Just as the ancient gods began to take action one after another, the Goddess of Harvest, Omibella, returned to the Giant Court with the God of Dawn, Badhair.
"The power of that angel is quite strange. Losing to him does not diminish your honor."
Omibella left behind this one remark before departing. She had already fought Truman twice.
Truman's abilities were bizarre, but beyond that, battling him always brought a sense of unease, as if something ominous was bound to happen.
She had already recognized Truman's strangeness and, at this critical moment when a divine war was about to erupt, she had no desire to provoke him.
For a mythical being, a word of consolation was already akin to a mother's care for her child.
Badhair remained silent. The madness within him had been suppressed by Omibella, yet his body still exuded an aura of decay.
"Honor..." Badhair murmured, his single eye widening. "Only greater power can uphold one's honor!"
"The authorities of the Demon Wolf and the Undying Phoenix!"
But those were beyond his reach. Each already had its master, and they were all ancient gods.
He strode toward the Dusk Palace, seeking an audience with his Father to explore the possibility of advancing further.
Yet, just as he stepped out of the palace, two powerful divine presences departed from the Giant Court.
"The Elf King is arriving. The progenitor of the Blood Clan has invited your Father to meet him. The divine war may be imminent."
Badhair encountered Omibella within the Dusk Palace and received this news.
A divine war was not something they could interfere in; even observing from afar could lead to their demise.
This realization greatly frustrated the newfound desire for strength that had just risen in Badhair's heart, pushing him toward another abyss.
The psychological seed Truman had planted in Badhair was simple. He had only made minor reinforcements, allowing the idea of "becoming stronger" to fester under the relentless assault of the projections of the great angels and the oppressive influence of the Goddess of Misfortune.
In the future, "giants" would come to be known as the "warrior" pathway, with Sequence 2 being titled "The Glorified." This was exactly where Badhair currently stood.
Power was the source of all honor.
See? Truman had even given Badhair a demonstration of the acting method.
"…" Badhair left silently. His thoughts were in turmoil, and he had no desire to return to the Dawn Palace. Instead, he wandered through the Giant Court.
Before he realized it, he had arrived at a dark and withered forest.
"The Decayed Forest?" Badhair was momentarily stunned. He even sensed something off—why had he come here?
But in that instant, the faint phosphorescence buried deep within his soul burst forth, leaving no trace. In the final moment, it erased this doubt from his mind.
He forgot that brief moment of unease.
"The Giant Progenitor…" Badhair turned his attention to the Decayed Forest before him.
"Father never allows anyone near this place."
"Could this place be the reason for Father's immense power?!"
At that moment, the Giant King, Olmir, was locked in a standoff with the other ancient gods, unable to spare attention elsewhere. This was the best—perhaps the only—opportunity…
The turmoil in Badhair's heart eventually overcame all hesitation. He stepped into the Decayed Forest, transforming into the Light of Dawn, perfectly blending into the dusk.
Become stronger. Kill all enemies.
This thought arose naturally in Badhair's mind, and he instinctively acted upon it.
With the Giant King away and the Queen preoccupied with the divine war, no one could notice Badhair.
He effortlessly evaded the sentries and even slipped past the power of dusk, arriving before two ancient tombstones. On them, written in the language of the giants, were the words "Father" and "Mother."
This was the origin of the giants.
These two words carried a mysterious force capable of stirring nature itself. They filled Badhair with an instinctive sense of attachment, sorrow, and guilt.
But Badhair was the most outstanding giant, warrior, and "Demon Hunter" after his Father. His perception allowed him to directly capture residual traces of information within the spirit world.
A vision of an ancient time flickered before Badhair's eyes. In it, his Father stood alongside two corpses lying in coffins.
But why… were those bodies so small? They were even smaller than newborn giants!
Badhair's body gradually stiffened, an icy chill spreading through him as he saw the shapes of the corpses.
"Humans…" Badhair fell into silence. These two corpses were vastly different from the giants. Their bodily structures were completely distinct.
These corpses had two eyes!
Yet, giants had always been one-eyed.
"Father? Mother?" The Dawn Light within Badhair's single eye flickered into chaos. He did not know how to react to the truth before him.
"How could this be?" Badhair, in his dawn-light form, instinctively stepped forward—only to be engulfed by the overwhelming guilt emanating from the Giant King.
As he delved deeper into it, he began to grasp an even greater truth.
But at this moment, Badhair's mind had stagnated. He could no longer think, and his form as dawn-light completely vanished into the Decayed Forest.
"Father never allowed any giant near the Decayed Forest…"
"And that overwhelming guilt… even…"
Badhair returned to the Dawn Palace as quickly as he could, shutting himself away. He did not see any giants, nor did he take part in the impending war.
Perhaps, he had realized something.
…
"Soniathrym!" Olmir gazed at the Elf King, who strode across the waves, trident in hand.
"I am going to where the Chaos Sea lies." Soniathrym looked toward the distant Silver Kingdom, locking onto it. The Chaos Sea had once appeared there, and he had to reach it.
"That is my domain!" Olmir's voice darkened.
"That is the Chaos Sea—it has nothing to do with you!" Soniathrym stared into Olmir's single eye, lightning crackling wildly around him.
The tension in the air suggested that a battle could erupt at any moment.
This was the so-called Humanoid Alliance, yet even under these circumstances, internal conflicts and rivalries persisted.
"Let him go," Lilith descended upon the moonlight, joining the meeting of the three ancient gods of the Humanoid Alliance.
"…" Olmir's single eye flashed with brutality, and the twilight light around him trembled slightly. But he fell silent.
The Elf King let out a hearty laugh, taking just a few steps before arriving in the Silver Kingdom. As he sensed the remnants of the Chaos Sea's power, he nodded in satisfaction. The restless turbulence in his body and spirit eased slightly.
But at the same time, his longing for the essence of existence had reached its peak.
And the one who shared his plight was the Dragon of Fantasia.
Its virtual persona was already swimming within the collective subconscious sea of the Silver Kingdom's citizens, yearning to absorb the power of the Chaos Sea.
"I must obtain that tablet…"