Mystery: Starting with the Night Pope.

Chapter 167 "The Judge"

"'Hidden Emperor'? That's a good title!" Truman raised an eyebrow slightly.

In that instant, a strange feeling arose in his heart.

He instinctively succumbed to that strange sensation, and his eyes were instantly filled with a certain image.

In a starlit night, a brass book gradually appeared, filled with rules, the last page ending with a perfect period.

These are perfect rules that even Truman couldn't create when he controlled the Brass Book.

The most perfect rule is the "judge" himself.

He is the embodiment of rules, the manifestation of "judgment," and corresponds to the shadow of order of the "Black Emperor."

"So..." Truman suddenly realized, "The 'night' in 'Night Emperor' is the 'night' of 'dark night'..."

Tsk, a whole group of true gods are no match for one Amanises.

The Blood Emperor, supported by the gods, was killed in a single battle, while the seemingly unsupervised Trensost was about to succeed.

According to Truman's revelation, under the protection of the "Goddess of Night," the "Judge" will be born in the near future!

The one who once encountered Bethel on the battlefield and gave the Blood Emperor the "Blessing of Night," Terensost, has long since returned to the Dark Heaven and is preparing his own ritual, which is now almost complete.

Similarly, the Terensost Empire is likely to emerge as well.

Unsurprisingly, the Terensust Empire will ally with the Byron Empire to jointly resist the Solomon Empire.

This is an inevitable result of the confrontation between the two major camps.

"Okay." So Truman agreed and disappeared from the battlefield. His thoughts seemed to transform into information waves that spread through space: "From now on, I am the 'Hidden Emperor' of the Empire."

Three great empires, four emperors—isn't that reasonable?

As for independence and nation-building, Truman hasn't even truly established his own church; it's still a fantasy sect scattered around the world. Why would he be interested in something like an empire now?

"Alright!" Solomon nodded slightly, not surprised. "Hidden Sage" was just an additional person with a public identity; the rest of his status remained unchanged.

After all, the Dream Duke was already the "Hidden Emperor" of the Solomon Empire, and his power was almost equivalent to that of the "Black Emperor".

Shortly after the battlefield returned to complete silence, the scene that had appeared in Truman's prophecy finally came to pass.

The sky was dotted with stars, and half the sky was shrouded in the tranquil darkness of night.

With the help of the goddess of night, Trensust completed his ascension to godhood and became the "Judge".

This was a very smooth process, because the war of the gods had only recently ended, and the true gods were all consolidating their own power; no true god intervened.

With the covert support of the Church of the Night and even other churches of true gods, Trensust's path to godhood proceeded without any setbacks.

"You need stability now," came the voice of the goddess of the night from among the stars.

"I'm doing fairly well right now," the Trensost Empire said, flipping through the gleaming, newly-made brass book in his hands, and unconsciously asked, "Is Alistair really dead?"

"Yes." The goddess of the night's tone was chillingly cold.

"..." Trensust's expression became complicated. He had worked with Arista Tudor for hundreds or thousands of years, and had been under Solomon's command since the Third Age.

For certain reasons, the two needed to avoid suspicion and dared not get too close, but a certain tacit understanding always existed, maintaining a balance between them.

Until the gods came before Him with the characteristics of the "Hand of Order".

Later, He saw the "Bronze Book" in the deepest darkness of His kingdom, and once the thought of betrayal was planted, it was unstoppable.

Because of Him, Aristotle was forced to carry out a mad plan, which ultimately led to his downfall.

"What a pity..." He did not regret his choice, but that did not stop him from mourning for his mad opponent for two seconds.

"In exchange, the Church of the Night will become the state religion of Trensust."

The "Judge" Trensust made a promise, and then the power of the rules descended, fixing this promise in the form of rules. If violated, even a true god would pay a heavy price.

"Okay." The Goddess of Night nodded slightly, her figure fading away as she was erased by the eraser.

Trensault, on the other hand, returned his territory, which was originally the family fiefdom that Solomon had granted him. Over the centuries, this land had grown larger and larger, eventually becoming a city.

This will be the capital of His Trensost Empire.

"This is my kingdom," Trensust said softly, and his words became one of the world's fundamental rules.

All traces related to the Solomon Empire were erased, and even the memories of the people were altered.

This is a "judge" level rule modification, starting directly from the world's underlying rules, altering them, and then having a fundamental impact on the world.

If there is no authority of equal standing to counterbalance it, the entire world will be altered.

"Trensost".

Chaos gives birth to order, but order itself carries a shadow.

The moment Trensault altered the order, the shadow of order was born, and the will of the "Black Emperor" Solomon sprouted there, as if his true form were staring directly at Trensault.

The two former master and servant are now on the same level.

"You may call me—the Night Emperor."

Terence gazed at the shadows beneath the order and spoke coldly.

"..." The two true gods of the rule system stared at each other, and it was bound to end in a fight to the death.

Trensust continued to establish rules, transforming this place into his own divine kingdom, while Solomon's projections were erased.

The moment the Kingdom of Rules was truly established, the establishment of the Terensost Empire was already irreversible.

……

In that dark and endless space, the "River of Eternal Darkness" flows slowly, its origin and destination unknown, and even death is not its end.

In the gray and dark river, the Blood Emperor's body had almost completely dissolved, and a complete "Red Priest" pathway attribute flickered in and out of focus as the river water washed over it.

The crimson banners and markings were faintly visible, and within the "River of Eternal Darkness," the mark of the "City of Calamity" was completely suppressed.

"Death" Salinger stood outside the "River of Eternal Darkness," his gaze indifferent as he looked at the "Red Priest" characteristic.

"They really don't need to be alive." Salinger observed for a long time before finally making his judgment.

The death of the Blood Emperor had a limited impact on this experiment.

"Moreover, there really is a very strange and bizarre connection between the 'Red Priest' pathway and the 'Death God' pathway, and many pieces of evidence support this."

Salinger possesses a great deal of intelligence from Adam, such as the "final weapon" that the Giant King possessed in his later years, which once cleaved the underworld.

"However, whether it is a hidden adjacent path requires further confirmation."

Salinger even obtained an "experimental design sheet" from Adam, outlining the entire experimental process.

(End of this chapter)