Blue Mountain Island, deep in the primitive forest.
A man in a black bonnet and a classic dark robe stepped out of an illusory door that opened in the air. He looked under forty. His slightly curly brown hair should have softened him, but somehow it only made him seem harsher. One after another, several people followed him through the door.
He looked over them and spoke in a calm, sharp voice. "Start the preparations."
"Yes, Lord Saint of Secrets," they answered together.
The man leading them was Botis, the Saint of Secrets of the Aurora Order and the one who betrayed the Abraham family.
In his hands was a diary marked with the Abraham family's logo. At the top of the cover, the title was written in bold letters, Sights in the Spirit World.
It was one of the artifacts he stole from the Abraham family's treasury.
This diary was special. It had been created by one of the family's ancestors, someone who spent their whole life searching for a cure to the family's curse. In the end, that ancestor found the source of it. What caught Botis's attention the most was a single line recorded about the Abraham family.
"The solution was in the future, in the hands of an Apprentice who was assisted by a hidden existence. [...] The day the curse was lifted was the beginning of the Abraham family's true doom."
The curse itself came from a once-mad angel of the Abraham bloodline. When a full red moon descends, the angel screams endlessly, and its madness spreads through the family, forcing its members to lose control. In the diary, the method of breaking the curse was written out clearly.
A sneer crept onto Botis's face as he came up with his own theory. He believed the Abraham ancestor chose to wait for the prophesied person mentioned in the diary. And to him, that person had to be himself. It lined up too well with his situation. He was an Apprentice, he was assisted by a hidden existence, and if he broke the curse, it would end up dooming the Abraham family exactly as the diary warned.
When Botis first got the diary, he was confused. Why didn't any other Abraham family member know about this? Later, he understood. Anyone from the Abraham bloodline who was below the level of a demigod would lose control the moment they tried to read it. He was the first non-Abraham in generations to reach that stage, which made him the only one able to read the diary without going insane.
Later, during a meeting with the other Saints of the Aurora Order, Botis laid out what he had learned about the source of the curse. Then he proposed a plan to use the mad angel for their own gain. He suggested summoning the angel and trapping it with the Box of the Great Old One, turning it into a toy under their control. The other Saints didn't take his word blindly. They contacted the Soothsayer of the Order and asked for the outcome. Once the Soothsayer confirmed the plan could work, they accepted it.
But Botis had another motive. Summoning the mad angel would deepen the connection between the angel's madness and the remaining Abraham family members, forcing them to lose control instantly. In his eyes, that meant killing two birds with one stone.
Another illusory door opened, snapping Botis out of his thoughts. Kisma, the Saint Tenebrous of the Aurora Order, stepped out and brought with him all three demigod ingredients needed for the ritual. He opened his mouth, and a sack made of flesh and blood dropped into his hand. Kisma squeezed it, and it burst with a wet, disgusting sound. When he opened his hand again, three different ingredients lay in his palm.
The first was a semi-transparent lump of meat with slick tentacles hanging off it. Twisted maggots crawled out of it one after another.
Next was a bird with a warped head. Every feather shimmered with a faint starlike glow, and thin strands of insect-like light burrowed into its body and leaked out again.
The last one looked like a crow, but anyone could tell it wasn't normal. Its right eye had a ring of black around it, its feathers were almost see-through, and strange rings marked its body.
The ritual to summon the mad angel required sacrificing demigod-level monsters from the Seer, Apprentice, and Marauder pathways. Seeing the demigod-level creatures didn't affect Botis at all. He was a demigod himself, so their presence barely stirred him. The other Aurora Order members weren't as lucky. The moment they sensed those things, it felt like thick, filthy sludge was being poured into their brains. A few were already close to losing control before Botis lifted his hand and concealed the creatures from their senses, sparing the lackeys from falling apart on the spot.
Holding the ingredients in his hand, Kisma walked over and stopped beside him, watching Botis closely. "We're spending a lot on this. Make sure it doesn't go wrong."
"Relax. I'm completely confident it will work. The Soothsayer confirmed it too, didn't he?"
Kisma let out a tired sigh. "That's the only reason we're going along with this."
After a while, one of the Aurora Order members spoke up, pulling them out of their conversation. "Saint of Secrets… it's ready."
Botis turned his eyes toward the altar prepared on the ground and nodded. Following the diary's instructions, he had already adjusted it, carving in the right symbols, mystical markings, and bizarre patterns needed for the ritual.
After placing the squirming meat blob, the deformed star bird, and the white raven with a dark eye circle onto the right spot, Botis looked at the only candle on the altar and lit it.
"Whatever happens, do not look at the mad angel," Botis warned the low- and mid-level Beyonders. He stepped back, slipped his hand into the pocket of his black bonnet, and pulled out a three-layered jewelry box. The box was large, silver-black in color, and its surface was covered with intricate hollow patterns. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds were inlaid across it.
Each of the three layers had a different power, but for today, only the first layer mattered. Its power was terrifying: the first layer could turn everything in a targeted area into toys and swap them with whatever was stored inside the box.
He glanced at Kisma, who stood back, praying silently to the Lord, the true Creator.
Botis did the same, taking a deep breath before beginning to chant in Jotun.
"Great Door of All Doors;
Guide of the endless cosmos;
Key to all mysterious worlds.
I pray for your response, praying for you to descend into this world…"
Before he could finish, three loud bangs echoed from the altar.
The three demigod monsters that corresponded to Bizarro Sorcerer, Secrets Sorcerer, and Parasite seemed to be being held by an invisible hand. They only struggled slightly before exploding, turning into blobs of flesh and blood that shimmered with different colors.
The flesh and blood seemed to have a life of its own. Under the guidance of some indescribable force, they gathered in the air, forming strange and filthy symbols.
Countless symbols combined together, forming a huge door that was still squirming like flesh and blood, one that was more than five meters tall.
The door stood on the altar. It was pitch black inside, and it was unknown where it went.
Flames from the candle representing the mad angel suddenly soared, illuminating the entire Door of Flesh and Blood, illuminating the darkness within.
In the darkness, there were tiny balls of stellar light condensing into spherical lights. On closer inspection, they looked like strange insects with bent bodies.
The spherical light rapidly rose, forming a gigantic arm that passed through the Doors of Flesh and Blood.
This arm, which clearly didn't belong to a human, pressed against the altar and forcefully squeezed out, causing the entire Door of Blood and Flesh to shake. Even the forest and the entire island began to shake as though it was an earthquake.
Botis, holding the Box of the Great Old One, pointed the lid of the three-layered jewelry box toward the mad angel and tried to open it. But to his horror, his hand wouldn't move. His stomach sank as he struggled with all his strength to lift the first layer. Panicking, he tried to open the second layer to escape, but again, nothing happened.
Instead, his hand seemed to move on its own toward his pocket. He pulled out a crystal monocle and placed it over his right eye.
…
Kisma, the Saint Tenebrous, continued praying to the Lord, waiting for Botis to turn the summoned mad angel into a toy. But then he sensed something was wrong with Botis. Before he could react, Botis opened his mouth, and Kisma trembled with fear.
"Aucuses, Amanises, Adam, Badheil, Leodero…" Instead of opening the Box of the Great Old One, Botis recited the names one after another. He had no idea who he was calling, yet Kisma understood that each name carried immense weight.
At the Door of Flesh and Blood, spherical lights collapsed and converged in an attempt to undergo a qualitative change. They seemed to form a body consisting of a series of doors. The body wore the blood-colored tidal wave as its robe as its body constantly warped and changed, reflecting different regions and planets.
At this moment, a blinding ray of sunlight shone through the darkness. It descended from the astral world and melted everything it encountered along the way.
Other than this ray of sunlight, an inscrutable darkness of night surged over Botis, devouring him and reaching for the mad angel, who was trying to advance to Sequence 0.
The land where the altar was quaked violently, tearing open a huge hole in a bid to devour the Door of Flesh and Blood and Mad Angel to fall deep into the core and face the Chaos Sea that contained all possible colors and possibilities.
Following that, a blurry light seeped out from the void and enveloped the forest, attempting to restore the basic structure of the trees, mud, and altar.
Seizing the chance, Kisma summoned every ounce of energy and ran. He entered one of the nearby shadows, but to his horror, countless brass eyes opened before him in the shadow realm. They weren't focused on him, but on the thing they had summoned.
Suddenly, he felt weightless. Looking down, he realized his hand had fallen from his body onto the ground. "Ahh…" he murmured, a terrifying realization dawning on him. Moments later, his entire body dissolved into the shadow.
…
Above the gray fog, Amon stood in his usual black robe and pointed hat, his crystal monocle on his right eye. Medici stood beside him in black armor marked with dried blood.
A crimson orb floated in front of them. Inside it was a vision of what was happening on Blue Mountain Island.
Amon adjusted his monocle as he looked at Medici, and spoke. "I need you to distract the Gods for a moment."
Medici, who had regained his status as a Conqueror, let out a loud laugh and stepped into the Astral World.
"Are you both ready?" he asked Sauron and Einhorn. They each gave a firm reply.
A moment later, three consecutive Spears of Destruction formed, one from each of them. They shot toward the divine kingdoms of the Evernight Goddess, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the Lord of Storms. The three orthodox Gods in the Astral World shifted their focus for a brief moment, pulled away from the door of flesh and blood.
Inside the Sefirah Castle, Amon stood with a bracelet in his hand. The silver bracelet cracked and scattered into particles. It was a special item with the power to let its user travel through the spirit world. Each time it was used, one stone would be consumed. When Amon first obtained it, it had only three dark green stones left.
Amon was not interested in the ability itself. He cared about the drawback. Using a stone creates a link to the ancestor of the Abraham family, also known as Mr. Door Bethel Abrahem. When all the stones were used, the link would become permanent. For a King of Angel of the Error pathway, a connection was something that could always be exploited.
…
Mr. Door let out a low roar, causing his blood-colored robe to flare up.
The robe connected to the evil tide that surged behind the Door of Flesh and Blood, spreading out to the crimson moonlight.
The moment it touched the moonlight, the inscrutable night that could not be seen gathered on its own. It stretched out its limbs and head, turning into a shadowy female human.
It possessed its own life, and its consciousness was no longer controlled by its user.
Without any exception, the blinding sunlight transformed into a young man wearing fiery armor. The shaking ground grew eyes and closed its mouth. The screen that was transformed from a faint light revealed terrifying facial features. Around the brass-colored eyes, eyelashes emerged, transforming into wings.
These obstructions and interferences fell into chaos, giving Mr. Door a chance for a breather.
Seizing this opportunity, "He" entered the final step of becoming a god.
At that moment, the Door of Flesh and Blood suddenly collapsed and covered Mr. Door's body, making "Him" seem to turn into another person.
After Mr. Door Bethel Abraham was enveloped by the Door of Flesh and Blood, a familiar voice echoed in his ears:
"You wish to bring the disaster back to the real world?"
Bethel Abraham's actions instantly slowed down.
"Give up. I have a way to deal with it." That familiar voice sounded again.
Mr. Door's figure that had shrunk from the ball of light came to a halt as though "He" had fallen into an intense internal struggle.
The layered doors in "His" body were just a little short of fully being reassembled.
Amidst the illusory whooshing sounds, the crimson tide that barely squeezed through the gap in the Door of Flesh and Blood became even more turbulent. The blood-colored robe landed heavily, about to envelop Bethel Abraham once again.
However, as it descended, the brass-colored eyes, the young man in the fiery armor, the hazy barrier of light that accentuated terrifying facial features, the ground with opened eyes and closed mouth, and the shadowy woman vanished silently from the world.
In that instant, an immense tide of endless gray fog enveloped the forest. The night was consumed and concealed within the endless mysteries of the fog.
This caused the blood-colored robe to rise once again, scattering even more crimson moonlight, causing all the disturbances to return to their mother's embrace.
Seizing this opportunity, Mr. Door's illusory eyes closed as "He" lowered "His" head.
"Alright…" "He" painfully said the first word after "His" return to reality.
Instead of giving up, Bethel used all of "His" strength to suppress the corrupted personality.
"His" figure completely froze as "He" raised "His" right hand and pressed it to "His" face.
"Don't worry, you won't die just yet."
The next second, Mr. Door lifted "His" head and wore a crystal monocle on "His" right eye.
A torrent of bluish-black fog erupted from the monocle, enveloping the entire world.
At that moment, all the errors of the seals that had failed were fixed. Everything that seemed normal showed errors. All the clocks jumped several seconds forward.
The Marauder Sequence 0 Error's ritual was:
To replace someone during "Their" apotheosis ritual!
And Mr. Door's return seemed to directly trigger "His" apotheosis ritual.
The light converged immediately, and Mr. Door had turned into Amon with his pointed hat and classic black robe.
The Blasphemer held a simple and unadorned key that seemed to be forged from pure starlight in his hand.
The moment Amon took over the body of Mr. Door, he sensed the dying consciousness. Using the Key in his hand and the power of Sefirah Castle that permeated the space, he sealed away Mr. Door's consciousness into himself for a moment.
Above him, the blood-colored robe descended, wanting to embrace him into its arms. Behind him, the crimson tide angrily squeezed through the remnants of the Door of Flesh and Blood in a last bid to enter the world.
Faced with the corruption from an Outer Deity, Amon's lips curled up slightly. He extended his right hand and took out an abnormally ancient stone slab from the Sefirah Castle.
The first Blasphemy Slate!
Then, he used the stone slab formed from the Chaos Sea to block the remnant opening of the Door of Flesh and Blood. Then, he used it as a substitute to receive the falling blood-colored robe.
The first Blasphemy Slate turned illusory, as though it was connected to an infinite sea that contained all the possible colors.
The sea surged and swallowed the blood-colored robe, blocking the crimson tide from the cosmos.
The already collapsed Door of Flesh and Blood rapidly shrank before quickly disappearing. An angry and terrifying roar resounded in the air from within.
Still holding the First Blasphemy Slate, Amon invoked its power and unsealed the consciousness of Mr. Door. The next moment, a dragon head bone appeared in a burst of gray fog. He touched the dragon head bone and transferred the consciousness into it. A hole opened beneath the skull, and it sank into the ground.
As a Mind Dragon that once ruled the Mind World, its skull could be used to store consciousness. Amon placed the consciousness of Bethel inside the dragon skull.
The consciousness of Mr. Door still carried some corruption from the Mother Goddess of Depravity, but curing it would not be a problem.
With this, Amon could unseal Mr. Door and give him a body, although Mr. Door would no longer be a Beyonder.
In the next second, the crimson moon appeared in the sky. The color quickly faded and turned pure. On it was a huge, distorted, crimson figure.
After the apotheosis ritual was complete, wearing a pointed hat and a classic black robe, Amon adjusted the monocle on his right eye and was about to show the Mother Goddess of Depravity the middle finger, until he stopped and remembered she might see it as a sign of affection. Instead, he waved his hand, bowed toward the four directions, and disappeared in a burst of gray fog.