Brain bloom

"Waaaaah, Mori-shitsu-neechan!"

Upon seeing the friendly Mori, the salt sprite immediately flew over. It rubbed against Mori's face for a while, then simply burrowed into the inside pocket of his clothes and wouldn't come out. Only the faint, deep blue light emanating from its body shone through the fabric.

The ancient demon king who sent it out continued to the astonished crowd: "As you can see, this is the benevolent god whose authority has been stolen."

Mori's face turned ashen. Was this really how it was? She couldn't quite accept it.

It's not that I think it's unreasonable; thinking about it carefully, it actually makes some sense. But Mori recalled all the times he spent with Fukufu... like how he almost broke his teeth because Fukufu treated him as food. He was licked, his bathwater was drunk from him, and he used Fukufu as a seasoning, bait, and messenger countless times.

As it turns out, this little guy was actually a true god.

Will there be divine retribution? Like, the kind that makes people die from saltiness.

Fufu didn't seem to understand what they were talking about. She was just feeling at peace because she had been cooped up in the Demon Realm for a long time and was breathing in the natural fragrance of Morishi-neechan.

“Right, Hodge?”

"Hahaha... Sigh, so we've been exposed after all?" Hodge's self-deprecating voice crashed against the rocks like waves. "I never thought that after we stole her divine power and the source of her faith, she could still exist, and even maintain a body and an independent consciousness... No wonder we couldn't find her and she went to the Coffin Bearers..."

"Who? Who joined Morishige's side? How come there's a new member again... Ugh." Fufu muttered under its breath, only Morishige could hear it. It seems it didn't know any of this.

"No, I see!" Hodge exclaimed in surprise. "You were planning to deal with me from the very beginning?! So you took in the remains of the God of Goodness? The Coffin Bearer! That damned God of the Four Seasons, he's really hard to deal with... Our defeat seems inevitable. You really want to devour all faiths? What exactly are you planning to do..."

You might not believe it—

"Since that's the case, there's nothing we can do about it! But even after you destroy me, the power of the benevolent god is still insufficient to control the sea!"

"That's fine, let it become the subordinate god of the coffin bearers." The ancient demon king was unconvinced and easily offered a solution. "As for you—you may leave here."

Volume 1 #334: The Night Before Dawn

The ancient king of demons issued an ultimatum to these hypocritical and wicked true gods.

But it doesn't care what the other party did or what they wanted to do, whether it was summoning the primordial evil to destroy the world or joining forces with traveling souls to find the Eden Bank, it has nothing to do with the ancient demon king.

Its anger stemmed from only one thing.

I hope you're injured.

The ancient Demon King, lurking in the darkness, his enormous form gradually taking shape. This was his manifestation, the most ancient primal evil, displaying the grandeur of his past when he devoured the heavens and the earth. Nothing could restrain him from seeking revenge for his daughter.

The black light transformed into the body of the ancient demon king.

It was a giant so tall that its head was invisible—no, a colossal deity. It possessed neither substance nor solidity; every detail of its body was beyond the comprehension of mortal wisdom. Mori tried to peer into the name box of the ancient demon king with his own eyes, but to no avail.

The enormous deity stood upon the sea, and compared to it, how insignificant the sea seemed.

Its arms were raised high, ready to unleash its silent fury.

The left and right arms each symbolize destruction and the end, and the clenched fist can shatter time and space.

Anne Hodge slowly rose from the scene of the summoning of primordial evil, still maintaining a gentle and innocent demeanor, and walked towards the battlefield. This was not a pretense, for the faith she had embraced dictated this nature. But it did not mean that this was her true nature.

"Is this your reason for telling me not to anger her?" Mori asked the thundercloud worm beneath his feet.

"Hmm, this guy is strong... extremely strong!"

Anne waved her hand, recalling Hodge's power. Then, she looked at the ancient demon king's magnificent body with a hostile smile. The next moment, both her mermaid form and the seaweed-like form of the evil god Hodge vanished.

Hodge, the evil god who rules the sea, has burned away all his remaining spiritual power to reveal this form.

At this moment—the tide has receded from the oceans of the entire world.

The sea dried up and dried up, exposing many reefs. Many fish tried to dive into the deep sea, even if it meant escaping into the mouths of monsters, it was better than being wiped out by the gradually lowering sea level.

The power of the sea gathered and formed the enormous figure that Hodge displayed. In terms of size alone, it was a siren that could rival the ancient devil king.

"All show and no substance!" roared the ancient demon king.

"At the very least, I'll severely injure you!" the siren declared with a desperate, all-or-nothing resolve.

……

The divine battle between these colossal figures shook the heavens and earth.

Mori had already attached her wish to the Thundercloud Worm, because her condition was getting worse and worse, and these soft clouds were at least more comfortable than the reefs—although there was a tingling, weak electric current.

I'd rather not take my injuries seriously, I'm just hoping for some good fortune.

"Fufu, do you still remember who you are? I really didn't expect this..."

"Me? I'm Fufu, and my race is Salt Elf. Salt Elves are the same age as the sea, daughters of the sea, the purest crystallization of saltiness in the world!"

"Are you the sea god?"

"Really? I didn't know."

"...Perhaps her divine essence is still dormant." The Thunderstorm Cloud Worm, who was knowledgeable and had also lived for a long time, offered its judgment: "Perhaps, as the sea god's faith weakened, the evil god's power overwhelmed her. And since the evil god could not accept the power of benevolent faith, it split off Anne Hodge."

"So Fu Fu was forced to step down?"

"That's probably it... Perhaps after the divine essence was banished, it accidentally ended up in the salt spirit, or perhaps his final power transformed him into a salt spirit. In any case, Ron Stolt wouldn't lie."

Mori poked Fukufu; the feel was still familiar, but he couldn't quite grasp the reality of it. It really was...something unbelievable. So, after this battle, would it leave and be enshrined in a shrine to be worshipped?

Mori muttered to himself, unconsciously voicing the question that had been on his mind.

“Probably not.” Yuan’s speech had slowed down considerably. “Just like Mori, you weren’t worshipped in the Holy Coffin Kingdom all the time… but it would be very weak and would need some time to repair its divinity through faith.”

"Subordinate to God?" Mori recalled the phrase the ancient Demon King had just used.

"Hmm, perhaps a little bit of your overflowing faith power could be given to it. Or, you could integrate the mainstream beliefs of the human world, preventing clashes between faiths. That would also work..."

"...Let's talk after we've finished fighting."

Mori shook his messy head, habitually poured some ice water on himself, and then looked up at the fierce battle in front of him.

No, it's no longer a fierce battle.

Initially, Hodge could put up a fight against the Ancient Demon King. Each time, the trident forged from seawater could graz the Ancient Demon King's fist, but after all, he was a false evil god and could not overcome the original laws of this world.

The power of the ancient demon king struck again and again, gradually shattering it.

The summoned seawater kept returning to its original position. Mori estimated the time; the battle wouldn't last long enough for those innocent fish to suffocate…

But this was undoubtedly a massive battle, and inspired by it, Mori couldn't help but give a thumbs up, muttering to himself in annoyance, "I'm a true god too... how come I'm not as cool as them... right—"

She touched the delicate flower buds among the leaves, and her joyful mood, which had finally lifted, subsided again.

She didn't want to kill the ancient demon king with her own hands...

Even though she had been told it wouldn't work, she still wanted to try and see if the Four Seasons' panacea would be effective. Because she was not an ordinary Four Seasons, but a true god who was entitled to act as she pleased. Therefore... her will should stop this separation of life and death.

"Cloud, fly higher, come closer."

"You want... such powerful divine pressure, are you going to interfere too?"

Forced by the oppressive force of the true god trampling upon it, it flew higher and drew closer. Sen Shi's money pouch was empty, so instead, his spiritual energy rapidly depleted. Sen Shi calmly accepted this price, intending to collect Hodge's experience points.

That would bring her closer to fruition.

Hodge was already utterly vulnerable, unable even to maintain its enormous size, and was shrinking smaller and smaller. It was savoring the last few seconds before death, and even sensing the divine power of the coffin bearers, it had no time to care. It didn't matter who killed it.

“Sorry, let me finish it off…” Mori said.

"Very well... I need to go prepare the gift." The ancient demon king surprisingly agreed, as if this suited its taste better.

"Gift?"

"It's the only thing I can do for her...something insignificant."

Volume 1, Chapter 335: Dawn

The colossal form of the ancient demon king returned to darkness once more. The outcome was decided, and it shouldn't waste any more time... It realized how quickly time had passed after it had relinquished its power to control it.

Every second now is more precious than countless years have passed.

The coffin bearer used that strange slingshot again to unleash a powerful attack that astonished it, and the weakened godhood of Hodge vanished into thin air—or so it seemed? The ancient demon king had no time to turn back and confirm her victory, because that was unimportant.

After thinking for a moment, it transformed its formless body into the one it was most familiar with.

A black owl.

But this is merely a replica, just like the primordial evils created in imitation of it—crude imitations. Without that crown that symbolizes everything, the feathers on its body are no longer real, offering no warmth whatsoever…

The black owl landed on the thundercloud worm and slowly flew to Yuan's side.

The daughter smiled and said, "Ugly."

"I don't deny it."

"Uglier than ever before."

"willing."

"Ok?"

“Dawn Princess—I wish. Hey, I quite like this title, I forget who gave it to me. Those guys always hate me, loathe me, but they love you, whom I brought back.”

"Because I'm prettier than you."

"No, you used to be very ugly too."

Yuan's eyes widened considerably, and she instinctively reached out to grab it, intending to pluck a few feathers and complain. But her barely raised fingertips only touched a faint, dark shadow; the wings were no longer real.

She pouted, a hint of regret in her eyes.

"It was pitch black... just like the night sky."

"Just right."

The shadowy figure of the ancient demon king gently took something out.

book.

Some of the covers are old, and the paper is no longer bright white. The ancient Demon King sacrificed his sleep time, rummaged through his treasure trove for a long time, and finally found this book that could record something.

This is the travel diary that I always carry with me...

The preceding pages are filled with neat and traditional calligraphy and paintings, in great detail.

This is the handwriting of the ancient Demon King, like a formal contract written when making a deal with humans. But the content is not a deceptive contract; rather, it is a travel guide given to his daughter by the ancient Demon King before her departure.

Unfortunately, the guide itself contained numerous errors annotated in red...