The Nightmare Realm.
The terrifying environment in the Nightmare Realm had already disappeared.
The evil gods conquered most areas in the realm. They called the new land they had the Evil God Land. The terror lords founded their Terror Land, and were not cooperating with the evil gods.
The dark red land was separated into two areas, and the remaining human beings were living on the edge of the Evil God Land. They had a small area with rich soil and were slowly recovering.
In the center of the human territory, there was a city that looked like an iron fortress.
The red clouds in the sky were replaced by white clouds, and the winter sunlight was a bit cold. The light illuminated a human statue in the center of the city.
The bronze statue was over 300 meters tall; it depicted a young man in a long robe. He had a gentle smile on the face and there was a wooden staff in his hand. Strangely, his eyes were made of rubies, which reflected the people walking on the street.
“The most impressive landmark of the human city, Querencia, is this Scorpion God Statue.” There were tourists standing outside the white fences of the statue. A man with a beard was introducing the statue to the tourists that were from other areas. “This Scorpion God Statue was built around 800 years ago. The evil gods were fighting against the terror lords and the land was severely damaged. The fissures were filled with lava, and we human beings were treated like pigs. The evil gods and the terror lords captured a lot of humans and ate them like snacks.” The man smiled. “Bishops Frey and Freya brought the scorpion lord’s mark to the forgotten land. They saved humans and moved to this place together. Querencia was also built by them.”
“We know that already. The legend says that although the Scorpion God was one of the terror lords, he always wanted to help human beings. He was the reason why we could enjoy a peaceful life,” one of the tourists said. “I wonder why Bishop Frey and Bishop Freya knew the appearance of the Scorpion God. They were the ones who built the statue, right?”
“I don’t know the details, but I heard that they lived with a shadow of the Scorpion God for a while. No one knows the truth,” the man explained.
A man looked at the statue and interrupted, “I knew the details; I read it in a random book. Frey and Freya, the two legendary heroes, were adopted by the Scorpion God.”
“Are you sure this is not just a rumor?”
“Some rumors are true. There must be a reason why the other evil gods and terror lords decided not to attack the human city after seeing this statue,” someone added.
“Yeah, without this statue, there’s no way that we could enjoy such a peaceful life.” The man sighed. He crossed his hands and started praying to the statue.
He opened his eyes several seconds later.
“Alright, that’s it for the day. You can enjoy some free time now.”
The tourists walked around the fences and observed the humongous statue carefully.
A girl in a white dress glanced around and noticed that no one was paying attention to her. A smile appeared on her face, and she jumped over the fence. She walked closer to the statue and started observing.
A man in a black robe suddenly appeared in her sight.
The young man who was told of in the tale was rubbing the surface of the statue slowly.
Angele looked at the statue and recalled the days he spent with Frey and Freya. He still remembered how lovely Freya was.
He felt a bit depressed as he thought, ‘They passed away years ago. My old friends, my relatives, and most of the people I knew all passed away…’
A bitter smile appeared on Angele’s face as he recalled the words the other tourists said earlier.
“They already knew who I was… Scorpion God… That’s why I felt everything seemed different after I got back. They applied my mark to this statue.”
He leaned to the side and smiled at the girl who was looking at him.
*Splash*
Red lightning flashed in the sky.
The girl’s sight blurred for a second, and she noticed that the man disappeared into the air.
*WOO*
The whole statue suddenly started vibrating crazily, and its body was covered with a red glow. A black scorpion mark slowly appeared on the forehead of the statue.
The whole city was shaking.
***********************
Eye Devil’s plain.
Angele walked on the plain alone. The wind was blowing against the long grass, making his robe flutter with light noise.
He looked at the place where Eye Devil was imprisoned at. There was nothing here; the only thing he could see was a black pyramid covered with green vines.
“I guess they decided to seal themselves again… They need to recover their power and save their time. When the realms connect, they’ll unseal themselves and try to collect souls. I thought they were going to be active for around three thousand years…”
Angele knew how long Eye Devil would seal himself. The evil gods and the terror lords were all sealed forms. The creatures on this land were monsters who inherited the ancient bloodlines.
“Three thousand years is the maximum. The war in the Chaos Realm got ridiculous, and they decided to seal themselves ahead of time. Three ancestors were injured during the war.” A loud voice came from the behind.
Angele turned around and looked at the muscular man that appeared from nowhere.
“Bone, I knew it was you. Why haven’t you sealed yourself yet? If the ancestors are going after you, I don’t think you can handle it.”
“I don’t really care. The insects you left in the destroyed dimension tunnel are still a problem. Aren’t you going to eliminate them?” Bone sounded a bit speechless.
“I don’t think I need to do anything. Actually, they are my children. If they can escape the dimension tunnel, they might be able to enter the dimension universe, the world intestine, or the other realms. However, it doesn’t matter,” Angele said slowly. He had a blue eye and a red eye. There were golden hourglass patterns in both of his eyes.
“Everything in the world has its rules. You and I are strong, but we’re still part of the world.”
“I assume you’re already stronger than me.” Bone saw the golden hourglasses in Angele’s eyes and a bitter smile appeared on his face. “I don’t understand how you can improve so fast. I’ve lived for over 100 thousand years, but I just don’t understand.”
“There was a strong being that became an ancestor within 1000 years. There are many strong beings in this universe. I’m nothing when compared to them,” Angele said in a light tone.
“You’ve already made your choice, I assume.” Bone’s expression suddenly turned serious. He knew what Angele was trying to imply.
Angele nodded slowly.
“There’s a chance that I’ll succeed, but the chance is very low.”
Bone remained silent for a while and nodded slowly.
“Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
Bone raised his head, but Angele already left after finishing those words.
*****************************
On the other side of the humongous tornado.
In a dark forest behind a random town, there was a white tomb standing on a hill alone. The birds were twittering, and the morning sunlight illuminated the surface of the tomb, revealing the engravings on it.
‘Rest in Peace. Vivian Fenrir.’
‘To the president of the Fresher School: kind, respectful, and with a heart full of love.’
There were some white flowers in front of the tomb.
Angele stood in front of the tomb quietly. He had no idea what he should say. It had been 800 years; he was not sure if Vivian lived her dream. Maybe she did, maybe she did not, but nothing really mattered anymore. The important thing was that there was no soul left in the grave, and it meant that she’d passed away peacefully.
“Mother, I wasn’t your real son. However, in my mind, you were my only mother,” he muttered, and put his hands into his pockets. He just stood in front of the grave quietly.
The sun rose and set. The light came and went. Time was flying.
Angele suddenly shook his head slightly after a while.
“That’s half a month already… It felt like several minutes to me. I guess I’ve reached the limit, this realm’s limit.”
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
As Angele learned more and more about the secret of time, his thoughts changed a lot. After he was marked by an ancestor for a long time, he knew that he was getting closer and closer to the Siva State.
He was certain that Atlanta was already weaker than him. He knew a lot more about time and space than Atlanta. Angele already created a whole system about the rules of time and dimension using the biochip. The system was like an enormous web in his brain.
Usually, there would be many things going through Angele’s brain when he learned about any new information. Also, the biochip would filter out the unnecessary information and help him think. The whole thinking process would help him to connect all the related information and reach a valid conclusion.
However, it usually took him months or even years to process the new information completely. There were so many things going through his mind that he would forget about the passage of time during the process.
Angele looked at the tomb and suddenly started thinking again. He did not move an inch the whole time.
Some yellow light flashed by his waist, followed by a loud scream.
Angele was woken up by the noise and quickly took out a bronze badge from the mirror.
“King of Dark Wizards, how are you doing?” A calm voice came from the bronze badge, speaking in a language that only Angele could understand. If other creatures heard the voice, it would sound like a baby crying.
“I’m doing fine. What’s the matter? The artifact thing is over already, right?” Angele responded. He worked with the bird over the years and they were quite familiar with each other.
The bird had a special ability. He could find the best treasures in different realms—especially the treasures that were formed naturally.
However, the treasures were all guarded by guardian beasts. The better the treasure, the stronger the guardian beast. The guardian beasts guarded the treasures because the treasures could help them improve.
Angele worked with the bird and several realm guardians together to secure the treasures. After the incident, the bird contacted Angele and asked him to help them battle the guardian beasts. Angele was not interested in the treasures, but the bird gave him several books that helped him study the secret of time.
With the help of the biochip, Angele’s studying ability was on a whole different level. It only took him several years to learn all the books’ content, and that was why he improved much faster than a strong being like Bone.
The bird contacted him again, so he assumed that the bird needed his help.