*

"Exactly what the hell happened? The curse should have worked properly. He shouldn't have been able to show any sort of resistance..."

"No, more than that... The Emperor's condition was weird too. He didn't even reopen the sealing ritual, and collapsed just like that."

There was a lot of blood running down the Sacred Land Detalt where Emperor Leonhardt was asleep. This was because the sacred ground, where the golden rose bloomed, rejected the blood that was imbued with vitality. The flowing blood from the body was then expelled out of the Sacred Land.

There were dozens of bleeding bodies. Among them were three men who looked at Leonhardt, who was lying on the floor, with a pale face. They then looked at Dae-ha, who was lying next to Celestia. However, they were currently not interested in the Imperial Princess.

"Can we no longer insert the Sword of Destruction?" A man of sturdy build was lamenting. There was a Magic Sword with all kinds of Curse of Deaths, layered and compressed, in his hand. Since it was an item that was made with the heart and soul of the Great Wizards, even a pretty powerful transcendent wouldn't come out unscathed upon getting defensely stabbed by the cursed blade.

“Did you not also notice that you can approach or touch them, but you can no longer stab them…?” The other man was right, and this was the problem. They entered Detalt to kill Dae-ha, who lost his consciousness from the infectious curse of the Emperor, but they just couldn't execute it.

"Damn it! We have to do it no matter what! Haiyaaaah!!" The first man chewed his lips and activated a self-defence mechanism that was great enough to cover his whole body. Then, he charged towards Dae-ha. He was a man who reached the realm of a top master by completing the perfect Daejucheon[1]. Hence, an ordinary person would fail to clock his movements with the naked eye.

However… Thuckkk! The head of the charging man disappeared. His body, which was rushing forth like lightning, collapsed to the floor without overcoming the residual force.

"This is insane. What the hell is the principle behind this... I can't even begin to understand."

"Looking at the atmosphere, it feels like a kind of defensive system, but… It is an attack that even we couldn’t perceive…” Another man commented quietly.

Everything went as planned. As long as they lent the First Emperor's villa to Dae-ha and Celestia, it was the natural course of action for them to enter Detalt. Then, it would be easy for them to unleash a curse upon Dae-ha and Celestia by simply matching the moment they entered. Afterwards, all they had to do was kill him once he became unconscious.

After all, it was a curse that even the strong-minded Intermediate-rank transcendent, Emperor Leonhardt, had not been able to overcome for hundreds of years. Hence, it was no wonder that they never considered the possibility of Dae-ha ever overcoming such a curse.

However, it was fact that everyone who thought so and tried to attack him died. Any attack they did would trigger an unknown counterattack that obliterated their body.

"We're running out of time. Even though surveillance is impossible, because this is a Sacred Land, the villa’s control persona would contact the outside forces once the Imperial Princess and the Next Emperor remained here for a long period of time,” one man muttered to the other. This was why they had to deal with Dae-ha right now. They never thought of surviving this ordeal, but they also never expected to put their lives on the line to achieve absolutely nothing.

“No, actually, even if this is the case… Our goal is already half-completed, technically speaking. The Dreamer’s Curse can’t be lifted by anyone, so…”

Emperor Leonhardt was the start and end of the Empire. In other words, he was an existence that was akin to the heart of the Empire. Moreover, when he was first inflicted with the curse, the Untouchable known as the Golden Lion God was even next to him too. But nevertheless, the Dreamer's Curse couldn’t be lifted.

"If we don't kill him here, the power of the curse that devoured him will only increase in strength. Since this is already the case, there is nothing we can do.” The man clenched his teeth and sheathed the Sword of Destruction. It was a Single Use Magical Weapon that would automatically disappear when used, but it couldn’t be used under this changed situation. So, he recalled it to prevent any sort of tracking. "Let's back off, Yeon."

"..."

"Yeon?" The man who sheathed the Sword of Destruction turned his head and asked again, since his comrade did not reply. However, the one who stood there was not his comrade.

"You noticed it slower than I thought you would."

"Wh-What the?!" The man who had trained in Chakra noticed that there were two men lying down on the floor below Dae-ha. He laid his eyes on them and knew that they were dead. Aside from him, the entire Special Force was wiped out now.

"Isit Howard and the royals... Even so, I can't believe they thought of getting rid of me under the rapt attention of so many eyes.”

"Hmph! I don't care what you think! The Empire no longer needs an Emperor!" The man growled. He was an advocate for a republican constitution.

Although the monarchy constitution was common in the Great Universe Era, as everyone recognized the existence of transcendents, that did not mean that all of humanity accepted the godlike existence that existed above them. The Republicans thought that the independent citizens, who were devoted to their homeland, should be the main body that made up the political scene. They were especially staunch in their beliefs.

It was then no surprise that they loathed the Emperor-class existences. In the case of low-rank transcendents, it was possible to match them with the power of modern weapons and battleships. However, it was hard to gather the power of the whole civilization, so the transcendents would definitely reign over humanity in the end.

Of course, he himself volunteered for the mission because he agreed to such thoughts. It was unfortunate that he did not know that he was also being used.

The reason why the Republicans wanted to harm Dae-ha was because they were afraid of the emergence of a new Emperor. That was the final scenario that the enemies desired for, because they wanted to lead Dae-ha to falling into a crisis. However, there was just one problem…

'They must really have seen me as an easy target.' I thought. Currently, I possessed an omniscient power and that was an undeniable fact.

"Hmph! You bastard! You think you can stand on top of people with your mere possession of stronger power! Just with your own power, and without any consent from the society..."

"Shut it,” I grumbled, and… Thuckkk! Along with a soft sound, there was a hole in the man's chest. Once he stopped shouting fiercely and loudly, I turned the Shadow Stalker back to the form of a watch. "By the way, this isn't even funny... I can't believe there was such a flaw in the omniscient power."

In the opened door state, I was directly provided with information from the world by the absolute authority, God Knows. That was the reason why no tricks or schemes would work on me, and any betrayal or ambush attacks would be impossible. That should have been the case, but even I was not privy to my own future.

Of course, the Foresight ability would basically receive a lot of interference by the transcendents. Needless to say, that was the reason why the Foresight ability users referred to the transcendents as variables. It was possible for transcendents who were free from the flow of the world to go beyond fate at their own discretion. It wasn't as if Foresight would be 100 percent accurate if transcendents did not exist, but the involvement of a transcendent lent a high probability of the prediction itself being twisted.

However, I was much more severe than those transcendents, so my involvement could cause all Foresight to be broken and unreadable. It was at a level that even the Untouchables like Adam and Hawa could not read my future, much less the people around me. Those restrictions applied to me too… I thought, 'In other words, it means that the future regarding me can't even be known indirectly.'

There was a scheme that conspired to hurt me and, in reality, the scheme threw me into a grave crisis. I, who was in a human state, overlooked it by saying “I guess so.” However, it still was a pretty dangerous situation.

I was inflicted with the Dreamer's Curse. If the attackers had chosen to injure instead of kill me, Hawa would not have been able to stop their attack because of that one reason. I would then have been put into a suspended animation[2] state upon sustaining injury. Once my body had reached that point, I would have failed to return to reality, even if I opened the door with the key. Aside from suffering from the nightmares, I would face the exact same situation as Emperor Leonhardt. In addition, it would be for eternity.

"How dare you." The wounded man gritted his teeth… 'Griikkkk girrkkk. He then released bloodlust, which caused the surrounding golden roses to close their buds. It was as if they were alive.

I was mistaken. I initially thought that, upon opening the door, I was essentially not much different from my usual self. Although I could have acted as I pleased, causing a big deal once things lost control within the main council room, I came to the conclusion that I was ultimately acting out of my own desire to do so.

That was, in fact, an obvious thought. How could I have known the risk involved, when all I saw were the results of resolving the various matters upon opening the door? Even after obtaining the Divine Spirit? However, I was clearly different and I was...changing.

When I first opened the door, I was only slightly different from my usual self. However, as I opened the door more and more times, the difference grew increasingly large. Most of all, I must now think more carefully about the difference between the perspective of a God and a human.

"How dare..."

If the usual me was in life-threatening danger, I would naturally be angry. However, my anger would be restrained. Even my act of taking revenge or resistance would only be limited to the enemies and the accomplices who tried to kill me… But this was no longer the case for the current me, who had opened the door. I was not a human being but a God, so the perspective I had on humans was different.

If a man was seriously injured by a wasp sting, he wouldn't punish the single wasp by catching it and examining the 'nature of crime.’ He would burn the entire hive instead.

Tick! The Shadow Stalker, which had reformed into the shape of a watch, changed back to the shape of a gun. I held onto it and shot towards the empty space on the left. Kiinggg--! As the space split, a dimension portal opened.

It wasn't a dimension portal that was just used for close-distance teleportation. It was a Super-long Distance Gate where interstellar movement was possible. The creator of Shadow Stalker would see such a possibility and scream in astonishment, since the Shadow Stalker had the function to open a dimension portal that was still not great enough to enable space travel.

Poof! As I slowly walked past the Gate, the surrounding background changed.

*

"Wh-What the hell?!"

"For what reason, I mean, how is a Gate here?"

"Who dares to!!"

As Dae-ha appeared beyond the dimension portal, everyone there screamed in astonishment. This was because Dae-ha actually went deep within Howard's Duchy, which was a place that unauthorized beings were not able to enter.

"Ohhhooo~ Who's this? The Next Emperor His Majesty is here, huh."

"Grandfather."

"Ahhh, apologies. You were supposed to be the Next Emperor, right?"

"..."

Duke Howard and Crown Prince Louis Leonhardt were present. They knew that things went wrong upon noticing that Dae-ha had appeared deep within the Duchy, but they played it off calmly. They were acting as they usually would…

However, that sort of thing was of no use in front of Dae-ha, who commented, "Yeah. It's you guys, huh." That was because the answer was written above their heads.

"Us? What do you mean? What are you talking about? Do you think the Empire is a joke, just because you wore that Crown for a bit?"

"That aside, why did you come here? Did Cel whine at night or something?"

Duke Howard and Louis were hostile towards Dae-ha, because that was the right thing to do. They had to do so, regardless of putting on an act or showing their true selves. However, Dae-ha did not care about what they blabbered and said, "Ares."

"Ares? What are you saying now..."

Boom! The space was distorted and the Great God revealed himself, spreading a heavy pressure.

"What the hell. What are you trying to do?"

"How dare you bring a Gigas here!"

Dae-ha kept doing what he was doing, regardless of whether he could hear their urgent barks coming from here and there. He whispered, "Ra." Just then… 'Flashh,’ a crown made of light materialized above his head. It was the Crown of the Sun which was no different from the proof of the Emperor.

However, Dae-ha immediately took off the Crown of the Sun and threw it into the air. Whoooosh! The Crown of the Sun expanded. However, Ra did not appear in the form of a Gigas, which was what the First Emperor had used. The Crown of the Sun only grew in size, retaining its usual form.

The Crown of the Sun continuously flew up as it was before placing itself on Ares' head. Shiaaaang----! As the light simply exploded around them all, everyone was astounded. They stared at the unfolding scene.

"Th-This… What's this?!"

"The Crown of the Sun...was placed on a Gigas?"

"I've never heard of anything like this before!"

Everyone screamed in astonishment. Duke Howard was especially confused, even though he possessed the strength of a transcendent. No, rather, his status as transcendent made him panic even more. This was because his strong intuition could only foresee a devastating future then. "You, you... You bastard, don't tell me..." Howard trembled and pointed towards Dae-ha.

Upon seeing that sight, Dae-ha laughed. "Come to think of it, I haven't answered your question as to why I came here. The reason I'm here is because..."

Ares, who was wearing a crown of light, picked Dae-ha up and opened his body. At the touch of Ares, Dae-ha disappeared into Ares as if being devoured by a giant monster.

Wiiiiingggg-! Just like that, Dae-ha got on board. Ares then exuded an oppressive Aura that even transcendents would struggle to bear with. Then, Ares… No, Dae-ha, who was inside Ares, said, "I came to do a spring-clean." At the same time, a destructive ray of light rampaged through all directions.

1. 대주천, otherwise known as 大周天 in Chinese refers to the process of breaking through the peak of the Qi accumulated in the Dantian and erupt forth like a volcano.

2. This refers to the temporary cessation of most vital functions without death.