As the ancient gods began entering the fray, Goddess of Harvest Omebella returned to the Giant King's Court with God of Dawn Badheil.
"That angel's powers are strange. Losing to him doesn't tarnish your glory."
Omebella left with those words, having clashed with Truman twice now.
Beyond his bizarre abilities, fighting Truman instilled a sense of dread, as if something ominous loomed.
She'd begun to grasp Truman's oddity and, with divine war looming, had no desire to provoke him.
For a mythical creature, such consolation was already a mother's care for her son.
Badheil remained silent, his madness quelled by Omebella, though a lingering aura of decay clung to him.
"Glory…" Badheil rumbled, his single eye wide. "Only greater power can uphold one's glory!"
"The authorities of the Demonic Wolf and Phoenix!"
But these were beyond his reach, claimed by their respective ancient gods!
He headed to the Twilight Palace to meet his father, seeking a path to greater power.
But shortly after leaving the palace, two ancient god auras departed the Giant King's Court.
"The Elf King is coming. The Sanguine Ancestor invited your father to meet him. Divine war may be near," Omebella informed Badheil in the Twilight Palace.
A divine war was beyond their involvement; even observing from afar could be fatal.
This realization crushed the nascent desire for strength in Badheil's heart, plunging him into another abyss.
The psychological suggestion Truman planted in Badheil was subtle, merely amplifying a seed of thought. Under the onslaught of angelic historical projections and the Goddess of Misfortune's overwhelming dominance, the urge to "become stronger" churned relentlessly.
The "Giant" pathway, later known as the "Warrior" pathway, had Sequence 2 named "Glory." Badheil, at this rank, embodied this title.
Power was the source of all glory.
See? Truman had even demonstrated the Acting Method for Badheil.
"…" Badheil left silently, his thoughts in turmoil, too restless to return to the Dawn Palace. He wandered the Giant King's Court.
Unknowingly, he arrived at a gloomy forest.
"The Forest of Decay?" Badheil paused, sensing something amiss. Why had he come here?
But in an instant, the phosphorescent dreamlight buried in his heart detonated, leaving no trace, erasing that fleeting suspicion.
He forgot the moment of unease.
"Giant Ancestor…" Badheil turned his thoughts to the Forest of Decay.
"My father forbids anyone from approaching this place."
"Could this hold the secret to his immense power?"
With Giant King Aurmir preoccupied with other ancient gods, this was the best—perhaps only—opportunity…
His churning thoughts overwhelmed all else. Badheil entered the Forest of Decay, transforming into dawnlight, blending seamlessly into the twilight.
To grow stronger, to slay all enemies.
This impulse, born within Badheil, drove him to act naturally.
With the Giant King absent and the Giant Queen focused on the divine war, no one noticed Badheil.
He easily evaded the guardians, navigating the twilight's power to reach two ancient tombstones inscribed in Giant tongue: "Father" and "Mother."
These marked the origin of the giants.
The words held mystical power to stir natural forces, evoking longing, sorrow, and guilt in Badheil.
As the greatest giant, warrior, and "Demon Hunter" after his father, Badheil's perception caught fragments of information lingering in the corresponding Spirit World.
A vision from an ancient era flashed before him, featuring his father and two corpses in coffins.
But why were those corpses so small? Smaller even than a newborn giant!
Badheil's body stiffened, a chill coursing through him as he discerned the corpses' forms.
"Humans…" Badheil fell silent. The corpses differed vastly from giants, their anatomy distinct.
They had two eyes!
Giants always had one.
"Father? Mother?" The dawnlight in Badheil's single eye flickered chaotically, unsure how to face this truth.
"How?" Transforming into dawnlight, Badheil stepped forward instinctively, overwhelmed by the Giant King's intense guilt.
He began to glean deeper truths within it.
But Badheil's thoughts froze, unable to process. As dawnlight, he vanished into the Forest of Decay.
"My father forbids any giant but himself from nearing the Forest of Decay…"
"And that overwhelming guilt, even…"
Badheil returned to the Dawn Palace at top speed, sealing himself off, refusing to see any giants or participate further in the war.
He might have guessed something.
…
"Soniathrym!" Aurmir nodded to the Elf King, who strode on wind and waves, trident in hand.
"I'm going where the Chaos Sea is," Soniathrym said, eyes fixed on the Silver Kingdom, where the Chaos Sea's aura had appeared. He was determined to go.
"That's my territory!" Aurmir's voice deepened.
"It's the Chaos Sea—it's none of your concern!" Soniathrym stared at Aurmir, lightning crackling around him.
The scene seemed poised to erupt into conflict.
This was the Humanoid Alliance—rife with contradictions and strife even in such times.
"Let him pass," Lilith said, descending on moonlight. The three ancient gods of the Humanoid Alliance convened.
"…" Aurmir's single eye flashed with violence, the twilight light trembling. He fell silent.
The Elf King laughed, striding forward, reaching the Silver Kingdom in a few steps. Sensing the Chaos Sea's residual aura, he nodded in satisfaction, his physical and mental unrest easing slightly.
But his craving for the Sefirah peaked.
In a similar state was the Dragon of Imagination.
Its virtual personality roamed the Collective Unconscious Sea of the Silver Kingdom's people, yearning to seize the Chaos Sea's power.
"I must obtain that slate…"
(End of Chapter)