The dark cyan dragon wings lifted swiftly, soaring past Ye Bai's line of sight. With each powerful flap, she was carried upward at breakneck speed, returning to her original position in the blink of an eye.
Where the dragon's body passed, layers of space unfolded within the pure white laws of light, distorting the 'light' itself and, in turn, nullifying any harm.
In that hurried moment, countless thoughts flooded Ye Bai's mind, leaving her momentarily speechless. All she could do was glance down at her feet—resting atop the jagged, unyielding skull of the mighty dragon.
Then, realization struck her like an electric shock:
"Nameless!"
Yet no matter how desperately Ye Bai searched, the lines that had once represented the existence of the paper figure had already transformed into the true-name dragon language before being swallowed by the light, vanishing without a trace.
Meanwhile, Autofis—now restored to its true form as the Dragon of Space—had already reached the Lich King's side with terrifying speed.
Space was its domain. When it came to sheer velocity, no one in the divine realm could rival the Dragon of Space.
"Roar!"
With a furious bellow, Autofis beat its wings, instantly conjuring a peculiar spatial storm. A hurricane of terrifying spatial rifts surged forward, crashing into the Lich King, Rory.
Even as a deity of immense power, Rory could not withstand a direct assault from another god. The spatial storm sent him reeling, forcing him away from the treasure vault he had been mere steps from reaching.
"A dragon?! How is this possible?!"
The Lich King was utterly stunned by the sudden appearance of the ancient dragon. He had noticed Autofis's unusual nature earlier when it carried Ye Bai into the laws of light, but just as Ye Bai had never imagined her long-time donkey mount was actually a dragon, Rory had never expected this either.
Then, recognition dawned on him: "The Dragon of Space… the Dragon King! You didn’t die back then!"
Even after the fall of the Highwall Duchy and his subsequent rise to power, Rory had been revered in human history as 'Saint Rory'—partly due to his legendary campaign against the most feared race in the divine realm: the ancient dragons.
That war had ended in a resounding victory, leading to the fall of the Sky City and the extinction of the dragons and their descendants. Rory's army had been hailed as 'Dragon Slayers,' and he himself was crowned the 'Dragon Slayer Hero.'
But Rory knew the truth—that victory had only been possible because the dragon race had already been devastated by internal upheaval before his forces arrived.
It had all begun with the disappearance of the Dragon King, followed by the deaths of countless dragons. By the time Rory's army reached the Sky City, only four dragons remained to defend it—none of them the Dragon King.
And the root of that catastrophe, Rory suspected, was tied to the God King's sudden and ruthless campaign against all races.
When the Sky City was finally struck down by Rory’s own hand, and the legendary Dragon of Space still failed to appear, he had assumed the Dragon King was long dead. Had it not been for the God King’s curse of immortality, Rory himself would have faded into history long ago.
So why was the Dragon of Space here now, aiding the very God King who should have been its enemy? Or had the truth behind the dragons' disappearance been different from what Rory believed?
For the first time in centuries, Rory—who had once believed he knew everything—was filled with doubt. But then, his gaze fell upon Ye Bai, standing atop Autofis's head, and the necrotic flames swirling around his body froze in sheer disbelief—
"She… how?!"
A proud dragon would never allow anyone to stand upon its head—let alone the Dragon King of the ancient dragons. This sight shocked Rory more than the donkey’s transformation or the Dragon King’s alliance with the God King.
In all his knowledge, there had never been a being who could command a dragon’s submission… unless…
A long-forgotten fragment of history flickered in his mind—something he would have never recalled had he not witnessed this scene.
……
"Autofis!"
Everything happened in an instant. Ye Bai, standing atop the dragon’s head as it soared upward, barely had time to shout before she sensed a spatial tremor above her.
The entrance to the God King’s treasure vault—the place both the paper figure and Autofis had desperately wanted her to reach—was now right before her!
"No!"
The Lich King unleashed his full power in a desperate attempt to stop Ye Bai from entering.
"Roar!"
With a deafening roar, Autofis erupted with its most terrifying strength. The laws of space manifested to their absolute limit, forcibly bending even the tyrannical laws of light, warping space itself into a tidal wave that propelled Ye Bai toward the vault.
The sudden surge of power from Autofis carried an ominous weight, but the battle was far beyond Ye Bai’s control. She couldn’t bear to waste the sacrifices and hopes of the paper figure and Autofis.
Amid the dizzying whirl of space, Ye Bai finally broke through the blinding white domain of light and plunged into the chaotic void of the treasure vault’s entrance.
In that fleeting moment before she disappeared inside, she caught a glimpse of something that sent a violent tremor through her soul.
As Autofis unleashed its full power, the colossal wings that seemed capable of blotting out the sky were slowly being consumed by creeping black fissures.
The dragon layered space upon space to resist the encroaching cracks, but they clung like parasites, relentlessly eroding the barriers and creeping toward its body.
One glance was all it took for Ye Bai to understand—
The Great Annihilation.
Then, in that hyper-focused state, her entire body shuddered. Just before fully entering the vault, she saw something no other being in this world could perceive—the true nature of those black fissures, of the 'Great Annihilation' itself.
Within the dark rifts, she glimpsed endless strings of densely packed… binary code.
"So… this is the Great Annihilation."
……
Helpless to stop Ye Bai’s entry into the vault, the Lich King tried to pursue—only to be met with the Dragon of Space’s unrestrained fury.
"Roar!"
Black cracks continuously coiled around Autofis's body as he endured a force capable of erasing his very existence. Yet, his brilliant golden eyes remained unwavering, fixed firmly on the Lich King, showing no intention of retreat.
"You... have gone mad?!" The Lich King instantly recognized the terrible damage Autofis was suffering—a backlash seemingly tied to the full unleashing of his power. The moment he unleashed his might, this devastating force would strike without mercy.
Even the usually domineering laws of light surrounding them were helpless against this power, allowing it to persist and spread unchecked, as if it were something far more profound than their own essence.
"Just who is she?!"
Rory grew increasingly uneasy, for he knew one thing for certain: even the God King of his era, '...', had never been worthy of riding the Dragon King as a steed.
This connection, combined with a symbolic fable he had seen in his childhood, finally made Rory remember—there had once been an existence far, far older.
He could not recall its name, nor any of its deeds, but everything unfolding before him now pointed unmistakably to that being.
"Boom—!" The answer to Rory's question came in the form of a spatial storm hurtling toward him.
Faced with a Dragon King who would rather perish than let him pass, the Lich King could only seethe in frustration, his venomous glare locked onto Autofis. "You won't last much longer! Don’t you realize what the God King has done? You’ve been... deceived!"
Rory spoke with certainty, recalling the contents of that fabled painting. Though it consisted of only three panels, it held an overwhelming depth of meaning.
The first panel depicted a towering giant, exuding supreme authority. Humanity worshipped at its feet. It commanded a steed that ruled the skies, a beast that dominated the seas. Life itself offered it crowns, and even the most unruly magma stilled in its presence. And knowledge... served as its right hand, governing all races.
The second panel showed a solitary night, where the one most trusted by the giant—'Knowledge'—transformed into a blade and struck.
The third panel revealed Knowledge seated upon the giant’s former throne, having usurped its identity.
Rory could not remember the giant’s name. Before this moment, he had even forgotten such a being had ever existed. But he knew exactly who 'Knowledge' was.
For he would never forget those blood-red eyes that had once locked onto him before casually casting the curse that plagued him to this day:
"Since you refuse to disperse the power of light as I commanded, then let it remain with you... until the day my name is spoken once more."
...
"Thud—"
After a dizzying warp through space, Ye Bai stumbled onto cold, hard ground.
She quickly lifted her head, taking in the full sight of the treasure vault.
Unexpectedly, this chamber—so laden with secrets and anticipation—appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary square stone room.
But the moment her gaze swept across its interior, her entire body froze as if petrified. S~eaʀᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
A familiar glimmer seized her thoughts entirely.
Yes, familiar.
Because this was the only blurred image she had retained from the flood of information—aside from those two crucial fragments.
A moment later, Ye Bai flexed her fingers, as if her body had only just regained sensation from the shock.
Step by step, her pace quickening, she rushed toward the throne before her—
Then, she reached out and grasped the source of the glimmer.
A metal plaque, utterly distinct from any equipment or accessory across all realms, fell into Ye Bai’s palm. It bore the unmistakable style of her own era—a commemorative item automatically issued to open-beta players by the system. It occupied no inventory space and could not be destroyed.
[Pioneer’s Badge]
Player ID: 00001
Traits: Unique Binding, Indestructible
Bound Character: Bai Ye
Binding Date: September 9, 2023
Ye Bai’s mind erupted as compressed data—or rather, sealed memories—poured into her consciousness through the badge.
[Account verification complete...]
[Identity confirmed: Administrator 01]
[Console permissions granted]
[New character detected: Bai Ye]
[Legacy character added: Bai Ye (deleted) Unique Identity: God King]
"......"
It all came back.
Clutching the badge, Ye Bai stared at this 'treasure' hidden within the God King’s vault. Every clue she had ever gathered now connected, and in an instant, she understood everything—remembering the name of the paper-thin man she had waited for, across countless years.
Only Ye Bai knew that the logic code behind the divine realm’s intelligent NPCs had originated from an accident—an anomaly she herself couldn’t explain. It should have been riddled with bugs, yet it ran flawlessly, even generating new logic autonomously.
And so, for the first NPC born in that realm, she had given it the name she deemed most fitting—
"Null."
"Do you still exist?"
"Null."
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