Lord: Sequence Master

"Be careful and stay safe," Rosen advised, watching Gray Mouse depart.

On the Dragonhawk, after the nobles finished their discussions, Count Bartle was the first to expand his Divine Domain. For Rosen, it was the first time he had seen another noble's domain up close.

Count Bartle's Divine Domain spanned a 4,500-meter radius, indicating that he had reached Sequence 5. Inside the domain, there were nothing but extraordinary buildings, and the number of residents easily surpassed ten thousand. The outer boundary of the domain was fortified by Alchemical Walls, with patrolling units keeping a vigilant eye on any potential threats.

Within the domain, apart from a garden in front of the castle, the rest of the land was either used for growing extraordinary plants or raising extraordinary creatures. In the garden, Count Bartle had set up a grand feast to entertain the thousand or so guests, showing his sociable nature and lack of arrogance typically associated with nobles.

The atmosphere was lively as the thousand extraordinary humans enjoyed roasted meat and stew made from the hunted sea beasts, accompanied by fine ale. Any fear they had of being trapped in the Ghost Black Sea had been swept away. But as they reveled in the feast, the open-air banquet suddenly grew silent.

From the edge of the Divine Domain, a deafening storm and thunder could be heard rolling in. Count Bartle made the boundary of his domain transparent, allowing everyone to see the sky beyond.

In the eerie light of the white moon, the scene was terrifying—massive waterspouts stretched from the sea to the heavens, while thunderbolts fell from a cloudless sky. Even more unnerving was the countless skeletal undead climbing from the sea, all fixated on the moon above.

These skeletons couldn't fly, so they stacked themselves in towering piles, climbing over one another. Occasionally, the waterspouts would tear through them or the lightning would shatter them, but no matter the obstacles, they continued their relentless climb toward the moon.

Through his Nightmare Chains, Rosen could feel that Gray Mouse had mixed in with the skeletal undead.

At the same time, some of the skeletons noticed the Divine Domain and began assaulting its outer defenses. After crossing the spatial barrier, countless skeletal figures arrived at the base of the Alchemical Walls.

Several of Count Bartle's wizard residents took control of the Wizard Towers behind the walls, casting large-scale war spells. Meanwhile, the thousand extraordinary humans also rushed to the walls, joining in the defense.

At first, they easily overwhelmed the skeletons, but as the skeletal horde grew endless, the number of bodies piling up against the walls continued to increase. Eventually, a bone mountain formed, even taller than the Alchemical Walls.

With the skeletal undead seeming endless, the defenders grew cautious, conserving their spiritual energy instead of recklessly attacking. They realized that no matter how many they killed, more would come, so it was better to save their strength and control the battlefield.

Rosen, too, joined the fray, though he didn't unleash his Ice Naga-transformed slimes this time. Instead, they infiltrated the bottom of the bone mountain, using their devour ability to feast on the skeletal remains from below.

For the next few days, Rosen truly witnessed what it meant to be relentless.

The skeletons continued their climb, undeterred by storms or lightning, and after several days, they managed to reach the moon, which hung several dozen kilometers above the sea.

Rosen had already sent out his Hunting Eye's, which captured the sight of the ghastly moon covered with skeletal undead. Gray Mouse was among them, but Rosen couldn't reach him through the Nightmare Chains or the Divine Beast Seal—all communication was being interfered with.

As the fifth day drew to a close, Rosen finally felt Gray Mouse descending from the moon.

Meanwhile, the other extraordinary humans on the walls, except for Count Bartle, were elated, knowing that the Void Whales would soon arrive to rescue them.

Though they had agreed to rotate the burden of defending the Divine Domains, only Count Bartle's domain had sustained damage. The Alchemical Walls were nearly ruined, and the domain's reserves of spiritual crystals had been significantly depleted.

To make matters worse, the danger had come so swiftly that Count Bartle hadn't had time to form alliances or establish new connections.

Suddenly, the deep cry of a whale echoed across the horizon. As it approached, the waterspouts were shattered by the sheer force of the massive creature.

The Void Whale charged through the storm, ignoring both the lightning and the skeletal horde, soon arriving near Count Bartle's domain. The moment it approached, all the surviving extraordinary humans, Rosen included, eagerly charged towards the Void Whale, clearing a path through the skeletons.

As soon as they were close to the Void Whale, they were instantly transported to the Blue Whale Royal City within its belly.

Before entering, however, Rosen managed to reunite with Gray Mouse, who was now extremely excited, fidgeting restlessly in his pocket. Unable to calm the creature, Rosen had no choice but to send it into his Divine Domain for now.

Once the last of the extraordinary humans had been transferred into the Void Whale, the enormous beast raised its head, swimming toward the moon in the sky. When it reached the moon, the whale devoured it whole, along with all the skeletal undead.

With its task complete, the Void Whale returned to the sea, ignoring the Ghost Black Sea's attempts to repel it, as it returned to the spirit realm.

By now, Rosen and the thousand other extraordinary humans lay exhausted on the streets of the Blue Whale Royal City.

While resting, Rosen discreetly questioned Gray Mouse about his findings.

In the Divine Beast Pen, Rosen's self-portrait clone received a thumb-sized crystal from Gray Mouse's paws.

"This is the offspring of a Void Phantom Eye," Gray Mouse excitedly explained.

It turned out that the Void Phantom Eye was a special demi-god-level lifeform, with its true form being a giant eyeball. These creatures were naturally endowed with powerful void abilities, and the Ghost Black Sea itself had been born from the dream of a fallen Void Phantom Eye.

As for the skeletal undead climbing to the moon, they were likely connected to another demi-god corpse buried within the Ghost Black Sea.

Gray Mouse theorized that the Ghost Black Sea had been formed by the deaths of two demigods.

Even though the Void Phantom Eye had fallen, its mastery of the dream sequence meant it hadn't truly died. The Blue Whale Kingdom was likely trying to suppress the undead associated with the other demi-god's corpse while attempting to resurrect and enslave the Void Phantom Eye.

However, it seemed that the Blue Whale Kingdom had missed something—they were unaware that this Sequence 3 Void Phantom Eye had left behind a sealed offspring.

This wasn't to say that the Blue Whale Kingdom was incompetent or that Gray Mouse was more capable than their forces. The natural defenses of the Ghost Black Sea repelled any powerful beings that could threaten the Void Phantom Eye, including the kingdom's demi-gods.

If the kingdom's demi-gods had forcibly entered the Ghost Black Sea, the dream realm's instinctive retaliation would have only caused greater harm to the Void Phantom Eye's remains.

Thus, the kingdom's demi-gods couldn't stay in the Ghost Black Sea for long, nor could they discover the sealed offspring.

Gray Mouse, however, had once been a demi-god and was now a weakened Sequence 8 extraordinary creature—making it the perfect candidate to locate and claim the Void Phantom Eye's offspring without triggering any of the realm's defenses.

(End of Chapter)