"Yeah, that won't happen," said Sera without missing a beat.

Wukong, already imagining his freedom, got stumped. His eyes slowly moved towards the Angel as he mumbled, "What?"

Sera rolled her eyes and summoned her usual throne out of Angelic Metal. She sat down with a tired sigh while staring up at the tall Monkey.

"You heard me. It won't happen... Don't get me wrong, I don't care about your past crimes or why the Justiciars put the Mark on your soul. However, I'm simply unable to remove the mark, since I don't possess the same power as they did!"

She yawned again and crossed her legs, making herself more comfortable on the throne.

The Monkey facepalmed and began chuckling, which sounded quite disturbing.

After a few seconds, he regained his composure and, while shaking his head, said, "Don't worry about that! I'm sure you'll get the power to remove Marks! You're only a Transcended, of course you can't actually do anything right now!...

"Treat this deal as a sort of investment. You promised to remove my Mark, and since I already wanted to kill those pompous fools, I might as well help you do the dirty work!... So, what do you say?"

Wukong reached out with his right paw, and after a few second consideration, Sera also reached out.

They shook hands as Sera said, "Fine, I'll accept it. Now tell me everything you know about the Chinese Pantheon."

The Monkey shook his head, a stupid grin growing across his face...

"Now, now, Ms. Angel. Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not your follower, like the Shadow behind your back. We're allies here, so I would suggest stop trying to order me around!"

While his face stayed cheerful, the tone of his voice sounded annoyed. It took a single order from a weaker individual for the Monkey's Ethereal pride to get hurt.

Sera blinked a few times, her expression a mix of boredom and tiredness. Her propped-up leg kept bopping up and down periodically as she awaited Wukong's next words.

"I'll tell all the secrets of the Chinese and Hindu Pantheon, but don't get ahead of yourself." He said while picking his nose and leaning against the long staff.

"In the past few weeks after my arrival, I've been exploring around Earth. I've seen most of your cities and people, while I also snuck into the other Factions' Pocket Realms... You should've seen the Egyptian Pantheon's prison. I don't understand how any of them survived that bloodbath!"

The Monkey glanced away while mumbling incomprehensibly under his breath. A few seconds later, however, his eyes snapped back to Sera, as a small, disturbing grin appeared on his face.

"Anyway, a few days ago I met someone you might be interested in talking to. Tell me, Ms. Angel. Have you heard of Amaterasu before?"

The Angel's face stayed uninterested, even though her mind went into overdrive, recalling every single piece of information she'd learned about Amaterasu, the Queen of the Sun.

The professor's writings depicted her as a radiant figure. One of the most powerful gods in the Shinto Religion, and usually considered the leader of said Pantheon. As her name suggested, her powers relate to light and the Sun, but not much is written about it.

"I may have heard about her. Why're you asking though?"

"So untrusting!" said Wukong with a wide grin. "When I met her, we talked a bit. She feels similarly about the other Factions and has no interest in killing you. I'm certain you two can come to a similar, fruitful agreement, like ours!"

Sera nodded in understanding and took a few moments to consider Wukong's words.

Eventually, she leaned back in her throne and asked, "Maybe, but first let me ask, do you know what happened with her Faction? I heard only reports saying she came through the Gateway alone, then closed it. Did she trap everyone else inside?"

The Monkey stared down at the Angel as if she were stupid...

"What do you mean 'trap everyone inside'? Ms. Angel, there's nobody left! The Shinto Religion is gone, and Amaterasu is the only survivor!"

She raised a surprised eyebrow. This definitely wasn't the answer she expected, yet it didn't shock her too much. Many reports revealed Pocket Realm openings, through which nobody came to Earth, meaning they must've killed each other during the past millennia.

"How did that happen?" asked Bea curiously. She didn't care about Wukong's answer, but wanted to speed up the conversation and knew this would've been Sera's next question.

The tall Monkey shrugged and shook his head...

"No clue. I didn't ask, and she didn't say. Let's go there and ask her!"

With that, Wukong stood up straight and grabbed his staff. He then smiled down and Sera while saying, "Let's meet at the edge of the Korean Peninsula! That's where Amaterasu lives, since the Japanese Isles don't exist anymore!"

The Monkey gave one more sly grin to Xinya, then tossed his staff into the air. He somersaulted upward, and when his hand caught the staff, Wukong disappeared.

The room became perfectly silent as the talkative Monkey went away. After nearly a minute, Valerie spoke for the first time since arriving...

"What the fuck did I just watch?" she asked, but didn't wait to receive an answer as she glanced down at Sera's thoughtful form. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

For emphasis, Valerie opened her mouth in a giant yawn, while Sera sighed and stood up...

"Yeah, sure. Bea, you can leave too. I think this next conversation will be much more boring. Amaterasu isn't known for her humor, like Wukong."

Bea just raised her eyebrow while staring into Sera's eyes. Her gaze clearly revealed everything Sera needed to know about her decision... She wasn't leaving her alone...

"Okay, then. Me and Bea will go to the Korean Peninsula—..."

Before Sera could've continued, Xinya cut into her words. Her voice stayed firm, albeit its low volume revealed the woman's discomfort.

"I'll go with you too, since I'm responsible for the Asian Continent!"

She expected some pushback from either woman, but as she prepared an argument for her case, Sera just shrugged.

"Sure, you can join us. Valerie, ask Vicky to teleport you home."

"Thanks, but no need to wake her again," said Valerie with a small grin, then began humming gently. A second passed, and suddenly her body became translucent as the giant woman disappeared.

"Since when can she do that?!" shouted Bea in a bewildered voice. However, nobody cared enough to answer.

In reality, they all had an idea about the power of an Ethereal, so traveling instantaneously didn't seem farfetched either.

"Anyway, let's follow Wukong and meet with Amaterasu. Xinya, could you open a portal?"

Xinya didn't answer. She just drew her sword and slashed open reality.

Sera walked through the rift without much care, while Bea eyed Xinya suspiciously. The Asian woman followed the Angel, and albeit reluctantly, the World Tree entered the portal too.

The trio found themselves on a sandy beach with gentle waves pushing in and out.

The Korean Peninsula's southern part got flooded when the Japanese Isles were destroyed. So now, standing on the newly formed beach, created a sad sight.

A few island-like formations protruded from the seawater. They were once tall mountains, but now the ocean began eroding them, and gradually they started collapsing on themselves.

Remnants of dead cities and towns adorned these islands, but no humans survived the Apocalypse in this area. All of them were ghost cities now, with only maybe monsters living inside.

Sera watched the destruction for a few seconds before turning away and walking further inland. Bea and Xinya followed suit.

"Bea, can you sense either Wukong or Amaterasu?"

Upon Evolving into a Stellar, Bea's nature sense increased exponentially. She could detect any living creature within a radius of hundreds of kilometers.

However, upon hearing Sera's request, she just shook her head and said, "I can't feel either, but I also can't detect any monsters, so I think they're nearby and can hide their presence."

Sera nodded as they continued walking. The beach led into a small forest. The sun burned through the bright green foliage, illuminating the grassy ground.

The sound of birdsong mixed with the bustling noise of insects. A few mosquitoes tried biting the trio, but Transcended skin was harder than most metals, so their attempts at sucking their blood were futile.

They walked for ten minutes before reaching a gentle river, which flowed into a small meadow. A wide array of flowers bloomed across the plains, creating an artistic mix of color and beauty.

Even the sunlight felt brighter in this area, probably because of the lone woman sitting near the river's edge, under a willow tree.

A whitish-gold robe-like outfit, which was similar in style to Xinya's own, covered her graceful body. Light radiated from her tanned skin as her long white hair gently swayed in the wind.

She leaned against the willow's trunk, with her eyes closed. Her majestic face seemed at peace as her chest gently rose with each deep breath.

The trio stopped at the meadow's edge, afraid of disturbing the woman's peace. However, there was a fourth person, who didn't care about the poor primordial goddess's peace.

"Hey there, Ama. Care to have a chat?" asked Wukong while hanging upside down from the willow tree. He used his tail to lower himself, so his face reached Amaterasu's eye level.

The primordial goddess tried ignoring him, but the mischievous Monkey didn't take no for an answer. With a small giggle, he reached out and touched the Queen of the Sun's nose.

"Your hand smells like shit, Monkey." Said Amaterasu, in an even, unbothered tone.

Her eyes gradually opened, revealing two orbs of burning sun-like stars embedded in the woman's head. They stared at Wukong for a few seconds before turning away, towards Sera...