Brain bloom

"I...I'm fine."

The ancient Demon King vanished for a moment, then returned with several bottles of wine from who-knows-where. The beautiful labels indicated they came from the Four Seasons Winery, the prized vintages that Princess Dandelion was so proud of.

It used magic to construct a small table and several crystal glasses.

The cork was pulled off, and the bright red liquid, fragrant and shimmering like rubies in the glass, flowed freely. The ancient devil king took a sip alone, unsure where his mouth or stomach was.

"Phew, the Four Seasons' poison feels so good."

“You don’t need to kill yourself anymore,” Mori kindly reminded him.

"That's why it tastes even better."

Setting down its wine glass, the shadowy figure of the ancient demon king smiled, and continued speaking with gratitude for the true god before it.

"Since we've come this far, let's start with that and begin talking about Eden Bank, shall we? But that's all part of the history of this world, and it will be so long that you'll get tired of it..."

Mori agreed; after all, she had plenty of time and no troublesome matters to deal with. Meanwhile, Dandelion drank her wine, seemingly indifferent to Mori's wishes.

"—You are all darkness."

"Yes."

"Pure darkness is as old as my history." It used the illusion that it once used when telling Mori the story of wish, transforming bits and pieces of its memories into form, constructing an immersive grand vision.

Mori saw it: a shadowy giant, a symbol of primal evil, walking through the pitch-black human world. Everything was tinged with desolate cruelty; that was probably the original human world—a scene from countless years ago.

"At that time, I was going to visit the ruler of the demon realm," it said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Darkness... or rather, that old friend who is now known as the Rose Queen."

"Oh, oh, oh? The noble and great Rose Queen?" The excited Dandelion pulled out a rose crown from somewhere and placed it directly on Mori's head. "Shh, pay attention! This is our history!"

"Unfortunately, the Rose Queen and the Primordial God were at odds and fought a particularly fierce battle."

Its tone shifted—

Have you ever dreamed?

……

(PS)

Let the moon raven, who writes the history of the world, slowly recount the history of this silent world.

Volume 1 #358: Lonely You and Me

“Of course, I’ve done it.” Dandelion answered, her eyes gleaming with a deeper meaning. “Ancient Demon King, are you saying that once we revert to our dark identities, we will reside in the nightmares of others?”

"That's it."

"But, the people discussing this topic with you are the two Four Seasons Users, so it's not exactly a secret, is it?"

"What's the connection between the dream and the topic we're discussing?" Mori Toki asked, somewhat puzzled.

Without immediately answering, the Ancient Demon King shook the crystal goblet held by the shadowy figure, its deep red swirling water releasing a fragrant aroma. It took a sip before continuing its previous topic. But its eyes remained fixed on the shadowy giant, who continued to stride forward within the illusion of memory.

It's as if I'm reminiscing about my past self...

"—Originally, in the era of the Primordial God, the concept of 'dreaming' did not exist in the world. Sleep was merely a rest, and people had no understanding of what dreams were, let alone the ability to imagine them."

It closed its eyes.

"What are dreams? They are bizarre and complex things, as if when you are asleep, you wander in those fragments of the world as a soul... People seem to have always considered this strange phenomenon to be normal."

"So, does that mean the existence of strange phenomena like 'dreaming' in the world today is due to some significant event?" Mori stroked her pretty chin, her mind filled with confusion.

The ancient Demon King nodded slightly, put down his wine cup, and pointed to the illusion.

It seems the answer to the question lies hidden in a scene it deliberately showcased—

The illusion had subtly changed, presenting the landscape according to the details of the ancient Demon King's memories. From the ancient Demon King's perspective, they saw a shimmering light…

As the shadowy giant's steps drew ever closer, the shape of the radiance became ever clearer. The radiance, too, slowly approached the ancient demon king.

A few seconds later, Mori saw it clearly—

The radiance took on the shape of a human.

Moreover, she is shaped like a woman. A soft yet elegant radiance sculpts every detail of her from head to toe to perfection. Her mere presence is enough to deliver an incredible impact.

Even a lifeless, soulless speck of dust would not fly towards her, for the beauty she displayed was simply incredible. No amount of imagination, no matter how vast, could conjure up even a single glimmer of light that constituted her beauty.

"The Primordial God!" Dandelion slapped the table.

“It is indeed Him.”

In the illusion, the primordial god stopped before the ancient demon king.

But he didn't say a word.

To Him, words were useless and futile; to express His meaning, He only needed a single thought. She raised her perfect fingers, drawing lines in the air to outline a creation resembling herself. Then, she gazed at the ancient demon king, conveying all her meaning with a single look.

This world is too desolate; I need to create something.

The ancient demon king remained silent, his eyes conveying "whatever."

"Back then—the world didn't have a language."

The ancient demon king in reality conveyed his message in a completely different way.

"The world was extremely desolate, and we were too powerful to do almost anything. But the world was also extremely narrow, with too few concepts of existence, and life was utterly meaningless... In short, the primordial god realized that the world needed change, so he began to conceive and create humankind."

A true creator... Mori stared intently at Him, trying to glean something from Him.

In an era when everything was scarce, and even language did not exist, there was an unchanging law.

Where there is light, there is darkness.

So, Mori saw it—a pitch-black crack appeared out of thin air, then a pair of hands tore through space, unleashing an endless torrent of darkness. Any light that fell into this darkness could not escape, and even observing it was extremely difficult.

The purest and most flawless darkness.

When it appears, the dandelion stands up, kneels on one knee, and faces the darkness with the plant on its head—this is the highest form of etiquette for the four seasons.

"Great ancestors of the Four Seasons, supreme ruler of darkness, Queen of Roses, may your flowers never wither."

Sen didn't comply because he was stunned. Was the thing sealed by the plant really such a terrifying thing?

Darkness spread like muddy water, relentlessly destroying the already desolate world and crushing everything into dust. But soon, the darkness slowly gathered, taking on an appearance similar to the primordial god. A woman who embodied all of humanity's imagination of "beauty," but was utterly black.

With a sigh, the ancient demon king shook his head and said:

"As you can see, this is how light and darkness are. When there was nothing in the world, light was born, but darkness followed. This absolute law makes them like sisters. But... their relationship is terrible."

"Kill that foolish true god, Queen Rose, keep it up!"

“…Princess, please don’t get too excited,” Sen Shi said weakly to Dandelion.

Unfortunately, his princess was beaming with joy, seemingly forgetting that the illusion before them was merely the memoir of an ancient demon king. So Mori simply stopped trying to persuade her; at least a long-standing question had been answered.

So, the so-called Four Seasons Ones... are such powerful beings, and their origins are truly immense...

The opposite of the Creator, the Primordial God, and the first ray of light in the world—Darkness.

She stared at her hands, then touched the smooth, delicate skin all over her body. Although the texture was wonderful, she wondered if something like that was hidden beneath this beautiful body...

They seemed to be watching a retro pantomime.

A dazzling, brilliant light and an all-encompassing darkness are engaged in a silent battle.

Despite being a primitive and savage bunch, the intensity of this battle far surpassed anything Mori had ever experienced. Every strike they unleashed possessed the power Mori had when aiming his slingshot at an owl. Darkness and light were locked in a constant struggle, the reason for their fight unclear.

Their war turned the world into a black and white void, shaking it endlessly.

"The primordial god actually wanted to get along well with your ancestors, but your ancestors always came to fight Him, only to run away each time after they had their fill of fighting and retreat back to the world they had created. At the time, I couldn't understand it and thought it was a foolish dispute, but later I thought about it..."

After a brief pause of half a second, the ancient demon king burst into laughter.

"Actually, it's just because in this desolate, silent world, everyone is too lonely."

“I can understand the primordial god, and the darkness that corresponds to him… but…” Mori Toki also tried to take a sip of wine and wiped the sweat from the corner of his eyes, “Then what about you, the ancient demon king, what exactly are you?”

"This is a very rare occurrence, something I myself am unaware of."

Volume 1, Chapter 360: Theoberlin and Ballads

"The Four Seasons, that is, you darkness, are always a terrible synonym for us."

The myth's conclusion, like a punctuation mark, was stirring things up. The old man sat to one side, but he wasn't entirely idle. He hadn't appeared in the era depicted by the ancient demon king, but he still knew many things.

Mori could vaguely sense it too.

Her understanding of her own body alone was enough to give a glimpse into her situation. Those vague, restless instinctive desires that stirred within her… or what could be called “killing intent” and “malice”—based on these two points alone, she didn't expect the Ancient Demon King to say anything interesting next.

What would the ancestor of the Four Seasons—that darkness born alongside radiance—do in its loneliness?

The ancient demon king had finished his drink, then concealed his gaze with a shadow, as if not wanting anyone to see the emotions hidden beneath. In any case, he began to recount those past events.

Accompanied by the ancient Demon King's deep voice, each scene of history began to unfold in the illusion.

This time, it's not black and white—

Still the Queen of Darkness, she followed the instinct born of the loneliness in her heart and left the realm of demons.

But back then, it wasn't called the Realm of Demons; after all, human language wasn't yet suited to these incredibly powerful beings. Darkness only knew that it had to leave this lonely, lightless place and go see the increasingly noisy world. It wouldn't allow a place radiant with light to exist without its presence.

That world has become noisy, which is quite interesting.

For the world that should be silent, even the slightest sound is unprecedented and quite bizarre.

For the first time, these souls sensed the existence of sound.

Following the sound and the light, the darkness continued its advance—

Then it saw those ugly yet novel things, things created by the primordial gods, groups of humans.

They were indeed flawed, weak, and powerless creatures, yet they added a great deal of interesting and novel concepts to the world... They learned to cover up the ugliness of their bodies, to adorn themselves, and to yearn for "beauty."

Humans can experience hunger, thirst, heat, cold, fatigue, and illness; these are all human flaws. For some reason, the Creator could not fundamentally solve these flaws, and could only create more concepts to repair them.

therefore--

Plants with various functions sprang up from the ground, and animals that could satisfy their needs also sprang up in response. The world was occupied by more and more ugly and flawed things... Even though the primordial evil occasionally brought desolation, it was kindly persuaded by the primordial god to go and live in the realm of demons.

Then—the gradually forming language became enough bricks and tiles to build civilization.