The woman's scream echoed through the ancient ruin once again.
It sounded painful.
Broken.
Like someone trapped inside an endless nightmare.
Yet this time, Aaron did not rush forward recklessly.
The memory of being blasted into the wall by the ant queen was still fresh in his mind.
He slowed down instead.
His sharp eyes focused on the broken stone tablets scattered across the ground.
The ancient cave around them remained eerily silent. The walls were covered in strange engravings that glowed faintly beneath the dim light leaking from cracks above.
Jade looked toward the darkness ahead, then back at Aaron.
"You're not running anymore?"
Aaron crouched beside one of the tablets calmly.
"I almost got myself killed earlier," he replied. "I'd rather not repeat that."
He brushed dust away from the tablet carefully.
The engravings were strange.
Unlike ordinary writing, the symbols were layered into geometric shapes, circles, and intersecting lines.
It looked more like mathematics than language.
Aaron narrowed his eyes while studying them.
Jade folded his arms impatiently.
"Well?"
Aaron stared at the symbols for a few more seconds before speaking slowly.
"War."
Jade blinked.
"…That's it?"
Aaron nodded.
"There are entire sentences here, but this language isn't normal. It's based on an ancient numerical system."
He traced one of the symbols with his finger.
"It's almost like solving a puzzle."
Jade frowned.
"And all you got was war?"
Aaron sighed.
"Unfortunately."
The cave became quiet again.
The distant scream of the woman echoed faintly through the ruin.
Jade glanced toward the darkness ahead before looking back at the broken tablets.
"Could these have been written by the skeleton we found earlier?"
Aaron thought for a moment.
"Maybe."
He stood slowly.
"But if I'm right…"
His eyes scanned the ancient walls carefully.
"…this truly is the place where the gods were born."
Jade looked around the cave again.
The deeper they walked into the ruin, the stranger the atmosphere became.
The walls were covered in endless carvings.
Some depicted gigantic beings kneeling beneath stars.
Others showed planets orbiting around humanoid figures.
Some carvings were too damaged to understand.
Others looked horrifying.
Jade remembered the earlier engraving they had seen.
The one showing something draining power from the gods.
Now this tablet spoke about war.
The more he learned about the ancient gods…
The less divine they seemed.
Jade picked up another broken tablet from the ground.
Unlike the others, this one showed symbols instead of words.
Three circles overlapped around a shattered star.
Aaron's expression changed slightly the moment he saw it.
"This…"
He frowned deeply.
"I think this has something to do with the future."
Jade raised an eyebrow.
"The future?"
Aaron nodded slowly.
"I don't fully understand it."
His gaze remained fixed on the carving.
"But first we saw something absorbing the gods' power."
"Then war."
"And now this symbol."
Aaron exhaled quietly.
"It feels like a warning."
Jade immediately dropped the tablet back onto the ground.
"Then let's keep moving."
Aaron looked at him strangely.
"You're not curious?"
"Not really."
Jade shrugged lightly.
"I'm not fond of history."
Aaron laughed softly.
"That explains a lot about your personality."
Jade ignored the comment.
The two boys continued walking deeper into the ancient ruin.
The deeper they went—
The quieter everything became.
There were no monsters.
No insects.
No strange sounds except the occasional distant scream of the woman.
Even the air itself felt heavy.
Their footsteps echoed softly through the massive stone corridors.
Then—
Jade suddenly slowed down.
Aaron noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Jade looked around carefully.
"The suppression…"
Aaron blinked.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
The suppression inside the cave had weakened.
No—
It had almost disappeared completely.
Earlier, the ancient ruin had suppressed their strength heavily.
Even breathing had felt difficult.
But now—
Their bodies suddenly felt lighter.
Their energy flowed more smoothly.
Aaron clenched his fist slightly.
Purple aura flickered briefly around his fingers before disappearing again.
A grin appeared on his face.
"We're close."
Jade nodded slowly.
Then he suddenly looked at Aaron seriously.
"Aaron."
Aaron glanced sideways at him.
"Can I ask you something?"
Aaron shrugged casually.
"Anything."
Jade hesitated briefly before speaking.
"How were you so strong against the ant queen?"
Aaron remained silent for a moment.
Then he smiled faintly.
"My parents are transcendents."
Jade already knew that part.
But Aaron continued.
"They possess a special skill called Genetic Pass Down."
Jade's expression sharpened immediately.
That was not an ordinary term.
Aaron placed his hands inside his pockets while walking.
"My parents cultivated their God Bodies to an extremely high level."
"When I was born…"
"…part of that power was inherited by me."
Jade's eyes widened slightly.
"You inherited a God Body?"
Aaron nodded calmly.
"The God Body I used earlier was only a tiny fraction of the real thing."
"A grain of salt."
Jade remained silent.
He already understood what a God Body truly meant.
In human civilization—
A God Body represented the true form of power.
Humans might share the same race…
But their God Bodies determined what kind of beings they could become.
Without a God Body—
An Initiate was considered incomplete.
Weak.
It was the true body that allowed one to stand above ordinary evolution.
Jade looked at Aaron differently now.
No wonder he had been absurdly powerful even under suppression.
Aaron stretched lazily while speaking.
"If I become a true Initiate…"
"I might finally be able to use more of it."
Jade frowned slightly.
"If your family is that powerful…"
"Why haven't they conquered the final trial already?"
Aaron's smile faded slightly.
Then he spoke quietly.
"My mother is currently challenging a final trial."
Jade stopped walking.
"What?"
Aaron's voice became calmer.
"A group of transcendents discovered an ancient ruin in the human world."
"It contained records."
"Methods for surpassing ranks."
"Methods for becoming gods."
Jade listened silently.
Aaron's eyes dimmed slightly as he continued.
"One of those methods was horrifying."
He looked at the carvings around the cave.
"To form a Divine God Body…"
"One needed to control countless planets."
Jade's expression changed immediately.
Aaron continued walking while speaking calmly.
"The cultivator would gather planetary aura continuously."
"They would refine themselves endlessly."
"And when the Divine God Body was about to form…"
Aaron's voice became colder.
"All the planets connected to that cultivator would collapse."
"Their aura would be absorbed into a single being."
Jade felt chills run down his spine.
He immediately understood the implication.
Entire planets…
Destroyed.
Countless lives…
Sacrificed.
Just to create one divine being.
Aaron's expression remained calm.
"The body would undergo transformation."
"The soul would evolve."
"And the person would become divine."
Jade remained silent for a long time.
Then finally—
He spoke quietly.
"So the people living on those planets…"
Aaron nodded once.
"They become sacrifices."
Silence filled the corridor again.
Jade suddenly realized something terrifying.
The ancient gods…
Might not have been protectors.
They might have simply been monsters powerful enough to call themselves gods.
The scream echoed again.
This time—
Much closer.
Aaron immediately raised his head.
"We're here."
The two boys stepped into a massive chamber.
Then both of them froze.
At the center of the chamber—
A girl hung in the air.
Four thick vines pierced into her limbs.
Two through her arms.
Two through her legs.
The vines suspended her like a puppet.
Her long hair covered part of her face.
Her body looked pale and weak.
Ancient symbols glowed across the ground beneath her.
The entire chamber radiated a horrifying aura.
Aaron's pupils shrank instantly.
"Sarah!"
Without hesitation—
He dashed forward at unbelievable speed.
Even Jade was shocked.
Their suppression had weakened…
But Aaron's speed was still monstrous.
Aaron crossed half the chamber in seconds.
Then—
BOOM!!
An invisible force exploded outward violently.
Aaron's body was blasted backward instantly.
He crashed into a stone wall hard enough to crack it.
Dust exploded everywhere.