Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"So the other side was deliberately holding back too!"

Seeing Rasambla's speed and power suddenly increase, making their situation even more dire, Cyrae turned to Raydwin and ask, "Are you sure all the cameras, microphones, and other monitoring devices have been destroyed?"

She had been reluctant to use full force mainly because she feared H-country would discover her true identity. But they had no idea that this military base was already full of hidden surveillance cameras. As long as the underground control room hadn't been damaged, the live feed to the President's office thousands of miles away wouldn't be cut off.

"Everything's taken care of, just like you asked!"

Of course, Raydwin thought she meant the personal equipment they'd brought from H-country, so he nodded without hesitation and gave a thumbs up.

The next second, a dazzling light filled the entire screen.

Witnessing a second six-winged angel appear out of thin air, Camille couldn't sit still anymore. Pointing at Cyrae in disbelief, she shouted, "How come there's another one?! How can there be two people who look exactly like Lady Michelle... Oh, right!"

She seemed to suddenly remember the latest information she had extracted from the infected prisoners.

The information had seemed too incredible for Camille at first, but now that she was witnessing the truth with her own eyes, she finally recalled the details.

"They say something went wrong with H-country's space portal, it completely went crazy! And many visitors from other worlds came through. They not only look exactly like you but also have the same names. So all that stuff was true?"

"Wayne Peng told you, right?"

At first, I was a bit shocked that Camille, all the way in M-country, knew about this so clearly. But I quickly realized it would be stranger if she didn't know!

"I think Earth people have a term for this... parallel universes? It means there might be countless versions of myself living in places I can't see, in other worlds! If I hadn't accidentally come to Earth, I'd never have known about this stuff! This world is really fascinating!"

She didn't deny it, but her thoughts were clearly still absorbed in the information Wayne Peng had provided, unable to calm down from her excitement.

"In the end, it's all thanks to you guys! If your minion hadn't died in the space portal, none of this would've happened!"

Thinking about all the unresolved issues, I felt annoyed and couldn't help complaining.

At this point, in the rescue team, Cyrae had reclaimed her inherited weapon and joined Cyra in a new round of battle. It would probably take a while to determine a winner.

But now that I'd seen what I needed to see, it was finally time for me to lay my cards on the table.

"Tell me! Why did you lure me to this place and make me watch the live feed of Cyra's team? What's your real intention? Do you want to capture my companions to force me to surrender to you?"

In terms of power, Camille had already surpassed me at this point! The opponent's purpose in sending Rasambla, the big "boss," to the rescue team's location should have been quite obvious—of course, it was to defeat the team sent by H-country in one fell swoop, and then use this to threaten me and even all the countries on Earth.

If there had been only one angel, Cyra, in the rescue team. But now it's different. Cyrae's unexpected appearance has ruined their plans!

Strengthened by Earth's Battle Qi, Rasambla's combat power was indeed incomparable to ordinary vampires. However, compared to Camille who had a long time cultivation, it was still far behind!

But Cyrae's combat experience was no less than mine, and she had the elemental weapon to boost her power. Although only at the six-winged rank, with the help of Cyra and even Raydwin, she should be able to hold her own! At least Camille's plan to quickly subdue them was unlikely now.

As for me, I had to figure out the enemy's true intentions as soon as possible, before Cyrae's side potentially ran into trouble.

"Surrender? You're overthinking it! I'm very clear about how deep the grudge and hatred between your angel race and us monsters has been for thousands of years! I never expected you to surrender, nor do I need to force you!"

To my surprise, Camille suddenly laughed when she heard this. She walked straight to the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the President's office, looked at the scenery outside, and sighed before continuing.

"Actually, it's just like what I told you back in the Dark Continent. I don't want to fight, nor do I like fighting! Back then, I had to follow Lady Michelle's orders! But now it's different. I've basically broken free from her control, and Earth is the world where I truly want to live in the future! That's why I brought you to this office, to avoid unnecessary conflict with you, and to propose a deal to you!"

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

Hearing this, I couldn't help but gape in surprise. I never thought there would come a day when a monster would bring up a deal with me, and in the M-country President's office!

However, given that she clearly knew her strength far exceeded mine, if she tried to force things, I probably couldn't win against her. The fact that she brought this up voluntarily did seem quite sincere.

"You and your companions came to this far-away country on Earth at the request of H-country, right? Whether your ultimate goal is to rescue your companions or to eliminate me and Rasambla to restore the normal operation of the space portal, I can promise to let bygones be bygones for all past grievances..."

With the intelligence provided by Wayne Peng, she had indeed guessed quite accurately! Then she very generously expressed that she wouldn't hold grudges and even agreed to release the captured H-country soldiers. Finally, she stated her own position:

"My condition is simple. I'm willing to cut off the blood connection left in the space portal, allowing it to return to normal! But you must promise me one thing: as soon as you go back, immediately and permanently close the space portal, completely cutting off all connections between the two worlds!"

The so-called blood connection actually referred to the dark element left in the space portal after the death of the minion, which hadn't completely disconnected from the vampire ancestor. It was precisely because of this connection that the dark element continued to gather inside the space portal, unable to dissipate into some parallel time-space.

According to her, sending Rasambla did have some intention of forcing me to comply and increase her bargaining power. But now that the situation at the base had changed, she had to state her purpose in advance.

After solving the "Inner Demon" problem, Camille's power had now skyrocketed to above the seventh level! As long as Earth's Battle Qi resources didn't run out, her power would theoretically continue to climb endlessly! But if there was anyone she particularly feared, it was probably only Michelle left, so wanting to permanently close the space portal was naturally understandable.

Now that she had the vampire ancestor under her control, cutting off this blood connection from the source was theoretically feasible. Plus, she didn't know that if it weren't for this accident, the space portal would have slowly disappeared on its own...

Such tempting deal conditions!. For me, being able to easily restore the space portal to normal without risking my life should be considered a great benefit!

"What about you? And how will Rasambla be dealt with? Once the portal is closed, you'll be living on Earth forever, right? And I guess you'll continue to be the President of M-country, ruling the country?"

But unfortunately, I didn't immediately give an affirmative answer. In fact, if I were just an Edenmere angel born and raised there, with no memories of life on Earth, I might have agreed to Camille's sincere request for a deal without hesitation.

However, allowing high-level monsters to stay on Earth from now on, given what they've done so far, I highly doubted what kind of hardships future Earth humans would face.

"Earth people have such a prosperous civilization, but they know nothing about the power of spirit and magic! If I were to be the president of the strongest country in this world, I think I could make this country even better! One day, when we fully understand what the technology here is all about, as long as we completely integrate magic and elements, we might even be able to make this entire Earth, this entire world, into the most perfect world!"

I have to say, Camille's goals were indeed quite grand! At this moment, it was as if she had already pointed out the direction for Earth's future, just waiting to wave her hand, and her faithful minions and subordinates would execute her will, sacrificing themselves to build her ideal homeland!

"What about the humans on Earth then?"

I pointed directly to the key issue. Her words sounded very nice, but undoubtedly, there was nothing simple behind them.

"Your angel race has no agreement with the humans on Earth. From an ethical standpoint, you actually have no obligation to help them! And although I'm a monster, I have no personal grudge against you. I simply want to stay here! As long as the space portal disappears, from now on I won't have to worry about being controlled by Michelle, and you and I will no longer have any reason to be enemies."

Camille clearly had no idea about my special connection with Earth. Hearing me asking about her future plans, she thought I was still stuck in the mindset of the thousand-year-old hostility between the two sides, and continued to persuade me earnestly.

"I am truly negotiating with you in good faith. I personally have never intended to be enemies with you or any member of your angel race! Once you return to your own world, we'll be people from two different worlds! Don't forget, Earth itself has nothing to do with you, right?"