"The Vortex of Ages."

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"A black hole vortex? Isn't that your thing, Zōulán!?"

"That's the Moon Lord's power, not something the Eight Immortals should be messing with! What are they trying to pull?"

"Do they seriously think using powers we Demon Lords control is gonna threaten us?"

". . ."

The moment Zōulán finished speaking, the Demon Lords around him scoffed, confused and arrogant.

"Something's not right… This black hole vortex is weird!" Shéndū's senses flared—he could tell the thing the Eight Immortals had created wasn't just any black hole.

"This isn't a regular vortex. This is the backlash from the Book of Ages. It's drawing in the power of time itself—trying to swallow every living thing on this continent! And no one knows where it'll lead!"

Zōulán's normally calm expression was now full of fear.

"What!?"Shéndū noticed streams of time energy swirling around the edges of the vortex. A glint of cunning flashed through his eyes.

"Zōulán! Shéndū! Explain yourselves!"

"What the hell is this thing!?"

"Why does it feel like something's pulling me in?! Like it's gonna suck us all into that vortex!"

The Demon Lords all started shouting at Shéndū and Zōulán, demanding answers.

But neither of them responded. Instead, they turned around and unleashed all their power, trying to escape the continent before the time backlash swallowed everything.

"Zōulán! Shéndū!!"

The six other Demon Lords were furious. It was obvious now—Shéndū and Zōulán had no intention of explaining anything. They were just trying to save their own skins.

Which could only mean one thing: this vortex—this time backlash—was actually dangerous enough to threaten even them, the mighty Eight Demon Lords.

Without hesitation, the six others followed after Shéndū and Zōulán.

But as if the vortex could sense that someone was trying to run from time's judgment, everything around them suddenly froze.

The vortex released a massive, invisible barrier—one that instantly covered all of ancient Australia.

Then, it began expanding rapidly. The terrifying suction force grew stronger and stronger, ripping up everything—mountains, rivers, humans, demons—sucking them all into the time vortex with no trace left behind.

Seeing this, the Eight Demon Lords shuddered.

Even Shéndū was now moving at the speed of light, trying to escape the continent before it was too late.

But suddenly—BANG!

He slammed into an invisible wall of time—hard. The force blocked him from going any farther.

Ripples of space spread out where he hit.

"Shéndū! What just happened?!"Zōulán, who couldn't keep up with Shéndū's speed, saw him get stopped cold and skidded to a halt himself. His voice was panicked.

"How should I know!?"

Even Shéndū looked stunned. What in the world could stop a Demon Lord? It didn't make any sense.

"This is a time lock. Let's join forces and break through it!"Zōulán examined the space distortion and spoke firmly.

Shéndū nodded. "Alright, let's do it—"

But before he could finish, a thunderous scream echoed in their minds:

"Dikuai! Help me!!"

"Let go of me, Bāgāng!"

It was Bāgāng's panicked voice, wailing like a ghost. Both Shéndū and Zōulán looked over instantly.

Because of his massive weight, Bāgāng had been caught by the vortex and was being dragged in, and he had grabbed onto Dikuai—pulling him along with him.

In a flash, the vortex became a giant, ravenous mouth—and both Demon Lords were swallowed whole.

"Impossible!"Zōulán's eyes widened. He tried using his soul to sense their presence in the demon consciousness space—but felt nothing. No trace of Bāgāng or Dikuai.

That meant they had completely vanished from this world.

"Zōulán! Stop wasting time—start breaking it now! Or none of us are getting out of here!!"Shéndū didn't care about the other Lords. He only wanted to escape this place alive.

"Got it!"Zōulán nodded hard, his face grim.

He stuck out his tongue, his four hands forming complex seals, lips mumbling ancient incantations silently.

Then he raised his hands high, unleashing a terrifying wave of moon magic, which transformed into a massive meteor-like rock, a thousand feet wide and growing.

But just as Zōulán started his spell, the worst happened—Xīmù, Bāshā, Zhōngsū, and Xiàofēng were all pulled into the vortex too.

One after another, they vanished.

Now only Shéndū and Zōulán were left.

Shéndū summoned all his power, forming dragon claws burning with fire magic. For the first time, he used his secret weapon—Solar Hellfire, a flame strong enough to destroy anything.

He flung the burning claws at Zōulán's massive meteor, setting it ablaze.

"Now!!"

Shéndū shouted.

Zōulán hurled the flaming meteor with all his strength at the time barrier.

CRACK!The sound of breaking glass echoed through the air—both Lords felt a jolt of hope.

"Take this!"

Shéndū leapt onto the meteor, growing several times larger. He stomped down on it with all his might, boosting the impact even more, hoping it would break through the barrier and get him out.

Zōulán flashed onto the meteor too, using his own gravity to increase the meteor's weight with demon energy.

CRACK!

More fractures spread across the barrier—it looked like it could shatter any second.

And just when it finally broke—

Their joy turned into horror.

The fragments of the broken barrier started swirling again—reforming into another vortex—this time, pulling the meteor in!

"What the hell!?"Shéndū tried to escape, but his body suddenly froze. He couldn't move. And just like that, he was dragged into the vortex.

Zōulán too. Both of them were sucked in, eyes wide with fear at the revenge of time.

The Eight Immortals were gone. The Eight Demon Lords had fallen into the time vortex.

Humans, demons, mountains, rivers—everything in ancient Australia—was completely swallowed up.

Now, the entire continent was empty. Not a soul in sight. It looked like time itself had frozen.

All that remained was the soft whisper of the wind.

After the vortex devoured all life, it slowly came to a stop.

Then it vanished.

In its place, a giant book—glowing with ancient energy—descended and landed somewhere on the continent.

Time particles shimmered, and an ancient palace began to form.

This marked the beginning of the new Age of Time—and the birth of the Palace of the Book of Ages.

Meanwhile, countless demons once blessed by the Demon Lords sensed that their masters' bloodlines had vanished.

Some were ready to seize power and rule the continent…

But then they hesitated.

What if this was just a trap by the Demon Lords—bait to make them expose themselves, so they could be wiped out completely?

So the chaos that should have erupted—turned into an eerie silence.

"....."