Lilith

Rumble!

Inside a palace formed of coral and gems, thunder leaped and crackled wildly.

"That's the Chaos Sea!" At the deepest throne within the palace sat a man in a simple robe, his ears long and pointed, his face sharply handsome. But what drew the eye was the violent aura radiating from him, as if he might hurl a lightning spear into the sea at any moment. He gazed toward the Giant King's Court, his voice dripping with undisguised longing—he had coveted the Chaos Sea for a long time.

"This time, it's dangerous." Beside him stood only a beautiful, noble elven woman, her expression grave and far more rational than the Elf King's.

"To seize control of the Chaos Sea—how could that be easy?" The Elf King's body erupted with thick bolts of lightning, shaking the entire palace violently. "I couldn't do it before, and that dragon had no way either!"

"But the Chaos Sea may already be under someone's control. Haven't you seen that sun?" the Elf Queen Goshenam said coldly.

"The sun? I'll devour it!" The Elf King's fury seemed woven into his very blood; his voice boomed like thunder, unashamed of his hunger for that sun.

In the eyes of these Ancient Gods, neighboring—or even unrelated—Pathways were all edible, though neighboring ones were "more fragrant."

"Kill that sun, and both the Chaos Sea and It will be mine!" The Elf King's voice burned with fervor, even carrying an impulse to descend upon the Giant King's Court at once.

"That dragon shares the same thought!"

"Best case, I'll stew the dragon and the sun together, then swallow the Chaos Sea whole!"

Goshenam remained cold, unmoved by the scene the Elf King painted. She was the Elf King's Queen, and more importantly, his strongest anchor—the one who could ground the Tyrant of the skies.

"That wolf can't hold back any longer. We'll enter last!"

"That makes sense!" Goshenam swayed the Elf King, suppressing the violence and madness within him, waiting for the war in the Giant King's Court to become clear.

"Ancient Gods are mad, not stupid." Far away in the Ancient Sun God's divine kingdom, Truman reiterated this principle.

Over the years, Sasrir had planted countless seeds among the various Ancient Gods, gathering first-hand intelligence. Every Ancient God was now restless, preparing for war.

"Levi-Sid of the Dragon of Imagination is the only one I can't infiltrate," Sasrir said with some regret.

"Mm." Truman nodded lightly. The Pathway of the Dragon of Imagination was simply too unfair—if it weren't nerfed, it wouldn't be playable!

"Good thing It's your target." Truman turned his focus to his own next move. "Are you coming with me?"

Sasrir raised an eyebrow, clearly tempted.

"If you don't go, it'll be hard for me to convince Lilith," Truman pressed, seeing Sasrir's interest.

"I have many affairs to handle..." The Vice-King of Heaven wasn't just a title—every major decision in the divine kingdom required his judgment.

"Toss them to those fellows over there." Truman glanced at the several angels in the distance. "They're all angels now—how can they be idle enough to fight every day?"

"...Fine!" Sasrir gritted his teeth and nodded, ultimately deciding to take this trip—after all, he had a legitimate reason!

"Medici, Leodero, you two consolidate the army and prepare for war!"

"Oseacus, go fetch Ouroboros. Keep a constant watch on the battle's developments, and report anything directly to the Lord!"

"..." Sasrir methodically assigned the tasks.

"Yes!" Medici and the others all grew serious.

"Let's go!" In the end, Truman and Sasrir set off together, heading for Lilith's divine kingdom.

"Sasrir has left?" The Ancient Sun God sensed it, looking toward Lilith's divine kingdom. There was a hint of surprise in his gaze.

"Does the Dream have such an effect?" he murmured softly, encountering something even he couldn't see through. That thing's presence allowed the humanity represented by Sasrir to be released more freely.

The madness rooted in his very essence seemed to quiet, and his own condition improved noticeably.

His state was even more precarious than Truman imagined.

In later ages, Mr. Fool climbed from Sequence 9 upward, and even in the Fifth Epoch—when the Lord of the Mysteries' influence was weakest—he had nearly become a spiritual patchwork after becoming a god.

Now, the Sun God, already a dual-Pathway True God, was in an even worse state, and Sasrir served as one of his "firewalls."

"But... Beautiful Dream coming true?" The Ancient Sun God's lips twitched slightly. "Sasrir is too tired—he wants rest, he wants freedom..."

After spending time with Truman, Sasrir's humanity had grown rich enough to approach the version of himself before he fell into the Chaos Sea.

"That's a good thing." The Ancient Sun God withdrew his gaze and prayed calmly.

"You might not believe it, but this is my first time leaving the divine kingdom." Sasrir and Truman descended into a region lush with flowers, near Lilith's divine kingdom, where every plant and tree flourished abnormally.

"That's exactly why I dragged you out." Truman and Sasrir exchanged a smile, then looked toward Lilith's divine kingdom in the distance.

The Red Moon hung high, countless flowers vied in splendor, a spring of spiritual water flowed everywhere, and countless animals lived within—rice, wheat, melons, and crops were everywhere.

And, of course, authentic blood races.

"Lilith—an Ancient God of the Moon Pathway and part of the Mother Pathway, who even swallowed other Sequence characteristics raw," Sasrir said. "But Her mind is still in decent shape."

"You'd better prepare yourself. Lilith is the true embodiment of beauty." Sasrir grinned at Truman.

"Beauty... sss!" Truman saw a maiden's figure suddenly appear before them.

She seemed to have descended from that Red Moon itself, her blood-colored hair cascading down, draped in an ancient, beautiful dreamlike gown, wrapped in moonlight.

All things shone because of her presence; starlight gathered in her eyes. Barefoot, she stood atop the blossoms, speaking with haughty coldness.

"Who are you?!"

Indeed, it was beautiful—not merely on the surface, but even in an occult sense, it was the very embodiment of the concept of "beauty" itself.

"So this is what that kind of beauty looks like." Truman was genuinely taken aback.

"Greetings, Lady Lilith. I come bearing the will of the Lord." A radiance like sunlight seemed to emanate from Sasrir, causing Lilith, who appeared as the incarnation of the Moon, to narrow her eyes slightly.

"The Sun that appeared earlier?" When that Sun illuminated the Astral World, all the Ancient Gods had witnessed it.

"We have a proposal for cooperation here that you will not refuse."

Dream Phosphor scattered onto the Badge of Divinity on Truman's chest, which hummed softly, isolating everything here from the grasp of fate.

A power of secrecy!

"Oh?" Lilith's expression remained unchanged, but her gaze locked tightly onto the two of them as her body gradually tensed.

"Huh?" Sasrir and Truman exchanged a glance. "Ancient Gods really are a bit off."

Perhaps it was due to the arrogance and madness of the Ancient Gods, or perhaps it was a test to see if the two were worthy of cooperating with the noble Ancestor of Vampires.

In any case, this Ancestor of Vampires let shimmering moonlight spill from her form, strand by strand, gradually forming a river of stars.