The Rebirth of Humanity

Several more days had passed since the Purging of the Shadows had begun within Zeta.

Yet the purge had not stopped.

On the contrary...

It was gradually expanding, reaching places no one had expected it to reach.

After several of the old networks had fallen, the Supreme Council of Humanity discovered that the problem was not limited to spies and agents belonging to the other races.

Five thousand years of decline had left far deeper scars.

Independent cities.

Powerful families exerting influence over vast territories.

Merchants controlling trade routes.

Officials abusing their positions.

Military forces operating almost independently.

And vast regions that, in truth, answered to no unified authority.

It was not surprising.

After humanity's defeat in the Primordial War, its territories had been torn apart and its authority fragmented. Nearly every human settlement had been forced to rely upon itself simply to survive.

But that age was over.

Or rather...

It had to be over.

At the headquarters of the Supreme Council of Humanity, the main chamber was filled with activity.

Massive maps of Zeta covered the walls, displaying its cities, ports, agricultural regions, major roads, and military installations.

Reports and documents from every corner of the continent were piled across the tables.

One official stood before the long table and said:

"The reorganization of seven major cities has been completed."

He placed a stack of documents before Valor.

Another official added:

"New officials have also been appointed in the regions plagued by administrative corruption, and the guard forces stationed there have been reorganized."

He continued:

"As for the military units that had been operating independently, they have been integrated under unified command."

Thorin stood before one of the maps.

His eyes moved across the scattered markings before he asked:

"What about the regions that refused to carry out the Council's orders?"

The official replied:

"They have been dealt with."

Thorin raised his eyes.

"How?"

"We sent representatives from the Council to those regions and informed their local rulers that Zeta was no longer a collection of separate territories."

He paused for a moment.

Then said:

"It is now a single land."

A faint smile appeared on Valor's face.

"That is what we need."

He then looked at everyone present.

"Five thousand years of division cannot be erased in a few days."

"But we can begin."

At the same time...

The purge continued.

In an old district of a major city, a group of special security personnel stopped before a modest house.

One of them knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

He knocked again.

Then said clearly:

"By order of the Supreme Council of Humanity."

Hesitation could be sensed from behind the door.

After several moments, it opened.

An elderly man stood there, confusion visible on his face.

"What do you want?"

One of the agents produced a sealed document.

"We have a search order."

The man's expression changed slightly.

But he stepped away from the entrance.

The agents entered and began their search.

This was not a random operation.

Every individual subjected to investigation had information, records, suspicious movements, or questionable connections gathered over the course of years.

Now...

That information was being used one piece at a time.

There was no longer anywhere safe for the old networks to hide.

In another city, a group of local officials gathered inside an administrative hall.

Dozens of files lay before them.

One of the officials said:

"From this day onward, there will no longer be different laws from one city to another in fundamental matters."

One of the others raised his head.

"What do you mean?"

He answered:

"Trade regulations, taxation, security, population registration, land use, and resource protection will all be governed by a unified system."

He then added:

"No city ruler will be able to decide whatever he wishes on his own anymore."

Silence followed.

It was an enormous change.

For many local rulers had grown accustomed to possessing almost absolute authority within their territories.

But that age was over.

Humanity could no longer afford further division.

Population registration centers began appearing throughout the various cities.

Every family was registered.

Every merchant recorded their business.

Every craftsman registered their profession.

Every farmer registered their land and productive capacity.

Every warrior and cultivator registered their level of strength.

Even ancient families and influential clans were required to register their forces, territories, and resources.

The purpose was not merely to impose control over humanity.

It was to determine the true strength humanity possessed.

For five thousand years...

No one had known the true number of humans.

Nor the true number of cultivators.

Nor the scale of their resources.

Nor the extent of their military strength.

Humanity possessed all of these things...

But they were scattered.

Now...

The Council was beginning to assemble the complete picture.

In one of the great cities, a young man stood before a registration center, holding his family's identification document.

He asked the clerk:

"Why are cultivation levels being registered?"

The clerk answered calmly:

"Because the Council needs to understand the capabilities of every region."

The young man hesitated before asking:

"Will everyone be conscripted?"

The clerk shook his head.

"Not necessarily."

Then he explained:

"We need farmers, craftsmen, merchants, scholars, soldiers, healers, and many others."

"Humanity needs more than strength alone."

The young man looked at the long line behind him.

And understood something.

This was not merely a census.

It was...

Reconstruction.

Elsewhere, the redistribution of resources had begun.

Warehouses once controlled by private families were placed under Council supervision.

Trade routes were reorganized.

Ports began operating under a unified system.

Agricultural regions received greater protection.

And materials that had previously been wasted or stored haphazardly were now being recorded and distributed according to need.

As for the new cities that had been constructed during the previous period...

They became part of a single network.

Roads connected them.

Ports served them.

Agricultural regions supplied them with food.

Warehouses preserved their resources.

And training centers received cultivators and warriors.

Little by little...

Zeta began to change.

It was no longer merely a land to which humanity had been gathered.

It was beginning to transform into a unified and organized human domain.

Back at the Council headquarters...

Valor studied a massive map.

Most regions now carried new markings.

Organized cities.

Trade routes.

Agricultural lands.

Military bases.

Training centers.

Warehouses.

And ports.

Thorin stood beside him.

He said:

"The situation has become more stable."

Valor replied:

"Good."

He fell silent for a moment.

Then said:

"But stability alone is not enough."

Thorin looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Valor raised his eyes toward the map.

"We are not building a city."

"Nor are we merely reorganizing a continent."

"We are rebuilding humanity."

His words were calm.

Yet their meaning carried more weight than any military command.

At that moment, an official entered hurriedly.

He bowed before them.

"Lord Valor."

"Speak."

"The reorganization of the forces in three more regions has been completed."

He then opened a new file.

"We have also discovered several groups that were operating outside the Council's authority."

The expressions of those present changed.

Thorin asked:

"Spies?"

"No."

The official shook his head.

"This time... they are armed human groups that have been operating independently."

Silence descended for several moments.

Valor asked:

"Do they pose a threat?"

"Not at present."

He then added:

"But they refuse to submit to unified command."

Valor thought for several moments.

Then said:

"Do not use force unless it becomes necessary."

"Send a delegation to them."

"Tell them that the age of independent factions is over."

He then looked toward the map.

"We do not want a war among humans."

"We want humanity to finally learn how to stand together."

As the days passed...

The effects of the transformation began to appear everywhere.

The roads became safer.

Trade became more orderly.

Cities became better organized.

Agricultural regions became connected to the cities.

Resources were collected and distributed more efficiently.

And the military forces were brought under unified command.

More importantly...

People began to feel that something had changed.

For the first time in generations...

There was a single center of authority.

A single power organizing the lands.

A unified system governing everyone.

And a common future toward which humanity was moving.

Yet most of them did not know the true reason behind all of this.

They did not know why the Council had suddenly become so decisive.

They did not know why enormous numbers of humans had been gathered in Zeta.

They did not know why the continent had been sealed away from the outside world.

And they did not know why the leadership behaved as though it were preparing for something far greater than mere reorganization.

Deep within the Sovereign Palace...

Another process was unfolding far beyond the eyes of everyone else.

Within the restoration chamber, threads of cosmic energy gathered around Fafnir's body before slowly flowing into him.

Each cycle of energy coursed through his body, nourishing the bones, muscles, organs, and vessels that had regained their vitality after five thousand years of deterioration.

Fafnir slowly raised one hand.

His fingers moved naturally, without the weakness that had plagued his body not long ago.

He studied them for a moment.

Then clenched his fist.

Rumble...!

The air around his hand trembled.

Several strands of energy briefly halted before returning to their original flow.

The progress was slow.

But steady.

And that alone was enough.

He had waited five thousand years.

There was no reason to rush now.

A crimson glow appeared before his eyes.

[Host Status]

Name: Fafnir

Race: Human / Unknown

Power Level:

True Immortal — Stage Nine

Body Restoration: 35%

Condition: Stable

Divinity: Unknown

Usable Power: Limited

Fafnir stared at the screen for several moments.

Thirty-five percent.

His body had already regained its natural appearance, but that was merely the outer shell of what it needed to become once more.

As for his true strength...

It still lay buried deep within him.

He spoke calmly:

"Continue."

[Command confirmed.]

[Continuing restoration process.]

The cosmic energy began flowing once more.

This time, its flow was more stable, as though his body was gradually adapting to the enormous quantity of energy passing through it.

But deep within the ancient injury...

That strange force remained.

It did not move.

It did not disappear.

It lay dormant in a place the energy could barely reach.

Fafnir was well aware of it.

But he was in no hurry.

The road ahead was long.

And what humanity was rebuilding outside...

And what he was restoring within himself...

Were moving forward side by side.

The following day, a new order was issued by the Supreme Council of Humanity.

This time, it concerned neither the purge...

Nor the return to Zeta.

Nor the construction of cities.

It concerned the complete organization of humanity's strength.

A unified registry of cultivators would be established.

The levels of humanity's forces would be determined.

Training resources would be organized.

Treasures and rare materials would be redistributed.

New training centers would be established.

The military units would be rebuilt.

And special regions would be established for the training of talented individuals.

The strongest cultivators in every region would also be selected and their abilities recorded.

No one knew where these measures would ultimately lead.

But they made one thing unmistakably clear...

Humanity was no longer behaving like a race struggling merely to survive.

It was beginning to behave like a power preparing to reclaim its place.

Throughout Zeta...

Order was taking root.

Chaos was beginning to disappear.

Authority was becoming unified.

Resources were being gathered.

And humanity's true strength was beginning to reveal itself for the first time.

But behind all of this...

There was a greater purpose.

A purpose that had yet to be revealed.

A purpose known to only a very small number of humans.

Resurrection.

And what was happening deep within the Sovereign Palace...

was another part of that resurrection.

While humanity rebuilt itself outside...

the True Monarch's body was reclaiming its strength within.

Step by step.

Slowly...

Yet with a momentum that could no longer be stopped.

Humanity was not merely building a new system.

It was building the foundation upon which its future would stand.

And the establishment of order...

was only the next step.

The true phase...

had not yet begun.

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