While Zhou Jun's broken body floated in the military sarcophagus, barely clinging to life by a single thread of devour runes, the world did not wait.
Path of the Abyss Sovereign — Zhao Hu
Forbidden Zone: "Eternal Silence Sea," the first global S+-rank forbidden area that officially opened on November 20, 2025.
Zhao Hu stepped into the black ocean that devoured all sound and light.
With his mutated SSS-rank Abyss Sovereign Devourer, he no longer needed to touch his prey.
Everything that entered his line of sight—ancient deep-sea aberrations, fallen angelic corpses, even fragments of broken laws—was directly devoured and converted into pure dark essence.
Ten days.
He only needed ten days to rise from Level 35 → Level 92.
When he walked out of the Eternal Silence Sea, half of his body had already turned into living concept of "Abyss."
Wherever his shadow fell, the earth permanently lost the ability to give birth to life.
Server-wide blood-red announcement:
[Player "Zhao Hu" is the first to clear Eternal Silence Sea (Hell Mode, Solo)]
[Reward: Unique Title "He Who Silenced the Sea"]
[Current Global Combat Power Ranking: No. 1]
Zhao Hu looked at the sky and smiled.
"Soon."
Path of Rebirth Through Ten Thousand Tribulations — Zhou Jun
Location: Unknown (classified even to the highest military brass)
The moment Zhou Jun's heart stopped for the 17th time, the last devour rune on his forehead ignited.
[Infinite Devour (Residual) activated emergency protocol]
[Host soul dragged into "Myriad Tribulation Hell Realm" for forced reconstruction]
A crack opened in the sarcophagus, and Zhou Jun's corpse vanished in front of hundreds of guards and cameras.
When he opened his eyes again, he was naked, standing on a plain of blades.
Endless thunder, fire, ice blades, soul-eating winds—every known and unknown torture of the heavens lashed at his remnant soul and broken flesh without pause.
There was no system panel here.
No levels.
No skills.
Only endless pain and rebirth.
Every time his body was destroyed, the devour rune rebuilt it one atom at a time, stronger, denser, more monstrous.
He died 9,999 times.
On the 10,000th rebirth, something deep in the hell realm opened its eyes and looked at him.
An ancient voice that predated the Cataclysm itself rang directly in his soul:
"Child who devours even death… do you want power?"
Zhou Jun spat out a mouthful of molten gold blood and laughed hoarsely.
"I don't want power."
"I want Zhao Hu to feel everything I felt—ten thousand times over."
The thing in the darkness was silent for a long time, then smiled.
"Good answer."
A black-crimson seed of original sin was planted between his eyebrows.
Path of the Contract — Zhou Ling
Military Safe Zone No. 1, highest-security isolation ward.
Zhou Ling had not slept for twelve days.
Her once-gentle A-rank healing talent had begun to rot from the inside, turning black at the edges.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her parents being torn apart.
Every time she breathed, she heard Zhao Hu's laughter.
On the thirteenth night, the lights in the ward went out by themselves.
A crack opened in the void, and thirteen primordial devils who had been sealed since the birth of the server stepped out one after another.
The weakest among them was Level 200.
The strongest had no level—because the system could not quantify it.
They looked at the thin girl kneeling in the darkness, eyes hollow, and spoke in unison with thirteen overlapping voices:
"Sign the contract, child.
We will give you the power to kill even gods.
The price is simple—your soul, your name, your everything after revenge is complete."
Zhou Ling did not hesitate.
She bit through her finger and wrote her name in blood on the void contract.
[Contract Established]
[Host: Zhou Ling]
[Contractor: The Thirteen Primordial Devils]
[New Talent: EX-Rank — Original Sin: Hatred]
[All emotions except hatred permanently sealed]
[Every life you take with hatred will become your eternal servant]
The moment the contract was completed, black devil horns grew from her forehead, and thirteen overlapping devil wings unfolded behind her.
Her level shot from 9 → 99 in a single second.
The isolation ward, the entire Safe Zone No. 1, and half the city district were dyed pitch-black in the shape of a giant inverted cross.
The military's highest alarm sounded for the first time since the Cataclysm began:
[Unidentified EX-rank entity detected]
[Threat level: Equal to or greater than Zhao Hu]
Zhou Ling stood up, her once-bright eyes now only two calm, bottomless voids.
She looked in the direction of the Eternal Silence Sea and spoke softly, her voice carrying the chorus of thirteen devils:
"Brother… wait for me.
Or don't wait.
Either way—"
"I will kill him for you."
Epilogue of the Darkest Month
November 30, 2025.
Three monsters who should never have existed at this stage of the Cataclysm were born almost simultaneously.
One walked out of the forbidden sea as the sovereign of the abyss.
One crawled out of ten-thousand-fold hell bearing the seed of original sin.
One sold her humanity to thirteen devils for the right to hate forever.
The old era ended quietly.
The era of the three calamities had just begun.
Somewhere in the endless void, the system that had remained silent for a whole month finally issued its first global announcement in blood-red text:
[Warning: Three irregular EX/SSS+ entities detected]
[Main storyline permanently derailed]
[New hidden main quest unlocked:]
[Survive the Hatred of the Three Calamities]
No rewards.
No time limit.
Only one line of small print at the bottom:
[Current human survival probability: < 0.3%]