I desire."
Raiden Mei, whose heart was mixed with countless thoughts, said to Kiana.
"Kiana, do not pity me. After all, I..."
—I don't want to continue dragging down Aaron's footsteps.
I am a sinner who killed countless living beings.
Someone like me has no right to yearn for that ray of light.
But even so, the current me...
At the very least, I can work hard to become stronger to protect that ray of light.
This is also the only thing I can do now for her, for him, and for this world.
"Mei, you..."
Looking at Raiden Mei's demeanor, Kiana felt that the friend before her seemed to be thinking about some very terrible things.
"Don't think too much. If something happens, this lady will definitely help you."
"After all, you are this lady's best friend!"