Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"So, the so-called North Wind Dragon really is you? Miss Alice. Are all the intrusive creatures that appeared in the world of Disbod, along with the Dragon Break phenomenon, side effects of your ritual?"

Alice shook her head, then nodded.

"The latter is true, the former is not. The anomalies that occurred among the fifteen races of Disbod are indeed related to Dragon Break. After all, I rewrote the past, which caused some spacetime tremors. It's not uncommon for some alien objects that don't belong to this era to materialize. But that dragon... that dragon used to be me, but it's not me now."

"So what exactly is it?"

"It is the last remnant of the Satanic persona I discarded, and also a karmic debt I need to settle in this world. Just as I inherited the Brahma persona, I will inevitably have to fight against ancient beings like the Central Vidyadhara in the future. It is not necessarily a bad thing that the karmic debt of Satan can be resolved in this world in such a convenient way." Alice turned her head and looked at the apocalyptic landscape outside the time flow barrier.

This served as a barrier for her, preventing future enemies from observing her Dragon Slayer. The era of disguise was also drawing to a close. And the main battlefield in Disbord was about to appear before her.

—The fifth layer of the box disappeared.

Chapter 78 The End of the Journey

An old era ended, and a new one began. Witnessing the destruction of the Lord of the Rings world, the oppressive presence felt even across the barriers of time, and the self-destruction of figures like Ilúvatar, the three travelers aboard the time-traveling train couldn't help but sigh.

How many Lord of the Rings universes are there in this multiverse? — We don't know.

How many gods in this infinite Lord of the Rings universe will perish at the end of the era? — Many, many.

Those wise individuals who can realize that there are worlds beyond worlds, and spacetimes beyond spacetimes, rather than being simply trapped within a single universe composed of the main body and parallel worlds, are ultimately a tiny minority. Within this boundless multiverse, there are many powerful beings who have climbed their life levels to the middle or even high stages of the fourth stage of the genetic lock, theoretically capable of living until the destruction of a single universe, yet unable to recognize any other way out, ultimately destined to perish alongside the cosmic era.

Even though Ilúvatar was already dead, and her level was so high that even Iris, who had completed the Brahma ritual, dared not appear in her sight, she still followed the 'Way of Heaven' as she understood it. At the end of the story, at the end of the script, she perished along with the era of the Lord of the Rings worldview. As time flowed, when the divine body of this creator collapsed into earth, water, fire, and wind at the end of the era, the process was shown in detail to the three time travelers. Feelings of relief and melancholy echoed in their hearts.

Zheng Zha had to admit that one of Alice's earlier points was quite true. For extraordinary beings who had transcended the limitations of mortal life and were no longer bound by the fleeting nature of a mortal existence, being able to access the cycle of reincarnation was indeed a great opportunity, a great blessing, and a great merit. In the past, he might have been somewhat dismissive, after all, the years he had spent in the Main God Space were less than a fraction of his years as a mortal on Earth. However, as he experienced more and more lives, and his memories of his mortal days became mere fractions, his perspective inexplicably changed.

[How pitiful these people, these gods, these worlds… Just as Sirin said, the gods of all realms are merely projections of the true self. These shadows are trapped in an endless cycle of decaying worlds, unable to escape. They believe they live like true gods, unaware that 'themselves' have been imprisoned within a fixed script, enduring endless ages. If no reincarnator intervenes, they will likely forever sink into this pathetic cycle, utterly oblivious.]

He gently pressed his forehead, and for a moment, the thought even welled up in his mind: 'To help these trapped worlds as a reincarnator, to help them break free from the script.' However, he was no longer a naive young man; he clearly understood the responsibilities he bore and what he needed to face—becoming a reincarnator was undoubtedly an unimaginable opportunity and great fortune. But it didn't mean that he, Zheng, could abandon his duties as captain to fulfill that overly benevolent and compassionate idea—he had more important things to do, and he had to do them soon.

The thought vanished silently from his mind, suppressed to the deepest recesses of his soul. Yet, even so, a vague idea still echoed silently within the lingering echoes of his thoughts.

—'In this vast multiverse, there must also be extraordinary beings like myself, existing outside the timeline, who witnessed this scene, who saw countless gods and celestial beings and billions of living beings bound to the script without liberation, yet not bound by the responsibilities bestowed upon them by the supreme god.'

"And what about her or him, witnessing such a scene? Would they, like me, feel a desire for redemption and put it into action?"

Would such a person exist?

There probably will be.

As Zheng Zha continued to ponder, just as he was about to focus his attention on the areas of 'how a transcendent being without the identity of a reincarnator can break through the laws of civilization' and 'how do I know that a reincarnator can break through the laws of civilization and interrupt the cycle of events', a slight tremor interrupted him.

The old era has ended. A new era has begun.

Beyond the barrier of time, the apocalyptic landscape vanished, replaced by the primordial chaos of the beginning of the world. Unlike the previous eras, in the era of Disbod, there was no original creator; instead, all things simply changed and evolved naturally.

In the primordial chaos, earth, water, fire, and wind all churned slowly in a viscous, bubbly state. Just as life always finds its own way, the world will always find its own way of being born. Even without a creator, the primordial chaos slowly underwent the initial changes of the Genesis era as time progressed.

The lighter elements rise to become the sky. The turbid elements sink to become the earth.

After the initial separation of ocean and land, the continent of Disbote, still in its primordial state of a flat earth, appeared before the three travelers. According to the natural course of the world, over the long years to come, the energy flowing from the primordial chaos would gradually expand this flat world, creating a complex starry sky on its outer edge, eventually forming a vast expanse of stars. At that time, the rift in the primordial chaos would be renamed the 'Elven Corridor'. And the entity hidden behind this rift, releasing this primordial energy, would naturally be the so-called 'Star Cup'.

"Don't even think about it, you won't get the Star Cup here." Alice's calm and serene voice rang in Zheng Zha and the other two's ears. Her words made them turn their attention from observing the outside world back to her—as always, she didn't exude any unusual or strange aura. In their eyes, she was still just like a fourth-tier early-stage extraordinary being from the old days.

The Dragon Break is not over yet; she is currently powerful but nameless.

The relative flow of time on the outside came to an abrupt halt, and Alice's fingers once again rested on the barrier of time flow.

"Let's part ways here. I still have some things to do. And you all have your own things to do, some important matters to discuss. As for the rest, I think everyone is capable of handling things on their own."

"I feel like Margot, you're becoming less and less able to speak like a human being..." Zheng Zha muttered under his breath, still feeling annoyed at being interrupted. Although thinking had become less and less useful to him with the increasing sophistication of his external thinking devices... even if it meant wasting his brainpower, it should still be his prerogative!

However, Alice ignored him and didn't respond to his words. She simply turned her gaze to Celine and then spoke.

“I know what you want to do. Zhao Zhuikong is currently near a human settlement at this point in time. I will throw you there in a moment. When you see him, you should know what he wants to do and what you should do. I believe you should be able to do it.”

Xilin raised an eyebrow.

She blinked, thought for a few seconds, and then a complex smile suddenly appeared on her lips.

“It seems…” she sighed softly. “…I really am your future partner.”

“You should be well aware of your true identity,” Alice said calmly. “Fire, lightning, life, creation, space, time—you possess these six powers. Yet, you subconsciously rely solely on time. Why is that? I think even without that crucial memory, you could figure out the reason yourself.”

Xilin opened her mouth, then smiled wryly and lowered her head.

"I know," she said calmly, her tone no different from usual.

"Ahem, ladies who're speaking in riddles, could you please look after Mr. Zheng, who isn't very bright?" Zheng Zha, standing to the side, tried his best to make his presence known. "And you must have something to say to me, Margot Lloyd, right? Do I also have some special, important mission?"

Alice merely glanced at him, her gaze lingering briefly on the magic ring he had obediently slipped onto his thumb. Then she shook her head.

"You... never mind. Just be yourself." She sighed softly. Suddenly, she reached out and, amidst Xilin's silence and Zheng Zha's astonishment, pushed the two of them into the continuing flow of time!

She stepped out of the barrier of time and came to the surface of this primordial world where nothing existed and only heaven, earth, land and sea existed.

No, it wasn't nothing. As she broke free of the time-flow barrier, she clearly sensed another spacetime path from the future, heading towards the past. And at the point where that spacetime path crossed this era, there was an unusual burst of energy!

She walked there in one step, and then she saw her.

This is the world's first god, the Lord of Doubt, the Sail Tower!

Section 79: Cause and Effect, Destiny, and Creation Myths

Sail Tower.

Alice had consulted the history of the Disbot world and knew who Fanlou was. According to those hidden truths that never existed in any historical or mythological texts and could only be glimpsed through information magic, Fanlou was likely the first, oldest, and originally most powerful god in this world—she was born into the Disbot world before any other being. Her essence was the active manifestation of the divine concept of 'seeking knowledge,' thus becoming the original Lord of Doubt.

The primordial God, the God of the beginning. And the world of this era was supposed to be sculpted into the form she desired.

"But unfortunately, you were the first to be born because of the concept of 'seeking knowledge,' but you were also the first to perish because of the concept of 'seeking knowledge.' When there is nothing in this empty world for you to solve, what can you, whose essence is 'seeking knowledge' rather than 'creating'... do besides die?"

Alice spoke softly, appearing before the Primal Lord of Suspicion, having traversed the vast spatial barrier. Just as Zheng Zha had met her long ago, she wore indistinct, scroll-like clothing. And her features seemed to bear a resemblance to Zheng Zha's.

This is normal. As the first goddess, when she was born, there was nothing to refer to except this desolate heaven and earth. When Zheng Zha passed through this place through the flow of time and space and inadvertently revealed some traces, all the information he carried became the only reference for Fanlou.

Sure enough, when Alice appeared, the first god cast a questioning and inquisitive gaze upon her. Her attire visibly began to resemble Alice's appearance. Her spirit and will rapidly constructed and merged into a new language used by the gods to communicate, which she used to express her will to Alice.

【Who are you?】—This meaning is expressed by language constructed solely from the vibrations of the spirit and soul, without the action of vocal organs.

“You are me,” Alice replied calmly, using the normal sound produced by the vibration of her vocal cords through the air.

"You...are I?" The newly born Lord of Suspicion tilted his head in confusion. He had, like Alice, constructed a vocal cord to speak using the vibrations of the air.

“Yes, you are me,” Alice continued. “Because you will become me, and you are becoming me.”

"I...don't understand." The Lord of Suspicion continued to ask. She wasn't angry or furious; she lacked any of the emotions that would arise from her 'social' nature. Her mind was solely focused on the pursuit of knowledge. She wanted to know the reasons, to know why, and that was precisely the meaning of her existence.

And just as Alice said, she was gradually becoming Alice. Because at this point in time, she had no reference points other than Zheng Zha and Alice, whom she had only glimpsed briefly—she just wanted to 'know,' and if she wanted to 'know,' she had to 'understand.'

Understanding leads to imitation. And imitation leads to assimilation.

In just this brief, rapid exchange, the figure and voice of Fanlou before Alice became identical to Alice's—in fact, at this moment, she didn't even possess the name 'Fanlou.' This was a name given to her by someone at some point in the distant future. And that 'someone' did not yet exist in this world.

She is becoming Alice, and she doesn't actually have the concept of 'not wanting'. But before she becomes Alice, there is one last obstacle interfering with this final transformation process.

[Zheng Zha, even if you get out of here, you'll still cause me trouble.]

Alice tilted her head slightly, looking at the primordial god's face, which bore a slight resemblance to Zheng Zha's. She felt no pity or regret—transcendent life is not a matter of chance; the past and future are crucial factors anchoring the present. The presence of Zheng Zha's traces here was undeniably inevitable, and the battle that followed was equally undeniably inevitable.

Alice prepared for battle. At the same time, the primordial god before her shook his head.

"I...don't want to be you."

“But you are destined to become me,” Alice replied. “My future is dead, and resurrection requires a proper reason. In other words, I must obtain an additional identity in this era, so that the me who died in the future will be downgraded from the original body to an avatar. Then I can be resurrected without any hindrance and achieve my other purposes.”

“And you were meant to be me.” Alice tilted her head slightly. “Everything from the last era has been destroyed, even the Creator has been reduced to primordial chaos without leaving a trace. The only things that could possibly remain are those that were handled by me, the sole survivor, or things that have a connection with me. As a will that was born too early, you must have been interfered with by external forces that do not belong to this era. And since you are related to me, then you are naturally a part of me.”

“Is that so…” The Primal Lord of Suspicion tilted his head, mimicking Alice. “But if that’s really the case, why must I become you, instead of you becoming me?”

“That is indeed a debatable issue.” Alice nodded slightly. “So, the destined fate will eventually arrive. Then… let us use struggle as the means of victory. Let us start the world’s first ‘war’ and make the second divine essence that will become my great enemy in the future complete its activation.”

She reached out, and the transformed Staff of Domination appeared in her palm. Even without the status of the Satanic Red Dragon, this innate weapon of civilization, as her most readily available personal weapon, could still serve other purposes. The four-armed, four-faced divine form materialized behind Alice, and a brilliant, pure light of the soul immediately radiated outwards from her center!

The oldest war in the world has begun. And regardless of which side wins or loses, this war, waged by the ancient gods and the present gods on a stage devoid of anything else, will inevitably revitalize the very essence of the concept of 'war.' This was not unexpected for Alice, for it was precisely the outcome she had hoped for. Since the initial 'war' was destined to occur only after her victory over Fanlou, it meant that the Lord of War would at least not interfere at that point. And as long as this most important objective was achieved, the remaining details were irrelevant.

Thus, this primordial world gradually gained color through the battles between the ancient gods. As described in many ancient myths, the battles between the ancient gods gave rise to all things in the world, each possessing its own unique characteristics.

Chapter 80: Eternal Night

The world is expanding, and all things are changing. Just as described in many ancient myths, the two primordial gods shaped all things through a duel. For Fanlou and Alice, who were born at their peak and transcended the flow of time, leaving no record in this era, any attempts to interfere with time and space were simply futile. And for this reason, the way to determine the victor between them was purely through brute force.

This battle has been raging for millennia, a battle that has continued for countless millennia. For Alice, Brahma's status is merely a tool she uses to ascend to the Dao. If not for the heavy karmic burden of Satan, she would still be a red dragon. However, even the power of Brahma, which is not entirely familiar to her, will at least not hinder her when facing an opponent with similarly little combat experience!

There's no such thing as surprise, because the true god, as the Lord of Suspicion, can instantly understand the attack methods and combat principles of any opponent of equal caliber. Whether it's compressing spacetime, creating black holes, collapsing dimensions, or creating decay, all combat techniques related to earth, water, fire, and wind are analyzed and copied the moment they are used, colliding head-on with Alice's methods—later but not earlier!

Catching someone off guard is impossible, not even for a newly born god. The Lord of Suspicion was born a powerful, transcendent being at her peak. Interference on the level of spacetime is meaningless to her, and conversely, she cannot harm Alice in the same way!

The battle between them was difficult to describe in words, for it was like fragments of ancient mythology. The clash between their forms quickly escalated into a conflict between concepts and domains. The small body of Fanlou was instantly crushed to dust by four gigantic hands emerging from the void at the start of the battle. Yet her blood stained the four-armed, four-headed divine body resembling Brahma, instantly corroding it into a skeleton!

The bones of a god are also a part of a god. With the birth of the concept of 'lightning', countless bolts of lightning, falling from the depths of the heavens and resonating with the divine remains, instantly obliterated the corrosive bloodstains on the remains. However, that obliterated blood transformed into a breath, sprinkling across the earth and becoming primordial fire!

Alice is lightning, and Sagara is fire. The first lightning and fire swept across the land, scorching the soil and revealing the first rocks on the surface of the world. They evaporated the oceans, bringing the concepts of water vapor and tides to the world for the first time.

The bones of the alien god shattered in the flames, and the bloodstains of the present god vanished in the lightning. Thunder and fire intertwined, and clouds and rain appeared for the first time, suppressing the fire. The flames surged, and from the depths of the fire breath emerged the primordial wind that dispersed the clouds and rain.

The battle was evenly matched, with neither side gaining the upper hand. As a result, the energy flowing out from the primordial chaos was transformed into matter in greater quantities and at a faster pace.

The boundaries of the world expanded accordingly; the sky rose higher with each passing second, and the earth thickened by an inch with each passing instant. The battleground of thunder and fire also expanded, each moment propelling the entire world an inch further outward into the void!

The earth thickened, and beneath this ever-thickening subsurface accumulated immeasurable flames, piling up into lava. This lava tore at the earth's surface, transforming into erupting volcanoes that defied the heavens. The control of clouds and rain was then seized by the massive torrents of fire erupting from these volcanoes. Dust from the ground and moisture from the sea-earth boundary easily blanketed the world, forming a barrier that obscured the lightning. Yet, from above the lightning, deep within the heavens, an even greater impact was falling!

The sky was rising higher, and the most primordial stars appeared at the very top of the heavens as the primordial chaos flowed forth. At the very moment of their birth, they were pulled by lightning and plummeted from the celestial zenith, transforming into a storm of meteors that shattered dust clouds and slammed into the earth!

The thick clouds were easily torn apart; clouds that could block thunder were useless against meteorites with their massive impact. And as the meteorites fell to the ground, the oldest volcanoes were also fractured and destroyed by the falling star. The volcanoes were sealed off, and the heavens and thunder reclaimed control of the clouds and rain. The falling star unleashed a violent gale, which, in seizing control of the wind, dispersed all the dust mixed in with the clouds!

The first thunder and the first fire. Alice from another world and Sail Tower of this world.

The suppressed flames did not subside; she unleashed the fiery torrents sealed by the meteor into the sea, where the water evaporated and transformed into vapor. This abundant vapor rose into the sky, forming a thick atmosphere. When the meteor fell again, the atmosphere caused it to ignite fiercely before it hit the ground!

Fire usurped the meteorites' ownership, incinerating them into ashes before they could even crash to Earth and shatter volcanoes. But lightning was not to be outdone; they intertwined and coalesced into a single beam. When the first magnetism was born, the countless tiny stars in the sky coalesced into a colossal entity, whose mere existence caused ocean tides to form, sending endless waters crashing against the ground in an attempt to extinguish all the fires on earth!

A colossal star named the Moon was born; it might also be called the Taiyin (Moon). The moment it appeared, it suppressed the flames on Earth to their extreme. With its movement and rolling, the surging tides stirred, striking the earth and extinguishing the raging fire. The vaporized water, rising to the surface, was swept away by winds stirred by thunder, dragged to the shore, and fell again as torrential rain.

The primordial flames, represented by the sail towers, were steadily defeated. Driven from the earth, they were forced to retreat underground as lava. However, the lightning, represented by Alice, was relentless, bombarding the ground with meteorites that pierced through water-filled clouds, creating waves and rain to form great rivers and seas that submerged the exposed lava. Gradually, the conflict between lightning and fire reached its end. The oceans and the land were covered by water, and the flames of the world slowly began to extinguish.

However, the battle did not end there.

From the primordial chaos emerged even more energy and the matter it decomposed into. This energy accumulated massively on the Earth's inner surface, causing it to bend and collapse. Unbeknownst to many, the Earth's mass exceeded the limits necessary to maintain the flatness of the celestial sphere! Finally, at a certain moment, the Earth's boundaries collapsed outwards, tearing apart the heavens and creating a new realm!

The earth transformed into a sphere, a planet, a chessboard of the gods. The flames, pushed to their limit, surged through the thick mantle as the earth collapsed. Carrying a colossal heart of lava, it escaped from the surface—a surface never before enveloped by the heavens—before the planet became a sphere, plunging into the eternally dark sky and transforming into a gigantic fiery star!

The first sun was born into this world. And with this divine chessboard at its core, the sun and moon revolve endlessly around this celestial body whose core is primordial chaos.

The war between thunder and fire has come to an end, and the pursuit between the sun and the moon has become the new battleground. However, neither the sun nor the moon can bypass the divine chessboard, which has now transformed into a sphere, to directly attack the other's physical form. Thus, a dynamic balance is established between the two in this pursuit.

Thus, day and night appeared on the chessboard of the gods.