Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
High up in the dark, stormy skies—
Boom!
The strength of the two Overlords erupted, and the silver serpent and the heavy curtain collided with each other. A wild flurry of fireworks burst forth in an explosion and flooded the sky with color, making it look like a beautiful painting. However, to the helpless humans watching the battle from below, it was a nightmare that could cost them their lives!
Fwah, fwah, fwah!!!
Pieces of elemental fragments broke off during the collision and rained down like meteors, crashing down into Theus City. The falling fragments indiscriminately smashed the city’s residents to a pulp, and caused explosions wherever they landed, setting the city ablaze. To the humans below, it was as though a natural disaster had descended upon the world!
At that point in time, the wailing and crying of Theus City’s inhabitants filled the air, and the priests on the platform were floundering about in panic…
The entire city was plunged into chaos!
Ye Kong stood on the platform, surveying the intensely tragic scene below him. It reminded him of an extremely well-known epic tale about the “Age of Divine Rule.”
“That’s right. I remember that during the ‘Age of Divine Rule,’ humans were ruled by a famed king. His real name was buried in the annals of history, and only his honorary title was passed down through the ages—King Solomon!
“During Solomon’s rule, there were rumors about the ‘Fire Spark,’ Jupiter’s divine punishment, as well as Prometheus’ act of betrayal…
“Could this event be—”
Ye Kong abruptly raised his head to look at the two Overlords in the sky, and muttered to himself: “The event that signaled the end of the ‘Age of Divine Rule’ and laid the foundations for mankind’s true hope—Prometheus’ theft of the Fire Spark!”
As he finished saying this, the winner of the battle above him was decided. The thunderbolt, symbolized by a huge silver serpent, had torn through the curtain of wisdom and wrapped itself around Prometheus, binding him!
“You’ve lost!”
The great silver serpent cracked open its mouth and said in a majestic voice:
“On behalf of the Council of Gods, I shall pronounce judgment on you!”
Evidently, Prometheus was no match for Jupiter. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that there weren’t many in the world who could stand up to Jupiter, one of the Elemental Overlords.
“No, I haven’t lost.”
Prometheus shook his head. Facing down the fierce silver serpent, he smiled slyly. “Jupiter, did you forget who I am? My strength is indeed no match for yours, but then again, I’m not a god who relies purely on strength.”
Jupiter’s face darkened slightly, but he immediately responded with an indifferent snort. “You’re talking about that girl, aren’t you? Hmph, did you think I wouldn’t notice her? Let me tell you the truth. Earlier, when we were trading blows—
“I struck her with a bolt of lightning, sending her to the underworld!”
Even in this situation, Prometheus maintained the small smile on his face. Shaking his head, he said, “You’re wrong. She isn’t just a girl. You should be calling her…
“A god!”
“What did you say?!”
The color drained from Jupiter’s face. Before he could fully understand the implications of what Prometheus had said, in the next instant, from the northeast side of Theus City, there was a crimson glow, bright-red like the color of fresh blood!
The southwest side of Theus City represented the “God of the Light of Dawn – Phoebus,” and symbolized the first light of the world. As such, the people saw it as a place of goodness, and all the important buildings of the city were constructed in this area.
Conversely, the northeast side of Theus City was a symbol of disaster, so people avoided placing important buildings in that area of the city. This was a traditional practice during the “Age of Divine Rule”!
At that moment, in the slums of Theus City, the place representing disaster, a brilliant red light was shining forth!
“This… This is?!”
Jupiter felt the presence of this third party, and his expression changed drastically. Then, he burst into a thunderous roar—
“Anesidora!!!”
At the same time…
“The Goddess of Misfortune – Anesidora.” Standing on the platform, Ye Kong looked toward the bright red light in the distance and sighed softly. “As expected, it was opened. The box of Anesidora spoken of in the legends…”
Anesidora’s box might seem like something foreign, but in the history books about the world of Demon Realm, it was also referred to by a more well-known name—
Pandora’s box.
Kaboom!!!
The red light suddenly exploded outwards, forming into tens of thousands of columns of light, which pierced the sky. Each pillar of light was the color of blood, and the glow lit up Ye Kong’s face, dyeing his skin a bright red color—
“According to the legends, when Anesidora opened the magic box, she released famine, plague, disease, jealousy, sin, greed, and other negative things, which flew out from within. These became objects of worship for mankind, and new gods were born to take up these positions.
“From that moment on, the gods were no longer the only divinities, and the world was no longer stable.”
As though in response to Ye Kong’s remarks, Jupiter, high up in the sky, roared furiously—
“How dare you!!!”
As he roared out, the god raised his right hand, accumulating a huge amount of flashing lightning into his palm. Then, in the next moment, the lightning formed into a thunderbolt shaped like a silver serpent, and Jupiter threw it, sending it flying with deadly intent toward the source of the red light!
Boom!!!
The lightning, shaped like a silver serpent, slammed into the source of the red light, causing an enormous, earth-shattering explosion. Countless columns of light spread apart like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, and shot out in all directions!
As Ye Kong watched the scene unfold, he finally understood everything—
He now knew the “important events in history” that Olenna’s Orb had witnessed.
Then, he subconsciously whispered under his breath:
“In the legends, Jupiter interrupted the Goddess of Misfortune’s actions, which left one last thing trapped in Pandora’s magic box, unable to fly out of it. That one thing happened to be—
“Destiny!”
Kaboom!!!
The red light exploded outward, and like a shockwave, came rushing toward the platform on the clock tower.
Just then…
Near Ye Kong, large distortions started to appear in the air, like cracks in a mirror!
Clearly, the mirror image was about to end soon.
Ye Kong stood on the platform, his hair buffeted by the gale-force winds—
“Anesidora’s box has been opened, releasing new faiths into the world.
“Yet, the only thing missing now is ‘Destiny.’
“I’ve personally gone through many records related to ‘Pandora’s box,’ but its exact location was never written in any of them. I never imagined that ‘Theus City’ would be the epicenter of the entire event!”
Theus City, naturally named after Prometheus.
Ye Kong looked straight ahead, gazing at the entirety of Theus City.
“Mankind’s belief system has been changed, signifying the end of the ‘Age of Divine Rule,’ and also heralding—
“The prelude to the ‘Age of Chaos’!”
Kaboom!
The wave of red light swept over Ye Kong’s body, completely engulfing him, as the mirror image came to an end.
System Notification: You have ascertained the truth of “Theus City,” and are the first player to finish exploring an Illusory Realm!
As usual, Ye Kong chose to remain anonymous, and immediately received the system announcement reward—
It was a skill book for the passive skill Dynamic Equilibrium.
“They actually gave me Dynamic Equilibrium as a reward?!”
Ye Kong’s heart was aflutter, and he closed his eyes. Still, when he opened his eyes again, he didn’t immediately check out the reward he had just received. Instead, the first thing he did was turn to look around, and a moment later, he saw a familiar object not too far in the distance—
An exquisite black box!
“There it is!”
Ye Kong at once reached out a hand to grab hold of the mystical box. But a fair-skinned hand was one step ahead of him, and took hold of the box first!
“Hey there, mister, I apologize.”
A person dressed as a hunter picked up the mysterious box—
“This is just the thing I’ve been looking for.”