I am the observable universe's constant itself, the carrier and embodiment of creation's rules (Seeking reads~)

The sixth floor of the Dungeon.

As far as the eye could see, there was still an overwhelming number of monsters.

They surged in from all directions, filling every inch of the rocky ground.

Ais could even clearly see a ceaseless stream of Goblin and Dungeon Lizard roaring as they joined the siege from the massive, interconnected chamber next door.

What made her scalp tingle even more was that, upon stepping onto this floor, Killer Ant—which should only appear on the seventh floor and below—were now crawling out of the cracks in the walls like cheap, mass-produced goods, as if they were free of charge!

The carapaces of these Killer Ant were incredibly hard; ordinary adventurers would have no choice but to flee when faced with such a massive swarm.

But in the next second, Ais moved almost instantly.

The cold glint of the Sword of Despair being unsheathed flashed and vanished, and her slender figure, like a bolt of golden lightning, cut into the densest area of the monsters without hesitation.

However, to her own surprise—

Her body seemed to possess an independent will.

The moment her feet stepped forward, a familiar yet strange sense of power rose from the soles of her feet, driving her body to glide forward with lightness.

The wind around her was no longer a blurred background; it became clear and palpable, wrapping around her blade and sides like docile ribbons.

She could "hear" the faint whimper of the wind brushing against the monsters' carapaces and "see" the tiny vortices the airflow formed before the compound eyes of the Killer Ant.

Steel-Cutting Dash!

The movement was smooth as flowing water, without a hint of hesitation.

Her slender blade carved an elegant yet lethal arc through the air, and the wind pressure it generated even caused a few Goblins further away to stagger backward.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Several Killer Ant and Goblins froze almost simultaneously, then turned into ash, leaving only Magic Stone clattering to the ground.

After the strike, Ais stood firmly in place.

She subconsciously looked down at her hands gripping the sword.

Ais flexed her fingers slightly, feeling the lingering, fluid rhythm at her fingertips.

This feeling... was very strange.

Her body's movements were faster than her thoughts, with an incredible level of precision.

Her perception of the wind had never been this clear, as if it had become an extension of her own limbs.

Was this the result of the night training arranged last night?

She tried hard to recall, but there was only a vague warmth in her mind, like a canvas soaked in warm water; she couldn't remember a single detail about the content of the training.

While she was still lost in doubt, a figure dashed past behind her.

"Lefiya! Please!" Bell's voice was urgent.

Ais's gaze subconsciously followed him.

She saw Lefiya holding her staff high, the long Elven incantations flowing out at a speed far exceeding yesterday's:

"I wish in the name of Vixen. Ancestors of the forest, noble kin. Respond to my voice... Elf Ring, I beseech you—lend me your power!"

The light of the Elf Ring flared suddenly, but what surged forth was not the familiar torrent of Elven magic, but rather the one Thor had modified for her—

Requiem of Peace!

BOOM—!

A violent magical explosion swept across the front, forcibly tearing a massive vacuum in the surging monster tide.

Bell's figure did not pause in the slightest, charging straight into the area that had just been cleared, his speed astonishing.

Furthermore, his strength had clearly been enhanced; facing a joint attack from three Goblins, Bell actually parried the strikes directly.

Ais's pupils constricted.

She clearly saw a faint yet exceptionally striking red glow enveloping Bell's body.

What was that?

A brand-new power?

Bell had not yet updated his status; where did this increase in speed and strength come from?

A strong sense of crisis instantly gripped Ais.

Thor's guidance was not aimed at her alone.

Lefiya's chanting speed had increased visibly to the naked eye.

Bell had even mastered an unknown power.

They were all progressing at an astonishing rate.

She could not fall behind.

Ais's expression hardened, her figure turning into a golden streak of light as she followed closely behind Bell, once again slaughtering her way into the regrouping monster swarm.

The dense roars of monsters, the whistling of blades, and the crackle of magic intertwined.

The trio wove through the monster tide, their movements perfectly synchronized.

Ais's wind blades grew increasingly precise and fluid, Lefiya's magic chains accelerated, and Bell charged forward with ferocious momentum under the influence of the red glow.

The sheer numbers, enough to drive ordinary adventurers to despair, melted away rapidly under their efficient coordination.

High noon.

In a relatively secluded chamber on the seventh floor of the Dungeon.

The brief silence following the fierce battle descended.

The group decided to take a short rest here.

Ais sat down beside Thor, almost subconsciously, at a distance of about two or three fists away.

She felt a bit strange about it herself.

She didn't know why, but ever since the training ended last night, she felt an instinctive sense of peace whenever she stayed by Thor's side...

She silently took out the bento box Syr had prepared.

Lefiya followed closely behind Ais, sitting down on her left.

A wave of intense hunger made her unable to care about her image.

As she pried open the bento, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "I never expected that just reaching the seventh floor would be this difficult..."

To increase the survival rate of adventurers in the Dungeon, the Guild provides detailed recommendations on what level an adventurer should be to enter each floor.

For floors 5 through 7, the recommended adventurer level is LV.1, with recommended stats of G-F, which corresponds to a range of 200 to 300.

Both she and Ais were high-level adventurers suppressed to LV.1, with their individual stats reaching 900+ at their peak, and although Bell was a newcomer, his strength under Thor's tutelage was not a bit weaker than theirs.

Yet, even a party like this had only just managed to break through the sixth floor and reach the seventh.

All of this was because Thor had followed them into the Dungeon; the scale of every monster they encountered was unimaginably vast.

Lefiya opened the meal box, and with a sense of respect for Syr's culinary skills—and a trace of imperceptible fear—she cautiously took a bite.

The taste... was truly hard to describe as "delicious."

An indescribable shock swept across her taste buds, and she almost instinctively grabbed the drink in the glass bottle beside her, gulping down a large mouthful just to force the mass in her mouth down her throat.

She truly lacked the courage to continue eating this bento, even if it could increase her endurance stat...

She subconsciously stole a glance at Thor beside her.

He was eating the exact same bento as her in a leisurely manner, his movements composed and his expression calm, showing not the slightest hint of struggle.

Lefiya couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion in her heart.

In truth, after spending time together, Thor didn't seem as terrifying as Loki had described.

He could be happy, he could be angry, he could be troubled, though he certainly had some wicked hobbies at times.

Oh, right, and he was a little bit of a pervert! Last night, he was clearly having the time of his life, yet he actually claimed it was all my fault!

He's just too cunning!

Thinking of this, Lefiya dug out another large spoonful of the bento and shoved it into her mouth out of spite.

The unspeakable taste exploded in her mouth once again, and she immediately grabbed the drink bottle, tilting her head back to drain the rest of the liquid, only then feeling that shock being forcibly suppressed.

With her mouth feeling slightly more comfortable, her curiosity became impossible to contain.

She looked at Thor's profile and finally couldn't help but ask.

"Lord Thor... so, what kind of god are you exactly? Why do those other gods... seem so afraid of you?"

Hm?

Lefiya's sudden inquiry caught Thor by surprise. He looked around to see both Ais and Bell watching him with immense curiosity, their faces waiting for his answer.

"Are you all that curious?"

Lefiya nodded in response. She was truly curious about the true identity of a being who could make Loki feel such terror.

Thor looked at the identical longing in the eyes of the three and sighed.

"Very well, since you are curious, I shall tell you."

He reached out and took the empty glass bottle from Lefiya.

"For now, you may imagine this bottle as the original state of your universe."

He blew a gentle breath into the bottle.

Inside, the Stardust he had extracted surged and swirled instantly, transforming into a chaotic, primordial nebula—no light, no time, only a vortex of disordered energy.

"At this moment, a living being was born within the bottle." Thor's voice sounded as if he were recounting an ancient tale. "His appearance caused the stagnant universe to begin flowing; time was born, space expanded, and all the rules you understand were established in his wake."

As he spoke, the chaos within the bottle began to change.

Specks of starlight ignited in the darkness. Nebulae began to rotate and condense, forming spiral arms as stars were born and evolved in silence within the glass.

Ais, Lefiya, and Bell instinctively leaned closer, holding their breath as if witnessing the magnificent epic of a universe emerging from nothingness.

Thor continued to manipulate the evolution of the Stardust within the bottle.

"This first living being is what you call the Creator God. He began to create and evolve. But the gods you know now—Zeus, Uranus, Freya... including Loki—are not the original source."

"They are branches that gradually evolved and separated from the divinity of that Creator God. They became the managers of this bottle, each presiding over a specific authority."

Hearing this, the three of them roughly outlined the contours of the universe they inhabited.

Lefiya couldn't help but ask, "Then, Lord Thor... are you that Creator God?"

Thor shook his head, offering an unexpected answer.

He reached out and took the two unopened drinks in front of Bell and Ais, placing them side by side next to the empty bottle used to demonstrate the universe.

"And the universe is not unique." His gaze swept across the three bottles. "Beyond this bottle of yours, there exist countless universes, a number so vast you cannot even imagine."

He paused, seemingly searching for a metaphor a mortal could understand.

"Hmm... perhaps a hundred times more than all the stones in the Dungeon combined."

Lefiya tried to imagine the scene, but her mind went blank.

The concept was too vast, far beyond the boundaries of her cognition.

Thor waved his hand again.

Several points of brilliant Stardust spilled from his fingertips, condensing and taking shape in the air above the bottle, transforming into the phantom images of several Starry Sky Dragons.

They stretched their bodies, swimming leisurely through the invisible void.

"And these," Thor pointed to the Starry Sky Dragons, "are me, and my kind."

His voice carried a calmness that traversed the ages.

"We were born at the dawn of the Great Breath. We existed before the civilization of your universe had even sprouted, even before that Creator God lit the first star."

"We cruise upon an infinite canvas, striving to fill this vast expanse with miracles, letting the shimmering spectrum bring achievement and joy to all who witness it."

As he spoke, his intent shifted slightly.

One of the Starry Sky Dragon phantoms let out a silent, long cry and dove downward. Like a bird returning to its nest, it plunged with a "thud" into the original glass bottle demonstrating the universe.

In an instant!

The stars already born within the bottle flared with light. Countless new, even more brilliant star points emerged from thin air, stirring up layers of starlight ripples that instantly made the universe inside the bottle even more magnificent and profound.

Thor picked up the bottle, which was now shimmering with starlight.

"And this is our authority. We can cross dimensions, travel into any 'bottle,' and exercise our power to create stars."

Lefiya and Ais realized the truth upon hearing this.

Thor's explanation was concise and intuitive.

Simply put, he was not a "Creator God" or "manager" from within this universe, but a [Creator God] from outside the universe capable of traversing different dimensions to sow stars.

His status was indeed far above "managers" like Loki.

Ais and Lefiya exchanged glances.

They understood Thor's explanation, but they both saw the same confusion in each other's eyes.

If Thor's identity was merely a Creator God from outside the realm, wouldn't it have been enough for Loki to simply call him an "Outer God" or "Creator God"?

Why did she show such... a look of terror, as if she had glimpsed some ultimate horror?

And why did she say things like Thor being a concept or a phenomenon—words that made no sense to them?

This explanation did not seem sufficient to fully unravel that mystery.

Until Thor continued to describe, in a leisurely tone.

"Of course, that is not all." He spoke slowly. "I also once experienced a period... a time when I was betrayed and enslaved by Star Spirits."

He spoke lightly, as if discussing a trivial past event.

"Of course, that was a very, very long time ago. So long that even time itself seems blurred."

"After I completely erased those traitors, I, as an independent individual, embarked on a journey to seek the ultimate knowledge of the universe."

"Since then, I have lost track of how much time has passed... until..."

Thor raised his hand as he said this.

Several points of brilliant Stardust gathered in his palm, rotating and shaping until they finally condensed into the form of a crystal-clear, empty glass bottle.

Clatter.

He placed it down gently, setting the "bottle" created from Stardust firmly on the ground.

"Until... I understood the composition of 'glass' and the structure of the 'bottle shape.' I began to extract materials from the 'primordial void' of the multiverse, personally blowing brand-new, one-of-a-kind bottles."

His gaze fell upon that Stardust bottle.

"At this moment, what I create is no longer just a starry sky."

"But rather a complete universe, possessing an independent space-time structure and underlying logic."

Lefiya and Ais felt their hearts sink abruptly.

Creating... a universe?

This indeed seemed to far exceed their previous imaginations, enough to be truly shocking.

But...

This still seemed... unable to explain the fear that had seeped into Loki's very marrow.

That fear felt as if it had touched upon something far more fundamental.

And this, naturally, was not the end of Thor's story.

Thor continued leisurely, his voice sounding as if it came from the edge of the universe:

"And then, later on..."

He paused slightly, as if savoring that final realization.

"I completed the final leap."

"When I looked back suddenly, I discovered..."

"I was no longer the star inside the bottle, nor was I the creator outside the bottle."

"I had become the 'glass' that constitutes the 'bottle' itself."

"I became the observable universal constant itself."

"I became the vessel and incarnation of the laws of creation."