Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen gazed through the window, carefully observing the Sequence 3 demigods passing by.

Through the God-Hunting Magic Eyes , he had already discerned the origins of all the demigods.

Over half of them were archaeologists, while the rest were either hunters or assassins.

These individuals claimed to be excavating historical relics in Totem Canyon, but in reality, they were hunting for him and Daisy.

After all, he was a hereditary duke, and if Chinon wanted to kill him, he wouldn't do so openly. The so-called "archaeological dig" was nothing more than a flimsy cover. Now, Chinon himself had sealed off all human entry and exit points in Totem Canyon, making it clear that he wouldn't rest until Rosen was captured.

Rosen locked onto a Sequence 3 hunter who seemed particularly focused on the search and quickly sketched a portrait of him.

After summoning a Two-Dimensional Ash Wasp, Rosen directly targeted the hunter in the portrait and unleashed a Death Verdict. The wasp traced the consciousness of the hunter from the sketch into reality, entering his mindscape and delivering a True Stinger.

As he released the stinger, Rosen used the God-Hunting Magic Eyes  to also lock onto the Sequence Ancient Tree the hunter had been hiding within the lord's castle.

Thanks to the Miraculous Trait of True Accuracy, the stinger ignored all distance, flying straight toward the Sequence Ancient Tree.

Along its path, the stinger pierced through all defenses with its True Armor-Piercing ability. By the time the hunter realized something was wrong, the True Stinger had already struck the Sequence Ancient Tree. Instantly, it activated True Damage and True Pain.

The pain, originating directly from the divine essence, was indescribable—so intense that even being dismembered by a thousand cuts would pale in comparison.

Thus, even though the Sequence 3 hunter, Bruno, possessed immense willpower, he couldn't endure the agony. He frantically slammed his head against nearby rocks, his shrill screams chilling the hearts of the other demigods nearby.

Yet, this was only the beginning. More and more Sequence 3 divine essences were struck by the True Stinger.

The True Stinger clung to them like a bone-burrowing parasite, causing endless, inescapable pain.

In a safe environment, the stinger might have merely served as a tormenting tool, insufficient to inflict fatal harm.

But Totem Canyon was anything but safe. The area was crawling with Sequence 3 heroic spirits. Hearing the human demigods' agonized screams caused by True Pain, the spirits swarmed them. Some demigods managed to escape after exhausting all their resources, but most were torn to shreds by the heroic spirits.

Outside Totem Canyon, Chinon's expression darkened as he listened to the wails of the demigods.

This was Rosen's counterattack. All those demigods had been sent by him, and if something happened to them, he would be the first held accountable. He had just attempted to remove a True Stinger from the divine essence of a Sequence 3 archaeologist.

Though he succeeded in removing it, the process inflicted permanent damage on the archaeologist's divine essence.

To make matters worse, Chinon now had to bear the full cost of healing those damaged divine essences.

The sheer number of injured demigods was a considerable financial burden for him.

What's more, many demigods had already perished in Totem Canyon. These individuals could only be resurrected in their divine territories, meaning that all the extraordinary artifacts and treasures they had been carrying were now lost forever in Totem Canyon. Compensating for these losses also fell on Chinon's shoulders.

After calculating the costs, Chinon estimated that this incident would leave him scrimping and saving for at least a thousand years.

Chinon couldn't help but regret his actions. If he had known Rosen would be this difficult to deal with, he would never have pursued a life-and-death feud with him over Damon. Who could have predicted that a mere Sequence 5 would humiliate someone like him, a Sequence 0?

But regret was futile now. If Rosen wasn't dealt with soon, the losses would only grow worse.

In any other location, Chinon would have been tempted to simply obliterate Totem Canyon and kill Rosen outright. Even if his old rivals exploited the situation to have him perform some troublesome punitive missions for the World Government, it would have been worth it.

But Totem Canyon was different. The secrets hidden behind the heroic spirits here were being watched by several true gods.

If he dared to destroy the canyon outright, the claims from those true gods would bankrupt him.

After pondering for a long time, Chinon finally released his messenger from the spiritual realm.

Rosen was a problem—a massive one.

His strength was improving too rapidly, so much so that Chinon could sense a threat even from someone at Sequence 4.

Coupled with his unbelievable stealth abilities, Rosen had to die.

Ordinary Sequence 3 individuals would likely pose no threat to Rosen. Even titled demigods at Sequence 3 might not be enough to deal with him. Only those Sequence 3 individuals holding forbidden sequences stood a chance of ensuring Rosen's death.

Ever since hundreds of Sequence 3 demigods had perished in Totem Canyon, Chinon had stopped sending additional personnel into the area.

Instead, he had completely sealed the canyon and, at an unknown cost, persuaded a Sequence 2 titled demigod from the Beastmen to help. Together, they blocked both entrances to Totem Canyon. But as far as Rosen was concerned, all of this was a waste of effort.

Bored, Rosen resumed his painting, this time focusing on the Void Divine Prison.

Although the Void Divine Prison had fused with the Void Gallery and its imprisoning effects had grown alongside the gallery, as his strength increased, so too did his enemies. The prison was gradually losing its ability to hold them. Thus, Rosen planned to use Five-Dimensional Painting to strengthen the prison.

Of course, the best solution would still be to find more Void Divine Prison Realms.

If he could turn each Void Divine Prison into a realm painting and then use dimensional artistry to stack their powers, the results would be incredible. However, such realms were exceedingly rare. Despite offering a reward for them in the Thunder Empire for years, he had yet to receive any leads.

One day, as Rosen was painting, the Fifth God-Hunting Eye suddenly uncovered a valuable secret.

From the First to the Eighth God-Hunting Eye, each was tasked with handling various types of information from the Spirit Realm Deep Web and the Primordial God Network. They also compiled and analyzed everything the God-Hunting Magic Eyes observed. This time, the Fifth Eye had discovered useful intelligence while monitoring a specific target.

Because the Sequence 2 Beastman had sealed the canyon's other entrance, Rosen had used the God-Hunting Magic Eyes  to keep tabs on him as well.

Initially, Rosen only wanted to see if Chinon was making any deals that betrayed humanity.

But instead of incriminating evidence against Chinon, Rosen stumbled upon a secret the Lionkin race had been desperately trying to hide.

Ever since the Spirit Realm expanded to envelop the entire material world, spiritual realms had begun to appear across the Beastmen's Vata Continent. The true gods and deities of the Beastmen had been so preoccupied dealing with threats from the depths of the Spirit Realm that they had been running themselves ragged.

In fact, ever since the Spirit Realm's expansion concluded, the entire material world had grown more peaceful.

Why?

Because all the non-human races were now busy contending with the threats lurking in the Spirit Realm's depths—threats born from the civilizations they had destroyed throughout history.

What humanity once shouldered alone, the other races could no longer escape.

Of course, when the non-human races deliberately accelerated the Spirit Realm's expansion, they had accounted for this outcome. Past civilizations sought to use the Spirit Realm to achieve rebirth, but present civilizations were equally determined to hunt those past civilizations for resources.

Take the elves' World Tree of Life, for example—it was gone.

However, deep within the Spirit Realm, as long as traces of the elven civilization's history can be found, and if these traces are revived within the Spirit Realm, the elves would have a chance to restore their completely destroyed World Tree of Life.

Risk has always gone hand in hand with opportunity. Otherwise, how could humanity have come to occupy the central lands of the Main World?

After all, if one were to measure purely by resource production, the central regions of the Main World—round in sky and square on land—are actually the most barren. Generations of intelligent life have already depleted the resources there. By contrast, the world's edges, still in their nascent state, are brimming with untapped resources.

As the Main World continues to grow and expand, the edges of the world—rich with newly formed resources—have become a treasure trove.

And yet, despite its resource scarcity, the central regions of the world remain a battleground coveted by countless intelligent species. This is solely because of the birth of the Spirit Realm. The Spirit Realm has filled these lands with countless spiritual realms capable of producing resources, making the central regions desirable once more.

Now, the Beastmen race also possesses spiritual realms, and all of these realms are newly formed and completely undeveloped.

Each spiritual realm is akin to a treasure trove. Over the past few years, the various tribes of the Beastmen have descended into chaos, fighting over these new spiritual realms. Not long ago, a spiritual realm was discovered between the Lionkin and Elephantskin tribes.

Both tribes are among the strongest in the Beastmen race, and whenever spiritual realms are discovered, they rely on strength to compete for them.

The scale of these competitions, however, had generally been small—after all, no one wanted to engage in battles that would result in losses for both sides.

But this time, the scale was unprecedented. Both tribes agreed to send their Sequence 3 individuals into the spiritual realm, with the tribe that obtained the most resources gaining 60% ownership of the realm, while the losing side would only receive 40%.

The Sequence 2 demigod who had sealed Totem Canyon was from the Lionkin tribe. He was also one of the chosen participants in this venture.

However, since the contested spiritual realm was only of Sequence 3 level, the Sequence 2 demigod couldn't enter it directly using conventional means. To do so, he would have to inflict severe damage on his divine essence, forcibly lowering his Sequence level to 3.

For a Sequence 2 Lionkin demigod, it was easy to fall to Sequence 3, but climbing back to Sequence 2 was incredibly difficult.

What's worse, it would nearly cut off any chance of ever reaching Sequence 1 in the future. No one would willingly agree to such a sacrifice. Yet, the Sequence 0 of the Lionkin tribe had already issued the final order. The Sequence 2 Lionkin demigod had no choice but to obey.

The Beastmen, after all, were nothing like humanity, whose World Government had established countless laws to maintain order.

Here, if a Sequence 2 defied a Sequence 0's order, the only outcome was death.

Rosen glanced at the information about the spiritual realm and couldn't resist the thought of slipping in to fish in troubled waters.

Though the realm was classified as Sequence 3, the historical traces that had formed it belonged to the previous Age of Transcendence.

In that era, even the weeds on the roadside might now be considered Sequence 3 potion ingredients in the current era.

The reason this spiritual realm had compelled the Lionkin tribe to sacrifice a Sequence 2 individual lay in the resources it contained. These resources, in today's world, were of such high quality that they reached Sequence 1 in rank—and there was a significant quantity of them.

Even with a 60-40 split between the two tribes, the resources would be enough for both sides to nurture several Sequence 1 individuals.

However, with two Sequence 0 individuals stationed outside the spiritual realm, sneaking in to take advantage of the situation was no easy feat.

"Maybe I can try… a swap-the-real-for-the-fake strategy," Rosen muttered to himself.

After reading through the materials, Rosen sent a self-portrait doppelgänger out of the Divine Secret Library and slipped into the Void. He headed straight for the entrance of Totem Canyon leading to the Vata Continent.

Using Mind Domination, he enslaved a patrolling Lionkin and manipulated him toward the tent of the Sequence 2 Lionkin demigod, Domnar. Before he could get close, the Lionkin was intercepted.

Before Rosen could force the enslaved Lionkin to break through, a hand extended from the tent hundreds of meters away.

The hand pierced through the void, grabbing the Lionkin under Rosen's control and pulling him into the tent.

"So, you're the Rosen that Chinon is hunting."

Domnar sneered.

"Don't be in such a hurry to vent your anger on me. I'm here to propose a deal," Rosen said calmly.

"I'm not interested in listening," Domnar replied, attempting to trace the connection back to Rosen and drag him out.

"The Sacred Lion spiritual realm…"

Rosen uttered a few words that left Domnar both shocked and furious.

"How do you know about the Sacred Lion spiritual realm?" Domnar demanded.

"I know about it because of you," Rosen replied with a smile. "Your Lionkin deity is forcing you into the Sacred Lion spiritual realm because your background isn't deep enough, your connections aren't strong enough, and your chances of reaching Sequence 1 are slim. That's why the Lionkin tribe is coercing you into entering the Sacred Lion spiritual realm.

But I have a way to help you avoid this disaster—and maybe even give you a shot at reaching Sequence 1."

"Explain yourself," Domnar said after a moment of silence.

"I have a unique ability to disguise and impersonate others. I can take your place and enter the spiritual realm," Rosen said seriously. "All I want are the treasures inside. In exchange, I'll help the Lionkin secure 60% ownership of the realm. This way, the tribe won't blame you. As for the treasures I secretly collect, we'll split them 50-50."

"How are you planning to impersonate me in front of two deities? What makes you so confident you'll get a big haul?" Domnar asked, clearly still hesitant.

"Give me a drop of your blood," Rosen said, extending his hand.

Without hesitation, Domnar provided a drop of blood. Rosen took it, then snapped the finger of the enslaved Lionkin, using its blood to paint a picture on the ground. Through the space in the painting, Rosen sent Domnar's blood to his true body.

"Wait a few hours," Rosen said, sitting down nearby.

Several hours later, a Lionkin corpse was thrown out from the spatial painting.

Domnar examined it and, to his shock, found that the corpse was an exact replica of himself. It could breathe and had a heartbeat but lacked both a soul and spiritual essence.

"How has humanity's cloning technology reached a point where even someone like me, a Sequence 2, can be perfectly replicated?" Domnar muttered in disbelief.

"Let the Contract Spirit God witness our friendship," Domnar said seriously.

"A pleasure working with you," Rosen replied confidently with a smile.

With deep knowledge of his opponent, resolving many problems became far simpler.

Domnar, as it turned out, was the kind of Lionkin who valued personal gain above all else—unashamedly opportunistic. Otherwise, he wouldn't have openly collaborated with Chinon. Publicly aiding humans might not be a capital offense among the Beastmen, but it was undoubtedly a disgraceful act.

This time, Domnar had been sacrificed by his tribe. It was highly likely that his cooperation with Chinon was one of the reasons for his predicament.

Rosen also knew one more thing: Domnar was an ambitious Lionkin.

Many individuals, upon reaching the limits of their innate potential, exhaust every possible method to break through, only to eventually lose their ambition and settle for enjoying life at their current Sequence. However, Domnar refused to give up even the smallest sliver of hope—otherwise, he wouldn't have collaborated with Chinon.

Now that Domnar had been forced into a desperate situation by his tribe, Rosen's arrival was nothing short of salvation in a time of need.

If Rosen's disguise went undetected, that would be the ideal outcome. But even if he were exposed, Domnar's situation wouldn't be worse than it already was. This was one of the reasons Domnar was willing to cooperate.

Under the witness of the Contract Spirit God, Rosen and Domnar finalized their agreement.

Rosen's true body appeared, and the two began discussing how Rosen could more perfectly disguise himself as Domnar.

Using the World Gene Library, Rosen could adjust his genetic blueprint to perfectly replicate Domnar's physical form. As for Domnar's language, habits, and mannerisms, Rosen could use his Impersonation Ability to flawlessly emulate them.

The troublesome part was the divine essence. Rosen's own divine essence couldn't be disguised as Domnar's.

Eventually, Rosen came up with a solution. Domnar would peel off a portion of his own soul and divine essence core to create a special extraordinary artifact. While this would cause permanent damage to Domnar's divine essence, it was still preferable to permanently falling back to Sequence 3.

The final, and most challenging, issue was that Rosen couldn't use Domnar's Sequence abilities.

While it wasn't necessary for Rosen to fully master all of Domnar's abilities, he would need to replicate at least a few of them. Otherwise, if he encountered a situation where he needed to display these abilities in front of other Beastmen, his disguise would be exposed instantly, no matter how perfect it appeared on the surface.

To resolve this, Rosen used the Hands of Greed. Each of his hands stole one Sequence ability from Domnar.

Domnar then carefully demonstrated all of his Sequence abilities to Rosen. While Rosen couldn't replicate these abilities as perfectly as the ones he had stolen, he could use Amy's Manifestation of Fantasy to mimic them to a certain extent.

Once everything that could be done was done, Rosen disguised himself as Domnar and headed for the Sacred Lion spiritual realm.

As for Domnar, he went into hiding, fervently praying for Rosen's success.

In less than two days, Rosen returned to the Lionkin tribe.

Seeing that he had successfully fallen back to Sequence 3, the Sequence 1 tribal chief delivered a long-winded speech about responsibility and glory before handing Rosen a dossier.

Since the spiritual realm's discovery, both the Lionkin and Elephantskin tribes had already sent in small teams.

However, the results had not been promising, as the Sacred Lion spiritual realm was extremely dangerous.

The Sacred Lions were a subspecies of Lionkin and had once been their royal family in the previous era.

However, during that era, the Sacred Lions were betrayed and replaced by the Frenzied Lions, who now served as the royal family of the modern Lionkin tribe. That didn't mean the Sacred Lions were weaker than the Frenzied Lions; rather, during the struggle for the title of Beast King, the Sacred Lions had been defeated by the current Beast God.

The storyline within the Sacred Lion spiritual realm revolved around the Frenzied Lions betraying the Sacred Lions.

Under such circumstances, Frenzied Lions entering the spiritual realm would naturally align with their own faction, while the Elephantskin tribe, having no enmity with the Sacred Lions, had chosen to side with the Sacred Lions instead.

The Sacred Lions were already stronger than the Frenzied Lions, and the betrayal had been a narrow victory even in the past. Now, with the Elephantskin tribe assisting the Sacred Lions, the Frenzied Lions' chances of victory had grown even slimmer.

Had the Frenzied Lions not been completely outmatched, the Lionkin tribe wouldn't have forced Domnar to lower his Sequence level.

It was important to note that Sequence 2 individuals, while not at the very top, were still among the absolute upper echelon of the tribe. Losing a Sequence 2 member was a painful blow for the Lionkin tribe.

"I will secure victory, but I'll need some assistance," Rosen said after reviewing the detailed information.

"Whatever you need, just say the word," the Lionkin tribal chief agreed without hesitation.

"I need to borrow the Lionheart War Drum," Rosen requested.

The Lionkin tribal chief fell silent for a long time before finally producing a small object resembling a rattle drum. Activating the Lionheart War Drum created a Sequence 3 projection of it. The process left the tribal chief visibly weakened. With a wave of his hand, he tossed the projection to Rosen, signaling him to leave.

Rosen knew full well that this request had offended the Lionkin tribal chief. But it didn't matter—Domnar would be the one dealing with the consequences in the future.

(Chapter End)