A Palace?

As Alexander finally managed to calm down after defeating this demonic creature, another sensation hit him like a truck. He felt his muscles being completely devoid of energy. This fight here had drained him of whatever energy he had left. Even the strand of blood qi he managed to condense was very weak, he could barely even feel it in his body.

"Shit!" In order for him to successfully fight this demonic creature now, there was no choice but for him to expend all his remaining stamina; otherwise he would die. His eyes darted around desperately until he again became aware of that calling he felt. He pushed it to the back of his mind during the fight, but now, that sensation returned once more, stronger than ever before and louder than ever before.

"That demon... was it guarding something?" He thought as he rose up onto his feet and took a look around once more. "These demons were probably attracted here as well... This thing better be good." Somehow, Alexander managed to gather enough strength inside himself to move again but only after taking several deep breaths to calm down first. His gaze fell back to the water dome in the middle of the cavern.

"Now how do I get inside?" He pondered as his eyes darted around aimlessly as if searching for some sort of answer in the cavern. "I guess I just go inside?" Without any other ideas on how to proceed, Alexander put all his remaining strength into moving forward once more and walked straight towards the water dome in the center of this cavern.

As he got closer, he was surprised to find that the pressure from before had completely vanished. He reached the dome with ease. When he stepped inside, he felt a bit dizzy, but when he emerged on the other side of the curtain, he was surprised to find himself completely dry.

"Why am I not wet?" He looked back at the curtain of the watery dome. "Maybe it is not water at all?" Alexander frowned, but it wasn't a question he could answer now, so he didn't bother.

Instead, he focused on moving forward once more until he found himself standing in front of a door. To be precise, a stone gate covered in runes and engravings stood in front of him. However...this gate was completely unresponsive when Alexander tried pressing against it with physical strength. It didn't even budge until Alexander mobilized a strand of blood qi.

"This gate is heavy!"

Suddenly, both sides of the stone gate lit up with a red glow. The gate began moving very slowly, and only now did Alexander understand the state it was in. It was crumbling in real time! However, it didn't fall apart completely because there was still some kind of invisible force holding it together; otherwise, this gate would have fallen apart at his first touch upon it already!

As soon as it opened, he felt a burst of ominous energy appear from behind the gate. It instantly pushed him back several steps but couldn't push him away completely because this gate didn't crumble at all despite being made out of regular stone; instead...glowing runes appeared all over its surface and started glowing brighter than ever before!

The gate held on just enough to neutralize the burst. A second later, the runes dimmed and the gate crumbled into small pieces. The dark mist spread out from inside but disappeared quickly when Alexander stepped through it into a completely different world altogether...a world filled with green grass and blood-red skies beneath which stood a majestic palace.

A palace fit for a king or queen...or a demon lord if you prefer? The palace stood upon a vast green field surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides with only one entrance: a single gate made out of pure gold that stood open wide and beckoned Alexander forward like an invitation to an audience.

It was strange how this place felt so familiar yet alien at the same time: the air felt so different compared to what Alexander was used to outside; however, there was something familiar in it. It did not take him long to realize that the air here is full of blood qi! A lot more blood qi than he ever condensed in his body! Just one breath reenergized him a lot!

He looked towards the golden gate. The feeling that led him here was coming from the palace behind the gate. He turned around and looked back towards where he came from. Dark mists again swirled about everywhere, as if trying to keep him away from going back to outside.

"Could this be a trap?" He thought as he carefully approached the golden gate and stepped inside.

As soon as Alexander passed through the gate, it closed behind him firmly without a sound; nevertheless, Alexander continued walking further into this strange realm without hesitation or fear. Despite everything happening so fast for him these past few days and everything that happened until this moment!

He finally reached what appeared to be an entrance hall fit for royalty: a grand staircase leading up towards an ornately decorated ceiling covered in gilt and gold leaves; however, there were no floors beneath those stairs: they were simply floating in midair with no visible support beneath them!

'This place is strange indeed.' Alexander thought as he ascended the stairs.

His footsteps echoed loudly through this grand hall as if reverberating off invisible walls. As soon as he reached the top of those stairs—he found himself looking at a grand hall filled with people waiting for him: demons in every shape and form imaginable! Demons that looked like humans; demons that looked like animals; demons that looked like plants; demons that looked like insects; demons that looked like ghosts or spirits but were not. At first, he was startled but soon realized that those were just statues. That or petrified demons.

He looked straight at the center of the hall and found what apparently was the source of the feeling that led him here. A throne made out of pure gold with a skeleton sitting upon it! The skeleton was of human height, however, what was shocking is that aside from two imposing horns sticking out of its head, the whole skeleton was also completely covered in golden runes.

As soon as Alexander approached it, the previously empty eye sockets of the skeleton lit up with a black flame. A second later...the flame turned into an intense burning light that emanated from inside those empty sockets like an inferno raging within them! And then unexpectedly...a voice emanated from the skeleton without warning!