"So that's what happened twenty-three thousand years ago..."
Rosen was both surprised and delighted as he reviewed the extracted memories.
Back then, after the fall of the Fireseed Empire in the Main World, the power of the Fireseed Civilization became dominant.
The Fireseed Civilization system belonged to the era before the potion Sequence system.
In just a few thousand years, the new world saw the rise of numerous kingdoms and empires.
During that time, the kings and emperors of various human nations slaughtered the true gods of all races, striking terror into them and forcing them to bow their heads in surrender. That period was an extremely humiliating chapter in the history of the true gods—a chapter they later collectively worked to erase.
The gods couldn't win against this group of emperors, but these emperors had their own weaknesses.
The power of kingship and imperial authority was limited. Though the expansion of their respective kingdoms and empires strengthened these two laws, there was still an upper limit—even the mightiest true gods represented that limit. Kingship and imperial authority could not reach the level of eternal god-demons.
With just the power of kingship and imperial authority, it was extremely difficult to survive a Civilization Cataclysm.
That was because a Civilization Cataclysm wasn't a disaster that could be overcome by individual strength—it targeted every individual within a civilization.
If the citizens of a kingdom suffered heavy casualties during a cataclysm, the hidden great true gods—and even the will of the world—would not spare the kings and emperors. So, all the kingdoms and empires of the time began searching for ways to save themselves.
Thus, the King's Game was born. All the kingdoms and empires fought each other on the King's Continent.
The final victor would fully grasp the law of imperial authority and become the sole Human Emperor.
The other rulers would then be conferred titles as kings and emperors.
The latter submitted to the former, jointly pushing the Human Emperor of humanity to the supreme throne of the eternal god-demon.
Everything was proceeding smoothly—until an unexpected mishap occurred at the final moment.
Somehow, the King's Continent transformed into a miracle.
What had originally been a symbolic term, the King's Game, actually became a miraculous game.
Then, four great true gods obtained four King Cards and nearly swept through all the kingdoms and empires with their control of the King's Game.
Numerous kings and emperors joined forces, paying a heavy price to win that war.
Many kingdoms and empires were completely wiped out in that battle.
Even the surviving kings and emperors were severely wounded and forced into slumber, unable to resist the power of the King's Game.
However, the four King Cards were also gravely damaged and lost control over the King's Game.
This segment of history, though obscure, left the question—why did it become forbidden history?
Not only Rosen, even the Lionheart King didn't understand.
Lionheart only vaguely knew that the four great true gods who had once held the four King Cards and complete control over the King's Game had nearly annihilated all kingdoms and empires. In the end, it was a now-fallen empire that triggered a forbidden power and turned the tide at the last moment.
All the current taboos of the King's Continent are related to that extinct empire.
The ruins of that empire have become the only forbidden zone on the King's Continent.
Now that Lionheart King's value was gone, Rosen completely shattered the remaining divine origin within his godhood.
At the moment of the Lionheart King's true death, Rosen sensed an unusual change and summoned the Holy Grail King Miracle Tarot Card.
[Level: True God +1]
A +1 symbol suddenly appeared next to the level.
The Lionheart King's death signified the complete fall of the Golden Lion Kingdom. So, does destroying kingdoms and empires strengthen the Holy Grail King Card?
Rosen could clearly feel that both the attributes and miraculous traits of the Holy Grail King Miracle Tarot Card had been enhanced.
The kingship law wielded by his King's Holy Sword had now completely enveloped the territory of the Golden Lion Kingdom.
Several days later, Rosen was a bit disappointed as he took stock of the spoils.
The biggest gain was population. As for high-level treasures—there were shockingly few.
Combining it with the Lionheart King's memories, the reason was easy to understand: during that ancient war on the King's Continent, although the Golden Lion Kingdom survived, it suffered heavy losses, and many high-grade treasures were destroyed in battle.
Though the kingdom developed over the next 23,000 years, and numerous true gods emerged, true god-level extraordinary items were still extremely scarce.
Due to a lack of crafting materials, even if Sequences rose through monster battles, it didn't mean the King's Continent could spontaneously produce true god-level resources. The highest-grade resource site in the entire Golden Lion Kingdom was just a Sequence 0 node.
It couldn't even compare to the Holy Grail Kingdom. Without high-tier resources, high-grade treasures couldn't be crafted.
The extraordinary individuals who leveled up by monster hunting on the King's Continent were just as inflated in power as those divine-class extraordinaries from the old world.
Even someone like the Lionheart King, who wasn't entirely inflated, relied too heavily on the power of kingship.
As Rosen gradually weakened that kingship power, the Lionheart King's strength also drastically declined.
The power of kingship was certainly impressive, but it should never be treated as the core.
Personal might should be the foundation—kingship should merely serve as an enhancement.
Though the Holy Grail Legion occupied the Golden Lion Kingdom, the kingdom itself had already become a ruin.
Especially the area around the Golden Lion Royal City, spanning several hundred thousand miles, had been blasted by countless Draconic spells into a hole that pierced through tens of thousands of miles of the earth's crust.
Fortunately, this hole was currently being repaired by the game's rules—otherwise, occupying the Golden Lion Kingdom would've been out of the question.
The Time Prison in Lionheart Royal City—this was where the Golden Lion Kingdom imprisoned Fallen Scholars.
Even in death, Fallen Scholars possessed terrifying corruptive pollution, so over countless years, once they were captured, they were all thrown into the Time Prison. Because time was paused there, the number of still-living Fallen Scholars imprisoned kept growing.
If they were ever fully released, not even the Lionheart King at his peak could prevent the Golden Lion Kingdom from being destroyed.
Thus, these imprisoned Fallen Scholars became the Golden Lion Kingdom's trump card to drag others down with them when forced into a desperate situation.
If it weren't for the betrayal of several Golden Dukes, those Fallen Scholars would definitely have been released in the final moments.
Rosen severed the entire Time Prison and sent it into the True Realm of the Old Gods before cautiously beginning his study of the Fallen Scholars.
The Fallen Source mastered by the Fallen Scholars turned out to be a type of Eternal Source as well.
However, just like the Eternal Game Source, it wasn't an innate Eternal Source, but a derivative born from an original Eternal Source.
Within the Eternal Fallen Source, Rosen discovered traces of seven Eternal Sources: Miracle, Game, Omniscience, Dark Sun, Evolution, Compatibility, and Plunder. It could be said that this was a fused and evolved derivative of those seven Eternal Sources.
In a sense, the Eternal Fallen Source was just like his Eternal Root—a fusion product of multiple Eternal Sources.
In fact, the Eternal Fallen Source even surpassed his Eternal Root.
Although his Eternal Root had reached the Eternal level, it had yet to give birth to any unique abilities of its own.
While the Eternal Root could mimic and be compatible with all kinds of Eternal Sources, those traits belonged to Eternal Compatibility and Eternal Mimicry. His so-called Eternal Root, in the end, was merely a prototype of a true Eternal Source.
Only once it gave birth to its own unique traits could the Eternal Root be considered to have truly reached Eternity.
But the Eternal Fallen was different—it had already birthed a unique trait: Corruption.
Therefore, the formation of the King's Game must at least be related to two immortal gods and devils of the Apocalypse level.
Rosen cautiously integrated the Eternal Fallen Source, which caused his Eternal Root to grow even more powerful.
However, he also suddenly sensed that the total number of Eternal Sources his Eternal Root could be compatible with had reached its limit. If he wanted to integrate a tenth Eternal Source, either his Eternal Root would need to evolve its own unique trait, or it would collapse from the strain.
While Rosen was mastering the Eternal Fallen, the Miracle Flame had completely devoured the Civilization Flame of the Golden Lion Kingdom.
Upon ascending to True God, the Miracle Flame should have activated its final trait.
But it didn't—because the Miracle Flame lacked the nourishment required to trigger this miracle trait.
Now that it had fully devoured the Civilization Flame of the Golden Lion Kingdom, the Miracle Flame finally lit up its final miracle trait.
However, during this evolution, Rosen used his grasp over the Eternal Holy Radiance to burn the Miracle Flame.
The results matched his expectations—the two miracle traits, Sole Existence and Eternal Immortality, were burned away by Eternal Holy Radiance.
With the loss of these two traits, the Miracle Flame would no longer possess immortality or uniqueness.
But Rosen also sensed that he had now truly mastered the Miracle Flame.
Even the source of miracles itself could no longer wrest ownership of the Miracle Flame from him.
[Miracle Flame: Miracle Rule][Level: Great True God][Miracle Attribute: The Miracle Flame can control the Civilization Flame formed from a civilization's destiny and fortune.][Miracle Traits: Fate's Balance, Mimic Divinity, Inherited Flame, Barbaric Will, Eternal Flame]
Rosen carefully sensed the Eternal Flame miracle trait and was truly shocked by it.
Eternal Flame was just like his Eternal Root—both were prototypes of an Eternal Source.
Both were fusion derivatives of various Eternal Sources. The Eternal Flame could gradually strengthen itself simply by continuously absorbing Civilization Flames until it eventually evolved into a true Eternal Flame Source.
Because of the compatibility between Eternal Root and Eternal Fallen—and his complete mastery of the Miracle Flame—
Rosen could easily sense that the Eternal Fallen and Eternal Flame were mutually repelling and restraining.
If Eternal Fallen gathered the darkness in human hearts, then Eternal Flame gathered the hope in human hearts.
Eternal Fallen could corrupt the Eternal Flame; conversely, Eternal Flame could purify the Eternal Fallen.
If these two powers were created by different people, then their creators were almost certainly mortal enemies.
But if they were created by the same being, then that immortal god-devil must have been even stronger than an Apocalypse-tier existence.
The fall of the Golden Lion Kingdom had quickly spread across the Continent of Kings.
Several nearby kingdoms had begun assembling coalition armies, while also dispatching countless scouts to guard against a surprise attack by the Holy Grail Legion.
Without the confidence to simultaneously defeat at least two Great True Gods, not even the coalition of several kingdoms dared to provoke the Holy Grail Legion. Until their own kings awakened, they could only defend, not attack.
While Rosen successfully digested everything from the Golden Lion Kingdom, the other three kingdoms weren't so lucky.
The Holy Grail Kingdom was unexpectedly powerful—could the Scepter, Sword, and Coin be just as dangerous?
Even though the True Gods of Coin and the others held tokens symbolizing friendly ties with the kingdoms and empires, such things were only effective in the absence of conflicting interests. Once a clash occurred, they would be meaningless.
Thus, the other kingdoms near those three had already begun launching preemptive strikes.
Upon investigation, it became clear that the Scepter, Sword, and Coin hadn't developed nearly as fast as the Holy Grail Kingdom.
But who could guarantee they wouldn't suddenly surge ahead and become the next Holy Grail Kingdom?
If you didn't eliminate them while they were weak, would you wait for them to grow strong enough to pose a fatal threat?
In the past, no one moved first—not because of those friendly tokens.
It wasn't that they feared the King himself, but rather the existence behind the Kingdom Card, so they didn't want to take any risks before the King awakened.
However, the downfall of the Golden Lion Kingdom completely dispelled these kingdoms' concerns.
So very soon, all three kingdoms were invaded, to the point that cursing Rosen became a daily ritual for the three True Gods of Star Coin.
Two months later, the Golden Lion Kingdom had been fully integrated into the Holy Grail Kingdom.
On the land restored by the game rules, only the Lionheart Royal City was preserved.
All the Eternal Game Sources at the resource points were stripped away by Rosen and transferred back to the Holy Grail Kingdom.
Aside from the Holy Grail Legion, Rosen also established the Golden Lion Legion, centered around several Golden Dukes.
Then the two legions launched a joint attack on the Sky Kingdom, which was the closest to the Golden Lion Kingdom.
The Sky Kingdom's cities floated in the sky—all of them were airborne cities.
The surface below was full of grassland pastures and farmlands, continuously supplying all kinds of resources to the floating cities.
When Rosen led the Holy Grail Legion into Sky Kingdom territory, what he saw was endless farmland and countless puppets. The Sky Kingdom's development of alchemy rivaled that of the World Government, and the most numerous transcendents in the entire kingdom were arcanists.
Because the floating cities had powerful mobility—and with prior knowledge of the Holy Grail Legion's movements—
Rosen could already see hundreds of floating cities suspended at high altitude along the Sky Kingdom's border.
These floating cities were linked into a whole by countless large and small magic arrays. The terrifying tide of magic could unleash war spells at the level of Great True Gods at any moment. Moreover, with the invasion of the Holy Grail Kingdom, the Sky King should have already begun to awaken.
The reason Rosen was able to easily take the Golden Lion Kingdom was ultimately because the Lionheart King was too greedy and arrogant.
If not for his arrogance, why would he think he could hold the Lionheart Royal City?
If not for his greed, thinking he could let the Holy Grail Kingdom and nearby kingdoms wear each other down and profit from it, surrounding the Golden Lion Royal City would have been difficult. If the Lionheart King had launched a decisive battle earlier, the worst outcome would've been a retreat at most.
It was precisely because of his greed and arrogance that he was trapped with no way out.
The Sky Kingdom had clearly learned from that lesson, so they immediately mobilized the entire nation's power into a single fist.
And once the Sky King awoke, destroying the Sky Kingdom wouldn't be an easy task for Rosen.
The simplest method was still an inside-outside collaboration.
Using the Interdimensional Gate to anchor the spatial coordinates, Rosen quietly infiltrated the Sky Royal City with the help of the Mysterious Study Room.
Then he lifted the seal on the Time Prison and released some of the Fallen Scholars.
These Fallen Scholars, who were once considered a trump card by the Golden Lion Kingdom in a desperate situation, caused the entire Sky Royal City to teeter on the brink of collapse the moment they appeared—triggering the darkest desires of every sub-Demigod lifeform within the city.
Don't underestimate the Fallen just because they were below Demigod-level. Who doesn't have a few loved ones below Demigod-level?
Even the most faithful and loyal army—if their loved ones were harmed right in front of them—would find it hard to just stand by and do nothing. So the defensive forces in the Sky Royal City were utterly incapable of performing their duties in such circumstances.
This is also why soldiers are usually not stationed in their hometown during recruitment.
Of course, there are exceptions. With family behind them, soldiers might fight bravely to protect their loved ones, unafraid of death.
This could maximize combat effectiveness, provided their families remained unharmed. But with Fallen Scholars now polluting and destroying everything in Sky Royal City, the home advantage for local soldiers vanished instantly. Most were now busy trying to save their own families.
The Holy Grail Legion outside the city—and the Golden Lion Legion, which arrived shortly after—seized the opportunity to launch a frontal assault.
By that time, Rosen had already entered the heart of the royal palace in Sky Royal City.
The Sky Kingdom had been founded by humans, but strictly speaking, it was more accurate to call them Winged Humans.
Like angels, they had wings—but angelic bloodlines had long diverged far from humanity, whereas Winged Humans had bloodlines still very close to humans. So, relatively speaking, Winged Humans still acknowledged themselves as human and hadn't completely evolved into a new foreign race.
The Sky King's resting place wasn't deep in the royal palace fortress, but at the very peak of the palace's central spire.
There hovered a cyan orb, continuously absorbing the powers of wind and cloud from the sky. The Sky King, who commanded the laws of the sky, still had legends of his deeds circulating in the New World—but today, that legend was about to end.
In the blink of an eye, Rosen transformed into an angel, six holy wings of a True Angel God spreading from his back.
And that wasn't all. Thanks to the 14-point divine source amplification from the Ancient God's sacrificial artifact, both his divine essence and life essence exceeded the limits of a True God and reached the realm of a Great True God. Coupled with the power of the Eternal Evolution Source, the six wings split and grew into twelve.
A Twelve-Winged Holy Angel King—the form that only the most powerful Great True God of the angel race could take.
The Cross of God flashed in Rosen's hand. Only after fully mastering this miraculous artifact did he realize it wasn't just a pendant—it could also serve as a weapon. The longsword-shaped cross locked onto the awakening Sky King and unleashed all its divine power in a Holy Cross Slash.
The divine cross that flashed between heaven and earth collided with the cyan orb in the void.
Slumber was a necessity, but even then, safety during that period had to be ensured.
So all the magical barriers around Sky Royal City were linked to the cyan orb.
As the two powers clashed, countless magical barriers surrounding the cyan orb began to counterattack.
But at that moment, Rosen appeared in front of the magical barriers. Using Eternal Compatibility and Eternal Mimicry, he adjusted his divine power and magical fluctuations to match those of the barriers—so he passed through them as if he were the one who had set them up.
In the moment he faced the cyan orb directly, Rosen thrust the Cross of God into it.
(End of this chapter)