Amon lounged on the boat, staring at nothing while scribbling in his notebook. Daydreaming wasn't just a waste of time, it was research. Planning fake lore to scatter across the Dream Realm, little scraps of "ancient history" for future generations to worship. Free aura-farming, basically.

He'd already carved nonsense into some of the ruins they'd passed. The next region would get the same treatment. Might as well set the foundations of legend early.

While he was busy envisioning himself as a god-king, Luna glanced his way, her expression complicated. She tilted her head, frowning.

"I heard something. Go below and check it out."

Amon blinked. "I refuse."

Luna's eyes widened. "What do you mean, you refuse?"

He stared back at her, equally baffled, eyes wide with fear and indignation.

"Woman, what do you mean, 'go check'? The hell do I look like? I'm scared too!"

A few minutes later…

That barbarian woman! What kind of girl kicks a guy off the boat just to check some creepy noise under abandoned ruins?!

Muttering curses under his breath, Amon clambered down the side of the broken tower that jutted toward the heavens. The Forgotten Shore wasn't nearly as empty as it looked from above. In truth, ruins sprawled across the region like scars, the remnants of cities that once stood before the Nephilim fell and the dark sea rose to swallow everything whole.

Now, only daylight revealed their ghostly shapes, when the artificial sun sealed away the dark sea. Later, the Seven Heroes had raised the Dark City as a haven for what remained of humanity.

Amon paused, narrowing his eyes at the shattered archways.

Hmm… should I leave some lore here, too?

The thought itched in his skull. It was tempting. Fake runes, grandiose myths... fertilizer for future aurafarming. But then again, too much self–advertising ruined the mystique.

If I leave too much, I'm not some mysterious god, I'm just a well-documented one. Already dropped hints in the Mines, carved some nonsense in another ruin…

He scratched his chin.

Ah, screw it. Trinity's a thing, right? Third one won't hurt. Even Luna's into threes.

Amon crouched in front of the cracked stone altar, his hand tracing the old surface as he carved fresh runes into the forgotten temple wall. For a while he worked in silence… until he suddenly froze mid-symbol, frowning.

"…Wait a second. Am I just glazing myself here?"

He tapped the stone with the tip of his finger, thinking hard. "Yeah, that's definitely glazing. Bro code clearly states: thou shalt not glaze only thyself, but also thy homies."

With a decisive nod, he shifted his focus. If he was going to leave behind some godlike inscriptions, he might as well immortalize the squad.

His hand moved again, letters burning faintly into the stone.

"And 'He' appeared from the blood-soaked heavens. The tall-as-a-mountain Blood Emperor who wore a red cape with 'His' eyes being abnormally crazy, containing almost zero reasoning. When I looked up at them, I lost consciousness when the Blood Emperor looked at me."

Amon leaned back, admiring the sinister glow.

"Hmm… that's actually pretty good. You should be thanking me, Medici. I just gifted you the lore of my goat, Alista."

But of course, there was a problem… every god needed an origin story!

Amon tapped the rune-etched stone, brows furrowing. Come from the Void? That could work… He chewed the thought like it was a bad meal. Maybe we broke the seal of the Void… nah. Better. I created an error in the seal, a flaw that became a door. A doorway that let us break through the barrier. Outer Gods type shit.

He smirked to himself before scratching at the stone with his runes again.

"Luna will be…" Amon lifted his chalk again, eyes narrowing in thought. "…the first Void Creature born from the Void. Known as... screw it. We're going with Honorific Names."

He cleared his throat and began etching the words, his voice growing theatrically solemn:

"The Lord that Created Everything,

The Omnipotent and Omniscient God, The Lord who Reigns Behind the Curtain of Shadows, The Ruler of the Mind World,

The Degenerate Nature of all Living Things"

He leaned back, admiring his handiwork.

"Yeah, that's good. Very mysterious. People will eat this shit up. Not much should be known about me, since I'm from Mystery Pathways, so I can glaze others more freely than myself."

Satisfied, he moved on to the altar, rearranging the temple's symbols until the place no longer looked some other God's at all, it looked like a shrine dedicated to three unspeakable gods: Amon, Medici, and Luna.

Above Luna's Honorific Names, Amon carved her symbol into existence: an upside-down cross, and upon it, a bloody, broken lamb, its wool torn and flesh marred… yet its eyes remained crystalline, innocent and childlike. Staring straight ahead in eerie, silent triumph.

"Beautiful," Amon whispered. "Creepy innocence, nothing unsettles mortals more."

Now, Medici. Amon tapped the ruined altar with a smirk. Symbol in mysticism? Eagle? But... there's no oil in Forgotten Shore anyway. Whatever.

He scribbled rapidly, eyes gleaming:

"The Symbol of War and Apocalypse;

The Demoness wielding Chaos; The Many-Faced One who offers sacrifices to Calamity;

The Ruler of the Mirror World."

Amon chuckled darkly to himself. Hehehe… you called Lumian a fraud? Well, I didn't like his fragile balance either, but he's still better than your goat... Medici's real fraud, that one. Lumian's honorific name is cooler, too. But hey, Medici, you get to be Demoness! As Roselle's disciple, I must do this!

Wait a second… hmm, sure, my symbol in mysticism is a crow that strangely looks like a Vile Thieving Bird with monocle. That one… LESSS GOOO!!!

Though there was something else he needed to do. He needed to add a little bit of his lore here. Just a few words… hmm…

"'He' can be anywhere and anyone..."

This one works. I don't need to exactly explain everything. With the things I left in the other two places and now this one, connections can be drawn, and misunderstandings will spiral out of control too, hehe.

Wait… am I forgetting something? Luna said something about checking a noise…

He thought and glanced outside the shattered window. He looked to his left there was nothing. Then to his right, also nothi... Oh.

Now this is problematic. Why do I hear strange sounds from that ruin…?

Hesitantly, he left the temple and approached the destroyed house. Gulping, he took a step forward, sweat dripping from his forehead as his fingers twitched slightly.

"Com… Come… here… look at me."

Should I check…?

Amon blinked, then smiled pleasantly, shaking his head with a smug look.

"Heh, I've seen too many horror movies to get fooled by this."

He muttered and turned back. If anyone wanted to check that creepy house? Sure. But he wasn't doing shit. Too many people died in movies because of that stupidity. Like, why would you check that!? It's creepy as fuck! Ain't you scared?!

He thought as he quickened his steps… and then he heard the loud sound of stone shattering.

Oh… hell nah.

There stood a monster, at least five meters tall, hunched and looming over him. It… no, maybe she? The beast looked disturbingly like a woman. Her back was bent with an unnatural crook, her posture reminding him of a granny from some horror movie.

Her hands ended in bestial claws instead of nails, and her whole body looked as if it had been caught mid-transformation into some grotesque abomination. Strips of skin hung peeled and raw, blistered patches spreading across her flesh in ways that made no sense.

But what really made Amon's stomach twist was her eyes. They weren't just monstrous, they were hungry, staring at him with a look that made him freeze.

Holy shit… why do I feel like I'm about to get violated?

The creature croaked, voice rasping and broken:

"Come… to me."

"Hell nah!"

"W-why…"

"Cause you're ugly as fuck!"

The abomination let out a bestial scream and lunged at him, moving with terrifying speed. On all fours, she bounded forward like some twisted animal, the ground shuddering under her weight.

At that moment, Amon realized... Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say.

"Ughhhhhh!!!"

Amon gulped hard, legs already pumping as he sprinted with everything he had while Granny came charging after him like a rabid beast.

"I'm sorry!" he blurted out.

What can I do!? What... His thoughts scattered as he ducked just in time, a monstrous claw tearing through an entire house behind him. Splinters and dust rained down, the sheer force making his chest tighten.

Cursing, Amon kicked off a pillar, using it as a stepping stone before vaulting onto a massive coral structure. He slipped into the gap between two crimson corals, plunging into a hole.

But Granny wasn't letting him go that easily. Her arm slammed down, reaching into the gap with frightening strength. Amon barely managed to squirm free, his heart hammering, before he caught sight of her next move...

Instead of squeezing after him, Granny simply decided to smash through the coral itself, the whole thing collapsing in a deafening crunch. Amon slid down the tunnel, looking up in horror as the rooftop caved in above him. He scrambled across to the other side just in time, his breath ragged, while the abomination tore her way closer and closer.

Okay, calm down. What would Senior Error, Door, and Fool do? ...Running away like Senior Brother Bethel? Not working. Jumping granny with avatars like Senior Brother Amon? Tch, don't have that yet. So what's left... ah, of course! Senior Brother Klein's secret technique!

If I can't win, create a mess where everyone else wins for me. A battle royale!

He veered sharply to the left, sprinting toward the spot where a squad of Carapace Centurions slumbered in their shells. His boots pounded the cracked coral, then he scrambled up a wall and onto a rooftop, eyes locked on the next building.

CRACK!

Behind him came a deafening crack. The rooftop exploded into shrapnel as Granny's claw tore it apart.

"Shit!" Amon leapt at the last second, landing on a tumbling slab of coral. He bounced off it, teeth gritted, and rolled across another rooftop, bruised and groaning.

Still, he was getting closer.

Running along the rooftops, Amon cast a glance at the fallen tower. He leapt, hidden blade snapping out mid-air and sinking into the coral with a satisfying crunch. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he used the blades like climbing picks, scrambling up with practiced ease.

He risked a glance back. Granny was still coming after him, and though he was faster, the comparison in size and strength was… depressing. Like a toddler coughing at a giant.

With a sigh, he slid down the tower's slope like a surfer, his coat flapping wildly. At the bottom, a grisly scene caught his eye: Carapace Centurions tearing into a dead scavenger. Adjusting the crystal monocle on his right eye, Amon gave them a polite smile.

Behind him, the deranged Granny vaulted the ruined tower, her twisted body landing with a thud that shook the street. Madness and spite burned in her eyes as she let out a beastly roar.

Only, the roar cut short when she noticed the "puny human" sprinting directly toward her.

Her lips parted, saliva glistening on her fangs, only for her to hesitate. A strange sound rumbled from behind Amon.

With a cheerful wave, Amon greeted her like a friend at a market stall. And then the shadows disgorged four Carapace Centurions, all of them locked onto his trail with relentless hunger.

Amon laughed, almost giddy, and unleashed a ripple of mental disruption. To the Centurions' dull senses, Granny's figure warped, her monstrous shape becoming his.

If they'd had the wit of demons, the trick would've failed. But they were just monsters. Simple, barely intelligent and hungry monsters.

And now they saw only prey.

A few minutes later, Amon stood among the wreckage, his crystal monocle glinting faintly in the dark. The gleam caught nothing, just hollow reflection, like the streets themselves.

He bit into a fruit from the Soul Devouring Tree, chewing slowly as he took in the scene.

"Kinda cool fight," he muttered around the pulp, "but weird as hell. Granny nearly had me. Strong as shit, but not that fast… hmm."

He shrugged it off and leapt down from the rooftop. His boots crunched over shattered stone as he crouched by the corpses, carving out strips of edible meat and prying loose soul shards, crushing them one by one without ceremony.

When he reached Granny, he climbed onto her stomach, feigning a pout.

"Eh, what can we do, old hag? Life sucks."

Her one remaining eye fluttered open.

"Look… at me…" she rasped.

Amon rolled his eyes and yawned. He was bone-tired and in no mood for the tragic sob-story of some abomination. Without hesitation, he silenced her and fished out the soul shards. His brows rose.

"Oh? A devil? …Tch. No wonder I didn't stand a chance."

[You Have Slain Fallen Devil, Handmaiden of Hero]

He frowned at the shards in his palm.

"…Hmph. No memory again. Stingy-ass spell."

Shaking his head, Amon glanced at the runes.

Name: Amon.

True Name: The Blasphemer.

Rank: Dreamer.

Class: Monster.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Soul Fragments: [1004/2000].

"…Another thousand and I'm a freaking demon." He clicked his tongue, lips curling in amusement. "Not as fast as Nephis, damn princess and her innate ability but whatever. I'm already far ahead of everyone else."

He sighed and dismissed the runes. His body ached, his soul felt wrung out, and his clothes were half shredded. With a grunt, Amon started trudging back down the ruined street. All that noise was bound to attract more abominations sooner or later.

And then it hit him.

"Luna." His eye twitched. "Check the noise, my ass. I almost died!"