Todd stood there stunned for a moment, then said in an incredulous tone, "You mean... you're an ancient Taro from a thousand years ago?!"

Meredith frowned slightly: "What? Is something wrong?"

"Of course! You've lived for over a thousand years, and you're still so...young. Don't you find that amazing?!"

Meredith shook his head dismissively, looked at the enormous black dragon before him, and said, "If you're talking about strange things, why don't you look at yourself?"

Torderton looked down at his dragon body and fell silent.

Meredith sat back down on the stone stool, placed the raven mask beside her, and said softly, "I have survived to this day thanks to the tyrant's gifts and my master's help."

Todd asked with great interest, "So, you're already immortal?"

"Do you think this feeling is good?" Meredith stroked the black feather with her fingers, her eyes filled with helplessness and sorrow. "For me, whether it's people or things, as time goes by, I can only watch them slowly drift away from me. When I look back, I find that the whole world is no longer familiar, and in the end, I am all alone."

Todd leaned down and brought the dragon's head close to Meredith: "Indeed, loneliness is the most painful punishment for mankind."

Meredith touched the dragon scales on Todd's head: "In these thousand years, I have been married seven times and had sixteen children."

Todd's eyes widened.

"At first, I tried to change my identity to integrate into human society and live a simple life. But my husband and children are slowly growing old in front of me, while I remain the same as before. Can you guess how my family, friends, and neighbors will look at me? Let me tell you, fear, alienation, and even hostility..."

Todd listened quietly to Meredith's narration without saying a word.

“I could only cruelly abandon my family when my children were still young, using my departure to escape people’s gossip and slander. I lived in anonymity, hiding in the shadows and secretly watching my family, watching my children learn to walk, learn to talk, and learn to fight for the first time because they were called ‘motherless bastards’…” Meredith lowered her head and said softly, “What saddened me the most was that when my children died and were put in their coffins, at the funeral, all I could do was hide behind a tree and wait for everyone to leave before I could offer a bouquet of flowers from my mother.”

Todd sighed almost imperceptibly: "Immortality isn't a good thing."

Meredith's figure was as cold and lonely as a secluded valley. She said quietly, "When I left the seventh home, I could no longer bear this pain. I moved to the Shadow Kingdom and lived with my master. In the hundreds of years since then, except for the occasional trip to handle my own affairs, I have spent most of my time on the island. Sometimes I would not speak to anyone for a month or two, because my only companions were those strange creatures."

"Here, I became a guide for the demigod trials. One after another, great heroes came before me, seeking the path to godhood. After their attempts, they left behind only piles of bones as witnesses to their existence." In Meredith's aquamarine eyes, glimpses of the past flashed: "Witnessing vibrant lives perish before my very eyes gradually made me understand the expectations my master Scáthach held in her heart."

“She and I are very similar. We are both waiting, waiting for someone to come, waiting for this person to show us the final future.”

Meredith looked at the scars, big and small, on Todd's body and said softly, "Scáthach originally favored Cú Chulainn, but the latter was short-sighted, only seeing the rise and fall of the kingdom, never considering the continuation of the race and civilization. So in the end, she chose you."

Todd rested his chin on the ground, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly remembered something: "Meredis, I heard Scáthach say that you are one of the candidates for the War of the Chosen?"

The latter responded, "Are you talking about that contest initiated by the absolute will? My life is already suffering because of immortality, and I don't want to add another shackle to myself."

Todd looked up: "Now that you've seen the Crystal... Absolute Will, you should know the identities of Scáthach and Leviathan."

"They are the servants of the absolute will in the mortal realm, responsible for cooperating in the war of the chosen ones."

“Well, the word ‘servant’ is a little ambiguous, but I guess they probably won’t mind.” Todd continued, “Have you heard about the conditions for winning the Chosen Ones?”

"Winning conditions?" Meredith smiled and poked Todd's nose with her finger. "Tell me, do you really want to become a god?"

Todd tilted his head and looked at Meredith, saying, "If a madman like Cú Chulainn wins the War of the Chosen, the whole world will probably be plunged into darkness."

Meredith smiled and shook his head: "The three paths to victory proposed by the absolute will are practically impossible to achieve."

Todd was somewhat surprised: "Impossible? Why?"

"Let's start with strength. Make yourself powerful enough to defeat any force or creature in this world, including those prehistoric monsters hiding underground and in the deep sea. Then, this list should naturally include Leviathan. Do you think anyone can defeat him?"

Todd thought about it and realized that was indeed the case.

Crystal's theory states that the power to win requires candidates to be powerful enough to defeat any living being on the planet, including Crystal's first creations—Leviathan and Scáthach—as well as other hidden forerunners. This is virtually an impossible task.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!