The Beginning of the End · The Beginning of the End

[Part 1: The Return of the Evil God]

Under the blazing sun--

--Kang Que Johnny was plunged into utter despair.

The railway leading to the outside world from Zero Platform has been blocked, and armed trains with gun turrets stand guard on the two lines outside the Twilight Pass.

He was now exposed to the nameless man, like a naked child caught in the clutches of wild beasts, completely losing his senses.

This nearly 100-year-old "young man" grabbed Linden, the bandit who had brought such calamity, his eyes bloodshot, and began to speak of his lifelong ambitions and grand aspirations.

"The Earth stopped rotating a hundred years ago!"

Bright red sores crawled onto Kang Que's skin, his Madness Index rose rapidly, and the spiritual energy contained within his body began to react violently.

"All the ecological niches have already been occupied. From the moment the Philosopher Foundation was established, the way human civilization operates, the ironclad rules of society, and the allocation of benefits have all been set in stone and will never change."

Linden stared in horror at the Mercy Society, completely bewildered by the riddle-teller's words—what was he trying to say? What eulogy was he singing? What ceremony was he holding?

Is this guy getting senile?

Kang Que's skin grew increasingly red, began to fester and deteriorate, transforming from a fair-skinned, flawless young man into a hellish demon with crimson skin.

"All beautiful things have died; they have become ghosts. Whether it be words, paintings, or other art forms, they all repeatedly commemorate this spirit. But this wicked soil cannot grow new life—so we imitate the past again and again, in a cycle that repeats itself endlessly."

Kang Que pointed one finger at the upside-down sky and grabbed Linden by the neck with the other.

He was furious, manic, and hysterical.

"People always say that politics is the greatest good in the world—it determines the form of settlements, towns, cities, and nations."

"These forms, in turn, determine how we should live."

"It's been a hundred years! I see no hope, no hope of overcoming my animalistic nature. I can only rely on the power my mother gave me, whipping the sheep and becoming a shepherd who eats meat and drinks blood!"

"We sang the songs we'd sung before, we wrote the poems we'd written before. It was as if we couldn't stand in civilized society without doing so, as if we weren't classical enough, elegant enough, civilized enough. These ghosts gripped our legs tightly, pressing us into a warm cradle."

"But things from the future seem like they'll never come!"

"We are always reminiscing about the past, always longing for a more barbaric and bloody era, living in buildings made of reinforced concrete, yet fantasizing that we could be emperors."

"But when truly facing the power in real life, and confronting the fear within, I always involuntarily succumb to that fear—to this frail body that fears death. I want to change all of this! I want to change all of this!"

Linden: "You lunatic! What are you trying to say?!"

"I want to [return to oneness]!" Kang Que Johnny's eyes widened. "I want to hold a ceremony of return to oneness! I want to give you all to [Mother]! I don't want to be human anymore! I want to send all the primordial essence back to Mother's embrace, using the Madness Butterfly as a medium!"

The president, who has completely gone mad, seems to have forgotten that sweet vow.

He once made a promise to the cadres—

If the nameless man comes, he will do his best to help his brothers survive.

At this moment, Kang Que has been driven to a dead end, a road of no return. Eureka Volcano City is his life's work, and what he cannot have, he will never let anyone else have.

He lived through two world wars, saw countless people and events, and traveled almost the entire globe.

Since its establishment, the Philosopher Foundation, as the main guardian of the continuation of human civilization, has maintained the normal operation of the mundane world, while the world order after the Cold War has been in a state of long-term stagnation.

Since the turn of the millennium, the whole world seems to have been gripped by an unseen ghost.

This is what Kang Que has been thinking about and talking about over and over again.

Whether it's rigid geopolitics, a retro-style ruling model, or a dysfunctional senior parliament.

They naturally spread from the ground down into the earth.

--It seems the apocalypse predicted by the Mayan civilization has already come to pass.

No one realizes that in the daily routines of life, work, entertainment, consumption, and procreation, they have become living, breathing machines.

Any novel and groundbreaking idea will be quickly consumed. Once a song becomes popular, millions of zombie variants will appear immediately, causing this unparalleled creativity to die within just a few days.

Any ancient art, like that constructed in the last century, is taken out and turned into a standard academic paper. It seems that as long as you follow the rules, these documents unearthed from the grave can still make young people in their twenties reminisce about a [golden age] that never existed.

From the small to the big --

--For Kang Que Concord, this is how the world works.

Human desires determine how society functions. The vast majority of people follow their instincts and seek the shortest shortcuts to live. The masses need leaders, idols, spiritual sustenance, and a deity.

Now, under the torment of these rules, Kang Que Johnny has become a complete madman.

If the leaders of the previous Madness Butterfly Sect were more or less pyramid scheme bosses, only interested in making money and gaining power.

With so much primal energy, and using chaos as a stepping stone, Kang Que Connor is just one step away from the pinnacle. Now is the time for him to shed his human form and become a god.

He wanted true "reunion." His previous studies of the occult were just excuses for business, tools for making money and expanding his power. But at this moment, he was absolutely convinced that only the Madness Butterfly could save him.

The Vita Imprint can cleanse his sinful soul, take him to Mother Earth, return him to the embrace of the Original Seed, and transform him into a beautiful butterfly, Red Flash Butterfly that never existed in the world.

He tore open his sleeve, and the bright red skin of his right arm immediately swelled up.

--Swelling pustules covered the upper and lower arms, and with the strong psionic fluctuations, Chaos Egg emerged from the raised mounds of flesh.

This is Kang Que Kang's ultimate trump card. These dozen or so elixirs are seeds of immense power. They absorbed the souls of the living beings harmed by various professions in Eureka Volcano City, the physical essence of a calamity beast of the same level as Ming De, and the Vita Imprint on Kang Que's own body, a trinity fused with the Blessed Holy Blood.

Even the weakest psychic can undergo a miraculous transformation and become the human incarnation of the Madness Butterfly after consuming it and absorbing enough primordial energy.

This is a treasure bestowed upon Kang Que by the Immortals Alliance, and it is also the ultimate weapon that Kang Que has never dared to use—its management costs are too high, it consumes too much elemental energy, and if a traitor appears, the Mercy Society's regime will collapse immediately.

But now he has no say in the matter.

He is no longer qualified to live in human society.

"The Holy Spirit lifted me up and led me to the doors of the Holy Father's temple!"

He shoved the elixir into Linden's mouth, then squeezed it hard—

--That little bastard from Van Persie's family had his skull cracked open and went to meet the King of Hell.

"Look! Look! There are fifteen men at the temple gates! And I see among them the youngest son of the Underworld Kingdom, named Linden!"

The shattered flesh and blood reformed, and the headless corpse's neck swelled up, growing a full circle larger. Linden Van Persie, who had originally been of average build, had now become a small giant over 250 centimeters tall.

This deformed creature of flesh straightened up and spread a pair of four fleshy wings from its back, like an angel.

When its skull was restored, it had no facial features, only a round ball of flesh with a bloodstain that looked like a crimson butterfly.

This is the [Red Butterfly Avatar] created by the Immortal Elixir.

"He told me!"

With a wave of his hand, Kang Que caused the faceless monster to kneel before the Mercy Society's God of Love.

"Son of man! This is the one who plots iniquity and devises wicked schemes in this city!"

That fist, which suddenly stood upright and swung its arm, transformed into a gleaming silver arrowhead!

The Heaven and Earth Turning power of the soul suddenly appeared, and Cupid pierced the faceless deformed fetus's body with a lead arrow, restoring weight to this mass of flesh and blood.

It fell freely, landing on the rafters of the Demon Palace, and then, like a newborn infant that had not yet learned to fly, it plunged into the abyss.

"They said! The houses were built before the area was even close!"

As Kang Que Connor walked outside, the scorching sun turned his skin to charcoal, and he went blind, letting out piercing screams.

"This city is the pot! We are the meat!!!"

Moriti looked at the chief in surprise. He had come to protect him, but the chief's strong arms pulled him towards him.

When it was pulled in front of him, Moriti, the armed man, turned pale with fright, and the holy blood in his body, stimulated by the sunlight, began to fester and boil.

Kang Que retrieved the second Chaos Egg.

"The Spirit of the Father descended upon me!"

He crushed Moriti's head and, in the same way, created a second [Red Butterfly Avatar].

"If you put them in the city, those who are killed will become meat!"

The writhing flesh transformed into a swollen ball of flesh, from which a thousand eyes burst forth, and pure white hair sprouted from its six wings.

"This city is a vessel for cooking human flesh, but I will take you out of it!"

Cupid's arrow spirit once again unleashed its power, stealing the gravity from the six-winged deformed creature and sending it crashing into Eureka Volcano City like a bomb.

[Part ②: Flesh Golem]

Everyone in the Demon Palace heard Kang Que Connor's screams.

Their leader has gone mad!

He's completely gone mad!

That was the true [One Who Returns to Oneness], someone who had witnessed the great storms of the world, and was ultimately consumed by a strong desire for self-destruction, completely surrendering to the Madness Butterfly. He wanted to summon demons and create powerful monsters.

"You're afraid of swords!"

Johnny's face was charred black, and his hair was burned off.

"I will deal with you with the sword!" said the Holy Father.

There were thirteen Chaos Egg on his arm, just like the Blood Butterfly Bible he chanted.

He holds a golden arrow in one hand and a lead arrow in the other; this is Cupid's [Heaven and Earth Turning] technique.

This is love and compassion.

--The repulsive force of love makes one feel ecstatic.

--The gravity of love makes us feel grounded.

From then on, the Mercy of Eros ceased to exist, replaced only by fifteen monsters spreading the Vita Imprint. Only Kang Que Comerce's immense power was gained through the sacrifice of his brothers and sisters in the Mercy Society.

"There will surely be wailing here! There was never such a thing before, and there will never be again!"

A dozen or so bright red stars fell to the ground from the Demon Palace.

The radio and television station tower was smashed to pieces, and the moon-shaped light fixture also rolled down.

As the dust settled, the crew members still working at the television station stared tremblingly at the center of the stage.

They saw in front of the artwork depicting the creation of Adam, a naked, hairless, umbilical cordless, and genital-less humanoid creature.

The strong male body slowly stood up. His arms and chest had been impacted by the fall, and his head had sunk into his sternum. But suddenly he sprang up, his bones returned to their original positions, and he opened his arms, stretched his waist, and stood up in a beautiful posture.

The moment [Red Butterfly Avatar] fully matured, all the crimson blood vessels on its body returned to its featureless face, transforming it into Red Flash Butterfly resembling a Rorschach inkstain. Immediately afterwards, red feathers grew from its four wings—

--The director involuntarily grabbed the camera.

He seemed to think that this was a rare and magnificent sight.

If they can capture it, it could probably feed many people and make a lot of money.

After all, it is so charming, so [classical], so...

The next second.

The director's eyes began to bleed involuntarily.

His vision turned blood red. He looked away from the camera and saw the beautiful Four-Winged Angel gently flap its wings, opening a hundred eyes from its blood-red feathers. The dark pupils transformed into slender, beastly eyes. Sharp teeth and a pointed mouth emerged from its two fleshy paws.

The angel's palm extended a long tongue, emitting a sharp shriek, or infrasound that was difficult for the human ear to distinguish.

This strange resonance caused everyone present to bleed from their facial features and suffer head injuries.

The incarnation of the Red Butterfly walked forward, placed a palm on the director's skull, and like sucking honey, took the brain marrow and stopped eating. At this point, the angel's external wounds were completely healed, and even the indentation on his chest gradually rose up, becoming a light cavity suitable for flight.

Like a child who has just arrived in a big city, its eyes swept over the other staff members present. Seeing the painful expressions of humans bleeding from their seven orifices, and hearing the agonizing cries that sounded like those from a hellish execution ground, its mouth and tongue immediately began to chuckle, as if it had made a new friend.

People searched for all sorts of tools to block their mouths and noses and cover their eyes. Some even went so far as to blind themselves. They hid in secluded corners, trembling with fear. Blood gushing from their mouths and noses blocked their throats, causing them to cough violently, coughing up fragments of lung tissue along with it.

The angel's hundred evil eyes, winged by four wings, swept across the area and spotted a sacrifice of exceptional quality. It slowly walked over and gave the robust stagehand a bear hug.

Crimson feathers enveloped the burly man, and within seconds, his flesh melted away, and he began to laugh wildly in ecstasy.

Through the gaps in the feathers, one could see the flesh gradually rotting, then quickly transforming into a tumbling, white insect body, which instantly spun silk to tightly wrap around the delicate White Lady.

Just ten seconds later, a red torrent burst forth from the four crimson wings.

Thousands of Madness Butterfly flew away, leaving behind only the stagehand's gold teeth.

They quickly search for their next parasitic target, avoiding the scorching sunlight, hiding in the dark stairwells, and rushing into the depths of the tower, wanting to bring the Vita Imprint to more people.

The angel leaped from the tower, undeterred by the scorching sun, heading towards another Human Hell.