Volume One: The Nature of the Devil Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
[The morning after the speech]
Scarlet King sat atop the towering headquarters of the faction.
The strong yellow light of the rising sun struck his face,
while the cool morning air drifted gently like a quiet breeze.
Behind him, the System Engineer appeared and sat beside him.
Its screen shifted, displaying the expression:
(￣ー￣)
Then it finally spoke.
"Great Master… can you tell me how everything began?"
Scarlet King looked calmly at the System Engineer.
"The beginning… of everything?"
"Although I have already explained it to Lin Yuan and Ikalath before,
I will explain it again."
He lowered his head slightly, gazing at the distant ground where the shadow of the headquarters stretched across the land.
Then he said quietly:
"Very well…
I will tell you the beginning of everything."
"Before everything…
Before nothingness…
Before the void itself…
there existed only two things.
A sphere of darkness.
And a sphere of light."
"The consciousness of darkness formed first.
Because darkness is unstable and fragmented… unlike light."
"When the consciousness of darkness awakened,
it realized that nothing existed."
"So it created a body for itself.
A pale white body wearing a wide black robe.
With extremely long black hair."
"With a single snap of its fingers…
it created nothingness."
"And after that…
it created the void."
He continued calmly.
"Then the consciousness of light was born."
"Because her nature was warm and gentle, she approached the darkness out of curiosity."
"That caused their auras to collide."
"A collision so immense that its scale cannot even be measured."
"And from that collision were born three things:
Dao from the light,
Primordial Chaos from the darkness,
and Music from both of them."
The System Engineer asked curiously:
"Why was music created?"
Scarlet King replied calmly:
"Music is the screams of chaos…
and the whispers of Dao."
"And its only purpose was to make the darkness—
which the inhabitants of the twenty-two dimensions later named Ghairamengi Darkness—
sleep for as long as possible."
"Because its power surpassed light in every possible form."
"The only rival to darkness was light itself…
yet even then,
darkness was still stronger."
He continued while looking toward the rising sunlight.
"At first, Chaos and Dao created the music."
"The music was insane and terrifying,
echoing across the place where Ghairamengi Light and Darkness collided."
"That place is known as the Abyss of Empty Nothingness."
"Chaos spoke with the voice of creation…
Dao murmured softly…
and from that dialogue,
laws were born."
"Eternal laws."
"And those laws later became Dao Paths and Concepts."
"After the darkness fell asleep,
the light withdrew."
"Then another collision occurred—
between Dao and Primordial Chaos."
"From that collision were born Yin and Yang."
"From Yin and Yang came Heaven and Earth."
"And then…
dimensions appeared."
"At first, there were only eleven dimensions."
"But because of the Devil of Rebirth,
they eventually became twenty-two dimensions."
"In the 222nd era, the Devil of Rebirth fought against all of existence."
"And from that war,
a new form of chaos was born—
called Eternal Chaos."
"From Eternal Chaos emerged the Demonic Dimensions,
the opposite of the Classical Existential Dimensions."
"The demons themselves were born from the union of the Devil of Rebirth
and the Mother of Demons—
Lilith."
The System Engineer asked curiously:
"How do you know all of this?"
Scarlet King answered with faint sarcasm.
"Because…
I was the one who created nothingness and the void.
And I was the first being to fall asleep
to the screams and whispers of music."
The System Engineer nodded absentmindedly.
"Oh… so you were Ghairamengi Darkness. Alright."
Then suddenly—
it realized what it had just said.
Its screen froze.
Its eyes widened.
Its mouth opened.
It jumped backward in terror.
A message flashed across its screen:
ERROR
After a few seconds, the system rebooted.
Its screen now showed the expression:
(;｀Д´)
It shouted in panic:
"You… you are Ghairamengi Darkness itself?!
Then how did you become the Devil of Rebirth?!
How?!
None of this makes sense!"
Scarlet King laughed softly.
"Yes…
it is complicated indeed."
"But I will explain."
"When I awakened after the music faded away…
I entered existence."
"And I destroyed the first six dimensions."
"Those are what are now called the Mortal Dimensions."
"But Ghairamengi Light intervened."
"A battle began between us."
"That battle ended with my death."
"It happened because ten copies of the Light exploded upon me."
"Light possesses eleven copies."
"And I possessed eleven forms."
"Anyway…
when I died,
it did not mean the concept of death could affect me."
"My body as Ghairamengi Darkness simply disintegrated."
"And the fragments scattered across time and space."
"Then that old man connected me to the Wheel of Rebirth."
"And because of that…
I was reborn."
"But without memories…
and without power."
"I retained only the Left Mind of Darkness."
"And even that was severely damaged."
"So I remembered nothing."
"But now…
I have recovered all my memories."
"And the memories of countless past lives."
The System Engineer asked:
"Who is the person you mentioned?"
Scarlet King answered quietly.
"A being beyond definition."
"Beyond comprehension."
"He is the creator of both light and darkness."
"The master of everything."
"The creator of this existence."
"He stands above all things."
"The source with no source."
"Even if I attempted to explain him to you,
you would not understand.
And you might be erased from existence
simply by thinking about him."
The System Engineer asked again:
"Then what is your goal?
And what about the structure of the world itself?"
Scarlet King spat lightly before answering.
"My goal is simple."
"I will gather the fragments of my original body."
"They are currently guarded by the Chaos Golems."
"So that I cannot retrieve them."
"But fortunately…
I have already recovered two of the eleven fragments."
"After that,
I will destroy the Wheel of Rebirth."
"I will surpass the Existential Emperor."
"And I will obtain…
eternal rest."
Scarlet King began remembering fragments of the distant past.
[Ancient Era — The Beginning of Existence]
Ghairamengi Darkness stood in a vast dimension.
His long black hair flowed behind him.
A dark robe covered his body.
His expression was lifeless.
His hands were clasped behind his back.
Below him stood countless immortal shadow soldiers.
Darkness thought silently:
(We are now in the sixth dimension…)
(The other dimensions have already been devoured.)
(Reduced to ashes.)
(And all their inhabitants have become shadow soldiers.)
(Each shadow soldier surpasses the Concepts.)
(Each stands above all existence.)
(Above abilities… knowledge… and reality itself.)
(And I…)
(I am stronger than the strongest shadow.)
(Even the Shadow Marshal…)
(is less than a speck of dust to me.)
Suddenly—
A blinding light appeared in the sky.
It filled the entire dimension.
The spreading darkness was forced backward.
Eleven copies of the Light descended.
Their brilliance was unimaginable.
Universes collapsed around them.
Reality cracked.
Time stretched and compressed like twisted rope.
Ghairamengi Darkness spoke coldly:
"A group of weaklings…
trying to suppress my darkness."
He raised his hand.
A wave of darkness erupted.
The eleven copies were imprisoned instantly.
But suddenly—
they broke free.
Their power surged violently.
Existence and nothingness shattered like broken mirrors.
The copies of Light fell to their knees.
Then—
Ten of them rushed forward.
They grabbed the darkness.
They pressed their palms against his forehead.
Their bodies ignited like silver flames.
The final copy of Light screamed:
"No… no, sisters!"
Darkness looked at them with cold indifference.
"You intend to explode yourselves upon me?
A wise decision."
Then—
A tremendous light erupted.
It spread across all existence.
It was visible even beyond existence and nothingness.
That was…
The Great Explosion of Light.
[Another Life]
Scarlet King stood atop the Nine Heavens Sect.
Beside him stood his wife, Zhu Xiao.
They were like two lovebirds.
Snow-white hair drifted across frozen mountain peaks.
He spoke gently.
"My wife…
my beloved…
I am happy to be with you.
I love you."
He lifted her chin.
And kissed her softly.
In that life,
his emotions were pure.
He was calm.
Kinder than light itself.
[Another Life]
Scarlet King stood on a battlefield soaked in blood.
Screams echoed everywhere.
He wielded a double spear.
He pierced one enemy's throat.
Split another in half.
Drove his spear through the chest of a third.
Blood splashed across his face.
He laughed wildly.
"Ha ha!
This is wonderful!
War…
battle…
this is the path of the War Master!"
He loved war.
He loved slaughter.
After Zhu Xiao disappeared…
he tried everything.
But now…
his heart held only one thing.
Perseverance toward eternal rest.
No war.
No love.
No wife.
Nothing.
Only…
eternal rest.
[Back to the Present]
It was only a memory.
The System Engineer shook Scarlet King's shoulder.
"Master…
you seemed lost in the ocean of memories."
Scarlet King nodded slightly.
"Yes…
it seems I wandered too deeply through my past."
He looked at the System Engineer.
His voice was clear—
like frozen water.
"Do you know something?"
"I have no regrets."
"And no sorrow."
"Every experience across every life…
gave meaning to my existence."
"Without those experiences…
I would not be who I am."
"I would not pursue eternal rest."
"And I would not be…
Scarlet King."