As everyone knows, New Land of Light is already the registered corporate name for Lord Ian's company in America.
And America belongs to the DC Universe.
Without even needing to round up, one can reach a conclusion: "New Land of Light" is a trademark that belongs to Lord Ian himself. Anyone else attempting to use it is committing copyright infringement.
"The audacity! Not only stealing the name of my New Land of Light, but even trying to seize my title as the New Ultraman King? I think someone's been eating Zero's Eye Sluggers like potato chips."
"And then got fried stupid by the Plasma Spark Tower." Ian, of course, recognized exactly who this so-called 'Ultraman King Belial' was—a major antagonist from the Ultra Universe.
Belial was originally an Ultra Warrior from the Land of Light, a comrade-in-arms during the same period as Father of Ultra, and once even a rival for the position of Commander of the Inter Galactic Defense Force.
Driven by a hunger for the power of the legendary Plasma Spark Tower, he was corrupted by darkness and attempted to seize it by force. After failing, he was defeated by Father of Ultra and banished.
This betrayal and exile bred deep resentment. Tempered by certain dark forces, he fell completely into darkness, becoming Great King Belial, vowing revenge against the Land of Light and the entire universe.
Belial is a Reionics among Ultramen—and the most unique among them. His strength ranks first among all Reionics; he is the strongest of his kind. Due to his possession by Alien Rayblood, he wields the power to control monsters and possesses the most evil soul in the universe.
He has brought immense disaster to various dimensional universes multiple times and is an existence feared by the Ultra race. In terms of strength, he is a powerful lifeform of at least the Multiversal tier.
An Absolute Lifeform.
It's unclear exactly what happened in the Ultra Universe, but Belial had apparently hijacked a fragment of the Ultra Universe, parasitizing Black Adam and declaring himself the new boss of the Land of Light.
Yes.
A universe fragment.
It was one of those cases where it hadn't completely perished yet—much like the mutant universe fragments Ian had integrated into his Extra Dimension, which still contained remnants of their original universal life.
However, because the level of life was generally too low, most inhabitants of such fragments wouldn't realize their situation. Furthermore, they would be influenced by the owner of the universe fragment.
This was similar to Franklin's slice of the mutant universe; as the manager and controller of the fragment, Franklin could exert whatever influence he wished upon it.
Think of it as administrator privileges.
Belial was the same.
After gaining admin rights over this slice of the Ultra Universe, he modified people's perceptions, making them revere and worship him, and established the hatching of monster eggs as a fundamental law of the world.
After all, Belial was a Reionics. Humans or aliens who inherited the genetic material of the Absolute Lifeform Rayblood, or were tainted by his spirit, are known as Reionics.
This race can use Battle Nizers to summon their respective monsters. So, Belial just loved playing with monsters—he was one of the Mysterious Monster Trainers of the Ultra Universe.
Everything clicked together in Ian's mind. However, this didn't change the fact that Belial had plagiarized the name "New Land of Light," which still left Ian feeling incredibly annoyed.
"Some people live for tens of thousands of years and still can't use their decaying brains to come up with an original name? Must you steal someone else's creativity?"
"'Dark Kingdom,' 'Belial Empire,' 'Ultimate Dark Territory'... aren't any of those better than being a bootleg dog? Seriously, zero awareness of intellectual property! One star review!"
Ian seemed to have forgotten that he was facing a Dark Demon God capable of destroying universe after universe. He complained loudly in a tone one might use to criticize a fish for not being fresh enough at a wet market.
This snarky, oddly-focused commentary caused the condensed phantom of Belial to visibly pause. Those eyes, formed from pure dark will, seemed to flicker for a moment—was that a trace of... unbelievable bewilderment? Of course, after that brief stun, Belial's phantom "stared" even more intently at Ian.
Belial seemed to pierce through Ian's outward appearance as a young child.
He sensed an anomaly at the core that was more fundamental and entirely different from any other life in this universe. It was a chaotic, undefinable trait that nevertheless contained unimaginable potential.
Greed surged within the dark phantom.
"Heh... I almost misjudged you. Interesting child." Belial's voice was no longer merely majestic; it gained a seductive quality, as if he had discovered a rare treasure.
"You... are very special. Entirely different from that ancient human who has nothing but power and is shackled by an old curse. Your soul... flickers with a chaotic light that pleases me."
The phantom leaned forward slightly, bringing a suffocating pressure, but his tone became much "softer."
"Come. Drop your ridiculous guard. Accept my power and embrace the ultimate darkness! I will give you everything beyond your imagination—power, authority, eternal life... everything you desire is within your reach!" The temptations of these Dark Lords were always the same old combo.
Of course.
Normal people wouldn't fall for it.
But that didn't mean Ian wouldn't take the bait voluntarily.
Seeing that Belial seemed to have "ideas" about him, Ian—who originally thought he'd have to put in a lot of effort—suddenly had a spark of inspiration.
The Method Acting Protocol: Engaged!
Ian 'Oscar' online! The arrogant, complaining expression on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an ultimate, worldly innocence and naivety.
"R-Really? Dark... Uncle?"
Ian's big eyes blinked, looking like they were filled with pure innocence. His small mouth opened slightly, his voice timid yet full of curiosity.
"Can you really give me anything? I want... I want a never-ending supply of Skittles! And a game console that Dad will never confiscate! And... and a joke book that can make Uncle Bruce laugh like an old dog! Are those okay too?" Ian almost slipped up, but fortunately, his acting was more reliable than his vocal cords, which tended to have ideas of their own.
The dark silhouette seemed to freeze again. Skittles? Game consoles? Joke books? What the hell was this? Was this kid's desire a bit too down-to-earth?
"Why is it some Uncle Bruce and not your mother?" Belial's phantom sounded very confused. He suspected Ian came from one of those families unique to Earth humans.
The kind with two dads.
"That's not important. What matters is—are you really like the Genie from the fairy tales?" Ian's expression remained unchanged as he tilted his head, his tone full of innocent wonder.
He had finally become the cutesy-voiced brat he hated most.
"A Genie? You mean the so-called Genie of the Lamp from your ridiculous human fairy tale, Aladdin?" Belial sneered. He felt Ian was a bit strange.
But quickly, Belial rationalized this as the limitation of a lower being's perception. Once the power of darkness was accepted, these trivial desires and disharmonies would naturally be replaced by loftier pursuits and wills. If the universe he carried wanted to survive, he needed to parasitize someone of significance in another universe.
Though he didn't fully understand Ian.
Through his observation just now, Belial discovered that the weight Ian carried was far greater than that of Black Adam. This was why he wanted to switch hosts.
"You're even more powerful than a Genie?"
Ian made a face of incredible shock.
"Of course!"
Belial's voice was full of unquestionable temptation, automatically ignoring the childish wishes. "These insignificant things are not worth mentioning in the face of infinite power!"
"Accept me, and what you will gain is the power to rule the stars!" His tone was full of pride and arrogance. However, this Big Bad Wolf was doing his best to keep up the disguise.
"Rule the stars?"
Ian continued to play the ditzy innocent, his little face scrunched up as if he were trying very hard to understand.
"Is that like... hitting stars like they're marbles? But if I break them, will it cost a lot of money to pay back? My allowance isn't enough..." Perhaps his acting was a bit over the top.
But then again, he was fooling an alien from another universe.
"Do humans in this universe have so little ambition?"
Belial felt his dark core getting a bit congested. He explained patiently: "No! It's not about playing marbles! It's about making all the stars submit to your will!"
"Making the universe operate according to your rules!" Belial didn't completely misunderstand humans; he just didn't understand DC humans. He was quite certain that his grand vision was the kind of romance most men craved.
"My rules?"
Ian's eyes lit up as if he'd heard something fun.
"Then can I rule that every day is Saturday? Can I rule that spinach tastes like ice cream? Can I rule that Uncle Bruce has to wear My Little Pony pajamas and dance in the street every day?"
He still couldn't forget his Uncle Bruce.
"??????"
The fluctuations in Belial's phantom intensified visibly.
It was a sign of extreme endurance. He was starting to wonder if he had picked the wrong target. But this boy's essence and potential truly made him drool.
"Forget your damn Uncle Bruce! Yes! All of it!" Belial almost said through gritted teeth as he made the promise. "As long as you accept me, these... these can all be realized!"
He decided to trick him in first. Once he completely controlled this perfect host, there would be plenty of time to slowly correct this bizarre obsession with Uncle Bruce.
"Wow! Dark Uncle, you're so nice! Much better than my dad who's always making me do homework! Then... what should I do?" Ian clapped his hands and laughed with pure, innocent joy.
Just like a child who had received a New Year's gift.
"Good, good, good!"
Belial was overjoyed!
The kid was a child after all, hooked so easily!
"It's simple. Relax your mind, do not resist..." Belial's phantom emitted even denser dark energy, his voice becoming low and hypnotic.
"Open your soul, welcome my descent... yes, just like that... let us become one..." Belial found that Ian was a natural—he learned instantly.
In fact, before he had even finished giving instructions, the boy had already opened his mind intuitively. The Dark King didn't suspect a thing. That massive phantom, condensing ultimate darkness and the will to destroy, plunged down from the depths of the universe like a ghost discovering the perfect host, filled with greed and impatience.
It lunged directly at Ian, who stood there seemingly defenseless with a face full of pure expectation! And Ian, watching the overwhelming darkness approach, saw the pure smile on his face instantly warp. The corners of his mouth split into a nearly manic, extremely excited grin. This was what a high-end hunter looked like.
This wasn't acting anymore.
Ian's expression was filled with genuine emotion.
"He-he..."
Facing the overwhelming dark phantom, Ian opened his arms wide, his face radiating a nearly pious welcome, as if greeting a long-lost dear friend.
Or rather, a magnificent gift.
Belial's dark phantom hesitated no longer. With a greed and arrogance that sought to devour everything, it surged into Ian's seemingly defenseless body like a black flood breaching a dam!
In that moment.
The process was unexpectedly smooth.
Dark energy poured in wildly, attempting to instantly taint, assimilate, and take control of this container of infinite potential. Belial could already envision himself using this new body to rebuild his glory in the outside universe. Thoughts were beautiful, but while Ian could giggle, Belial would soon find himself unable to.
Just as the last sliver of the phantom was about to vanish into Ian's body.
Belial's massive dark will shuddered violently!
"Come on! Dark Uncle! Let's become one!" Ian shouted in the most innocent tone, though his facial expression was slightly out of control due to the excitement.
Belial saw it.
The light shining in the boy's eyes was greedier and more chaotic than his own!
The Dark King suddenly felt something was very wrong.
The facts proved his premonition was correct.
Belial realized something was amiss.
But it was too late.
At the deepest level of the consciousness hand-off, beneath that seemingly innocent facade, he didn't see the panicked soul or the easily twisted will he had expected. What he saw... was a boundless, boiling sea of chaos composed of countless disordered rules and unfulfilled possibilities!
Ian's "pure" expression had long since completely shattered. The corners of his mouth were split to a non-human degree. The light in his eyes—where was the naive curiosity? It was a pure joy more primitive and hungrier than his own darkness! It was as if an ancient being, hungry for eons...
Had finally seen a delicacy delivered right to its door!
"No! You aren't—" Belial's roar of shock and anger exploded on the conscious level, filled with unbelievable panic. He realized he might have made a universe-level mistake! This child wasn't a pure container at all; he was something far more terrifying wearing human skin!
In this moment.
Belial was panicked to the extreme.
But he was already "done for." Whether he panicked or not no longer mattered.
As he tried to forcibly break free and escape this bizarre body, everything around him—the Japanese-style streets, the bustling crowds, the huge plaza, and even that statue of Belial—every part of the illusion built by his dark power and mental energy popped like a soap bubble.
It was also like a vortex stirred by an invisible giant force, beginning to twist, shatter, and collapse wildly! And the center of that collapse was Ian's body, which had seemingly turned into a black hole!
"No! What is this power?! Let go of me!" Belial discovered in horror that not only the portion of his will that had entered, but even his essence hidden within Black Adam's body—the source of his power—was being forcibly pulled by an irresistible, brutal suction, dragged along to be devoured!
What terrified him even more was that as the devouring progressed, he felt his invincible dark power being rapidly analyzed, dismantled, and then incorporated into a cold and precise system that he couldn't understand at all. A feeling of unprecedented restraint descended, as if a leash had been slipped onto his power.
He was being enslaved!
A soul-stamp was being branded upon him!
The opponent wasn't some human—but a Creator who had his own universe! Now, that universe was absorbing everything he had, turning him into a controlled part of the other side!
"NOOOOOO!!!!!"
Once again, in an alternate universe, Belial used his supreme signature line from the Ultra Universe. Simultaneously, a system prompt rang out in the depths of Ian's consciousness.
[Obtained Class Data.]
[Obtained Dimensional Data.]
[Class traits being recorded...]
[Dimensional data being extracted...]
[You have come into contact with an unknown extraordinary substance. A new class template has been unlocked. By meeting specific conditions, you have obtained a [Corrected] extraordinary class—[Lord of Embers].]
[Lord of Embers: You once lit up the galaxy and witnessed the end of the universe. Your existence is both the dawn of civilization and the twilight of the old world's end.
Light should not be prayed for; it should only be harnessed. Eternal light and blazing cinders burn within you. Holding no justice and asking no questions of good or evil, you measure the value of all things only by the scale of light. King of Light and Cinders, you will eventually recast the eternal cosmic order by burning down all phenomena!]
Ian didn't pay any attention to the class prompt. His entire mind was immersed in tasting this unprecedented dark energy, his face displaying an expression of extreme gluttonous satisfaction.
[Entropy Extinction Lord EXP +1999]
[Entropy Extinction Lord EXP +2001]
[Entropy Extinction Lord EXP +2048]
[Entropy Extinction Lord EXP +2009]
...
[Entropy Extinction Lord Level Up!]
[Entropy Extinction Lord Level Up!]
[Entropy Extinction Lord Level Up!]
[You have reached—Entropy Extinction Lord Lv29!]
[Strength: 741 —> 1458]
[Constitution: 995 —> 1666]
[Intelligence: 72.4 —> 73.4]
[Spirit: 459 —> 618]
The rapid rise in class level was intoxicating.
Ian smacked his lips, savoring the new power surging within him. You really have to hand it to universe fragments; the tier of the Ultra Universe was certainly not low.
This wave of Big Bad Wolf delivering himself to the door truly yielded a rich harvest for Ian.
"He really is the Genie Belial!"
Ian didn't claim to be Aladdin. As everyone knows, in Middle Eastern and Islamic traditions, the Prophet Solomon is believed to have possessed divine power to control jinn (genies).
Many folk tales and legends describe King Solomon using a magic ring or seal to command or imprison jinn. Therefore, the Genie in Aladdin's lamp was most likely sealed inside by King Solomon.
The role Ian stepped into was King Solomon; he had sealed the Genie Belial into his own body. How could that not be considered another form of honesty?
[Dimensional data extracted, analyzing—Current progress 5%. This data contains fragmented universal laws and can assist the host in forging his own Extra Dimension.]
Ian hovered in Black Adam's now-calm consciousness space—where only a few dark ripples remained—feeling the newborn power surging within him and the forcibly formatted universe fragment.
His mood was so good he wanted to dance on the spot.
New universal information was merging into his dimensional world. This would also allow Ian to gain more capacity for divine power. This wave was truly a feast for him.
"The most important thing is—with this fragment of the Ultra Universe, I will be the legitimate successor of the New Land of Light in the future. No one will be able to find fault with me!" After a blissful daydream about the future, Ian submerged a portion of his mind into his rapidly expanding and evolving Extra Dimension.
His will was like that of God, looking down upon this world that belonged to him. In the center of the dimension, the sun condensed from his divine power—warm but not scorching—was operating stably. Ian's gaze swept over the continent below, which was beginning to take shape and blended multiple styles. He quickly locked onto a figure that was going mad.
Yes, Belial had been merged in.
The one going mad was precisely Belial.
At this moment, he was no longer the sky-scraping dark giant, but had been compressed to a natural size no different from an ordinary human. However, his sinister exoskeleton, claw-like hands, and ferocious face still made him look completely out of place among the normal citizens nearby.
He looked like a character actor who had walked onto the wrong set.
"Bastard! Let me out! I am Belial! Ruler of Darkness! You ants! How dare you imprison me!" Belial roared and raged on a street that looked to be in the style of medieval Gotham. He tried to destroy the surrounding buildings with dark energy, only to find his power was like a stone dropped into the ocean.
He couldn't even flip over a single car.
Yes.
A single car. He couldn't even manage that.
The pedestrians on the street seemed accustomed to Belial's roars and weird appearance. At most, they just avoided him with looks of annoyance, as if he were just a noisy vagrant.
Belial was utterly enraged. He grabbed a passing middle-aged man in a trench coat clutching a briefcase and hoisted him up. His hideous face was almost touching the man's as he hissed, "Why aren't you afraid of me?! Can't you see my power?! I am Belial!"
The captured NPC man pushed up his glasses and looked him up and down. His face showed a "here we go again" expression of impatience, and his tone was flat, even slightly disgusted.
"Fear you? Why fear you? I've seen uglier. You ran out from that new continent to the north, didn't you? Some crossbreed between a troll and a hellfire beast? Tsk, the policies over there are too loose—every kind of weird-looking hybrid is running to the main city... Oh, sorry, I didn't mean that in a discriminatory way against hybrids."
The passerby's words were like a sharp knife, accurately stabbing Belial's arrogant self-esteem.
"Hybrid?! Crossbreed?! I'll kill you!!" Belial was so angry that actual flames almost erupted from his head, turning him into a modern-day Captain Zoffy.
He roared, intending to tear the man apart with physical force.
However, a split second before he could act, the surrounding scene blurred and switched! When he regained his senses, he found he was no longer on a noisy street but was inside a massive, quiet library filled with the scent of books. Tall bookshelves reached the ceiling, packed with books in various languages.
At a reading table not far away sat a small boy, quietly holding a thick book and reading. The boy looked ordinary, but his eyes were exceptionally deep.
"What's going on?" Belial was stunned for a moment, then anger surged again. Though he didn't understand what had happened, his intuition told him it definitely had to do with this bizarre place. He strode toward the boy, intending to start with the kid and force out the way to leave this hellhole.
"Hey! Little human thing! What is this place? Do you know something?" Belial lowered his voice, trying to create a sense of pressure while extending his still-terrifying claws.
The small boy—precisely Franklin Richards, the little god of the mutant universe whom Ian had "invited" as a guest in his dimension—slowly looked up at Belial.
That gaze was so calm that it made Belial's heart skip a beat for some unknown reason.
"Your power is meaningless here." Franklin's voice was soft but carried an unquestionable certainty. "Noise and threats are even more useless."
"What did you say?!" Belial felt like he was being driven mad by this ubiquitous sense of powerlessness. Franklin didn't answer. He just reached out a small hand, pointed at the top of Belial's head, and then pointed at the top of his own. Belial instinctively looked up above himself—there was nothing.
But following the direction the boy pointed, he focused and looked carefully, and was instantly dumbfounded! At the very top of his field of vision, like a game interface, a line of clear text made of light was floating.
[9th-Tier Ordinary NPC]
Belial: "???"
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked again. The text was still there. He suddenly looked at the boy opposite him, Franklin, and saw a line of text floating above his head as well.
[2nd-Tier Ordinary NPC]
"What... what kind of ghostly thing is this?!"
Belial felt like his perception had been hit by an unprecedented shock. Franklin pulled out a small mirror from somewhere and handed it to Belial.
Belial took the mirror and looked at himself with trembling hands—sure enough, above that hideous head, the words [9th-Tier Ordinary NPC] were firmly nailed there like a pillar of shame!
"NOOO—!!!"
Belial let out a roar of despair. This was worse than being killed! He, the Dark Demon God Belial, had actually become... some kind of NPC?!
And the lowest 9th-Tier Ordinary at that?!
"This is the social system established by the 'Only God Whose Name Cannot Be Mentioned Here.'" Franklin closed the book, his tone still flat as if explaining common sense. "Here, everyone has only one identity. Work hard to level up. Maybe one day, you can upgrade from 'Ordinary' to 'Rare,' or even 'Epic.'"
Franklin stood up, walked over to the completely petrified, self-douthing Belial, stood on his tiptoes, and patted the other's exoskeleton-covered shoulder.
The movement looked a bit comical.
"Keep it up." As Franklin spoke, he pulled out a thick book with square characters on the cover from somewhere and stuffed it into Belial's stiff hands.
Belial instinctively looked down at the title of the book.
"To Live".
Franklin's final voice drifted over softly, carrying a trace of imperceptible sympathy.
"From now on, this book... will be a 'power fantasy' to you."
With that.
Franklin left.
Belial held the copy of "To Live".
He stood on the spot as if struck by an invisible bolt of lightning. The boy's words echoed in his ears, and his mind was filled with that piercing line above his head: [9th-Tier Ordinary NPC].
The dignity of a Dark Demon God, at this moment, was shattered more thoroughly than dust.
"Hmm, looks like this kid Franklin is quite good at doing ideological work. Not bad, not bad. I'll give him some 'EXP' next time. The dimensional world needs a tutorial mentor."
Outside the dimension.
Ian nodded with satisfaction.
Even when talking to himself, he used the next time carrot-on-a-stick phrase.
As one can imagine.
Franklin truly understood how to recognize talent.