If gods are the beings that stand atop the clouds, gazing down upon the world with eyes full of compassion,
then in contrast, demons are the race that brings endless warfare and calamity to this continent.
Like humans, they too have various nations and settlements, but they are rife with chaos and evil, and even cannibalism and fratricide are not uncommon within the realms of demons.
This is a group of evil beings born to disrupt order and destroy everything.
Naturally, at the pinnacle of such an evil species exists the gods' mortal enemies,
High-dimensional demons.
Different from the transcendent path of humans, these are powerful creatures that draw their strength from various negative emotions and practices like plundering and devouring, including many who could rival the might of gods.
They emerged from the very first era of chaos, residing in the Demon Abyss, bringing contamination and curses to the world, eying all living beings with predatory intent.
And the battlefield within the southern territories of the Saint Laurent Empire, was established to fend off such terrifying beings' invasion.
Lynn took a deep breath as he looked at the words he had written on the scrap of paper.
It was the last trump card he could think of.
His own strength was too weak, with no time to grow.
To turn around this most desperate of situations, he would need to resort to some extraordinary measures.
The greed magic box before him, then, was a deeply hidden clue.
From the first time he laid eyes on this Sealed Object, Lynn had conducted very thorough research.
And after reading the report on the seal, he had even guessed at some of its origins.
According to Ivyst, it's highly likely that this wooden box has existed since tens of thousands of years ago from the era of chaos.
That was an age before even gods and demons had been born, when the entire continent was in a dark and ignorant era, with transcendental characteristics rampant and Laws running wild.
Any creature that lived at that time was a monstrously strong and twisted being.
So Lynn turned his attention to it.
If you truly come from the era of chaos and have been making deals with various entities since then, you must have accumulated the blood of many powerful creatures.
Lynn wasn't thinking about obtaining a drop of Divine Blood.
Given its evil and chaotic nature, it probably wouldn't want to attract the attention of the gods, and naturally, it wouldn't strike a deal with such beings.
Besides, he was now a God Forsaken.
Even if he managed to obtain a drop of Divine Blood, which god would bestow power upon him because of this?
And then there was Ivyst.
If it wasn't for the influence of the world's corrective forces, she was doomed to die at the hands of the original male protagonist; the gods couldn't wait to kill her now.
So the possibility of praying to the so-called compassionate gods was non-existent.
If they truly watched over the world, then why, when the Heavenly Principle Church in Orn City was sucking the blood and marrow from their people, did they not descend divine punishment and execute all of these traitors?
Therefore, he could only seek a deal with the greedy and cruel demons.
You could help me, couldn't you?
Lynn stared intently at the blood-written words on the piece of paper, wondering if anything would change.
However, as time ticked by, not a second seemed out of place.
Minutes passed, and the paper remained as before.
But this made Lynn breathe a sigh of relief.
If the greed magic box truly decided to reject him, it would refresh the deal and reset the blood-written words.
The fact that it seemed to have frozen, suggested it was deep in thought.
After a moment, the greed magic box finally responded.
And this time, the content that surfaced on the paper was utterly unexpected.
Lynn's heart raced slightly as he read the humanized phrasing on the note, as well as the format that was different from all previous transactions.
It seemed that the intelligence contained within the greed magic box was far higher than he had imagined!
When he had tested it before, the responses it gave were mostly feints.
It had pretended to be weaker because it saw no hope of regaining its freedom.
But this time, when Lynn genuinely desired to make the trade, it seized the opportunity in an instant.
Was it good or bad for the world to prevent the arrival of one demon by releasing another?
But Lynn had no interest in considering so much at the moment.
the next second, a transparent crystal the size of a fingernail suddenly appeared within the narrow wooden box.
In the light of the containment room, Lynn saw what appeared to be a pearl-like drop of purple blood sealed inside the crystal.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion,
but he faintly felt that the drop of blood trembled slightly as if with the heartbeat of some entity.
After staring at it for just a brief moment, Lynn felt dizzy and heard a roar mixed with anger and madness in his ears, which instantly stirred an uncontrollable irritability within him.
At the same time, the writing on the note changed again.
"This is the blood of Kushustan, the 'King of Cruelty.'"
"Lynn Bartleion, it is your turn to fulfill your promise."
With a thunderous noise, a pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth shattered the underground relics and the mountain range, shooting straight into the sky!
Ivyst, hovering in the sky, instinctively wanted to teleport backward.
But the visages of those subordinates waiting outside flashed through her mind, and, gritting her teeth, she remained as anchored in midair.
Meanwhile, the door behind her that flowed with the blood of the River of the Dead also expanded to its limit.
An overwhelming force of tearing and attraction tried to pull the Wish Jar through the door.
after the Great Priest Askin paid the price of his life to complete that evil prayer ritual, the course of events began to spiral out of control like a runaway horse, going beyond everyone's expectations.
At this moment, the Wish Jar hovered in mid-air, emitting a black radiance like a divine miracle.
Furthermore, the once smiling woman's face abruptly turned malicious.
The jar's tightly closed eyes also began to slowly open as its power climbed,
and two trails of black tears streamed slowly down from the corners of the eyes.
As if... mourning and hating the tragic end of its own devotees.
As she gazed at that hate-filled female face, Ivyst's expression became momentarily dazed.
The next second, the voice she absolutely did not want to hear echoed again in her mind.
"I have received your third wish."
"Now, I will destroy this kingdom for you."
The voice was as cold and resentful as ever.
But this time, it mixed with a trace of humanization that had not been there before.
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle..."
The dense and viscous sound of bubbling suddenly drowned out the delirious mutterings and wails that belonged to Ivyst.
The once compact Wish Jar now astonishingly overflowed with a massive quantity of black mire spilling wildly from its opening!
Upon contact with the air, the black mire expanded instantly, and in just a brief moment, it became a black sea capable of engulfing the entire underground relics, propelling itself in all directions with an overwhelming force.