Chapter 504: Erebus

On a remote world in the galaxy

—Colchis.

In a small town there, a boy named Rhex Grey watched several adults arguing in the distance. A faint, mocking smile crept onto his lips.

Since childhood, he had possessed certain… unsavory tendencies.

First it was tormenting ants, spiders, cats, and dogs…

Then escalating to pranks on people…

And now, arranging false accusations and provoking conflict between others.

He enjoyed it.

He loved watching people writhe under his manipulation.

Sometimes, he even wondered whether the term "born villain" had been coined specifically for someone like himself.

After watching the quarrel intensify—shoving, shouting, about to turn into a fight—Rhex finally turned away, satisfied, and headed home in high spirits.

But that good mood lasted only a moment.

The moment he stepped through the door, he heard his parents speaking.

Their tone was full of irritation.

They were complaining about him again—about his behavior, his failures, and how shameful he was to the family.

And, admittedly… they were not wrong.

He stood silently in the corner, listening to their endless list of criticisms.

When they finally finished reprimanding him, he was just about to step into the house—

Only to hear them switch topics, their voices brightening.

They began praising a name he utterly despised.

Erebus.

A well-known, well-loved boy in the region: dutiful, kind, studious, and a devout follower of the local Church.

A model child.

Everybody's model child.

Rhex's parents compared him to Erebus constantly.

"If only Rhex could be more like Erebus…"

Standing at the doorway, hearing that line once again, Rhex's expression twisted with resentment.

He withdrew the foot he had placed past the threshold.

'If you hate me so much… then you'll never see me again.'

With that furious thought, he turned and left the house, heading toward the outskirts of town.

But fate—or something darker—had different plans.

On the quiet path he took, he saw a familiar figure sitting on some steps, quietly reading.

Erebus.

At first, Rhex merely frowned and prepared to walk around him.

Out of sight, out of mind.

But just as he passed by and Erebus turned his back, Rhex's gaze fell upon the sacred scripture-tattoos on the boy's face.

A strange idea bloomed in his mind.

'Since you're so desperate for me to be like Erebus… then I might as well become him.'

His pace slowed.

Feigning nonchalance, he walked past Erebus—

Then silently drew the small bone knife he carried for self-defense.

Without hesitation, he drove the blade into Erebus's neck from behind.

Blood sprayed.

Erebus froze, shock and confusion frozen on his face.

Rhex felt a surge of indescribable joy.

For a long moment, he simply stood there, staring at the spreading pool of blood on the stone steps.

Then, with malicious delight, he whispered:

"From today onward… I am Erebus. Exactly what you all wanted, right?"

Smiling widely, he peeled off the skin of Erebus's face.

He would copy the scripture-tattoos and brand them onto himself.

As for the corpse, he tossed it into a narrow mountain ravine, leaving the rest to the snakes, insects, and scavengers.

---

Ten-plus years later

Under the stolen name Erebus, he had risen to become a priest in the city of Venerateds, serving the Covenant Church of Colchis—one of the planet's ruling powers.

The church had, for thousands of years, worshipped five ancient gods—older than the world itself, embodiments of sacred concepts.

Erebus had studied these scriptures for many years.

But inwardly, he held nothing but disdain.

To him, it was all lies.

All inventions—fabrications created by people for their own purposes.

Closing the handwritten scripture with annoyance, he prepared to lie down for a rest.

Then—

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something in the tall mirror across the room.

A blurred crimson figure, standing silently, watching him.

He could not describe what he felt—

Only that an overwhelming shadow swallowed him whole.

The world seemed to crack apart.

Time, sensation, even his thoughts collapsed into a hollow void.

Terror and reverence flooded his soul.

Before he even consciously understood what he was doing, his body had already reacted—

He fell to his knees.

Cold sweat poured down his face.

Even though the figure's form was indistinct, the faint sigils flickering across it were unmistakable.

He knew exactly who stood before him.

"The Blood-Bound King…"

The source of all torment and suffering.

The one who dwells at the end of time.

The being whose mere gaze drives mortals into madness and mutation…

All the names, all the descriptions he had once dismissed as fantasy now surged violently into his mind.

And now, seeing the truth with his own eyes—

He realized that those supposed "exaggerations" in the Covenant scriptures had been pathetically understated.

No combination of words in any language could describe what stood before him.

The being was the embodiment of greatness, a true god stepping seamlessly from the unreal into reality.

No words.

No gestures.

Only a calm, silent gaze—

And it shattered his mind as effortlessly as snapping a twig.

..

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