The bats squealed, and the people screamed. Amidst a land of death and slaughter, Vaan glanced at his visitors with an air of indifference.
After absorbing the second soul fragment, a part of him seemed to have changed besides his newfound abilities and power elevation. The trivial lives of unrelated humans felt even more insignificant to him.
Although Vaan was never someone with a heroic complex, believing he should go out of his way to save people in need, he would at least do it as long as it served a favorable purpose or if the gains outweighed the losses.
However, now, he didn't feel anything despite the countless screams of terror, grief, and despair.
'I've changed… Is this the side effect of absorbing the second memory?' Vaan mused.
Indeed, he had experienced and seen far too much in the memories of his past lives. Even if he hadn't seen the full life of each reincarnation, he had at least experienced their birth and death.
What they had felt and thought in those moments, he had also experienced the exact same feelings and thoughts.
As such, it wasn't as simple as just seeing flashbacks of his million reincarnations. Rather, it was more accurate to say he had truly experienced death and rebirth a million times in that instance.
This kind of enormous information dump was no different from the highest level of torture one could experience. Any normal person would have their mentality and thoughts completely twisted, turning them insane.
However, Vaan only felt numbness and indifference.
This was most likely the effect of experiencing Varuna's three chaos cycles of lonesome travel first. Being alone for such an unimaginable long span of time was able to numb all feelings.
That said, this could also be the mentality of one who had stood above the heavens.
After experiencing the lowest and highest points in Varuna's life, death didn't seem as terrible. Life and death were just part of a cycle; death was not the absolute end, and life was just a test – if one failed, another chance to restart would be given.
Thus, while millions of lives were cruelly and mercilessly taken, Vaan wasn't affected by the losses. He did not grieve nor sympathize with them.
Unfortunate as it was, it wasn't something he could change. And since it was something he couldn't change, why bother fretting over it?
This world had never been kind to life, and living in it was to suffer.
In this kind of world, death may not have been a tragedy but a blessing in disguise. Even though many people were dying or have died, they would still be given another chance at life.
Perhaps the new world would be kinder to them in their next life, and they would not have to suffer as much.
Fate had different plans for everyone, and Vaan had his own role to play.
'Supreme Leader, there are sixty-six Demigod-level beings surrounding you. Should I call the others over to help?' Chaezi inquired, feeling anxious about the current situation.
Although Vaan seemed calm, his mind was constantly spinning for solutions to the current disaster.
He didn't have the luxury or spare energy to be weighed down by human emotions.
'No need. They have their own battles to fight,' Vaan calmly dismissed the idea before saying, "I have a different task for you, Chaezi. Go back and find Astoria and Henrietta. Report the situation to them and tell them to prepare troops for long-distance spatial deployment.'
'It's uncertain how many more demons will continue spawning from Gehenna, but we must contain the demons in this city to prevent the problem from spreading. There will be countless problems in the future if we give them a chance to establish footholds in this world.'
'Pay the clan a visit when you are done. We will also deploy some clan members since we lack numbers here. Dragon Lord Astarot will be in charge of the spatial deployment,' Vaan added.
'Understood, Supreme Leader!' Chaezi obediently complied despite her own desire to stay and fight.
While Vaan was instructing Chaezi, the sixty-six members of Great Devil Abaddon's Night Parade were studying the gravitational power of the Black Mountain.
It only took a few tests before they deemed it to be a no-flight zone.
Furthermore, they even felt threatened by the Black Mountain's gravitational pressure. As such, none of them dared to set foot on the Black Mountain.
Even the Vampiric Demon Bats only flew around the outskirts of the Black Mountain despite their desire to draw closer to Vaan.
"There's something strange about this iron mountain. Its gravitational power is ridiculously powerful! We'll be crushed before we can even reach the center!" the thirty-third-rank Noble Vampire, Grimbald, alerted.
"Tch!" the twenty-seven-rank Noble Vampire, Haera, clicked her tongue and said, "There are quite a few tasty-looking humans on this iron mountain. It's a pity that we can't reach them. How can they even withstand such terrible pressure?"
"Their body composition is different to ours; they are fully comprised of essence while we are part essence, part energy. This is why the Body Refiners of new chaosverses are said to be so fearsome and tenacious, Haera," the thirteenth-rank Royal Vampire, Dimitri, calmly explained.
"That's rather unfortunate…" The seventeen-rank Royal Vampire, Helena, licked her lips with pity before saying, "I bet that human standing at the very top of the iron mountain tastes very delicious."
"The scent of his blood is certainly irresistible… Ah, what should I do…? I want him," the twenty-first-rank Noble Vampire, Deidre, squirmed with uncontrollable lust.
Suddenly, a high-ranking vampire soared into the sky until his eye leveled with Vaan's.
"Human, seeing as you hide on this iron mountain, you must be afraid and aware of the situation. Although I wish to fight you, your blood is far too precious. Why don't you swear to become my blood slave and stay by my side? This Royal One will guarantee your safety in our new Blood Kingdom," the high-
ranking vampire promised.
Vaan calmly studied the high-ranking vampire in the distance, and invisible pieces of information floating around the high-
rank vampire quickly entered his mind.
[Target's information]
Age: Over 9000 Gehennan Years
Position: Third rank in the Blood Ancestor's Night Parade
Existence level: Half-step Divine Being (Suppressed to Peak Demigod)
Abilities: [Blood Control] [Shadow Manipulation] [Regeneration] [Bat Authority] [???] [???] [???]