Chapter 503 - 358: Global Phenomenon, Level Four Morning Star (2)

It was not a sound, not Energy, not any describable form of existence.

A single thought enveloped the entire Profound Yellow Star, reaching every corner without exception.

「Kyoto, Japan. A secret altar, three hundred meters underground.」

A Priest of a Cult, clad in a black robe, knelt in the center of a blood-red Array, chanting a blasphemous prayer. Before him lay seven human hearts, still faintly beating.

Suddenly, the Priest’s body went rigid.

He raised his head, revealing a twisted face from beneath his black hood, a face covered in dark purple pustules.

"No... This is..."

Before he could finish, his body began to dissolve into fine motes of light, starting from his fingertips.

Every inch of his flesh and every wisp of his Soul evaporated and dissipated within the gentle light.

A few moments later, only a pile of Ashes remained on the altar. The light of the Array was completely extinguished.

「Deep in the South American Rainforest.」

A Level Four Mutant Beast lay hidden in a cave a hundred meters deep, its body fused with the surrounding Rock.

The light passed through the layers of rock, shining upon it without obstruction.

The Mutant Beast let out a short, sharp roar as its enormous body began to disintegrate from the outside in, breaking down into fundamental Energy particles.

「A basement in a European Castle.」

It was filled with mountains of corrupted artifacts: swords stained with foul blood, Bone Fragments carved with Evil Talismans, and Crystals that sealed Resentful Spirits.

As the light shone, the dark purple stains rapidly dissolved, and the artifacts themselves turned to ash.

Similar scenes unfolded all across the globe.

The Will swept over every inch of land and every dark corner. All Cultists hiding in the shadows were reduced to ash.

All remaining Mutant Beasts—no matter where they hid or what their Level—evaporated in an instant.

Even buildings and artifacts corrupted by the Abyss were instantly purified.

The entire process lasted for ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, the light slowly receded, and the Will withdrew like a tide.

But the world... had been changed forever.

「East Japan. The square before the Imperial Palace.」

The old Celestial Emperor, dressed in traditional ceremonial robes, knelt on the cold Stone Slabs, tears streaming down his aged face.

Behind him knelt a vast, dark sea of people: all the members of the imperial family, the cabinet ministers, and the priests of the Shrines.

"This is... a true god from the heavens..."

The Celestial Emperor’s voice trembled as he pressed his forehead to the ground.

During those ten minutes, he had personally witnessed what happened in a hidden side hall deep within the Imperial Palace. It was where the "Holy Artifacts" that generations of Celestial Emperors had acquired from the Rifts were enshrined.

In the past, coming into contact with those Holy Artifacts had always left one feeling unsettled.

Now, all the corruption within the Holy Artifacts had vanished, leaving only warmth behind.

"Issue my decree." The Celestial Emperor lifted his head, tear stains still fresh on his face.

"From this day forward, all Shrines in East Japan shall establish an altar to the ’Supreme Sun God.’ Every year on this day, the entire nation shall offer sacrifices."

「Goryeo. Blue Tile Square.」

The president knelt in the center of the square with his entire cabinet. Behind them were tens of thousands of citizens who had gathered of their own accord.

No one spoke.

Everyone stared up at the sky, which had now returned to normal. Their eyes held a mixture of reverence, fear, and a certain ineffable... hope.

The president’s lips trembled, and he finally managed to utter a single sentence.

"Great Yan... has always been our suzerain nation."

This was not a political judgment, but a recognition that stemmed from the depths of his very Soul.

「White-headed Eagle Federation. A conference room in the deepest recesses of the Pentagon.」

Two Legends, having arrived in secret, were seated at a round table.

On the table were no documents and no screens—only three cups of coffee that had long since gone cold.

The old man in the head seat wore a military uniform. His epaulets bore no rank insignia, only a simple golden sun Badge.

He was the White-headed Eagle’s only surviving Late Stage of Legend, the "Shield of Radiance," Alex.

"The data is in. Globally, the number of confirmed purified Cultist strongholds... is 3,742.

Mutant Beast nests... 98,651. The number of corrupted artifacts is impossible to count."

The old woman to his left closed her eyes, her fingers trembling slightly. "To command the entire globe with a single thought."

"It wasn’t a deliberate display of Power," the middle-aged man to his right corrected. "That was merely... a ripple from the descent of that Will."

The three of them fell into a long silence. Finally, Alex spoke slowly.

"From now on, add a permanent clause to the White-headed Eagle Alliance’s foreign policy... Maintain friendly relations with Great Yan. Permanently."

「Great Yan Capital City. A secret Cultivation Room, three hundred meters underground.」

The white-browed elder, Li Hao, opened his eyes. Reflected in the depths of his pupils were the flowing Energy Runes on the ceiling.

He had been holding this posture for fifteen days.

From the very first day the phenomenon appeared, he had been sitting here, perceiving the ever-growing Power in the sky.

"This isn’t the World Will," said the black-haired elder opposite him, Wang Chongyang.

Li Hao nodded. "The World Will is not this... gentle."

They had perceived the global Purification of the past ten minutes more clearly than anyone.

The Will was suffocatingly powerful, yet its methods were as delicate as embroidery.

It eradicated only evil, harming not a single innocent soul. It even stripped the corruption from tainted buildings without damaging their structure.

"Someone is breaking through," Wang Chongyang said, a look of infinite longing in his eyes. "It couldn’t be anyone else but him."

Li Hao remained silent.

He recalled the intelligence report he’d read before: three Indian Legends killed in a single blow, half of Delia destroyed, and its national treasury plundered.

At the time, he had thought that "Mr. Yin" was absurdly powerful. Looking back now... that was just the tip of the iceberg.

’Is this what lies beyond the Legend realm?’ Wang Chongyang muttered to himself.

’How is it even possible...?’

The two men fell silent, staring blankly at the ceiling as if they could see the celestial phenomenon unfolding in the sky above.

They tried to glean a trace of the Rules from the flowing light, a spark of revelation that might lead to their own breakthrough.

But it was no use. They couldn’t understand any of it. It was not something that beings of their Level could possibly comprehend.