Lord: Sequence Master

The desolate mountain range in the Sacred Wood Empire was covered in countless Sky-reaching Grasses.

Aside from these towering stalks, there wasn't a trace of any other plant in sight.

Rosen stared in awe at the immense Sky-reaching Grasses, each leaf reaching tens of thousands of miles into the sky, wide enough to blot out the sun.

The grasses grew at astonishing speeds, with roots burrowing deep into each colossal mountain within the range.

Each mountain was host to a single Sky-reaching Grass, and on each stalk was a small world in itself.

A myriad of giant, bird-like beasts made their homes in the mid to upper sections of the grass, far above the ash-covered ground.

Rosen soared into the sky, quickly ascending thousands of miles until he spotted a massive creature known as the Flamecloud Sparrow.

Although the Flamecloud Sparrows weren't huge—their wingspan reaching only a few hundred meters—they could transform into beings tens of thousands of meters wide by shifting into their fire-element form. As adults, they reached as high as Sequence 5, with a considerable chance of evolving into Sequence 3.

The Flamingo mounts of Karpac's knightly entourage possessed traces of the Flamecloud Sparrow's extraordinary bloodline.

Rather than immediately hunting the sparrow, Rosen warily eyed the ash below.

In this region, only the area below ten thousand miles was coated in ash, while above it, only the Sky-reaching Grasses flourished, untouched. This suggested that, if a deity happened to be observing the area, they could easily cross space and strike at him.

The odds of that were as slim as winning the lottery, given how vast the world was.

Still, Rosen's luck was far from at its peak; although he had reaped many rewards from the Moore Family, his luck hadn't fully recovered. So a bit of extra caution was wise—especially after selling the Beast King Arena and potentially angering whoever had originally set it as bait.

But he doubted he would be so unlucky, especially given the care he had taken with his disguise.

Dressed in his Hunter's Gear and riding the Storm Thunderbird, Rosen approached the Flamecloud Sparrow.

At a distance of three hundred miles, Dragon King's Rage took on sniper form and locked onto the Flamecloud Sparrow.

Rosen steadied the sniper with one hand, while holding a Twin Dagger in his other hand.

This was to ensure that the Twin Daggers' double-damage skill effect would activate.

With the Time Sniper Scope locked, he fired a Silenced Bullet of the Future, hitting the Flamecloud Sparrow three seconds later.

With Little Dragon Girl's Fantasy Armor enhancement, an Anti-Magic Bullet struck the sparrow's head.

More Dragon Language Magic Bullets followed, and despite the double-damage enhancement from the Ashen Armor-Piercing skill, the sparrow's elementalized state meant its defensive attributes had little effect, leaving it to endure only partial true damage from the Miracle Trait.

The Flamecloud Sparrow, suddenly under attack, instinctively sought out its assailant.

But by then, Rosen had hidden in its blind spot, using Void Blink.

Like a machine gun, Dragon King's Rage fired off a stream of precisely aimed shots. Over the course of three minutes, hundreds of magic-enhanced bullets tore through the sparrow, whittling it down with true damage until it fell. This was partly due to the sparrow's formidable defenses and also due to the limited strength of his shots.

Skill-stacking could indeed increase damage output, but not every skill could be stacked.

Non-compatible skills couldn't be combined, and the more skills he fused, the more his Spiritual Energy consumption multiplied.

He had already combined all compatible skills with Dragon King's Rage, but it wasn't quite enough. At Sequence 5, mastering a set of powerful, complementary attack skills was essential. For now, he would have to rely on external power to boost his damage output.

When he hunted down the Cat God's doppelganger years ago, he acquired a rare Sequence 6 pair of cat's eye stones.

Embedding these into Dragon King's Rage would significantly increase his power.

He had consulted skilled alchemists about the embedding, but standard settings would waste their potential.

What Rosen desired was the highest standard, a flawless embedding—a task no alchemist in the Sacred Wood Empire could meet.

But with a recommendation from the Elven Queen, he learned that the Kingdom of Divine Weapons on the Sacred Continent could certainly fulfill his request.

Detouring to reach the Kingdom of Divine Weapons would only add around a hundred thousand miles. Feeling the need for an absolute damage advantage with Dragon King's Rage, Rosen could hardly wait to set out for it.

Two months later, Rosen took down his hundredth giant beast.

As the creature died, the cross symbol on the back of his hand turned blood red again.

The surrounding space began to twist and fold as a colossal entity transferred over from another space—this was the Beast King, materializing directly from the spirit realm into reality under World Government protocols.

After backing away, Rosen soon spotted a small Beast King just a few miles ahead.

The creature was a translucent, white scorpion with wings on its back. Quickly sorting through his knowledge, he recognized it immediately.

"Death Scorpion…"

Rosen was stunned.

As far as he knew, the Death Scorpion was an extraordinarily fast creature with excellent stealth abilities and a deadly poison. For such a creature to be a Beast King meant its abilities were enhanced further, and despite being only Sequence 6, it could easily threaten those at Sequence 4.

At this level, did they expect geniuses who'd slain a hundred giants to merely throw away their lives?

Another possibility occurred to Rosen: by strict count, he might have killed two hundred giants.

And he'd fled from his previous encounter with a giant beast instead of slaying it. Perhaps the two counts had added up, leading to the appearance of a Death Scorpion of Beast King level?

In his line of sight, the Death Scorpion disappeared silently, eluding even his sixth sense.

Rosen waited on high alert for half an hour, but the Death Scorpion never attacked.

It dawned on him why the Death Scorpion, despite being only Sequence 6, was classified as a high-risk entity in the records.

It had every characteristic of an apex assassin and was cunning enough to match.

The Death Scorpion must have sensed that he was not the real Rosen, but only a Self-Portrait Clone.

Thus, despite ample opportunities to ambush, the Death Scorpion had the patience to wait. Even if Rosen's true body didn't appear for days, it would likely remain hidden nearby, waiting.

In his Void Gallery, Rosen's true body swapped places with the Self-Portrait Clone.

He hadn't been visible for two seconds before a scorpion tail appeared silently behind him, drawing closer.

None of Rosen's senses detected the danger behind him.

However, the Self-Portrait Clone saw the deadly intent from behind through the Void Gallery.

As the Death Scorpion's tail neared his head, Rosen used Void Blink to create distance.

The Death Scorpion vanished instantly, slipping back into hiding.

Rosen grimaced. Evading the Death Scorpion was easy, but killing it would require finding it first, and pulling off a counterattack. He realized he'd need to set up bait and heavily so.

Just as he was contemplating his lure while blinking away, the scorpion tail struck without warning at the end of his blink. Almost shocked out of his wits, Rosen instinctively slapped the scorpion tail.

The Hunting Mark from his Cat Claw Pendant miracle artifact silently embedded itself onto the tail.

But in the next instant, the Death Scorpion severed its tail and disappeared once more.

Rosen yanked the scorpion tail out of his skull, his powerful life force regenerating his brain, flesh, and bones. However, the tail's colorless and odorless poison began to dissolve his brain tissue.

If it persisted, he would surely die and would have to respawn in his Divine Domain.

But what if the Death Scorpion could pursue him even there?

Its decisiveness was unsettling—it had abandoned its tail the moment he touched it, suspecting some hidden trap. The Death Scorpion's intelligence was more frightening than he had imagined, outstripping even the Demi-God Assassin's expertise.

Rosen raised his sword and slashed his own head off, allowing a new head to regenerate from his neck.

The dissolving head turned into transparent fluid and was tossed into the Void Gallery's Furnace of Gluttony.

For the Death Scorpion, regrowing a tail wasn't as easy as Rosen regenerating a head.

Perhaps the Death Scorpion hadn't anticipated that his head wasn't a vital organ, so it held back from another ambush.

With the scorpion's tail not yet regrown, Rosen set up an array of traps all around him.

He unleashed his life force, converting it into Psychic Aura that expanded into a hollow sphere around him, then enlarged it until it became a spherical zone centered on him for full-range spatial detection.

The downside of this setup was that it drained his aura's defensive abilities.

But given the Death Scorpion's explosive damage, Sequence 6 defenses were almost useless anyway.

A few minutes later, Rosen sensed an intruding lifeform entering the aura sphere, and a split-second later, the Death Scorpion emerged below him, aiming its tail upward.

With himself and the Storm Thunderbird about to be skewered, Rosen's time trap below activated.

The dust of time froze everything, allowing Rosen to fire a shot at the Death Scorpion's tail.

The bullet was a Psychic Sphere created by Little Dragon Girl's mind, targeting the Death Scorpion's spirit. The power would permeate its consciousness, making it one of her specialized methods for marking high-speed targets.

However, the Psychic Sphere quickly lost its mark, as the Death Scorpion's projection vanished.

Evidently, this had been a clone. The next moment, another tail entered the aura sphere.

The Death Scorpion was confirming Rosen's detection range with its clone, then attacked from outside the aura's range by stretching its tail several thousand meters directly toward his heart.

By the time Rosen reacted, the scorpion's tail was upon him.

Knowing he had marked only a clone, he activated Bullet Time on Dragon King's Rage, greatly enhancing his perception. Just in time, he fired off a shot.

Yet the next instant, his heart was pierced, and once again, the Death Scorpion shed its tail.

But this time, the Psychic Sphere reached into its spirit, marking it from within.

Unless it precisely stripped its soul, the mark would be impossible to remove.

Rosen blinked away, then locked onto the mark and fired remotely at the invisible Death Scorpion.

Both could now pinpoint each other's locations, turning the fight into a direct confrontation. The Death Scorpion's sheer speed, however, allowed it to evade the bullets with ease.

The Time Scope proved useless, as it required visible targets.

Unable to see his target, Rosen couldn't use the Future Silencer.

After a chase in which they took turns escaping, the Death Scorpion finally managed to dispel the Psychic Sphere's mark.

"The Hunter Sequence alone isn't enough to bridge the gap with a Beast King," Rosen sighed, activating the Ashen Veil, which projected a painting in every direction.

The image depicted an intricate, multi-layered spider's web—a perfect countermeasure for stealthy assassin types.

In a radius of ten miles, countless threads now filled the area.

Should the Death Scorpion come near, it would be caught in this inescapable web.

Rosen glanced down at his heart, which had been pierced by the scorpion tail.

Ordinarily, the venom should have dissolved it, but his heart bore the Ancient Divine Artifact, and the tail had rebounded upon contact. Though the venom lingered, it had failed to melt his heart entirely.

After years of honing, the Ancient Divine Artifact had been refining his bloodline.

By now, one-third of his blood had turned golden.

Although incomplete, his ancient bloodline suppressed the Death Scorpion's poison, neutralizing its effects. However, the venom continued to war against the Ancient Divine Blood within his heart.

He noticed that the clash between the two was accelerating the awakening of his ancient bloodline.

Originally, it would have taken about twenty years for the ancient blood to fully awaken, but with the Death Scorpion's poison aiding the process, it might only take a few years for all his blood to turn golden.

He changed his plan from hunting the Death Scorpion to capturing it alive.

With his Nightmare Shackles, he could embed a miracle artifact to achieve special effects.

After consideration, he embedded the Time Tower into the Nightmare Shackles.

The shackles lengthened, stretching out dozens of meters around him.

Rosen activated the Star Insignia and the Ancient Divine Artifact, boosting his Spiritual Energy to Sequence 3 for the next nine seconds.

At last, his heightened senses located the Death Scorpion.

Rosen blinked into position, close to the Death Scorpion, which realized its concealment had failed. With Rosen's teleportation matching its speed, it was unable to retreat. Its fierce instincts took over.

Dropping its focus on stealth, it lunged for a frontal assault.

Its tail stretched out like a retractable spear, while its pincers created blurs as they blocked every bullet.

Three seconds into the battle, Rosen fired a Time Bullet hidden in his barrage.

The Death Scorpion aged a thousand years in an instant, its fierce battle becoming a distant memory.

Seizing the opportunity as the Death Scorpion slowed, Rosen blinked to its side and lashed out with the Nightmare Shackles, binding it. The power of the Time Tower engulfed the scorpion, freezing time.

Before it could escape the time lock, Rosen pulled it into the Void Gallery's Prison.

The Death Scorpion, sensing time resuming, began a suicidal struggle.

Seeing this, Rosen reluctantly used the Time Tower to freeze time once more.

The strain of fully activating the Time Tower was substantial. As soon as he lifted the time lock, the Death Scorpion would attempt suicide again. Although capable of command in battle, it was far too single-minded in other respects, with no potential for being tamed.

Left with no choice, Rosen drove the Dragonfang Dagger into the Death Scorpion's body.

After several hours, the Death Scorpion's spirit finally broke, succumbing to death.

The Dragonfang Dagger drank the creature's blood, having already consumed the blood of over a hundred Sequence 6 giants, and finally evolved with its Beast King Bloodthirst trait.

[Essence·Dragonfang Dagger: Transcendent Artifact]

[Rank: Sequence 5]

[Attributes: Wielder of the Dragonfang Dagger can achieve total invisibility underwater, evading some Sequence 3 detection abilities]

[Essence Traits: Beast King Bloodthirst, Sharpness, Aquatic Clone]

The Essence Traits received a general boost, but the attributes underwent a qualitative transformation.

It could now avoid detection from some Sequence 3 entities not specialized in sensing hidden forces.

Despite being only Sequence 5, the Dragonfang Dagger held value surpassing even certain Sequence 3 artifacts.

Rosen stored it away and retrieved a loot orb from his Scavenging Space.

The single orb likely contained Essence Equipment.

As he crushed it, a belt materialized in his hand.

[Essence·Death Belt: Transcendent Artifact]

[Rank: Sequence 6]

[Attributes: Increases base damage by 40%, generates an indestructible scorpion tail infused with lethal venom]

[Essence Trait 1: Death Sense—Perceive the lingering death auras left by slaughtered beings]

[Essence Trait 2: Godspeed—Quadruples all base speed stats]

[Essence Trait 3: Aura Concealment—Immune to detection by Sequence 3 entities and below]

[Essence Trait 4: Death Harvest—Boost quality by hunting Beast Kings to gain new Essence Traits]

[Equipment Requirement: Hunter Sequence 6]

After examining the belt, Rosen realized that both the Death Belt and Dragonfang Dagger shared upgrade capabilities.

One evolved through blood absorption, while the other through Beast King hunts.

After refining the Essence Equipment, Rosen noted that the Death Belt was even more valuable than the Dragonfang Dagger.

The base damage alone was remarkable. He tested it and found that a flexible, retractable scorpion tail could extend from the belt, identical to the Death Scorpion's tail, with the same regenerative, retractable, armor-piercing, and life-dissolving venom properties.

The venom, especially, could accelerate his Ancient Divine Blood revival once injected into his heart.

And from now on, should anyone try to ambush him from behind, they would have to face the deadly sting of his Immortal Scorpion Tail.

As Rosen tested the other traits, he realized Death Sense could combine with his sixth sense, allowing him to feel his own deathly aura and determine exactly which creatures he had hunted over recent days.

He could even pinpoint the exact moment of each kill, with the death auras standing out like flames in the dark.

No wonder the Death Scorpion had been able to locate him so easily.

Rosen tested the effect of Godspeed, recognizing it as the Death Scorpion's most terrifying trait.

It wasn't just movement and attack speed—it amplified reaction and thought speed by four times as well. Such power was not typical for a normal Death Scorpion, likely an ability granted to it by the Beast King rank.

Finally, the Aura Concealment trait was a counter to Death Sense, a perfect balance of offense and defense.

Had he possessed it earlier, the Death Scorpion would never have tracked him down so easily.

Checking the map, Rosen locked onto the route to the Kingdom of Divine Weapons and continued on his journey.

As he traveled, he familiarized himself with his newfound strength, reaching the Kingdom of Divine Weapons after about half a month.

Even from a distance, Rosen could make out the massive silhouette of the Kingdom of Divine Weapons.

Encompassing tens of thousands of miles, it was a colossal volcano, half-hidden by thick smoke. Rivers of molten lava encircled its base, flowing down from the crater and casting a golden-red glow over the entire volcano.

Rosen descended from the sky into the Kingdom of Divine Weapons, heading toward the crater.

The kingdom held only a single city, the Sky City of Divine Weapons, situated atop the volcano.

Most travelers accessed it via national teleportation arrays, but since the Sacred Wood Empire was currently sealed off, he would have to scale the mountain, ascending some eighty to ninety thousand miles to the peak.

This climb was enough to remind anyone of humanity's insignificance in the face of nature.

Only Sequence 0 entities could withstand the fury of such a volcano.

During his ascent, Rosen collected various rare and valuable materials from the lava.

The Miracle Pouch's treasure-seeking ability effortlessly locked onto countless unclaimed treasures here.

It was no wonder the Kingdom of Divine Weapons was a haven for scientists on the Sacred Continent.

It wasn't an empire, simply because no titled demi-god had yet taken control.

If it came to raw power, the Kingdom of Divine Weapons might even surpass the Sacred Wood Empire.

Shortly after Storm Thunderbird began the ascent, Rosen spotted an airship wobbling precariously through the thick black smoke.

It was only Sequence 6, pursued by stone golems with lava for bodies, hurling magma balls at it. Without intervention, the airship would soon fall.

Rosen drew Dragon King's Rage, and each shot of Dragon Language Magic Fragmentation instantly shattered the stone golems.

Realizing they had been saved, the knights aboard the airship fled even faster, without so much as a thank-you.

"People these days," Rosen sighed, though he didn't particularly mind gratitude. He was hoping to speak with a local for information.

He hadn't expected them to run off like that—rather unbecoming.

Just as Rosen prepared to continue his journey, Death Sense detected faint traces of human death aura several thousand meters in the direction of the fleeing airship. Evidently, they hadn't escaped danger for long.

Following the death aura, Rosen peered through the thick smoke and saw a thousand-meter-tall stone golem.

(End of Chapter)