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Ashton opened his eyes and saw that he was standing in the middle of a vast and seemingly boundless white space.

The silence was deafening. Not a living being could be seen on sight. He was the only existence here as far as he was aware, and clearly, he was confused.

He could clearly remember what happened a few minutes ago...

Ashton sensed a deadly threat unlike ever that he had encountered before. Before he even knew it, his body already moved on its own as if it knows what was going to happen.

He tried his best to defend against whatever it was, but ultimately he blanked out. The last thing he could remember was being swallowed by a blinding flare of golden light, and all of a sudden, he woke up here.

Ashton took a breath and lifted a hand. He attempted to call on his abilities, his weapons, his Laws...hell, he even called out to the System but nothing responded.

The weird thing was, he didn\'t feel like he had lost them. Somehow, he could sense that he still has them, he just can\'t use them for whatever reason.

"What an interesting creature you are..."

Ashton\'s soul nearly left his body from shock. He swiftly turned around, only to see someone right behind him. He didn\'t sense this man\'s arrival or anything, he just came really close to him without him noticing it. And that\'s dangerous...

The man was old, sitting on a rocking chair. He noticed that the old man was feeding an apple to a worm in his lap. The scene was quite peculiar but also highly suspicious.

"Dear me...I truly am getting old, aren\'t I?" The old man chuckled all of a sudden. "For now, feel free to refer to me as Old Man. After all, that\'s what I am. Can you tell me your name, Child?"

"...Ashton."

He debated heavily in his mind on whether he should respond truthfully or not. In the end, he bravely chose to tell the truth, but of course, not all of it.

"I see." The Old Man mumbled, "You are quite younger than I initially expected. It really makes me wonder how you were able to achieve so much in such a short time."

"..."

He had chosen not to respond this time. Ashton\'s mind was working overtime right now. And if he just followed his train of thought and the context clues he received so far, he\'d conclude that this old man was not an ally.

"Humans...eh?" Old Man mumbled, catching Ashton\'s attention. "Such latent talent is quite enviable if I do say so myself."

"Paired with a desperate need for progress...no wonder your kind developed so fast in such a short period of time."

"Had I chosen to remain still and ignore you all, you lot could\'ve had the ability to wipe us all out."

Chills ran down Ashton\'s spine as he continued listening to the old man.

At this point, Ashton was aware that this old man wasn\'t just anybody. He\'s no simple old man either.

Ashton could tell that this man was someone who held real power. The hand that controls everything. He just doesn\'t know for which race.

"...if I had let that happen, then the prophecy might\'ve come true."

Alarm bells rang inside Ashton\'s mind as he saw the old man attempting to stand up.

He went on guard obviously, but it felt useless. He couldn\'t muster an ounce of strength in this place. Not even a wisp of Mana was around. He\'s completely and utterly vulnerable here, and he hated it so much.

"A part of me died to warn me about that damn prophecy." The Old Man said after standing up.

"My Child has been sacrificed for the sake of preventing the potential occurrence of that prophecy. His body had been desecrated by sin to summon a horseman, yet not even his body remained for me to mourn over."

"The worst part is that...even that wasn\'t enough." The old man sighed, "In the end, I still have to be the one who finishes this, the snuff out the candlelight before it turns into a wildfire."

Suddenly, the old man\'s back straightened.

Dignity seems to return to his body in full glory. His shabby clothes changed into a pure white satin robe that flowed like mercury. A golden curtain of light emerged from his skin, and tribal tattoos started showing all over his body.

His eyes turned into gold, and a set of white wings unfolded behind his back, seemingly stretching as far as the eye can see, maybe even farther. And finally, a golden loop of light appeared behind him.

"With this finger of mine, I shall snuff out the flames of mutiny." The old man\'s voice sounded archaic, resounding throughout this vast expanse of white and nearly deafening Ashton.

"I hereby declare that no prophecy shall end my reign as a Supreme Being. I denounce The Fool that questioned my supremacy."

The Old Man then lifted a finger and pointed it to Ashton, and the latter could\'ve sworn that his entire body suddenly felt a restriction so tight, that it was not even letting him breathe.

"Let there be...light!"

Golden light erupted from the Old Man\'s fingertips, attempting to swallow Ashton alive for the second time in a row.

Ashton\'s expression twisted in unwillingness. He wasn\'t resolved to die like this, not even able to put up a fight.

He desperately called out to anything...anything that he could use to resist this overwhelming power. Yet sadly, he couldn\'t do much. Nothing was responding to him. He was completely cut off from everything and everyone. And it truly vexed him to no end.

As the golden light arrived, Ashton swore that even in death, he will continue to hate and denounce both the Celestials and Hypogeans. He will haunt them til the end of time if he needs to.

His only regret is not being able to bid farewell to his friends and his lover before he died.

"...well, can\'t say I didn\'t see this coming at all."

"Huh?"

Ashton opened his eyes and was immediately stunned.

To his absolute surprise, he saw that time had seemingly gone to a screeching halt.

The golden light that was about to swallow him, paused just an inch or two away from him. Even the Old Man was completely still, looking as if he wasn\'t aware that time has stopped all of a sudden.

He was able to move tho, and the restriction on him was removed all of a sudden. He then looked back and saw a blurry visage standing behind him.

Ashton didn\'t need to see that face to know who it was, he knew exactly who this person is...

"Beast God..."

"Yo! What a scene eh? Seems like you\'re in some deep shit right now." The Beast God replied to him.

"...but how? I thought..."

"Oh, I\'m not there, I mean here— wait, no! Ugh, whatever! What I mean is, think of this as a voice transmission of some sort." He said, "I\'m nowhere near you, that\'s for certain, but I can communicate with you just fine using this. Get it?"

"...I guess. But still, how? Did the System call you?"

"Well, it doesn\'t have to." Beast God replied. "I gave two talismans, remember?"

Ashton searched his memories for it and said: "Yes. One was a protective charm and the other...well, I don\'t know. It was left as a mystery."

"The Protective Talisman/Charm contains a hundred years of my cultivation. That should\'ve been enough to protect you from certain harm and allow you to retreat safely and prepare for whatever\'s going to happen next."

The Beast God\'s visage then walked around and paused right in front of the Old Man.

"But then, this thing just had to show up..." the Beast God then looked at him and said:

"The Protective Talisman I gave to you was triggered by this attack. However, it also sensed that it was not going to be enough. That\'s why it also triggered the secondary talisman I gave to you."

"One that contains 10,000 years of my cultivation..."

Ashton\'s eyes constricted with that. 10,000 years worth of cultivation. What kind of concept was that?

"Oh, don\'t think too much of it." Beast God says, "It\'s just a unit of measurement. I can condense that much in an hour."

"..."

"But hey! Coming from someone of my status, that is way more than enough to deal with whatever fuckery you\'re about to face! But...well, I couldn\'t really give you something like that for free."

"..."

The Beast God stood in front of him and said:

"I\'ve told you this before. Someone like me can\'t willfully interfere with the lives of people. That backlash of Karma is something that I even need to be wary of."

"Initially, I\'ve given you the secondary talisman for an entirely different purpose. And that was to escort you personally to my palace once you\'ve taken care of everything you need to settle in this world."

"Sadly, fate has other plans for you. This will be the last time I can interfere with your life. After this, you\'re on your own."

The Beast God sighed and said:

"I will imprison this Old Thing in his kingdom long enough for you to settle the debt of Karma. Settle everything before you go, and if you\'re lucky, then you should be able to return before they come back."

Ashton didn\'t have enough time to understand any of that before he felt the surroundings warping around him.