In the easternmost part of the Forsaken Land of the Gods, endless grayish-white fog stretched into a magnificent wall, standing there in what seemed like eternal stillness.
After an unknown amount of time, brilliant starlight broke through the seal of the dark, thick clouds, illuminating the entire sky.
Star after star pressed lower and lower, shedding beam after beam of brilliance. They converged into a pure, clear "ocean," completely dissolving the clouds and lightning in the sky.
Dissolving along with them was the seal that existed on the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
As patches of starlight poured down, the Forsaken Land of the Gods was no longer shrouded in darkness. The sky became clear and pure, and those monsters hidden in the dark retreated continuously, hiding into the shadows beneath the ruins.
At the same time, shackles formed by a continuous convergence of strange golden runes fell from the brilliant cosmos, sinking into the dried riverbeds, the cracked ground, the towering mountain peaks...
Silently and unscents-wise, the underlying rules of the entire Forsaken Land of the Gods began to change. Danger was receding, and normal order was being born.
Roselle utilized his authority to reconstruct a whole set of order suitable for human survival in the barren, deathly silent Forsaken Land of the Gods.
As the underlying rules underwent alterations, the residual auras and divine power of the Forsaken Land of the Gods began to riot, instinctively resisting and attempting to re-maintain the order that belonged to them.
Amon's figure quietly appeared in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. He glanced at the twinkling cosmos above His head and asked as if talking to Himself:
"Do you intend to treat this place as a New World to transfer the internal conflicts of various factions?"
While speaking, He raised His hand to pinch the monocle at the position of His right eye. The lens reflected a faint light.
In the next instant, those erupting auras and divine powers simultaneously experienced various errors in concepts and rules. They either influenced and canceled each other out, or were easily suppressed and shattered by the golden chains.
Soon, under the melting of the starlight, the original seal placed on the Forsaken Land of the Gods by the orthodox Seven Gods completely vanished.
Almost at the exact moment the seal disappeared, crimson moonlight broke through the blockade of the starlight, causing a deep red full moon to emerge in the sky.
Influenced by the crimson moon, the residual forces and auras of the Earth, Moon, and Prisoner pathways instantly came alive. They condensed physical bodies and turned into various strangely shaped monsters, becoming the tentacles of the "Primordial Moon" and the "Mother Tree of Desire" reaching deep into the world.
In the shadows beneath the brilliant starlight, a scarlet glow bloomed, condensing into a tall, mountain-like figure who shouted in a deep voice:
"Let there be light!"
Endless sunlight descended upon the Forsaken Land of the Gods, illuminating the entire continent, purifying and melting all those monsters that had condensed physical bodies.
Amon reached out to adjust His monocle and muttered quietly to Himself:
"Monsters with physical bodies are much easier to deal with than those messy auras and divine powers."
This light did not last for very long. In less than ten seconds, all the light completely vanished. Disappearing along with it were the various monsters on the ground, as well as the strangely shaped plants.
The stars twinkling in the sky rippled with rings of deep blue waves, quickly covering the crimson moon and obscuring the gaze cast by the cosmos.
Amidst the brilliant starlight, Roselle sat on a high-backed chair formed by starlight and laughed heartily in a very venting manner:
"Haha, shutting the door on them right after using them. I wonder if the 'Mother Goddess of Depravity' and the 'Mother Tree of Desire' will curse you on the moon for being a scumbag."
Leyton shook his head expressionlessly and said:
"They won't be angry; they will only want to have a bunch of children with you. Of course, you will be the one responsible for giving birth."
"He has already been to the moon before. Perhaps that 'Queen Mystic' already has a bunch of younger brothers and sisters."
Amon's figure quietly appeared to the side. He reached out and dragged the air; a high-backed chair condensed from starlight appeared behind Him, and then vanished again.
Roselle stared at Amon with a somewhat unfriendly expression and said, "Didn't your father teach you to respect your elders?"
Amon scoffed disdainfully, "You should go ask him that question in person. Oh, he's already here."
As His words fell, a pitch-black shadow materialized out of thin air, surging upward like flowing water, condensing into a figure wearing a black cleric's robe.
He turned His head to glance at Amon, shook His head slightly without much expression, and then looked at Leyton, saying:
"I have foreseen some futures. Lifting the dangers and seals covering the Forsaken Land of the Gods will allow this world to usher in an opportunity for booming development. This is more favorable for facing the upcoming apocalypse."
Amon smiled disdainfully from the side and said:
"Without becoming an Angel, Beyonders and ordinary people are no different in the face of the apocalypse. It's just a matter of dying a bit more tragically."
"Civilization is not your authority. Promoting the development of this world cannot be converted into your tangible strength."
"Right now, that 'The Fool' should have already found Antigonus and is fighting and slaughtering somewhere. If my luck is good enough, perhaps I can head straight over and pick up the 'Sefirah Castle' and 'The Fool's' Uniqueness."
The "True Creator" shook His head and sighed:
"If there are no humans and no civilization left, then what meaning is there in my choice to guard this world?"
Leyton smiled and chimed in, "Furthermore, the most important thing for you right now is to grasp the authority of 'Door.' Otherwise, you won't even be able to touch the front gate of 'Sefirah Castle.'"
"Heh..." Amon chuckled softly, and His figure subsequently disappeared into the starlight.
The "True Creator" glanced at the spot where Amon had vanished and said casually:
"He is a born mythical creature and lacks normal anchors, so there are some deviations and deficiencies in His humanity."
"If it weren't for my relationship with Amon, I would be more willing to support that 'The Fool.' In a sense, we are all survivors who do not belong to this era."
The words of the "True Creator" caused the expression on Roselle's face to crack. With what seemed like helplessness and what seemed like a sigh, he spoke:
"We have never left our hometown, yet we can never go back..."
Leyton leaned back against the high-backed chair formed by starlight, looked toward the "True Creator," and said with a smile:
"That is why I prefer that the newly fused you be dominated by the 'True Creator.' If it were only Adam, who possesses only divinity, today's cooperation wouldn't have been negotiated successfully."
The "True Creator" shook His head slowly, His tone appearing rather calm:
"'God's' status is higher than the 'Demon of Knowledge.' The power accumulated by relying on civilization is not yet enough to bring about a qualitative change."
.....
Deep within the spirit world, the thin fog concealing Calderón city shook violently, but the commotion was covered up by the seven pure lights at the highest point of the spirit world, making it impossible for any existence to perceive.
Inside the fog, within a massive, bottomless pit, even the aura here became cold, gloomy, and decayed, feeling like a visual style from an ancient black-and-white silent movie.
Above a straight, wide, illusory, and colorless river that flowed out from nothingness.
Klein was wrapped in thick gray fog, floating above the river surface like a cocoon.
In front of him, a giant bird surfaced from the water. Just the portion surfacing was already as tall as a mountain.
The surface of this giant bird's body was covered with shattered feathers—feathers woven from pale flames and mysterious patterns. The exposed areas were pitch-black, rotten, and oozing yellowish pus.
The giant bird's eyes looked as if they were cast from bronze, hiding layers upon layers of illusory doors inside, which was highly identifiable.
The ancient Death who opened up the Underworld and a tributary of the "River of Eternal Darkness," Gregrace!
At the exact moment Klein and Gregrace made eye contact, a burst of light erupted from within the bronze eyes of this ancient Death, enveloping the "Underworld Emperor" Salinger, who was wandering along the edge of the riverbank.
With the help of "Sefirah Castle," he used one "Fooling" and one "Grafting," causing the target of Gregrace's attack to switch to Salinger.
Meanwhile, he took the opportunity to fetch a small amount of river water using that bird-shaped gold accessory, then directly returned to "Sefirah Castle" to cleanse the aura of the "River of Eternal Darkness" stained on his body.
Glancing at the illusory, pitch-black river water contained within the bird-shaped gold accessory, Klein let out a long breath:
"With the help of 'Sefirah Castle,' taking river water from the 'River of Eternal Darkness' is indeed not as difficult as imagined."
After adjusting his state, he returned directly to reality and delivered the water from the "River of Eternal Darkness" to the "Evernight Goddess" through a sacrificial method.
Silently and soundlessly, he was pulled into a dreamscape again. After a brief exchange with the "Evernight Goddess," he returned once more to above the gray fog, sitting back in the seat belonging to "The Fool."
Looking at the empty seat at the very bottom of the mottled long table, he raised his hand, and The World Gehrman Sparrow was materialized.
Under his will, the figure of "The World" rapidly changed, ultimately freezing into the image of an old man wearing a hooded black robe, his eyes as deep and dark as a lightless water surface, and the white beard around his mouth and face long and dense.
The leader of the Secret Order, the former Sequence 1 Angel, Zaratul!
Relying on the help of "Sefirah Castle," "Zaratul" stole one copy each of the Sequence 9 to Sequence 1 characteristics from within his body.
Losing the interference of Zaratul's mental imprint, the balance inside Klein's body began to tilt toward the awakening will of the Celestial Worthy.
A mysterious, classical black robe draped over his body, and he put on a hood that obscured his facial features. A layer of thin fog emerged, and transparent, slimy tentacles extended from beneath the hem of his clothes.
This state was maintained for quite a while before he re-established a fragile balance, allowing his own humanity to survive in the crack formed by divinity, the awakening consciousness of the Celestial Worthy, and the anchors/cognition of his believers.
Having adjusted his own state, he turned his energy back to "Zaratul." He pulled out Zaratul's Historical Projection from the historical void, while relying on the "Deception" and "Fooling" of rules to completely awaken the mental imprint that originally belonged to Zaratul within this marionette.
...
In the Champagne Province of North Intis, inside a dimly lit hall at the headquarters of the Secret Order, the figure of "Zaratul" quietly appeared.
He seemed to have just woken up from a deep slumber, raising His hand somewhat tiredly to rub His forehead, a touch of confusion flitting through His eyes:
"Did I.... fall asleep just now?"