The next day, Sunny arrived at the Realm Sanctuary.
The air felt unusually still, as if something was quietly observing everything within it. As he walked forward, his eyes landed on a familiar figure.
Han stood there, just as striking as before—blonde hair, red eyes, and an aura that didn't quite match someone of his level.
Sunny approached him.
"Are you going forward… or back to the human world?"
Han glanced at him calmly. "I'm going back."
Sunny frowned slightly.
"I need to start building my domain," Han continued. "My own world."
Sunny froze.
From everything he had read, only sovereigns and higher ranks could create something like that.
"…You're serious?" Sunny asked.
Han turned slightly, his red eyes faintly glowing. "Would you like to be the first to exist within it?"
Sunny's instincts rejected it immediately.
"No."
Even if it came with benefits, something about it felt wrong.
Han didn't react much. "No need. I'll test it on my own. I'll need it soon… especially before I challenge my next realm."
Sunny narrowed his eyes. "…What element are you?"
"Shadow."
Sunny's heart skipped.
"But you use fire."
"Legacy skill."
That answer made sense, but it also made Han even more suspicious. After a few more questions, Sunny eventually left and moved deeper into the sanctuary.
He had already altered his appearance. His hair was dyed using a relic, and he wore blue armor that gave him the look of royalty. A blue sword rested by his side, and beneath him floated his soul bed, carrying him forward.
The cocoon of the Cheetah King remained silent behind everything, unmoving.
As Sunny moved, he noticed something unusual ahead.
Three identical girls.
Same face. Same presence.
At first, he assumed they were triplets. But as he descended to get a closer look, two of them suddenly merged into one.
Sunny's eyes narrowed.
"…Not triplets."
He approached cautiously.
"Who are you?"
The girl looked at him calmly. "I am Ava. And you?"
Sunny was about to respond when a sudden pressure filled his mind.
Before he could react, his body moved on its own.
His sword was at her throat.
His pupils shrank.
He wasn't the one controlling his body.
Ava didn't flinch.
"I thought you were someone I knew," she said softly. "But it seems you cannot resist me."
Sunny's thoughts shook violently.
She's controlling me?
"I would like more… like you," she continued, "but I'll let you live if you challenge a demon gate with me."
Sunny's breath tightened.
Demon?
"…Who are you really?" he asked.
Ava tilted her head slightly. "What you saw before… were my selves."
Then her form changed.
Her presence deepened. Wings unfolded behind her, and the calm expression on her face turned cold.
Sunny's voice dropped.
"…Lena."
Before he could react—
Space cracked.
Reality tore open.
Sunny felt his body lose control again, dragged into the fracture.
Darkness swallowed him.
There was nothing.
Then a whisper echoed.
Unknown system acquired.
Profile rewriting.
Spirit core destroyed.
Demon core evolving.
Pain exploded through his entire being.
Rank: Imp.
Demon lineage received.
Legacy skill erased.
Everything he once had… disappeared.
When his vision returned, he stood on a battlefield.
An army stretched endlessly before him.
Millions.
Charging at him.
Sunny looked down.
A different body. Younger. Weaker.
And tied to his back—
A baby.
Arrows rained from the sky.
He tried to move faster.
Too slow.
He tried to summon his relics.
Nothing.
Everything was gone.
Then his soul beast appeared.
Dark. Winged. Its eyes burned like flames.
It flew into him.
His body shifted violently.
Bones stretched. His form reshaped—
He became a sleek, bird-like creature, dark-feathered with burning eyes, wings wide but not yet strong.
Arrows struck him—
Some deflected, some grazed.
Still, he was fast—but not fast enough.
The army closed in.
Sunny stared at them.
"I can't win…"
So he stopped resisting.
He surrendered.
They imprisoned him within a shard.
With no other choice, Sunny closed his eyes and entered his spirit scene.
What he saw shocked him.
Doors.
Endless doors.
Each one held a memory.
Fragments of his past.
He opened one.
Then another.
His life… replayed before him.
He kept walking until he reached the final door.
Beyond it—
Darkness.
Bodies lined the ground.
People he had killed.
Sunny stepped forward slowly.
He tried to command them.
Only the weaker ones moved.
The stronger ones stood still.
Then one suddenly entered his body.
Sunny's form changed.
He became that person.
Then another entered him.
And another.
"…I can become them."
He dismissed them and returned to normal, breathing heavily.
Then he summoned his profile.
Demon Name: Forbidding God
Rank: Imp
Demon Lineage: Lineage of Bramwell
Domain: Mind Domain
Relic: Dragon Baby
Sunny's gaze slowly shifted.
The baby on his back…
A relic?
Before he could think further, he was dragged out.
A woman in red armor stood before him and led him to a sacrificial stone.
"Place your blood," she said.
Sunny hesitated, then obeyed.
The moment his blood touched the stone—
The entire citadel shook.
A deep connection surged through him.
As if the place itself recognized him.
The woman froze.
Then she knelt.
"…Dragon God."
Sunny paused.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Announce it."
"I am the Dragon King."
The woman lowered her head.
"I, Lena… will follow you."
Sunny stepped closer, his voice low.
"Don't forget what you did to me."
Lena smiled slightly.
"Oh… I remember."
She leaned closer.
"This trial will last years."
Sunny's expression changed.
"…Years?"
"We're not leaving anytime soon."
Sunny clenched his fist, then exhaled slowly.
"Then we train."
His voice hardened.
"And we escape."
As they turned to leave—
Sunny felt it again.
That presence.
Deep. Ancient.
Watching.
A voice echoed faintly in his mind.
"So… you finally became one of us."
Sunny's eyes darkened.
Because this time—
He understood.