Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

— Meanwhile, within the scorching depths of HELL's 7th Floor, in the Great Palace of Betrayal —

"Where is the little one right now?"

A question was voiced by an existence whose every breath raised the gongs of obliteration. Atop a caged dragon's head he sat, his legs casually crossed in a way that exuded indomitable apathy.

"Lord Lucifer," answered a different voice, belonging to a GX-Rank Demon Ancestor kneeling below the colossal dragon. "Are you referring to the Prodigal Conqueror?"

Lucifer blasted out with an absurd level of malevolence, forcing the kneeling Demon Ancestor into the ground. "Why, who else would I be referring to, Baldal? The rat erecting Towers and confining inferior Demon Kings as he sees fit—tell me where he is."

"S-Sire," replied the Demon Ancestor. "If the reports are accurate, then the Prodigal Conqueror ascended to the 6th Floor of Humanity. After which, he got into contact with one of the Overseers of an Old Time's Relic."

"On the 6th Floor of Humanity?" Lucifer's brows furrowed.

"Yes, Sire."

'Then it must be the one that leads…'

Lucifer halted his thoughts, his face twisting in anger. He glared at the kneeling Demon Ancestor, feeling a great deal of killing restraint.

"Why would he be heading to the Heavenly Kingdom, Baldal??" he asked, seething. "Is he planning to conspire with my Father??? Tell me: IS HE!?"

RUMBLE!

The Great Palace of Betrayal violently shook, with the billions of Demons living inside it experiencing a sinking feeling in their hearts.

"Sire…" Baldal struggled to speak, his Divine Spark threatening to crack. "It does not appear that the Prodigal Conqueror is going to join up with the Heavenly Progenitor, but anything is possible. I've already contacted our moles in the Heavenly Court; they'll keep us informed on any movements the Prodigal Conqueror makes."

Hearing this, Lucifer eased up.

However, it was then that he realized the skull of the caged dragon had been accidentally crushed by him. Blood mixed with bone fragments, oozing out in a very ominous manner.

"Go find me another Abyssal Dragon; this one is no longer of use to me," Lucifer ordered emotionlessly, acting as if the death of an extremely rare Godlike-rank dragon was no more than a minor inconvenience.

Kicking the behemoth aside with a sloppy kick, it crashed outside the Palace of Betrayal, plummeting into the bottomless expanse of darkness below. Lurking within this expanse were countless nightmare-fuel creatures—the Fallen Son-of-Heaven's pets.

The Demon Ancestor felt it to be a waste of a corpse imbued with high amounts of Demonic Energy, but he dared not say that out loud. He simply bowed respectfully before vanishing.

Left alone inside the huge throne room of his massive castle, Lucifer Morningstar entered a deep state of thought.

"Cassius Steele… HIS son…"

It was better to eliminate someone like that early on.

Having another Adam Steele could very well tip the balance of the scale in a direction that it had never before been in…

"He has to die."

— At around the same time, on the 6th Sinity-Realm of the Realm of Pleasure, within the Aluria Territory —

"Mother, have you heard about what Cass has been up to in the Ascension Towers?" Flora spoke as if she were barely holding interest in the topic, but on the inside, she was jumping with joy, her pride overflowing.

As expected of her First Mark, hoho~!

Amaris narrowed her eyes at her daughter, causing her to sweat a little.

But before Flora could fumble the bag by sputtering, her mother spoke first:

"I'm well aware of what that boy has been up to," she said coldly. "But that doesn't mean he'll be able to make a difference in the Tournament of Yggdrasil. In fact, he's likely to not even live long enough to make it to Yggdrasil's roots."

"!!!"

Urgency flashed across Flora's expression as she desperately threw out her hands. "But why is that, Mother!? Have you not read the reports detailing his strength??"

"I have," replied Amaris. "And it's precisely because I've read the reports that I know he's unlikely to live very long. After all, with his appearance, the Governance of Yggdrasil will surely adjust the rules enough to create a higher Transcendent-rank Bracket. But even without the hard fights he's destined to find himself in, the other Major Forces of the Ascension Tower will not at all appreciate the changes his existence is going to cause to Yggdrasil."

Understanding the underlying meaning behind her mother's words, Flora's eyes grew round, slightly reddening.

"So you finally understand," Amaris sighed, shaking her head at the loss of an unparalleled genius. "The whole of Ascension Tower will soon begin actively hunting down the boy; they might even already be doing it. And the Hunters won't merely be limited to Transcendents. With the methods of the Oldest among our Ancestors in play, the limitations that the Tower placed on Godlike entities will mean very little."

Tears bubbled at the corners of Flora's eyes as she thought of the worst coming to pass.

But just then, she recalled something, prompting her to ask, "What about Grandmother!? Can she not protect him!??"

Amaris felt conflicted at the sight of her second eldest daughter so fervently trying to brainstorm a way to preserve Cassius's life. She didn't know if she had ever seen her so passionately outspoken about something.

'She was a lot colder before as well…'

Feeling a headache coming, Amaris did the hard but necessary thing and dashed away her daughter's hopes. "It wouldn't make any sort of difference even if I requested Mother to descend and protect him. On the hierarchy of Godlike Entities, she's ranked around the higher-bottom. A single Demon Ancestor of well-renown would be enough to snuff out her lifeforce."

"Dear, Cassius will fall all the same," said Amaris, telling it to her straight. "I'll figure out a way to lessen the impact his death will have on your First Mark Ritual, so until then, it'd be best if you—"

"NO!" Flora had an outburst, her Succubi racial features becoming very prominent. "You're wrong, Mother!! He'll live!! You're… You're wrong…."

In her heart, tucked far away, she knew the Succubus Queen was right. But that part of her adamantly refused to surface…