A while ago.
Mainland.
After the departure of secret organization members, plus Adventure God and Divine doctor, who seem to be related to that old man who thought of himself as everyone's 'father',
The crowd heard the world law announced the end of the bet.
[Speedy Mainland wins. ]
The announcement was short and simple,
But the changes that followed were not.
The betting ground disappeared, and the group found themselves in empty space, which they didn't care about at all because two big events were happening now.
One was their green mainland, which suddenly started merging with the other three mainlands,
And the other was the big bubbles containing the universes, merging and becoming one single, United bubble.
God of judgment looked at the white canary on Entertainment Goddess's shoulder,
"Senior manager, is this still a 'movie'?
Even our universe is gone now, and our old mainland is merging!
I thought we were fine because we didn't buy any of those child guardian tokens..."
The manager, while dumbfounded, didn't answer.
It didn't know this bet was actually so serious,
And it didn't know why the bubbles and the mainlands were starting to merge.
It could sense Guardian law was involved, but didn't know how it worked, or how it forced everything to merge!
These people could only see the changes on the surface, but the white canary, which was not only a level 10 now, but had the authority of manager over the new mainland, could see many more things.
First, it saw the other two managers.
The undead skeleton, which was now sitting motionless in a random place on the surface of her former mainland.
And the vulture, which was still in a 'dead' state, and its resurrection was 'paused'.
The brain was the closest to that black hole, which almost devoured everyone, before the 'imposter heavenly father' came to the rescue,
So it was probably gone for good.
The white canary looked at the now one single United bubble and became even more shocked.
It could clearly see that all the higher beings' resurrection was 'paused' too, like the vulture...
After a while, it said,
"You guys are the only living creatures alive...
So, how about you tell me, if it was a movie or not?"
The crowd looked at the mainland,
Which was a mix of greenery, a rocky surface, a white, snowy ground, and a silent, advanced civilization that seemed to be completely out of power.
It surely wasn't a movie, and that old man actually played with them, forcing them to act as prey for the 'real preys' to make them think they were the hunters, and then he hunted them all in one fell swoop...
But, Entertainment goddess was still recording everything excitedly,
"It was a Movie, seniors."
The crowd furrowed at first, but nodded a moment later.
"If heavenly father says it is a movie, then it is."
"We should help Entertainment Goddess make the origin stories ."
"Well, the mainland is empty now, and we have all the time in hand..."
They knew if that old man said he wanted a movie,
They should give him one.
And what if he were listening to them now?
If they said it wasn't a movie, then he might snap ...
God of knowledge asked,
"Do you guys feel it too?
After our universes and the mainland merged, more laws are being generated from them ."
The rest nodded.
Goddess of memory said worriedly,
"Yes, but I just lost the 'fate' connection I had with my main planet."
God of explosion shrugged,
"Who cares.
The only question is if we can resurrect there or not?"
They all looked at the white canary,
And it nodded after checking the condition of those who were in a 'pause' state.
They indeed could, but with permission, which it hadn't, and that old man was the one who could let it happen.
The white canary, who felt the mainland was ugly now, snorted arrogantly,
"I don't like the appearance of the current mainland."
Entertainment goddess said hastily,
"Senior manager, please wait for me to cover the whole mainland and record this historical moment!"
The white canary, after she was done, puffed its chest, raised its beak, and said,
"Be green!"
And the surface of the entire merged mainland began to be covered by grass.
The white canary shouted again,
"Flourish!"
And all kinds of trees and flowers begin to grow everywhere.
The gray Hunters mainland and white Hndead mainland turned into a beautiful forest,
and the streets, buildings, and roads in the level 2 civilization were covered by tree roots, flowers, and all kinds of greenery.
The only place that seemed to show resistance was the area around the undead skeleton, which was still shrouded in a black, smoky air.
Entertainment goddess showed a screen with this scene,
"Look, senior manager!
The undead skeleton is trying to oppose you!"
And 'senior manager' snorted.
The death aura was subdued in a moment, and the empty body of the skeleton became like a Vase, filled with flowers.
The crowd could only compliment the manager's prowess.
They were only short on clapping for it.
In the end, this 40% smaller than a normal canary was a level 10, and except for the Entertainment goddess, it was three levels higher than the rest of them.
All of them knew that a creature with two levels higher could influence their mind, let alone a creature three levels higher, which could completely manipulate them.
And this manager wasn't even the strongest entity around here, but the 'eldest son' of that old man who acted all cool and collected, but could flare up after being interrupted.
The same Heavenly father who played bunch of level 10 creatures like they were only kids in his eyes, and skinned one to make a feather coat for himself because he felt 'cold'.
They didn't ask Entertainment goddess how she suddenly advanced to level 8, exactly for this reason.
For whatever reason, the old man seems to favor her and paid her for the 'movie' she is going to complete with 2 level advancement instead of 1 level like them.
And she didn't 'die' in the movie, like his 'eldest son', who didn't die either.
The rest, even secret organization members, 'died' without exception.
God of judgment asked,
"Senior manager, can you find Mortal?
Or is he gone for real?
From what we saw on his channel, it seems he appeared in these mainlands.
And if he isn't around anymore,
Is it possible to find our birth treasures?
I can't open the 'hell gate' without my birth treasure."
With the mainland merging together, they knew it was even more impossible to find their 'buried' birth treasures.
The White Canary, who actually saw the kid not long ago, was at a loss for words.
Is he gone?
No.
Can I find him?
Again, no, even now with level 10 power.
The white canary said after a brief moment,
"First of all,
You lost your birth treasures to him fairly.
And second,
What do you want your hammer for?
There are only a couple of you left...
There is nothing to punish!
And you better not mess with him if you see him.
He is a member of that secret organization, too.
And actually -"
It paused and summoned a pillar.
It was the Hunters contribution pillar,
And continued,
"He is ranked first in Hunters Mainland for some reason.
So part of the current mainland supports him fully."
The crowd,
"Huh!? "
They all looked at the top of the pillar,
And saw a name shining brightly.
[ Mortal - 0 law - rank 1st ]
And under his name was the name of the group of outsiders...
From his 0 law, and the pictures he sent before,
And from the 'familiar' scenes in those pictures that they saw in the 'movie',
They were 100% sure that this was the same mortal they knew.
All of them had the same thought now,
Even Entertainment goddess and the white canary who just found the pillar.
"How !!?"
The white canary shrugged,
"Anyway, it doesn't matter.
What I'm more confused about is why none of you advanced after we merged with the mainland?
Even you, little girl."
After the mainland advanced to level 10,
The level 7 actors knew they needed to merge 1000 universes to advance to level 8, and their universes just merged with the big one.
And Entertainment goddess, which was at level 8,
Knew she needed to help the mainland merge with another mainland to get the qualification from the mainland itself, and then advance.
The white canary knew it couldn't get stronger than this, because it could feel this was the maximum limit of its existence,
But it wondered why Entertainment Goddess couldn't advance?
After telling the rest of them who didn't know how they could advance to level 9, God of knowledge laughed mockingly,
"The keyword is 'help' the mainland to merge with another one.
But did we really 'help'?
And we, as level 7, need to merge with 1000 universes,
But did we really merge, or just 'lost' our universe?"
The crowd laughed to themselves embarrassingly.
Indeed, they didn't 'help',
Instead, they received help from the old man, who protected them all the time behind the scenes.
And they didn't merge, but lost their universe.
That's why the mainland didn't see any of them as worthy to level up.
And if Little Mortal was here, he would say,
"You didn't 'lose' your universe, because it wasn't yours to begin with. "
After asking for a time to talk about their 'origin story', Entertainment Goddess said goodbye to her fellow actors and left.
She was going to rest for a day and then start making the complete version of the movie.
When she arrived at her castle, she went straight to the central place where she controlled her crystals, and said,
"My beloved crystal, I want to talk to the heavenly father."
While confused, the Crystal answered,
< He is not here, master. >
Hearing the answer, Entertainment goddess whispered,
"What do you mean by 'he is not here?'
You are just saying it based on not seeing him,
Or because you know where he exactly is now ?"
The Crystal was even more confused.
< I can see him at this moment.
He is somewhere else and can't see or hear you. >
Entertainment Goddess suddenly dropped onto her chair.
"*Phew*.
Such a scary day, such a scary experience, such a scary existence...
My beloved Crystal, can you believe what happened today?
That old man actually forced everyone to 'act' and kill each other for just a movie!
Why?
Because he was bored?
He even included three other Mainlands to act as 'villains', and die at the end of his movie!
A month ago, I didn't even know about Level 7,
And today I saw Level 10s coming to this old man's movie left and right to get beaten up! "
Hearing its master complain,
The Crystal was amazed.
So she knew from the start it wasn't a movie!
But her survival instinct told her to 'play along'?
< You handled it well, Master. >
The Crystal was impressed.
Entertainment Goddess chuckled.
"Handled it well?
I even know the identity of that old man."
The Crystal almost called over the space mirror to kidnap her master on the spot!
If she really knew about Mortal, and that little monster found out she knew,
He might do something unpredictable to its master and stop his secret from being exposed.
But to be sure, it told the space mirror to be ready, while asking,
< How did you find out, Master? >
Entertainment Goddess chuckled.
"It wasn't that easy for me to see through everything.
But when I thought about the recent events,
It wasn't that hard."
Then she started writing her 'discoveries' in the air while explaining,
"First, it all started with Mortal's arrival, and when I told him about 'shelter', which he didn't want.
Second, Mortal made so much chaos in the Mainland, but no one could find him to give him a lesson.
Third, Mortal continued to talk about himself as the 'strongest' and the imaginary boss of a 'secret organization'.
Fourth, Mortal had access to numerous high-level creatures all the time and even assisted me with my advancement.
Fifth, the space mirror, which is working for this secret organization and even helped me to keep my secret, was one of the birthday gifts Mortal won in his bet.
Put all of these pieces of the puzzle together,
And it's completely obvious who he is."
The Crystal was almost sure 'she was done for'.
The birth treasures who heard what she said,
Even asked the brush and inkwell to write a contract for her to sign.
The space mirror was already connected to all of the universes and ready to take her and her castle away.
Entertainment Goddess, oblivious to the changes behind the scenes, said,
"He is...
Mortal's Boss!
An ancient being, living in or mainland for a long time,
Looking for the right moment to make a move!"
The Crystal, and the birth treasures,
< ...!!? >
Entertainment Goddess explained after a brief moment,
"My beloved Crystal, you know?
I always suspected where that little brat is hiding.
How could he mess around so much without being caught?
How can he help me find a place to advance?
How could he go to 'secret missions' with Level 7 creatures all over the place, fearlessly?
And how could he even 'record' the changes in emotion of Level 10 creatures without being found?
But today, I finally 'saw' the reason...
The invincible old man, who probably gave him the promise to protect him, and Mortal, in return, let him use his birthday gifts.
I'm sure that old man was tempted by his birth treasure collection, and I can't blame him for that.
However, that scary old man can't use them; they belong to Mortal!
That's why he let Mortal do whatever he wants, and go play at any unknown places he wants in the name of a secret mission,
while permitting the old man to use his birthday gifts.
The old man even made the targets on his revenge list disappear with the arena, just because they tried to bully him with their challenge.
He even saved all of the newborns in our Mainland for Mortal, while acting behind the scenes, and letting Mortal shine on the 'Frontline'.
And because of Mortal, the old man favored me too, and even helped me to advance.
For an existence like him, all of these were nothing but small favors,
while in return, he gained access to little Mortal's birthday gifts.
In the end, for a big plan including three other Mainlands, the old man needed to be as careful as possible.
I'm sure the part where that big head guy suddenly showed up from that passage was the only thing out of his expectations."
The Crystal sent an 'abort the mission' message to the space mirror, and said,
< You are smart, Master. >
It didn't tell her she was wrong or right,
And just said she is smart.
She indeed connected the dots pretty accurately,
But not accurate enough.
Entertainment Goddess clenched her fist.
"Let's make a good movie for him.
Who knows, maybe I can still advance more.
With Little Mortal in his organization, it's not impossible!"
The Crystal agreed,
< Yes, Master.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Mrtal promised you 'unlimited power',
So he needs to keep his promise. >
....
Planet Lubo.
Silver Platform.
Not long after the sunrise, Little Mortal woke up.
Rose joined him not long after for breakfast.
While eating their breakfast, a passage opened, and Glasses of Knowledge came out with Prophecy Orb and the Hourglass of Time.
Just one glance from Little Mortal, and the two 'spoilers' ran inside the backpack.
Only Glasses of Knowledge flew to him and dropped a small 'information crystal' on the table before leaving.
It was too busy with planet development to stay and explain what it is.
Little Mortal looked at the small crystal and then pushed it towards Rose.
"What's inside, Assistant Rose?"
Rose picked up the small crystal and read the information inside.
After a while, she said,
"Glasses of Knowledge seems to have found some new information from the Level 2 civilization.
However, it's difficult to determine exactly what it is about, as they erased most of their database before merging with ours.
There are only some clues about a certain mission they have."
Little Mortal frowned,
"I smell conspiracy!
What mission do they have?"
Rose read the information,
"1. Find any anomaly that is a threat to Level 10 creatures and report immediately before taking action by the 'protocol'.
2. Spread the knowledge of how to kill a higher being and enter the Mainland in the form of consequences between advanced civilizations inside universes connected to other Mainlands.
3. Spread the knowledge of how to devour other Mainlands between the normal Mainlands under Level 8.
4. Annihilate or capture any normal Mainland higher than Level 8 on sight."
Little Mortal stopped eating and, while stroking his chin, said thoughtfully,
"So basically they want everyone 'dead'?
And the so-called anomaly is what might be a 'block' in the path of whoever is backing them up?
Well...
It doesn't matter.
I want them to come and try it on us.
But to be sure, I'll go ask my partner about it.
It's possible they send out some information about us before the merge..."
And continued eating.
Rose asked,
"Should we prepare for anything?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes, more universes are going to join us soon.
But don't worry, there won't be any higher beings inside, so you can handle it."
Rose nodded,
"That's good then.
By the way, the newborns have given up the idea of rebellion and now want to help me.
I thought it was not bad to let them watch over different regions of the planet.
With their good nature, they are indeed the best 'watchers'."
Little Mortal, hearing her idea, shouted excitedly,
" Yes!
I announce the establishment of the 'Watchers Squad' right here and right now! "
And so, a new force, known as the Watchers, was created on this day.
But a moment later,
"Wait, what?
They were planning a rebellion?"
Rose chuckled,
"Cherry, the news reporter, disguised herself as a newborn and infiltrated the Fairy's Garden for a while, and tried to gather an army to overthrow the Evil God,
But the army was disbanded after Heavenly Father showed his prowess in the movie."
Little Mortal,
"O_O"
...
After breakfast, Little Mortal changed into his black suit with a red tie and left with a whiteboard.
But just a moment later, he came back.
"Little mirror, where are you?"
A passage opened, and Space Mirror came out.
< What is it? >
Little Mortal scratched his head in confusion,
"I think I went to the wrong address.
Open a passage to the Mainland for me."
And the Space Mirror opened a passage for him.
Looking at the forest on the other side, Little Mortal looked at the Space Mirror, speechless,
"I said Mainland!
I was just there myself.
There were so many trees that I couldn't even see the sky..."
The Space Mirror vibrated,
< That's the Mainland.
The White Canary made it like that. >
Little Mortal,
"-_-"
A moment later, he was back in the Mainland's forest.
He climbed a tree, looked up, and nodded,
"One united bubble, I am indeed at the right address."
Then he looked at the group of suns and spaceships orbiting around the Mainland.
These were the remains of the Level 2 civilization.
Little Mortal then jumped up and looked around from the sky.
"My goodness.
Little White actually changed the 'boring grassland' to a 'boring forest'?
Well, at least there are some flowers and different trees to look at now."
After he was sure that he was in the Mainland,
His figure disappeared.
....
Underworld.
Queen's Citadel.
Lilith's daughter, Nyxara, was on her way to meet with her mother.
When she arrived in front of the citadel's gate, she saw a moving whiteboard farther away, going in the same direction as her.
While wondering how a whiteboard could walk by itself, she curiously sped up and reached beside it, and then gasped.
"You are?"
A little boy, in a black suit, with a professional appearance, was actually the one carrying the whiteboard.
She wondered why she couldn't feel any presence from him.
The little boy nodded at her,
"Oh, it's you.
How have you been?
It's me, Mortal."
But Nyxara didn't remember him at all because Lilith erased everyone's memory related to Mortal.
So she asked in puzzlement,
"Mr. Mortal, do we know each other?"
Little Mortal paused and shook his head,
"No.
I only saw you once a long time ago, when you were a little girl."
Nyxara gasped,
"Please forgive me, Elder Mortal.
I didn't know you were a senior!"
She knew this little man was an old timer from who knows what era, if he had seen her childhood.
Her mother told her she was the first 'child' of the Underworld, but she might have created some minions before that.
So, this little minion was probably from the first batch that was promoted so many times and now resembled a human.
Only the senior minions who fought many battles in the World Above and always wore full body armor were rumored to be like humans in appearance.
Elder Mortal nodded,
"Don't worry about it."
And then shook his head, as if he was sentimental,
And while giving her the whiteboard, said,
"Time flies..."
Nyxara took the whiteboard respectfully and asked,
"Where are you going, Elder?
Let me accompany you."
It was her first time seeing a rare senior minion without his armor, so she acted respectfully.
And Elder Mortal pointed at Lilith's 'meeting hall',
"I have an appointment with your mother."
...
Above four mixed hexagons.
Lilith stood in the air, feeling the difference between this hexagon united and the others.
"I can only describe it in one word.
Solid.
This place seems to be the most stable part in the Underworld.
As if while this Hexagon stands, the Underworld never falls..."
Then she sighed,
"Even my authority here is like the old days, when I first became responsible for the Underworld..."
While in her own thoughts, she suddenly heard a rare sound of laughter from inside her citadel.
"Interesting, who is making Nyxara laugh in my citadel?"
And her figure disappeared.
A moment later, she arrived behind the door of her meeting hall.
But the only presence she felt was her daughter, and no one else.
Nyxara's voice sounded from inside,
"What happened next, Great Elder!"
Lilith's eyebrows, who couldn't feel anyone else inside, raised in confusion.
"Who is she talking to?"
And then she heard another excited voice, which seemed to be the one called 'Great Elder',
Telling her an absurd story.
"Let me tell you,
As if two level 10s weren't enough,
A third one joined the fray!
But I didn't back down, I didn't surrender,
And I didn't lose hope!
A bloody battle took place!
Universes and mainlands exploded left and right,
And guess what?"
Nyxara gasped,
"No way!
Don't tell me a fourth level 10 Mainland showed up too?"
And the Great Elder replied,
"Exactly!
But this fourth one was different!
This one had a suicide bomber, coming to blow up everybody!
So I was forced to use my ultimate technique!"
Nyxara gasped again,
"Tell me, Great Elder, tell me!
What technique?"
And the Great Elder, while munching on something, was going to answer,
But Lilith, who already recognized the voice, gritted her teeth, calmed herself down, and walked in with a smile, saying,
"Well, Well, Well...if it isn't Great Elder Mor-."
But couldn't finish her sentence because she saw her little partner was now sitting on her throne while her daughter was feeding him some underworld snacks.
Seeing her enter the hall, Nyxara's hand froze in front of the Great Elder's mouth.
Her face lost color, and she felt a nonexistent illusion shatter around her.
Her head turned slowly towards the little boy, while she was in shock.
From the first moment she saw him, for some reason, she felt this little boy was someone she could trust wholeheartedly.
Why?
For no apparent reason!
Lilith gritted her teeth.
She exactly knew why her daughter was acting like this.
It was because this little partner of hers,
While 'secret', he was the underworld guardian,
And any creature here, herself excluded,
Would trust him, his words, and his actions as the guardian of this hexagon they were currently in.
But with her entrance, the same effect, which was from her, the underworld Queen, applied to her daughter and made her trust split between the two.
That's how she suddenly saw the 'clues' of being probably 'fooled'.
Lilith looked at the Great Elder coldly and asked,
"What are you doing on my throne?"
And the Great Elder, while snatching the last piece of snack from Nyxara's frozen hand, whispered to her,
"Look, your mother is trying to look at me 'coldly' but because she's always 'hot' she can only look at me 'warmly'."
And started chuckling.
Nyxara felt the nonexistent illusion was coming back, and was going to laugh too, but stopped herself in time, and turned pale again.
The Great Elder shook his head, jumped down from the throne, and ran to Lilith in panic, while shouting,
"Partner, partner!
You came right in time!
Your daughter was going to overthrow your government and sit on your throne!
But I reached here on time, and kept your throne safe from the hands of malicious people in the dark!"
Nyxara looked at this now fake Great Elder in disbelief!
"No, mother, he is lying to you!
I would never do such a thing!"
Before Lilith could say anything,
The Great Elder snorted and said while pointing at her,
"You are going to be executed, little rebellious girl!
There is no way out for you!"
Then he hit Lilith's leg with his elbow and said,
"Am I right, partner? An absolute dictator never spares any act of betrayal!
Even if it's your daughter!"
Lilith didn’t even know what to say.
Who is the dictator?
At this moment, there was a big 'Lie' above this Great Elder's head, which she didn't know how her daughter couldn't see...
"Alright... Enough joking, Great Elder."
Only now, Nyxara saw the 'Lie', and shouted,
"H-how could you deceive me with your stories?"
And the Great Elder rolled his eyes at her,
"I didn't."
And the word 'Truth' appeared above his head.
Nyxara was now confused.
This little boy was telling her stories about fighting 3-4 level 10 creatures single-handedly just now.
So he wasn't lying?
And even her mother, after seeing him on her throne and joking about a coup, just told him to stop...
"Mother, this sir, is...?"
And Lilith, after a brief moment of silence, said,
"He is... a friend of mine, here for some personal business.
If you have anything to discuss with me, come back later."
Nyxara, who heard her mother call someone 'friend' for the first time, nodded and hurriedly left.
She wanted to ask the old-timers of the Underworld who this old senior is.
Because of his short stature, he could actually be a 'minion' who advanced to the highest level.
She heard some legends about a couple of them in the past, who were called 'underworld knights'.
No one ever saw their real appearance, and no one knew how they disappeared all of a sudden.
After she left, Lilith looked at the 'Great Elder' who stopped a coup for her, and said,
"I see you are as energetic as ever, partner."
And Little Mortal chuckled,
"Your daughter is so naive."
Lilith shook her head and walked to her throne,
"Here in the underworld, nobody lies, and nobody tries to deceive others.
So it's only natural for her to be like this."
And sat on her throne while looking at her partner, who was already sitting on another chair close to her, with the whiteboard beside him, and said to her,
"Alright, let's write the main quests, and then the side quests.
Then we can start the operation."
Lilith felt that the discussion with him, even before it got started, was already complicated.
"Slow down, partner.
I have some important questions for you first."
Little Mortal, ready to write on his whiteboard,
Nodded and put the marker down.
"Ask away."
And Lilith asked the most important question,
"Why did you trust me?"
Little Mortal said as a matter of fact,
"You are a 'fate expert', like me.
Fate experts can be trusted, because fate is on the side of 'good'.
Which means even if you want to do something wrong,
fate forces you back to the right path or just abandons you.
And every creature in the underworld can see you.
Which means you aren't like those level 10 scammers who pretend to be gods.
Plus, you have a 'warm' heart that can't be 'cold', ever."
After saying the last sentence, Little Mortal started chuckling 'secretly'.
Lilith was speechless.
He wouldn't let go of this hot and cold thing, would he?
"What do you mean, a fate expert like you?
I don't know how you can tell I have a weak connection with the fate law,
But from that connection, I can tell that you have no connection with it.
Even that girl with the law of foresight has some connection,
But you don't."
Little Mortal, while looking confused, said,
"Isn't that obvious why you can't see it?
It's because my level of expertise in Fate is far higher than yours.
Like when a level 1 creature tries to see through a level 10000 creature.
Can they do that?
Nope."
Lilith, who saw this kid's prowess in action, didn't know what to say.
He could be right or wrong.
But either way, he was right about one thing.
Connection to the fate law means you are 'good', and if you don't act that way, fate will abandon you.
It was a simple fact.
"Alright, I can understand why you trusted me.
Now the important question.
What's your goal?"
Little Mortal answered firmly,
"To conquer everything!"
Hearing him say 'conquer everything', Lilith smiled mockingly,
"For how long do you think you can keep this up?"
Little Mortal, who didn't understand her meaning, asked in confusion,
"Keep what up?"
And Lilith said,
"Acting in the shadows...
You know well that when the first person finds out about your newborn identity, they can easily force you to do anything with a single hostage.
All your guardian territory, all your hard work, is only dependent on your secret, to stay secret.
The day you are exposed, then..."
Little Mortal, after a brief silence, sighed,
"I think about this every day...
But it should be fine.
I only need to keep it a secret for a while longer."
Lilith asked with interest,
"How much longer?
When you won the bet with those 3 mainlands,
Did you know I was asked by the top Agent of that level 3 civilization about the hexagon's condition connected to your guardian territory?"
Hearing the news, Little Mortal gasped,
"No way!
W-what did you tell them?"
Lilith chuckled,
"I said the hexagons are dead.
All 4 of them.
I just mentioned this to you so that you know many things beyond your knowledge and control can expose you and end your path in an instant.
With a single living creature from outside of your guardian territory, you can be easily exploited.
It doesn't matter how carefully you plan everything; the world is infinite, and so are the possibilities."
Little Mortal snorted stubbornly,
"Who cares if the world and possibilities are infinite?
I am a fate expert!
Can't you see?
My fate skill saved me once more, connecting to your fate!
Why else do you think I thought of inviting you to my movie?
Because I knew you should be there to cover up for me if needed!
So even if things get complicated,
You, another trusted comrade of mine, can save the day, or even stop the disaster from happening before things get out of hand!
That's why I tried to be as honest with you as possible from the start.
Because you are the only one who is powerful and trustworthy at the same time."
Lilith felt her eyes hurt as she saw the words 'Lie' and 'Truth' keep changing above his head.
But at least he said the truth at the end.
Lilith sighed in response,
"I'm not that strong anymore..."
Little Mortal, while slightly surprised, asked,
"Why?
You have a whole realm backing you up!
Wait!
Don't tell me those 'off' hexagons make you weaker?"
Then he suddenly started sniffing.
Lilith, who was going to say 'yes, I get weaker with each dead hexagon', asked in puzzlement,
"What are you sniffing?"
In the middle of a serious discussion, what is he doing?
Little Mortal said vigilantly,
"Can't you smell it?"
Lilith tried to smell the air, but didn't smell anything peculiar,
"No, I can't.
What is it?"
Little Mortal looked at her in shock,
"How can you not?
This is the smell of conspiracy and betrayal!
They are trying to silence you!"
Lilith, who saw the story suddenly escalate and for the first time heard about conspiracy and betrayal's smells, asked,
"You mean those in the world above trying to 'silence' me?"
Little Mortal nodded.
Lilith furrowed her brow,
"I already know that.
But first, I have no evidence,
And second, I don't have direct access to the world above.
I tried to use 'believers' like the one you turned into a puppet and investigate while helping the mainlands to survive their calamity,
But all of my believers were eliminated in one way or another."
Little Mortal took out a small crystal and smashed it on the table, shouting,
"I have the evidence, your honor!
Arrest everybody!"
Seeing him bringing out 'evidence',
Lilith picked up the small crystal and, while saying 'calm down, calm down, partner', looked at the information inside.
Her fist clenched a moment later, and the crystal turned to dust!
Little Mortal gasped in shock,
"Queen Lilith destroyed the evidence!
Guards!
Come and apprehend the criminal!"
Lilith, who already had some understanding of her partner's unstable 'thoughts', threw a small fruit into his mouth,
"Be quiet for a moment.
I think this isn't just the smell of conspiracy and betrayal.
But something more serious."
Little Mortal, while munching on the fruit, asked curiously,
"What else?"
"This smells like the end of everything.
At least for the underworld."
The hall fell into silence.
Even Little Mortal stopped messing around and froze on the spot.
After a while, he asked,
"Even with me around?"
Lilith nodded.
Little Mortal asked in disbelief,
"Even with me and you teaming up?"
Lilith thought for a moment and nodded again.
Little mortal gulped down,
"Why did the story jump from 'guardian mortal's journey to conquer the world' to 'world ending' all of a sudden?
I think we missed some episodes in between somewhere.
Right?"
Lilith tried to translate what he said for herself and answered after a brief pause,
"I can tell you about the 'lost episodes'.
But you should stop making jokes."
Little mortal nodded repeatedly,
"No messing around anymore!
I'm all ears!"
Lilith, while rubbing her chin, wondered,
"Where should I begin?"
And little mortal shouted,
"From the start!
Give me the origin story!"
Lilith nodded,
"Alright.
I'll tell you the story from the start, then.
This is what I, and the other 'ancient ones' learned from world law about our 'Infinite space' and its origin."
Little mortal became excited.
Lilith continued,
"At first, it was only empty and infinite-"
But little mortal stopped her,
"No wait!
Make it visual!
I want to see it!
This is history!"
Lilith gritted her teeth and made it visual.
The hall turned completely dark all of a sudden.
Nothing could be seen.
Lilith's voice sounded in the darkness,
"At first, it was only empty and infinite space.
And then, there was a-"
"BANG!"
Shouted Little Mortal from somewhere in the dark.
Lilith, while annoyed, said,
"Yes, there was a bang.
And the first universe was born."
In the dark space, one single bright light appeared.
"After that, more and more universes were born.
How many?
Nobody knows.
Even now that we are talking,
More and more are being born in different corners of the infinite space."
Light dots begin to appear in various locations within the dark space.
"At the beginning, there was no such thing as higher beings or birth treasures.
Not even any 'space-time bubble' around each universe to protect them."
Then the source of the lights starts to get brighter and spread everywhere, even coming closer to each other.
"Even when the different universes collide, it didn't matter.
They just become one.
Until,"
The scene zoomed in to a universe, then a galaxy, a solar system, and ultimately, a planet.
"The first 'life' was born.
It was at this point that the first 'bubble' appeared around the first universe with life,
To protect it from the chaos outside."
And after the first bubble, other bubbles begin to appear in the dark background.
Each one appeared around a universe to protect them within a dimension, serving as a sign that there is life within them.
Little mortal's voice came from somewhere in the darkness,
"World law, while slightly silly, and only working like a program, wants to see a 'lively' world.
So it's natural for it to protect the living creatures."
Lilith agreed,
"Indeed, the law of the world was always in favor of living creatures.
And that's why,"
On the scene, a couple of light dots representing universes disappeared!
Little mortal gasped.
"What happened?"
Lilith responded,
"Wait, and you will see.
With the mysterious disappearance of the universes, all of them gained a bubble from the start, either with or without life.
But even though it seems the World law still wasn't satisfied with the level of protection,
So, the next step layer of protection that world law provided was the Mainland.
They appeared in different places in infinite space, and as they moved around and got close to the bubbles,
the bubbles would move behind them as if connected to them by an invisible rope."
Little mortal shouted,
"What happened to the missing universes?"
Lilith answered doubtfully,
"Someone, or something, stole them.
At that time, who or what was responsible was unknown to the world itself.
So the mainlands, like an antibody produced by the world's immune system,
were created to gather the universes and strengthen their connection with the world.
And because no universes with a bubble were stolen, as though the space-time bubble was the key,
The world shared this protection with all the universes from the moment of birth without caring about whether they have a living creature inside or not."
The scene starts changing again.
More and more bubbles were carried by these mainlands, but, from time to time, another bubble that wasn't connected to any mainland disappeared.
A gasp sound came,
"No way!
The antibody didn't work?
Is it cancer?"
Lilith, while speechless, answered,
"No, the reason was something else.
The stolen universes were actually the ones without any life inside."
"Well, isn't that a problem easy to fix?
World law could add one to each of them at the start."
Lilith nodded,
"And that's what world law did.
But, to be sure of the safety of the universe,
World law, after searching among all the different life forms in existence,
Choose the one with the kindest 'heart'.
The creature that, if it walked in the path of 'righteousness', would never turn around.
So, world law made a copy of that creature, to be the first being born in each universe."
Little mortal's suspicious voice sounded,
"I have a bad feeling about what I'm going to hear..."
And indeed,
"Your feeling is right.
The copy wasn't 'complete'.
Because that creature with the 'kindest heart', while it could be the 'best' candidate, it could be the worst kind of candidate too.
They could be cruel, violent, savage, and ruthless in a way that no other creature would ever dare to think of.
They wouldn't even spare their kind, let alone others.
So,
World law imposed restrictions on the 'copy' it made to force the creature to be 'good',
and not exhibit those 'harmful' characteristics that could destroy the universe if they gained too much power.
Ultimately, world law established a body that can survive in space, enabling its creation to exist as long as the universe itself.
And the creature world law took inspiration from, was -"
Little Mortal answered in shock,
"Humans!"
Lilith nodded,
"And the final product without the evil part was?"
Little Mortal answered with 2x shock,
"Us!
That's why we are incomplete.
That's why even our universe is incomplete!
And that's why all of 'us' only have one form, which is 'human'!"
Lilith nodded,
"Indeed, and because of this forced unfairness to your kind, world law was always in a dilemma,
because it was forced to break the balance of being 'fair' for 'you' and for your universe."
Little mortal became excited,
"Continue, continue!
Where did you guys, the next generation, our juniors, come to be?"
Lilith didn't know why, but had a bad feeling, which the reason for this bad feeling would be answered later.
But she ignored the feeling and continued,
"After that, things were normal for a while.
No more bubbles were stolen, and the mainlands kept gathering new bubbles.
The incomplete higher beings were fine, too.
All of them were existences kind to any creature, and never did anything to harm their universe."
Lilith paused, and the scene changed.
Now all of the bubbles had cracks on them.
"But because the universes inside the space-time bubbles were incomplete,
The protection itself was incomplete too, and that's why,"
On the scene, a bubble shattered, and then everything that came out of it disappeared.
"And that's why the 'Thief' found a new way to steal."
Little Mortal shouted in disbelief,
"Impossible!"
As if he didn't expect that.
Lilith,
"-_-"
Can you be serious for a moment...?
