Aspect of Twilight

A contract...

If they only used the painting as a reference, the God helped the people by creating the Altar of Ascension and didn't seem to ask for anything in return.

However, since No. 1 said it was a contract, the help shouldn't be free.

"The God is called Aspect of Twilight. He told us that we can obtain immense power with this Altar of Ascension, a power that can prevent us from being harmed by anyone. Our appearance changes to what you're seeing now because of this altar, and we easily defeat the army that chases us."

"Isn't that a very good thing?"

"Well, yes if that's the end of the story, but... after we obtained that power, something within us changed, and we become emotionally unstable. We had overcome so many trials together, but after using the Altar of Ascension we actually fought with each other because of some trivial matters!"

"In the end, there was a disagreement between us, and a battle broke out. We survived the army's pursuit and none of us die, only to fight each other afterwards and died in our own comrades' hands! "

"Was it caused by the Sun Disc?" Rayleigh could not help but ask,

The Sun Disc made people think that it was a divine artifact. The color was indeed golden when it first gave them power, then now it has turned black, which proved that it has been contaminated.

"I guess so. And haven't you noticed..." No. 1 pointed to the people on the wall and said, "This is the second time we go around this altar. The people in the picture should've changed by now…"

!

Roger and Rayleigh frowned. Of course, they didn't notice that the people in the painting had changed because the content of the painting hadn't changed. Who would notice the change in every person on the painting anyway?

However, because of what No. 1 said, Roger and Rayleigh couldn't help but look at the painting again, and they indeed found the difference!

Although the story was the same, everyone looked different from before!

Noticing the change in their expressions, No. 1 added,

"Whatever it is that happened to us have been repeated countless times in history. Therefore, the outer part of this altar is known as the Giant Serpent's Tail, Reincarnation of Fate. With every lap of walk around this altar, the contents of the painting will change. Every change proves that such a thing did happen."

"So far, I have walked more than a hundred laps around the Altar of Ascension, but I have not found the end. It seems endless and will never be repeated."

"Such a thing actually happened." Roger finally had snapped out of it after being surprised for a while due to the change in the painting. He frowned and said, "What is going on?"

"The Aspect of Twilight is actually not a god, but a demon." No. 1 said after taking a deep breath. He nodded to affirm Rayleigh's guess and then said,

"The Altar of Ascension is not an altar that bestows the power of gods to people, but an altar that can turn people into demons! After those who had turned into demons died, their soul will return to this disc and turn it black. Once the disc turns golden again, it proves that all the people who formed a contract with the Aspect of Twilight have died. This represents the end of a reincarnation cycle, and the next painting restarts. Who knows where the fallen demon soul end up? Maybe it will be devoured by the demon named Aspect of Twilight."

So you stayed here to prevent others from using the Altar of Ascension again? Roger asked,

"You can put it that way, but in fact, the reason why we were able to figure out the Aspect of Twilight's scheme was because we obtained the Pandora box left behind by a demon a long time ago. With that magic box, we were able to communicate with a powerful Demon Lord. 

No. 1 continued as he walked, "He told us the truth about Aspect of Twilight and the Altar of Ascension, but he wanted us to free him from the depths of hell. My tribesmen agreed to his request and became crazier because of the demonic transformation."

"I don't want the demon to reappear in this world. Although I have told others several times, no one listened to me in the end. I had no choice but leave the tribe and guard this altar to prevent this altar from being used ever again!"

"Such a thing actually happened...And now, your clansmen have successfully summoned the Demon Lord?" Roger could not help but ask in a deep voice.

That demon was very strong, but what did it have to do with Aspect of Twilight? He knew the truth about the Altar of Ascension and wanted to destroy this place. Was he also the victim of the Altar of Ascension?

The doubt lingered in Roger's heart, while No. 1 continued, "There should be one last step left. But it won't be so bad either if he comes. At least he can then destroy this altar."

"Why don't you destroy this place?" Roger still remembered that No. 1 had said that he had tweaked this altar and could destroy it if he wanted to.

"Once the altar is destroyed, the soul of the demons stored inside will be released. If that happened, there will be a huge disaster, so that is my last resort."

By this time, No. 1 had taken them another lap, and Roger noticed that the character on the first painting had changed again.

This was actually the power of Jewel of Four Souls' Fragment. Changing the contents of some painting certainly wasn't hard.

So Roger continued to ask, "Is Aatrox related to Aspect of Twilight in any way? Why would he destroy this place?"

No. 1 shook his head. He stopped and said emotionally while looking at the black disc, "I don't know either. Aatrox is not a demon that we can communicate with. Most of the time, he is full of resentment towards the world."

"Therefore, I only have some guesses. Do you want to hear it?"

"Well, there's nothing to lose in hearing it, is there?" Roger grinned.

"A long time ago, there were eight Demon Lordss in the Demon Realm. They were the strongest among the demons. Aatrox was one of them. However, Aatrox didn't just destroy humans. More often than not, he would start a massacre in the Demon Realm, constantly attacking the territories of other Demon Lords. I suspect that Aspect of Twilight is also one of the eight Demon Lords, and Aatrox was a demon created by him using his Altar of Ascension. That's why he has some kind of attachment to Aspect of Twilight..."