The Light of a New Era

The illusory light from the "Final Chapter" instantly covered an area of several dozen meters, pulling everyone present into the illusion, rendering them immobile.

Sandean's pupils dilated, his vision going blank.

The "Final Chapter" gradually enlarged before his eyes, its text flowing past, revealing secrets and events from centuries ago.

He witnessed the great poet's journey to meet God, carrying the Divine Artifact left by Polo, the Lord of Dreams. He saw the hardships endured while writing the "Hymn of the King of Wisdom," and felt the excitement of stepping onto the God-Given Land and meeting God.

The messenger standing at God's right hand told the great poet her true name. Her dream-like power of creation, able to create objects with a wave of her hand, left an incomparable impact on the great poet's mind.

Sandean also saw the great poet's later reflections and regrets about this scene.

"If Yinsai had such power, could we create a new era?"

"Could we escape the cycle of eternal recurrence and forge a new future?"

Then, Sandean felt himself pulled into a hazy, illusory scene.

He first saw a massive palace. Hearing the sound of chiseling from a corner, he looked over and saw a familiar figure.

"Master?"

Stan Tito was carving a stone tablet in the corner, his work "The Marionette of Fate" embedded in the palace wall above.

This was a scene from Stan Tito's dream, the setting of his second encounter with God's messenger.

He had preserved this scene using illusion techniques.

Sandean wanted to approach Stan Tito, to speak with him, to tell him how much he missed him.

But he found himself an outsider, unable to be heard or touch the other.

At that moment, God's messenger descended.

Sandean watched in awe as the most beautiful being in the world appeared in this dreamscape. Overwhelmed, he backed up against the wall, feeling utterly out of place.

He even felt that standing there as a slave was a desecration of the sacred.

Sandean witnessed the conversation between Stan Tito and God's messenger, finally understanding what his master had wanted to tell him.

Stan Tito asked God's messenger:

"Messenger of God! If we open the gates to God's realm, will we receive God's blessing?"

The messenger replied: "The key to opening the gates of God's realm is not a physical key. The 'Final Chapter' in your hands merely records Tito's life story."

"Whether God bestows the power of creation depends on how you choose."

"Only when the Trilobite Men abandon the power of destruction will the gates to God's realm open."

"Hope and light will descend upon the mortal world, and the power of dreams and creation will usher in a new era."

Sandean finally understood what Stan Tito had meant by what he needed to do, and the meaning behind his words, "I go to seek the future for the Trilobite Men."

He also realized that Stan Tito had successfully found that future.

"Master. So this is what you wanted to do?"

Sandean once again grasped Stan Tito's greatness, moved by his determination to seek a future at any cost.

His eyes filled with admiration.

At that moment, a voice came from behind him, accompanied by dreamlike starlight flowing towards him.

"Sandean."

"Are you ready?"

"To become the inheritor of Stan's will and dreams, to become"

"The preacher of a new era."

His body instantly stiffened.

Sandean recognized the voice of God's messenger.

He turned to look into the light.

In an instant, Sandean vanished. —

The tide rose higher on the beach, gradually covering the ankles of those standing by the sea.

The fishing village lord, the Tito family priest, and their entourage regained consciousness at this time.

They searched for Sandean but found no trace of him.

"Where is he?"

"Where did he go?"

The priest ran frantically along the beach, searching everywhere for Sandean. He had traveled a great distance from the borders of the Volcano Kingdom upon hearing the news, hoping to find anything left behind by the second-generation saint, Stan Tito.

He never imagined that Stan Tito had left the "Final Chapter" here as well.

The priest's frustration was palpable, having seen the great poet's holy relic appear before him only to lose it in an instant.

He cursed loudly.

"Lowly slave!"

"You think stealing from the Tito family and running away solves everything?"

"That's a saint's relic. The whole world will find you, and the Tito family won't let you go."

No words could express his frustration and anger. If he could obtain the "Final Chapter," he might become the inheritor of the saint's will, the head of the saint's family.

The priest finally turned to Stan Tito's cottage: "Be careful, take everything inside back with us."

The large-scale illusion and the intense fluctuation of wisdom power caught the attention of the God-Descended City.

The city lord arrived with his men, stopping the priest who wanted to take away Stan Tito's house and everything inside. The two sides began to argue over the saint's relics and belongings.

The city lord sneered at the priest: "The Saint Tito family?"

"The real Tito family was extinguished due to the Volcano Kingdom's plot. The second-generation saint Stan Tito left no descendants. Where did you come from, claiming to be the Saint Tito family?"

"You're just a side branch, yet you dare claim the saint's name."

The priest didn't back down: "On what grounds?"

"On the grounds of our surname."

The priest from the Tito family branch wasn't afraid of a God-Descended City lord, even if the other was more powerful and this was his territory.

The Tito family name, as brilliant as the sun, and the extinction of the main branch gave them confidence.

Having produced two generations of saints, they weren't afraid of a marginalized city lord.

In the Yinsai kingdom, few would dare to openly challenge those bearing the Tito surname.

The two were at an impasse. The God-Descended City lord couldn't let him take away Stan Tito's relics.

The priest insisted that everything here belonged to the Tito family, refusing to yield.

Several days later.

In the distance, a large army approached, kicking up dust as they marched towards the sea.

King Henir personally arrived, ostensibly to inspect the God-Descended City and meet with the Abyss Kingdom's prince to sign an alliance.

But all this didn't require his personal presence.

He had come immediately upon hearing of the appearance of Stan Tito's relics and the "Final Chapter."

Seeing King Henir, the Tito family priest's confidence instantly crumbled.

He knew of this king's firmness and methods. The Tito branch family had repeatedly tried to become the inheritors of the saint's will, but Henir had rejected them each time, never allowing them to use the saint's name.

Henir looked at the priest, who had been arrogant before but now knelt trembling, and let out a contemptuous laugh.

"The great poet Tito, the second-generation saint Stan Tito, what kind of figures were they?"

"What kind of people are you? Don't you know yourselves?"

"Yet you want the title of the saint's family."

Henir lowered his head and asked the priest.

"Are you worthy?"

As the priest raised his head to speak, he was met with a blow from the scabbard of Henir's Ruhe sword.

"Or do you want me to expose all your dirty deeds? Do you think I don't know how the Saint Tito family was extinguished?"

"You filthy lot."

"Behave yourselves."

Faced with Henir's blows, the priest lay on the ground, not daring to raise his head, trembling.

Especially when he heard Henir mention how the main branch was extinguished, he shook with fear. No one knew better than Henir about their dealings with Prince Weishi Hosen of the Volcano Kingdom.

Henir didn't even want to look at him again, disgustedly wiping his sword scabbard.

He turned to the noble lord, asking about Sandean.

The small noble, terrified by the king's presence, stammered his response.

"He's a slave, but recently he claimed to have a name, calling himself Sandean."

"Ridiculous, a slave giving himself a name."

Henir: "Answer only what I ask, don't add unnecessary details."

The small noble nodded repeatedly: "Yes! Yes!"

Henir also caught something in Sandean's name.

"Sandean?"

"Preacher? Interesting."

Henir then asked: "Where is he?"

"Disappeared?"

Learning that Sandean had vanished in a burst of light while holding a Sun Cup flower containing the "Final Chapter," Henir immediately thought of something, having also been tested by God's messenger.

Although he ultimately failed the test, he knew what Stan Tito, as a saint, would receive from God.

Henir grew excited, immediately ordering the God-Descended City lord and his own men.

"Wait here."

"If I'm not mistaken, the light of a new era will descend here."