The red-haired Demigod walked slowly toward Akmanmon. Her overwhelming presence and boundless pressure bore down upon him like a storm engulfing a solitary vessel lost at sea.

The red sea of flowers extended endlessly, blending into the horizon.

In the face of such mythical power, the once towering and steadfast pyramid now appeared ready to crumble.

“Akmanmon, the last King of Ten Thousand Serpents and a descendant of Pence.”

“Who tempted you? Who has been pulling the strings? Who granted you this evil power and this forbidden knowledge that does not belong to you?”

“Was it Xiao?”

“Was it the Abyss King?”

“Or was it some other divine being?”

The divine being addressed Akmanmon by his full name, revealing his identity with her very first words. Yet it was evident her true focus was not on Akmanmon himself but on the possibility of another presence working behind him. She suspected that someone else had plans for Suinhor.

“No one,” Akmanmon told the Scarlet Goddess.

“Then what was your purpose in creating the ghouls?” the Scarlet Goddess asked.

Under the overwhelming pressure of her divine power, Akmanmon spoke as if all will had been stripped from him. “I wanted to become an existence like you, one that is bound by nothing.”

The Scarlet Goddess furrowed her brow. “There are many kinds of power one can pursue. The kind you have chosen is not sanctioned.”

“I know it is not sanctioned,” Akmanmon replied. “But I still want it.”

With those words, there was nothing left to say.

The Scarlet Goddess observed Akmanmon closely, as if confirming that the Evil God of Original Sin was not the force behind him. After all, the Evil God of Original Sin had suffered a direct blow from the Ruhe Beast and had even lost the Door of Original Sin. She found it hard to believe that such a being could have awakened so soon.

“It seems that no matter the era, there will always be those who place their desires above all else.”

The Scarlet Goddess then turned her gaze toward the pyramid, the very birthplace from which all ghouls had originated.

“Every being born into this world, regardless of race, has its own reason for existing. Life does not question whether it is good or evil when it comes into being. What one race sees as evil, another may see as natural.”

“Perhaps that is why the Crown of Wisdom accepted your oath.”

“But I cannot allow an existence like yours to roam freely across the lands of Suinhor.”

“Especially not one under the control of someone like you, Akmanmon!”

The divine being spoke his name and declared his death sentence. As her voice faded, the red-haired Demigod, standing amidst the sea of flowers, leaned forward and plucked a single Blood Mist Cup.

She held it delicately between her fingers and exhaled softly toward the pyramid.

Petals drifted into the air.

A crimson hurricane erupted, sweeping across heaven and earth.

Through Akmanmon’s eyes, the red sea of flowers faded away, and the countless stars scattered across the sky vanished along with it. The blood-colored storm surged outward, consuming the entire tomb pyramid and reducing everything within to dust.

At the very moment the storm erupted, a second layer of ritual buried deep within the pyramid came to life. Waves of light radiated outward, creating a luminous barrier.

The storm showed no sign of stopping, pressing inward and tearing through the pyramid without hesitation. It was a tragic sight. The pyramid, constructed through the toil of countless lives and fortified with extraordinary materials and ritual arrays crafted by Ability Users, was utterly powerless before the might of a true divine being. It could not endure a single breath of her power.

In an instant, the barrier began to dissolve. The entire pyramid trembled violently, groaning under the strain as it began to collapse.

Akmanmon appeared to be making one final, desperate stand.

He poured all the pyramid’s power into his effort as countless insects began to pour down its surface. Some were dozens of meters long, while others were as small as grains of rice. The swarms of insects glowed with radiant light, merging with the pyramid’s barrier until they became a single entity.

He had given everything he had, but it was all in vain against the overwhelming power of a divine being. In the end, he simply spread his arms wide and faced the blood-colored storm.

“Death is only the beginning, not the end.”

What followed was swift and absolute. The storm consumed everything in its path. The ritual barrier was worn down by sheer force. Within the crimson wind, the hurricane tore the pyramid apart layer by layer, hurling massive stone blocks into the sky.

Akmanmon’s Seal Spirit was obliterated. The silver worm, which served as the core of the Seal Spirit, disintegrated into dust and collapsed back into Akmanmon’s body. Then, Akmanmon’s own body was consumed along with it.

His flesh was stripped away by the storm, leaving behind only a skeleton.

Akmanmon was dead.

However, the Scarlet Goddess noticed something unusual. It seemed as if he had been intentionally seeking his own death.

The Scarlet Goddess raised her hand, and the devastating storm came to an abrupt stop.

Massive boulders rained down from the sky. The once grand pyramid was now nothing more than a pile of scattered debris. Finally, Akmanmon’s skeleton fell from the air and struck the ground.

The Scarlet Goddess took a step forward, then paused as a sudden sensation washed over her. She lifted her gaze to the space above.

An unseen door had opened. Ancient laws from the primordial age stirred to life, weaving their influence into the present world and converging on this very spot.

“The Laws of Creation?”

“A Life Dream?”

A memory surfaced in the Scarlet Goddess’s mind.

Long ago, the Evil God of Original Sin, Xiao, had used a similar technique. He had anchored a Life Dream to grant a Divine Artifact the ability to act as the core of a ritual. This ritual could hide deep within the Dream Realm while still exerting its influence on the real world.

Akmanmon was truly dead. He had disappeared completely, never to return.

Yet his dream, borne by the last wave of ritual power, carried the Divine Artifact Silver Insect as it floated toward a distant and otherworldly plane.

This place was the Dream Realm, also called the Kingdom of the Gods.

The Scarlet Goddess furrowed her brow as she realized this was the exact method Xiao had used in the past.

“The Divine Artifact, The Destined Marionette?”

“This trick again.”

For a divine being, this kind of artifact could hardly be considered powerful. In terms of direct capability, a divine being could easily destroy it or anything it created. However, it was deeply unsettling and troublesome. It was nearly impossible to eradicate or uproot. With the Crown of Wisdom Covenant that Akmanmon had sworn, the level of difficulty increased even further.

Although the Scarlet Goddess could discern what Akmanmon was attempting, she could not understand the purpose behind it. Akmanmon was dead. What could he possibly hope to accomplish by merging his Life Dream with the artifact?

The Destined Marionette had been crafted by Xiao as a tool for his own resurrection, relying on the dream of his servant Barrow. But Akmanmon was now completely and irreversibly dead. He had become the Life Dream itself. So who, or what, was he trying to bring back?

“Incomprehensible.”

The Scarlet Goddess could understand Xiao, but she could not understand Akmanmon. Xiao’s actions had always been boundless, yet his purpose remained clear. The being before her now could only be described as unfathomable.

In the end, the Scarlet Goddess picked up Akmanmon’s skull. From the moment the Crown of Wisdom Covenant was sworn, the birth of the ghouls seemed destined. If that was the case, then perhaps this object would hold some value in the future.

Akmanmon’s Life Dream floated higher and higher.

He felt the memories of his life gathering, eventually forming a bubble that shimmered with a kaleidoscope of colors. Black, white, grey, and countless other shades swirled within. At the center of the bubble, a silver worm twisted and writhed without pause.

In the distance, a disturbance began to take shape.

A great ship bathed in golden light emerged from the darkness and moved toward him. Its approach was strange and disorienting. At times it seemed far away, and at other moments it felt as though it was right beside him. Then, in an instant, it was there, standing before the Life Dream.

It was Sequence Number 2, the Divine Boat.

Golden light descended from the great ship, but it did not draw the Life Dream aboard. This was unusual.

When such a peculiar event occurred, the iron giant attached to the bottom of the hull began to stir. The ramming prow that formed its head shifted and turned. Its eyes opened slowly, one narrow sliver at a time, to focus on the bubble.

It peered directly into the bubble, where it could see the faint remnants of Akmanmon’s fading consciousness.

“Your dream is impure. You may not enter the Dream Starry Sea.”

The remnants of Akmanmon’s consciousness lingered faintly. He turned his gaze toward the golden ship and addressed the iron giant’s head at its prow.

“You are the Divine Boat? The great ship that carries Life Dreams across the realms?”

“So it truly exists after all.”

As a child, he had believed it was just a fairy tale, a simple story. Now, at the very end, he realized it was all true.

“You still have not responded to me,” the Divine Boat said.

“I do not wish to enter the Dream Starry Sea,” Akmanmon replied.

“I know I would never pass the trial.”

“Instead of being trapped in an endless nightmare, I would rather remain here.”

The ramming prow that served as the Divine Boat’s head told him, “Only pleasant dreams last forever. Nightmares fade as time passes. That is the mercy of the Creator God.”

“And even in a nightmare, you would still see the friends and loved ones from your past. You could bid them one final farewell. Surely that is better than staying here all alone.”

“Endless cycles of solitude, an eternity trapped in darkness. That is far worse than any nightmare.”

“In the mortal world, your body has not yet fully died. Perhaps your brain has not completely perished.”

“While the last of your consciousness remains, you still have the choice to come with me.”

“If you wait too long, you will become nothing more than a shadow within your Life Dream. When that happens, you will no longer be able to make a choice, because at that point you will be truly and completely gone. The decisions made by a shadow of memory do not count in my eyes.”

Akmanmon realized he had been in the Dream Realm for what felt like a long time. He wondered if his body in the mortal world had already been fully erased by the Scarlet Goddess.

He pondered if time flowed differently in the Dream Realm, or if his current state had distorted his perception of it.

Akmanmon’s face appeared on the surface of the bubble, his gaze fixed on the Divine Boat.

“No, thank you. I am used to being alone.”

“Being alone is more free.”

“They probably would not want to see me, anyway.”

The iron head atop the Divine Boat had a rugged appearance, but its voice was unexpectedly gentle and friendly.

“But a Life Dream cannot sustain itself forever without the Dream Starry Sea or the blessing of an eternal pleasant dream.”

“When your obsession fades, the bubble will shatter along with it.”

“There is something I must achieve,” Akmanmon said, “and I will make it happen.”

The Divine Boat observed Akmanmon’s dream and paused, as if recalling a distant memory.

“A long time ago, it seems someone else attempted something similar.”

“What kind of obsession did he have?” Akmanmon asked.

“He wanted to resurrect his master,” the Divine Boat answered.

“Did he succeed?” Akmanmon asked.

“I do not know,” the Divine Boat said. “Whenever I traveled through the Dream Realm, I would always see it. But recently, it disappeared.”

“I cannot say whether it succeeded or simply faded away for good.”

“How many years did that dream last?” Akmanmon asked.

“From the previous era all the way to the present,” the Divine Boat replied.

Akmanmon pressed further. “How long is that?”

“I never kept count,” the Divine Boat said. “The Spirits told me it was roughly two hundred and fifty million years.”

Inside the bubble, Akmanmon’s face went blank with shock. “Millions?”

Akmanmon then asked the Divine Boat, “What kind of obsession is worth such a wait? And who was his master?”

He had a rough idea of the name, but he could not help asking all the same.

“I believe the name was Xiao,” the Divine Boat replied.

Akmanmon spoke the title this epoch had given that being. “The Evil God of Original Sin.”

Finally, Akmanmon asked, “And who was the owner of the dream?”

The Divine Boat paused briefly before replying, “Barrow.”

Akmanmon murmured the name to himself as he thought of the murals left behind by the Feathered Serpent Kurmis. Those murals had shown the very moment of the Evil God of Original Sin’s return.

It seemed that Barrow’s wait, which had stretched across an unimaginable span of time, had finally come to an end.

At last, Akmanmon spoke.

“But I will not have to wait that long. I will be alive again very soon.”

Within the Life Dream, the Divine Artifact Silver Insect started to rotate, gathering an immense surge of power. It still carried the Eternal Covenant of the Ghoul race and the Plague Blood Curse.

“Very soon, I will descend upon this world once more.”

As he spoke, his memories fully came together.

With that, the Divine Boat left, as there were countless other Life Dreams still waiting to be carried. Slowly, Akmanmon’s consciousness drifted deeper into the dream.

In that place, it felt as though his entire life was starting over.

His earliest memories were faint and blurred. The one thing he remembered most clearly was that night of howling wind and rain.

At the foot of the magnificent Mountain of Life’s Origin stood a city with a thousand years of history. Within its royal palace lived a bloodline descended from Pence himself. A Snake People general, wearing a helm, led his soldiers into the palace and informed Akmanmon’s mother that the previous King of Ten Thousand Serpents had fallen in battle against the Thunder Kingdom.

At the time, Akmanmon did not understand what was happening. His mother trembled with fear as she stared at the general. The child in her arms, however, smiled innocently at the stranger.

In the days that followed, he never truly smiled again. The only times he did were fleeting moments when madness overtook his reason.

He became the King of Ten Thousand Serpents.

Someone told him he was the master of this nation, but then someone else claimed that the general called Dark Moon was the nation’s true master.

He burned with fury. Yet, when he finally stood before Dark Moon, he could not even summon the courage to meet his gaze.

Dark Moon was an enigmatic figure. There was an undeniable sense of power about him, one that did not stem solely from physical strength but from something deeper. It was a tenacity that was difficult to define. He held firm to his ideals, using them to drive others into the Abyss. He killed in the name of those ideals and saved the nation under the banner of those very same beliefs.

Some called him a butcher. Others called him a hero.

But none of that mattered to Akmanmon. His entire world was confined to the few buildings within the royal palace, enclosed by a single gate. Despite the suffocating weight of it all, this existence was not entirely unbearable.

One day, his mother turned to him with a trembling voice, her excitement barely contained.

“Akmanmon, you are the true King of Ten Thousand Serpents. You must reclaim everything that is yours.”

The next day, his mother was dead.

She had died so suddenly that the memory of her lifeless form haunted him endlessly. From that day forward, his face became a mask devoid of emotion, and peaceful sleep eluded him. He feared that if he closed his eyes, he might never wake again, just as she had not.

He wandered through the royal palace repeatedly, his eyes fixed on the world beyond its walls, yearning to break free. Yet the towering ramparts stood as an unyielding obstacle.

For someone like him, escape from the clutches of those who controlled him seemed impossible.

He desired power. He hungered for it.

He was overwhelmed by an intense longing for safety and freedom. Yet, he seemed lost, unable to grasp where true safety could be found or where genuine freedom lay.

“Power. Only with power can I leave this place.”

“I must become strong, so that no one can take my life.”

“The divine beings, who act as they wish, must surely hold true freedom.”

Yueyeh, Old Ghoul Xi, Suero, and countless others had come and gone through his life. Yet, as his memories reached their end, Akmanmon found himself once again standing before the gate of the royal palace, lost and uncertain.

In that moment, Akmanmon’s Life Dream merged entirely with the Silver Insect.

The two were now one, bound together forever.

The Silver Insect reached its perfected form. A new Divine Artifact emerged, born from the countless ghouls it had consumed and the power it had fused with from Akmanmon. It ascended instantly to Sequence Number 69.

Akmanmon fixed his gaze on the gate and began to walk toward it, one step at a time.

The gate groaned as it opened, and radiant light spilled in from the other side. To Akmanmon, that light symbolized freedom.

He stepped through the gate, and his memory was sent into the mortal world.

“I did it.”

“Immortality. Undeath.”

“Free from all bonds forever.”

Akmanmon shattered the confines of his own dream and memory, emerging from death itself to return once more to the realm of the living.

Red Earth Territory

Inside a concealed shrine, a statue of the God of Silver and White was placed with reverence. A group of ghouls gathered in secrecy, performing a ritual as they prayed to connect with the great God of Silver and White.

“Great God of Silver and White.”

“Please answer our prayers and bestow upon us…”

They chanted the words over and over, their voices unwavering with determination.

Finally, an immense power flowed down through the ritual. The altar came to life, and a brilliant light burst forth.

“The god! The god has descended!” the ghouls cried out in wild exhilaration, their chanting growing louder and more fervent.

“O God of Silver and White, Your faithful always believed You would return to this world,” the monstrous creatures, resembling the Snake People, proclaimed with fanatical devotion.

In the corners of the shrine, several ferocious ghoul beasts lurked, stirring with restless energy.

The bodies inhabited by Cannibal Worms were not confined to the Snake People. Ordinary beasts could also serve as hosts.

Suddenly, a dense swarm of Cannibal Worms poured out from the ritual, spreading across the entire shrine of the God of Silver and White. The worms burrowed into the body of one of the ghouls, causing the creature to lose consciousness as its body convulsed violently.

Countless Cannibal Worms devoured his flesh while simultaneously feeding back an immense power that reshaped his body completely. The worms burrowed into his brain, and another being’s memory took control of his mind. In the end, the ghoul transformed into a completely different figure.

Akmanmon opened his eyes and saw the ghouls staring at him with a mix of madness and reverence. At the front of the group stood the Old Ghoul, who had once been his teacher of literature and history.

The Old Ghoul looked at him in complete disbelief and exclaimed.

“Your Majesty, Akmanmon!”

“You have truly succeeded. You have gained the power of a divine being.”

“No, you are a god.”

“You are the God of Silver and White.”

Akmanmon remained silent, just as he always did. It appeared that his plan, and everything he had strived for, had ultimately succeeded.

【Divine Artifact: Silver Insect】

【Sequence Number 69】

【Ability 1 Cannibal Worm: Corpses that long for immortality and undeath are drawn to the power of the Silver Insect. This power gives rise to Cannibal Worms, which eventually take on physical form. Some corpses transform into ghouls and may evolve further, gaining Wisdom and extraordinary power.】

【Ability 2 Plague Blood Curse: The power of the Plague Blood Curse originates from the Oath of the Ghouls. The Silver Insect can bestow this Seal Imprint upon other ghouls, enabling them to evolve and gain extraordinary power.】

【Ability 3 Akmanmon’s Dream: Anchored by Akmanmon’s Life Dream, the Silver Insect can receive sacrifices and establish communication with other beings through ritual, unrestricted by distance. Akmanmon’s dream projects his memory outward, forming a new individual that inherits Akmanmon’s memory. When that individual perishes, the projection cycle begins anew.】

【Ability 4, Oath of the Ghouls: The second King of Ghouls, Akmanmon, turned the ghouls into a true race and made an Eternal Covenant before the Crown of Wisdom. This covenant binds all ghouls and serves as their source of power. The spirits of the deceased are also drawn back to the Divine Artifact Silver Insect.】

【Crown of Wisdom Covenant: The ghouls are a race born of death, created from the collective will of all living things that long for undeath. They originate from the universal fear of death, and the Ghoul race is born of this will and law, forever bound by it.】

No one could tell how much time had passed.

As the Divine Boat carried Life Dreams across the realms, it once again passed through the place where the Divine Artifact Silver Insect remained. It paused for a moment and turned its attention to Akmanmon’s dream.

It asked, “Did you make it out?”

It was similar to the conversations it once had with the dream projection of Barrow.

Amid the monotony of its eternal duty, drifting through an endless expanse, the Divine Boat’s mythical spirit often found itself speaking with dreams. A dream like Akmanmon’s, one that refused to journey to the Dream Starry Sea and remained rooted in one place, was a rare curiosity. Even a passing glance at such a dream brought a small sense of diversion to its unchanging routine.

Within Akmanmon’s Life Dream, the heavily guarded royal palace remained unchanged. A child stood at a high vantage point, looking out at the world beyond. After a moment, he turned and walked back inside.

His mother was waiting for him. She was filled with joy as she held Akmanmon close and whispered to him with barely contained excitement.

“Akmanmon, you are the true King of Ten Thousand Serpents. You must reclaim everything that is yours.”

After she finished, she added one final remark.

“And that day is not far off.”

Akmanmon did not understand what was happening. He simply nodded, feeling lost and uncertain. Yet deep within, he could not shake the sense that he had heard those words many times before.

Each time he heard them, an overwhelming dread and unease would rise within him. It was as if something terrible was about to happen, though he could not pinpoint the source of that fear.

In that moment, golden light broke into the dream.

The entire world, which had been moving in rhythm with his memories, came to an abrupt stop.

A voice descended with the golden light and spoke to him.

“Still here? I thought you said you were going to leave.”

The shadow that had been trapped in the endless cycle of the same dream paused as the light descended. A flicker of awareness sparked within him, and he began to remember.

He glanced around. The world that had seemed so ordinary just moments ago now felt empty and artificial. The source of his unease became clear in an instant.

“So I am still inside the dream. I have been repeating my Life Dream over and over again.”

Akmanmon jolted awake within the dream and cried out.

“No, this is not right! I should have already left this place!”

“I projected my memory out there. I have already escaped!”

“I should be alive again in the mortal world. I can feel it. I am alive again.”

But it was only a feeling, nothing more.

He remained trapped within the dream, endlessly reliving the very past he feared the most. The cycle repeated over and over, locking him in a dark and empty void with no escape.

The being in the outside world was nothing more than a ghoul infused with a copy of Akmanmon’s memories.

Akmanmon’s plan had seemed brilliant. He intended to project his memory and Life Dream outward as a means to achieve resurrection.

But imagination and reality are different things. He did not understand the true nature of the Life Dream or the core of the Laws of Creation. He did not grasp the distinction between a Life Dream and mere memory.

“You projected your memory out?” the Divine Boat said.

“Your Life Dream is your Life Dream. It is made of memory, but it is not just memory.”

“Its depth and complexity go far beyond what you can comprehend. Simply projecting memory is not enough to achieve rebirth.”

“The Life Dream was created through the will and law of the Creator God. Your intentions can never override the laws of the Creator God.”

At this point, the Divine Boat asked him another question.

“But there is no need to lose hope. Did you not say you had a purpose?”

“When that purpose is achieved, perhaps you will find your freedom.”

“Just as Barrow found his.”

Akmanmon looked toward the great ship beyond the dream. “How long will I have to wait?”

“I do not know,” the Divine Boat replied. “I can only hope it will not be as long as Barrow’s wait.”

Within the illusory memories of the Life Dream, Akmanmon’s shadow fell into a deep and prolonged silence.

His goal had been to ascend to godhood, and he had been prepared to sacrifice everything to reach it. He had truly given up all that he had. Yet, simply giving up everything was not enough.

The trials and tribulations of this journey were beyond what any ordinary person could fathom. Even he himself could not predict how long he would have to endure.

The Divine Boat, receiving no response, began to depart.

“I must be off to other places now. Farewell.”

The golden ship left those coordinates and continued its journey. When it might return to observe Akmanmon’s Life Dream again was uncertain.

The golden light that had pierced through the dream faded away.

The cycle of memories resumed, and everything around him began to move once more. Akmanmon watched as his memories restarted their endless loop. He was forced to relive his grey and desolate life all over again.

He turned back and saw his mother’s face, filled with excitement as she clung to the dream of him reclaiming his throne. Yet Akmanmon already knew that by tomorrow, he would find her cold and lifeless body.

“This is not how it was supposed to be,” Akmanmon murmured to himself.

“This is not how it was supposed to be.”

But as soon as those words left his lips, the dream consumed him entirely. He became just another character within the story, carried along by the flow of his memories.

He no longer realized that this was a dream.

He had thought that by escaping the grey mortal world and entering the Kingdom of the Gods, he would gain everything he had ever wanted. He had believed he had achieved freedom, that nothing could ever harm or confine him again.

He never expected to find himself trapped in an even smaller prison.

A delicate, fragile bubble.

Only when the Divine Artifact Silver Insect reached the level of a Mythical Artifact would there be any hope of liberation. However, which version of him would witness its transformation into a Mythical Artifact was uncertain.

While his plan had succeeded, the one who ultimately benefited from that success might not be him.

Akmanmon had achieved the immortality and undeath he had long desired, but the one who truly possessed that immortality and undeath might not be Akmanmon himself.