The heart-pounding years during the "Age of Glory," hiding from the angels under the "Ancient Sun God";
The hardships during the "Great Cataclysm," when she had no choice but to lead her people in a massive migration.
The difficult struggles for survival during the "Age of Strife";
After the establishment of Solomon's First Empire, cautiously guiding the Sanguine in attempting to integrate into human society;
The ecstatic joy when the Progenitor finally responded to prayers again;
The envy and jealousy when seeing Rhine Carendia, who was favored by the Progenitor and often able to hear divine revelations;
The anger and resentment when seeing Rhine always remain detached from the Sanguine, unwilling to contribute more to the race…
Scene after scene from the past unfolded within Orneia's dream, restoring fragments of lost history before the eyes of Ebner and the other two.
But when the "Four Emperors" stood side by side and Orneia chose to marry the "Night Emperor" for the better development of the Sanguine, the dream abruptly stopped.
Only chilling cries echoed throughout the surroundings:
"Trunsoest!" "Cheek!"
"Trunsoest!" "Cheek!"
As those sorrowful cries—like a cuckoo weeping blood—reverberated, the entire dream suddenly became dangerous.
A blood-colored full moon rose.
A massive lump of flesh as large as a mountain appeared out of thin air, covered in countless reproductive organs. It spewed thick black fog and continuously produced all kinds of strange creatures that lunged toward Ebner and the others.
However, its main body was blocked by a phantom river and could not approach.
The experienced "Sloth" Closfia and "Greed" Ksenia immediately closed their eyes to avoid losing their sanity—whether by mutating on the spot, becoming insane, or being overwhelmed by urges of mating and reproduction and turning into walking organs.
The only one who dared look directly at that lump of flesh was Ebner.
He knew that this was not the true mythical form of the "Goddess of Beauty," but rather the form she had taken after being contaminated by the "Mother Goddess of Depravity."
Furthermore, due to the influence of the water of the River of Eternal Darkness, the lump of flesh manifested from Orneia's mind—which intended to perish together with the "Night Emperor"—did not possess direct attack methods. It could only rely on producing monsters to indirectly "pollute" all life that entered the depths of her dream.
Facing these monsters that combined the domains of "Darkness" and "Moon," Ebner remained calm.
Instead of using abilities under the authority of the "Sun" again, he extended his right hand and dragged two figures out from the gaps of history.
One had silver hair and silver eyes with peerless beauty—it was Rhine Carendia, whose body had been occupied by Lilith and who had become a King of Angels.
The other had a delicate appearance but an expressionless face, with deep black eyes lacking spirituality—the "Mother of the Sky," who was also the vessel for the Goddess's descent.
Since these were monsters of the "Darkness" and "Moon" domains, he would let the top "experts" of those domains deal with them.
Sure enough, the two angels who served as vessels for divine descent did nothing.
Simply by standing there, the foundation of the monsters' existence was destroyed. They either vanished, submitted, or changed form, losing all threat in the blink of an eye.
However, this treated the symptoms but not the root cause. The lump of flesh filled with black fog still remained and could continuously create more monsters.
Orneia dreamed of the 'Night Emperor,' and her emotions suddenly became agitated, briefly breaking through the suppression of the River of Eternal Darkness—that's what caused the current situation…
So as long as her emotions are calmed and she becomes quiet again, the problem will be solved.
But how can I improve her mood?
As his thoughts raced, Ebner decided to try using people she was familiar with.
He successively simulated the appearance and aura of the "Goddess of Life," the "God of Luck," the "Queen of Calamity," and even the "Silver-Eyed Observer Count."
These were the people who had appeared most frequently and most deeply in Orneia's earlier dreams.
Unexpectedly, this attempt had little effect. The names "Trunsoest" and "Cheek" still echoed within her mind.
Ebner frowned.
Based on his earlier deductions, he finally decided to transform into the appearance of the "Sovereign of the Undead," Vicente Miranda.
This attempt immediately produced results.
The angry wailing gradually faded away. From layers of illusory doors, colorless phantom water carrying the aura of absolute stillness poured out and filled the entire space, making the dream environment peaceful again.
At the same time, fragmented scenes appeared one after another before Ebner's eyes.
…
Inside the majestic palace of the "Night Emperor," Orneia looked coldly at the approaching "Silver-Eyed Observer Count," Rhine Carendia.
The duke who had always remained detached from the Sanguine wore a smile. Ignoring the scrutinizing gaze of the "Night Emperor," he handed a ring to Orneia and said solemnly:
"This ring is my wedding gift to you. It can help you effectively manage your summoned creatures and creations. I call it the 'Ring of Orneia.' I hope you like it and keep wearing it."
Orneia frowned.
Although she was somewhat hostile toward this junior who had taken the Progenitor's favor and yet refused to contribute to the Sanguine, she still accepted the ring for various reasons and wore it from then on.
…
Inside the queen's bedchamber, a Sanguine marquis reported:
"Your Majesty, His Majesty has gone to the Demoness again."
Orneia's expression remained unchanged.
She merely nodded.
"I understand… As long as the interests of our Sanguine are not harmed, there's no need to concern ourselves with him."
The marquis seemed to want to say something after hearing the queen's stance, but in the end he only sighed after acknowledging the order.
…
Inside a mirror world contaminated by leaked power from the "Nation of Disorder."
Orneia was tightly bound layer upon layer by the authority of "Order" and then placed upon a blood-colored altar.
"Trunsoest! Cheek!"
Blood flowed from the eyes, nose, and mouth of the Blood Moon Queen, yet her miserable appearance could not conceal her beauty at that moment.
It was a tragic, melancholic beauty.
"Orneia, as part of a deal with that existence, you are a necessary sacrifice…
"Don't worry. I will look after the Sanguine."
Before the words finished, the ritual had already begun.
Orneia immediately felt as if she had left the planet and entered the cold cosmos.
In the next moment, countless crimson rays of light wrapped around her.
Her spirit body began mutating, gradually "growing" another version of herself—one completely unfamiliar and terrifying.
Meanwhile, her own will was constantly eroded by the crimson light and was about to be completely assimilated.
But at that moment, the "Ring of Orneia" suddenly erupted with astonishing power.
It tore away the relatively normal portion of the Blood Moon Queen's soul and pulled it free, along with the part of her body that had not yet undergone obvious mutation, escaping the control of the crimson light.
During this process, the "Ring of Orneia" separated the "Goddess of Beauty" characteristic from the Blood Moon Queen and threw it toward the half-formed spirit body that had grown from her.
The owner of the crimson light failed to react in time.
By the time it noticed, the ring had already carried Orneia's partially contaminated spirit and remnant body into the "Barrier," ultimately falling into a guest room of the "Observer Castle."
…
After an unknown amount of time passed, the "Sovereign of the Undead," Vicente Miranda, arrived at the "Observer Castle."
There, he found Orneia, who had already fallen into madness under the influence of contamination.
(End of Chapter)