At the same time—
In the desolate wasteland bordering the Enigmatic Abyss and the Western Siwa Alliance, a battered gray warplane, trailing sparks, staggered through the sky, desperately trying to escape the abyss.
"Lord Wistanstein! Bad news!! Lady Liana—Lady Liana, she—she's been killed!!"
Inside the cockpit, a disheveled, bloodstained man with black hair frantically shouted into his communicator.
"We don’t know who did it! By the time we found her, her body had already been twisted into a pile of mangled flesh!"
"And then—the most important thing—Lady Liana’s corpse... it was—it was eaten by that monster—by Gaia Lobil!!"
The officer, Collin, stammered as he relayed the horrifying sight he had witnessed just moments ago.
And with his words, the memories of that nightmarish scene at the Enigmatic Abyss’s border once again flickered through his mind like a cursed slideshow.
After receiving reports that Liana and her daughters had gone missing at that location, Collin and his twenty-man team, under orders from their employer, had rushed to the scene—tasked with retrieving Liana and her children at all costs.
However—
After braving the miasma, following the lingering traces of Liana’s presence, what Collin encountered was a sight that would haunt him forever.
—
A tidal wave of black sludge surged forth,
Devouring everything in its path, reeking of decay and death.
It coiled and twisted, quickly converging into a massive, gaping maw.
And then—
The gaping mouth snapped shut, mercilessly devouring Liana’s corpse.
Her hair, flesh, and bones melted away under the sludge’s corruptive force, leaving behind only a hollow, rotting void.
And then—
Amidst grotesque convulsions,
The sludge writhed, shifting, reshaping—until it condensed into a blurred human figure.
Slowly—
The outline became distinct.
And before long—
It became Liana.
Her body was perfect, flawless, exactly as it had been in life.
Yet—
It exuded an unnerving, unnatural aura.
That once-beautiful face reappeared, yet now deathly pale, her lifeless eyes flickering with a void-like glow.
And in that moment—
As those hollow, inhuman eyes swept across him,
Collin felt a suffocating pressure, unlike anything he had ever known—
As if his very soul had frozen over.
And then—
Without warning—
Countless black ice spears erupted from the ground,
Expanding outward from ‘Liana’s’ feet, piercing everything in their path.
In mere seconds,
Collin’s comrades were impaled, their bodies frozen like shattered statues.
If he hadn’t reacted in time, using an emergency teleportation device to escape back to the warplane—
He would’ve been skewered just like the captain and the others.
—
Even now—
The image of Gaia Lobil devouring Liana, the screams of his dying comrades—
They plagued Collin’s mind like an inescapable nightmare.
His entire body trembled as he desperately relayed the events through the communicator.
A God-bestowed Daughter had been killed—devoured—by the Earth Evil God.
And worse—
The Earth Evil God had taken Liana’s form.
This wasn’t a minor incident.
That monster had turned into Lady Liana—but why?
What the hell was it planning to do?
Collin had no answers.
But the ominous feeling spreading through his gut told him one thing—
The Western Siwa Alliance had to be warned.
Immediately.
Yet—
Despite his desperate calls for help,
The critical information he had to deliver—
Never reached anyone.
Staring at yet another failed transmission,
Collin clenched his fist and slammed it against the console in frustration.
"Damn it!! Not even this is getting through?!"
His hands trembled as he glanced outside the cockpit window, his heart sinking.
Why the hell is the signal interference so strong?!
They had already escaped the Enigmatic Abyss’s range—
Why was communication still impossible?!
Did the communicator get damaged from that Evil God’s attack earlier?!
If that was the case—
There was only one option left.
He had to return in person and report directly to Lord Wistanstein.
...Though,
Deep down, Collin had no confidence he’d even make it back alive.
His gaze darted to the radar,
And then—
His face turned pale.
Outside the warplane—
Through the lingering fog of the miasma—
A massive, winged shadow emerged.
A Fallen Beast.
And not just one.
Four.
Their wingspans stretched over dozens of meters, their dark forms closing in swiftly from behind.
A shiver ran down Collin’s spine.
Hopeless.
Even a Celestial Martial Realm warrior wouldn’t survive against four Blood Curse-tier Fallen Beasts.
And he?
He was piloting a half-destroyed warplane.
He had no chance.
Knowing resistance was futile,
Collin instead frantically slammed buttons, firing off distress signals in every direction.
"Help! Someone, someone, anyone— please, for the love of—!!"
His frantic button mashing grew more and more hysterical as the Fallen Beasts loomed closer.
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But then—
The static in his earpiece vanished.
And a calm, unfamiliar voice echoed through the communicator.
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"Sergeant Collin, your message has been successfully received. The intelligence you provided is highly valuable."
At that moment—
Collin noticed something on the radar.
Apart from the four pursuing Fallen Beasts,
A white blip appeared—racing toward him at incredible speed.
This—
This was—!!
An allied missile?!
Reinforcements?!
His heart soared.
"Th—Thank God!! You—you finally responded!!"
Collin almost cried from relief.
His exhausted body wanted to cheer, to scream in joy.
But then—
A loud, shrill warning alarm blared through the cockpit.
Collin froze.
His expression twisted in horror—
As he realized.
The missile wasn’t aimed at the Fallen Beasts.
It was aimed at him.
—
And then—
From the communicator,
A voice spoke, hauntingly indifferent.
——"However, such intelligence... would be best kept from the Western Siwa Alliance. Apologies, Sergeant Collin."——
...??
"Wha—Wait—who the hell are y—"
Before he could finish—
His last shred of hope was ripped apart.
Despair crashed over him, drowning him in its abyss.
And in the next instant—
Amidst Collin’s furious, panicked screams—
A gray missile struck the warplane.
A brilliant explosion bloomed across the sky.
"Boom—!"
—
At that same moment—
Somewhere in the Western Siwa Alliance—
Within a dimly lit villa,
A white-haired elder sat in silence on a luxurious leather couch.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, his stern, chiseled features exuding an undeniable air of power.
A silver-handled cane rested beside him, its ornate carvings gleaming faintly.
Though his posture was calm, refined,
The sheer pressure radiating from him made the entire room feel suffocatingly heavy.
Before him—
A receiver crackled with static.
And beside it—
A pile of shattered white crystals.
Each crystal’s destruction signified a subordinate’s death.
All of them.
The old man’s gaze darkened.
"Useless."
His cold murmur echoed through the silence.
Then, slowly—
He turned his gaze toward the man standing behind him.
"Crowell. Take Hein and retrieve Liana and the children."
The man’s eyes flickered open slightly.
"And if Lady Liana refuses to comply?"
The old man scoffed.
"She’s no longer a God-bestowed Daughter. Without the Sacred Stone, she’s nothing."
"If she refuses—kill her. Just bring back the Sacred Stone."
"...Understood, Lord Patriarch."