Truman looked out at a towering mountain range that reached into the clouds, its peaks impossible to see.
Farther away, several terrifying giant beasts seemed to be thrashing about, and the distant howls of wolves echoed through the air.
"Are we really this close to the Annihilation Demonic Wolf's divine kingdom?!" Truman gasped.
The darkness beneath the lamp was working a little too well!
Truman reached out with the hand wearing the Gloves of the Ancient and grabbed at the air, as if seizing something. Then he disappeared.
When he reappeared, Truman had already moved some distance away from the Annihilation Demonic Wolf's divine kingdom.
Then he saw all kinds of bizarre, grotesque creatures.
Demon Wolves, Mist Treants, Thousand-Faced Hunters—he could see Beyonder Creatures that could have served as Potion ingredients in later times.
This was the area around the Annihilation Demonic Wolf's divine kingdom. These creatures—or rather, the Beyonder characteristics inside them—were unconsciously gathering here, drawn to this mountain range.
And it was easy to imagine what happened when all these Beyonder Creatures gathered together.
Beasts might get full, but these creatures only wanted to eat more and more.
Bloodshed, madness, grotesque scenes that challenged the limits of human understanding appeared before Truman's eyes. He could see Beyonder Creatures driven mad by ingesting characteristics that were too incompatible at any moment.
Of course, there were also those who survived the madness and, through sheer luck, crossed a threshold to become Chosen Ones.
Truman observed them for a long while, once again marveling at the chaos that reigned before the Sequence formulas on the First Blasphemy Slate appeared.
The Ancient Sun God's name had yet to spread through the world, so naturally, the Blasphemy Slate did not yet exist.
He was about to leave when the hem of the Robe of the Sage fluttered. He gave it a gentle flick with his fingers, using the Gloves of the Ancient to manipulate the Spirit Body Threads in the area.
The Robe of the Sage was constantly analyzing the knowledge of this world, and the key to that was naturally the Gloves of the Ancient on Truman's hand.
And Truman could use the Planeswalker's mimicry to wield many different abilities.
"Why doesn't this Saint show himself?" Truman had no intention of killing the person in hiding. He merely plucked at the Spirit Body Threads, forcing the Saint to reveal himself.
Since Truman called him a Saint, he was naturally no weaker than a Sequence 4 Beyonder of later times.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in the air.
He was a nervous-looking young man, dressed in a gray-white robe, with thick hair and a distinguished air—though his appearance was rather plain.
"Are you a God?" the young man asked, sounding somewhat apprehensive.
Yet both the Book of Dreams' sense and the knowledge in the Robe of the Sage told Truman that this man had no reverence whatsoever for so-called Gods.
He was studying Truman, looking down on him like a Dragon. It seemed that nothing Truman did could escape his eyes.
Some things even seemed to be vanishing...
Was it the hypnosis and virtual personalities of the Spectator Pathway, making him forget certain memories and even altering his personality to some extent?
If it weren't for the Book of Dreams and the Robe of the Sage both warning him of this, a Demi-god from the Warrior Pathway might have been tricked into giving up even the characteristics in his body.
Truman studied the other man, then noticed something. "You're human?"
Yes, he was human.
The young man's expression changed just enough to betray a reaction, while Truman looked equally surprised.
"What's your name?" Truman asked.
"Hermes." The young man was already looking for a way out, an invisible force spreading through the mental realm.
Truman smiled. Was this a kind of Wish Fulfillment, a dream come true?
This had been one of his goals for going out. Who would have thought he'd run into Hermes as soon as he left?
Truman released his hold on the Spirit Body Threads, and the tension between them soon eased.
"I'm not a God. I'm human, too," Truman explained to the Saint.
Truman had a certain fondness for this foundational figure of human mysticism. After a moment's thought, he withdrew the Badge of Divinity's concealment, making Hermes's eyes widen slightly.
"You really are human?!" Hermes confirmed. Truman's Spirit Body showed no trace of mysticism or corruption. It was purer than that of a newborn human baby!
"But..." Hermes still had his doubts, though at least he relaxed outwardly.
Hermes was still young in this era, and he dreamed of blazing a Beyonder path for humanity. His sense of belonging to the human race was clear, and Truman's humanity was enough to ease some of his wariness.
Besides, to be honest, most humans of this era were almost excessively honest and simple...
"Were you observing the advancement of these Beyonder Creatures?" Truman looked at the Thousand-Faced Hunter in front of Hermes. It was one of the Chosen Ones.
After a chaotic fight, it had devoured the crystallized remains of a Six-Winged Gargoyle. Its luck had been extraordinary, and it had gained even greater power.
"Were you watching them, trying to find a pattern?"
"This one... Going from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5 isn't a huge leap. Add a bit of luck, and it's quite reasonable. It just went mad," Truman commented.
It was a simple observation, but Hermes's eyes widened in shock. The concept of Sequence had opened up a whole new world to him.
The term was unfamiliar to him, but with the solid foundation in mysticism he possessed in this era—and would retain even in later times—he could vaguely guess what lay behind it.
It was Order, and the hope of humanity!
Whoosh! A Saint of the Dragon Pathway—the later Spectator Pathway—could no longer hide his thoughts. His thirst for knowledge was so strong that it even stirred a response from the Robe of the Sage on Truman's body.
"Could you teach me about the Sequence?" Hermes bowed and asked.
Truman smiled faintly. "Of course, but I have one small request."
"Take me to the major human city-states and help me find some people."
"...No problem!" Hermes hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
The other man was a true human. Surely he couldn't be worse than the supernatural races that enslaved humans or even treated them as food?
Hermes probably didn't know the term "human traitor" yet...
"Good. But forgive me for asking: how did you become a Saint? It has something to do with Sequence knowledge." With the tension between them eased, Truman asked out of curiosity.
Something to do with Sequences... Hermes began to understand. Truman's knowledge, far beyond his time, shone brightly in the eyes of an explorer like him, making him all the more restless.
"When a Monster was about to destroy my city-state, I forcibly swallowed a crystal containing mystical power..." Hermes briefly described what had happened.
"Present-day Hermes is equivalent to a Sequence 4 Manipulator from later times..." Truman thought to himself. "And when a city falls, there's no shortage of desperate people—or those resolved to die. Their emotions resonated, so he completed the ritual by accident."
"You were lucky, but you were also remarkable." The key to the Manipulator ritual was resonance. Without a determination to live or die alongside the city-state, the ritual could not have been completed.
"So what are your thoughts on advancing?" The two traveled together, leaving the chaotic battlefield behind as they discussed Sequence knowledge.
The Spirit World faithfully recorded all the information. In later times, a Scholar of Yore would glimpse this moment—one of the most important in human history—through the Historical Void.
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