Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen flickered through the void and appeared at the tip of Ashen Castle's tower, looking up at the Ghost-Faced Bats tangled with the Wizard Tower. These creatures were constantly relaying information, so it was crucial to take out the invaders' eyes first.

The Radiant Lighthouse began charging, with sunlight tendrils extending from its peak like jellyfish tentacles. These tendrils shot beams of sunlight into the sky simultaneously. Each beam carried the power of Sequence 6, and not the weakest kind at that. The Ghost-Faced Bats below Sequence 6—despite using ghostly doppelgangers to dodge or conjuring blood shields for defense—were shot down one by one by the sunlight beams, their bodies scooped up by the Scavenger Space before they could even hit the ground.

The last two Sequence 6 Ghost-Faced Bats panicked and tried to flee the Divine Domain. At that moment, the Radiant Lighthouse unleashed a Sequence 5-level Radiant Beam, striking one of them. No matter how the bat dodged, the beam followed it relentlessly, as it was the speed of light itself—either you endure it, or you predict and dodge before it hits. Territory buildings with light and lightning attributes were favored in battle for this very reason: they struck too fast to evade. In warfare, only damage that hits the enemy counts as effective.

The Storm Thunderbird, initially overwhelmed in its two-on-one fight, now easily gained the upper hand. Rosen shifted his focus from the sky to the Minotaur vanguard that had breached the territory.

There were two types of Minotaurs. The first kind were massive, standing no less than three meters tall, wielding totem poles. The second were smaller, barely two meters tall, carrying bull skull staffs—the Minotaur priests. The priests were currently casting collective berserk spells, group healing, and even war spells like the Killing Aura, which increased damage and overall speed with each kill.

Minotaur warriors rushed toward the second line of spike traps, slamming their totem poles into the ground with angry roars. Hundreds of Earth Shakes tore the ground apart within thousands of meters, causing even the mountain where Ashen Castle stood to tremble. Before the ground could stabilize, another wave of Earth Shakes hit.

At this point, the Cavern Demons launched their counterattack. Massive spikes shot up beneath the Minotaur warriors, skewering all but the Sequence 7-level warriors, who managed to endure. However, the berserk spell allowed even the wounded to ignore most of their pain. Unless killed instantly, they continued smashing the ground with their totem poles.

In the end, only a few dozen Minotaur warriors made it back, the rest perishing at the outskirts of the territory. The Cavern Demons' traps were mostly destroyed after several rounds of Earth Shakes, leaving only the space traps unaffected.

As soon as the traps were broken, the Goblins and elite Ratmen stormed into the Divine Domain. These weren't ordinary goblins but ones who had mastered extraordinary sequences. Fireballs, ice blasts, lightning, and even corpse explosions rained down on the Cavern Demons, but most of the damage was intercepted by Slimes, who either blocked or swallowed the attacks. Meanwhile, the Ratmen began tunneling underground while others worked together to release a deadly plague.

The Cavern Demons dove underground to hunt the Ratmen, while the Radiant Lighthouse activated a radiant barrier to protect the territory. Having once been the master of a Rat King for several years, Rosen knew the Ratmen well. Not all extraordinary creatures were like human extraordinaires, who mastered one innate skill and three acquired ones. Most extraordinary beings specialized in a single innate skill.

If they mastered that one skill to its peak, he thought, they could rival even a fully skilled Sequence holder.

Humans mastered four skills per sequence to cover their weaknesses, but many extraordinary creatures didn't have that luxury. They couldn't find enough skills to learn and had no choice but to raise the upper limit of their potential at the cost of creating glaring weaknesses. These Ratmen, working together to release the plague, had unleashed a disease even more powerful than the one the Rat King had created.

Rosen opened his Void Sketchbook, flipping to the page with the Rat King's portrait. Though the Rat King's body had been sacrificed to the Cat God, Rosen had painted a Sequence 6 version of the creature on a piece of hide from the Rat King's peak days. Using this hide as the canvas meant the painted Rat King was almost as strong as the real one.

As the painted Rat King pounced, all the Ratmen cowered in fear, kneeling in submission. Some even turned their plague cloud against the goblins. Despite their efforts, the Ratmen were no match for the six Sequence 6 goblins. All but two Sequence 6 Ratmen were wiped out, and the survivors were sealed inside the painting by Rosen. Whether they were sent to the Void Prison for brainwashing or handed over to the painted Rat King for control, these two Ratmen would become valuable new assets for the domain.

After this internal struggle, almost all the Spirit World creatures below Sequence 7 were wiped out by the plague. Looking at the remaining eight Sequence 6 creatures and nearly a hundred Sequence 7, Rosen licked his lips.

He stopped suppressing the Storm Thunderbird and shared his abilities with it. The Thunderbird's power skyrocketed, allowing it to flicker through the void and appear behind the Ghost-Faced Bats. It grabbed one bat's wings and unleashed a barrage of lightning. With the added Ashen Piercing effect, the Thunderbird's attacks bypassed defenses and inflicted true damage.

Within ten seconds, both Sequence 6 Ghost-Faced Bats were heavily injured. Rosen released the Void Gallery, and its skeletal mouth opened wide, swallowing the bats whole. Then, he switched the shared ability from the Thunderbird to the Nightmare Slime and flickered through the void to attack the Spirit World creatures outside the domain.

With a shot from the Dragon King's Wrath, a Sequence 7 creature was gravely injured, sending the six Sequence 6 creatures fleeing in terror. Rosen released 39 Ashen Queens to continue hunting the Sequence 7s, while he activated the ancient god artifact fused with his heart. Since bonding with the ancient god artifact, it had continuously awakened his ancient god bloodline.

At the same time, he could activate the artifact at will, synchronizing its bell with his heartbeat. Rosen's spiritual strength surged from 40 to 49 points, temporarily elevating him to Sequence 5. Using this Sequence 5 strength, he unleashed a series of attacks, each bypassing defenses and inflicting true damage thanks to the Ashen Piercing. Several Sequence 6 creatures were gravely wounded in moments.

I didn't expect fighting Sequence 6s to be this easy after activating the ancient god artifact, Rosen thought. He released the Void Gallery, and its gaping maw swallowed the dying Spirit World creatures, sending them to the Void Prison. Rather than killing them outright, it was better to attempt brainwashing and turning them into zealots. Even if mind control failed, they could still be harvested for extraordinary materials.

Once the last Spirit World creature disappeared, Rosen felt a distinct change in the Divine Domain. A massive influx of spiritual energy surged into the domain, gathering into a spiritual crystal mine at the base of the mountain. Though the mine was small, it would regenerate spiritual crystals endlessly.

This must be the noble sequence reward for defending the Divine Domain, Rosen realized. Successfully defending the domain not only yielded extraordinary materials but also various rewards. This haul seemed unusually generous, likely due to the high quality of the invaders.

Perhaps delaying the Spirit World invasion had its advantages, he mused. Of course, that only applies if you're strong enough—otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous.

After the battle, there was a mixture of joy and sorrow in the Divine Domain.

"Why... why did you wait until someone died to step in?" someone whispered. "If you'd acted sooner, no one would have had to die..."

Such complaints began circulating quietly among the populace.

Rosen, having absolute control over the Divine Domain, was aware of everything that happened. He knew exactly what these people were thinking: They'd gotten too comfortable.

It didn't matter that human extraordinaires held great power. Holding that power meant walking the razor's edge between life and death. If they wanted to live safely until old age, they should've stayed ordinary. Sure, he could've single-handedly crushed the Spirit World invaders, but then what would be the point of all the resources he'd invested in training these citizens? Were they supposed to just cheer from the sidelines?

The moment they chose to become extraordinaires, their survival depended on their strength and luck. Since some people wanted to complain, he decided to send them to Meteor Street and let them see how people survived by scavenging for garbage.

Having dealt with the hidden unrest, Rosen began reviewing the true spoils of the battle. The extraordinary materials and captured Spirit World creatures weren't the real rewards—what he'd truly gained was a clearer understanding of the difference between career soldiers and mere adventurers.

While he had trained many extraordinaires, they were more suited to be adventurers than soldiers. Their skills were too diverse and couldn't be coordinated effectively in large-scale battles. The thousand knight retainers from Ironwood Town, however, were proper soldiers. Knight sequences and their derived auxiliary professions required profession potions controlled by the World Government.

As a heredity duke, Rosen was allowed to command up to 10,000 knight retainers. Training 10,000 retainers would result in a far stronger force than training thousands of adventurer-style extraordinaires. Of course, that didn't mean ordinary citizens would be excluded from extraordinary training. Those with good potential would still receive training and be allowed to grow independently. The less talented, however, would be trained as knight retainers to maximize their utility, balancing the domain's immediate military strength with its long-term potential.

With only a population of several tens of thousands, Rosen couldn't even dream of conscripting 10,000 retainers. His first thought was to recruit from the Hunter world—he'd need to bring back a large batch of suitable people this time. Rosen pulled out the Sequence 3 Spirit World domain that the Rat King had hidden away, then used the Main God Computer to light up the Hunter world map.

The map spread from the State of Shafik and Meteor Street, instantly illuminating the entire human world.

The power of a Sequence 3 Spirit World exceeded Rosen's expectations. It had allowed him to light up the entire human world map, granting him the opportunity to create a fourth identity. The larger the area illuminated, the stronger the identity created. From being a Greed Island player to becoming the mayor of Yorknew City to inheriting the Shafik family, Rosen reviewed the options presented by the Main God Computer.

He had two choices. The first was to become the highest ruler of one of the V5 nations, the most powerful countries in the world. The second, unexpectedly, was to assume the identity of a "primitive human."

Why would a primitive human identity rival the status of one of the world's top rulers? Rosen pondered for a moment before choosing the primitive human option.

As soon as the decision was made, the Main God Computer flooded his mind with a massive amount of information about this identity.

Those familiar with Hunter x Hunter knew that the world map was vast, likely no smaller than the Thunder Empire. The human world, located on an island in the middle of a lake called Mobius, was merely a small part of a colossal world known as the Dark Continent—an island barely larger than the Ember Shadow Kingdom.

The human world was trapped on this island, unable to face the dangers from the Dark Continent beyond the lake. Even the strongest Nen users of each generation struggled to survive at the lake's edge.

But as Rosen learned through his new identity, the humans on this island weren't the original inhabitants. They had once lived on the Dark Continent but were forced to flee to Mobius Island to survive.

On the island, they were safe from the Dark Continent's terrifying threats and the environment that had once made survival impossible for the original humans. They thrived in relative safety, free from the mortal dangers of the continent.

But, as nature dictates, survival of the fittest has its price. While the primitive humans continued to evolve mentally and develop civilization, their bodies—no longer under constant threat—began to deteriorate.

Today's strongest Nen users were barely comparable to the weakest of the primitive humans. At their peak, the primitive humans had built defensive lines outside Mobius Lake, forming alliances with fearsome Dark Continent beasts that acted as gatekeepers, preventing the dangers of the continent from spilling into the lake—and preventing humans from leaving Mobius Island.

However, modern-day Nen users didn't even stand a chance against these Gatekeepers.

Now, with his primitive human identity, Rosen had acquired a special physique. First, without needing to inject spiritual energy, his ordinary Nen already possessed all the attributes of the enhancement and conjuration categories. Second, his vitality surged several times over, and his spiritual strength increased by one point to 41. Finally, his Nen underwent a qualitative transformation, gaining the ability to merge with "rules."

After analyzing this information, Rosen realized that "rules" were simply another term for semi-divine godly authority. Everything in existence operated under rules—both basic physical laws and various mystical laws.

For example, the apple falling represented the rule of gravity, while the moon's pull on the tides exemplified the rules of universal attraction and tidal forces. These basic physical rules could be altered locally but were nearly impossible to completely change, even for true gods. Mystical rules were different, and all extraordinary sequences were tied to them. The ultimate goal of mastering an extraordinary sequence was to become a true god, capable of fully controlling one mystical rule.

Rosen had already obtained several pseudo-godly authorities, but only the Storm and Sea God authorities from the Sea God's Fragment allowed him to harness some of their power. The other authorities remained largely inaccessible. What made the Sea God's Fragment unique was its ability to gather faith, which was essential for unlocking divine authority.

In his understanding, faith was a necessary component for wielding the power of godly authority. A demigod could convert faith into divine power, which had regenerative properties, allowing them to function with limited reliance on faith. However, fully controlling an authority without faith was considered impossible.

Of course, this was merely Rosen's understanding—there might be other means to control these forces. Creatures like the Feathered Serpent God, for example, could wield partial authority without the need for faith.

Now, with his primitive human identity, Rosen's Nen had transformed, allowing him to fuse his Nen with one of his authorities. This meant that, even without faith, he could draw on his life force to wield part of the true power of an authority.

He already possessed numerous authorities: Morning Star, Harvest, Culture, Beast King, Hunt, Nature, Faith, Ocean Ruler, Storm, and Sea God authorities, as well as Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, and Charm. Some came from artifacts, while others were derived from his extraordinary bloodlines and abilities.

If he wished, Rosen could now fuse his Nen with any of these authorities.

He immediately ruled out the Sea God's authorities, as the fragment was incomplete, limiting their power. Otherwise, he would've chosen the Faith authority, which all demigods mastered since it provided access to divine power. With divine power, he could drive other authorities without relying on faith.

The Hunt authority seemed appealing, but it was already controlled by a true god. As long as the Hunt God existed, Rosen could never fully claim the authority.

After researching godly authorities through the Main God Network, Rosen discovered that almost all known authorities were already in the hands of a true god. Regardless of which he chose, there would be a Sequence 0 god presiding over it.

Even the Seven Deadly Sins authorities weren't exempt. Although it was rare to find someone who controlled all seven, many abyssal demigods held individual Sin authorities. If Rosen ever wanted to fully master all seven, he would eventually have to face the Seven Abyssal Gods.

I'm overthinking this, Rosen realized. Every extraordinary person walks this path. No one starts with an uncontested rule—they all grow stronger until they can challenge the gods above them.

Every Sequence 0 god had once dreamt of overthrowing the true god at the top of their domain. Only by becoming a Sequence 0 themselves would they have the right to seize full control of a mystical rule.

With his indecision resolved, Rosen prepared to choose the Hunt authority. However, at that moment, the Main God Computer presented him with another option.

He could fuse his Nen abilities from the Hunter sequence with the creative authority from the Painter sequence. This would consume almost all the divine energy he had harvested from the Time Dragon's nest, but it would allow him to unlock the full creative authority of the Painter sequence early.

Creative authority wasn't only more powerful—it was also one of the few authorities not yet claimed by any true god.

Rosen took the hint and immediately let the Main God Computer assist in merging his Nen with the Painter sequence's creative authority.

Nen LV7: Can manipulate one's life force (Nen), combined with spiritual energy to generate and control Nen abilities.

Enhancement Trait: Grants the ability to fuse Nen with various attributes.

Enhancement Trait: Can permanently consume Nen to strengthen the user's body.

Godly Authority: Creation.

Abilities: God-Slayer Gunbow, Gluttonous Nen Beast, Hunter Magic Eyes, Golden Apple.

Rosen marveled at the transformation in his Nen abilities, which had jumped from LV4 to LV7 in one leap. Typically, innate skills couldn't surpass his sequence level, but here was an exception. Reality often defied theory.

He experimented by using his Nen to activate the creative authority and found that he could substitute life force for faith. He could also still use the Creation power he had stored from his Dragon-Sketching technique to maximize the creative authority's potential.

The depth of the authority's power was overwhelming. Rosen knew he had control over it, but he wasn't sure how to fully wield it yet. What he did know was that every skill from his Painter sequence had been enhanced, as had his Hunter sequence Nen abilities, like crafting the Golden Apple.

Moreover, the Dragon-Sketching technique and his Nen abilities had fully integrated. He no longer needed to develop new Nen techniques—Dragon sketching had become his innate Nen ability. In the Hunter world, some people didn't open their aura nodes or master life force to form Nen but instead wielded Nen abilities through raw talent and instinct. These were considered innate Nen abilities, which required no training to use.

Rosen's Dragon-Sketching had now become such an innate ability.

By driving the technique with spiritual Nen energy, it still retained its original effect of converting spirit into Creation energy, allowing him to capture historical imprints in the Spirit World. But now, when powered by spiritual Nen, anything he sketched could take on the property of faith manifesting reality.

If he drew a person, no matter how realistic it looked, it would still be a mere representation—no different from his self-portrait avatars. No matter how lifelike it seemed, it would only be a construct made of spirit and paint. To make it a true, living person, the only option before had been to consume Creation energy—a rare and valuable resource, as creating a Sequence 6 Spirit World painting only produced one point of Creation energy.

But now things were different. If Rosen summoned a person through his Nen-driven Dragon-Sketching and sent that person into society—if enough people came to know this person and believed they were real—then the sketch would transform from a mere imitation into an actual living being. This was the power of faith making fiction a reality. If enough people believed something to be real, it would become so.

For instance, if he sketched a cornucopia and enough people believed it could truly produce endless money, it would gain the power to do exactly that.

The higher the level of the thing sketched, the harder it would be to turn belief into reality. If Rosen wanted to sketch a god and make it a real deity, it would take billions of believers. Of course, as his Nen grew stronger, there might come a time when he could make a Sequence 1 god real with the faith of just a few billion people.

Rosen quickly realized that his Nen ability now granted him access to the powers of a high-sequence Painter. To fully tap into this ability, he would need to amass vast amounts of faith in the human world. This would be difficult in the real world, where there were many beings far stronger than him. But in the Spirit World of the Hunter universe, it would be far easier.

With his Sequence 6 strength and vast abilities, he could easily become the strongest person in the Hunter world, allowing him to gather the faith of billions.

(End of Chapter)