Stories and Fate

Truman ended the Dream Council meeting and returned to the real world. Eagerly, he took out the Key of the Treasury and opened a door in space.

Probably... another Apprentice had been killed.

Of course, at this point, the Apprentice might have been a Phoenix.

Truman casually took out the two most precious Uniquenesses inside.

The Scroll of Civilization and a crown that seemed to have been carved from obsidian.

The crown was extraordinarily ornate, decorated with all kinds of gemstones, though its design was a little too unusual.

"Distortion?" Truman spotted several different carving styles on the crown. They brought together the aesthetics of Giants, Elves, and Dragons, twisted into a crown of bizarre beauty.

"Distortion" was also the crown's negative effect.

Without suppression or a seal, the crown would distort all the rules of the world, turning the world into its territory and all living beings into its subjects, bound to obey its distorted rules.

Its influence was global and irreversible.

"A living characteristic?" Truman raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing the rebellious impulse stirring within it.

As an emperor, it could never submit to anyone. That was one of its fundamental rules.

This meant the thing would never submit or compromise. It was basically impossible to use.

"Impossible to use?" Truman gave a couple of snorts. "Not submitting doesn't mean it can't be corrupted. First, let's leave it in the Sea of Dreams to cool off for a couple of days!"

Truman tossed the Scroll of Civilization and the Crown of the Black Emperor into the ocean beneath Heaven of Dreams.

In Truman's eyes, no matter how powerful a Uniqueness was, it could still be corrupted by a Sefirah. Once they had soaked long enough to take on the flavor, he would naturally be able to use the two Uniquenesses indirectly by controlling Dream Phosphor.

"Reshaping and distorting rules, and the tides of civilization's development."

Both abilities were powerful enough to enrich Truman's combat capabilities.

"It'll take some time." Truman looked at the two Uniquenesses bobbing in the Sea of Dreams and nodded in satisfaction.

Next, he took out the Quill of Alzuhod.

This quill, formed from the characteristics of the Dragon of Nightmare, had finally fallen into his hands.

The quill trembled in his grasp. It probably knew that two "seniors" had just been thrown into the Sea of Dreams for a bath.

"Let's try this." Truman opened to the third page of the Book of Dreams—"Causality."

The two abilities overlapped to some extent, which meant that using them together would greatly amplify their effects.

"..." Truman scratched his head, then wrote in the Book of Dreams: "The Demon Monarch is in a terrible state of mind. Influenced by the desire for destruction, he has prepared a plan to make the world feel the terror of the Abyss once more, and has begun putting it into action."

Crack!

The words on the "Causality" page shattered at once. He still couldn't forcibly interfere with an Ancient God's fate.

"Is it because I can't draw on enough power?" Truman sensed the page, then nodded slightly.

The power he could currently draw from the Book of Dreams was roughly at the level of a King of Angel, about the same as Sasrir in his unpowered state. He was still nowhere near capable of interfering with a God.

Godhood was a qualitative transformation for all Pathways, representing a concept of authority itself.

"Influenced by the Elf King's use of vast quantities of seawater in the divine war, the demons of the Abyss will emerge in great numbers and attack the territories of the various races."

After thinking it over, Truman wrote this line in the book.

It was just like several hundred years ago. Back then, the Demon Monarch and the Annihilation Demonic Wolf had faced the same predicament, with their demons wreaking havoc throughout the world, devoted to destroying and defiling everything.

Buzz!

Truman watched the words slowly fade from the page. He looked up beyond the divine kingdom and sensed a faint power spreading outward. The wheels of history had begun to turn.

If it had only been the Quill of Alzuhod's power, the Demon Monarch might have noticed.

After all, demons had already gained the ability to sense danger at Sequence 6. At the level of a Demon Monarch, he could learn of anything that threatened him.

In the war that had claimed the lives of three Ancient Gods, the Demon Monarch had run even faster than the Phoenix, who possessed part of the "Door" Pathway.

But now that "Causality" had been combined with the Quill of Alzuhod, it had reached a higher level, and the Book of Dreams had shielded this interference with fate.

The Demon Monarch probably wouldn't notice.

"This will take quite a while."

The demons would keep harassing and invading the territories of the various supernatural races until those races could no longer bear it and launched a war in their fury.

It was perfectly reasonable. Such things had happened countless times over the past millennia.

Once a war began, it wouldn't end easily.

In a corner of the city-state that had just escaped utter destruction, the boy saw a freshly prepared Potion in the hands of the tall priest.

"I have three formulas: God-Blood Warrior, Hunter, and Assassin. The—"

"The Giant Pathway has formulas up to Sequence 7, while Hunter and Assassin are Sequence 9 and Sequence 8."

"I don't have enough materials right now. I can only prepare one Assassin Potion." The priest raised the stone jar in his hand. Inside, the Potion shifted like a shadow.

"I'm warning you for the last time. Potions can help us resist demons, but we'll become demons ourselves."

The priest, a Weapon Master, looked at the boy, whose eyes still brimmed with boundless longing, and gave his final warning.

"I just want to live, and... to find Mr. Angel!" The boy snatched the Potion from him roughly.

"The Lord has forgiven you. No one will hurt you again!" The priest shook his head. "Everyone who drove you out of the city-state will be punished, too."

"But I don't believe you!" The boy stubbornly defied the world. "I never will!"

"Child..." The priest tried to make amends. "It was my failure not to save you..."

Before the priest could finish, the boy drank the Potion in the stone jar in one gulp.

As the Potion went down his throat, it gradually merged with his body. The stone jar slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. His eyes turned black, and shadows seemed to stir beneath his skin.

"Quick, meditate!" The priest's face grew grave. He shouted, hoping to rouse the boy.

While preparing the Potion, he had already taught the boy all kinds of knowledge, but after drinking it, the boy seemed to have lost the ability to think.

It would only be harder for a child to retain his reason after taking a Potion.

But at that moment, the ray of sunlight on his forehead took effect. The sun's "Purification" steadied the boy's will, allowing him to complete the meditation.

The boy seemed to have a real talent for studying the mystic arts. He quickly gathered his Spirituality and completed his advancement.

"...You're lucky," the priest said, looking at the boy with mixed feelings.

"Tell me your name. I need to register you."

"Cheek!" The boy gave his name.