On the other side, Lilith, Ouroboros, and Steph walked together toward the outskirts of the City of Silver's camp.
Lilith got straight to the point. "What exactly happened to the True Creator? Sure, He was always a little crazy, but not to the extent of attacking you—and even this dumb snake Ouroboros." She glanced at Ouroboros, who was staring blankly into the distance. "I asked him earlier, but he couldn't explain anything!"
Steph spoke slowly. "The Lord is now completely beyond communication."
"But Ed—…I communicated with Him not long ago. At that time, He was relatively stable, even to the point where it felt like He had shed His old madness."
"I do not know."
He continued, "But before the Lord went mad, a violent and terrifying fluctuation erupted from the Giant King's Court. It may have been related to that. When I rushed over, the Lord had already turned into what He is now."
"And then?"
Steph shook His head. "That is all I know."
Lilith pressed a hand to her forehead, exasperated. "Ah, no wonder the True Creator is in such a pathetic state now. With a group of 'hidden dragons and crouching phoenixes' like you assisting Him, it's truly His blessing."
"Enough, enough. I'll go to the Giant King's Court and see for myself. Snake, you coming?"
Ouroboros silently stepped forward.
Lilith set out immediately, but after a few steps she saw Steph following. She asked, "Why are you coming along?"
He gazed quietly at Lilith. "I want to know what exactly happened to the Lord."
Lilith casually patted His shoulder. "Wait for me to come back and tell you. Facing a mad god, I'm not confident I can keep you safe."
"I don't need—"
Before He could finish, Lilith and Ouroboros shattered into fragments of mirror and vanished. Steph instantly tried to follow, only to realise that His body couldn't move at all.
He clenched His teeth, attempting to mobilise His spirituality to forcibly break the restraint—but blood suddenly spurted from His nose and mouth, and His entire body weakened dramatically.
Escaping alive from His frenzied Lord had already been fortunate enough. His current condition was unquestionably dire.
He silently looked toward the distant silhouette of the Giant King's Court, and in the end, gave up resisting.
By now, Lilith and Ouroboros had already reached the entrance of the Giant King's Court. Looking up, they saw enormous gray-white stone steps, surrounded in every direction by towering walls.
In the centre of the walls was a pair of dozens-of-meters-tall double doors in greyish blue, studded with rows of golden nails.
On each side of the doors lay a massive, five-to-six-meter-tall guardian, exuding overwhelming pressure. They wore exquisite and sturdy silver full armour—Sequence 3 Silver Knights. But at this moment, they were unmistakably dead.
Lilith strode quickly to the grey-blue gate.
She pressed a hand onto the door. Amid heavy cracking sounds, the gold-nailed gate slowly opened, revealing the scene inside.
Behind the doors stretched a gray-white staircase veiled in orange-red light—layer after countless layer—leading upward toward the highest and most magnificent residence of the Giant King. Nothing obstructed the path. On both sides were countless palaces and towering spires.
At one glance, the ground was littered with broken limbs and fragments, extending all the way into the depths—those "soldiers" meant to protect the True Creator had already been slaughtered entirely.
Lilith kicked a piece of debris. "Looks like He really has gone mad."
The two continued forward through the immense palace complex, passing piles of corpses—either puppets or the True Creator's believers. All of them were dead, everywhere.
Until, when they reached deep enough inside, the shadows beneath their feet suddenly came alive. They extended upward rapidly, wrapping around the two of them. Neither panicked; they simply allowed the shadows to act.
A few seconds later, they found themselves standing inside a gloomy, dim, chill-filled palace. At the deepest part, a faint layer of shadow stood—shaped like a man with shoulder-length, slightly wavy black hair. His eyes were concealed in darkness. Behind him fell layer upon layer of illusory black wings, covering most of his body.
The "Dark Angel," Sasrir.
The next moment, Sasrir opened His eyes—pure black, filled with endless madness and despair. With their opening, boundless corruptive power surged toward the pair.
Lilith immediately yanked Ouroboros behind more than a dozen overlapping mirrors to block the erosion of the corrupting force.
CRASH!
The stacked mirrors did not even last a full second. With a single glance from Sasrir, they shattered.
He slowly raised his left hand. A deep-black sceptre condensed into existence. His voice was frenzied yet eerily calm, saturated with the stench of corruption:
"Die!"
In an instant, both Ouroboros and Lilith felt their bodies, minds, and spirits sink violently, as if they were plummeting toward death at terrifying speed. Their consciousnesses blurred rapidly, their vitality evaporated, and their flesh "withered" inch by inch.
But then, a phantom, scale-less great serpent whose head bit its own tail appeared—its presence carrying a sensation akin to time reversing—and their withered bodies were restored.
Lilith abruptly thrust her hand against Ouroboros's back, shoving him into a mirror. "Give me a blessing of good luck."
Ouroboros pressed his hands together as the radiant wings behind him lit up once more.
Lilith raised her hand, and tiny lights flickered throughout the palace—
From every direction, silver mirrors manifested, transforming the palace into a world made entirely of mirrors. Sasrir's layered black wings stirred, and the countless mirrors shattered one after another.
Lilith suddenly stepped out from a piece of broken mirror. Her small, fair hand lightly tapped Sasrir's chest with a crisp ding—and Sasrir's body plummeted downward as though falling into a bottomless pit.
Lilith leapt in after him, her arms sweeping outward. Black tendrils grew from the "bottomless pit," winding toward Sasrir. Although He tore them apart with ease, the growth speed was so fast that they still managed to hinder Him briefly.
Shhk!
At last, Sasrir's defences were pierced. A shallow cut appeared on His arm, and a few tiny drops of ink-black blood seeped out.
Lilith collected the blood, rubbed it lightly between her fingers, and a flash of realisation appeared in her eyes. "So that's how it is."
"ROAR!!!"
Sasrir let out a furious bellow. All the tendrils binding Him were instantly reduced to dust, and He shot upward from the "bottomless pit" at extreme speed, carrying terrifying power directly toward Lilith.
"Wah!~ I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead!"
Lilith immediately turned and ran. After several jumps through the mirrors, she reached out and grabbed the mirror in which Ouroboros resided, then leapt into another mirror—vanishing entirely.
Seconds later—
A sharp explosion rocked the entire palace. Every silver mirror shattered into dust. The Sasrir who had fallen into the depths returned to the palace, only to discover that the two targets were already gone.
Within His pure-black eyes, white-platinum flames suddenly ignited—the sign of His rage reaching its limit. Yet all He could do was roar endlessly in madness, destroying everything in sight.
Outside the Giant King's Court, Lilith and Ouroboros emerged from a mirror. The ground shook violently around them.
"The Lord…is not inside the Giant King's Court?"
Ouroboros, unusually, spoke first. "Sasrir…what happened to Him?"
Of course he knew Sasrir had long been dead, leaving behind only a mindless evil spirit. But the "evil spirit's" display earlier clearly exceeded what it should have been capable of.
Lilith shook her head. "That's not Sasrir. In a sense, that is the True Creator."
"???"
Ouroboros looked confused.
"I think I finally understand why the True Creator went mad."
Lilith patiently explained, "You know this— the True Creator's 'persona' formed from the fallen and dark emotions of the Ancient Sun God after His death, fused with fragments of human nature. But the one we just saw—let's temporarily call Him Sasrir—was an awareness born from the previous evil spirit, fused with the True Creator's pure madness and negative emotions."
"As for Adam and the rest of the True Creator's components…they're not in the Giant King's Court. They may not even be in the Forsaken Land of the Gods anymore."
Ouroboros stiffened. "The Lord…left the Forsaken Land?"
Originally, the True Creator had been "sealed" in the Forsaken Land by the Seven Gods. Leaving wasn't something He could simply choose to do.
Lilith ruffled her hair irritably. "Just when Edward's awakening is getting close, why does something like this suddenly happen? Could this be some scheme Adam prepared specifically targeting Edward?"
"Ugh, my head hurts."
At that moment, Ouroboros took a step toward the Giant King's Court again. Lilith quickly asked, "Hey? Where are you going?"
"To wait."
He walked to the door, sat on the steps, and stared into the distance in a daze once more.
"To wait for the Lord's return."
The commotion in the Giant King's Court was naturally seen by the people in Afternoon Town. Even from afar, they could feel that faint, terrifying aura. The people of the City of Silver looked at one another—Were they really supposed to continue forward and explore the Giant King's Court?
They said the unknown was the most frightening—yet knowingly walking toward certain death was equally terrifying.
After a long while, Lilith returned to Afternoon Town and released Steph from His restraint.
"One good news, one bad news. Which one do you want first?"
Steph: "…The good news."
"The good news is, the mad one inside the Giant King's Court isn't technically your Lord. It's just an emotional fragment He left behind when He departed."
"The Lord left?"
Steph's pupils trembled visibly. "And the bad news?"
"The bad news is…your Lord might be a bit uncontrollable right now. His departure may not have been His own will."
He paused for a few seconds, then asked, "Is it related to the Lord's two completely opposite personalities?"
Lilith gave a thumbs-up. "Smart."
"Then the Lord…?"
"No idea. Don't know. Don't ask me—I'm confused too."
After that triple-denial, she turned her gaze toward the people of the City of Silver, landing finally on Derrick the Little Sun. Suddenly, she smiled brightly.
"Little Sun."
"???"
Derrick froze. It wasn't until the Chief looked at him that he realised she was calling him—he had never known that most members of the Tarot Club privately referred to him by this nickname.
Lilith changed her form of address. "Mr. Sun."
This time Derrick reacted instantly. His eyes widened, and guilt swept across his face. He quickly glanced nervously at the Chief and the others, stammering:
"Y-you're…you're…"
Lilith's eyes shifted slyly, and she smiled sweetly.
"I am…'Strength.'"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.