Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

In Central Asia, as the Mother of Beasts, whose eyes reflected the Inner Sea of ​​Stars, gave birth to her first offspring, a wisp of dark lightning fell from the void, igniting a patch of yellowish-black charcoal on the edge of Central Asia. From within the charcoal, a humanoid figure, its color blending with the soil, opened its eyes.

It was bewildered and knew nothing, but a certain inspiration welled up from the depths of its heart, driving it to take a step toward the enormous Central Asian creator not far away. And when the gaze of the ancient god fell upon it, it had already mingled with the first generation of offspring of the Mother of Beasts.

The ancient god's gaze then shifted away from it. Although its false brothers did not acknowledge it, they did not banish it from this vast land.

Because in this era, the concept of 'weapons' had not yet been born in the world.

AD——2000

Dim lightning bolts fell from the void, landing in Central Asia. An ancient hill located near the ruins of the Mesopotamian civilization was instantly cleaved in two by the lightning. The burning forest burst into flames, and after a day and a night of fire, an ancient ruin buried inside the hill appeared before the forest rangers.

Archaeologists were quickly drawn to the discovery, and within months, numerous astonishing findings were compiled into papers and published. Scholars determined it to be a branch of the Semitic peoples, a subordinate but distinct civilization from the mainstream Sumerian civilization. They were called the 'Imanities,' and they worshipped primordial thunder and fire.

Unfortunately, apart from this one site, scholars found no other settlement remains in the surrounding area; there was no supporting evidence, no precedent. And a completely new civilization cannot be recognized by the public based on a single example. Soon, the fervor surrounding the Neo-Ancient Civilization of Central Asia faded from the archaeological community. Apart from a few interested scholars, no one was willing to continue spending time on these remains. Those precious records were quickly sealed away, never to see the light of day again.

BC - Origin of the Gods

The original creators gradually weakened or fell into slumber, while their people, guided by the second generation of gods, lived and multiplied on the earth. Due to the will of the ancient gods, the primordial earth split into different civilizations, and the earth itself thus fractured. At this point in time, although the sun and moon had taken shape, the celestial bodies were still mere illusions, and the connection between the sky and the sea remained unbroken. For this reason, what separated the civilizations was not simply the seawater, but the vast galaxy overflowing with ancient seawater.

Civilizations cannot interfere with each other. Pantheons cannot conflict with each other. Why the ancient gods made such a decision is unknown, for they have all fallen into slumber, and further investigation is pointless. Thus, the second generation of gods took over the power of the Creator's division and led the creations of the earth into a new era.

Leaving aside other conflicts, civilization in Mesopotamia gradually flourished. The Sumerians, mortals created by the primordial mother goddess, occupied the lower reaches of the Tigris-Euphrates River. They waged war after war against the Semites, who shared a similar origin. Of course, wars between mortals were not the main focus; powerful monsters, giants, and gods still roaming the earth were the primary subjects of the conflict. Between the Sumerian and Semitic battlefields, a small, isolated tribe settled on a barren piece of land.

They call themselves the 'Imanites,' their bloodline imbued with the primal power of fire and thunder. However, in this era of overflowing true ether and the descent of gods, this level of supernatural power is at most sufficient for daily hunting and farming. Holding onto their barren land is already their limit; expansion is utterly out of the question.

One day, the Immanite priest had a sudden inspiration.

“Our bloodline must originate from an ancient god, and the reason He has not protected us must be that our piety is insufficient. So, let us build temples and offer sacrifices. If we persevere, one day the ancestral god will favor us.”

He said this, but in his heart he was plotting to seize the leadership by falsely claiming divine will. Soon, a crude myth was fabricated. And in a flash of inspiration, he named the chief god in the myth—

The ruler of thunder and fire, light and darkness, the primordial creator—'Mangoldlund'!

The next day, the priest was killed by lightning at the door; his body was reduced to charred remains, but the clay tablets containing the fabricated myths remained intact, without the slightest damage.

AD——1783

A group of young magicians, scholars of the lineages of magic, celestial magic, and necromancy, traveled to Central Asia to seek out the remaining mysterious artifacts in the ancient ruins of Uruk—magicians like them were not uncommon within the Time Tower. With the advent of the Industrial Age, machinery increasingly suppressed the mystical, forcing newcomers lacking connections to fend for themselves rather than readily finding wealthy patrons as was the case in ancient times.

Their journey was not without its challenges, for they encountered ancient guardians in a secluded forest. However, they also achieved their objective, for they discovered a half-buried ancient temple deep within the forest.

They didn't know where this temple was, or what taboos it held. Everything recorded within the temple ruins was completely foreign to them. And precisely because of this, when the ancient mysteries of the temple were provoked, and an inescapable ancient curse descended upon the magicians, they were not surprised at all.

A group of magicians arrived, and one left. The last survivor struggled to return to the Time Tower and barely managed to remove the curse with the help of his mentor. Just as he was about to cheer and celebrate, his mentor gave him a warning before he left.

"The removal of the curse is only temporary. Although your blood has been purified, your spirit remains polluted. And this pollution will spread among your descendants. After ten generations of your bloodline, your descendants will pay the price for the curse's corruption."

The young magician simply laughed it off. After all, life was too short for him to worry about the curse after ten generations. And naturally, he was even less aware that his descendants would face the burning of humanity after ten generations. He was also unaware that one of his offspring would be an unappreciated member of a collateral branch, named Flora!

All connections are formed through the correction of cause and effect.

BC - 3000

As the Age of Gods drew to a close, the second and third generations of gods gradually departed from the earth. They still ruled the land, but no longer did so personally; instead, they exercised their power through priestesses and kings. Their true forms ascended to the heavens, transforming into constellations and becoming eternal, immortal stars.

In this environment, a particularly powerful branch of the Sumerians established a unified Sumerian state. Its capital city-state was called Uruk, and its first king, or rather, its first Lugal, led his army on a campaign of conquest under the watchful eyes of the gods. Whether powerful or weak, prosperous or declining, even the Semitic peoples who had once been enemies of the Sumerians were defeated and subjugated. The people of Uruk thus became, in a narrow sense, the rulers of the world, because all other civilizations were isolated from each other, and the land they could reach could be considered the entire world. The king of Uruk thus became the world's ruler of that era.

Clearly, a ruler who has unified the land cannot tolerate too much discord. The great Lugal soon learned of a city-state inhabited by Immanites that worshipped an unknown, miracle-free heretical faith. At his behest, the Immanite city-state was swiftly and severely punished—

Soon, the priests who worshipped the false god were executed, and the idols and scriptures of the false god 'Mangolund' were abolished and completely burned. Except for a few die-hard pious followers, the Immanite people's belief in thunder and fire was utterly erased from the material world. Lugal believed that the remaining small group would soon forget the false faith that should never have existed in the first place, and thus fully embrace the great Sumerian gods.

This was a trivial matter, one that wouldn't even be recorded in three lines on a clay tablet, a matter that no one but a dedicated scribe would bother to remember. Perhaps even the deceased Immanetians didn't understand why they worshipped a false god who had never performed any miracles. And indeed, as Lugal had predicted, the followers of the false god quickly forgot their false faith and began new lives under the glory of the true god and the true king.

This is also fate, the fate that Sumer, Uruk and Imaniti, and 'Mangotlund' have forged.

After all, burning the scriptures of a pillar god, demolishing the god's temple, and slaughtering the god's priests before the idol—such acts would be understandable if that pillar god never existed in the first place. But if He is not a false deity, but simply has not bestowed divine authority or invested divine power, then when the reckoning comes, how much blood will the mortal world have to shed to quell His wrath?

This is a question worth discussing, but unfortunately, no one, or even a god, can answer it yet.

AD——379

Nothing noteworthy happened in this era; the Age of Gods had gradually faded away, with only a few remnants remaining on the isolated island of Britain. Nothing worth recording happened in this era, for in this time, the Library of Alexandria, the repository of knowledge and the repository of countless ancient secrets, burned in flames.

What emotions did Diophantus, the Catholic High Priest later revered as a 'Saint,' harbor when he threw the torch into this great library that held so many secrets of the Age of Gods? No one knows. All that is known is that the history of the Age of Gods abruptly ceases here, and the records and epics documenting the ancient deities lie dormant in the depths of oblivion. Whether, within these documents, records of a small, ancient city-state and its secluded beliefs remain is now irrelevant.

Thus, the thunder and fire of the past and the future converged at a suitable point in time.

BC - 2656

The age of gods in Mesopotamia was drawing to a close, with humans and gods gradually separating, and the Sumerian dynasty, which dominated the world, had reached its fifth generation. Gilgamesh, the fifth king, was a volatile ruler, a descendant of gods and the origin of mortal heroes. Whether he was truly human or divine was indistinguishable, but this did not prevent fate from weaving a magnificent epic for him.

Thus, the king at the end of the myth completed his destined great undertaking. The specific details need not be elaborated upon. However, as his fate drew to a close, and the no longer young and vigorous king returned to his kingdom of Uruk after his final adventure to the underworld, a calamity that should never have occurred befell the land—

—A ring of light appeared in the sky, and the gods who had long since departed and should not have descended again were given new bodies to descend upon. Several goddesses descended from the top of the sky and unleashed their divine wrath upon the earth.

Dense forests isolated the city-states from each other, a death fog silenced all things, and strange monsters roamed the wilderness, wantonly hunting any living creature that could breathe.

This is war, a war between gods and men. As the flames of war spread, the king who returned from the underworld cast a secret ritual to summon heroes from another realm to gain strength. And when seven Servants descended from the core of the spell, offering their formidable power to the only king of the age, in the abandoned, desolate temple of an inconspicuous little city-state on the outer border of the Ur Dynasty, far from the royal city of Uruk...

—Thunder and fire were ignited!

Section Four: Divine Might Like a Prison

Divine will descend...

The instant the lightning and fire ignited in the desolate and abandoned inner hall of the temple, an invisible wave spread out from its center and rapidly swept in all directions.

First came the citizens of the city-state, who instantly lost all strength as if their bones had been ripped out, collapsing to their knees. Weapons fell, knees hit the ground, foreheads and hands covered in dust from the sand. Following closely behind, the numerous demonic beasts circling the city-state also felt their hair stand on end in an instant—the weak and wounded among the beasts groaned and lay on the ground, crushed by the sheer power of their existence, while the strong trembled and crawled backward into the mountains far from the city. Then, a few ferocious and violent demonic beasts bared their teeth, but the instant they showed hostility or resistance, lightning and fire erupted from every pore of their bodies, instantly burning them into smooth, intact hides!

The war between the city-states and those outside fell silent in an instant. A Sumerian priest recognized the signs of divine intervention, but as he attempted to chant hymns praising the Sumerian gods, his tongue became numb. He suffered an invisible punishment as if struck by lightning and burned by fire, yet he still retained his life—for this was blasphemy; to sing the name of a god within the realm of divine intervention was naturally considered a grave sin by the divine authority. The fact that the offender did not immediately perish like the monsters outside the city-state was merely a sign of the gods' slight mercy towards their kind.

The entire city fell silent, and in the next instant, all the braziers, torches, and flaming torches in the city ignited simultaneously! The flames roared, and the writhing flames, like living beings, knelt in worship towards the direction of the temple. The other Sumerian deities enshrined in the city-state temple moved without wind, turning their backs to the outside world as if alive, and after making a stepping motion, they turned to dust and departed.

As a bolt of lightning crashed down from the endless sky, hundreds of thick, incandescent bolts of lightning descended from the stars, transforming the city into a new place.

The original Sumerian temples melted away like wax figures, and the old priests who served the gods were carelessly thrown on the ground like weeds—since divine power had been transferred, the status of these servants had also declined to that of ordinary commoners—and in the instant after the temples turned into dust, the once flat and straight roads and cities began to become distorted.

This city-state was originally a city with a 'U'-shaped structure. The outer side consisted of walls and the dwellings of commoners, while the inner side housed the temple, which simultaneously embodied both divine and royal authority. When a new center was chosen, the moment the abandoned temple, formerly located on the outskirts of the city-state and now only ruins remained, became the point of divine authority once again, the new city unfolded around the restored sacred ruins!

Lightning struck, twisting and transforming the structure of matter. The city walls and houses seemed to have grown legs, rushing towards their new locations, and the moment the new '回' character was completed, a silent chant and praise expanded outward from the center of the temple, resounding in the hearts of all living beings within and outside the city in an instant!

—【I am the old order.】

—[My domain is light and darkness, and thunder and fire.]

— [Call me by my name...]

"Mangotlund!"

The first to utter God's name was an ordinary woman, and she was immediately glorified. God's grace shone upon her like sunlight, and the mark of a high priest was inscribed above her head. A magnificent and elegant high priest's robe, unlike any other garment, appeared on her. And she instinctively began to chant, hymns of praise bursting from her throat.

"Praise be to my God, praise be to my God, the primordial Creator, ruler of light and darkness—"

More people joined in the chanting, and secondary divine grace descended, bestowing upon them the duties of priestesses and sorceresses. Crowns and staffs, symbols of authority, appeared upon them as well. The supernatural power granted by divine grace also emanated from within them.

"Please save me from this calamity, please save me from the clutches of a monster—"

Lightning bolts fell, and flames surged from the ground. The intertwined thunder and fire transformed into thick, billowing clouds stretching to the horizon atop the city, accompanied by thunderous roars. Within the city, the wounded and sick from the beasts' maws healed at a visible pace, while the war-torn land outside the city healed and sprouted flowers and grass. And the terrifying beasts that had neither retreated nor suffered divine retribution shed their demonic forms amidst the thunder, transforming from monstrous creatures into ordinary wild animals!

"Please unleash your divine power! Please grant me protection—"

The chanting resounded throughout the city. Regardless of the extent of faith the mortals held in Him, at this moment, their awe was overflowing. And at that very instant, from behind the thick layers of clouds, a vast rift, like an eye, suddenly opened!

"O Mangotrund, the master of thunder and fire, who has returned from time immemorial!"

Thin lines of fire descended from the center of the cloud rift, and with a flash of light, the thin lines of lightning and fire struck the inner hall of the temple, which had been transformed into the center of the city-state!

It possessed a tremendous, invisible presence, descending from between the clouds.

This is only natural, for God possesses His own majesty. And this majesty is not His own boasting, but rather the autonomous response of this land, where the age of God has not yet faded, to the power He has unleashed—without temples, without chanting, without rituals and prayers—then, at the moment divine authority descends, a hundred miles around Him would turn to dust, and a thousand miles around Him would be shattered and torn apart. And at the very moment divine authority finally descends, the declaration of His majesty transforms into surging waves of clouds that sweep in all directions!

Heaven and earth trembled, the tremors swept across the ocean, and waves rose above the slumbering beings at the far reaches of the sea. A massive magic array, resembling flower petals, flashed by, and then the ocean returned to normal.

A tremor swept through the forest, and the sun's rays shone deep within the dense woods of Ur. Accompanied by the illusion of winged serpents and the roars of lions and leopards, the clouds that had shrouded the forest were dispelled. Sunlight rose from the trees, only to be dissolved into nothingness by the colorless flames.

A tremor swept through the horde, leaving hundreds of thousands of magical beasts listless and weak. A low growl emanating from the hidden temple within the beast's lair dispelled the slumber, followed by a torrential downpour of lightning from the sky that reduced tens of thousands of beasts to ashes. But the surviving beasts immediately developed structures on their bodies that protected them from lightning and fire, and quickly assembled a massive army that departed from the beast tide, marching swiftly towards the land of thunder!

A tremor swept through the silent city, and in the places where the dead gathered, countless azure lights ignited in the lower levels of the underworld. Skeletons swayed and appeared in the daylight, their empty shells constantly sprouting flesh and blood, only to decay and wither away. Starlight streaked across the clouds, disintegrating them, before being blasted into a chaotic frenzy by a sky full of lightning and fire.

The divine pronouncement resounded throughout the four directions and eight wastelands.

Finally, the tremors of heaven and earth swept across the mortal city—the grandest capital in Mesopotamia, and the city-state of Uruk, home to the only king of the time, reverberated in unison. The invisible protective barrier surrounding the city-state instantly overloaded to its limit. And as the cries and prayers of the mortals rose, and the barrier struggled to break free from its collapsing boundaries and completely reformed, in the great temple at the center of Uruk, the Golden King with crimson eyes gazed up at the heavens.

"Wow? The alien god who has never answered the prayers of mortals has actually descended in avatar. Such a strange event is worthy of my attention."

His eyes flickered with light and shadow, clearly revealing the long river of time—distorted by singularities yet restored to order by the Chaldean emissaries—that had been vividly depicted before him. He saw the original destiny, the decline and resurgence of Sumer, the ignorance and barbarity after the end of the Age of Gods, the Great Library ablaze, the magicians who had miraculously escaped the ancient ruins, an unblessed baby girl born in a hospital, and this mature girl entering Chaldea—

Intertwined lightning flashed across his vision, and the next moment his vision dimmed, the future he saw turning into a hazy mist. His eyes dimmed, his vision was lost and then regained, his eyelids split open, two lines of blood flowed down and then crawled back into his veins like living snakes and brought his flesh back together.

The whole story had already entered his mind, and the once clear future had become blurred and impossible to glimpse. The time was not yet ripe; the stars had not yet moved to their correct positions, and there was still nearly half a year before the observatory's messenger descended from the future. Before that, the 'Three Goddess Alliance,' which had already formed a stable balance, would inevitably be thrown into turmoil by the sudden arrival of this fourth pillar goddess.

The meticulously crafted plan has been rendered useless wasteland by the appearance of this fourth pillar god, which should never have happened. The future that, despite the enormous sacrifices, would ultimately lead to victory, is gone. In its place lies a utterly chaotic fog, a thick mist that even the most far-sighted observer cannot pierce.

And this—

— Worthy of celebration!

The ancient king burst into laughter, the sound echoing throughout the royal palace and reaching the ears of the high priest who had rushed over because the protective barrier had reached its critical point and triggered emergency measures. Infected by the laughter, the high priest, who had been slightly flustered, slowed his pace, and his initial panic subsided.

"Your Majesty, the defensive barrier of Uruk has been damaged. Although it has been restored to its original state through emergency measures, the hidden dangers still exist. What are your instructions?"

"No need to panic, Siduri." The ancient king's smile faded, and he waved his hand. "The impact just now was the aftershock of a divine descent; it happened only once and will not repeat itself. Record the damage in the archives and order the craftsmen to re-examine and reinforce the barrier."

"I see." The high priest bowed slightly and recorded the king's decree on the clay tablet. She did not inquire about the origin of the descending deity, for that was the duty of the priestesses in the sacrificial hall. Just as she was about to step back and leave, allowing the other visitors to report on their affairs, the king raised his hand, signaling her to stop.

"Issue the royal decree, Siduri."

"Is General Tomoe, who is currently en route to the northern defense line, to immediately turn back and, as an envoy, visit the Fourth Pillar Goddess of the Descent in Immanitic. The minimum objective is to sign a non-aggression pact; if the opportunity arises, strive to establish commercial trade and even a military alliance. Rest assured, she is not a cruel god; even if all objectives are not achieved, the envoy will be able to return safely."

"Understood, Your Majesty. As for the war in the north..."

"No need to worry, General Amakusa Shiro can handle this on his own. The monsters have a new target that is more worth fighting against. The pressure in the north will inevitably be reduced as a result. Go, Siduri, and answer the generals' questions in this way."

“Yes, I will go and issue the royal decree immediately.” The high priest bowed deeply and then quickly withdrew. Before the next visitor entered the royal palace, the golden ancient king still had some time to think.

The future is indeed uncertain, but I can sense the upheaval that will shake the very fabric of existence through your arrival. Mangtrund, one of the primordial creators of the old order, the god who commands light, darkness, thunder, and fire. Uruk may have once been entangled with you in a hostile relationship, but good and evil can indeed transform. So, where will you lead this change? Are you...?

Hmph, something to look forward to.

So the king turned his gaze away, interrupted his thinking, and directed his wisdom elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in the central temple of that classical city-state known as Immanitic, a name absent from any later records, a woman, perhaps more accurately described as Flora, opened her eyes.

The gods descended, and it was accomplished.

She didn't feel much change in her body the moment she awoke. But then, a fiery red bird, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, landed on her shoulder. Unparalleled power then erupted from every part of her body!

Time seemed to slow down in her eyes. The breaths of the priests and witches kneeling in the temple's front hall, offering their faith to her, moved as slowly as snails crawling. In her understanding, one second was roughly equivalent to one hundred seconds in mortal life, and with a little concentration, that one hundred times time would become one thousand.