Chapter 52: Bottom Layer

Before the eyes lies a stretch of illusory and brilliant starry sky, devoid of the corruption and harsh environment of the Abyss seen previously; instead, it possesses an unimaginable aesthetic beauty.

This place is a void, and within the void lies a not-so-small landmass island, which actually contains the existence of many lives.

Flowers, plants, trees, birds, beasts, and even various Extraordinary Creatures; from these, it seems this should be an isolated Fantasy Land, and not the deepest layer of the Abyss.

"This place is very similar to the Astral World," Amanises said softly, looking at that stretch of illusory starry sky.

The current Astral World is also a scene like this, with the starry sky approaching illusion, various Authorities, abilities, and other concepts interwoven within it, either transforming into stars or condensing into nebulae.

"There is a star there."

Suddenly, Lilith captured a star that was gradually brightening in that Astral World.

Chumen looked directly at that star, and in an instant, many thoughts flashed uncontrollably through his heart.

"Above the Sequence," "Starry Sky," "Oldest One"...

And in his eyes, that gradually brightening star erupted suddenly; while those thoughts flashed through Chumen's heart, it seized that instant to establish a connection with Chumen on a mysterious level.

Whenever there is speech, it must be known.

There are some things Chumen is very clear about, but he will not take the initiative to delve into them; that way, under the protection of the Dream Book, he would not be glimpsed, but now it is different.

He recalled this knowledge while facing that star directly.

At this moment, the entire Abyss changed; the boundary between light and darkness was blurred, replaced by a blood-red illusory mist.

It did not turn into reality because a tangible, existing power blocked it, allowing it to only erode Chumen by relying on the connection established with him.

And almost simultaneously, the Ancient Sun God, who sat daily under a giant cross to pray, opened his eyes and looked outside the Astral World.

A Red Moon occupied half of the Astral World's field of vision.

The figure of the Ancient Sun God appeared instantly in the Astral World, stepping on an illusory Clock of Illusion composed of twelve segments.

The Clock of Illusion surged with an indescribable formless torrent, as if traversing the long history to arrive at the present.

"Clang!" The bell toll spread, and a strange power surged; the scene illuminated by the Red Moon vanished.

Time was stolen, or rather, the scene of that moment was stolen, unable to be seen by anyone.

The Ancient Sun God held the Blasphemy Slate and said solemnly and sacredly: "Let there be light!"

Intense sunlight covered everything.

The next second, the Red Moon shone forth; that light of the Red Moon was powerful, but it was ultimately outside the Barrier and could not penetrate, eventually being covered by the sunlight.

And further away from the Moon, the Brown Star, Orange Star, Red Star, Gold Star, and other stars flickered simultaneously, all appearing strangely indescribable against the cosmic background.

The Ancient Sun God faced all this in silence, and the sunlight even formed a huge restraint on the Demon Monarch who was in battle.

"Get out!"

The Demon Monarch roared; He was likely the only one among the gods who knew what had happened. He roared, wanting to break through Ormir's blockade and return to the Abyss.

It was just that the shining of the sunlight had a great impact on his state, making him even more passive before the Giant King.

In the eyes of the other angels and gods, this was just the Ancient Sun God, who had been waiting all along, finally taking action against the Demon Monarch.

One must know that the Creator had dispatched all the angels under His command to participate in the war from the very beginning, and all the gods were prepared for this.

Of course, some Ancient Gods also discovered the momentary disharmony, and the Phoenix Ancestor even felt the throbbing of the Characteristic within his body.

But everything was covered up under the shining of the sunlight; even if the Ancient Gods went to investigate, they could only see a stretch of scorching radiance.

In that scorching sun, the Ancient Sun God stood above the Astral World Barrier, with the scorching malice of the Outer Gods of the Starry Sky in front, and the foolish, spirited struggles of the Ancient Gods behind.

"This is a necessary sacrifice." He turned around, looked at those restless Ancient Gods, and spoke softly.

Afterwards, he looked at the Abyss; Dream was an angel under his command, and he saw everything in the Abyss directly through Chumen.

Boom!

At the moment of seeing that star, it was as if a hammer had struck Chumen directly on the forehead, causing the thoughts in his heart to stagnate.

He had never experienced such terrifying and violent corruption; that corruption even defiled everything about him in an instant.

That corruption did not even appear only on Chumen, but leaked out and spread to the surroundings of Amanises and Lilith, intending to corrupt everyone.

"It's you!" For the first time, Chumen felt the taste of madness and loss of control; it was a completely crazy monster being born from his body.

That did not fit his trait as a Pure One, causing him to feel a strong sense of contradiction.

But he did not delay either, instead reaching out and tapping lightly on the Dream Book; the Dream Phosphor around him erupted instantly.

It seemed as if the entire Dream Kingdom had been pulled out from the Dream Book, shrouding everything and draping the whole world in the colors of a dream.

Under the illusion of the Dream Kingdom, all corruption was cleared, equivalent to a certain Mr. Fool of later generations using the Grey Fog of Sefirah Castle to "disinfect."

Amanises and Lilith were also using their own means to deal with this corruption from the Outer Gods.

The Hidden Authority could even make the gaze of the Outer Gods unable to find one's own existence, and the Night Authority could also silently extinguish that terrifying corruption.

A body exactly the same as hers appeared before Lilith, bearing the corruption of the Outer Gods for Him, then rapidly aging and completing the course of life; the corruption in her body also vanished with the end of life.

The status of the three was far higher than that of ordinary angels, and with the Barrier still so stable, even if Chumen had established a connection with the Outer Gods on a mysterious level while caught off guard, it was difficult to be corrupted by this bit of power.

In fact, strictly speaking, apart from those suppressions of status that were surprisingly high, this corruption might not even be as good as the Ancient Gods attacking them personally.

Chumen looked at that illusory and brilliant star, "Mother Tree of Desire?"

"She really does have some connection with the Abyss."

"Even the Abyss has big problems."

The deepest layer of the Abyss is actually connected to the Astral World? This is something no one could have predicted.

Is this what Sasriel, or rather the Ancient Sun God, wanted to know... Chumen also looked at that illusory but brilliant star with a heavy expression.

The current Barrier is still strong enough to effectively block the power of the Outer Gods, and their power cannot yet penetrate.

But if a few thousand years pass, the Mother Tree of Desire might be able to erode this place through the hidden connection with the Abyss, turning this place into a bridgehead to erode Earth.

"No wonder the Ancient Sun God wanted us to come here to investigate; even without us, Sasriel would have risked coming here once."

Prevention is better than cure; there must be a certain degree of control over this place, and it cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Mother Tree.

This is likely the ultimate goal of the Ancient Sun God.