"Daddy..." A whisper left her lips as he watched her get ripped from limb to limb while he could do nothing but scream.
When her head was lost in the maw of the beast, Adamâs eyes snapped open. The last words of his daughter haunted him; he could almost see her with missing limbs, dangling like a doll in that sadistic beastâs claws as she whispered those words.
"Daddy..."
He had one job, one job, yet he failed. Adam began hyperventilating as his entire body trembled. His head and hands shook so much he could barely control them.
Adam looked at his trembling hands and reached out for the staff pinned to the ground. The moment he grabbed it, the trembling stopped.
With a soft grunt, Adam sat up and looked around. He wasnât just lying on corpses; several kilometres all around him were the corpses of Warrior Ants, Soldier Ants, and Worker Ants, all gigantic, over a thousand feet tall, but that didnât save them from being torn apart by his staff.
Ant hills three times bigger than the tallest building on earth were scorched black and broken apart; all around Adam reeked of the stench of death.
He was the man that had populated the Afterlife world; he had become the Ruination itself, not just to mature worlds but to as many as his feet touched.
A white gate appeared before him, and he walked through it. Adam stood before the mana tree and a fruit fell from above; it was different from other fruits.
A galaxy was within this fruit, gleaming with countless stars. Adam tossed it to the Monkey King, who popped up from a diagram, grabbed the fruit, and began to munch on it.
Adamâs twisted nature had also affected his once golden Monkey King. Now it had black fur with crimson lines and cracks, holding a staff that wasnât golden anymore but black with crimson markings.
Only his headband and his eyes remained golden. The terrifying aura this summon released could paralyze Titled gods, making them seem like mana-less beings.
Right now, the Monkey King had one of the top-ranking flames, Core Hellfire, which he sucked into himself after defeating the Hell Demon and destroying hell.
Twisted or not, Adam was growing. He was a hero broken before his journey even started, a man stuck reliving one scene and had descended into madness, sealing off every door of healing.
Adam looked at the mana tree. "Maybe you canât be killed, but so what? Iâll eradicate whatever isnât human; Iâll ruin you that way." He whispered as a white gate appeared behind him.
Adam knew when he first appeared here. It was over a century ago, after he watched his wife and daughter get brutally killed and eaten. When it was his turn, he found himself here.
Something spoke to him, a voice from the depth of his heart asking if he wanted anything, anything at all, to take vengeance, what would it be.
Wishing for their death didnât work, and so he remembered his daughterâs favourite icon... the eastern myth. A being without equal.
It was absurd, but with that he could quench his thirst, and Adam said it. He mentioned summoning; he was the reason Earthâs mana system was summoning.
He was the origin of earthâs summoners, and his summon was the most absurd of them all. A myth made real.
Wiping out all the monsters on earth couldnât satisfy him; his trauma didnât end, not until everyone or whatever isnât human dies.
As Adam emerged from the white gate, he saw a golden humanoid ant with its wings spread out, hovering above the battlefield.
It was the Devouring Emperor Ant.
"Are you the ruler of your world? For what reason have you done this? The rules are, to claim a world, you must go through a dungeon."
"I never knew we were stating reasons for taking a life these days." Adam tilted his head while the Monkey King unleashed red flames along the length of his staff.
Those flames grew hotter and more powerful the more he killed.
The Ant Kingâs claws grew long enough to reach its knees. Its eyes gleamed. "You will face the judgment of a ruler."
âWhat?!â the ant gasped in the next moment as the Monkey King had moved past him and his head had been slapped off his neck!
"Took you a hundred business days to get here. Ants, no brains indeed." Adam scowled. The fool still couldnât kill him while he slept because his summon was on watch.
Adam didnât know what he could have been with a loved one; Godfrey didnât know what he could have been without one. Maybe, they might have switched places!
***
"Thatâs the last one." A woman wearing round glasses attached to a rope said with a soft smile. She stood in a radiant room, gazing at Isolde who finally took a long breath after she took off the last gown.
It had been a whole day, and they couldnât select one gown because she looked breathtaking in all of them.
Finally, they had settled for one.
Isoldeâs eyes suddenly widened. "Doesnât my husband need something special? Bring your best, he needs to test it out."
The designer was stunned. Her eyes went down to Isoldeâs fingers but found nothing. Pendragons married quite early, especially the Heads, but Selyne was recently adopted.
It was quite quick, but understandable since it was part of the familyâs tradition.
"Husband? Youâre married?" She asked to confirm if she really heard correctly.
Isolde revealed a sweet smile that made the designerâs eyes slowly widen. She expected Selyne to be upset and uncomfortable with this partner who must have been forced on her, but right now, the designer couldnât help but imagine who could make this beautiful young womanâs face light up like this.
âShe must really like him.â
Just then, Isolde left the room in a hurry.
"Lady Selyne!" The designer went after her. They searched the mansion but he couldnât be found. However, the designer got to know his name was Godfrey.
Who in the world was this Godfrey that would make a woman, who at a slight whisper countless men would gather for, sulk like this!