Lady Emberheart burst into the throne room, her heart beating out of her chest and cold sweat running down her back. She gripped her ribbon tightly as though prepared for the fight of her life.

Soon afterward, a pair of elders followed her. These two were none other than the Ancestors of the Ma'at. Though their reaction wasn't as fierce as Lady Emberheart's, the seriousness in the pinch of their brows couldn't be underestimated in the slightest.

But when they burst in, they found that nothing at all was waiting for them. Their hearts seized as they felt that there was no way they had misinterpreted those sorts of signs. Someone powerful had been here, so where did they go? Or more importantly, what had they done while they weren't paying attention?

Their hearts leapt into their throats as they looked around, checking every tile until they spotted a pair of footprints.

Their hearts beat fast, nearly rushing out of their bodies. Sweat poured off of them in waterfalls.

The throne room of the Spirituals was an exceptionally sacred place. Not many knew, but no one sat on this throne, not even Lord Emberheart. The reason was that this Throne wasn't made for them.

Generations ago, before the Spirituals branched off from the Human Race, they were just known to be more talented forms of humans. They were still born as souls, but the difference was that just as they were about to be birthed, their mothers would have to consume a great deal of resources to form fleshly bodies for them.

The difference between that time and now was that Spirituals were fully born as souls and then constructed their own bodies themselves.

It was thanks to this that the connection between Spirituals and humans was hidden. Most didn't know if one was born a Spiritual or not because the entire process was hidden within their mother's wombs. Often, even the mother wouldn't be aware of what was happening until she approached her due date and began to inexplicably lose weight in an unhealthy fashion.

Of course, this loss of weight was a result of her baby stripping her of the resources it needed to construct its body.

For a long time, the Human Race thought that these babies were just supremely talented geniuses that needed more support to be born. And technically, they weren't wrong.

It wasn't until a large enough population of these meta-humans began to be born that everyone began to research into this matter and realized the uniqueness of the Spirituals.

It was then that a conclusion was made.

This was the Human Race's Path to the God Realm.

All God Races were unique in the path they took to become God Races. Their mutations and quirks weren't always like that, but had instead grown over time.

If one looked at Spirituals, the Cloud Race, or the Nomad Race, one would notice that many of them looked quite a lot like humans with some differences here and there. It was only the Rapax that deviated along a completely different path, and they were a rare instance of this.

The closer one was to the realm of the Gods, the less... "Human" they would seem, which was why the term Humanoid was formed in the cosmos.

The Pluto had bluish grey skin, the scales of Dragons, and blood as heavy as worlds.

The Void Race were practically entire universes in and of themselves, storing planets, stars, and galaxies in their bodies.

The Sylvan had practically stripped themselves of all humanity aside from their faces and their hearts.

The Beastmen didn't even have human heads anymore.

The closer toward God, the further from Humanity. Maybe this was even part of the reason why it was so easy to detest humans. On the one hand, it reminded them of their former weakness, and on the other, it was a glimpse at what they had lost.

When Humans also managed to become powerful, that was all the more unacceptable.

So, what did this have to do with the Throne?

The reason the Spirituals were able to separate from the Human Race successfully wasn't just due to their own internal racism and feelings of superiority, though that did play a part. It was also, in part, an act of kindness on the Infinity Beasts' part.

They had used the Human Race to achieve their own goals, and they knew that once they were gone, the Human Race might truly be finished. As such, they made a way out for the Human Race...

What many didn't know was that the prophecies of the tablets didn't come until long after they were first created...

And, some legends said that they weren't written by the Infinity Beasts at all. In fact, the Life Grade Legacy Tablet told of a blade that crossed through space and time, carving itself into the indestructible metals that formed the Tablet.

The Violet Winds Rise North.

It was said that once this person appeared, the Spirituals would likewise return to the Human Race. Then, this Violet Wind would point his blade northward toward what could only be one thing...

The Northern Star.

This Throne was a reminder of that. It was always pointed North, and if one sat on it and looked at the skylight above, it would be possible to stare right into the maw of the approaching Northern Star.

It was an ownerless Throne, one that should be impossible even to approach. Even for them, the aura of the Throne was so great that they were still over two hundred meters from it and couldn't approach closer even if they tried.

And yet...

There was a pair of footprints right before the throne, burning into a metal that should have been indestructible to Mortals and Demi-Gods alike.

And these pair of feet were pointed south.

Something about that sight made their hearts turn to ash, a guilty, clawing feeling gnawing at their hearts and their souls.

Just what... Just what had they done?