『Ah, that’s…』

『How blue. I feel this every time I see it, but it’s very beautiful.』

『I feel like I’m looking at the pearls back at our headquarters.』

The gods and demons all nodded at the beauty of Earth. None of them seemed too surprised; they were all somewhat familiar with the planet. They seemed to think it was understandable that the Black King had fallen asleep here since it was such a beautiful place.

『That’s…where Father is…!』The Crawling Chaos laughed maniacally. Yeon-woo’s head rang because of it. He had finally found the place where Father was asleep, a place the Night had spent eons searching for, so he was understandably ecstatic. Although he was the least sincere out of all the otherworld gods, his zeal and passion toward the Father were stronger than anyone else’s.

Most importantly, the Crawling Chaos could faintly feel that the sleeping Father’s consciousness was focused on Earth. Even though the Crawling Chaos didn’t have a body anymore, all of his senses were telling him this.

Now, the Crawling Chaos wanted to hurry Yeon-woo up and ask what he was doing. He wanted to rush Yeon-woo to go and wake Father, but he wasn’t able to speak since Yeon-woo was greatly shaken.

‘What…’ Unlike the other beings, who wanted to hurry toward Earth, Yeon-woo was quite taken aback. ‘Why does it have to be Earth out of all the places in this vast, vast universe?’

Earth and the solar system were located so far out on the boundaries that even Kronos hadn’t known they existed. It was a place that didn’t have any magic or holy power, and no transcendents had touched it. Thus, Yeon-woo had thought Earth was far from any unordinary phenomena.

‘But the Black King is asleep here?’

A thought suddenly flashed in Yeon-woo’s mind.

Why do I hear of Olympus’ legends here? Is this Olympus’ territory…? I even heard of Asgard in one of my past lives. There was even something about the Chan Sect! When Kronos lost his throne and reached Earth, where he had thrown the springs, he had asked the same question while living his multiple lives.

Earth was a planet where legends of Olympus, Asgard, the Chan Sect, and countless other societies were told. He couldn’t believe that such a place existed, since Kronos himself had never seen it while ruling over Olympus for eons. He couldn’t help but wonder why. He eventually learned that he wasn’t able to regain his divinity on Earth because the Heavenly Demon had trapped the gods in the Tower, but he was never able to find the answer to this question.

The legends of different societies couldn’t be told at the same time. The fact that mortals could understand the legends of transcendence so accurately made him uneasy.

Perhaps the reason why such strange phenomena was occurring had something to do with the Black King being asleep on Earth.

‘A…dream.’

According to the revelations, all happenings and phenomena in the world appeared as dreams to the Black King—a long dream that had no end in sight. And the moment he woke up would be the “end” the Sea of Time spoke about.

However, dreams could be repeated several times, and they could go down multiple paths. This meant the legends of gods were also only a part of the Black King’s dream. It occurred to Yeon-woo that many legends could already be stored and refined without the gods noticing.

‘And if Earth really is near the Black King, such phenomena would have occurred more frequently.’ Yeon-woo’s gaze darkened. ‘Father’s springs arriving on Earth, and Mother being able to find Father here… All these things that were thought to be coincidences might not be.’

The “springs” arriving on Earth might’ve been due to a homing instinct that drove them to the god Kronos served.

[The Black King watches what kind of decision his successor will make.]

As if teasing Yeon-woo, a message regarding the Black King popped up.

Yeon-woo was certain the Black King’s gaze wasn’t one of interest in his successor. It was probably closer to one of curiosity, like how children observed ants. To the Black King, Yeon-woo was just a mere insect that would disappear the moment he woke up…

『Your Majesty. Please. Please give me the honor of serving you by your side.』

Just then, Azrael folded his wings and quietly landed next to Yeon-woo. He bowed toward Yeon-woo elegantly, but his eyes were blazing with aspiration.

In reality, Azrael had been passionate because Yeon-woo was the Black King’s successor, and he was still showing that same fire. The only difference here was that he had been domineering in the past, but right now, he was politer than ever. Because Azrael was a passionate follower of the Black King, he followed the hierarchy related to the Black King like it meant his life.

Then, Hel, who was representing all gods and demons of death, twitched her eyebrows. Azrael was disregarding her authority; she couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Still, she couldn’t show her bad side with their king watching on. She contained her anger and spoke twistedly.『Hm. What are you saying, Azrael? The king arrived on Niflheim, so it was decided that I would guide him, wasn’t it?』

But Azrael didn’t even turn to look at the protesting Hel, and continued to appeal himself to Yeon-woo. 『I am an angel of death, and I collect and store souls. I am a musician who will be playing the trumpet with the others when you awake the king.』

『You’re only dirtying the honor of the other gods and demons by overstepping your boundaries.』

『The duty of a musician is to let the entire world know the path of the king, and lead all the people and citizens to bow toward him. Please allow me to follow you so I can perform this duty.』

『You can’t understand my simple words, huh… I suppose nothing can be done about a fool who can’t even defeat Samael? As a comrade who has the same domain, this is quite sad.』Angry that Azrael continued to ignore her, Hel pretended to mutter loudly to herself.

Azrael was no longer able to ignore Hel and whipped his head toward her. Bringing up the name that was his humiliation meant she was challenging him to a fight. Of course, he didn’t want to show a bad side of him in front of the king. His sly tongue was among the best in Malach.『Perhaps it’s because you have the blood of the dumb giants that you speak such ignorant words.』

『What?』Hel’s voice turned sharp.

『Do you still not know?』

『Of what?』

『I’m already one with the king.』

『What…!』

Azrael ignored Hel’s scowl and spoke loudly for everyone to hear.

『I don’t know how I’ve been blessed for my soul to communicate with the king’s, but can’t you smell my soul from his scent?』

『…!』

『How foolish. So step away. You are nothing to step into the territory he and I are.』

‘He must be speaking about the Third Spirit I stole from him.’ Yeon-woo clicked his tongue, watching Azrael and Hel fight over who would serve him. He didn’t care at all who stepped up, so it was a bit ridiculous watching them debate. Still, he didn’t stop them. A competition of loyalty among subordinates could be used well depending on the situation. ‘But Hel doesn’t know that, so based on what I know of her personality, she’ll be…’

『Haa』

‘…?’ Yeon-woo, who thought Hel was going to butt heads with Azrael, flinched and stepped back at the sudden rough panting.

Hel’s face was already flushed. She panted, and steam seemingly floated above her head.『Agares and Father are already interested in him…so I was already frustrated… But one body? You’re already in that kind of relationship! I…will die at this rate!』

‘…Damned stone of Luxuria.’ Yeon-woo cursed quietly watching Hel explode. He did think Hel had been too quiet; it seemed she was putting on a facade. It was fitting for Loki’s youngest daughter.

Thinking that he’d be swept up in Niflheim at this rate, Yeon-woo patted Fenrir’s neck, who he was still sitting atop. “I want to head over there. Can you help me?”

Woof! Fenrir began to run. The way he jumped through the air, from the cliff toward the portal, almost seemed majestic.

『W-Wait for me!』Hel flapped her wings after Yeon-woo and Fenrir. Azrael also frantically chased after them. 666 gods and demons of death all crossed over the portal.

* * *

As soon as Yeon-woo stepped out of the portal, there was only one thing he could think of. ‘How…empty.’

It was the same Earth, but the Earth in Kronos’ legends and the Earth from the reality that Yeon-woo lived on were actually different enough to be two separate planets.

Rainstorms poured so heavily from the sky that it was hard to see anything, and a boiling ocean had rough, surging waves. The atmosphere was filled with sulfuric gas, so it was hard to think that there might be any organisms that existed… Primitive Earth was an Earth so ancient that it was hard to tell what year this was. If compared to the Earth in reality, this Earth was probably a newborn.

Yeon-woo wondered where the Black King would be asleep in a place like this. “This is…?” But the moment he stepped deep inside, Yeon-woo felt countless thoughts.

Haha. I see. You’ve come. My child. The one to awake me. Alarm. Egg. Something like that.

Able to find a path in many repeated dreams.

Legend see so can.

Which one of me are you.

Yeon-woo could feel. Countlessgazesfallingontohimfromallovertheplace.

ABCDEFGHEIJK.

There were thoughts that probably belonged to the Black King, mixed thoughts, and randomly assorted words. There was also a strange thought looking at Yeon-woo from Yeon-woo’s perspective… It was loud, like countless beings surrounded him to scream into his ears. The problem was that each noise contained a divinity that not even divine beings could measure, so his soul was shaking.

[Your soul is shaking due to an unknown reason. Your ego is confused.]

[You maintain reason with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.’]

[Your soul is…]

[You maintain reason with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.’]

[You maintain reason with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.’]

[You maintain reason with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.’]

…

[You maintain reason with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.’]

…

Yeon-woo experienced extreme confusion that would have destroyed his ego if he didn’t have his trait. He didn’t even have the mind to worry about Fenrir or the gods and demons of death who crossed through the portal with him.

[You maintain reason with the trait ‘Cold-blooded.’]

[The stunned status was been released. You have gained resistance toward the confusion.]

[Godly Perceptions is activating.]

[Your scattered senses are slowly being focused. The confused senses are being adjusted.]

[A significant time is required to focus and adjust. Please wait.]

[The Black King looks gladly upon his successor who came to see him in this whirling land.]

‘Father didn’t feel this?’ Yeon-woo endured the head-splitting pain and wondered why Kronos hadn’t been able to feel the Black King during the tens of thousands of years he had lived here. He was also curious about the Heavenly Demon, who confidently said he stuck the Black King in emptiness. ‘What was the Heavenly Demon thinking? Even if it’s in the future, how could he think to put the Black King asleep in his mother planet?’

The Heavenly Demon had been born on Earth, but after becoming an “emperor,” he had surpassed time and space. He had finished the creation of the universe by defeating the Black King. There must have been some reason why he put the Black King on Earth. However, Yeon-woo didn’t understand what it was. ‘Can living organisms appear in this place of storming thoughts? No, so… How did the future I know come to be?’

[Eye of the Heavens looks.]

[Ear of the Heavens hears.]

Then, Yeon-woo was no longer confused. He could feel something waiting behind the storm of thoughts, and that his soul was bound to it with invisible chains.

The chains were being pulled as if telling him to come closer. If he didn’t listen, it would force him. Clatter! The chains clanked and tugged on Yeon-woo harder. Yeon-woo didn’t resist and was pulled into the ocean with a splash.

Yeon-woo sank… Just when he was starting to think he reached the Earth’s core, Yeon-woo realized that he was no longer on Earth, but in pitch-black emptiness.

There was a being that he couldn’t even begin to measure.

Yeon-woo couldn’t see the being because of the black emptiness, but its size was something beyond what he could recognize. He was just a little dot compared to it. Even daring to measure the being seemed disrespectful.

[The Black King looks at his successor.]

Meet like this…

New… dream…

Egg…

The egg…

Best out of all my successors…

Waited until blood passed down…

Good…

Choose you…

[Through the Black King’s blessing, the title ‘Successor of the Black King’ has been changed to ‘Shadow of the Black King!’]

Not time for me to wake yet…

But I can stretch…

I used…

To talk in my sleep anyway…