Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen spread his spiritual aura, forming a hollow, spherical barrier around the room. This barrier ensured that no sound would escape, and when he performed the spatial switch, the Marquise's senses would be blocked by his spiritual power.

Faced with the alluring Marquise, Rosen wasted no time in pulling her into his embrace.

Moments later, her loud screams pierced the air, though none of it reached the outside world.

Through their intimate contact, Rosen quickly assessed her sequence level. She was a Sequence 6 witch, and a rare one at that—a Psychic Witch.

This complicated matters for Rosen, as his mind-reading abilities were ineffective against her. Extracting Marquis Raith's plot from her mind would not be as straightforward as he'd hoped.

Realizing the soft approach wouldn't work, Rosen shifted to a harder stance.

Without waiting for his self-portrait clone to finish painting the replica guest room, he directly pulled the Marquise into the Void Gallery.

The Marquise, still in mid-scream, was horrified to find herself in a surreal painted world, her terror compounded as she realized Rosen was not just a hunter but also a painter.

Panicked, the Marquise tried to resist, but Rosen swiftly bound her with Nightmare Shackles, sealing her spirituality and rendering her completely powerless.

With her now unable to resist, Rosen brought her to a painting titled Bloodline Glory and activated the spiritual realm gateway.

In Chao Lake Castle, within the vampire stronghold, Fala Simmons sat sipping tea with a sour expression when Rosen suddenly appeared before him.

"I don't do this kind of thing," Fala said, eyeing the Marquise warily as she stood beside Rosen, clearly distressed.

"Don't worry," Rosen replied with a dry laugh, seating the Marquise at Fala's tea table.

"Someone's plotting against me. Help me extract the memories from this psychic witch."

"Always with the messy business," Fala muttered as he scratched the Marquise's neck, drawing a single drop of blood into his mouth before closing his eyes.

The Marquise's blood began to boil instantly. As a Psychic Witch, her mind was fortified, making direct spiritual access difficult. However, Fala, using blood as a medium, could bypass her spiritual defenses and delve into her brain's memories.

"Marquis Raith isn't after your Beast King skill crystal," Fala said after sifting through her memories.

"Not the crystal? What does he want, then? Me?" Rosen asked, bemused.

"Actually, yes," Fala teased, lifting Rosen's chin flirtatiously.

"Be serious," Rosen replied, pushing Fala's hand away.

"Marquis Raith's son got trapped in a special spiritual realm and can't escape. He needs someone like you to rescue him."

"So that's the game," Rosen muttered, furrowing his brow.

From the Marquise's memories, Rosen learned that Raith had targeted him ever since their interaction on the virtual network. During their negotiations, Raith had requested to see the skill crystal. It was likely during this exchange that Raith had decided to use Rosen for his own ends.

Raith's son, though a talented genius, had entered a Sequence 6 spiritual realm and become trapped. Without Sequence 5 strength, there was no hope of surviving in such a dangerous place.

Desperate, Raith saw Rosen's Beast King skill crystal as a sign that Rosen had the potential to help. But why would a stranger risk his life for Raith's son?

So, the marquis and his wife devised a plan to blackmail Rosen into helping them.

"Tell me more about this spiritual realm," Rosen asked.

"It's called the Void God Prison," Fala explained gravely.

The Void God Prison was a remnant of an ancient era, dating back 30,000 years. At that time, even the God of Thunder had not yet ascended to Sequence 0, and the Church of Thunder had not yet become dominant.

The Void Church, which worshipped the Void Sovereign, was a major rival to the Thunder Church. The Void Church believed that all beings were guilty and operated Void God Prisons, where prisoners were subjected to extreme torture until they either died or became fanatical followers of the Void Sovereign.

The Raith family's Void God Prison spiritual realm was one such remnant, infused with the divine power of the Void Sovereign. Even Sequence 5 beings might not survive inside.

Rosen decided to enter the Void God Prison, not only to save the marquis's son but to conquer and take control of the spiritual realm for himself.

Typically, spiritual realms from ancient civilizations couldn't be fully controlled. However, Rosen believed that if he could destroy the Void God Prison, it would extinguish the last remnants of the Void civilization. By using his Miracle of the Ashen Flame, he could then rebirth the realm under his control.

With his plan set, Rosen returned to the guest room in reality, pushed open the door, and headed straight for Marquis Raith's study.

Marquis Raith, lost in thought, was startled when Rosen entered.

"Give me the skill crystal, and I'll enter the Void God Prison," Rosen demanded.

"My wife... where is she?" Raith stammered.

"She's in my Divine Domain. If I die in the Void God Prison, she won't survive either," Rosen replied with a cold smile.

Realizing Rosen had seen through his entire scheme, Raith hesitated but ultimately handed over the skill crystal.

Rosen inspected the crystal and immediately refined the skill. He had gained another powerful legacy skill:

Void Gun Dance: Legacy Skill

 - Passive Attribute: Increases firearm-based weapons' damage and fire rate by 100%.

 - Active Skill: Void Blink—Blink freely within line of sight.

 - Active Skill: Judgment—Capture the prey's spirituality upon death and convert it into Judgment bullets.

Rosen was thrilled with the Void Gun Dance skill. Since Void Shadow Leap had evolved, its teleportation ability had weakened, but Void Blink restored high-speed mobility, even allowing Rosen to ignore space interference below Sequence 3.

Most importantly, Judgment allowed Rosen to capture and destroy an enemy's spirituality, bypassing their ability to regenerate. This was the true power of the Void Gun Dance—a precursor to divine authority, capable of dealing fatal blows to even high-sequence beings.

"Take me to the Void God Prison," Rosen demanded, fully satisfied with his new skill.

Marquis Raith led Rosen to a sealed chamber deep beneath the castle. At the chamber's center stood a statue of the Void Sovereign, the core of the Void God Prison spiritual realm.

"Smear your blood on the statue," Marquis Raith instructed, explaining how to enter the spiritual realm.

Rosen, confirming the instructions from the Marquise's memories, unsheathed his Dragonfang Dagger, made a small cut on his finger, and touched the statue's forehead. The lifeless statue immediately came to life.

"You are guilty," the statue proclaimed before initiating a spatial transmission.

Rosen's vision blurred, and he found himself transported into the Void Prison, confined within a one-square-meter cell. The cell was not only narrow but also just one meter high, forcing him either to sit or curl up into a ball to rest.

Rosen quickly assessed his abilities—most were sealed by the Void Prison, leaving only a few powers, such as divine strength, the Ashen Curtain, Time Archer, Void Gun Dance, and Beast King's Wrath.

Rather than recklessly breaking out, Rosen decided to proceed cautiously. He released one of his Ash Bees, which immediately slipped into the void shadow and blinked out of the cell, silently scouting the legendary Void Prison—a place feared by countless transcendents.

The hallway stretched dozens of meters wide, with floating one-cubic-meter cells suspended by chains along both sides. The corridor was about ten meters high, and in each cell, Rosen saw humans—many wearing the attire of the Church of Thunder. It was clear that, during the long-standing conflict between the Void Church and the Church of Thunder for dominance, some of the church's transcendents had been captured and imprisoned here.

Rosen counted over 3,000 cells lining the 5,000-meter-long corridor. The hallway led to two areas: one side led to the guards' quarters, and the other to the punishment zone of the Void Prison.

First, Rosen's Ash Bee ventured into the living quarters. There, it discovered a monster.

The figure's ears had been cut into the shape of flowers, its eyelids removed, and its nose and lips slashed off. All that remained of its fingers were less than one centimeter stubs, while its body was covered in countless scars, some so deep that decaying internal organs were visible.

Though still alive, this wretched creature had clearly suffered a mental breakdown. 

Upon closer inspection, Rosen realized that this monster was likely Anthony Raith, the son of Marquis Raith. He wasn't dead, but he was in such a horrific state that death would have been a mercy. 

Anthony had likely endured extreme torture in the punishment zone before somehow crawling into the guards' quarters. Judging by the condition of the living quarters, it was clear the area had been abandoned for a long time—no guards resided here anymore. 

The spiritual realm of the Void Prison appeared to be from the later stages of the Void Church's history, long after the prison's original guards had left. Otherwise, Anthony would never have escaped the punishment zone, much less survived this long.

Rosen's Ashen Curtain penetrated Anthony's spiritual essence, probing his surface memories. As expected, there were no guards left in the Void Prison, but something far more terrifying remained.

The Divine Power of the Void Sovereign, left within the prison, had combined with the Void Prison to give birth to a special entity—a being that called itself the Punisher. Its sole purpose was to interrogate and torture prisoners.

Anthony, as the only new prisoner, had become the Punisher's primary target. The Punisher was even able to reset the timeline of the spiritual realm at will, and after each reset, Anthony would be restored to the condition he was in when he first arrived—only to endure endless torture again.

Anthony had already been through six cycles of torment. His spiritual consciousness was near the brink of collapse. If this continued, he would soon be driven mad and forced to convert, becoming a follower of the Void Sovereign.

If left unchecked, and if Anthony were somehow released from this spiritual realm, he might even attempt to rebuild the Void Church and seek to resurrect the Void Sovereign. At that point, the entire Raith family would face destruction.

This was why Marquis Raith had been desperate enough to sacrifice his wife in order to both tempt and blackmail Rosen. If Anthony wasn't rescued soon, not only would Raith lose his son, but his entire family would be doomed.

The involvement of a Sequence 0 spiritual realm was beyond the scope of the Raith family—or even a ducal family.

Using his Ash Bee, Rosen summoned his Devourer Beast, which swallowed Anthony in one gulp. 

Retrieving his Ash Bee, Rosen Void Blinked out of the cell.

The Void Prison's Sequence 4-level space seals were no match for the priority level of Void Blink.

As Anthony disappeared, the Punisher had already left the punishment zone. Spotting Rosen in the corridor, the Punisher immediately realized that a newcomer had entered the Void Prison.

Rather than attacking, the Punisher cautiously observed Rosen. Through his interrogation of Anthony, he knew every detail about the Raith family—including trivial memories, such as how Anthony had wet the bed as a child.

The Punisher was well aware that the Void Prison's spiritual realm had fallen into the hands of Marquis Raith's family.

This unfamiliar human, able to enter the Void Prison under these circumstances, was clearly not like Anthony, here just to die.

Through Anthony's memories, the Punisher understood how terrifying the human World Government truly was.

"You won't make the first move? Then I will."

Rosen swiftly drew his Dragon King's Wrath, which had shifted into a shotgun from the holster on his hunter's belt. A pair of Quetzalcoatl wings unfurled on his back, converting his spiritual energy into divine power.

This not only allowed him to resist the Void Prison's suppression of spiritual powers, but it also enhanced Dragon King's Wrath with the breaking power of gold elements and the speed of light elements.

Aiming at the nearby cells, Rosen unleashed a six-round scatter shot of spirit bullets, using the Morning Star authority to fire. These bullets were composed of highly compressed reinforced spiritual energy.

Dragon King's Wrath's base damage was boosted by 160%, combined with the Godslayer Crossbow, which added another 50%, the Void Gun Dance's 100%, and the Ashen Piercing ability's 230%. Altogether, this brought the base damage increase to a staggering 540%.

The force of these spirit bullets was so immense that few Sequence 6 beings could survive such a direct hit, let alone the imprisoned and tortured prisoners, who had already lost their extraordinary powers.

The densely packed cells on both sides were filled with dozens of prisoners, all instantly killed in the first round of shots.

Most of these prisoners were Sequence 6 beings, each with several hundred years of life left. Rosen's Time Hunter ability absorbed their time essence, quickly filling his Time Crystal with nearly 4,000 years worth of time power.

Not yet satisfied, in less than a second, Rosen fired two more rounds, killing over a hundred prisoners.

With the Time Crystal now at its 10,000-year capacity, Dragon King's Wrath shifted into sniper rifle form.

Rosen targeted the Punisher using the time scope, and in just a tenth of a second, the Dragon King's Roar bullet, enhanced by the Future Silencer, struck the Punisher as it charged toward Rosen, sensing danger.

The bullet accelerated time in the impact zone, causing the void shield the Punisher had raised to instantly vanish.

The second shot followed immediately, infused with 10,000 years of time energy, hitting the Punisher.

The thousand-year lifespan of the Punisher was instantly erased. Though it didn't die, its mind was flooded with 1,000 years of blank memories, making its recollection of torturing Anthony or sensing the human before it feel like events from a thousand years ago.

The Punisher became disoriented, halting in place, struggling to recall the distant memories of the past millennia.

Rosen didn't stop. Void Blink allowed him to pull back, and Dragon King's Wrath, now in shotgun form, resumed firing at the surrounding prisoners.

Within two seconds, the emptied Time Crystal was refilled with more time essence.

Rosen fired two more sniper rounds at the Punisher, erasing another thousand years from its lifespan.

With 2,000 years of blank memory, the Punisher's thoughts were utterly jumbled. However, it still had a clear sense of its own life force and knew that 2,000 years of its lifespan had vanished. One more attack, and despite being a divine being created from the power of the Void Sovereign, it wouldn't survive—its Sequence 6 lifespan didn't even exceed 3,000 years.

Though its thoughts were still disordered, recalling memories from 2,000 years ago wasn't easy. Relying on pure instinct, the Punisher unleashed its Punishment Eye, a skill from its own Punisher sequence.

One glance from the Punisher, and Rosen was overwhelmed by the sensation of being flayed alive and tortured for a thousand years without sleep.

The pain was so intense that Rosen nearly dropped Dragon King's Wrath, his mind teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.

At the critical moment, the Dragon King's Blessing began to dispel the negative effects on his spiritual energy, allowing Rosen to fire two more shots at the Punisher.

With its 3,000-year lifespan erased, the Punisher's life was extinguished, and its divine essence was captured by the Void Gun Dance's Judgment ability.

In just five seconds, the Punisher—still far from reaching Rosen—was shot down.

Rosen realized with clarity that his hunter sequence now had combat capabilities on par with a Sequence 5 being.

Aside from Beast Kings, there were few Sequence 5 opponents left that could pose a significant threat to him.

Rosen opened the Artist's Cartridge, taking out a Judgment Bullet forged from the Punisher's divine essence.

This bullet had an exceptionally high damage multiplier against spiritual entities, and if Rosen chose to reduce its spiritual damage, he could even replicate one of the Punisher's skills.

With two or three of these bullets, Rosen could have easily killed the Punisher without needing to drain its lifespan first.

It wasn't always going to be so easy to find Sequence 6 prisoners to slaughter for time power, nor would he always have the opportunity to gather tens of thousands of years of time energy so easily. Thus, Rosen planned to hunt down as many Punishers as he could within the Void Prison to collect more Judgment Bullets.

He could also collect spiritual essence by killing other prisoners, but they were so close to death that their spiritual energy was almost depleted, like candles about to burn out.

Even if he did capture their spiritual essence, the resulting bullets would be of lower quality than standard Sequence 6 bullets he could easily purchase.

Still, as meager as it was, something was better than nothing, so Rosen systematically slaughtered every prisoner in the Void Prison.

With all life in the realm now extinguished, the Void Prison was forced to reset.

Rosen immediately entered the Mysterious Study Room, hiding there to wait for the reset to finish.

(End of Chapter)