Kane felt as though he had a long dream.
In the dream, all his desires became reality, it was the feeling of truly becoming a god, where the world would always respond to his thoughts.
Yet, at the other end of the sweet dream lay a land filled with corpses and remains.
Even the castle before his eyes was changing at a speed visible to the naked eye, its glamorous surface peeling away, revealing its true form.
Small mounds made of piled bones, and lanterns for illumination were actually suspended skulls, burning red flames within their dark eye sockets.
These became one of the few sources of light in this world.
When this beautiful dream ended, the sun had been swallowed by the darkness, the cracks in the clouds interconnected, and looking up at the sky revealed an endless eternal night.
"What is... happening?"
"This world has been infiltrated."
As he stated, everything in the castle courtyard was the result of legitimate defense; he detected the peculiarity of the old steward and the servants. They looked drastically different from Kaisaros’ creations, thus he conducted a simple test using the knowledge provided in "100 Dark Creatures You Should Know."
The peeling delicate skin, and the horns signifying demonic identity said it all.
Ethan couldn’t help but praise human knowledge, the experienced Old Demon Hunter had helped him once again.
For a long time, demons were the top enemies of Demon Hunters, and even this profession itself was born because of demons. In the book, Old Demon Hunter defined demons as the most insidious and cunning beings in this world.
When the lies were uncovered, the demons in the courtyard launched an attack on him.
Kane saw the body of the old steward in the courtyard, his body had swollen several times, the gray skin burst through the tailcoat, exposing the green markings branded on his chest, symbols of a Sincaro follower.
A terrifying speculation brewed in his mind.
"About Kaisaros’ ’Rebirth’ plan, perhaps this has been Sincaro’s conspiracy from the start."
Ethan voiced his judgment; the appearance of high-ranking demons in the Trial of Courage was the best evidence.
When Kaisaros excitedly believed he had outpaced all the Old Gods, finding a way to return to this world first, he had fallen into Sincaro’s trap.
This made Kane shudder in fear.
He almost immediately recalled the temptation of the old steward in the "sweet dream," had he responded to the flame burning in his heart and remained eternally in the dream world, he might have become a puppet manipulated by Sincaro.
"As for the exact reason, it should be known soon."
As he spoke, the broken corpses on the ground were melting; they melded into the darkness and vanished without a trace.
The world collapsed, all creatures were reset, perhaps this was the "good result" they achieved in the Trial of Courage.
This was the outcome influenced by the judge.
According to their original plan, once Kane completed the fusion, he would be able to mend the rifts caused by the collapse, yet at the most critical moment, he was influenced by a high-ranking demon.
Now the collapse had completed, even the sun was swallowed, all that remained might only be the path of resetting.
Kane tightened the Spear of War in his hand, speechless for a long while. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚑𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚑𝙣𝙚𝙩
The story initiated by Kaisaros was heading towards an unpredictable direction, he might not even be the true initiator of this story.
He felt the energy flowing within his body, when he shattered the sweet dream, the process of fusion came to a halt.
As the surface peeled away, the throne of the castle revealed its true appearance.
It stood upon countless skulls, a testament to endless slaughter and death.
Kane gazed at the distant skull throne, finally making a decision.
In theory, the Trial of Courage exam had already failed, and as failures, all three of them should have been eliminated, yet in the festival history of the bottomless abyss, there had never been a scenario where all three candidates failed.
"Old Sen, you were right."
After a long time, Kane spoke, "You should find the answer soon."
Not only Kaisaros’ "Rebirth" plan, Sincaro’s conspiracy, but also the origin of this world. Through the magic net, they vaguely saw a blurred figure. When this world was still barren lands, someone had summoned the Old Gods to descend.
Golden flames burned in his eyes, energy akin to radiance spread from his eyes to the Spear of War in his hand, enveloping it wholly.
Kane hoped Ethan could find the answer, and he himself was to personally rewrite the ending of the Trial of Courage for both of them.
He gathered all his strength and hurled the spear forward with great force.
The golden energy tore through space, leaving a temporary gap resembling a doorway.
Kaisaros was the judge of the Trial of Courage, therefore, this trial had not yet failed.
"When you see Sincaro, don’t forget to give Him a good beating for me."
With that, Kane walked toward the throne on the skulls, "I have some matters to attend to here, so I won’t be going with you."
He listened to the call of the throne.
That was the "treasure" meant for him, this world had not yet ended.
Kane suddenly felt relieved.
Returning to the throne, retrieving the treasure was the destiny of "Human Kane." All along, he imagined this scene as the last step of his life, he had hardly thought about the part "after the ending," but in that recent sweet dream, he witnessed the world after the ending.