Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Grand Duke's Heir, You've Run Away
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Damn it, what the hell do you expect me to do!
In the beginning, there was only chaos and void. This world, born from the eternal dream of the ancient absolute god Nilhilum, was nothing but disordered energies of thought tangling and clashing endlessly, birthing destruction alone. No laws governed all things, and no living beings breathed life.
But some grew displeased with this. They were Nilhilum's three children: Lumenox, Meteria, and Sinus—the creation gods of matter and order.
One day, Lumenox gathered his siblings and spoke. Though the conversation was long, it boiled down to one idea: drive out their father Nilhilum's chaos and void, and create a world of their own. His eldest sister Meteria readily agreed, but the youngest, Sinus, hesitated, unable to decide. He supported crafting a new world, but he could never accept fully purging chaos and void from it.
Lumenox thus spent eons persuading Sinus. After all, without the Spiral God who governed the laws of all things, they could not forge new order.
Finally, Sinus accepted his brother's proposal under one condition: he alone would shape the foundation of the new world and dictate its laws.
Lumenox, having no objections, gladly consented. No one else could do it anyway.
Sinus then erected dimensional barriers to hold back chaos and void as he willed, establishing the laws of all things and the world's foundation. Within that, Lumenox created light and darkness, while eldest sister Meteria layered matter and all life upon it.
Thus was this universe born.
Lumenox was immensely pleased with the world they had made. He wasn't thrilled by newborn lifeforms clashing in conflict rather than harmony, but seeing all things flourish within satisfied him all the same.
Yet joy didn't last. Monstrous beings he never foresaw appeared everywhere, slaughtering his beloved creations. They were魔 beasts.
Outraged, Lumenox confronted his sister Meteria, demanding what those hideous things were. But even she didn't know—none of her created life took that form.
Puzzled, Lumenox and Meteria scrutinized their world and uncovered the truth. The魔 beasts were chaos and void energies seeping through dimensional rifts, twisted into physical form by this material realm's influence.
Lumenox flew into a rage. The father's power they had desperately fled was infiltrating their world—unthinkable, absurd.
He immediately sought his brother Sinus and commanded him to seal the rifts. Sinus had built the barriers, after all. Whether mistake or intent, this disaster was his doing.
But Sinus flatly refused. Tragic as it was for creations to suffer under魔 beasts, he said it was an inevitable phenomenon to sustain their world.
It was deliberate. Sinus had willfully cracked the barriers.
Yet Lumenox swallowed his fury with gritted teeth—not from understanding, but because Sinus was far too powerful. He could never match his brother.
Still, he didn't sit idle. Soon after, Lumenox rallied his sister Meteria and a host of newly created gods to ambush Sinus, sealing him in an indestructible holy ark and hurling it into the chaos and void beyond the barriers. If he loved their father's world so much, he could live there.
With that, Lumenox and the other gods sealed the rifts, perfecting the universe. Peace returned, and victims of魔 beasts vanished... for a time.
Then one day, parts of the barriers crumbled, and one side of the universe collapsed entirely, consumed by chaos and void. The panicked gods poured all their might into halting further ruin, but it didn't end there. Soon, massive breakdowns erupted across the outer edges and beyond.
Only then did Lumenox realize how fragile their world truly was—and how overwhelmingly potent their father's chaotic dream remained. Brother Sinus had known all along. Like opening sluice gates in a dam to divert a massive flood, he had crafted rifts to gently accommodate the destructive pressure of chaos and void.
The path forward was clear.
To prevent their creation's collapse, they had to reopen the rifts somehow. But it was no simple task. Sealing was easy, but knowing how much and where to open them to minimize damage—that knowledge belonged solely to Sinus, lord of all laws.
Yet the sealed ark floated in the infinite space of Nilhilum's dream, unreachable by any god of the material world, lost to chaos.
In the end, Lumenox and the gods pooled their power, wandering the barrier realms to carve temporary rifts wherever chaotic pressure mounted. An eternal labor, but without it, the world would be swallowed back into Nilhilum's dream.
And through these rifts born of their work, countless civilizations and lives perished before invading chaos and void. Horrific, gruesome ends—but they meekly accepted their fates, forsaken by the gods.
From the gods' view, they were mere sacrifices of the few for the many's survival. No one worth saving.
"Ughhh..."
It was early dawn, with a gentle breeze blowing. The curtain fluttered as a soft gust slipped through the window, tickling my cheek. Irritated, I swatted at it from my bed. I hate having my sleep disturbed. I needed a full night's rest today to survive tomorrow.
Suddenly, my eyes snapped open.
To survive tomorrow meant I was alive today. An impossibility by any logic I knew.
"What? I'm... alive?"
The scene before me was absurd. Walls papered in gold thread. Ornate antique furniture etched with intricate patterns. Translucent silk drapes encircling the bed. Outside, a majestic oak towered, its branches alive with birdsong from perching songbirds.
A landscape etched into faded memory, yet unmistakably familiar.
'My room?'
This was the room where I'd spent my youth.
Confused, I rolled my eyes wildly before slapping my cheeks hard with both palms.
It hurt.
It should hurt, but it absolutely shouldn't—not like this. Bizarre. My room had long crumbled to ruins, and I should be dead.
"No, what the fuck is this shit?"
I bolted upright, rubbing my eyes furiously. But even as they reddened, the scene didn't change.
Composing myself, I lay back down.
'Nah. No way I came back to life. Heaven must just look like this.'
This was my first time experiencing the afterlife. No one I'd known in life had either. So if it defied common sense, that was fine—no one had returned to confirm it anyway.
This place looked like paradise. Hellfire wouldn't grant a space from my nostalgic memories. Clearly, this was a divine gift for surviving a hellish world.
A grin spread across my face. Gods sure had style with gifts. I'd longed for this era's peace amid the age of ruin.
I hugged the soft silk blanket tight.
"Ahh~ Perfect. Paradise itself. If I'd known, I'd have died sooner instead of struggling on."
Then the door creaked open cautiously, and a short young man entered—Paul, my exclusive servant. I'd heard he'd vanished on the front lines. Looked like he'd reached heaven first.
Seeing me awake, Paul hurried over and bowed deeply.
"Young lord. Time to rise."
I threw off the covers and sat up.
"Hey, Paul. Good to see you. Damn, your skin's cleared up nice. Totally glowing. Heaven suits you."
"Pardon?"
I jumped out of bed and slung an arm around the bewildered Paul.
"Anyway, let's get along. Don't haze the newbie too hard. I went through hell to get here, you know?"
"What would I even know, my lord?"
"Aw, come on."
"Pardon?"
"You don't know?"
"No, my lord."
I scrutinized Paul, then clenched my fist.
"You. If you pull a 'surprise!' on me, you're dead. I reached Master realm in life, you know."
Paul trembled and dropped to his knees.
"How dare I jest before you, young lord? If I've erred, just say the word. I'll correct it at once."
Paul seemed utterly clueless. His expression rang true; no deceit in his bow.
A twinge of unease hit me as I patted his shoulder with a finger.
"You... really didn't die?"
My words struck like a death knell; Paul's face drained white.
"Mercy, my lord!"
"I'm not killing you!"
"Then... you'll spare me?"
"Obviously. Even I can't kill the dead twice."
Paul glanced up in vast relief.
"Me, dead? I'm right here, alive and well."
"What are you talking about? You died on the front lines in Imperial Year 367."
"Pardon? 367? It's 358 now."
358—before the age of ruin. Right after I graduated Imperial Noble Academy and held my coming-of-age ceremony.
I peeked into the nearby full-length mirror and swept a hand over my face in disbelief. No dignified legion commander stared back—just some black-haired kid gaping blankly.
"I... it's really 358?"
"Yes, my lord."
I clutched my forehead and slumped to the floor. Insane. If Paul was right, I'd time-slipped a decade back—eight years before ruin began.
'This... has to be a dream.'
In panic, I scrambled onto the bed and pulled the covers over. I couldn't relive that nightmare. If a dream, wake up now.
But sleeping to escape a dream was nonsense. Grimacing, I sat up and glared at Paul.
"Ugh. Paul. If you're lying, you're really dead. Fuck."
Damn it, what the hell do you expect me to do!