Ossirion’s words left the three of them in silent contemplation.

A new epoch, a brand-new Era of Mythology.

As trendsetters riding the tides of the Era of Mythology, they wanted to ascend to the absolute apex in this new Era of Divinity.

The first step, then, was to forge their own immortal myths and legends amidst these tides.

Either they would be drowned by the waves and perish completely...

...or they would become supreme Divine Spirits.

And this was the ultimate fate and destiny of those who ride the tides of an era.

...

Steam Magical Castle.

Deep within the hazy steam.

Zorn inspected the Lower Rank Level Divine Artifact he had obtained from eliminating the Evil God.

It was a Magic Wand Divine Artifact, blue all over with green stripes. It stood about as tall as a person and could grow or shrink in size as Divine Power was infused into it.

Upon acquiring the Magic Wand Divine Artifact, Zorn also learned its name.

[Sikes’ Divine Magic Wand].

Thanks to the long period of nurturing and cultivation by that Lower Rank God, this peak Lower Rank Level Divine Artifact would quickly become a Middle Rank Level Divine Artifact if fed the Divine Power of a Middle Rank God.

In its current, unreforged state, Sikes’ Divine Magic Wand strongly rejected Zorn’s Divine Power.

Even when he forced it in, he could only unleash a minuscule fraction of its power.

It was even weaker than an ordinary Holy Crown Magic Wand.

[Sikes’ Divine Magic Wand]

Magic Ring Amplification: 201 rings.

It also possessed models for more than five powerful Forbidden Curse Sequences.

However, after being reforged, all these Forbidden Curse models would be shattered.

Zorn would need to build the Forbidden Curse models he required inside it.

’However, for a Divine Artifact, the most important thing is still the Magic Ring amplification.’

Moreover, as an Evil God’s Divine Artifact, its Magic Ring amplification could be increased by killing other Divine Spirits and devouring their Magic Rings.

The advantage of this method was that an Evil God’s Divine Artifact could grow extremely quickly.

The disadvantage was that the Divine Artifact’s framework was unstable. If used at too high an intensity, the artifact would directly explode, becoming completely useless.

After all, the devoured Rune Magic Rings were mottled and complex, making it difficult to form a unified whole.

The Magic Rings would even clash with one another, resulting in significant internal friction.

Fortunately, Zorn had a perfect way to deal with this drawback.

’Back in the day, the Players—whether it was for a Divine Artifact of a righteous god or an Evil God—all used this method of absorbing other Divine Spirits to rapidly increase the number of rings on their artifacts. The Players didn’t have hundreds or thousands of years to waste on this.’

’Next, once the Divine Kingdom’s rewards arrive, I can take this batch of resources and go forge the Divine Artifact,’ Zorn thought to himself.

After putting away "Sikes’ Divine Magic Wand," Zorn looked out over his now-vast [Calamity Divine Kingdom].

As far as the eye could see, an ocean-like expanse of Spiritual Essence and Time Essence surged tumultuously within the enormous Divine Kingdom.

After more than a decade of world destruction, battles, and slaughter, as well as the fervent sacrifices from numerous major factions, the rate at which Zorn’s Spiritual Essence and Time Essence accumulated had far surpassed the rate at which he could absorb and digest them.

’I can’t digest it all!’

’I absolutely can’t digest it all!’

This was Zorn’s current reality.

Furthermore, eliminating the Trees of the Magic Ring of those many Evil Gods had also accumulated an extremely dense "Magic Ring Essence" for Zorn.

Zorn planned to make good use of this Magic Ring Essence to upgrade his "Rune Magic Rings" again after he advanced to Legendary Demigod.

’Become a Legendary Demigod, wielding a powerful Divine Artifact.’

’At that point, the probability of success for my offensive plan will be extremely high.’

...

「Several days later.」

Zorn received his rewards from the Calamity Court Divine Kingdom.

’Just as I thought... once a war starts, even the landlord has no surplus grain!’ Zorn chuckled as he looked at the contents displayed on the Magic Curtain of his Extraordinary Bracelet.

’Then again, I’ve already gained more than enough from this round of world destruction.’

’I can’t even get through the resources I currently have.’

’As long as these resources are enough to help me forge a powerful Divine Artifact, that’s all that matters.’

Reward 1: 50,000,000 Star Trace Coins.

Reward 2: One Holy Crown Ancient God Curse Seed.

These were the rewards the Divine Kingdom granted Zorn this time.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for his current stage.

As his strength increased, he would more often have to rely on himself to improve, and even give back to the Divine Kingdom, rather than just draining its coffers.

"Zorn!"

Just then, Abigail’s voice came from outside.

Passing through the Steam Crystal Wall, Zorn saw Abigail outside, now dressed in a suit of Silver Light Armor.

A few days prior, the two had agreed that once the Divine Kingdom’s rewards were distributed, they would return to the Divine Kingdom to forge their Divine Artifacts and exchange for Ancient God Curses, Ancient God Secret Techniques, and other such matters.

"Let’s go!" Zorn, who was already prepared, said to Abigail.

The two flew side-by-side toward the distant Divine Kingdom Passage.

"I don’t sense Sigmund’s presence. Where is he?" Zorn asked casually, glancing around.

"He returned to the Divine Kingdom several days before us."

"He is that Ancient God’s disciple, after all. I guess he was probably given a special mission or sent for some kind of special training."

"Mm."

Zorn nodded slightly.

’As the disciple of an Ancient God, of course his treatment would be different from that of an ordinary Divine Spirit.’

They arrived near the Divine Kingdom Passage.

Within the wide Divine Kingdom Passage, a continuous stream of Lower Rank Gods came and went.

With a single sweep of his highly perceptive "Time Watcher" ability, he saw the auras of many traits like "Weaver," "Crystal Wall Master," "Wall Builder," and "Divine Forger" blooming all around.

These were all specialized Divine Spirits cultivated by the Divine Kingdom for the purpose of constructing the Divine Kingdom and its Crystal Walls.

After passing through the Divine Kingdom Passage, the familiar aura of the Calamity Court Divine Kingdom once again filled Zorn’s Perception.

But this time, Zorn sensed many different auras.

’The aura of the Disaster Court Magic Ring Tree is a bit weaker than before.’

’Others might not feel it, but I can sense it quite directly.’

’It seems the Jade Realm’s assault on that Ancient God’s Divine Kingdom is growing more ferocious,’ Zorn mused to himself.

"Zorn, for this Divine Artifact forging, what type are you planning to build?" Abigail asked Zorn as they moved forward.

The traits imbued in a [Divine Artifact] generally fall into three categories.

The first is, naturally, offense-focused, which is better for accumulating Rune Magic Rings and achieving a higher degree of amplification.

The second is Defense. This requires coordination with certain defensive Ancient God Curses to form a powerful "Divine Artifact Defense," and it can also use the artifact to absorb a portion of the damage.

Then there is the third type: a support Divine Artifact.

A support Divine Artifact possesses both offensive and defensive properties, but it focuses more on functional abilities.

Zorn’s Sikes’ Divine Magic Wand was a typical offensive Divine Artifact, which was evident from the number of Rune Magic Rings it had stacked.

"I want to forge a support-type Divine Artifact, leaving more framework for Divine Curse models inside," Zorn replied to Abigail.

"A support Divine Artifact?"

Abigail was slightly taken aback.

"That Magic Wand you got seems to be an offensive one, right?"

"It was an offensive Divine Artifact before, but now I want to reforge it into a support-type."

Zorn already had a clear plan in mind for forging Sikes’ Divine Magic Wand.

’Offensive and defensive Divine Artifacts both seem very powerful. But for me, a support-type Divine Artifact is the strongest of all.’

’By leaving enough frameworks for Divine Curse models, the functionality of this support Divine Artifact can be magnified to its absolute limit in my hands.’

’Whether for amplifying Ancient God Curses or my own various techniques, the effects will be astonishing.’

Seeing that Zorn had his own choices and ideas, Abigail nodded slightly.

She quickly sent this information to the Divine Forger.

Before long, the Divine Forger sent her a reply.

"The forging fee will be about 12 million. If you want to maintain the Divine Artifact’s current Rune Magic Ring strength, it will require another 32 million for materials."

The corner of Zorn’s eye twitched slightly.

’It’s not that the Divine Forger is overcharging,’ he thought. ’Forging a Divine Artifact is just this expensive.’

"Just do the forging. There’s no need to maintain the number of Rune Magic Rings," Zorn said.

For him, Rune Magic Rings were not an issue.

’I can save some money and use it for my own cultivation!’

A moment later, Abigail relayed the forger’s reply.

"Mm! It should be ready in about two years."

"Two years is already quite fast," Zorn replied.

After handing the 12 million Star Trace Coins and the Divine Artifact to Abigail, Zorn headed toward the Holy Crown Ancient God Curse Seed Temple.