The second memory ended with Cain's lonely departing figure.
Inside the enormous bronze palace, Adam sat alone upon the throne, like a petrified statue.
Sorrow, pain, despair, reluctance, cowardice, rage... countless complicated emotions tangled together like a ball of yarn. The man could clearly feel just how helpless the man seated upon that throne truly was.
Although the man still did not know what exactly had happened between the time Adam left Eden and the present moment.
From the fragments of conversation alone, he could vaguely sense the loneliness within Adam's heart. First he lost the love of his life, Eve. Then he lost both of his children, while simultaneously bearing the burden of civilization's continuation upon his shoulders.
He could not cast aside his responsibilities, and so he could only become increasingly silent.
As expected, the man was once again swallowed by darkness.
Only this time, the darkness lasted far longer than the previous two combined.
Within this nearly eternal darkness, time held no meaning. From initial calmness to later irritation, he even began suspecting that he had become trapped within Adam's memories.
Just as he attempted to forcibly struggle free from this eternal darkness—
Screeeech...
A sharp and piercing sound, like a blade scraping against glass, suddenly shattered the silent darkness.
Immediately afterward, this eternal darkness was pierced apart by a dazzling beam of light. In an instant, all darkness rapidly faded away, chaotic sounds gradually became clear, and a new memory unfolded before his eyes.
The boundless azure sky now looked as though it were burning.
Raging flames dyed half the heavens crimson. Abnormally scorching heat filled the atmosphere. What entered his vision was a ruined world reduced entirely to rubble, destruction visible everywhere the eye could see.
The air was permeated with a nauseating ominous aura.
By all logic, he should not possess a sense of smell now, yet the disgust arising from the depths of his soul made him feel like vomiting.
A gigantic sphere of light formed from billions of radiances had replaced the sun's position, hanging high in the sky and radiating strange, dazzling brilliance. Merely looking at it for a single moment caused the man's head to throb painfully.
A gigantic mass of clouds constantly writhing and rotting covered the burning heavens. Its bizarre form was impossible to describe. At times it gathered into clouds, while at other times it formed horrifying bodily organs.
Countless sticky black tentacles hung down from the sky like willow branches, with dripping maw-like mouths at their ends, trampling the already shattered earth like hoofed feet.
What... are all these monsters?!
The man sharply sucked in a cold breath, seemingly trying to express all the shock of his lifetime at this very moment.
If he still possessed a physical body right now, his facial expression would probably have been extremely精彩. Yet even so, through the trembling of his soul, he could sense the terrifying power of those monsters.
Just like the previous two memories, he remained merely a 'spectator.'
Adam appeared to be half-kneeling on the ground, violently gasping for breath, his head deeply lowered. Reflected through a pool of blood was his face.
At this moment, Adam's appearance had already become infinitely close to the form that fought him.
After an unknown number of years, that face had grown more mature and weathered. His jaw was covered with rough stubble. If there was one thing that had changed the most, perhaps it was those resolute eyes.
No trace of confusion remained, nor any despair.
Only unwavering determination remained, along with the resolve to face death, and the final lingering shred of hope.
"Haa... haa..."
Adam half-knelt upon the ground. One hand supported the golden greatsword while the other pressed against the shattered earth. He rapidly exchanged breaths. As his lungs expanded and contracted, the surrounding air actually surged like ocean tides, enough to show just how massive his breathing capacity had become.
Actually, by this point, it was not difficult to guess what the third memory was about to reveal.
God had once said that war was approaching. The war sandbox from the second memory seemed to indicate that the war had already been ongoing for a very long time. Judging from the current situation of the third memory, if nothing unexpected happened, this should undoubtedly be that very war.
Through Adam's perspective, the man carefully observed the surroundings.
But when he saw jewels, agates, and gold scattered across the fractured earth everywhere, along with the burning white giant tree in the distance, a terrifying guess surfaced within his mind:
Wait... this place is... 'Eden'?!
That white giant tree piercing into the clouds was undoubtedly the very core region of Eden from the first memory!
Boom—!
A heaven-shaking roar suddenly tore across the skies.
Two dazzling streams of radiant golden light, dragging blazing tails like meteors, fell from the heavens.
"Michael! Lucifer!"
Before the man could identify them, Adam had already shouted their names with a hoarse voice.
The two strongest Seraphim beneath God's command had actually been struck down from the sky. The man stared blankly at those two meteors, utterly unable to imagine what kind of terrifying enemy could ignite war throughout all of Eden!
The third memory... was them defending Eden!
Increasing numbers of brilliant white lights fell from the heavens like a meteor shower.
Like magnificent fireworks exploding during midsummer, countless lights dragged long flaming tails, creating a strangely tragic beauty.
Yet hidden beneath this beautiful 'fireworks display' was... despair.
Those brilliant white meteors were all angels of Eden. Although judging from the brightness of their radiance, not all of them were at the Seraphim level, they were ultimately humanoid weapons created by God.
The angels worshipped by humanity were now falling like rain.
The despair of being personally immersed within the scene resembled the feeling of drowning, enveloping the man so completely that he could barely breathe.
Where was God?
In such a horrifying war, where had God gone?
Unfortunately, no one could answer the questions within his heart.
The next moment, Adam's entire body suddenly tensed as though facing a great enemy, drawing his sword toward a certain direction.
Following his gaze, the man saw a slender figure wearing a multicolored magnificent robe and a luxurious golden double crown upon his head, leisurely walking toward them like a noble Pharaoh.
Though he had never seen him before, boundless rage erupted within the man at this moment.
It was as though they were born enemies. Even though this was their first meeting, it still caused the man's entire body to tense up just like Adam's, facing a great enemy. In fact, his reaction was even stronger as killing intent mixed with rage exploded outward.
Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!
From somewhere unseen, a voice continuously urged him to kill the man before him.
His instincts told him that the Pharaoh-like man was an existence that absolutely must be killed. Otherwise, he himself would be endangered.
The feeling originating from the depths of his soul resembled the struggle between lions and tigers.
Only the victorious side possessed the right to survive.
"Could you let me pass?"
The Pharaoh-like man smiled faintly and calmly said:
"You've hidden the 'Flower'... here, haven't you?"
"Give up your delusions. You will never obtain the 'Flower.'"
Adam sneered disdainfully as he raised his golden greatsword. Psychic energy far surpassing what the man had witnessed previously transformed into roaring flames upon the blade. Merely the ripples released from it caused surrounding space to collapse and shatter.
"Because... the 'Flower' has already been completely destroyed by us."
"Not bad. For a human, you actually succeeded in amusing me."
The Pharaoh-like man clapped lightly and smiled.
"But unfortunately, I don't have time to joke around with you now. The only key capable of activating the 'Twin Sacred Trees'—if it could be destroyed so easily, why would we go through so much trouble searching for it?"
"You will never find the 'Flower.'"
Adam heavily exhaled, producing a thunderous boom. Massive psychic energy surged around him. Merely the ripples released from it caused surrounding space to shatter and collapse. His overwhelmingly powerful aura swept across heaven and earth.
The next instant, the golden greatsword rose high overhead, blooming with brilliance surpassing the blazing sun.
"If you want the 'Flower,' then first step over my corpse!"
Adam burned all of his psychic energy and even his own life itself into power, gathering everything upon the massive blade as he unleashed the strongest strike of his entire existence—a strike containing absolutely everything.
"Nyarlathotep!!!"
The golden blade, wrapped in endless flames, slashed downward like the opening of heaven and earth itself.
At the moment Adam poured his entire life into that strike, the Pharaoh-like man's eyes shifted slightly, his lips curling into a strange arc.
Though he was clearly looking at Adam, that gaze seemed to pierce through time itself, falling directly upon the man.
Greed without the slightest concealment.
"So I've finally... found you!"