Jet-black scales, like Abyssal monsters surfacing from a dream, silently crept over every inch of Li Dogegg’s skin. Hard and smooth as armor forged through endless trials, they gleamed under sunlight—dazzling, yet icy cold.

A surge of potent life force churned within him. His flesh, now thrumming with raw power, violently reshaped his frame. His beak receded. Muscles tightened, coiled with unpredictable might. Bones shifted—harder, more flexible—ready to bear greater strength.

“Whoa… Rathalos!” Night Frost muttered. Li Dogegg resembled a blackened Rathalos from *Monster Hunter*, though his arms were longer, built for effortless flight. A trace of Calamity Dragon essence clung to him—fusion had succeeded. She ran a claw over his scales. Hmm. Not as smooth as hers… but still slick, glossy.

“Time really is miraculous,” she murmured, withdrawing her hand. Just a month ago, he’d been a tiny newborn.

Li Dogegg slowly opened eyes veiled by translucent gel. Seeing Night Frost’s matching black scales, he blurted:

“Mom.” (in Dragon Tongue)

Both froze. Night Frost pressed a claw to his head. No fever… Had his brain short-circuited?

Li Dogegg flushed with shame—he’d called this damn slave master *Mom*! Flustered, he vanished into her familiar space.

“Hmm? *Mommy* Night Frost~?” Illusory Glass leaned in, eyes twinkling. Night Frost wasn’t used to this playful side. That smile, that tone… her resolve hardened. *Her fists* hardened.

“Um… time’s up,” Illusory Glass said.

Shimmering lights faded. She shrank instantly—back to a ten-year-old child.

*No random size-shifting allowed!*

Illusory Glass eyed her small limbs. Her mature form was far better for close combat. How could she fight with these tiny arms and legs?

“Wait!” She stared at Azure’s ashes. “I saw it—a future where Azure resurrects from these ashes. Not guaranteed… but possible.”

Night Frost poked the pile. Nothing. Moon Owl sealed it in layered spatial barriers.

“Even if she returns? Our strength stands firm,” Moon Owl added another layer. Seeing Illusory Glass shake her head—*Azure won’t appear*—the group finally relaxed.

Weakened Crimson stepped forward, tears glistening. She bowed deeply.

“Thank you.”

Azure had strayed. She killed Zong Huang and Feicui. Countless innocents. Once good, power clouded her heart. Without Night Frost’s group today… she might have kept walking that path. These people deserved her gratitude.

“What next?” Moon Owl asked. Crimson’s past was severed by Azure—and her own hands. Little remained to bind her here.

She pressed her ribbon into Night Frost’s palm. “Keep it safe. In danger, use its power. I infused it with my future self’s mana—it grants brief access to the Ultimate Realm.”

Crimson believed in her. Night Frost was the most gifted Magic Maiden she’d seen in decades. Months old, yet trading blows with an Ultimate. If she ascended… the world would shift.

“Stay. Even without the Magic Spell, you’re [Chapter Three]—a rare, vital asset,” Night Frost urged.

Crimson’s strength was undeniable, negative buff and all.

“That must wait. I haven’t paid this cost yet. Call it a vacation? I won’t have debts called mid-battle.”

Seeing her resolve, Night Frost fell silent. It was her choice.

As farewells began, an uninvited guest arrived—jet-black hair, crimson eyes.

Crimson and Moon Owl reacted first. Then Night Frost.

*Those eyes…* Pupils shrank. Too familiar. The Magic Maiden she’d impaled with her spear upon returning to the Twelfth District… [Blood]?

“Long time no see, Night Frost, Moon Owl, Illusory Glass, Crimson.”

Blood casually greeted them, tapped the ashes. Brow furrowed—then smoothed.

“Just two bones. Phew. Won’t cost much energy.”

A silver-haired girl descended before Blood. Barefoot, she stepped on void, opened lifeless eyes, and pointed.

“Repair. Resurrect.”

Silver threads coiled the ashes upward. This mana… this presence… Night Frost knew it. *Order.* The very one who struck her down during her rampage.

Moon Owl lunged. Order merely parted her lips.

“Violence is prohibited here.”

An invisible force locked Moon Owl mid-motion. No escape.

Illusory Glass flipped her book—time froze locally. She couldn’t attack, so she accelerated herself fivefold, vanished ten miles away, and released the freeze. Order blinked, disoriented. *Time skip.*

Night Frost’s group realized: Illusory Glass took Order. Blood did too.

“The resurrection effect remains!” Blood declared.

Bones assembled into a humanoid shape. Night Frost gritted her teeth, unleashed full power:

“Resurrection is forbidden here!”

Mana drained instantly. She collapsed, head lifting weakly. Silver threads clashed with her decree—dust scattered again.

“Whoa… How can she speak *two* commands? I’m wrecked after one…”

Her last whisper before unconsciousness.

Blood frowned. Resurrecting Azure? Not worth the cost. Bad luck—abandoned.

Ashes coalesced into two thick bones. Blood lifted them. A rift tore open—a brain, still attached to a hand, descended onto the bones.

Moments ago, Blood’s clones secured the final three Keys, freed the organs beneath District Twenty-Four. Only the Twelfth District held firm. No matter. Sun Xiao led the Iron Legion and two clones to crush it. Blood just needed to delay the District’s elites… then the god would descend.

“O God!”

Bloody runes flooded the land. Centered on the [Order Keeper] Spire, anchored by three [Seeker] Spires, twenty-four cities formed a colossal Formation. Blood knelt—reverent, devout.

The brain glowed faintly, star-map grooves humming with ancient wisdom. It trembled. Spirit Threads shot out, wove into a light pillar piercing the heavens. A resonant voice echoed—celestial, overwhelming.

Moon Owl felt her layered space shudder. The sealed stomach and Mud King battered the barriers. *Bad omen.*

*Thump!*

Her vision blurred. A massive heart hung in the sky. Hand on her chest—pressure crushed her soul.

Then the skeleton assembled, bones glowing cold as grave-raised spirits. Flesh bloomed. Blood tore her own chest open. A crimson tide surged—the god’s blood. Organs swirled: intestines, stomach, gallbladder—forming a pulsing visceral core, radiating raw life force.

The colossal form stirred. A finger touched void. Moon Owl hurtled through time. Reality snapped back—cracks spiderwebbed her spatial realm. The sealed skin flew out, wrapped the entity.

No eyes—only three dark hollows. No spleen (still buried under Twelfth District). No liver.

“This resurrection is incomplete. I am weak. I require more power… my servant.”

It slowly raised a hand. Blood knelt, devoted.

The hand fell.

Veins bulged on Moon Owl’s temples. Voices screamed in her skull: *You will die.*

She gathered everyone close and vanished into spatial folds.

*CRASH!*

The hand struck like apocalypse. Space shuddered. Earth cracked—fissures radiating thousands of miles from the palm’s epicenter.

Moon Owl gritted her teeth. Her layered realm trembled on collapse.

“This… is a monster. *This* is her ‘god’?”

“I don’t know,” Crimson breathed. She turned—

The Zone Fifteen Guardian clutched her head. Eyes swirled black and white, liquid leaking. Whispers raged—stronger than ever.

“GET… OUT OF MY HEAD!!!”

...

“They escaped. As I recover my strength, I must reclaim the authorities of space, time, and half the miracle’s domain.”

Though He had no eyes, He gazed into the void—His focus inscrutable. Then He spoke to Blood at His feet:

“I shall now fall into slumber. This awakening was incomplete. Upon my next awakening, I hope to see with my own eyes and feel the breath of nature.”

“Yes.”

Blood’s reply was concise, perfectly befitting a servant. The colossal entity before her radiated quiet satisfaction.

Formless energy descended from the starry sky, weaving a massive cocoon around the being hovering above Blood. Then, pairs of giant hands erupted from the earth, seized the cocoon, and dragged it deep into a fissure.

Witnessing the deity’s departure, Blood lifted her head and cradled the glowing orb before her—a divine gift. With a gentle wave of her hand, twelve abyssal rifts shimmered into existence. From them emerged monsters of diverse forms.

Like her, they were all creations and servants of the deity. For His full resurrection, their strength was indispensable.

“Surely you felt it—the deity’s magnificent power,” Blood declared, voice steady. “So let us dedicate everything—to the deity, to our Father!”