The illusory murmurs and howls gradually blurred as everything turned into a dark golden chaos. Ren Yu felt a faint pulling sensation, his spiritual intuition stirring. Following this pull, he seemed to break through some kind of restraint. Accompanied by a loud cry, he opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a circular hall adorned with murals and lavish decorations. A gentle-looking blonde woman with a pale complexion gazed at him, while a middle-aged man with an imposing aura pushed past servants dressed in uniform, urgently approaching. At his side, an ancient iron-black token cracked down the center unnoticed.
After midnight, the daytime bustle of Ilursil faded into silence. Even with the current good public security, few pedestrians remained.
Aaron believed this was partly because this world contained supernatural powers, harboring too many unstable elements. For rogue Beyonders, nights in Ilursil might mean facing stricter surveillance and arrests. Even ordinary people untouched by supernatural forces avoided going out due to various folk tales about mysterious disappearances in the darkness.
On the other hand, despite Emperor Roselle's many inventions under the Church of Steam and Machinery, large-scale electricity production and transmission remained costly. Even prosperous Ilursil couldn't maintain all-night lighting citywide—only main streets had electricity throughout the night, while other areas relied on gas lamps for emergency lighting.
Standing on a building beside the towering, weapon-studded copper spire, Aaron withdrew his gaze from Ilursil below and looked at the nearby spire before raising his eyes to the crimson moon in the sky, his thoughts churning.
"Fifteen years have passed since my descent. Being underage, I couldn't participate in the family's advancement ceremonies during this time. Secretly collecting materials to prepare potions would easily arouse suspicion and be hard to explain. All I could do was study the languages of the northern and southern continents to prepare for the future."
"Now I've basically mastered Loenese, Feysac, Intisian, and Feynapotter, with Hermes, Giant, and Dutan at elementary levels. All that's left is to ingest a potion and become a Beyonder. Today is April 30, 1346—just over three years until the 'Fool' awakens in Sefirah Castle. I must hurry."
Indeed, Ren Yu—now more accurately called Aaron Will—had followed his spiritual intuition at the end of his recovery from backlash, descending as the eldest son of the current Duke of East Tucker and future head of the Will family, named Aaron Will.
Speaking of the Will family, one had to mention its founder, the first Duke of East Tucker, Valna Will. He rose during the late Fourth Epoch at the end of the War of the Four Emperors, using Ilursil as his base to join the four great noble families of the Tudor-Trensob United Empire—Einhorn, Augustus, Sauron, and Castiya—in dividing the northern continent, hunting down the remnants of the Solomon and Tudor supporters.
After a century of conflict on the northern continent, the ancestor Valna Will advanced to Sequence 2 "Weather Warlock" on the Red Priest pathway, achieving angelic status and establishing the Will family as an angelic lineage.
After the war, the four great families founded the Feysac Empire, Kingdom of Loen, Republic of Intis, and Kingdom of Feynapotter respectively. Due to the ancestor Valna Will's presence, Loen's founder and protector, the first king William Augustus I, made a pact with Valna Will: East Tucker and its southern waters would join the Kingdom of Loen while retaining autonomy and partial military rights, with Valna being granted the title of Duke of East Tucker.
Leaning against the wall, Aaron recalled the family records and couldn't help marveling inwardly—this East Tucker region, which had almost no presence in the original work, actually housed an angelic family.
"I must always remember this is a real world. I can't rely on preconceived notions when acting later. I must remain cautious and maintain reverence for the unknown," Aaron thought to himself.
"Tomorrow is May. The family designated the month our ancestor advanced to angel as the month for junior members' supernatural enlightenment. All eligible family members wishing to walk the Beyonder path can come to this ancestral spire to ingest potions under the supervision of family Beyonders and become superhumans."
"As the eldest son of the Duke of East Tucker and future head of the Will family, I must become a Beyonder to smoothly inherit the title. The family mainly controls Sequences 2 to 9 of the Red Priest pathway, Sequences 4 to 9 of the Black Emperor pathway, Sequences 4 to 9 of the Justiciar pathway, and several other incomplete pathways."
"Interestingly, according to family records, the potion formulas and advancement rituals for Sequences 4 to 9 of the Black Emperor and Justiciar pathways were obtained by the ancestor Valna Will at the end of the Fourth Epoch's War of the Four Emperors when he killed several Sequence 4 'Corrupt Counts' and 'Judges.'"
"Unfortunately, having fused with the Sephirot Nation of Disorder,' attempting the Red Priest pathway would likely cause immediate loss of control and madness, leaving me only the Black Emperor or Justiciar pathways to choose from."
"For the Black Emperor pathway's higher sequences, I could find that Black Emperor card in Backlund. But the Black Emperor's godhood advancement ritual is too demanding and would completely cut off our fellow transmigrator Huang Tao—Roselle Gustav's hope of resurrection."
Aaron closed his eyes in recollection. "Moreover, the Black Emperor's godhood ritual requires possessing three Sequence 1 'King of Angels' characteristics and the Black Emperor Uniqueness, establishing one's own nation where one's name becomes synonymous with 'Emperor' in the public consciousness, and creating a set of strict yet abnormal rules covering architecture, laws, etc."
"Then, one must secretly build nine pyramid-like mausoleums before entering one and ingesting the Sequence 0 potion during massive sacrificial ceremonies held simultaneously across different cities with most citizens participating."
Aaron frowned. "Given the current state of the northern and southern continents, this ritual is nearly impossible. Just establishing a nation where one's name becomes equated with 'Emperor' in public consciousness is unfeasible after millennia of division among nations."
"The ruling classes may be corrupt, but their control is unshakable. Trying to secede and establish a new nation under the gaze of gods would be like facing an Outer God—utterly suicidal."
At this thought, Aaron looked up at the crimson moon as if seeing countless indescribable eyes circling in the vast starry sky, peering down at the earth.
"Hmph, Outer Gods... what tremendous pressure. Fortunately, my soul has already fused with the Sephirot 'Nation of Disorder.' Even though I can't fully utilize its power while outside it, the Sephirot's intrinsic rank and its instinctive distortion of rules are enough to shield me from their detection."
"The Black Emperor pathway's godhood conditions are too stringent and time-consuming, and the Sequence 1 characteristics and Uniqueness's whereabouts are unknown. With the apocalypse approaching, there's no time to waste. In that case, I can only choose the Justiciar pathway—the higher-sequence potion formulas and rituals can be sought out later." Having made his decision, Aaron stopped dwelling on it and returned to his bedroom to rest.