"By the way, Aphro, do you know how it came to be?"
Rod briefly recounted the events.
Unexpectedly, the doll immediately answered his question, "This is a relic of the former Master of Dreams."
Rod exclaimed, "The former?"
"Yes, the previous master of the Dream Realm was the Blossoms on the Frosty Shore, the Northern Prince Heigao’er."
"The Demi Divine Artifact, Star Balance, was a miraculous creation forged by him within the Dream Realm."
"After Heigao’er was defeated, the Dream Realm shattered and the items stored in the House of God’s space scattered across the earth."
"The Starry Kingdom might have obtained this Demi Divine Artifact and thereby established the Starry Knight Order, until their destruction."
"Star Balance, a creation of the Dream Realm, still maintained a degree of spirituality after being corrupted, collecting Soul Firewood that also bore the aura of the Dream Realm."
The doll paused before continuing.
"Master, such a battle is extremely dangerous, not an encounter found under normal circumstances. There must be some secretive forces influencing the situation, please be very careful."
Rod furrowed his brow, missing the latter part of what the doll said. The name "Heigao’er, the Northern Prince of the Frosty Shore" felt uncannily familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
After deeply pondering for a while, Rod could not come up with anything.
He looked up and saw a dark red star in the night sky of the Dream Realm.
It was like a glowing red eye watching him, exerting a strange attraction.
[Dark Devourer], it was his first star and his most core ability, plundering souls and devouring darkness.
Without it, Rod would not have everything he had now.
Suddenly, a burst of spiritual light flashed through Rod’s mind.
The "Northern Prince Heigao’er" was none other than the dark specter he met when he first entered the Dream Realm?
It was frantically striking the Obelisk back then, causing its own head to ache continuously. And when Rod mistakenly wandered into the Dream Realm, it charged at him upon sighting, filled with hatred, eager to bring him to his demise.
Eventually, it was killed by the Divine Blade, and Rod directly obtained its soul.
Afterward, it flew into the Obelisk’s soul facet of its own accord and ignited [Dark Devourer] directly.
No wonder the [Dark Devourer] was different from other stars; it didn’t need Soul Firewood and was in its Complete Form from the start, yet provided pitiful Soul Strength.
This must definitely be due to the soul of "Heigao’er, the Northern Prince."
But, if he was the former master of the Dream Realm, why did he become like that? And why would he attack the Obelisk that he once defended desperately, even feeling such hatred towards the new Master of Dreams like himself?
Apart from being corroded and losing his rationality, there was no other explanation.
But according to Rod’s current experiences, Humanity was very easy to obtain, and as long as one had Humanity, corrosion was unimaginable.
Most crucially, according to the Book of Knowledge, every Master of Dreams was a mighty figure of the era, a hero among men.
Even if his Humanity was depleted and he became a monster, why was there still a chance for struggle against someone who was still a common man at the time?
A heavy chill rose in Rod’s heart.
Indeed, the doll gave an explanation that he had anticipated.
Heigao’er was defeated, his soul shattered, the Dream Realm broken; although he was resurrected by the Resurrection Stone, the Dream Realm was destroyed, and all was finished.
But his residual soul refused to admit defeat, gathered in the shattered, deathly still Dream Realm, waiting for its revival.
And a thousand years of waiting brought another Master of Dreams. The residual soul of Heigao’er exhausted its strength over the long years, went mad, fell completely into darkness.
And thus brought Rod his very first fire.
The essence of the residual soul was not lost, it devoured its own soul, igniting [Dark Devourer], and that was the beginning of everything.
Hearing the doll’s words, Rod felt very heavy-hearted.
The tragic fate of the former Master of Dreams made it hard for him not to think about his own circumstances.
Rod quietly asked, "How did he die?"
The doll briefly replied, "He died defending the city."
"Blossoms on the Frosty Shore, the Northern Fortress Belgril."
"What place is that?"
"His Royal City, his capital, his Holy Fire, humanity’s gateway to the North."
Rod’s mood grew even heavier as he asked a question to which he already knew the answer, "After he died, what happened to humanity?"
The doll calmly replied, "It perished."
"Why do you know so much? The Book of Knowledge doesn’t know this?"
"Our souls’ levels of completeness vary, and the Book of Knowledge specializes in knowledge, it has no special advantage in non-knowledge matters."
Rod let out a long sigh and decided to end this heavy conversation.
"Aphro, why do you also refer to the Heavenly God’s Armor as the Dream Realm?"
The doll calmly replied, "Following the master’s will is our duty."
Take things one step at a time, perhaps if I learn from their failures, I might avoid repeating them?
However, when Rod asked for further details about the events, the doll was once again unable to respond—it, too, had significant gaps in its memory.