Bas sat down and guided his perception into the Evil Dragon Sovereign Record in his soul pool that was already on the verge of overflowing. The second imprint was releasing sky-breaking and light element soul power. Bas immersed himself into the runes that had developed autonomously and started spinning the Evil Dragon Sovereign Record again. A savage but beautiful melody filled his senses.
The tune made him hallucinate that he was an Evil Dragon Sovereign. As he lost himself in the feeling of being an Evil Dragon Sovereign, Bas saw visions in his spiritual ryms. He directed all of his faith power into those visions as they slowly became more apparent. An enormous draconic creature with eight wings and a menacing crown of horns was gliding through a distant cosmos.
The creature was easily the size of several suns.
"The Eternal Realm?!" Bas was shocked when he recognized the pressure surrounding the Evil Dragon Sovereign. However, he suddenly realized something that shook him to the core. "No way...there's no way the pressure of the Eternal Realm would feel so real in a mere vision...unless...could this be the legendary Celestial Realm?!"
This was not a baseless conclusion.
Bas had named the record the Evil Dragon Sovereign Record based on its morphed appearance after he modified it. It looked exactly like an old projection of the ancient Evil Dragon Sovereign. Bas had seen many ancient deity projections in a mysterious abode he explored in his past life. He believed finding an Evil Dragon constellation wouldn't be hard since it had a deity projection.
Weren't they the same thing?
The Evil Dragon Sovereign was once the most powerful and destructive force in the universe, so it had indeed left powerful constellations along the way to its celestial ascension.
The visions continued vividly, becoming clearer and clearer as faith power poured in.
The Evil Dragon Sovereign tried to devour several star systems to break through the limits of godhood and become celestial. It waged war against the hunters of the world, who eventually injured the mighty beast and drove it into hiding.
Even back then, the Evil Dragon Sovereign had never been seen since ancient times. It was thought to have died in silence somewhere long ago with its descendants. However, what if it never failed? What if the most powerful dragon in history had accomplished its goal? What if devouring all those billions of stars and the following battle of life and death finally pushed the Evil Dragon Sovereign over the threshold?
After all, the Evil Dragon Sovereign reflected in his soul pool looked precisely like that projected image, only twice the size! The power of faith was guiding Bas to the inspiration of his new hunt skill.
At this moment, the Evil Dragon Sovereign's eyes glowed golden as it looked directly at Bas through time and space. The gaze was so piercing and chaotically powerful that Bas' body was assailed by a foreign will and his consciousness forcibly drawn out. Before he could blink, he arrived as a projection of will in front of this colossus.
[Seeker of my truth, possessor of great faith, state your name.]
'Possessor of great faith?' Bas started rethinking the basis of the faith he had been receiving, and something clicked in his mind.
A mighty and overwhelming voice interrupted his sudden epiphany, nearly dispersing Bas' will altogether. However, Bas held tight, refusing to let go of this golden opportunity.
How could such a feat be possible for anyone other than a celestial? Not even the deities could drag someone's consciousness through time and space to such an extent. This must be an ability of the celestial gods.
"This little one's name is Bas King, formerly the Pharaoh God Everflame," Bas didn't conceal anything, as he wouldn't dare to disrespect a celestial being.
He was nothing in front of such an existence, whether in this life or the last. Therefore, he directly admitted his true identity.
[Everflame? The Lost Betrayer? Keeper of the lost Eternity. Perpetrator of the Fall of the Gods. Has it been 1,000,000 years already? Time is so abstract...]
"WHAT?! 1,000,000 years?" Bas didn't even have time to be shocked that the Evil Dragon Sovereign knew who he was, nor the sudden nicknames he was granted. He was dumbstruck by the following insinuations. "Excuse me, your eminence, Evil Dragon Sovereign. What is this Fall of the Gods you were referring to?"
[Please refer to me as the Celestial Dragon Pharaoh.]
[It is within expectation that the perpetrator himself may be unaware of the consequence of his actions. We refer to your assault on Osiris' Gate as the Fall of the Gods.]
Boomed the mighty voice of the Celestial Dragon Pharaoh.
[As punishment for that event, your soul signature was banished from returning for 1,000,000 years. Of course, as this only happened 100 years later, I supposed it should be 1,000,100 years.]
"Understood, honored Celestial Pharaoh. Merely, I never attacked Osiris' Gate," Bas couldn't help being confused.
So he waited 1,000,000 years to be reincarnated? Didn't that mean that nothing he knew of existed in the world of today? Maybe even some of the deities he knew had long perished. When did he ever plot on Osiris? Why had no one told him that he did this?
"Hmm..." The Celestial Dragon Pharaoh's deep voice echoed across the stars, the previous dreadful factor contained within slowly abating. The behemoth paused momentarily before saying, "Open your mind."
"Sure," Bas lowered his defenses, as he was completely defenseless before this mighty being anyway.
A bright white light overcame his vision instantly before fading away. Thundering laughter suddenly ricocheted off planets like a ping ball. That strange and damning presence suddenly returned to its speech.
[So, it turns out the Council of True Pharaoh made a big mistake.]
Celestial Dragon Pharaoh suffered from another spontaneous bout of laughter before continuing.
[You have been mislabeled as an accomplice to a traitorous villain when, in fact, you were the one who thwarted the villain.]
[The soul of that woman was somehow made into a timed explosive. Diabolical. Had you not intervened, the consequences would have been far more severe.]
[By intervening, you not only saved yourself and countless souls, but you also saved that poor woman's soul.]
[Unfortunately, your Flame of Eternity suffered from the explosive power of the Infinity Flame. Perhaps you are the only one who could have resisted that explosion.]
[It is likely the owner of the Infinity Flame that framed you as the villain. Perhaps this was petty vengeance for ruining his plan to eradicate the legion of gods.]
"So wait, you mean that explosion was no accident caused by our bickering?" Bas suddenly felt he hadn't paid enough attention during his stint in the afterlife.
"The two souls near you were incapable of communication. What you perceived as responses were the ticking of a time bomb and the instinctive fear it brought to the surrounding souls. All but your own, which was protected by the flame of eternity. Had you made it to Osiris as per usual, you would have immediately been resurrected as you please. Such is the privilege of eternity," Replied Celestial Dragon Pharaoh, sans voice of doom.
Bas fell into deep thought, and Celestial Dragon Pharoah interrupted those thoughts promptly.
[You were betrayed by the society of hunters and forcibly presented as a monstrous villain. They discipline children with tales of you in the Eternal Realm. You and I...are not so different in this respect.]
[I have decided to allow aligning your faith with my celestial ring of truth. Unlike the astral ring you gain from aligning with my constellations, this ring contains all of my truth beyond the boundaries you can imagine.]
The dragon's final words were akin to the gentle breeze compared to what Bas had just endured.
"These are secrets of extremity. Venture forth, young pharaoh, and climb your way to revenge. Climb to my height. With success, you will see me again. At that time, perhaps you will already possess my avatar."