Before Everything Began

The entire Abyssal Deep Sea seemed to fall silent in that instant—the whole dimension sank into dead stillness, even the drifting dust between the floating islands froze in place. No one spoke for a long time. Only the ancient god, like a mountain range, waited for an answer, the dim starlike lights upon Its body slowly brightening and fading, displaying immense patience.

After an unknown length of time, Shirley's voice finally broke the silence from nearby. "...Wow..."

Duncan raised his head and calmly looked at the "mountain." "I hope you can explain that more clearly—what do you mean by 'take over all this'?"

Amid a faint tremor, a deeply human sigh seemed to rise from within the star-shaped mountain range. Only then did It slowly speak. "Flame Usurper, perhaps you already know... during the so-called Third Long Night, I did not complete every plan in the blueprint. The Boundless Sea is not a perfect sanctuary. In a sense, my Genesis failed just as the King of the Pale Giants' and the King of Dreams' attempts did. It is only that... this failure was delayed by ten thousand years."

Standing in the deepest reaches of the Abyssal Deep Sea and hearing an ancient god who had once shaped all things admit Its failure with his own ears was a profoundly shocking experience even for Duncan. Though he had already gathered many clues, he could not help but sigh deeply after hearing the Abyssal Lord's words.

After a while, he finally broke the silence. "Yes, I know. Many clues point to that. I have seen the city-state reflections in the deep sea of the real dimension, as well as the unfinished 'half-finished products' in the Abyssal Deep Sea. I have also come into contact with the truth of the Abyssal Demons—in a