In the depths of the underground cavern

Akmanmon and Suero stood side by side, one with a face frozen like ice, the other burning with fanaticism.

A flame always burned in Suero’s heart. He viewed the world with the most fervent gaze.

But Akmanmon was a cold stone, like a corpse without a heart. No one knew what he was truly thinking.

Below the flaming altar, an intelligent ghoul approached Suero and Akmanmon to report on the situation.

“First Seat Lord, Second Seat Lord. Everything is in place.”

“Has it been checked?” Akmanmon asked.

“It has been…” the ghoul began.

But Suero interrupted the ghoul.

“There is no need to ask, Second Seat.”

He raised his hand, and a powerful, invisible force extended from all around. All the ghouls’ Plague Blood Curses resonated with his power, allowing him to sense the situation in every corner of the city.

“It has succeeded.”

In recent days, a massive ritual array had taken shape. The cavern served as its core, the Shepherd’s River and waterways defined its boundaries, the underground passages wove its network, and countless ghouls acted as its nodes.

This framework, which Suero had originally prepared for the Plague Blood Curse, was now modified into an Abyss Sacrifice ritual array.

Suero had led the Royal Court by the nose.

This was not because his schemes were particularly brilliant, but because the information between the two sides was unequal.

One was in the light, the other in the darkness.

With Akmanmon, the King of Ten Thousand Serpents, present, Suero could always stay one step ahead of the Royal Court. He placed the results they wanted before them, constantly diverting their attention.

This situation, however, could not last.

Neither Sukob, the Royal Court’s High Executive Officer, nor the divine attendants of the temple were fools.

They must have already sensed that something was wrong and had even begun investigating the hidden truth.

During this time, Suero and Akmanmon had finalized their preparations, ensuring everything was in place.

Akmanmon looked down at the altar beneath his feet. His inspiration revealed a horrifyingly massive pattern imprinted beneath all of Mooneclipse City.

It was as if the entire city had become a giant cutting board, and everyone above was nothing more than livestock awaiting slaughter.

Akmanmon turned to Suero. “For an Abyss Sacrifice array of this scale,” he asked, “how many people must be consumed to open the Door of the Abyss?”

Suero could not help but laugh as he spoke the terrifying words.

“This is not a sacrifice, Second Seat.”

“It is entering the Abyss together, falling into darkness together.”

“The moment the Door of Original Sin descends, the filthy mud will devour everything, and everyone will become Abyss Monsters.”

Suero circled the edge of the flaming altar and moved behind the flames. His shadow stretched long across the ground, like a clock hand completing a full rotation.

He pressed his hand on Akmanmon’s shoulder and spoke.

“What a beautiful thing.”

“Everyone will walk hand in hand, stepping into the Abyss together!”

“Everyone will smile together, welcoming a new future.”

For a cannibal and a butcher’s son, Suero possessed a romantic spirit, describing such a horrifying scene with great warmth.

He brought Akmanmon forward to stand before the flames.

“Akmanmon,” Suero said, his smile chilling. “I will devour this city completely. Everyone will be consumed.”

“They will enter my stomach, enter my Abyss of Gluttony.”

“King of Ten Thousand Serpents, are you interested in coming to the kingdom within my stomach? You could still be their king.”

Akmanmon did not speak.

Suero laughed loudly. He knew Akmanmon would not choose this.

“Rest assured.”

“If you do not wish to go to the Abyss, I will not force you.”

“I will step into the Abyss. You will stay in the mortal realm, serving as my other hand and another eye in this world.”

Akmanmon did not continue this topic. Instead, he simply asked Suero.

“When do you plan to activate the ritual array?”

Suero told him, “Tonight at midnight.”

Akmanmon nodded and turned to leave.

He walked down the altar’s sloping stairs to leave, but Suero called out to him.

“Wait.”

Akmanmon turned around, and Suero threw something down from the altar.

“Take it with you.”

Akmanmon caught the object. It was the Abyss Art of God’s Grace.

Akmanmon raised his head and glanced at Suero.

“Hold onto it carefully,” Suero said.

“No matter what you intend to achieve, you will require power.”

Although Suero was assisting Akmanmon, his words retained their characteristic sharpness.

“Even if what you seek is something…”

“A freedom that is utterly laughable.”

“An existence without restraint.”

Suero shrugged, mocking what Akmanmon valued most.

Akmanmon did not mind Suero’s little quirks. He gazed at him, as if sensing something.

“Are you leaving a contingency? That is not like you.”

“Leaving a contingency means losing the courage to risk everything.”

“You said that yourself.”

Suero sneered, “This is charity, Second Seat.”

Suero turned his back to Akmanmon.

“Get lost already!”

“Any later, and you will enter my stomach.”

“The King of Gluttony of the Abyss will not give you a choice.”

As Akmanmon turned to leave, he could not help but smile slightly.

After returning, he immediately left with the old snake person he had previously made into a ghoul. This ghoul was the intermediary Suinhor had sent to contact him.

He was a very crucial figure.

Although he lacked great strength, he held a unique position. He managed Suinhor’s critical intelligence network within the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

Through his power, combined with his own identity and the leverage of the Cannibal Cult, Akmanmon had constructed a massive underground force. This allowed him to grasp every move of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

Its tentacles reached deep, even to the High Executive Officer of the Royal Court and into the Ten Thousand Serpents Temple.

Suero’s success in arranging such a massive ritual array was made possible by leveraging this very power.

Akmanmon drove several carriages away from Mooneclipse City.

The moon rose higher and higher, casting its light upon the Shepherd’s River.

Inside the carriage, Akmanmon pulled back the curtain and looked toward Mooneclipse City.

He seemed to be waiting for something.

He waited for a while. When nothing happened, he lowered the curtain.

But just as he lowered the curtain, he suddenly sensed something.

He immediately yanked the curtain open, thrusting his head and half his body outside.

Suddenly, a pillar of light erupted from the center of the distant city, piercing the very sky.

Rings of light rose from the earth, forming a massive ritual array. It connected to the depths of the Dream Realm and to those existences named after myths.

The sky changed dramatically.

Dark clouds instantly covered the once cloudless night sky, and violent winds arrived.

Then, black rain began to fall from the sky.

As Akmanmon watched in shock, a great hole opened in the sky.

From within the black hole flowed filthy black mud.

The black mud was incredibly viscous, sticking together like asphalt as it slowly fell from the sky.

Just looking at the black mud evoked a sense of evil, filth, and depravity, stirring a deep, instinctive revulsion.

That was life’s instinctive fear and avoidance of the Darkness of All Spirits.

As the black mud emerged, a colossal Mythological Door’s shadow began to take shape within the great hole in the sky.

At first, it seemed distant. Yet, as the black rain and black mud poured down, it drew closer with every passing moment, as though it sought to step into the mortal realm.

Akmanmon called out its fearsome name.

“The Door of Original Sin.”

“A symbol of divine power!”

More precisely, it was a symbol of wisdom species demigods. Akmanmon now possessed vast supernatural knowledge and secrets that ordinary people could not access.

However, this secret, which pointed directly to the core of divine beings, was still unknown to him.

Suero had activated the ritual array.

He had launched his most insane, desperate battle, wanting to create again the miracle he had created before.

In an instant, thunder roared from the sky, shaking everyone in the city to their core.

The Ten Thousand Serpents Temple, the Contract Guild, and all the Royal Court’s institutions were instantly alarmed. The moment the power fluctuation emerged, thousands upon thousands of people appeared outside, raising their heads to look at the black rain in the sky.

From within the Contract Guild, an existence possessing God’s Form suddenly rushed into the air, watching the black rain that fell continuously, growing larger and larger.

Sukob did not act immediately. He was observing the situation, searching for traces of the true mastermind.

What exactly was the other party trying to achieve?

Sukob noticed a snake person on the street, shrouded in darkness. They rushed through the black rain, trying to avoid the strange downpour and get home quickly.

As they ran, their body began to change. To Sukob’s horror, they transformed into a Snake Demon right before his eyes.

Struggling, they lost all reason as their minds gave way to madness. They roared in rage and turned their fury toward anything that was not an Abyss Monster. In a frenzy, they charged into a Sail Beast pen and tore a wild beast apart.

Although Sukob was from Avel and grew up on Ruhe Beast Island, he knew what had once happened on that distant other continent, the Avel Peninsula.

He immediately recognized the black rain and the ritual activating within the city.

“Abyss Black Rain.”

“Someone has opened an Abyss Sacrifice ritual in the city.”

“When was this arranged and completed? How did I not even notice?”

Sukob had not expected that someone, under his very nose, would arrange such an appallingly evil ritual.

The scale and power of this ritual simply surpassed human imagination.

Several questions immediately surfaced in Sukob’s mind.

What kind of person could host such a ritual? At the very least an Apostle.

How many supernatural materials and Ability Users would such a ritual array require as nodes? At least thousands.

What kind of person could arrange such a ritual array under his very nose without being discovered? Sukob immediately thought of the Cannibal Cult, that supremely mysterious force.

“Everything they did was merely a deception. Their true purpose was this ritual, which covered the entirety of Mooneclipse City.”

Sukob immediately understood how everything was connected.

On the other side, Long was sending signals, telling the Witch Spirits in the city not to go out and to avoid the black rain from the sky.

After sending the signals, he hurried to Sukob’s side.

“Who on earth is this?”

“What does the person hosting this ritual want to do?”

Sukob had not known the host’s complete purpose, but then he saw more than just black mud flowing out of the great hole in the sky.

A dark red Mythological Door also appeared, accompanying the black mud.

“What is that?”

“A Mythological Door.”

Sukob’s voice grew louder, showing the great fluctuation of his emotions.

“He wants to summon the Door of Original Sin.”

At this, even Sukob was completely panicked.

The Door of Original Sin.

That was mythology-level power.

Long did not panic, only because he was completely dumbfounded. “That is impossible, right?”

But he immediately asked again, “Could they possibly succeed?”

“Of course they would not succeed elsewhere,” Sukob said urgently. “But this is Mooneclipse City.”

For the Evil God, the offerings here were unimaginably rich, enough to move even mythology.

At the very least, such massive offerings were more than enough to summon the Door of Original Sin.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the ritual had to be in a city like Mooneclipse City, with thousands of supernatural existences expended as the price, and an Apostle to host it.

Without the ghouls, those cheaply mass-produced supernatural monsters, Suero would not have been able to gather the conditions for such a massive ritual array.

Without the naturally formed, hidden underground cavern, he could not have arranged such a ritual array under everyone’s noses.

If not for Sukob’s pressure, he would not have thought of such an insane idea.

If he summoned the Door of Original Sin, everything would become an offering to the Evil God and would not fall into his hands. His original plan would be like drawing water with a bamboo basket, all for nothing.

“Long, gather everyone and return to the Contract Guild. Use the power of the divine statue to protect this place.”

“Ordinary people cannot possibly resist the power of the Abyss Black Rain.”

Sukob finished the urgent sentence and rushed toward the pillar of light.

His figure flickered several times, passing through the increasingly heavy black rain to appear beside the light pillar.

He saw the earth split open beneath the pillar of light.

A massive underground cavern appeared before everyone.

Inside the cavern, an altar burned with sinister flames. A snake person, cloaked and masked, stood silently before it.

At this moment, a shadow over a hundred meters tall writhed behind him, with the Plague Blood Curse emerging within it.

Throughout the entire city, thousands of Plague Blood Curses appeared. They emerged in every corner, resonating with the snake person on the altar.

The instant Sukob saw the other party, he immediately struck.

Sukob roared loudly.

“Stop!”

“Madman, do you know what consequences summoning the Door of Original Sin will cause?”

Sukob gripped the Book of the Witch Spirit, and densely packed words gathered into an ocean, finally transforming into a several-hundred-meter-tall Text Contract Spirit.

It unleashed immense power with the intent to obliterate the other party entirely, even aiming to bring down the altar and collapse the cavern in the process.

But an immense force stopped him in his tracks. A Mental Domain unfolded, its presence overwhelming. This was a Mental Domain strengthened many times over by the ghoul ritual.

Powerful Curse Power gathered, ultimately colliding with Sukob’s Text Contract Spirit, and neither could overcome the other.

That cloaked, masked snake person raised his head, looking at Sukob.

“What consequences?”

Suero gazed at this God’s Apostle, the figure he had once been unable to even hope to reach.

“I will possess divine power, though temporarily.”

Suero’s frenzied emotions leaked out, and even through the mask one could vaguely see his crazed countenance.

“But at least for now, I am a god among mortals!”

Sukob was completely enraged. This was an arrogant madman who wanted to use countless lives as the price just to briefly obtain divine power.

That powerful Mental Domain, which had obtained the power and ritual amplification of a large number of ghouls, was not so simply broken through. Sukob could only use his trump card.

“With text as the carrier and contract as the command.”

“Decree!”

“Judgment!”

The Book of the Witch Spirit immediately communed with his own authority of text, even communing with the Dream Realm.

He borrowed massive Contract Power through the authority of text.

This time, a large number of Contract Spirits responded to him, and the will of tens of thousands of people gathered upon him, forming the so-called power of decree.

The decree was an invisible light, transforming into powerful waves sweeping outward.

Under that decree, everything was reduced to dust.

Even the surrounding black rain was dispersed.

Though Sukob was an Apostle, his accurate identity should be called a Reincarnator.

Though he was at the Apostle rank, he had already stepped onto the path toward mythology. He possessed power that surpassed ordinary Apostles.

At this moment, under the Contract Power he had borrowed, even the ritual Suero had unfolded began to suffer suppression. The pillar of light started to be pushed down.

It seemed as though he was about to completely obliterate it.

Sukob unleashed the full extent of his power, channeling everything he had into the confrontation.

But at this moment, another situation emerged.

At the other end of the sky’s great hole, the Mythological Door moved closer to the present world from the darkness. Its immense power began to flow from the Dream Realm into the mortal realm.

A corner of the Door of Original Sin had already appeared from the dark void of the Abyss. Its presence began to infiltrate the mortal realm.

The terrifying Abyss Black Rain, which had started as a light drizzle, suddenly turned into a violent storm, sweeping across the earth.

In that moment, it completely overwhelmed Sukob’s Judgment Decree power.

Suero laughed loudly as he looked at the sky. “Look, my mythological power has arrived.”

Sukob was pained to the extreme. He seemed to sense the scene about to unfold. “That is the Evil God of the Abyss’s power, you fool.”

“What do you think you are?”

“You are merely a plaything of the Evil God of the Abyss.”

Suero did not care at all. “Everyone who wants to change their fate is fate’s plaything.”

“But who says playthings cannot defy heaven and change their destiny?”

The black mud from the sky also continuously poured down, falling on the city center.

Sukob had no choice but to retreat. He could not risk coming into contact with the filthiest and most corrupt substance in existence.

Forced to withdraw, Sukob moved far away from the massive hole that had opened in the sky.

Though Sukob was a Reincarnator, possessing power surpassing ordinary Apostles.

But at this moment, he stood before the Mythological Door, its overwhelming presence bearing down on him.

In the black, violent storm, countless snake people in the city were instantly consumed by the Abyss’s darkness. Black, filthy spots began to spread across their bodies, marking their descent into corruption.

Then, scales began to spread, covering their bodies entirely.

Finally controlled by evil and desire, they degenerated into beast-like existences.

The city immediately descended into complete chaos. Who knew how many demons began attacking other snake people’s residences, dragging them into the black rain, tearing apart their will to resist and making them also become part of the demons.

On the other side, many Ability Users noticed the signs of battle between Sukob and Suero. They quickly moved toward the source of the light, heading straight for the massive hole that had opened in the sky.

They wanted to join with Sukob, wanting to strangle everything in its cradle.

“Lord Sukob has managed to suppress the demon for now.”

“Quick, we need to assist him immediately!”

“This is bad.”

“What are they really trying to accomplish here?”

Everyone still did not understand the current situation. They still believed they could control it. They did not know what Suero was doing.

However, as they arrived beneath the sky’s great hole, large amounts of Abyss Black Mud began surging out, flowing down in an overwhelming torrent. The black rain intensified, transforming instantly into a violent storm that swept through everyone in its path.

The protective Divine Technique barriers on their bodies were instantly torn and broken, with groups of people being devoured by the black rain.

“This is not good.”

“Quickly, move aside!”

However, by the time they attempted to react, it was already far too late.

“This rain cannot be stopped. What is happening?”

“What is this wind? I cannot breathe. There is something wrong with this wind as well.”

Ah!

“My hand! Something is growing on my body!”

“I have an additional hand. Quickly, someone help me cut it off!”

“It is hopeless!”

These Ability Users, even if they avoided the black rain, were instantly devoured by the overwhelming black mud that followed, transforming them into Abyss Monsters.

These Ability Users, one by one, became Snake Demons that had grown black scales, or even Four-Armed Snake Demons with multiple limbs.

Along with the overwhelming black mud, a black storm swept heaven and earth.

In this apocalyptic scene, the Door of Original Sin descended from the sky, linking with the consciousness of the sacrificial offerer standing on the altar, the host of the ritual.

At this very moment, Suero’s power surged endlessly, climbing higher and higher as if reaching for the heavens.

He could feel himself grasping divine authority.

Hahahaha!

Suero laughed madly. He laughed until he could not stop.

The excitement surging from within his heart and the joy he felt were like the power within his body. They were endless and inexhaustible.

He spread his arms wide. The Door of Original Sin stood tall behind him in the city center.

He stood amidst the vast expanse of heaven and earth. The relentless wind, the torrential rain, and the consuming black mud surrounded him.

Suero’s voice carried through the violent storm, as if he were conversing with someone unseen.

He raised his head high, letting the violent black rain pour down on his mask.

“Do you see?”

“I am Suero.”

“The son of a butcher, a wretch as lowly as the mud in the swamp.”

“Yet I can wield divine authority, commanding the wind and the rain at the center of this world.”

Amidst the black, violent storm and the apocalyptic disaster, a Seal Puppet stood by the window of a third-floor stone building. Its gaze was fixed on the distant horizon where the sky seemed to unravel.

It saw the Mythological Door fall from the sky to the mortal realm, bringing disaster and despair that would destroy everything.

It saw the entire city transform from a peaceful paradise into a monster’s nest in an instant.

At this very moment, the Feathered Serpent’s memory was pulled back many years ago. It felt as though it had witnessed such a scene before, one that was deeply engraved in its memory and filled with the deepest fear.

The Feathered Serpent trembled uncontrollably. Though only a door had appeared and the truly terrifying existence had yet to emerge, it could not suppress the memory. It had already recalled the evil god that had returned after two hundred and fifty million years.

“This is it.”

“This is the door.”

Though this door had changed greatly from before, the Feathered Serpent still recognized it at a glance.

This was that evil deity’s symbol, the Mythological Door it possessed.

As its gaze fell, the Feathered Serpent noticed the masked snake person standing in the distant black rain, arms outstretched as if welcoming the Mythological Door.

It suddenly froze.

It was evident that the figure in the distance was a snake person.

“What is he trying to accomplish?”

“What exactly is he planning to do?”

It did not understand.

Everything it pursued was merely to transform from a monster back into a person.

And now this person was sparing no expense, sacrificing this entire city’s people as the price, to transform himself from a person into a monster.

“Why?”

“Why give up one’s identity as a person?”

The Feathered Serpent suddenly felt extremely angry. It felt that what it desperately desired was being trampled by another.

What it held as its belief and persisted in was nothing more than a joke in the other’s eyes.

Sometimes all that one pursues, all that one holds dear, and all that one is willing to sacrifice everything for is seen by another as nothing more than worthless trash, easily discarded.

Some people are willing to give up power to become human. Some people spare no expense to abandon their human identity for power.

The caged bird desperately crashes against its cage until bloodied. Those with freedom bind chains upon themselves.

The divine beings high above desire to restore their civilization. Emperors representing civilization spare no expense to destroy their own nation for the chance to become divine beings.

Everyone has things they cannot obtain.

And so, they spare no expense to fill the void of what they lack.

Sukob had just retreated from beneath the sky’s great hole. He avoided the black mud gushing down from the sky and the Door of Original Sin falling from another world.

As he looked around, he saw large numbers of Ability Users being eroded by the Abyss. Among those people were many faces Sukob recognized.

Sukob paused for a moment, then his face showed anger.

“Damn it!”

“This cannot continue.”

Sukob knew that relying on himself alone, he could no longer salvage the situation.

This was no longer a war between Apostles. This was a confrontation between mythologies.

Sukob immediately recited the three-part divine name in his capacity as an Apostle.

“God who holds Truth, Ruler of Books and Knowledge, Eternal Cycling Asai!”

“Your Apostle requests your attention.”

“Hoping to receive your response, to receive your help.”

Sukob was somewhat agitated. One could see he was indeed impacted by the disaster brought by the descending Door of Original Sin and this apocalyptic black rain.

“This city… is already in grave danger.”

Sukob raised his head, gazing at the firmament.

“Only you, only you have the power to save this city.”

“I implore you to aid us in resisting the power of the Evil God of the Abyss.”

The call traveled with the wind toward the clouds above.

It traveled to the other side of the distant world.

Suddenly, the violently rotating storm came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had pressed a pause button.

In the distant sky, a beam of light fell from the heavens, accompanied by a mirage-like phantom.

A giant gate descended from the sky and landed behind Sukob, bestowing mythological power upon him.

Sukob gripped the Book of the Witch Spirit, facing the masked snake person beneath the Door of Original Sin opposite him.

The Door of Truth and the Door of Original Sin.

The two Mythological Doors faced each other once again after many years.

The grudge between Xiao and Asai passed through the cycles of time, never ending.

Like an eternal curse, the two who had drunk the poison of eternal life, the two who had pioneered the path toward mythology.

Destined to play this mutually torturous game within fate’s cycles.