Lord: Sequence Master

"The hidden plot has successfully triggered…"

Baron Karman felt a surge of excitement as he sensed the divine aura through the Gray Rats' spiritual link.

Even for someone of noble lineage, divinity was not easily accessible. Without it, Karman couldn't open his own Divine Territory. Since becoming a Sequence 7, he had been strategizing to gain access to such power.

The Gray Rats' Ancestor was once a demigod, though its true body had long since fallen. During the Gray Rats' peak, invoking the Ancestor through a blood sacrifice was no small feat. However, the Spiral Port Battle, which had marked the end of the Gray Rats' naval dominance, held special significance. The Ancestor had bestowed upon this place the privilege of summoning its descent. In history, the empowered Gray Rat leader had inflicted devastating losses on the Crimson Shadow Pirate Alliance.

Though the Gray Rats were eventually exterminated, the Ancestor's spirit had continued slumbering within the Spiritual Realm.

This piece of history had been preserved as a spiritual realm, and for centuries, the Duke of Blazing Shadow had exploited it to trigger the Ancestor's descent, only to kill the spirit and extract its divinity repeatedly. After numerous attempts, the Ancestor had grown weaker, nearly ceasing its descent, its divine power nearly exhausted.

With the spiritual realm downgraded to Sequence 7, it was handed over to the Hunter Guild, its greatest value lost. Many noble families had tried to reclaim the divinity locked within the realm, but all had failed.

Karman, however, had an advantage—he possessed one of the Ancestor's rat teeth, a relic that held great importance to the demigod.

To the Ancestor, reclaiming this lost relic was essential. If the tooth could be recovered and merged with its remaining divinity, the Ancestor could abandon its demigod status and reincarnate as a lower-sequence Gray Rat. In the prime of its existence, such an extreme measure would have been unthinkable. However, with the Gray Rats nearly extinct and their influence in the world diminished, the Ancestor had no choice but to descend into the spiritual realm, retrieve the tooth, and attempt reincarnation.

Due to the weakened state of the spirit realm, the Ancestor's power would not exceed Sequence 7 upon descent.

Now, Karman's objective was clear: defeat the Ancestor, seize its divinity, and ascend to Divine Territory Lord.

Crushing the communication crystal in his hand, Karman signaled to the Sequence 7 superhumans gathered on the human side.

Once they were all assembled, Karman led his group toward the Gray Rats' temple deep within Spiral Port.

Inside the temple, the Gray Rats' Ancestor had possessed the stone statue and completed its descent.

It surveyed the Gray Rat leaders, whose expressions quickly shifted from reverence to terror as they realized something was wrong. With a swift movement, the Ancestor extended a claw and pierced the heart of one of the leaders, draining its life force in an instant.

"Why is the Ancestor attacking us?" one Gray Rat screeched in confusion.

The leaders scattered in panic, trying to escape the temple as the Ancestor turned its deadly gaze on them. Though these leaders were Sequence 7, they stood no chance against the divine power of their Ancestor, whose skills and power were far beyond their own.

Despite their attempts to flee, the Ancestor chased them down one by one, using its bloodthirst ability to drain each rat of its life force, strengthening its stone body with every kill.

Once the final leader had fallen, the Ancestor felt the presence of its rat tooth, drawing closer.

In a wide underground tunnel, Karman and his team of Sequence 7 superhumans stood face to face with the Gray Rats' Ancestor.

"If you take one more step, I'll destroy the rat tooth," Karman threatened, holding the relic in his hand. The ring on his finger glowed with spatial energy, ready to shatter the tooth at a moment's notice.

The Ancestor halted. "What do you want, human? Why have you brought me here?" it asked, its voice seething with rage.

"I propose a duel," Karman replied, his eyes gleaming. "Strip yourself of your divinity and lower your power to Sequence 8. We'll fight, and the winner takes all—your divinity or the tooth."

The Ancestor hesitated but ultimately agreed. Shedding its divine essence, the Ancestor's power began to wane, dropping to Sequence 8.

It had no illusions about these humans' intentions. A straightforward exchange was out of the question. Helping an alien demigod reincarnate was tantamount to treason in the eyes of humanity. A duel was the only acceptable solution.

Even without its divinity, the Ancestor was confident in its superior combat experience.

As soon as its power fell to Sequence 8, the Ancestor launched a vicious assault. Clones of the Ancestor filled the tunnel, their spines launching a barrage of needle-like projectiles in all directions. But the human team had been prepared, quickly activating protective spells and techniques.

Karman, having stashed the rat tooth in his spatial ring, transformed into a Dimensional Cat, a rare Sequence 7 Gourmet creature. This form gave him the ability to manipulate dimensions and instantly spot the Ancestor's true body.

With a dimensional shift, Karman teleported to the rear of the formation and leaped toward the true Ancestor, who was attempting to burrow underground.

Meanwhile, the other human superhumans engaged in battle with the Ancestor's clones, trying to wear it down.

Elsewhere in Spiral Port, the Pirate Alliance had sent scouts ashore, noticing the sudden breakdown in the Gray Rats' defense.

Meanwhile, Rosen, who had been hiding in the warehouse, saw his chance. With the guards gone, he took the opportunity to plunder the remaining resources.

Curious about the battle unfolding deeper in the port, Rosen activated his Extraordinary Five Senses and heard the distant clash of powers. Silently moving through the shadows with Shadowstep, Rosen approached the battlefield and, using his Godslayer Crossbow cautiously observed the fight from a hidden vantage point.

(End of Chapter)