Ye Bai looked around but could not spot a single figure amidst the ruins, unsure where the ethereal song was coming from.
Yet, the moment she heard its lyrics, memories flooded back—of her second visit to the divine realm, searching for heretics who had entered the infernal prison. When she finally found signs of life, she had encountered an old man among a cluster of ramshackle huts.
In his madness, he had once chanted a fragmented, incoherent ballad. Now, she realized, the version before her was the complete one.
Conquest, curses, true names… Was the "king" in the song referring to the Divine King?
"The king's curse never fades"—did this mean the Divine King had cast a curse, or that he had fallen victim to one?
Both interpretations seemed plausible. The Infernal Demon God, as confirmed through the memories of the Elven Queen, had been sealed by the Divine King after invading the Emerald Forest. Ye Bai had personally witnessed the cursed chains binding it.
The latter interpretation, however, also aligned perfectly with the Paper Man—a cursed being whose sole purpose was to unlock the Divine King's treasure vault.
His knowledge of the treasure vault's questline was too precise, as if every step had been prearranged rather than deciphered. This was evident from the Elven Queen's reaction; a true invasion of the vault should have been chaotic, like the Lich King's assault.
Yet contradictions remained in the details about the Divine King's legacy. The most glaring was the song itself—how could it still circulate in the divine realm? The Elven Queen had claimed the Divine King had faced the Great Annihilation, meaning both the song and the empty throne ahead should have been erased from existence.
But these answers, Ye Bai suspected, would be revealed once she entered the treasure vault.
In the next moment, the withered branch of the World Tree in Ye Bai's hand suddenly flew out on its own, soaring toward the center of the square. Before the throne, a familiar portal materialized from the void, its surface a swirling chaos. What lay beyond was unknown—its appearance, its destination.
This was the same gate that had appeared when the passage opened earlier, but now it was no longer unreachable. It truly existed within this space.
The treasure vault was not hidden in the present-day royal city. Instead, one had to traverse the Corridor of History and arrive at this bygone version of the capital to gain entry.
As the "key" flew away, Ye Bai felt a sudden lightness. An invisible path seemed to form ahead, freeing her from the previous restriction of only observing history. Now, she could move freely within this past space.
"This is it!"
The moment Ye Bai pulled the scroll from her bag, she heard the Paper Man's voice, trembling with excitement.
"Grrrk!"
Even Ottophis, standing beside her, let out an unusual cry, its gaze fixed on the gate. It tugged urgently at Ye Bai's cloak, urging her forward.
This surprised her. She had always assumed the Divine King's treasure vault was solely the Paper Man's obsession. Ottophis had never shown particular interest—until now.
Recalling their earlier interactions, it seemed the two shared some unspoken understanding…
Her thoughts raced, but reality demanded haste. With the Lich King undoubtedly in pursuit, Ye Bai wasted no time. A strange tension gripped her as she sprinted toward the treasure vault's gate—the thrill of impending revelation.
At such a pivotal moment, one couldn't help but fear the unexpected.
And, true to form, the unexpected struck.
Just as Ye Bai closed within five meters of the mysterious portal—
Light.
An endless radiance flooded her vision.
With a deafening hum, the world before her tore like canvas, shredded by the sudden, overwhelming brilliance.
...
What began as a mutation within a single race soon spread, engulfing entire civilizations. A war of annihilation swept across the divine continent, weaving an epic of destruction and ruin.
At this very moment in history, within the residence of the High Executor of the Gavar Duchy, Rory—seated at his desk, studying battle maps—suddenly stiffened.
The man hailed as humanity's strongest awakened lightblood, his deep brown eyes flickered, replaced by twin pale flames dancing in his pupils.
In an instant, his demeanor twisted—sinister, resentful, reeking of inescapable decay.
"Hah… the Corridor of History. As a witness of the past, entering here traps me within my former self. Was this your contingency?"
Rory's lips twitched unnaturally as he spoke, his voice at first halting, then smoothing into fluid malice.
Then, the man later revered in human history as Saint Rory turned his burning gaze toward the greatsword mounted on the wall.
The blade was imposing, unadorned yet radiating an aura of supremacy, sanctity, purification, judgment…
Superimposed over it hovered a figure clad in radiant armor—Codos, who had been dragged into the passageway by the Lich King.
"An… Ancestor…"
Codos froze as the man behind the desk locked eyes with him. He recognized that face—seen countless times in portraits. This was the first lord of Saint Rory Keep, his own ancestor before becoming the Lich King: Rory, the last High Executor of the Gavar Duchy.
Earlier, Codos had traversed the Corridor of History alongside the Lich King, observing the histories of many races—always as a detached spectator. But now, as one who had once existed in this era, he realized his future-born ancestor was no longer a bystander. Here, the Lich King had become Rory.
Or rather, some rule of the Corridor had temporarily imprisoned the Lich King within Rory's body.
Yet as Rory's scorching gaze fell upon him, Codos instinctively looked down at himself.
What he saw next made his pupils dilate in unprecedented horror.
He, who should have had no connection to this past, was no longer a spectator. Like his ancestor, he too was trapped—within a body that belonged to this time.
Yet in this era, Codos's physical form was a massive greatsword.
"By merging the Holy Artifact of Light with flesh magic, condensing the power of a hundred generations of Light Awakeners... When you cursed me, transforming me into an undead creature that fears the power of light the most, you never imagined that one day I would wield it in this way—"
"The Sword of Damocles—sever this place!"
"Ahhh—!"
At Rory's command, all of Codos's existence was condensed. Amidst the endless radiance, he let out his final, soundless scream.
Then, the Light bloodline of the Rory family that had been embedded in Codos since birth, the power he had honed and awakened over the years, and the strength he had absorbed from his fallen comrades—all sublimated and fused at this moment, merging into this mythic greatsword.
In the next instant, the seemingly plain and unassuming greatsword obeyed its master's will, erupting with pure, absolute radiance... No, it would be more accurate to say that it had become light itself.
The Law of Light dominated the entire historical world, its most penetrating force ruthlessly cleaving through the Corridor of History.
...
"Clang... Clang!"
Amid the surging radiance, Ye Bai heard something collapsing and shattering—
Just like the collapse of the Emerald Forest's dreamscape, the foundational rules of this past space were also being torn apart by the light.
Mounted on Ottophis, Ye Bai clung tightly as it darted left and right with agility. Even though they had evaded most of the damage, she still had to time her level-ups precisely to endure the residual waves of destructive light.
"This power comes from a divine artifact..." The Paper Figure recognized its origin.
"A divine artifact of the Law of Light," Ye Bai realized as well.
Given that even scattered attacks from this light could inflict such damage on her now, and considering the human accompanying the Lich King, the answer wasn’t hard to guess.
"Eeek!"
Ottophis let out a cry, its gaze piercing through the space torn by the Law of Light, locking onto the distance.
Now, the entire space was being shredded by the power of light. The world before them looked like a painting violently ripped into fragments, with the section where Ye Bai stood separated from the final treasury gate by a pure white expanse—an impenetrable barrier of light, the most hostile force to all other energies.
Ye Bai's mind raced through every possible means of crossing—time-leaping through fractures, shadow-stepping... but none would work.
"Hmph..."
Just then, a cold sneer echoed, followed by a wave of chilling energy.
Within the largest fragmented space where she stood, Ye Bai saw a pitch-black shadow rapidly spreading toward her from the distance.
The Lich King had arrived!
Ye Bai swiftly switched to the Tome of Death, and in the next moment, twin flames of soulfire ignited in her eyes as she transformed into a Monarch of the Undead.
But Ye Bai was two tiers below the godlike Lich King, and her monarch status couldn’t forcibly command him—otherwise, she would have used it the moment they first met.
'-50, -50...'
The instant she transformed, Ye Bai began taking environmental damage. Among all laws, light magic was the most oppressive to necromancy, and this place was saturated with the Law of Light.
Enduring the damage, she hurled a Death Ray at the enemy.
To her surprise, the Lich King didn’t dodge—he took the high-tier necromantic spell head-on, not even flinching from the impact.
In that brief exchange, Ye Bai understood: his immunity to necromancy was at a high tier. Even a legendary spell like Bone Dominion might barely scratch him.
As for Petrifying Gaze and Tidal Surge... the Lich King was in a non-corporeal form, and without an ocean environment, neither would be effective.
Troublesome!
Ye Bai was a third-tier professional wielding a divine necromantic artifact, while her opponent was a bona fide god-tier Lich. Most of her strongest methods were useless against him.
No wonder the Lich King coveted her Tome of Death so fiercely. Ye Bai didn’t even dare imagine how powerful she’d be as a god-tier Lich wielding it.
"Never mind him—move!"
At that moment, Ye Bai heard the Paper Figure’s strained, urgent voice.
Before she could process its meaning, Ottophis beneath her had already lunged forward, carrying her straight into the pure white radiance ahead.
"What?!"
Caught off guard, Ye Bai’s pupils constricted sharply as she took in the scene before her.
Within the expanse of light that should have been untouchable, Ottophis’s hooves landed firmly on a series of flickering lines—lines that appeared and vanished like hasty pencil strokes on white paper, quickly drawn and just as quickly erased.
These lines... were they the Paper Figure’s doing?
And somehow, Ottophis’s hooves found purchase on those fleeting strokes, carrying Ye Bai in a mad dash toward the space where the treasury gate lay!
All Ye Bai could do was hold onto Ottophis’s neck in stunned silence—since when was this even possible?!
