Boom!
As if the sun were traversing the sky, spreading boundless pure light.
The Devil Monarch's massive form disintegrated within the absolute domain of purification.
The Ancient Sun God's mastery of his abilities was exquisitely precise. The "Purification" stripped away half of the Devil Monarch's life, but more crucially, it purged the extraneous high-sequence characteristics within its body.
This was the ability of Sequence 4 "Unshadowed" from the Sun pathway, capable of expelling superfluous Beyonder characteristics.
Now, wielded by the Ancient Sun God at his rank, it could destabilize even a deity's characteristics.
The ancient god's characteristics were inherently unstable…
With a single strike, the Devil Monarch's very existence seemed to be purified away.
Yet, in the next moment, the Devil Monarch's form re-coalesced within the pure light. Truly killing it was no simple task.
However, the Ancient Sun God's objective was achieved. Several shadows emerged behind him, seizing certain objects, and he completed a "Grazing" on one of them.
It was a brass-colored metal book—the Uniqueness of the Arbiter pathway!
"Roar!" The Devil Monarch's state appeared somewhat improved compared to before.
With the extraneous characteristics "purified," the Devil Monarch's existence became purer, its mental state abruptly enhanced.
"No corruption permitted here!" The grazed Uniqueness flashed with light, and a line of text appeared on its pages.
The Ancient Sun God had deployed this brass book to counter the Devil Monarch.
"Abyss!" The Devil Monarch roared, and in the material world, the abyss—hidden within endless seas and shrouded in dense fog—suddenly quaked.
A profound connection formed between the Devil Monarch and the abyss, allowing it to manipulate it.
Much like the ocean's significance to the Elf King!
But in the next instant, the Devil Monarch vanished, transforming into an abstract concept imperceptible even to deities, merging completely with the abyss and disappearing from the Astral World, escaping the battlefield.
It… fled.
The fog in the deep sea re-enveloped the abyss, which concealed itself once more, and the abstract Astral World fell silent.
"Farbauti… the Abyss!"
Giant King Aurmir glanced at the fog-shrouded abyss, his dusk-colored eye fixing on the grazed brass book.
"Hmph!" Ultimately, the Giant King did not seize it; this was a potential ally.
As dusk faded, the ancient gods averted their gazes.
This divine war was significant but paled compared to the era-ending war of the past.
"So strong!" Truman marveled at the divine figure still standing in the Astral World.
The Ancient Sun God had reverted to a normal human form, the sun and shadows receding, his divinity radiating brilliance.
He hadn't even tapped into the Chaos Sea's power…
Such an Ancient Sun God was terrifying, far from his limit.
"Come with me," Sasrir said, tearing space with Truman to leap to the abyss's location.
They stood amidst thick fog, surrounded by endless demons below.
Various grotesque demons—some covered in eyes, others mere slimy, malevolent tentacles, and a few vaguely humanoid, all high-ranking—filled the abyss.
Having lost the war, they scrambled back to the abyss.
"The abyss's state is problematic," Truman observed, confirming after a moment. "In years to come, it may become unsuitable for most abyssal creatures."
The loss of the high-sequence characteristics of the two "Order" pathways would cause the constructed order to gradually collapse.
Sasrir nodded lightly. "That's fitting. One Devil Monarch is enough; the rest would be corrupted, becoming liabilities."
"But doesn't the abyss seem… purer?" Truman rubbed his chin, searching for the right word.
"The Devil Monarch's ability to embody the abyss's concept likely emerged after purifying its characteristics," Sasrir explained.
"The abyss's concept is now fused with Farbauti."
"A resurrection method?" Truman immediately thought of this.
"As long as the abyss endures, the 'Abyss' will not die," Sasrir said softly.
"Another deity hard to kill."
No, all deities were hard to kill, always possessing various revival methods.
Of course, some with immortality abilities still had to die a few times to showcase their revival's uniqueness…
"That's why it's perfect for guarding here," Sasrir said, gazing at the gradually sealing abyss and nodding.
Truman even sensed that the figure in the Astral World withdrew its gaze from Sasrir.
"No need to linger here," they said, returning to the Creator's divine kingdom.
…
Another Dream Parliament convened.
The four representatives gathered once more.
"Thank you for your help," Sasrir said, presenting the history of the previous epoch and known Astral World knowledge.
These were the agreed-upon rewards.
Truman materialized them as paper books.
"History and the Astral World…" Amanises and Lilith delved into them.
Truman openly took a copy, curious about how the Ancient Sun God viewed First Epoch history.
"Two opposing entities, split from the Original Creator?"
"The Lord of Mysteries, the Primordial God Almighty…"
The report detailed First Epoch history, even mentioning the concept of Above the Sequence and introducing known outer gods.
"Compared to later eras, it lacks clearer concepts and details, like how both accommodated multiple Sefirot…"
"The descriptions of outer gods are sparse, even missing full honorific names…"
These insights were likely deduced only after the Ancient Sun God fully grasped omniscience and omnipotence.
"…Unbelievable," Lilith said, her voice strained.
The enemy watching her was far more terrifying than she'd imagined.
Her path forward would be even harder.
"Is this the world's truth?" Amanises sighed, many things now beyond her control.
"This knowledge is authentic," Truman vouched for Sasrir.
"Thousands of years from now, we'll face those entities outside."
Lilith and Amanises fell silent, digesting the revelations and reevaluating themselves.
Amanises recovered first, tossing a concealed space to Sasrir.
"It contains an island from the abyss's depths, with the Devil Monarch's ritual altar for stealing outer god power."
The goddess had likely studied it extensively, but now, handing it to the Ancient Sun God seemed the wisest course.
"Good," Sasrir accepted it.
(End of Chapter)