Countless people throughout the Royal Court turned their eyes to the west. Their hearts were gripped with fear as a “meteorite” streaked through the sky, trailing thick smoke before crashing into the earth.

Boom!

A violent tremor from the impact knocked everyone in the city to the ground.

Chaos engulfed the entire Royal Court.

Screaming, people fled in a panic, scattering in every direction.

Once they reached places they deemed safe, their terror began to subside. They stopped, taking note of their surroundings.

Other districts had only felt the shock wave, but in the western district, thick smoke rose and flames stretched across the horizon, casting an orange glow against the sky. Everyone knew an unimaginable catastrophe had struck there.

A massive crater had formed in the western district, having destroyed large sections of buildings.

Fortunately, the fallen “meteorite” was not particularly large, nor had it fallen from a great height.

As a result, the destruction was concentrated at the center of the western district. The impact, though immense and terrifying, directly obliterated buildings only within a radius of several hundred meters.

However, the streams of fire that accompanied the impact had set large areas of buildings ablaze.

The “meteorite” that fell from the sky landed at the very center of the ritual.

The final step of the ritual formally began.

The ritual array suddenly descended from the sky and merged with the earth.

Amid the crisscrossing light, sacrificial mythical blood surged from the fire that lit up the sky, rushing toward the “meteorite.”

It glowed, attracting the sacrificial offerings within the Abyss king selection ritual.

Byron, who had lost consciousness, gradually began to float upward.

He was visible to all.

The “meteorite” continuously shrank until it finally revealed a beating heart.

Wrapped in flames and colored like blood, it forced its way into Byron’s body.

Byron, an ordinary mortal just moments before, underwent a transformation as his body was tempered in blood and fire. A powerful aura and strength began to emanate from him.

This was no meteorite.

It was the Seed of Wrath.

The birth of the Son of Wrath was accompanied by a sea of fire and mountains of corpses.

Amid the roaring flames, countless monsters emerged. Bone Demons, Snake Demons, Heart-Burning Demons, Swamp Demons, and other creatures crossed the boundaries between realms, bowing before Byron.

They made various sounds of reverence.

However, most of the monsters that had descended were only of the first or second rank.

They remained in the mortal world due to an evil contract signed with the Abyss Cult. If the cultists holding the contract were killed, the monsters would be forced to leave the mortal realm.

The towering pillar of light gradually receded, and the surging flames withdrew into his body.

Byron fell to the ground.

That power concealed itself within Byron’s body, waiting for him to learn how to use it.

At this moment, the most excited people were the cultists who had caused this apocalyptic scene.

All the followers of the Abyss Cult witnessed this and knew that they had succeeded.

“The Seed of Wrath has descended!”

“The Seed of Wrath!”

“It is the Son of Wrath! He is the divinely chosen King of the Abyss!”

The cultists, having personally created the new Son of Wrath and orchestrated such a terrible disaster, felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

In this moment, they felt as if they were the masters of this world.

They believed they could do whatever they pleased, arranging everyone’s fate and deciding who lived or died.

The acting High Priest of the cult, positioned at a high point, had a flush of excitement on his face.

He cried out with a trembling voice, admiring the “beautiful scene.”

“O God of Original Sin!”

“What a magnificent sight! What a cruel world!”

“All people bear original sin. Everyone is falling.”

“The sinful shall fall into the abyss amid raging flames!”

Hovering in the air, he began to descend, turning into a black shadow as he fell toward the ground.

From the moment the ritual began to the birth of the Son of Wrath, everything had happened in the blink of an eye. The suddenness of the disaster left everyone completely unprepared.

He knew, however, that the forces of the Royal Court would respond without delay. The vast entity had started to decline, but its foundation was still incredibly strong, particularly in its own royal city.

He intended to swiftly remove the newly born Son of Wrath before the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents could respond.

The Royal Court would pay the price.

The rewards would be theirs.

At that moment, a group of unexpected people appeared.

Large numbers of soldiers rushed out from the streets. They formed formations under the leadership of ability users and divided into small squads as they charged through the city.

The monsters chasing and devouring ordinary people on the roads encountered them unexpectedly, as did the cultists who were indulging in slaughter and sacrifice.

Various divine techniques, alchemical artifacts, and scrolls released their power, killing both the monsters and the cultists who were rampaging through the city.

“It’s the Alchemy Corps!” a cultist recognized with alarm. This was currently the strongest armed force in various countries, equipped with alchemical artifacts, supernatural powers, ritual arrays, and scrolls.

“What’s happening? Weren’t we told there were no Alchemy Corps in the city?” Before taking action, they had gathered intelligence indicating that both Alchemy Corps had been deployed elsewhere.

“Where did they come from?” The cultists, who feared these organized supernatural forces most, immediately tightened their formation and gathered together.

“Could it be the Temple Knight Order?” someone speculated. It could be the Temple Knight Order, which rarely appeared before the public, but that order had few members, while at least a thousand people had just appeared.

The acting High Priest sensed trouble.

He immediately accelerated toward the center of the ritual, his body transforming into multiple shadows.

He emerged from the ground, reaching to grab Byron, who had just merged with the Seed of Wrath. However, massive stone fragments erupted from the earth, blocking his path.

A stone snake-person colossus then emerged from the ground, attacking the acting High Priest of the cult.

In addition to Witch Spirits and Alchemists, Ruhe Beast Island was mainly home to ordinary snake-person ability users. The Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents was largely composed of these common users.

The acting High Priest exclaimed, “A third-rank snake-person ability user!”

“Which city official is this?”

“Is it a legion commander from one of the two legions? Or the captain of the Temple Knight Order?”

As the stone snake-person colossus emerged, an armored commander stepped forward near the crater. His gaze burned with anger as he watched the acting High Priest through the roaring flames.

“Cultist!”

“You are seeking death!”

This person was the vice-commander who had constantly been at the Dark Moon General’s side. Although he had returned with a small number of soldiers for the triumphal ceremony, he had left again the next day.

But as soon as he returned to his post, he received secret orders from the Dark Moon General to come back with the entire legion.

Although he found it strange that the Dark Moon General had secretly redeployed him and stationed the legion in the fortress in the western district, there was no time to dwell on it now.

He only wanted to kill the cultist before him, the one who dared to sacrifice to an evil god in the royal city.

He controlled the twenty-to-thirty-meter-tall stone colossus to engage the opponent while personally releasing various divine techniques.

The acting High Priest summoned a giant swamp monster to counter him.

The acting High Priest immediately recognized the man standing before him. This was a prominent figure within the Royal Court, someone who had served for a long time as the vice-commander under the Dark Moon General and now held the position of commander of the Eclipse Legion.

“It’s the commander of the Eclipse Legion!”

“Weren’t they stationed in the east? When were they recalled?”

The acting High Priest sensed something was deeply wrong.

The other side’s appearance was too strange, too timely.

It was as if they had anticipated his plans for this exact moment.

But what was strange was, if they knew, why did they not stop them beforehand?

In recent days, someone had noticed their movements and carried out searches, but these had appeared to be routine inspections. There was no indication that their plan had been uncovered.

The acting High Priest turned his gaze and saw more legion soldiers and ability users rushing in, surrounding the unconscious Byron at the center of the crater.

The acting High Priest’s heart sank as realization struck him.

“This is bad!”

“They are after the Son of Wrath!”

The acting High Priest was both shocked and furious. He had never imagined that someone would try to snatch the divinely chosen, pre-selected Abyss King from the Abyss Cult’s grasp.

What did these people want?

What could they possibly want with the Son of Wrath?

Was he going mad? Or had the world itself gone mad?

The acting High Priest shouted, his voice filled with shock and conjecture.

“It’s Dark Moon, isn’t it?”

“He knew all along, didn’t he?”

No one knew what he was talking about. None of those present even knew what Byron was.

They had only received orders that they must not let the Abyss Cult take this person away.

One side guarded Byron, while the other tried to reclaim their Son of Wrath.

Both sides engaged in a brutal supernatural battle around the crater.

There were not many cultists who had infiltrated the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents. One by one, Fallen High Priests led their followers to the crater, participating in the struggle to seize the Son of Wrath.

As more Eclipse Legion soldiers arrived from all directions, they organized into formations and began to eliminate the cultists. They skillfully divided the enemy, transforming direct confrontations into a series of smaller supernatural battles and using their superior numbers to overpower them.

The shadows of monsters and Abyss creatures intersected as divine techniques crisscrossed through the sea of fire.

This place became a meat grinder battlefield where cultists died in waves. The Abyss monsters they had summoned immediately lost their space of existence in this world.

Boom boom boom!

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps came from the distance, sending tremors through the earth.

Everyone turned to look. Some rejoiced, while others were terrified.

Those terrified were from the Abyss Cult. A Fallen High Priest exclaimed loudly.

“It’s the Great Stone Demon controlled by the royal family of Ten Thousand Serpents!”

“A third-rank monster!”

This Great Stone Demon had been severely injured in the recent war with the Thunderlake Kingdom and had returned on its own following its contract. It had not yet recovered but was summoned again, a sign of how frightened the royal family was by this crisis.

The Great Stone Demon charged toward the crater with incredible speed, arriving at the scene almost instantly.

Whoosh!

In the distance, a fiery shadow streaked across the sky. The third-rank Fire Demon, summoned from the Sacred Fire platform of the temple, also rushed toward the scene.

After complex rituals and commands, the two monsters that safeguarded the nation’s fate finally obeyed their orders and arrived.

The Abyss Cult now realized they would not be able to take Byron, the Son of Wrath, with them.

The acting High Priest of the cult looked at Byron with extreme reluctance, then let out a great roar.

“Go!”

“Retreat separately!”

He gave up, preparing to first withdraw from the royal city.

The other Fallen High Priests heard the order and immediately began their retreat.

However, these cultists lacked professional training and were more skilled in individual combat. They could barely hold their ground when united. Once they began to retreat, their formation quickly descended into a chaotic and disorganized rout.

Most of them were caught during the pursuit and could not escape the city.

In the end, very few escaped alive.

This time, the Abyss Cult had suffered unimaginably heavy losses.

Only two Fallen High Priests were left, and the other cultists were almost entirely eliminated. The acting High Priest, however, managed to escape.

Even then, the battle had not ended.

Fire-fighting efforts were underway throughout the city, and the soldiers who had been fighting the Abyss Cult immediately began rescuing people.

Desperate wails filled the streets and alleys. No one knew exactly how many people had died in this disaster, how many families had been torn apart, or how many had been completely wiped out.

At this time, the Dark Moon General, dressed in civilian clothes, arrived near the crater.

He mobilized personnel for rescue efforts while also calming the people.

He arrived accompanied by a large group of officials and nobles. It was evident that the horrific scene had shaken them deeply, as some trembled without pause.

They could never have foreseen a disaster of this magnitude unfolding so close to them.

Neither could they have imagined that anyone would dare to commit such atrocities against the Royal Court.

“How many people have died?” one asked, his voice shaking.

“Have these people gone mad? Why would they do this?” another questioned.

“Fortunately, the general responded appropriately,” a third added with relief. “Otherwise, the entire Royal Court would have been finished.”

The Dark Moon General surveyed his soldiers.

Everyone immediately saluted.

“General!”

The Dark Moon General nodded and raised his voice to address them.

“This was a conspiracy. It was a conspiracy aimed at us, at our entire country.”

“Some people want to destroy us. They want to destroy this country.”

“It is you who saved this city. It is you who saved this country.”

Although everyone grieved for the disaster and mourned their fallen comrades, their faces now lit up with excitement, their expressions filled with a flush of red.

At this point, someone stepped forward to ask the Dark Moon General a question.

“General, why did the Abyss Cult appear here?”

The Dark Moon General replied, “That still needs investigation.”

“However, a few days ago, I received news that several lords in the south are plotting a terrible plan. Here in the city, we have also caught spies they sent.”

These statements were not problematic on their own. It was true that several lords were plotting a terrible plan, and it was also true that spies had been caught in the city.

But when spoken in this context, at this time, they left a completely different impression on everyone.

Everyone quickly associated this disaster with the lords who were nominally part of the Royal Court but had long been striving for independence.

Everyone immediately became indignant, their minds filled with rage as they imagined various possibilities.

“These people must face the consequences!”

“Do they think this will break us? Nothing can break us!”

“General, we cannot let them get away with this!”

The crowd grew restless, with flames of anger seemingly burning in everyone’s eyes.

The Dark Moon General raised his hand, calming everyone down.

“Right now, the priority is to focus on saving lives.”

He entered the area that had suffered the worst of the disaster, observing as the rescued were laid on the ground. Among them was Byron, with the vice-commander standing watch nearby.

The Dark Moon General looked at Byron lying on the ground. His vice-commander turned to him and asked a question.

“General, who exactly is this person? Why would the Abyss Cult go to such lengths just to take him?”

“Those people seemed mad. If the Great Fire Demon and Great Stone Demon hadn’t arrived, they probably wouldn’t have given up.”

The Dark Moon General said, “I’m not sure. But whoever they wanted to take, we definitely could not let them succeed.”

The general walked over to Byron, looking down at the unconscious young man.

His gaze was profound, his eyes moving slightly.

At last, he let out a long breath, turned, and walked away.

In a castle manor outside the city

The acting High Priest of the Abyss Cult, who had just escaped, gathered with two Fallen High Priests.

All three were disheveled, especially the acting High Priest.

The power he had gained through the ritual began to fade, and he reverted to his aged appearance.

“Damn it!”

“How dare they plot against us!”

“That Dark Moon… he must have known about our plan from the very start.”

“He was waiting for us to create the Son of Wrath before making his move!”

The High Priest seemed to have gone mad. His hoarse voice echoed in the empty room, his expression ferocious and terrifying.

One of the two remaining Fallen High Priests looked at the acting High Priest with urgency. “High Priest, what about the Son of Wrath?”

The High Priest was not naive. He understood that if Dark Moon had invested so much effort and paid such a heavy price to acquire the Son of Wrath, he clearly had no intention of killing him.

If Dark Moon wanted him dead, he would not have allowed him to be born in the first place.

Of course, the High Priest did not know that Dark Moon had another plan in mind.

“They won’t kill the Son of Wrath. That Dark Moon fellow… I never thought he would be so crazy.”

“That man is just like the rumors say. He’s insane.”

“He shouldn’t be a general. He should join our Abyss Cult.”

Pausing for a moment, the old man caught his breath.

“He wants the power of the Son of Wrath. No matter what he does, the Son of Wrath has already been born.”

“We just need to find an opportunity to push him onto the throne.”

The questioner nodded in understanding.

The High Priest turned to face another wall. This wall was carved with intricate scenes depicting the Abyss.

That was the realm of the god they worshipped, and also their destined final resting place.

Looking at the images, he spoke with a voice that was both mad and devout.

“It does not matter. We will succeed without a doubt.”

“The divinely chosen king,” he declared with unwavering conviction, “is fate.”

However, they were unaware that this was not the will of the God of Original Sin. It was merely a ceramic figurine acting on behalf of the god that had chosen the Son of Wrath.

And it had not chosen him because he possessed great potential or was destined to become the King of the Abyss. It chose him simply because he bore a resemblance to someone.

It found the idea interesting.

As for how many Abyss cultists died, did that matter?

Ambitious fallen people were countless. As long as wise beings still existed, nothing could stop them from falling toward darkness and the abyss.

Whether this time would produce a King of the Abyss might not be important, nor did it matter who was chosen.

This was nothing more than a game of chess controlled by others. The lofty will remained indifferent to the deaths of pawns and showed little concern for the game’s outcome.

The joy of victory in a chess game could never match the laughter found within the game itself. Chess games could be played endlessly, but such intriguing pieces were rare and difficult to encounter again.

This was just a farce.

For the cultists, it was the irresistible divine will.

For ordinary people, it was an unavoidable disaster.

After the High Priest completed his routine prayers, he suddenly remembered something.

“Something feels off.”

“Even though we mobilized so many people for this operation, only the Fallen High Priests and I knew the Son of Wrath’s identity.”

“How did they know who he was? They targeted him from the very beginning.”

The High Priest immediately sensed that something was amiss. All the other Fallen High Priests had perished, leaving only the two standing before him.

He realized what was happening and suddenly turned to look at the two men behind him.

But what he saw was a giant figure of flames expanding and a supernatural artifact blade shooting forth.

The one who acted was the Fallen High Priest who had remained silent.

The blade of raging fire pierced through the High Priest’s chest.

He had discovered the truth only to be immediately struck down.

What shocked him even more was that this Fallen High Priest, known as one of the strongest, had always relied on a third-rank supernatural artifact for his power. Now, he was personally demonstrating the abilities of a third-rank user.

This indicated that the other had completely surpassed him.

“Third… rank…”

“When did you reach the third rank?”

The previously silent Fallen High Priest raised his head. The typically low-key man’s eyes now burned with the flames of pride.

“Fool,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. “Why waste your breath on meaningless questions when death is already upon you?”

With hatred and unwillingness, the High Priest was consumed by flames and burned to ashes.

The victorious Fallen High Priest gripped the blade radiating with raging fire as a terrifying fiery shadow surged behind him. He turned to face the last remaining Fallen High Priest.

The other immediately knelt on the ground, shouting loudly.

“High Priest!”

The Fallen High Priest opened his mouth and smiled. “You are very clever.”

The other’s face showed a pleasing smile, thinking he had escaped calamity.

But soon, the man before him pressed a hand against his skull. Flames surged forth, consuming him entirely.

The fire burned within his body, as if scorching his very soul.

Ah!

Byron let out a scream of agony, scrambling up from the ground.

He clutched his heart, feeling as if his chest held molten lava, so intense that his throat felt on the verge of erupting in flames.

The pain made him want to roll on the ground, but he remembered something more important.

“No!”

“Mother! Sarin!”

He recalled the nightmare, but even now, he could not believe it.

He firmly believed it was just a nightmare.

The young man struggled to his feet and looked around.

He saw the ruins left by the disaster. Nearly a quarter of the city was burned down, with a huge crater before him.

Around him lay many injured people, burned or crushed, each letting out wails like those from hell, making one’s heart go numb.

In the distance, the fire still burned fiercely. Smoke billowed from the ruins, and the air carried the sickening stench of charred flesh, an intensity that turned the stomach.

“Where is my home?”

“Why can’t I see anything anymore?”

“Where is it?”

“Where is it?”

Byron was completely dazed. He turned in circles, looking several times before he could confirm the direction of his home.

But instead of familiar alleys and streets, there was only a huge crater.

He ran into the crater, where the ground was littered with corpses.

The area was strewn with the bodies of various monsters, cultists, and soldiers that had yet to be retrieved. The ground bore the marks of battle, with deep scars etched into the earth.

Walking among the horrifying and inhuman corpses, Byron felt his heart grow cold as ice.

Finally, he stopped.

He had found his target.

That horrifying nightmare had become reality before his very eyes. He saw his mother, who had turned into a Heart-Burning Demon.

She had been impaled by a long spear and pinned to the ground.

The Heart-Burning Demon had been banished back to the Abyss, her form transformed back into an ordinary corpse.

In her arms, she held another body, a child burned to charcoal.

Byron staggered toward them, his steps unsteady. He reached for the spear, his hand trembling as he tried to pull it out.

Then, as if defeated, he let go and dug his fingers through his hair. He stood frozen, his mouth slightly open, his eyes darting around in a daze.

He reached out a hand but kept pulling it back, unsure of what to do.

Finally, he saw what his sister held. The small body clutched something white in its hand.

In her small, charred hand, she still clutched the pebble he had given her.

When his mother rushed out carrying her, she had still been playing her game, completely unaware that disaster had struck.

Byron collapsed, sinking to the ground.

Ah!

Ah!

Ugh!

He tried to scream, but his voice was fragile and weak. After just two cries, he began to vomit.

Ha!

Ha… huff… huff…

Though he sat still, having not exerted himself, he kept gasping for air as if he were struggling to breathe.

In the end, it was a soldier collecting bodies who helped Byron arrange the corpses of his mother and sister.

The bodies were wrapped in a woven mat, hiding their horrific state.

The person responsible for registration asked Byron, “Are there any other family members?”

“You should go notify them, so they can come and handle this.”

Hope suddenly ignited in Byron’s eyes.

Yes!

Father and his elder brother.

He needed to find them quickly, to tell them.

To tell them that mother and Sarin were gone.

His father had recently taken a job building a house for a family. He immediately rushed to that place, his only thought to find his father and elder brother as quickly as possible.

Byron himself was just a half-grown child. His father and elder brother were his support, his backbone.

He rushed all the way to that house at the edge of the western district, charging into the newly built structure where even the doors had not yet been installed.

This place had clearly not been severely affected, so his father and brother should be fine.

Tears finally began to fall, streaming steadily down his cheeks.

When a person finds support and reliance, they become extremely vulnerable.

“Father!”

“Elder brother!”

He shouted as he rushed in.

“Mother, Sarin, they’re both…”

He charged into the house, where unfamiliar figures already stood. He did not recognize any of them.

Among them were several ability users, with the Dark Moon General, dressed in civilian clothes, standing at the center.

Inside the room stood an altar. On the altar lay corpses, offered as sacrifices to initiate the Abyss king selection ritual. Numerous altars like this were scattered across the western district, forming the vast ritual array.

Byron’s gaze followed the others, looking toward the altar.

The altar held multiple corpses, including the people he had been searching for.

His tears stopped abruptly. His pupils dilated to their limit as bloodshot lines spread across the whites of his eyes.

The Dark Moon General turned around and noticed Byron.

“Are they your family?”

Byron looked at the altar, at the dried, blood-soaked patterns.

He nodded stiffly.

Byron suddenly found he could no longer feel sorrow.

He realized that everything he could lose was already gone. With nothing left, there was no more room for sorrow.

But as sorrow receded, boundless hatred and rage surged forth.

His facial muscles tensed and his teeth clenched as he screamed with all his might.

“Beasts!”

“Who did this?”

“Who exactly did all of this?”

The Dark Moon General looked at the young man and said to him calmly.

“It was the Abyss Cult.”

Byron looked up and asked him, “Why would they do this?”

At that moment, someone rushed in from outside, whispering something in the Dark Moon General’s ear.

The Dark Moon General did not speak further with Byron, but turned to address everyone present.

“We have just received news. Based on the confessions of spies and cultists, we can now confirm.”

“It was spies from several southern lords who colluded with the Abyss Cult and plotted this conspiracy. They have already formed the Southern City-State Alliance and are waiting for the Royal Court to collapse before sending troops to occupy this country.”

“They want to destroy this country, to kill us.”

“Those greedy and despicable lords want to seize power, and those evil Abyss cultists want to sacrifice to their evil gods.”

“We responded in time and managed to prevent this disaster from expanding.”

The Dark Moon General then looked at Byron. “Regrettably, we could not completely avert this disaster.”

At this moment, only two terms filled Byron’s mind.

The Abyss Cult and the Southern City-State Alliance.

Byron believed it. He believed everything the Dark Moon General said.

And everyone else present believed it too.

Soon, the entire Royal Court would believe it.

Byron stood grimly in the corner, waiting as the ability users collected information from the ritual array. Even after the crowd dispersed, he remained motionless.

His face was blank, almost numb. His thoughts remained a mystery to those around him.

The crowd gradually left. The Dark Moon General ordered someone to take care of the bodies and then walked over to Byron.

He spoke softly, breaking the silence.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

“The feeling of losing everything.”

Byron gave a bitter smile. “I’m the one who lost everything, not you.”

But the Dark Moon General said, “When I was your age, my father and my family also died in an accident.”

“My father always said that with a sword and power, one could control one’s own fate, not be devoured by others.”

“But in the end, he was still devoured.”

“Because others had greater strength and wielded sharper swords than he did.”

The Dark Moon General looked at Byron. “The only thing in this world that prevents the weak from being completely devoured by the strong is order. It is rules.”

“This disaster arrived because the Royal Court has already lost its order.”

“This country no longer has rules to constrain people, which is why so many dare to break them.”

“The famine you mentioned is backed by the Abyss Cult. The countless refugees formed a wave only because the Southern City-State Alliance pushed it forward.”

“And this disaster is the same.”

His voice was not loud, but it was firm.

“More terrible than famine or disaster…”

“Is the loss of order.”

“There are always people who hope this world loses order, because without it, they can do whatever they want.”

“I do not wage war to kill people, but to maintain this country’s order. Although this country’s current order has many problems, it is still better than no order at all.”

“Moreover, I am also creating a new order and new rules.”

“Under the new rules, everyone will be constrained, establishing a brand new nation.”

“But to establish order, war becomes necessary. It is the only way to defeat those who dare to break the rules and disrupt order.”

The Dark Moon General looked at Byron, asking a question that pierced straight to his soul.

“Do you still think…”

“That war is unnecessary?”

These words from the Dark Moon General were like a sharp blade piercing Byron’s chest.

Byron realized that the general had heard everything he had said that day.

“So, this disaster was caused by the Abyss Cult and those southerners who wanted to destroy this country and shatter its order?”

“They sacrificed people to seize power.”

“They killed so many without restraint? Did they want to kill everyone in Fort Pence?”

The Dark Moon General did not answer. He just looked at him.

However, this expression alone served as a response.

Byron lowered his head, his fists clenched so tightly it seemed he might crush his own fingers.

“I will kill them. I must kill them.”

“I must…”

“Make them pay.”

The Snake Deity Temple

The prophet stood on the Sacred Fire platform, looking toward the terrible disaster in the distance.

Though she could not see anything, she could smell the burning fire.

She could even faintly hear the desperate wails from afar.

Throughout history, prophets could only use the eyes of beasts to see visions that ordinary people could not imagine. Apart from their noble status, they had little power themselves.

Much like the disaster unfolding now, the prophet could only stand at a distance and watch, completely powerless.

All she could do was send the Great Fire Demon from the Sacred Fire platform.

“A world without divine protection…”

“Is this what it is like?”

The blind woman stepped down from the Sacred Fire platform and moved through several temple buildings. She followed a concealed passage that led to the base of the Mountain of Life’s Origin.

Long, long ago, there was a mysterious cave at the foot of the Mountain of Life’s Origin.

Legend had it that Pence, the ancestor of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, first discovered it. The cave contained secrets from the ancient era of the snake people, secrets about the Life Sovereign.

The blind woman searched for a long time before finally finding this place.

The ancient cave had long been concealed behind a wall.

The blind woman used incantations and rituals to open it.

Rumble rumble~

The stone wall pulled apart to both sides, revealing the cave behind it.

The blind woman stepped inside. She did not bring any light, as it would make no difference to her.

But she possessed keen senses, able to feel the terrain in the darkness and the general outline of the cave.

She touched the walls with her hands, feeling everything around her.

The walls were covered with murals.

Despite the passage of so many years, their colors remained vibrant.

The murals recorded everything about Sermos, the Snake Mother, the legends of this snake-person ancestor.

These must have been left by their ancestor, Pence.

Pence had not beautified Sermos, the Snake Mother, in any way. He showed both her achievements and her mistakes.

These legends were the closest to the original, the most authentic version.

The murals depicted the image of Sermos, the Snake Mother.

They showed the deity that devoured the sky and sun.

They also showed the appearance of the City of Life.

The murals primarily depicted the story of the Snake Mother Sermos and the four divine trials she endured. They showed how the Snake Mother gave birth to the snake people in the wilderness and, through numerous challenges, guided them time and again to receive divine blessings.

She ultimately became God’s Apostle and was granted divine power.

However, in the end, driven by the sin of envy, she took the life of God’s creation. As punishment, she was transformed into a great serpent and confined to the City of Life.

The blind prophet stopped at this mural. Through her hands and senses, the image formed in her mind.

“The Life Sovereign’s first apostle.”

“The Mother of All Snakes.”

“Sermos.”

She stood for a long time, lost in thought.

Then she continued looking further.

Beyond this point, new legends and stories awaited, shrouded in mystery and yet to be uncovered.

The blind woman touched the murals, coming to the last one.

It depicted the story of the Captain of the Temple Knights and the Holy Maiden.

At the end of the story, the great serpent rushed toward the sky, and the City of Life also disappeared from the mortal world.

“So in the end, God forgave the Mother of All Snakes.”

“That is wonderful.”

Finally, the blind prophet looked toward the depths of the cave.

The darkness extended downward, as if it would pierce through the earth itself.

She remembered what she had been seeking all this time. It was the secret left behind by the Life Sovereign, the mysterious altar that enshrined the Eye of Mutation.

“Could it be here?”