**Chapter 1254: The Day of Cicada Molting**
As Eivass slightly loosened his P.O.W.R., an amber radiance erupted from his body.
Eivass tilted his head back slightly, his skin gradually turning transparent. The intense amber P.O.W.R. completely submerged Eivass, erasing all color and texture, transforming him into an amber humanoid figure dotted with subtle gleams, like a blown sugar figurine.
Sensing Eivass’s P.O.W.R., the long dormant “Stone of Eden” began to tremble and hum.
It vibrated on the desk like a phone on silent mode, inching closer to Eivass with each tremor.
Eivass’s consciousness grew hazy. Before it fully dissipated, he subconsciously reached out a finger, touching the Stone of Eden.
At that instant—
Golden ripples, akin to water waves, echoed in the air. As Eivass’s finger drew nearer to the Stone of Eden, the ripples became denser and brighter.
The moment Eivass truly touched the Stone of Eden, a clear memory flashed through his mind:
Before him lay a white insect, similar in size to the Stone of Eden.
It resembled a beetle, with a hexagonal protrusion on its back. However, instead of the thin, transparent wings of a cicada shell, it possessed fluffy wings, making it appear more like a pet than a monster.
He extended his hand, and it flew to and landed on Eivass’s fingertip. Its six wings slowly folded, reflecting a pure and sacred radiance under the white light.
At this close proximity, Eivass could finally see it clearly.
Its head resembled that of a cicada, with two dim yellow jewels protruding like a shrimp’s eyes. It was about the size of a walnut. If its head and wings were removed, it would be the Stone of Eden.
The only difference was that the color of the gem-like protrusion on its back was not the solidified emeraldic green. Instead, it was a flowing gold.
It appeared to be some kind of flowing substance, a dark gold liquid shimmering with an almost viscous consistency. It looked like nail polish or gel, filled with fine fragments that sparkled like stars, reminiscent of a spaceship.
—Which part is its true form?
A question arose in Eivass’s mind.
Was it the insect-like head, the pure white wings, or the liquid within the small backpack on its back?
“—It’s the liquid inside.”
A gentle, familiar voice echoed in Eivass’s mind.
He turned his head and saw someone he recognized, someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.
It was Lucifer.
His twelve pure white wings, still un-cut and embedded with gold and jewels, possessed a radiance far surpassing that of a Fallen Heavenly Envoy or Lucifer.
His mere presence made the surrounding light surge and swell.
He stood beside Eivass, looking with interest at the small creature crawling on Eivass’s fingertip.
“It likes you very much, snake.”
“How should I raise this child?”
The snake thought: *What does it usually eat?*
Looking at the child, he felt an unparalleled purity and joy welling up from within.
“All Winged Ones are born towards the light,” Lucifer’s gentle voice echoed in the snake’s heart. “They feed on the light in people’s hearts, just as you scaled ones absorb nourishment from the material world. We Winged Ones absorb nourishment from the spirit. Ideals, hope, friendship, courage—these are precious nutrients, like aphids drawing sap from a tree. That’s why they are usually kept in towers, where endless light resonates.”
Lucifer said, gently touching the white-winged larva.
As he moved his hand, a curtain of golden radiance slowly unfurled, causing the entire world to tremble slightly.
It first moved towards Lucifer, but an instant before his finger could touch it, it jolted, flapped its wings, and flew up. It circled the two of them a few times before landing on the snake’s right shoulder.
It was positioned away from Lucifer.
“…And at the same time, light that is too dazzling can also burn us.” Lucifer said with a hint of helplessness. “It likes you very much. I presume it’s because you also possess light within you… pure and flawless, filled with hope.”
“—Is that why you became friends with me?”
Hearing this, the snake turned and looked at Lucifer.
“Yes,” Lucifer replied without hesitation. “It’s not flawless, but it’s pure enough. It’s not scorching, but it’s not cold. It’s not as blinding as the sun, but it has a unique rhythm. I like your light very much.”
He then looked at the larva perched on the snake’s shoulder. “It seems to like you very much too.”
“What is this child’s gender?” the snake asked out of curiosity, tickling the larva on its shoulder. “Can I come here often to accompany it in the future?”
“The most primal Winged Ones have no gender, for we are all born from light. Every ideal becomes a new eggshell, drawing brilliance from others’ souls, growing wings, and flying towards the sun.” Lucifer’s voice, echoing in the snake’s heart, was gentle and bright. “Those Winged Ones with gender have actually been polluted by impure light. Their hearts have chaotic frequencies, thus distorting the light of these ideals. But even so, it is still light…”
“—Why not let you take it with you, snake?”
After a moment of silence, Lucifer made a surprising suggestion. “I believe in your light. Perhaps it would be better off following you than following us.”
“…What would happen if it followed me?”
“It would inherit your ideals. Don’t you scaled ones have a saying? Offspring are the continuation of their parents. The offspring of Winged Ones are also a continuation of their parents—not a physical bloodline, but a spiritual inheritance.”
“…Do you have any offspring of your own?” the snake asked curiously.
“No,” Lucifer replied with a hint of regret, yet also pride. “This means I have never entrusted my ideals to anyone else. There is nothing I wish to abandon, nor anything I wish to do but cannot. I can spread my own wings and fly to the sun.”
The scene shifted.
Eivass saw a twilight sky filled with a dim yellow hue.
The sun was dead.
The moon shone with a blood-like radiance, but it could only illuminate less than a quarter of the sky.
In the dim yellow sky, countless ruins floated like unfurled tea leaves, their tatters bobbing on the surface.
Looking out, there was no sign of life on the ground. In the sky, however, deformed dragons roared and flew.
One dragon had a pair of silvery white wings, and a headless monster held the heads of Great Philosophers and Supreme Heavens in its hands.
Only dark thorns writhed and crawled on the ground.
Buildings had crumbled into ruins, and the earth had dried into a desert. Dreams and reality merged, yet even the entire Dream Realm was in disrepair.
His consciousness was chaotic. He lay on the ground, his limbs entangled by countless dark thorns. His lower body had completely withered, fused with the thorns. His hands were as withered as tree branches, with only the part above his neck remaining somewhat intact. Yet, even his neck bore a black, web-like network resembling maple leaves.
After a violent cough, his consciousness seemed to clear slightly.
“—Teacher, Teacher!”
He heard a pure white girl crying while holding his head, “Don’t die, Teacher!”
“【……】.”
He heard himself speak a name.
But the moment it left his lips, the entire world seemed to be muted.
“…I’m sorry.” He smiled bitterly, his voice hoarse. “I did my best.”
“Teacher, there’s still a way! Quickly use the Ouroboros Ring!” The pure white girl, her body almost entirely transformed into light, illuminated a small, fluffy mass in the dim yellow world, “Return to the Past—”
“…Return to the Past.” He heard himself murmur, sneering, like a sleepwalker. “Will it help…?”
Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the pure white girl.
As if realizing something, his eyes widened, and his vision suddenly became clear.
He coughed violently, tears streaming down his face, whether from choking or uncontrollably.
“【……】, 【……】, I’m sorry. I’m sorry… but…”
Staring at him blankly, the girl suddenly understood.
No one in the world understood him better than she did.
She suddenly fell silent.
“…I understand,” the girl said, slowly lowering her hands.
She moved her hands upward, slowly grasping the black thorn halo above his head.
“…Ouroboros Ring… and, Teacher’s Pillar God position… give them all to me. I for—”
Saying this, she suddenly tugged at the halo entwined with black thorns.
His body began to disintegrate rapidly.
The girl couldn’t pull it free, so she threw herself headfirst into the halo, allowing the thorns to stain her cheeks and neck red. She let the tightening halo choke and suffocate her. As the thorn halo pierced her throat and submerged within it, she forcefully seized control of the Ouroboros Ring from the recently appointed Forbidden Pillar God.
—But such an act would undoubtedly come at a price.
As his consciousness rapidly blurred, he felt the entire world freeze.
In a world of pure black and white, only the girl gripping her throat, her life rapidly dissipating, appeared crystal clear. She was the only existence with color, yet she was swiftly consumed by black and white.
“Successor—”
At that moment, his body shattered.
The Sin Thorns, formed from the greater part of his body, transformed into a black coffin, freezing and solidifying the girl’s body before it shattered. His head completely dissolved and melted, becoming a Golden Apple held in the girl’s embrace.
The next moment, the entire world was engulfed by a howling, surging dim yellow.
Frozen, stagnant.
Until everything fell silent.
After an unknown period, the white-haired, winged-eared girl, frozen in amber, slowly opened her eyes and pushed herself up.
She finally revealed what she had been protecting so carefully in her arms, like a fetus… a Golden Apple.
Thus, time reversed.
She raised the apple and spun it slightly.
Winter, autumn, summer, spring flowed unstoppably, but the world remained enveloped in an amber twilight.
Spinning continuously.
Reversing continuously.
Until the beginning of every story.
Until…
She saw a young man wearing a monocle, with a gentle and carefree smile. As he looked at her… his eyes revealed a myriad of complex emotions.
He walked towards her, tentatively reaching out to touch her.
—But this time, she did not fly to him.
She had already closed her eyes, falling into an eternal slumber.
Like amber within an egg. Like an empty cicada shell.
Thus, the world took a different path.
And now—
As Eivass’s hand pulsed with light, the Stone of Eden within it regained its vitality, returning to its original form.
The pure white winged larva flapped its wings and took flight.
