Chapter 438: The King and the Monster

Priam’s consciousness was swallowed by a bottomless abyss. The transition was so violent that he didn’t even realize the exact moment he stopped being Priam.

Now, he was Amagat.

The first sensation to strike his soul was the merciless cold of a frozen world, accompanied by the suffocating smell of ash and blood.

He found himself in the body of a five-year-old child, growing up under his parents’ protective gaze among the Moongus tribe.

He was born into a cruel cultivation universe, where ordinary people could become gods and immortals, but... the lives of the weak were nothing more than dust beneath the feet of the strong.

At fifteen, when his meridians were ready to begin his cultivation journey, his destiny was finally revealed: he was a Blessed One, carrying the awakened bloodline of an ancient God in his veins. Something his entire lineage had already believed to be completely lost.

However, claiming this legacy came at an enormous price.

Amagat was thrust into the isolation of a blinding storm, where ice embraced his flesh until death.

There, he faced the Rites of Ego. The mental pain far surpassed the physical suffering. He had to shatter his own pride, vanity, and illusion of individuality, dying inside so that the *King of Red Fists* could be born.

He endured.

He persevered.

And then he discovered the value of being strong and never bowing down, no matter the situation.

After overcoming the trial and inheriting the Divine Dao...

An emerald-green interface appeared before his eyes:

[Welcome. You are the Missionary of the Will of the Heavens!]

The world itself had chosen him.

Guided by the System, Amagat received forbidden techniques and knowledge that defied the logic of reality. What followed was a bloody march across the cosmos.

He beheaded millennia-old patriarchs, crushed stellar empires, and wiped out entire sects in the name of cultivation.

It was during the final stretch of his ascension that he encountered his greatest obstacle: a young man of an exotic bloodline who called himself a "Hero in Training."

Despite having a lower cultivation level, the boy wielded such absolute authority that space itself was forced to kneel. It was the most desperate battle of Amagat’s life. On the brink of death, he gathered every last drop of his power to overcome the anomaly and execute him without hesitation.

With that victory, Amagat became the supreme hegemon. He unified the realms and finally ascended as the Supreme King of the Universe.

However, glory came with a persistent warning.

The System flashed every day.

[Danger is approaching. Leave this universe and ascend to the underworld.]

The message repeated itself, always the same. But arrogance had already taken hold of the King. Amagat refused to leave. He wanted to enjoy the peace he’d fought so hard to achieve and, deep down, was absolutely certain that his power was enough to crush any threat—or escape if things went wrong.

At the very least, he wanted to ensure his homeland would enjoy lasting peace before he left.

For ten thousand years, the universe prospered under his guardianship.

The clash of swords gave way to laughter and abundance. He became the pillar and heart of that place.

Until... the very fabric of reality was torn apart.

Only two figures crossed the dimensional rift.

They didn’t belong to that universe and radiated grotesque golden auras, identifying themselves only as "Heroes."

With contempt, they remarked that their young apprentice had been killed by a mere cultivator out of sheer immaturity. That wouldn’t have happened if he’d simply cultivated a little longer.

Amagat charged forward with all his fury to defend his domain.

But he quickly discovered just how pathetic and naive his arrogance had been.

The battle was a one-sided massacre. The Supreme King fell without even managing to put up a fight.

What followed was true hell. Chains of divine fire were driven directly into his soul, while his flesh was forcibly regenerated, only to be torn apart and burned the next day again.

The invaders wanted to break his spirit and extract something of immeasurable value from within him—something even Amagat himself didn’t know existed.

The torture dragged on for an eternity, until his memories dissolved in a reddish flash.

Amagat never learned what happened in the end. He only knew that something had intervened at the last second, putting an end to that nightmare.

***

Priam woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily.

His eyes were wide open, and his mind was in absolute chaos.

A King.

A Cultivator.

Another world.

A System that came directly from the will of heaven of a distant world.

This time, Priam remembered everything in painstaking detail. Every second, every bit of pain, every glimmer of joy... It was exactly like reliving that entire life all over again.

After several minutes of silence, Priam finally managed to calm the turmoil in his chest a little.

’ I died before even becoming an Immortal... So... that life came before my last memory?’

He took several deep breaths before finally sitting up on the simple bed in the flying ship’s quarters.

Only now did he notice the green window floating right before his eyes.

[World Mage Skill Upgraded!]

[Rumbling Heavens EX:]

[The explosive energy and output of this technique have been amplified to its absolute limit—far beyond what a mere mortal could ever use.]

[NOTE: Unleashing its full potential will severely disrupt the laws of the world.]

Priam swallowed hard, stunned. After absorbing the Goddess’s Mark, he hadn’t unlocked anything new; instead, his very first special ability had received a terrifying buff. But... it was now on par with the Manifestation of the Heaven’s Will. If he used it, the Sovereigns would sense him instantly.

It just went to show how terrifying this technique had become. But at the same time, it severely restricted how often he could actually use it.

At that very moment, Dandara hurried into the room, her face filled with concern.

He forced a smile to reassure her. "I’m fine. This has happened to me before. It’ll probably happen again during the other two times."

...

After fully recovering, Priam returned to the planet where that race lived. From there, it didn’t take much to convince them to abandon the place and return to the Ironweald Sect.

They, just like all the races connected to the Goddess, had preserved the knowledge of that ancestral home created in the distant past. Upon hearing that Priam was the Missionary and receiving confirmation that the Goddess had indeed returned, a feeling of collective euphoria swept through everyone.

Priam soon explained that he was on a journey to find the other two lost races. He therefore had to leave, but promised to return in a few years to rescue them permanently.

And so, Priam bid farewell to the planet.

However... the wound in his soul was still bleeding deeply.

In one life, he had been an Immortal and, at the same time, felt like a true monster.

In another, he had been a King blessed by the heavens, only to become far too arrogant and die in a stupid way.

Priam could feel his very essence changing. It was as if fragments of the personalities from his past lives were awakening and once again infecting his innermost self, albeit subtly.

However... it wasn’t long before a ’voice’ echoed through his consciousness, forcing him to anchor himself to reality.

’I was James, too.

Now, I’m Priam.

The past is the past, and everything I did serves only as a lesson for the person I am today. I can’t let it negatively affect me in the present.’

***

Another two years passed in the blink of an eye as Priam and Dandara sailed through the far reaches of the universe in search of the final race.

Until... at last, the red thread began to glow once again in the void.

Before them emerged an enormous planet, teeming with cities and inhabited by countless races.

However, in an extremely isolated region in the far north of that world, a small tribe lived as far away from civilization as possible.

Dandara recognized them instantly: they were the legendary Pyrekin race.

These humanoids were specialists in offensive power, capable of manipulating the fire element in its most devastating and primal forms. The most terrifying aspect of their biology, however, manifested upon death: whenever one of them fell in battle, their body spontaneously burst into flames, reducing them to ashes.

From there, they had a small chance of being reborn from those very ashes, just like the legendary phoenixes. And with each rebirth, the power of their bloodline multiplied exponentially, making them even more formidable.

This was no mere coincidence. According to legend, the race had emerged in primordial ages from the union of a Phoenix and a humanoid, inheriting that gift of resurrection as a sacred atavism.

Every man and woman of that bloodline possessed overwhelming beauty. They had crimson eyes and deep black hair. The men were tall, with imposing, athletic builds, while the women possessed incredibly striking and alluring curves, as if every feminine feature had been sculpted to the pinnacle of perfection.

As soon as Priam and Dandara landed, the same pattern repeated itself.

The warriors drew their blades and surrounded them. But they soon fell into a complete trance upon hearing that a Missionary of the Goddess stood before them.

Priam was duly escorted to the temple. He then calmly approached the statue and absorbed the Goddess’s Mark, just as he had done before.

Afterward, Dandara carried him off the planet before he lost consciousness.

***

BXXXX awoke from a deep stupor, as if a bolt of lightning had coursed through his entire body.

Standing before his eyes was a young man with handsome, noble features and multicolored eyes.

"You claim to hate Heaven’s Will... but the truth is, the only thing dwelling in your heart is envy." The young man’s words struck him with the force of a devastating blow.

The young man continued in a calm, measured tone. "After making monumental contributions, you chose to ask Heaven’s Will for something of immeasurable value: the resurrection of your deceased wife. However, you wanted to make sure she would never leave your side. And so, Heaven’s Will reincarnated her in the Celestial Universe, granting her every means necessary to become an Immortal.

After half a dozen reincarnations in that place, receiving blessings and retaining all the talent she had accumulated, she did indeed achieve immortality. But... by then, she no longer cared about you and chose to walk alongside someone else.

Consumed by jealousy, you attacked her partner—a Celestial Immortal. That’s when you realized the vast, unfathomable difference between him and you, a mere Natural Immortal. From that day onward, you turned against the world and decided to follow this foolish path. And all of this...

Because you refuse to accept that no one belongs to anyone else.

She chose her own destiny, learned, evolved, and moved on. Meanwhile, you’re still chained to the past. In short, all you feel is envy, and you desire to have control over everything, forgetting that you’re merely a fraction of the whole."

BXXXX trembled from head to toe, unable to utter a single response.

The young man let out a faint sigh. "You still haven’t learned enough. You must return to the beginning and start over, first paying for every single one of your actions. One day, when you reach the top again, you’ll remember this moment and understand every word I’ve said."

With a slight wave of the young man’s hand...

BXXXX’s eyes bulged as an infinite pressure crushed him.

Suddenly, the entire world around him came to a complete standstill.

’James...’

A calm, masculine voice, tinged with slight disappointment, echoed in his mind in that timeless moment.

’I hope that one day you’ll remember this moment and understand why I never came to meet you. You’re no longer the same person, and you’ve allowed yourself to become corrupted... Cousin, I sincerely hope that one day I’ll be able to talk with you and laugh together like we used to...’

Suddenly, the flow of time began moving again.

The very next second, BXXXX’s entire existence shattered, crumbling into dust in the void.