Monsters: Evolving from Titans to Ancient Gods

At the edge of the continent, Mara, Rick, and King Kong stopped and stood before the plain nestled against the mountain, taking in the view of the plain below covered in black ash.

"This is fine."

Mara glanced around at the surroundings. The environment here was relatively suitable, and it was located at the intersection of human settlements across the entire continent.

Choosing this location allows for the gathering of people in a relatively short time.

As Mara stopped, Rick nodded, seemingly understanding.

Rick and Mara had different ideas. He thought the plains here had water sources and the mountains behind them were complex and connected by many valleys.

If humans lived here, they could grow crops in the secluded canyon and feed more people.

If attacked by orcs, they can escape to the canyon and use the terrain to limit the orcs' pursuit and attacks, allowing more of their people to escape to safety.

This was the survival knowledge that Rick's father and the previous tribal chief who adopted him had taught him; more accurately, it was the knowledge that a leader must possess.

Everyone could see that Rick was intelligent and suitable to be the next tribal leader, leading humanity to continue its miserable existence.

As Mara and Rick approached, an invisible wave spread in all directions, and the dark gray carpet on the ground melted away at a visible speed.

As the horse's footsteps fell, plants sprouted from the black and gray earth, revealing their tender branches and adding a touch of vibrant green to the land, symbolizing life.

Looking up, the scarred earth sprouted new plant buds one after another, the mottled green gradually spreading and growing at an extremely fast speed. In just a moment, it had grown to above ankle height and showed no signs of stopping.

Mara had already begun to take control of the power of life, and it was not difficult for him to do these things by virtue of that power.

Mara needed to restore a land where humans could settle, and without this authority, it would not be easy to feed all the humans even if they were moved there.

This is also why Mara went to the forest and killed the forest god as soon as he was born.

King Kong bent down and carefully looked at the sprouting plants. Never before in his life on Skull Island had he felt such curiosity about plants.

Rick found it unbelievable, but he quickly accepted it all; for the divine race, these things were nothing.

Now, his most important task is to figure out how to explain all this when people from all over the world come here.

How could he explain to humanity that they too had gods who could provide them with safe havens, freeing them from the constant wandering and worry about their next meal?

but…

Rick looked up at the sky, which was once again shrouded in dark clouds, feeling as if a heavy stone was pressing on his heart. The return of the dark clouds and gloom was much faster than he had expected; the sun, after all, did not belong to this world.

After a long while, Mara brought Rick to the mountain and stopped in front of it. His gaze extended, and his elven power, following his will, transformed the mountain before him.

The rock strata, weathered at an accelerated rate of millions of times, outlined the silhouette of a massive building, with stone pillars, each tens of meters in diameter, supporting the exceptionally magnificent architectural prototype.

Wisps of sand and dust transformed into large, yellowish hands, painting various simple murals as embellishments on the main body of the building. A massive gate, hundreds of meters long, stood tall, and the interior of the mountain was hollowed out, transforming it into a spacious area.

Wild murals were carved everywhere, and huge stone pillars were decorated with enormous horns. Many species that Rick had never heard of before were so clearly displayed before his eyes, attracting his attention.

Rick stared at the mountain in front of him as it rapidly transformed into an architectural style he had never seen before, and stood there dumbfounded for a long time, unable to come back to his senses.

However, Rick couldn't understand why the building had to be built to such an enormous size, to the point that it was completely impractical.

But with a flash of golden light, his doubts were answered.

Mara, who had been standing beside him, gradually expanded into a gigantic silhouette enveloped in golden light, sitting on a throne at the far end of the vast space.

His face gradually became hazy, as if shrouded in mist. His figure was as majestic as a mountain, sitting on the throne, radiating golden light. His mere existence exuded a sense of peace.

"Is this His true form?"

Young Rick looked up at the being who had saved him, his eyes reflecting His image, and his eyes gradually turned golden.

Gradually, Rick saw bloodstained faces in Mara's eyes, the vengeful spirits of humans flickering in the flames of rage, whispers mingling with the chilling wind, but Rick felt no fear, only a deep sorrow rising within him.

Rick knew that those were the souls of humans who, under the power of the god of vengeance, had traveled a great distance to return to Mara's side, awaiting their vengeance.

The young child hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered his courage and asked the deity, "If those dead people have returned to your side, will they have a chance to come back to life?"

Will they be able to return to their families?

The boy's clear voice, carried by the breeze, echoed through the empty hall, seemingly containing an indescribable expectation, his eyes sparkling with hope.

But the cruelty of the world is laid bare before young children.

"People must learn to face parting, Rick."

Mara is currently deconstructing the authority of life, but he still has the capacity to provide answers to this child.

"I can only bring the souls of the dead to my side and grant them the power of revenge, so that they can return the harm done to humanity's enemies."

This world view does not have the concept of resurrection. Once a quest creature dies, it will return to the Elf Corridor, with no possibility of resurrection.

Even in the original storyline, although the God of Games, who obtained the omnipotent authority of the Star Cup, was able to reshape the universe, he still had no way to resurrect the two people who helped him to be born.

Rick was stunned by what he heard, lowered his head slightly, and accepted this cruel fact.

Mara looked at him and added another sentence.

"Not only can I not be resurrected, but I can only collect the souls of humans who died after my birth. Humans who died before that have already returned to the Elf Corridor."

Rick remained silent upon hearing this.

"However..." Mara changed the subject, whispering, "From now on, if humans wish to see their deceased family members, I can grant that wish."

Upon hearing this, Rick paused for a moment, then laughed. At least this way, future generations of humans would have enough time to face the loss of their loved ones.

...

Several days later, the world had completely returned to its original state. Black clouds covered the sky, and as the storm raged, the remains of the dead fell everywhere, like a never-ending black blizzard.

The black and gray matter spread rampantly, but it could not affect the newly established settlement in the slightest.

In the distance, the lush vegetation has already begun to resemble a forest within a few days, with various plants and fungi thriving in this desolate world.

This forest was like a fragrant cake, attracting a small number of ordinary creatures during the insignificant gap in the necromancy storm.

King Kong leaned against a tree, the familiar surroundings allowing him to relax his long-strained nerves, close his eyes, and fall into a deep sleep.

Although it can no longer return to its former place, at least it has found a safe place to rest in this world now, without having to worry about dying at any moment.

Rick stood at the edge of the forest, carrying the lantern bestowed upon him by the gods. Golden flames of vengeance burned in the transparent container, illuminating the desolate world like a lighthouse and guiding the way for the first humans to arrive.

In the past, he would never have done something so reckless, but now, being in human settlements, he was no longer afraid.

During this time, he learned how to manipulate spirit power and gained a certain level of combat ability. With the gods behind him, he had no reason to be afraid.

Just half a day ago, Rick learned from Mara that the first human tribe had arrived and asked him to bring a lantern to guide the way.

Rick was puzzled by this, as he had originally thought that Mara would directly use the power of the gods to transfer people from other tribes to this place.

But He did not do that. Instead, He let the humans walk here on their own. Although Rick didn’t quite understand why, he figured Mara must have had His reasons for doing so.

Under Rick's focused gaze, wisps of fire gradually emerged from the hazy black and gray distance. The tiny lights converged into a long dragon, slowly moving towards the forest.

In an instant, Rick felt that the light from the lantern he was holding seemed to resonate with something, expanding in an instant, and the distant lights flickered in sync.

It was this action that confirmed to him that the other party was human, and that the flames were not torches, but flames from the same Mara.

As the long dragon drew closer, Rick began to see human figures gradually appearing, the indistinct figures concealing their bodies within cloaks as they moved slowly forward.

This is a standard procedure for human migration. Even powerful lower-level species would not venture out during a storm of spirit corpses. Only humans would take such a risk and take the opportunity to migrate in groups, thus avoiding danger from other races.

The human figures gradually became clearer, and the distance between the two sides was less than ten meters.

It was at this moment that Rick realized that this group did not have a lantern like his own, but rather many figures that seemed to be made of bones and flames mixed in with the group.

They exuded a chilling aura unique to the dead, standing scattered to protect the humans.

Rick could clearly see that many humans were deliberately sobbing beside the cold, shadowy figure.

"Are these the vengeful spirits that have returned from the dead?" Rick muttered to himself, lost in thought.

This was the first time he had ever seen the spirits that Mara had spoken of returning from the dead. And those scattered around them were, unsurprisingly, their families.

Rick shook his head, clearing his mind, and walked out of the forest to face the group of humans.

But just as he stepped out of the forest, the group of people opposite him froze when they saw him.

"Rick?!"

Immediately afterwards, a worried voice rang out, and a petite black figure stepped out from the crowd, ran to Rick's side, and pulled the stunned man back into the forest.

"Kron?" Rick recognized the figure in front of him; she was the child of the tribal chief who had adopted him after his tribe was destroyed.

After a moment of stunned silence, Rick looked behind him, realizing that this group of humans was the very tribe he had spent some time with.

After shaking off the black ash from his body, Kron reached out to check Rick's body, and only after seeing that he was not injured did he hug him tightly.

"Where have you been?!"

After regaining his senses, Kron's father's vision went black. He immediately punched Rick in the head, shouting, "We all thought you were dead!"

He was very unhappy with Rick's unauthorized departure, his face darkening, which made Rick avoid eye contact.

But Rick quickly remembered his mission, so he pushed Kron aside and shouted to the crowd with a stern face, "Follow me, Lord Mara is just ahead. It's safe here. You don't need to wander around anymore."

After leaving those words, Rick didn't give the old man another chance to lecture him. He turned around, picked up his lantern, and walked back into the depths of the forest.

Behind him, the crowd that was gradually entering the forest did not hesitate and followed. When they saw the lantern in Rick's hand, they understood a lot.

Just as all the humans entered the forest, the vengeful spirit, forged from bones and flames, slowly disappeared outside the forest, leaving their families bewildered, thinking that their loved ones had left them again.

But soon, Rick, who had noticed all this, hurriedly explained to them that it was safe here now, which was why they had disappeared like this. They had returned to God's side, and there would be a chance for them to meet again.

After hearing Rick's explanation, the crowd gradually regained their composure and followed Rick again.

Soon, the group arrived at the magnificent palace, which was as tall as a mountain. After crossing a great distance, they could see the imposing figure shrouded in a hazy light.

With just one glance, they felt at ease, as if their very souls were telling them that these were deities closely connected to humanity.

Tears welled in their eyes as they reflected on the countless calamities humanity had suffered throughout the long years without gods and spirits.

No one can say for sure how much effort and luck they've put in to persevere until now.

They instinctively wanted to kneel down, but were stopped by an invisible force. The god did not want humans to kneel before Him. He simply raised his hand, and golden flames burned on their bodies, transforming them. Elven corridors appeared on their bodies.

The process was exceptionally rapid and painless. They only felt a blur before their eyes discovered something new within their bodies, and the elven power they had never felt before gradually appeared before their eyes.