Chapter 816: I Encountered That Raven

Lynn listened intently.

He knew that if it weren't for her complete trust in him, the Matriarch would never share such things with anyone else.

The Self-Binding Angel took a deep breath, her gaze distant as she spoke: "And precisely because of the endless chaos and conflict, through the countless slaughter and competition across infinite ages, rulers wielding immense power were born in every abyssal plane. The mightiest being of such a plane was naturally called a Monarch, which is how the title 'Abyssal Monarch' came to be."

"However, because of the disparities in strength between the various planes, and during the bloody struggles between Monarchs, distinctions based on power emerged. For the sake of better differentiation, the titles of First Monarch, Second Monarch, and so on came into existence. This tradition seems to trace back to an even more ancient era."

Lynn listened carefully, then asked gravely, "So... were you once the... Monarch of the Seventh Abyssal Plane?"

But the Self-Binding Angel shook her head slightly, her lips parting softly.

"No. I was born in the First Abyssal Plane. That so-called title of Seventh Monarch only came about because I defeated an ignorant Demon who once dared to set his sights on the First Plane. I inherited his title afterward, but in truth, I never truly ruled over the Seventh Abyss."

Lynn focused his attention.

She continued in a low voice: "And the reason I was called Lucifer's Archangel is because that was once my mission. Though I never knew why, and I have never truly seen 'Lucifer,' since the moment I was born, the teachings I received constantly reminded me of our sole reason for existing."

"It was to guard the door behind us, until the day it opens once more."

In that instant, it felt as though.

Those ancient, fragmented memories pieced themselves back together, parting the surging mists, beneath the blood-red full moon.

There stood an ancient castle, having endured since time immemorial at the very depths of the Abyss, a structure that had never once crumbled.

Before that great door.

Countless Fallen Angels stood guard with cold indifference. Endless legions of Demons stretched from every corner of sight, spilling across the desolate wasteland, a scene of stark slaughter and chilling dread.

And she.

She was the Twelve-Winged Fallen Angel of Lucifer, blade in hand, standing eternal guard before that ancient castle gate, staring down the entire Abyss as it came for them.

"So, that 'Lucifer' is behind the door you were guarding?" Lynn asked with a frown.

The Self-Binding Angel raised her head, a whirlwind of complex emotions flickering in her gaze. "I don't know. In fact, for countless ages before my birth, that great door had never once been opened. So whether he truly slumbers within that castle as the legends claim, or whether we were guarding an empty fortress all along, none of us truly knew."

"We simply stood guard there, generation after generation, driving away and slaughtering every creature that dared to set foot upon the First Plane. That was our purpose, until death claimed us."

Lynn's brows knitted tightly.

He had never known that the Matriarch carried such a history upon her shoulders.

"Then what happened afterward? How did you..."

"How did I go from Lucifer's Archangel to the Twelve-Winged Sacred Angel I am now, is that what you want to ask?"

Lynn nodded.

That was precisely what he wished to know.

He understood that there must have been an incredibly complex journey in between, otherwise, how could the Matriarch have undergone such a monumental transformation overnight?

The Self-Binding Angel raised her head, her gaze churning like stormy seas.

"Because... I encountered a Raven."

In that instant.

Lynn's entire body jolted violently.

It was as if all the seemingly unrelated pieces suddenly connected in that moment. His mind flashed with the entire civilizational history of the Colossus, echoed with the ancient fairy tale of the Cyber Civilization that Sir Aiwen had once told him, as though spanning boundless time and space, converging together in this single moment.

"Actually, the Abyss was far from peaceful back then either," she recounted in a low, reminiscent tone.

"For a long time, the First Plane had always been regarded by all the great abyssal realms as forbidden ground that absolutely must not be trod upon. Because ever since recorded history began, the most powerful Monarch in the Abyss had been slumbering within that castle. He had even survived countless Great Purges without ever being touched by them. That mysterious existence was thus forever regarded as the First Monarch of the Endless Abyss, never once challenged."

"But it had truly been far too long. As time passed, because that being had almost never appeared throughout history, more and more living creatures began to harbor doubts. Does Lucifer truly exist? Does the First Monarch truly exist? If he does exist, then why has he never once appeared? If he exists, why has he never been affected by the Great Purges?"

And thus, this led to a logical conundrum.

Because those beneath the Ancient Gods would not be swept away by the Great Purge.

1: So if he existed, yet was never touched by the Great Purge, then did that not mean he was not a god? Did that not mean he was not the insurmountably powerful being the legends claimed?

2: Was it possible he simply didn't exist at all? Or even if he had once existed, perhaps he had already perished long ago, and what lay behind that great door was nothing more than his dried bones.

Such rumors.

Spread ever wider throughout the Abyss as time went on.

Even within the First Plane, among the generations of Fallen Angels who guarded the castle, and within the Demon legions that shielded it, these doubts inevitably took root.

And sometimes.

Once the seed of doubt is planted, it can never be eradicated.

She raised her head and said, "And it was amid this tide of skepticism that more and more Demons began to probe into our First Plane. What gradually evolved from this was a sweeping tide that engulfed the entire Abyss, as the Monarchs of the various abyssal planes united and launched an all-out war against us."

"They demanded that we open the gates of that castle, that they might lay eyes upon the legendary First Monarch of the Abyss with their very own sight."

"Of course, we refused. Though the seed of doubt had long since taken root within our ranks as well, the traditions upheld for countless generations meant we would never compromise with them. And so, war broke out."

It was nearly the greatest catastrophe the Abyss had ever witnessed.

Dozens of planes participated in the assault against them, and no fewer than a hundred million Demons set foot upon the First Plane.

The war even raged to the point where the plane itself shattered.

To the point where countless Monarchs fell in battle!

To the point where innumerable Fallen Angels perished, where blood stained every inch of land as far as the eye could see!

She said in a low voice: "I've even forgotten how long that war lasted. I only remember that in the most recent battles, the Monarchs had already fought their way to the very foot of that great door. Countless of my sisters, my elders, kept dying in that war. In the harshest moments, the first thing I had to do every single day when I opened my eyes was confirm who among us was still alive..."

But from beginning to end.

Our Monarch never answered our calls.

Just as he had been for countless years past, he remained as silent as the castle they guarded, a silence so profound it drove one to despair.