For some reasons, the primordial dragons vanished after creating the realm. Despite its absence, the rich elements remained in the realm not only nurtured a diversified ecosystem, but also attracted some extraterrestrial visitors…

 

  Underneath a vast lush grassfield, there were countless metal tubes called “vessels”. Inside which, iridescent halos were flowing from one end to another, displaying a symbol of vitality.

 

  Walking on the field, a young man Marduk was collecting plants and stones of any kind everywhere. Next second, his eyes were caught by something on a tree.

 

  “That’s a dead eagle...It should be helpful to her research, but it’s stuck on the tree...Let see if I can take it down.”

 

  Then Marduk laid his hands open. When he slowly exhaled, a wisp of crimson halo gathered in his palm. With a mutter, a nimbus enchantment appeared, turning the halo into fire to be cast at the tree.

 

  Phoom!

 

  The fire burnt all branches away. Without the support, the dead eagle dropped onto the ground. Marduk had a thought as he picked the corpse up, “this planet is truly amazing. Mana is everywhere. If we can extract the energy, maybe we’ll be able to attain immortality for our kind.”

 

  Marduk headed to a grand building on the other side of the grassfield. He passed through a long complex hallway that led him to a spacious room. Before he could enter the room, some debris blocked his way.

 

  “Sigh…Bad habit of Enlil,” Marduk complained in his mind. 

 

  Passing through the books and equipment on the floor, Marduk came to a desk at the corner, where there was a lady sleeping on it.

 

  At this moment, Marduk accidentally kicked down a stack of books on the floor. The noise woke Enlil up from her sleep.

 

  “Oh hey Marduk, you’re back. Have you gathered everything?” The drowsy Enlil rubbed her eyes.

 

  “All done,” Marduk said, putting the bag onto the desk. When he touched Enlil’s forehead, he felt an abnormal heat from her.

 

  “Enlil, didn’t I tell you to rest? Why did you work on your mana research again when I wasn’t around?” Marduk showed his concern.

 

  “...She wants to know more about mana as soon as possible,” said Enlil.

 

  “Her again…” Marduk pulled a rare long face. “Why are you still befriending her? She snatched the operation lead position by stealing your research findings!”

 

  “Seems you’re very dissatisfied with me,” an indifferent female voice cut in.

 

  Shamash the elegant lady walked into the room and looked Marduk right in the eyes.

 

  “Come straight to me if you have a problem with me. Don’t try to cast a bone between Enlil and me.”

 

  “You’ve got it wrong! Marduk wasn’t——”

 

  While Enlil was trying to explain, Marduk raised his hand, signalling her to stop.

 

  “If you say so, then don’t mind me,” Marduk replied calmly.

 

  “You’re too selfish. You had Enlil to stay up all night for the research even when she was ill. Worse, you killed the creatures here whenever you feel like!”

 

  “I did it just to get to the truth about mana faster. All I want is to trace our origin and seek evolution for our kind,” Shamash said.

 

  “This is just an excuse! We the eldus should be pursuing the history of the universe, not breaking the balance of this planet! Selfish and disrespectful one like you doesn’t deserve to be one of us, and your name isn’t worthy to be in our history!”

 

  “You——Argh!”

 

  What Marduk had said provoked Shamash, who drew an enchantment in the air immediately. Very soon, the enchantment consolidated azure mana into water blades to shoot at Marduk, who was caught unprepared——

 

  Water blades were fended off by a flame shield. When the two met, the blades were vaporized by the immense heat.

 

  “Enlil!”

 

  Marduk caught the ill Enlil in time before she fell, who conjured the flame shield to protect Marduk. This action almost made her collapse, but she forced herself to get up and give a loving smile.

 

  “Let’s stop fighting, shall we,” Enlil said weakly.

 

  “I hate conflicts. I just want everybody to get along well,” she thought.

 

  “...Humph. If you say so,” said Shamash, leaving Marduk and Enlil in the room.

 

  “She has gone too far! If we don’t do something about it, someday she’ll make things irreversible.” Marduk gritted his teeth.

 

  Enlil stroked Marduk’s chest to calm him down. “I get it, but I don’t want to provoke anyone. I’ll talk to her,” Enlil said gently.

 

  “But…”

 

  “Lemme handle this, okay?”

 

  When Enlil begged Marduk in a lovely way, he surrendered to her and nodded reluctantly.

 

  However, not only Enlil’s plan didn’t succeed in stopping Shamash outrageous behaviour, but the situation worsened.

 

  In addition to the slaughters initiated by Shamash, she also forced her kind to produce Earthlings——a kind of inferior creatures created based on the appearance of eldus, also the ancestors of the later human race in the realm.

 

  Shamash’s outrageous actions had provoked more and more eldus, including Marduk. Acting as the lead, Marduk had been secretly persuading the eldus who felt the same way towards Shamash, planning to overthrow her before the research evaluation day.

 

  To his surprise, his plan was busted by Shamash, who initiated an attack at Mech City beforehand. In order to stop this massacre, Marduk decided to head to the Mech City with his fellows.

 

  “Marduk, I need to go with you,” said Enlil woefully. “Maybe I can talk Shamash down.”

 

  “No, it’s impossible. All she cares about is herself. She won’t listen to you,” Marduk rejected her request. Then he grabbed her shoulders and said, “your body is not in the condition for this. Besides, don’t you hate conflicts? Just leave this to me and you rest here.”

 

  “I…”

 

  Enlil gave a complicated gaze. Next second, she lowered her head and said, “okay.”

 

  When Marduk departed, Enlil would never have expected this was the last time she ever saw him...