Chapter 166: 「The Judge」

"'Hidden Emperor'? This title isn't bad!" Chumen lightly raised his eyebrows.

Just at this moment, a certain marvelous intuition appeared in his heart.

He followed his instinct and sank into that marvelous intuition; his pupils were instantly flooded with a certain image.

In a dark night illuminated by stars, a Brass Book gradually manifested, filled with Rules, and the last line of the last page was a perfect period.

This was a perfect Rule that even Chumen could not have formulated when he once controlled the Brass Book.

The most perfect Rule is only the "Judge" themselves.

They are the embodiment of Rules, the manifestation of "Judgment," corresponding to the Order Shadow of the "Black Emperor."

"So that's how it is..." A flash of realization welled up in Chumen's heart, "The 'Night' of the 'Night Emperor' is the 'Night' of the 'Evernight'..."

Tsk, a group of True Gods isn't as powerful as one Amanises.

The Blood Emperor, supported by the gods, was directly solo-killed; meanwhile, Trensost, who seemed to be left to fend for themselves, was about to succeed.

In the revelation Chumen received, under the protection of the Goddess, the "Judge" would be born in the near future!

That Trensost, who once encountered Bethel on the battlefield and bestowed the "Evernight Blessing" upon the Blood Emperor, had long since returned to the Dark Kingdom to prepare for their own ritual, and now, it was nearing success.

And likewise, the Trensost Empire was likely about to appear.

Without any surprise, the Trensost Empire would inevitably form an alliance with the Balam Empire to jointly resist the Solomon Empire.

This was the inevitable result under the confrontation of the two major camps.

"I can." Therefore, Chumen agreed and disappeared directly from the battlefield; his consciousness seemed to turn into information waves rippling through Space, "From now on, I am the 'Hidden Emperor' of the Empire."

Three great empires, four emperors—isn't that quite reasonable?

As for establishing an independent nation or something, Chumen hadn't even truly established his own Church, it was still the Dream Sect scattered across the world; how could he go about doing something like an empire now...

"Good!" Solomon nodded lightly, not surprised; the "Hidden Sage" was just adding an identity on the surface, the rest of the status remained unchanged.

After all, the Dream Duke themselves was already the "Hidden Emperor" of the Solomon Empire, and their power was almost equivalent to that of the "Black Emperor" Himself.

It was shortly after the battlefield returned to complete silence that the scene that had once appeared in Chumen's prophecy finally descended.

Stars dotted the sky, and half of the sky fell into a tranquil dark night.

With the help of the Goddess, Trensost completely finished their apotheosis ritual and became the "Judge."

This was a very smooth process because the God War had just ended, and the True Gods were all stabilizing their own states; no True God went to stop them.

And with the Evernight Church, and even the secret funding of other True God Churches, Trensost's apotheosis process had not a single ripple.

"You need to stabilize now." The voice of the Goddess came from amidst the stars.

"My state is quite good right now," Trensost flipped through the lustrous, seemingly newborn Brass Book in their hand and asked unconsciously, "Is Alistair really dead?"

"Yes." The tone of the Goddess was chillingly cold.

"..." Trensost's expression became complex; they had worked with Alistair Tudor for hundreds or thousands of years, having been under Solomon as early as the Third Epoch.

The two had to avoid suspicion for certain reasons and dared not get too close, but a certain tacit understanding had always existed, maintaining the Balance between them.

Until the gods brought the Characteristic of the "Hand of Order" before them.

Afterwards, they saw the "Brass Book" in the Dark Kingdom; once the thought of betrayal was planted, it became unstoppable.

It was also because of them that Alistair Tudor had to carry out a crazy plan, leading to their final defeat and death.

"What a pity..." They did not regret their choice, but that did not prevent them from mourning for two seconds for this crazy opponent.

"As a trade, the Evernight Church will become the state religion of Trensost."

The "Judge" Trensost made a promise, and then the power of Rules descended, fixing this promise in the form of a Rule; once violated, even a True God would pay a heavy price.

"Good." The Goddess nodded slightly, her figure fading, as if erased by an eraser.

Trensost returned to their own territory; this was actually the family fief Solomon had bestowed upon them at the beginning. Over these hundreds of years, this land had grown larger and larger, becoming a city.

This would be the capital of their Trensost Empire.

"This is my Kingdom." Trensost said softly, and then their words turned into one of the underlying Rules of the world.

All traces related to the Solomon Empire were erased, and even the memories of the citizens were Tampered with.

This was a Rule modification at the "Judge" level, starting directly from the underlying Rules of the world, modifying them, and then causing a fundamental impact on the world.

If there were no Authority of the same level to contend with it, the entire world would be modified.

"Trensost."

Chaos breeds Order, but Order carries its own Shadow.

The moment Trensost modified the Order, the Order Shadow was born; the consciousness of the "Black Emperor" Solomon sprouted here, as if the true body were staring at Trensost.

The two former master and servant were now standing at the same height.

"You may call me—the Night Emperor."

Trensost stared at the shadow under the Order and spoke coldly.

"..." The two Rule-type True Gods stared at each other; it would inevitably be a life-and-death ending.

Trensost continued to formulate Rules, turning this place into their own God's Kingdom, and the consciousness projected by Solomon was also erased.

The moment the Rule Divine Kingdom was truly established, the establishment of the Trensost Empire was already irreversible.

In that gloomy and endless space, the "River of Eternal Darkness" flowed slowly, not knowing where it came from, nor where it was going; even death was not the end.

In the gray-white and gloomy river water, the Blood Emperor's body was close to completely dissolving, and a complete "Red Priest" Pathway Characteristic within it flickered under the washing of the river water.

The blood-colored Banner Mark was faintly visible; in the "River of Eternal Darkness," the mark of the "City of Calamity" was completely suppressed.

The "Death" Salinger stood outside the "River of Eternal Darkness," looking at that "Red Priest" Characteristic with a detached gaze.

"Indeed, there is no need for it to be alive." Salinger observed for a long time and finally reached a judgment.

The death of the Blood Emperor had limited impact on this experiment.

"Moreover, there truly exist some extremely marvelous and bizarre connections between the 'Red Priest' Pathway and the 'Death' Pathway, and many pieces of evidence also hold true."

Salinger possessed quite a bit of intelligence from Adam, such as the "Ending Weapon" held by the Giant King in his later years, which had once split the Underworld.

"But whether it is a hidden adjacent Pathway still requires further confirmation."

Salinger even obtained an "experimental design sheet" from Adam, which planned out the complete experimental process.