Corrupt Creations

Velgor slowly walked towards the garden his deceased wife loved the most, moving towards a certain separate mansion. That area was located inside the Royal Shadow Demon Castle, but he rarely came near it. 

He felt like something unconsciously repelled him from approaching there, but it didn't matter that much for him. However, right now, he needed to do a thing at that place; to accomplish something before he could proceed with his plans. 

As he approached the mansion, an old female servant walked towards him. 

"Master Velgor, it's rare to see you visiting this garden. Do you need something?" 

Petunia approached him with a respectful countenance, but inwardly, she was kind of alarmed. Velgor had never shown any interest on this garden before, so his presence there was very odd. 

"Petunia, I have to thank you for taking care of this place for the past dozens of years. I feel like you must have had a very close and friendly relationship with my wife." 

"Master Velgor, I feel honored for the compliment; however, I was just a normal servant of the Demon Empress." Petunia humbly replied. 

"Heh... I doubt a normal servant would protect the princess so well like you've been doing all this time." 

After Velgor's last phrase, Petunia realized something was certainly off. She unconsciously took a step back, but a second later, her cultivation power and her ability to move was completely suppressed. 

"It's a pity I don't need your services any longer. You are now just a bother in the path of my plans, just like how the Demon Empress had been back then." 

"!!!" Petunia realized Velgor wasn't what he had always seemed to be, but someone shrewd and evil. But she was already thoroughly paralyzed and there was nothing she could do anymore. 

Suddenly, a dark portal appeared under her feet and she was dragged towards the ground, not even having a proper chance to resist. Her body disappeared inside that sub-space, being thoroughly swallowed by that darkness.

The portal closed itself and Petunia existence, vanished. Velgor continued to walk forwards, smiling towards the balcony at the second floor of that mansion. That place was where Serene's bedroom was located and where she currently was as well. 

Serene was unfortunate to be admiring her mother's garden at that moment. She saw what Velgor had done and was certain he had seen her as well, even though there should have been a formation completely blocking his senses. 

She quickly left the balcony and took some defensive treasures that her mother had left behind for her and waited for him to arrive outside her room. Serene knew it was useless trying to escape and she could only try to defend herself. While she was holding those defensive tools, it was clear how much she was currently shaking, but she forced herself to stay firm and do what must be done. 

Velgor slowly walked up the stairs and peacefully moved through the hallways, until he finally arrived outside the door of her room. 

When he tried to touch the door knob, a white bright light tried to repel and attack the intruder. A huge quantity of Mana was discharged towards him, partially destroying the corridor and the windows present there and creating a hole on the wall behind him. However, Velgor didn't even flinch after receiving that hit head on. A Profound Mana Realm cultivator would have been severely or even fatally wounded by that aggressive strike, but he was a Mana Sovereign and one that had already achieved the middle-stage. Actually, Velgor felt that after his plans were completed, he would certainly step on the Mana Sovereign late-stage Realm. 

Inside the Mana Sovereign Realm, even a small jump between stages was as great as the distance between the stars. His Mana pool was infinitely stronger than the Mana pool of someone like Lan Xue and that difference could be explained by the fact that, each small step a Mana Sovereign took, was one less step towards divinity. 

Velgor proceeded with his previous action, but this time, his Mana pressed against the formation protecting the room and it wasn't able to resist his powers. 

Crack! 

The formation shattered and the door opened up for him. 

Velgor unceremoniously entered inside, just to be received by a dark energy wave being discharged by the treasure Serene was pointing towards him. 

Velgor lifted his hand and casually stopped that energy flow. With a small movement of his other hand, he disrupted the power behind that protective artifact, disabling it entirely. 

"You! What do you want from me?" Serene was shaking, but she didn't relent. Her countenance told Velgor that she would fight till the end, even though she was still trembling. 

"Oh... You have a lot of courage to stay and confront an impossible situation, just like how your mother used to be. Unfortunately, not even her was able to overcome that situation, much less you." 

Serene didn't fully understand what Velgor implied with that, but she knew he must have something to do with what happened with her mother back then. 

"What have you done to my mother?" 

"Oh? To your mother? Nothing much." Velgor walked towards Serene, till he stood right before her. After that, he made a purple crystal core appear inside his palm and showed it to her. It was the Banshee Crystal Core that he was using as a medium for soul techniques. 

Velgor poured his Mana inside that core and continued with his speech: "She didn't want to give me something she had, so I tried to acquire it by force. It was a pity she wasn't able to endure the torture of having her mind read and died before I could get the information I wanted." 

"!!!" 

Before Serene could do or say anything, the crystal core shone in a bright purple light and the Soul Trap previously sealed inside her mind started to change. It expanded and changed to a mind controlling mist, that completely filled her mind and soul. Serene's eyes turned purple and she was now just a puppet under Velgor command. 

"Stay here and wait till a carriage come to get you. You're going to travel to the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, where you're going to marry their Young Master Qiao Bao and serve as my way inside their sect." 

Velgor just gave a simple order and left. He had no time to waste with small things. Actually, this maneuver Velgor had to rely on now, was not just for the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, but to serve as a backup plan against someone else. Someone he started to suspect that was acting outside of his plans; someone that was the key for everything he built till this day. Nothing could disrupt his plans from working properly and even if he had to do these little dirty tricks for an advantage, he would definitely do it. 

"Very well... Now there is only Seth left." Velgor stored that purple crystal inside his spatial ring and disappeared inside his castle. 

However, after he left, Serene's eyes that were now shining with a purple light, started to change colors. An azure blue light flashed inside them, creating a blue dot that the purple light couldn't take control or defy. That was a reflect of what was happening inside her soul. There was a deep blue lake made of Soul Essence there, just like the one Seth possessed. The purple mist wasn't able to approach it and completely take control over her body. 

. 

. 

. 

At the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, the Lion King Qiao Xuan just received the confirmation from the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan's side. 

The remaining seven Lion Guardians and the Young Master Qiao Bao, known as Lion Knight, stood waiting for Qiao Xuan's orders. 

Suddenly, the Lion King stood up from his seat and said: "Announce to the world that two weeks later, the wedding ceremony between the Lion Knight Qiao Bao and the Demon Princess Silver Nights will take place at the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. Make sure this information specially reaches the ears of those other two Higher Grounds. Let's show them who are the ones in command!" 

"UHAAA!!!" 

"YEEEEE!!!" 

"LET'S GO!" 

The people present suddenly started to loudly cheer and some of them left to execute the commands their leader have given. 

Very quickly, the information started to spread, reaching the hidden informants stationed around that area. 

The people from the Lion's Pride Golden Palace started to prepare for the ceremony, making sure to create the best environment possible. An environment that would be able to show their powerful might to the other Higher Grounds. 

They were so worked up, that if it wasn't for the fact that the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan was located so far away from there and that it would take exactly two weeks for their princess to arrive at their doorstep, that wedding ceremony would be already happening. 

Seth didn't know about those things and was still traveling through the continent, going back towards the Glazed Lake.. Soon, he would have to face a whole Higher Ground in order to set Serene free.