Dorothy’s Forbidden Grimoire

Chapter 813 : Growth

Dreamscape – Deep in the Forest.

In the depths of the Dreamscape’s forest, where towering ancient trees shielded the endless night sky, the tranquil space between the colossal trunks was filled with strange and colorful blossoms that emitted a sweet fragrance across the expansive grasslands.

Tonight, as usual, the forest remained calm. The only difference was that the Dreamscape creatures weaving between the flowers and trees had been replaced by spiders marked with dark red patterns. They scurried across the forest, searching and spying for their master—seeking secrets hidden in dreams.

“Things are really heating up…”

At the center of this swarm of tiny spiders stood a woman in a long black gown. Her figure was elegant, noble, and dignified. She had sickly pale skin, lips red as blood, waist-length black hair beneath an intricate black veil, and claw-like nails extending from fingers as slender as bone. In her apathetically opened eyes, eight pupils of different shapes swirled about restlessly.

Though residing in the Dreamscape, the Spider Queen Morrigan still employed her many subtle means to monitor the current world and other key inner realms. She stayed informed of all that was unfolding—events that would shape the grand fate of the cosmos.

And she intended to use this moment… to take another step forward on the path of her ambition.

“The Afterbirth Progenies… the Arbiter… the Lord of Forge… even the ancient Evil Spirit King and Northern Emperor—they’ve all entered the fray, just as expected. With that, there’s no longer a single mighty being left with the leisure to look elsewhere…”

Sensing the great powers clashing across the realms—feeling the shockwaves of their distant struggles—the Spider Queen smiled softly and murmured to herself, lifting her gaze toward the white mist deep within the shadowy forest.

“In other words… there’s no one left to protect you now… Dream Hatchling…”

As she stared into that pale fog, her many pupils narrowed with greed. It was obvious what she sought lay deep within that mist.

Yes, the Spider Queen still coveted the Sacred Dream Cocoon. She longed to devour the Dream Butterfly’s divinity, seize the authority of the God of Illusions and Dreams, and claim everything she had failed to obtain during the Divine Catastrophe of Tivian.

During that catastrophe, the Spider Queen’s plan had been disrupted, leading to the mass descent of Mirror Moon’s power. As a result, she had failed to complete half of her objective—an outcome she had brooded over ever since. Now, she burned with resentment and the desire to reclaim what she believed was rightfully hers. And today was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The unsealing of the Mother of Chalice had drawn the attention of nearly all non-fallen divine powers—who just so happened to be the Spider Queen’s greatest enemies and obstacles. Now, they were all distracted by the Afterbirth Cult’s actions.

The Lord of Forge was locked in battle against the Gluttonous Wolf and Abyssal Serpent. The Ice Sea King was facing his long-time nemesis, the Evil Spirit King. And the most troublesome young Arbiter had been entangled by the Rotting One. As for the Spider Queen’s greatest enemy—Mirror Moon—she was currently trapped within the Evernight Palace due to the world’s injuries. Without a large-scale divine rite and a chosen Arbiter to lead her power, Mirror Moon could no longer stop the Spider Queen.

Now, all of her divine rivals were otherwise occupied. None had the time or energy to interfere with her actions. She could now move unrestrained—even if she were discovered, it wouldn’t matter. Those who always sabotaged her plans were simply too busy… unless they wanted the Mother of Chalice—a god far more terrifying than she—to descend.

The Afterbirth Cult and the Spider Queen had not formally allied, but the Queen would not let this opportunity go to waste. The more she took for herself, the more damage would fall upon the Afterbirth Cult’s enemies—something the Afterbirth Cult welcomed.

With no one to stop her now in the Dreamscape, the only effective resistance remaining was from the Dream Butterfly itself. But the dream god was still within the cocoon, growing. Though it was now on the verge of maturing, it had yet to take the final step toward awakening.

The Spider Queen had suffered serious injuries during her earlier battle with Mirror Moon’s incarnation, and had not yet fully recovered. But even in this state, she was more than capable of defeating an immature lesser god. As long as she could get close to the Sacred Cocoon, it would be hers.

Smiling smugly, the Spider Queen stepped forward. With a flicker of ghostly illusions, she vanished from her spot and entered the pale mist deep within the forest.

Upon entering, she found herself surrounded by white haze—an embodiment of dream-divinity, a fog of confusion that caused all who entered to become lost. It was a defense mechanism of the Sacred Dream Cocoon.

Yet, in the midst of this mist, the Spider Queen showed no hesitation. Her spectral form raced through it, every step deliberate, as though she knew exactly where to go. The fog posed no real obstacle to her.

During the Divine Catastrophe of Tivian, she had once managed to reach the Sacred Cocoon and had bitten into it—drawing a portion of its power. Though she was soon repelled, that sliver of divinity still lingered within her.

Guided by that fragment, the Spider Queen could now navigate the fog and find the right path. With just a little time, she would once again stand before the Sacred Cocoon—and this time, claim what was hers.

“Wait for me… Selene…

“The remnants of the Hyperion lineage will soon crumble… and I shall personally bury you beneath its ruins…”

With boundless anticipation and hatred, the Spider Queen surged through the dream fog at high speed, racing toward her goal. She had once seized the power of Blood Shade Path in the chaos of the Eclipse Calamity, ascending to godhood. After claiming the Storm Crown, now she would seize the authority of Dream.

At last… she would bury the legacy of Hyperion and revive her long-fallen divine bloodline.

…

Inner Realm – Field of Divine War.

This was a space of chaos. Immense divine powers clashed violently, tearing the realm to pieces.

What began as a local conflict of divinity had spread to adjacent realms. Eventually, multiple realms were drawn in, torn apart, and fused into a single jagged, fragmented battlefield.

No sun, no moon, no sky, no ground—only broken space filled with dazzling light and shadow. And now, it was flooded with blood. Blood—endless blood—filled every inch of this shattered realm. From the infinite top to the infinite bottom, from every direction, fluid blood flowed like the fabled aether of legend, transforming the landscape into a scarlet abyss.

Only one place remained untouched by this sea of blood.

There, a searing light blazed like a sun in the darkness.

No… it was a sun. A steel sun.

A supermassive metallic planet hovered in the sky, its mountain-sized gears spinning rapidly. Rivers of molten gold and iron surged along mystical channels at breakneck speed. The blazing heat and light generated by the planet’s rotation made it resemble a star—its brilliance so intense that it vaporized the incoming blood sea long before it could reach the surface.

From every direction, the blood tide surged—its sheer volume enough to drown entire planets. But the steel sun’s radiance scorched it all. Thousands of kilometers out, the blood boiled into crimson vapor. Between the blood sea and the steel star lay a realm of superheated red mist, dyeing the divine light with a sunset hue.

Closer still, even the red mist vanished. Looking up from the surface of the steel world, one could see the atmosphere choked with blood-colored steam—and, far above, the great boiling ocean of blood.

Encasing the steel sun in a massive sphere, the boiling blood sea roiled and writhed. From its surface, waves surged together and coalesced into massive blood serpents, which then hurled themselves skyward toward the steel sun—fangs bared and claws extended.

These monstrous blood serpents—concentrated forms of the boiling sea—contained strange powers that helped them resist the intense heat. Yet even so, they could not reach the sun’s scalding surface.

From the rotating surface of the industrial planet, billions of steel-forged mechanical titans were being produced. These titans—dozens of meters tall—wielded freshly forged divine armaments and boarded massive warships. From every surface of the molten planet, they launched into the sky, intercepting the blood serpents.

The mechanical giants, riding vast steam-powered dreadnoughts, unleashed relentless barrages of firepower. Coupled with the planet’s endless upward flurry of anti-air artillery—denser than a monsoon—every blood serpent was destroyed long before reaching the star. Not a drop of blood reached the surface—it all vaporized before impact.

No matter how many blood serpents rose from the boiling blood sea, and no matter what angle they attacked from, they ultimately could not break through the terrifying firepower network of the steel star. Amidst this grand war of divine power collisions, only one force had shown the potential to breach this searing, unending defense.

It was a massive, red-glowing black shadow streaking across the battlefield!

This pitch-black extreme shadow—half-real, half-illusory—was far larger than any blood serpent born of the boiling sea, and far greater than any warship launched from the steel star. It raced across the surface of the boiling blood sea, circling the spherical sea countless times, accelerating to a horrifying speed—one far beyond the perception of ordinary humans… or even high-ranking Lantern Beyonders. Its velocity created tsunamis wherever it passed.

“ROAR!!!”

With a roar that shook the entire realm, the Wolf God’s shadow broke away from the blood sea’s surface and charged straight toward the burning steel star at incredible speed—so fast that the orbital defense fleet didn’t even have time to react.

In a flash too quick to register, a massive number of defensive ships along the orbital ring were obliterated and exploded by the black shadow as it passed. Amid the endless booms of detonation, the Wolf God plunged into the blazing atmosphere, streaking toward the surface of the steel star.

The planet’s surface defense systems locked onto the approaching intruder and unleashed a storm of fire. Even with such speed, it was inevitable that the Wolf God would be hit. But the shells that struck it were devoured by the countless toothed maws that opened all across its shadowy body.

While devouring the onslaught, even more mouths opened and spat back the swallowed shells, bombarding the defense platforms below and shattering them one by one.

With a divine membrane of blood bestowed by the Abyssal Serpent covering its body, the Wolf God withstood the extreme temperatures, broke through layer after layer of air defense, and shot straight toward the steel ground below. It looked as if just one strike would be enough to pierce and shatter the grand mechanical planet.

The conventional defenses of the steel star seemed powerless against this black meteor—until a critical moment arrived.

Suddenly, countless massive valves opened across the surface of the planet, releasing scorching white steam that instantly flooded the lower atmosphere. The air around the steel star was completely filled and obscured.

As the Wolf God’s shadow plunged into the steamy atmosphere, it immediately sensed something unusual. Its extreme speed was noticeably reduced within the white mist, and it suddenly lost its sense of direction—it could no longer pinpoint its trajectory.

This white steam was wrong… The power within it didn’t entirely belong to the Lord of Forge. The Lord of Forge had borrowed another force to aid in this defense, which made the Wolf God sneer inwardly… Such tricks will never stop me, it thought disdainfully.

Within the steaming fog, the descending Wolf God opened more of its giant fanged mouths and began devouring the mist in vast gulps.

In an instant, the entire layer of white steam was disturbed by the massive suction force, forming a giant spiraling vortex that pulled all the mist in a single direction. As the fog thinned, the Wolf God’s vision cleared rapidly. It could see the steel ground again. The disorientation and drag faded. It could resume its assault unhindered.

The black meteor continued its plunge.

But just as it was about to collide with the steel star’s surface, the ground began to shift—mechanically transforming in a flash. The terrain where it was about to strike opened outward, revealing a massive, bottomless chasm.

“?!”

And just like that, without ever touching the surface, the Wolf God fell into the abyssal rift that split the steel star, continuing to plummet without end—perhaps all the way through to the other side of the planet. It was entirely possible the impact would be nullified this way.

Realizing this, the Wolf God immediately began to decelerate, attempting to slow down and halt itself within the planet’s interior—to unleash its destruction from within.

Yet, likely due to the disorientation from the steam and the process of altering its momentum, the steel star’s response was faster this time.

From the mechanical workshops surrounding the Wolf God’s shadow, countless massive brass-colored spikes suddenly jutted out, stabbing from every direction toward the slowing divine beast.

In a split second, the enormous Wolf God was struck by these spikes. But its defensive mechanisms also activated at once—numerous fanged mouths opened all across its body and bit down on the incoming spikes, trying to swallow them.

The Wolf God could grow devouring maws anywhere on its body to consume attacks—an extremely powerful form of defense. In theory, it could use this to neutralize the Lord of Forge’s counterattack. But reality had its own complications.

These were not ordinary projectiles. The spikes it tried to swallow were not arrows, shells, or enchanted missiles. They were thick, burning rods of divine rebar—and they didn’t break when bitten.

Instead, these rods continued extending from the surrounding forges, stabbing deeper into the Wolf God’s mouths, where they then expanded and morphed, flooding its body with violent energy and mechanical force, wreaking havoc inside it.

Devouring, after all, was the act of bringing foreign objects into the body and digesting them. If the target remained connected to something else, it needed to be chewed off first.

But the Wolf God had a problem: the steel divine rods forged by the Lord of Forge were simply too durable. Its fangs shattered upon impact. Unable to bite through, this was no longer “devouring”—it was being violently impaled. Its own mouths had been turned into openings for invasive weaponry.

The Lord of Forge was using these endlessly-produced rods—indestructible divine steel—to spear into every maw of the Wolf God, channeling immense, indigestible power into it, ravaging it from the inside out.

Now, the massive Wolf God was pinned in place by these countless rods, each one drilling energy into it, causing it to convulse in agony. It struggled madly, trying to bite through the spikes—but all it managed to do was break more of its own teeth.

As the Wolf God, the attacker, fell into disadvantage, the Abyssal Serpent, already merged with the endless blood sea outside the steel star, began to move. It increased the output and offensive rate of its blood serpents—but still couldn’t breach the orbital defense grid.

On the contrary, the steel star’s counterattack struck deep into the boiling blood sea. High-powered shells pierced the serpents and exploded within the abyss, causing massive detonations that lit the sea further and made it churn violently.

Facing the Core of Order, the Lord of Forge, both the Hungerer and the Thirster found themselves momentarily at a disadvantage. To turn the tide, they would need to fully unleash their divine nature and push their power into new realms.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, it was the Wolf God who acted first. Humiliated and impaled, it began to twist and distort. Its wolf-like form began to dissolve into a swelling mass of black and crimson, rapidly expanding and spreading outward—consuming all it touched.

At that moment, the Lord of Forge realized the divine connection to the rods inside the Wolf God had been completely severed. The more rods it produced, the more they were swallowed by the swelling sphere—and in doing so, they only fed its growth…

The Gluttonous Wolf abandoned its form, transforming into a constantly expanding Sphere of Devouring. Its black surface, veined with red, was covered in intangible conceptual "mouths"—capable of swallowing all that touched it. The more it devoured, the faster it grew. At its current rate, it would soon be able to consume an entire planet.

Facing the rapidly expanding Sphere of Devouring, the Lord of Forge immediately responded. The steel star began transforming at high speed. Amid violent metallic collisions and spinning gears, the planet’s body deformed and shifted to avoid direct contact with the devouring sphere. During this process, it continually released a strange white steam to slow the sphere’s growth—but to little effect. The sphere simply swallowed the steam as well, continuing to expand.

The Lord of Forge seemed to rely on high-speed transformation to dodge the Gluttonous Wolf, but the Abyssal Serpent, also a participant in this battle, would not sit idle. Following the Wolf, it began unleashing the full extent of its divine power.

Suddenly, the boiling blood sea surrounding the steel star fell silent. No more blood serpents emerged. The waves ceased. The entire sea retreated slightly from the hot planet to reduce the boiling effect.

Then came the change. The vast spherical blood sea began to move—not chaotically this time, but systematically.

The sea's currents now layered—some spinning clockwise, others counterclockwise—each layer flowing in different directions. These circulating currents intertwined, stacking layer upon layer, completely wrapping around the steel star from top to bottom.

These flows exerted a mystical influence—so strong that even space itself seemed to be dragged along. Though warships and mechs orbiting the planet had not been submerged, they still spun uncontrollably, drawn into the flowing rhythm.

The steel star itself seemed caught in the tides. Had there been only one directional current, the whole planet might have been swept into a spin. But with multiple currents flowing in conflicting directions, every region of the steel star was being tugged in a different way. Cracks began to appear across the steel surface. The screech of metal warping under pressure echoed endlessly.

Flowing… never-ceasing water…

This was a high-ranking manifestation of the Abyssal Serpent’s divinity. Even if not physically submerged, anything touched by its influence would be swept away. If this continued, the sturdy steel star would be shattered by the discordant sea currents—ground to pieces, kneaded into pulp, and ultimately swallowed by the expanding devouring sphere.

But that never happened.

Despite the chaos, the steel star did not collapse. Instead, it transformed once again, gleaming with divine light.

From the points being pulled hardest, the steel star broke apart into several segments, not tearing but splitting deliberately. These segments then independently reshaped themselves. The steel ground collapsed downward, giant slanted blade-like fins rose all around, and began spinning—aligned with the direction of the sea’s pull.

In an instant, the steel star had transformed from a mechanical planet into a massive turbine composed of countless giant propellers. Each matched one of the chaotic sea currents. Each spun accordingly, perfectly synchronized.

The Lord of Forge had converted the entire planet into a form optimized for handling the flowing chaos—a colossal turbine engine composed of adaptive propellers, each linking to others in a highly engineered lattice.

The Abyssal Serpent, realizing this, sped up the currents and added more directions to break the turbine’s rhythm. But the Lord of Forge reacted just as swiftly, adjusting and adding new parts. In the end, the transformation held.

This… was the God of Craftsman… the God of Machinery… the God of Industry.

The true core of the Lord of Forge’s divinity was not just infinite mass production. The countless industrial creations were merely expressions of its essence. At its heart lay the spirit of "adaptation and transformation."

Yes—born from the Stone Prince, the Lord of Forge was a manifestation of the Prince’s will to evolve. It could continuously reform itself, adapting to any environment, becoming the optimal form.

Seeing this great change, the Abyssal Serpent found its offensive efforts nullified. The steel star had not only survived—it now spun gleefully in its new form. Panicked, the Serpent poured even more divine power into its flows.

The blood currents were now infused with potent divine toxins, aimed at seeping into the Lord of Forge’s body through the invisible influence of the sea. But before this tactic could take effect, the Lord of Forge acted again—catching the Serpent completely off guard.

Amid the massive spinning turbines, the Serpent suddenly felt an immense suction force. It realized—to its shock—that the Lord of Forge was now pulling directly on the blood sea itself!

“!?”

Stunned and confused, the Abyssal Serpent began losing control over parts of the sea. Several streams it had created were ripped away and surged toward the massive turbines.

There was no doubt: this was the Lord of Forge’s doing. Its turbine wasn’t just reacting—it was now generating power from the blood currents.

Like a watermill grinding flour… like a hydroelectric dam generating energy… the Serpent’s sea was now powering the Lord of Forge!

The faster the sea pushed the turbines, the stronger the Lord of Forge grew. It was transforming the power the Serpent used against it—and using it back on the Serpent.

The Lord of Forge wasn’t just adapting to the environment—it sought to surpass it. As a god of industry, it took power from nature and used it to transform and transcend nature.

If the Serpent, a god close to nature, mishandled this clash—it risked having its own divine power converted.

Fueled by the stolen divine power, the Lord of Forge performed another small self-upgrade: it built a divine water pump—and began siphoning the Serpent’s blood sea.

In moments, several streams that formed the Serpent’s divine body were redirected—funneled in a single direction—toward the rapidly expanding black sphere that was the Gluttonous Wolf.

When the blood sea streams struck the devouring sphere, they were completely consumed—not a drop remained. The sphere gulped it all, growing ever larger.

If you can’t catch the fish, drain the water.

Since the Serpent had fully merged into the blood sea, destroying it meant boiling away the entire sea. Feeding it all to the devouring sphere seemed viable—but these streams were toxic. The sphere might not be able to withstand such a massive flood of poison.

Under the Lord of Forge’s maneuvering, the two Afterbirth gods were suddenly at a deadlock. If this continued, either the Wolf would drink the Serpent dry, or the Serpent would poison the Wolf to death—neither of which they wanted.

Thus, they both intervened.

In a flash, the spinning blood currents came to a halt. The blood sea grew calm. The turbines stopped as the external force disappeared. The Lord of Forge’s pump fell silent.

At the same time, the Devouring Sphere ceased its expansion. With a violent burst, it exploded—revealing the massive Wolf God, trembling violently. It opened all the mouths on its heads and body, vomiting out torrents of blood.

“…What’s this? You’re not continuing? Don’t you want to know who would’ve won?”

The Lord of Forge’s calm yet mocking voice echoed across the shattered battlefield. The two gods responded with growls full of bitter frustration.

“Don’t get cocky… Ironheart…”

“We acknowledge your power—as the strongest among the lesser gods—but today, that strength means nothing…”

BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…

As the Afterbirth divine siblings issued their hoarse proclamation, a dull drumbeat echoed across the realm. Its rhythmic sound trembled through every corner of the broken divine space, sending ripples through the now-still blood sea.

Not just here—across nearly every inner realm, even in the material world—similar drumbeats were ringing out. Their rumble echoed through all realms, resonating with the heartbeat of every living being—filling each with a subtle awareness of their own rhythm.

“Can you feel it… Ironheart?”

“Listen… The Great Mother’s heartbeat is so clear now. With Her blessing—we will cast you from the divine throne…”

Amid the world-shaking drumbeats, the two gods flared with divine energy. The Lord of Forge could sense it: a new, powerful force was entering the battlefield from beyond.

The Wolf stopped vomiting blood. It raised its five massive wolf heads and let out a long, distant howl.

As it howled, dark red runes spread across its black body. Under the stimulation of some unknown force, its already massive form began to grow even larger.

On the other side, the previously calm blood sea began to stir with countless ripples. From the center of each ripple, faces emerged—faces twisted in pain and wailing in agony.

Amid the intertwining cries and howls, the Lord of Forge could sense that both the Gluttonous Wolf and the Abyssal Serpent were growing rapidly in power. And it was clear to the Lord of Forge why.

This was the sign—the Mother of Chalice’s seal had mostly unraveled. At this moment, the Mother was radiating more of Her power outward, nourishing Her children, allowing both their forms and their power to evolve further.

Realizing that even their combined strength was insufficient to defeat the Core of Order, the two gods had turned to their Great Mother for strength. And what they received was the milk of life, fueling their growth...

“So it’s finally begun… the nourishment of the Mother of Chalice…” 

Faced with this situation, the Core of Order—Beverly—thought calmly. She didn’t seem surprised at all by the current scene.

“Then… it’s time to continue.”

With a mere thought, Beverly resumed the battle, creating an endless arsenal of weapons to launch toward the ever-growing Gluttonous Wolf. And the Wolf, enduring the lingering agony of divine poison, roared and charged forth to meet her head-on.

Quickly, the Wolf plunged into a new round of even fiercer combat. Amid the relentless firepower and toxic torment, it failed to notice—a faint wisp of divine power was quietly slipping away from its body.

…

Dreamscape, the Forest.

Wandering through the pale fog, the woman in the black dress followed the guiding power within her heart, seeking the direction to her goal amidst the confusion. After what seemed like an endless wait, the fog finally began to part.

“At last… I see you again…”

Stepping out from the edge of the mist, the Spider Queen halted on a field of grass and looked up. Suspended between the towering trees was the massive, white Sacred Cocoon. A faint smile curved her lips as she stepped forward.

Wearing the smile of triumph, she walked step by step toward her target. Along the way, numerous traps were triggered—shadows, storms, illusions, pain… various preset attacks sprang at her, but all were effortlessly neutralized.

Mirror Moon had indeed left traps here. But without her presence—or even a divine heir to watch over them—they weren’t enough to stop the Spider Queen.

Drawing closer to the cocoon, the Spider Queen slowly rose into the air, floating in front of it. She extended a long, claw-tipped hand and brushed against the cocoon’s glowing surface. Not sensing any powerful presence intervening, her grin widened.

“The Blood Chalice will descend… The end is nigh… No one is here to stop me now…

“You… now belong to me…”

As she spoke, the Spider Queen thrust her hand into the cocoon’s glow. But just as she prepared to tear it open and greedily consume its power—something unexpected occurred.

The glow from the cocoon suddenly intensified, bursting into an overwhelming blaze of white light that completely drowned out the Queen’s vision. She frowned, startled by the unanticipated development.

“What…?”

“You might be making a mistake again, Lady of Pain. From the beginning, there have always been people who care about me, who love me… then, now… and always. You and I are very different~”

Suddenly, within the light, came a voice—young, tender, and slightly indistinct. Upon hearing it, the Spider Queen’s heart sank. She clenched her teeth and shouted.

“Who are you?! Just who are you!?”

As the Spider Queen demanded an answer, the brilliance began to fade. A small figure gradually emerged from the light.

It was a young girl, appearing to be no more than seven or eight years old. She had long, flowing green hair, wore a glowing dress woven from crystalline threads, and had bare, soft feet adorned with luminous green anklets. A sheer shawl resembling insect wings draped her back, refracting countless dazzling patterns. Her cherubic face carried a gentle smile. Between her pointed ears were large, gleaming eyes—pupils flowing with radiant, multicolored light.

“I am the embodiment of the power you covet—the guardian of this dream… and of all dreams… the long-awaited newborn. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Morrigan.”

With a graceful bow, the dreamlike girl greeted the Spider Queen sweetly. Upon fully recognizing who stood before her, the Queen recoiled in shock.

“Impossible… Impossible! You clearly needed more time to complete your metamorphosis! You shouldn’t be able to appear here yet!”

But the girl’s smile didn’t falter. In a soft, childish voice, she responded.

“You’re right… I was still some time away from seeing the world. But the milk of the Mother of Life—it accelerates the growth of all immature children~”

“The milk of the Mother of Life?! That’s impossible! The Mother of Chalice gave her power to you?!” 

Morrigan shouted in disbelief. The dreamlike girl, however, replied calmly and cryptically.

“Normally, that would be impossible… But within the fate woven by the Fate Sovereign… even things more fantastical than dreams—might still come true~”

“The Fate Sovereign…”

Faced with the girl’s serene smile, Morrigan’s expression darkened to its utmost. Eight pupils swirled in her venomous eyes—six darting wildly while two remained fixed. Cracking sounds echoed from her long, bony fingers.

…

At that moment, in a secret inner realm shrouded in darkness, a lone figure floated in silence.

It was a man in a sharp suit, white gloves on his hands. Though his posture was proud and upright, his face was hidden behind a mask—a dark metal mask etched with a grotesque, exaggerated grin stretched to the ears, exuding pure, unfiltered greed.

This was the Dark Coin Noble—more precisely, the human proxy of the God of Commercial Gold, a super-apostolic vessel saturated with Dark Gold divinity. Though the Dark Coin Noble had risen to this rank, he remained under Dorothy’s control—a mere puppet.

The reason the butterfly in the Dream Cocoon could awaken early… was precisely due to a maneuver executed by Dorothy using the Dark Coin Noble’s Commercial Gold divinity.

From the very beginning, Dorothy had her puppet, the Dark Coin Noble, bear the divine essence of Commercial Gold. Compared to the younger Revelation infant from before, Dorothy now wielded far greater control, ensuring the puppet wouldn’t spiral out of control despite the immense divine burden.

Once the Dark Coin Noble carried the divinity, Dorothy had him employ “loan” techniques to establish a contract with the Sacred Cocoon—borrowing a portion of not-yet-mature dream divinity, and lending it to Beverly.

Then, during the battle against the Gluttonous Wolf and Abyssal Serpent, Beverly intentionally infused that borrowed dream divinity into her attacks—delivered via steam missiles and other means—which ultimately ended up in the Abyssal Serpent.

Afterward, Beverly unleashed her true power, blasting the two gods and forcing them to seek aid from the Mother of Chalice. The divine power granted by the Mother—known as “milk”—naturally accelerated growth, causing the dream divinity consumed by the Wolf to rapidly mature along with it.

Finally, Dorothy had the Dark Coin Noble—acting as creditor—reclaim the now-mature dream divinity from the Wolf, who was exhausted and weakened by poison and suppression.

By this time, the divinity had already been massively matured through the Mother’s milk. Dorothy then had the Dark Coin Noble purify the reclaimed essence, removing traces of corruption and reselling them—just like Beverly once did.

Once clean, the mature dream divinity was returned to the Sacred Cocoon. With so much grown essence returned, the Dream Butterfly could now hatch ahead of schedule.

Yes—this plan was built to use the Gluttonous Wolf’s devouring power and the Mother of Chalice’s nurturing power to accelerate the growth of the immature divinity within the cocoon, ultimately hastening the emergence of the Butterfly Goddess.

Whether Dorothy or Beverly faced the Gluttonous Wolf in battle, they would always find a way to feed it dream divinity and force it into desperation. In this case, the Wolf had appeared before Beverly, so Dorothy passed the divinity to her, allowing her to complete the butterfly’s awakening.

In this moment of crisis, Dorothy’s side needed more divine warriors. They needed the Butterfly Goddess to enter the war.