Lilith

Rumble!

In a palace made of coral and gemstones, thunder leaped wildly.

"It's the Chaos Sea!" On the throne in the deepest part of the palace sat a man wearing a simple robe. His ears were pointed and tall, and his features were sharply defined and handsome.

What drew even more attention was the aura of violence about him. It seemed he could hurl a lightning spear at the sea at any moment.

He gazed toward the Giant King's Court, his tone betraying undisguised longing. He had coveted the Chaos Sea for a long time.

"This time, it's dangerous." The only one standing beside him was a beautiful, noble Elf woman. Her expression was grave, and she was more level-headed than the Elf King.

"Taking control of the Chaos Sea is no easy matter." Thick bolts of lightning burst from the Elf King, making the entire palace tremble violently. "I couldn't do it before, and that dragon couldn't either!"

"But the Chaos Sea may already be under someone's control. Didn't you see that sun?" the Elf Queen, Cohinem, said coldly.

"The sun? I'll eat it!" The Elf King's irritability seemed to run in his blood. His voice boomed like thunder, and he made no effort to hide his craving for the sun.

In the eyes of these Ancient Gods, Adjacent Pathways—and even non-adjacent ones—were fair game to eat. It was just that Adjacent Pathways "tasted better."

"I'll kill that sun, and the Chaos Sea and he'll both be mine!" The Elf King's voice brimmed with fervor. He even seemed ready to descend on the Giant King's Court at once.

"That dragon has the same idea as me!"

"Best-case scenario, we stew the dragon and the sun together, then eat the Chaos Sea!"

Cohinem remained cold. The scene the Elf King described did not tempt her in the slightest. She was the Elf King's queen, but more than that, she was his strongest anchor, capable of bringing the Tyrant of the skies down to earth.

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

"That makes sense!" Cohinem had persuaded the Elf King to suppress his violence and madness, and wait until the situation in the Giant King's Court became clearer.

"Ancient Gods are mad, not stupid." In the kingdom of the Ancient Sun God, Truman reiterated this principle.

Over the years, Sasrir had planted who knew how many informants among the various Ancient Gods, giving him access to all sorts of firsthand intelligence. Now, the Ancient Gods were all restless, preparing for war.

"Liveseyd, the Dragon of Imagination, is the only one we can't infiltrate." Sasrir sounded regretful.

"Mm." Truman nodded lightly. The Pathway the Dragon of Imagination belonged to was just too unfair. If you didn't cheat, you couldn't play!

"Fortunately, he's your target." Truman turned his attention to what he was about to do. "Will you come with me?"

Sasrir raised an eyebrow slightly, looking tempted.

"If you don't come, it'll be difficult for me to convince Lilith." Seeing Sasrir's interest, Truman pressed his advantage.

"I have a lot of work to take care of..." Vice-King of Heaven wasn't just an empty title; every major matter in the kingdom required his decision.

"Leave it to those guys from earlier." Truman glanced at the Angels in the distance. "They're Angels now. They can't spend every day fighting with nothing else to do, can they?"

"...Fine!" Sasrir gritted his teeth and nodded. In the end, he decided to go out for a while. This was for a perfectly legitimate reason, after all!

"Medici, Leodero, go organize the army and prepare for war!"

"Oseacus, go get Ouroboros. Keep a close eye on how the battle develops, and report anything directly to the Lord!"

"..." Sasrir assigned the work in an orderly fashion.

"Yes!" Medici and the others all turned solemn.

"Let's go!" At last, Truman and Sasrir set off together for Lilith's divine kingdom.

"Sasrir has left?" The Ancient Sun God sensed it and looked toward Lilith's divine kingdom. His gaze held a trace of surprise.

"Dreams have this kind of effect?" he murmured. He had encountered something he couldn't see through, and its appearance had allowed his humanity, represented by Sasrir, to find greater release.

The madness rooted in his very nature seemed to have quieted, and his condition had improved considerably as well.

His condition was even worse than Truman had imagined.

In the future, Mr. Fool had climbed up from Sequence 9, and he'd done so during the Fifth Epoch, when Lord of the Mysteries' influence was at its weakest. Even after becoming a True God, he had nearly become a patchwork of minds.

The Sun God, now a dual-Pathway True God, could only be worse off. Sasrir was also one of his "firewalls."

"But... dreams coming true?" The Ancient Sun God's mouth twitched. "Sasrir is just too tired. He wants to rest, to be free..."

After spending some time with Truman, Sasrir's humanity had grown strong enough to make him more like the person he'd been before falling into the Chaos Sea.

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

"Believe it or not, this is my first time leaving the divine kingdom." Truman and Sasrir descended into a land in full bloom, close to Lilith's divine kingdom. Flowers and trees grew exceptionally lush there.

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

The Red Moon hung high overhead. Countless flowers and trees vied for attention, and a stream brimming with Spirituality flowed everywhere. Countless animals lived there, and crops such as rice, wheat, and melons could be seen all around.

And, of course, there were true Sanguine.

"Lilith is an Ancient God of the Moon Pathway and part of the Mother Pathway. She's even devoured the Sequence characteristics of other Pathways whole," Sasrir said. "But her mind is in pretty good shape."

"You'd better be prepared. Lilith is the real thing—the embodiment of beauty." Sasrir looked at Truman with a smile.

"Beauty... Hiss!" Truman saw a young woman suddenly appear in front of them.

She seemed to have taken form from the Red Moon itself. Her long, blood-red hair fell loose around her, and she wore an ancient, beautiful Dream dress, surrounded and veiled by moonlight.

Everything seemed to shine more brightly in her presence. Starlight gathered in her eyes. Barefoot, she stood atop the blossoms and spoke with pride and icy aloofness.

"Who are you?!"

She really was beautiful—not just in appearance. She even embodied beauty as a mystical concept. She was "beauty" itself!

"So this is what beauty looks like." Truman was indeed dazzled.

"Greetings, Lilith. I've come on behalf of the Lord's will." A glow like sunlight seemed to rise from Sasrir, making Lilith, who seemed to embody the moon, narrow her eyes slightly.

"The sun that appeared earlier?" All the Ancient Gods had seen it when that sun shone across the Astral World.

"We have a proposal for cooperation that you won't refuse."

Dream Phosphor fell onto the Badge of Divinity on Truman's chest. It hummed softly, and everything here was cut off from fate.

The power of concealment!

"Oh?" Lilith's expression didn't change. She simply fixed her gaze on the two of them, her body gradually tensing.

"Uh?" Sasrir and Truman exchanged a glance. "As expected, the Ancient Gods are all a little abnormal."

Perhaps it was because of the Ancient Gods' pride and madness. Or perhaps she wanted to test whether they had what it took to cooperate with the noble Ancestor of Vampires.

In any case, brilliant moonlight fell from the Ancestor of Vampires, strands gathering until they formed a galaxy.