"??!!!..."
Jowalin was in complete shock, so much so that he couldn't find the words to speak.
He looked at his mother and saw her gazing at the man with curiosity, though without any signs of shock.
"If my mother doesn't know him, but her reaction suggests he comes from a noble family... damn it, what if she finds out what happened there?!"
"Who are you, old man?!... How dare you sneak into my land?!... Are you courting death?!"
Jowalin's eyes locked onto the old man, who was kneeling on the ground, crying. Despite this, his anger never disappeared.
When the old man heard Jowalin's words, he slowly raised his head, fury evident on his face, his body trembling with rage. He said in a harsh voice:
"How dare you not kneel before the princess? Kneel!"
The old man's voice came out in a furious roar, and with it came a powerful pressure that surged toward Jowalin.
However, the pressure was merely on the level of his bloodline—it had no effect on Jowalin at all.
"Damn... how can an insignificant ant like you dare to show such audacity before me?!"
With that, Jowalin slapped the old man in anger. The old man was sent flying from the force of the hit and couldn't even attempt to dodge it.
"!!!... What kind of technique is that? I couldn't even see it... how would it fare if he wielded a weapon?!"
Sirin was equally shocked, and even after regaining her composure, she couldn't gauge Jowalin's power at all. This left her bewildered and unsure.
"Damn it... I will kill you, little bastard... you are toying with death."
"!!!"
The old man managed to stand, but Sirin gasped even harder when she saw his face. Half of it was completely destroyed from the slap.
"How can he be this strong?!"
Sirin's gaze shifted to Jowalin's hand, noting the thin, white glove with strange black markings on it.
Of course, it was this glove that had amplified the slap's devastating force.
"You! You..."
The old man attacked with speed and strength, but as soon as he saw Jowalin's glowing, enraged eyes, he retched back in fear as if he had seen the devil himself.
His soul was overwhelmed with terror at the might of his opponent and his own instinct to survive.
Every movement felt like it could lead to his own death. It seemed as though he had already discovered Jowalin's true identity.
"Silence, you bastard... If you utter another word, you will die now."
Jowalin sent this message to the old man with his spiritual energy—a whisper that only the old man could hear.
The man shivered violently as his spine seized, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Listen, uncle... I'm sorry, I really didn't intend to harm you. My hand moved on its own because your face is so thick... don't blame me, please."
"???!!!"
In an instant, Jowalin's expression shifted completely, his fierce demeanor replaced by a warm and friendly smile as he stepped toward the old man, apologizing.
Sirin was stunned by the sudden shift in personality in such a short amount of time.
However, the old man was gripped by overwhelming terror once more when Jowalin spoke again:
"Stand, you bastard... you who dared to tread on my land. If you utter another unnecessary word, I'll make your life worse than death..."
Of course, this message was carried through spiritual energy, which Sirin couldn't hear. The old man forced a shaky smile, which was worse than tears.
"Hehehe... don't worry, it was just a youthful mistake, a silly error! I must have misjudged you, but you aren't at fault—"
"the blame lies on this old man, whose face is as thick as the walls of a fortress!"
"Ha ha ha..."
Sirin struggled to stifle her laughter, but Isis and Sarah fell to the ground, clutching their stomachs as they laughed uncontrollably.
The old man's face turned red with rage as he bellowed:
"What is making you laugh, you damn brats?!"
The words had hardly left his lips when he suddenly shivered. He could feel the presence of a primal monster
perhaps something from ancient eras staring at him with predatory intent. It was undoubtedly Jowalin.
The old man's face twisted again as his grin grew uglier. Before anyone could react, he vanished from his position and appeared beside Isis and Sarah, bowing as he said:
"Hehehe... oh, beautiful princesses like no others in the universe, accept this humble gesture of respect from an old man."
"!!!"
"Alright, you damn old man... stop now and tell me who you are. How dare you trespass into my land? Also... how do you know my mother?"
Jowalin signaled to the two girls to leave before glaring furiously at the old man.
"Your mother?!!!"
The old man nearly dropped his jaw in shock when he heard Jowalin mention his mother in this context.
His face fell as he turned to look at Sirin and asked:
"Is the Immortal.....young man your son?"
Sirin stared at Jowalin in confusion. Why did this man seem so afraid of him? Had they met before? But she answered calmly:
"...Yes."
"!!!!"
Another slap followed as Jowalin grew angrier when the old man continued hesitating.
"I am Victor... the servant of His Majesty, the Emperor of Chaos."
"...You serve my father?!"
"You are Farion's servant?"
Jowalin and Sirin asked in shock at the same time, each of them stunned by the other, but Sirin's shock was greater. How does he know that about her son?!! But she didn't ask.
"Yes... but not that one, not Varion. I serve the true Emperor of Chaos... Asmodius."
"...Then what about Varion?!"
"This happened a very long time ago..."
The old man began his tale, speaking of chaos, realms, and ancient secrets as they unraveled before Jowalin and Sirin.
.....
"Chaos, or the outer void as it is called by the inhabitants of the Seven Lands, is a vast, boundless realm—a world that expands of its own accord with every passing moment."
"This realm is made up of countless stars visible in the sky from this Earth."
"In this vast world dwell innumerable creatures, each with its own unique lineage. Yet all share the same essence—destruction and violence."
"The situation here is one of utter chaos. Only the strong have the right to exist, and this situation worsened further due to the monopolization of resources by the great powers."
"Wars raged everywhere and at all times until the first Emperor of Chaos appeared one day."
"No one knows where he came from or how he was born, but he carried a strange and unique lineage "
"One that was born from the origin of Chaos itself. For this reason, it was called the Lineage of Chaos."
"The power of the first Emperor of Chaos was so terrifying that all races came to fear him."
"He established an empire that spanned the entire Chaos Lands, uniting all races under his rule through sheer strength and pure wisdom."
"The Chaos Lands became relatively calm afterward. Resource distribution became fairer, and then... time moved on."
"No matter how powerful a person becomes, no matter how high their position, no matter how majestic or noble they are, everything is fleeting. "
"Death will find you no matter where you are. There is no escape."
"...Eventually, the rule passed to his son and continued through generations until it reached the last Emperor of Chaos, Ismodius."
"He was the strongest of all the emperors, to the point that he nearly outshone even the first Emperor of Chaos, but despite his power..."
The old man began to cry, unable to finish his sentence. Sirin's eyes turned red, but Jowalin remained calm and asked:
"Death claimed him?"
"...Yes,"
the old man said weakly.
"Despite his strength, he died. But midway through his life, he had a vision..."
"You know, don't you, that for those at this level, visions are no mere dreams but prophecies guided by the Celestial Dao?"
Jowalin nodded quietly, awaiting the old man's continuation.
"A massive tree with a trunk reaching toward the heavens appeared in his vision—so large it seemed to carry the heavens themselves."
"This tree had a single branch colored like the moon, stretching out into the void toward an unknown destination."
"Eventually, this enormous tree withered, but beside it stood a massive black tree, and atop its peak was a colossal serpent."
"When the enormous tree withered in space, time itself froze for a few seconds. In that moment, the black tree began to move, its roots slowly swallowing the remnants of the great tree and rooting itself firmly, as if becoming part of the very essence of chaos itself."
"..."
"So Varion is the brother of Emperor Ismodius, the one who had been destined to witness his own downfall. As for the moon branch..."
Sirin struggled to understand the prophecy, but Jowalin analyzed it with sharp clarity. He turned to his mother and said:
"The 'tree branch' mentioned refers to the Emperor's lineage. It seems that there is only one child connected to it."
" The moon represents, in a more precise way, the descendants of the women."
"You are the moon branch that pierced through the void and fled into this world, aren't you, old man?"
Victor hesitated, slightly shocked, but his composure returned as he recognized the person in front of him. He smiled faintly and said:
"You are correct, young master."
"Hmmm?... Young master? Well then... were there any other words?"
"Yes... 'blood... strikes like a spear... the chaos of hell... the cursed moon's blood... the cursed Pharaoh... destroyer of chaos.'"
"Poofffff...."
"Clatter... clatter..."
Suddenly, the old man coughed violently, blood pouring from his mouth as he fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
Dark, ominous storm clouds gathered overhead—dense and swirling, resembling monstrous, winged beasts competing against each other.
The wind howled like the cries of time unraveling, accompanied by flashes of lightning so terrifying they seemed to tear through the heavens like ancient sins and forgotten mistakes.
The sound of these clouds felt like time itself collapsing, a deep, resonant roar that tore through the sky as though it were screaming against sin and punishment.
The lightning twisted and danced like whips of divine fury, and the thunder that followed reverberated through every corner of the world.
Jowalin's voice cut through the ominous soundscape:
"Calm down..."