"No!!!"
Snowflakes are falling...
It was summer, and the temperature was high, but Abraham felt as if he had been doused with ice water, chilled from head to toe.
A familiar feeling rose from his body, a feeling he had been intimately familiar with 1,500 years ago. Although he hadn't experienced it for over a thousand years, its sudden return gave Abraham a strange and exhilarating sense of reunion.
"It has to feel just like this, so authentic!"
Abraham felt a chill in his heart, but his soul, which had been restless for nearly a thousand years, found a long-lost peace in this situation, which was rather excessive.
Feeling the smooth, cold skin of his ancestor's feet pressing down on his head, Abraham felt a strange sense of peace.
To say whether he was happy during his more than five hundred years of freedom is a question.
That was indeed joyful, after all, there was no longer anyone above you who could arbitrarily take lives, and you could become the true Blood Clan Progenitor based on your bloodline. It was truly a matter of complete freedom, to the point of being incredibly exhilarating.
But to say that his five hundred years were filled only with happiness...
It's not just about happiness.
Just as he had sensed before, for the past five hundred years he had been constantly worried—worried about the resurgence of the First Ancestor, worried that the Church might betray humanity once it had achieved a certain level of development, raising its sword against him, Abraham. He knew full well that the First Ancestor would eventually resurrect, yet he could only sink deeper and deeper into a state of increasing terror...
These five hundred years of apparent freedom were actually filled with various shackles for him; what was called freedom was actually an increase in troubles.
But now that the progenitor has truly resurrected, all of Abraham's external troubles have completely vanished, leaving only the question of how to please Abraham progenitor and prevent him from being killed...
"For some reason, Your Majesty stepping on this old servant's head actually makes this old servant feel a genuine sense of happiness... Your Majesty, this old servant longs to serve you by your side, to please you day and night!"
Abraham's head hung low to the ground, and he knelt down like a dog, bowing his head and uttering filthy words.
There's absolutely no need for that!
Norton was triggered by a single remark from Abraham.
He recalled the actions of that priest from the Papal State that he had once witnessed, and the memory sent a chill down his spine.
"Snort!"
Such painful memories caused Norton to let out a cold snort, then he stretched out his foot and lightly kicked Abraham.
"Boom!"
"Aaaaah!" came Abraham's scream.
Abraham's aged body was kicked out like a cannonball, flying more than ten meters, smashing through the thick walls of the palace, and still not losing momentum, sliding on the ground for more than three hundred meters before finally coming to a stop.
His body was broken and his tendons were torn apart. His entire abdominal cavity was kicked open by Norton. Even during his slide, he dug out a trench more than 300 meters long. His left shoulder and half of his abdominal cavity were kicked open by Norton, creating a basin-sized hole.
Even due to Norton's suppression of flesh and blood and his Existence Level, Abraham's powerful regenerative ability as First-Generation Vampire, which allowed him to recover his flesh and blood almost instantly, was suppressed by this kick. He was half-dead from Norton's kick, lying on the ground helplessly spitting blood, unable to move at all for a long time.
If his body truly cannot recover, then death is the only outcome awaiting him.
Abraham was now in a state of utter terror.
"He almost kicked me to death with one kick? And it didn't even seem like he used any force! What has he evolved into? Why is my body now unable to even recover!"
Damn it, he's really become God!!!
Did he really want to kick me to death? What should I do? I'm completely powerless to fight back!
Abraham was panicked and confused; fear and despair overwhelmed him.
Even so, when Abraham was finally able to speak, his first words were still flattering.
"Your Majesty! This old servant... deserves to die a thousand deaths! But Your Majesty's power has advanced again, which is truly a glory for our Blood Clan, and makes this old servant very happy!"
Even after being nearly kicked to death, Abraham could still offer such compliments; he truly understood the art of manipulation!
Seeing that half of his body was shattered, yet he still tried his best to flatter Norton like an old dog, Norton finally burst into laughter, his white hair flying in the wind.
"Hahahaha... Abraham, you are truly a remarkable man, you have some of my former glory!"
But we are ultimately different...
As Norton looked at Abraham's current miserable state and his continued subservience, he recalled his own life in the Church.
Knowing he was about to be burned to death, he didn't beg for mercy at all; instead, he immediately threw a punch in retaliation.
Now Abraham has been kicked to the brink of death by Norton, and if Norton doesn't let him go, he will surely die. Yet, he still flatters Norton, trying to find a glimmer of hope... just like back then in the Church when he gave his wife away for others' amusement in order to gain power and status.
Abraham appeared resilient, but in reality, he had become a slave to the ideology he had built up over half his life.
Norton was deeply moved. His pale body walked to the throne and slowly sat down on it. His tall, perfect body, with an inhuman and strange aura, sat on the throne, his three-meter-long hair hanging down around the throne, as if a true God had descended, filled with endless holiness and nobility.
" Abraham..."
"Your Majesty, I am here!" Abraham struggled to his feet, his body still crumbling, and knelt down, his head still touching the ground, his voice and demeanor utterly respectful.
"Now that I have ascended to the Divine Stage and become the true God of Garden of Eden, I decree to appoint you as my messenger to carry out my will! From this day forward, I am the God of the Garden of Eden, receiving the tribute of all nations and enjoying the supreme status of God!"
Norton's voice is truly elegant and beautiful. His words are no longer as hoarse and unpleasant as before, but rather like celestial music, enough to captivate anyone who hears them.
He advanced to the Fourth Stage, as if he had truly ascended to godhood, and every single detail of his body was at the most perfect level!
"Yes, Your Majesty! This old servant is honored!"
His words sounded like heavenly music to Abraham, filling Abraham with joy. The pain and despair he had felt from being kicked by Norton vanished instantly, leaving only the ecstatic joy of surviving and the fervent excitement of becoming a messenger of God.
This guy is really a bit of a masochist; he seems to forget how he was taught a lesson.
"Your Majesty... then, what about me?" Only then did Elizabeth, who had been silent all along, finally speak.
Norton paused, his exquisitely pale face turning away, his two dark eyes fixed intently on Elizabeth, who seemed to be changing somewhat.
The hall fell into an eerie silence once again.
Under Norton's silent yet intensely stressful gaze, Elizabeth grew increasingly fearful and uneasy.
A familiar feeling welled up in her heart, and for some reason, her mind, which had originally felt that she had escaped Norton's training, was gradually shrouded in a shadow again.
Abraham was very perceptive. He lay prostrate on the ground like an old tortoise, not daring to make a sound, but his ears were perked up, and he even felt a sense of anticipation, like someone vying for favor.
Under Norton's indifferent gaze, Elizabeth's voluptuous and beautiful body, which had remained unchanged for thousands of years, began to tremble, and endless panic began to spread in her heart.
After a long while, Norton finally looked away from Elizabeth, and then his indifferent words finally rang out in the hall.
"You... better watch yourself!"
With just a few words, the panic that Norton had once ignored instantly filled Elizabeth's heart.
Her mental state, which had only begun to improve over five hundred years, collapsed instantly. The familiar feeling of being ignored overwhelmed her, terrifying Elizabeth to the extreme.
"No, Your Majesty, no! I can do it too, Your Majesty, I can do anything... Your Majesty!"
However, Norton's pale divine body spread its wings, and with the flapping of its wings, its body soared into the sky, leaving Elizabeth alone, pulled back into endless panic by the dense psychological shadow.
"Good!"
Although Abraham, who was nearly kicked to death, was still kneeling on the ground and his injuries had not healed at all, he was now radiant and beaming, as if he had become a thousand years younger.
"As expected, I, Abraham, am Your Majesty's favorite!"