Lord: Sequence Master

In the State of Shafik within the Hunter x Hunter world, years of development had transformed the region dramatically. Under Rosen's deliberate control, the flow of time in the Hunter world had not progressed too quickly. Yet, in just a few short years, Shafik had become the center of the world.

The Main God Game operating in both Shafik and Meteor City allowed ordinary people to learn and gain knowledge. It also enabled them to experience life and death, awakening their spiritual power. Once this power was awakened, it wasn't difficult for them to learn Nen and become Nen users. Now, more than half of the Nen users in the human world came from Shafik.

Every nation on Earth had sent large teams to the region. Initially, they had tried to destroy the Main God Game, as it had made the emergence of Nen users uncontrollable. But when they realized it was impossible to stop, the nations were forced to publicly acknowledge the existence of Nen users. They sent talented individuals to Shafik to participate in the game and learn Nen or recruit those with extraordinary potential who had already emerged.

If they didn't do this, they'd be left watching as Nen users joined other factions.

As more and more people flooded into Shafik, the region had become overcrowded. New cities had been built, one after another, and five of the largest new cities were now under the control of the V5. During this time, Rosen's Shafik Consortium also benefited immensely, growing stronger and stronger. In a sense, the consortium had become a buffer zone, allowing the V5 to compete for the Nen users created by the Main God Game.

However, recently, the Shafik Consortium had encountered some difficulties.

The V5 represented the established world powers, but the rapidly rising Kakin Empire was now a match for any of them. Naturally, Kakin wanted to establish its own city in Shafik, but the best locations had already been divided among the V5. The only remaining prime area was Shafik City, the heart of the state, and recently, Kakin Empire operatives had been infiltrating it.

Through the Main God Game, it was easy for Rosen to uncover their intentions. The King of Kakin, Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, sought to control the Shafik Consortium and gain influence over the Main God Game. Nasubi was ambitious and reckless, but the V5 had kept him in check. He had missed his chance to establish a city in Shafik, and now that the state had been divided among the V5, Kakin had no foothold left.

Unable to challenge the V5 directly, Kakin had turned its sights on what Nasubi saw as the weaker Shafik Consortium.

Rosen sat at his desk, listening as Kurapika—now 18 years old—reported on various matters.

In the original timeline of Hunter x Hunter, Kurapika should've been around 13, and the start of the main storyline was still four years away. However, due to the altered flow of time in the Spirit World, Kurapika had grown up faster, reaching adulthood within Rosen's domain.

Currently, Kurapika handled most of the day-to-day affairs of Shafik.

"Boss, what should we do next?" Kurapika asked, setting down his tablet.

"Cut off all of Kakin's infiltrators," Rosen said, tapping the armrest of his chair with calm authority. "And officially rename the Shafik Consortium to the Church of the Main God."

"I understand," Kurapika replied, bowing slightly. "But to make a real impression on the V5, we'll need more forces moved here."

"You have full access to the forces of the domain," Rosen granted him temporary authority with a wave of his hand.

After Kurapika left the office, Rosen approached the window, looking out over Shafik City. In the original timeline of Hunter x Hunter, while nuclear technology existed, the civilian tech had barely progressed beyond the era of flip phones. But with the advent of the Main God Game, technological development had surged forward rapidly.

The reason? One of the many virtual Spirit World realms Rosen had made accessible was based on the Resident Evil movie series. In that realm, technology was decades ahead of the original timeline, and the post-apocalyptic world, filled with zombies and few remaining humans, made it cheap to activate. The knowledge extracted from that world had greatly accelerated technological advancements in the Hunter world.

This growing influence was why the Kakin Empire could no longer sit still.

After all, on the surface, the Shafik Consortium was no match for Kakin. While the state had a large number of Nen users, it still took time for them to grow. The Main God Game could shorten the process, but ordinary Nen users couldn't become powerful overnight. However, if more time passed, Kakin would fall behind.

So, the Kakin Empire had sent almost all of its top Nen users into Shafik, planning to make their move. They hadn't struck yet because they were still gathering intelligence on the location of Shafik's leadership. Their strategy was to wipe out the upper echelons of power in one decisive blow and then capture the families of the mid-tier executives. If they acted quickly enough, they could take control of Shafik City before the V5 could respond. Kakin sought conquest, not destruction.

Eliminating the leadership wasn't even their primary goal—capturing Rosen Shafik was the best option. However, Rosen's unpredictable movements made it impossible for Kakin to find an opportunity.

With the forces from his Spirit World domain, Rosen could easily crush Kakin's Nen users. But the empire's retaliation, along with the threat the V5 would pose once the Church of the Main God was established, required careful preparation. If Shafik City was suddenly hit with a few nuclear bombs, it would be disastrous.

In fact, they didn't even need nuclear weapons—just a few Poor Man's Rose bombs would be enough to turn the city into a wasteland.

Rosen had even considered the possibility of controlling the upper echelons of various countries through subjugation, but that wouldn't be easy. While the strongest Nen users might not surpass Sequence 7 in power, Nen abilities were unpredictable, and there could be ways to detect his control. If the countries retaliated with nuclear strikes, it would be catastrophic.

The best approach was to directly neutralize the nuclear threat, as well as the Poor Man's Rose bombs.

While conspiracies might gain temporary advantages, only open plans could lead to true control of the human world in this Spirit World realm. As long as his homeland remained secure, he could conquer and eliminate any threat without restraint.

Until he could neutralize the nuclear deterrent, he couldn't act without caution.

Rosen held a painting in his hand—a depiction of a nature sprite.

A torrential downpour blanketed Shafik City, leaving the streets empty in the dead of night. Rosen created three water-based clones, then combined them with his real body and his self-portrait avatar. Together, the five of them spread out across the city, each wielding a paintbrush and beginning to paint on buildings.

First, they applied a special paint to coat the surfaces of the structures.

The initial layer of paint covered the buildings entirely, yet appeared no different from their original surfaces. However, it provided protection against rain, fire, and even physical damage. Knives wielded by ordinary people would be ineffective against the paint.

Since this was just a basic coloring layer and not a detailed spiritual painting, Rosen's speed was astonishing. With his divine brush, he enlarged the brush head to cover entire buildings at once. The brush absorbed the paint and, under his control, quickly coated each structure.

Rosen spent ten days painting every building, street, and surface in the city. The special paint he ordered had cost tens of thousands of spiritual energy crystals. And this was only the beginning. Rosen then began a second round of painting over the city's buildings.

This time, despite the rain, the city's transformation couldn't be concealed. Many people began to realize that something strange was happening in Shafik City. Under the pretext of beautifying the city's appearance, the Shafik Consortium managed to quell public concern for a while.

But one day, a passenger on an airship passing over Shafik City made a startling discovery.

In recent years, technological advancements had already led to the widespread use of smartphones and the internet. However, drones and airplanes hadn't been developed much in the Hunter world, mainly because flying magical beasts made air travel dangerous. Airships were still safer than airplanes. As for drones, they were too convenient for carrying bombs, so their development was restricted.

Because of this, the changes in Shafik City had gone unnoticed by the public for almost a month—until now. From above, passengers could see that the buildings and streets of Shafik City formed a massive painting.

The outer sections of the city looked like a finely detailed circuit board made of countless colors. At the center of the city was the logo of the Main God Game, a gigantic glowing orb, with a shadowy figure seated on a throne in the middle, shrouded in darkness.

At the same time, the Shafik Consortium held a grand press conference.

Under the glare of countless cameras, Kurapika, dressed in a suit, stepped up to the podium.

"Today, I have five important announcements," he said, looking directly into the camera and addressing the entire online audience.

"First, the Shafik Consortium is officially renamed the Church of the Main God, and Shafik City will be renamed The Holy City of the Main God."

"Second, the divine Rosen Shafik has been bestowed the title of Pope Saint Rosen Howard by the great and sacred Main God. From today onward, he will serve as the first pope of the Church, which will be responsible for maintaining the Main God Game."

"Third, the great Main God will grant six divine professions, or Sealed Sequences, namely: Holy Painter, Holy Mage, Holy Hunter, Holy Knight, Holy Assassin, and Holy Doctor. Detailed information on each divine sequence will be available on the Church's official website..."

"Fourth, many of you have noticed that the buildings in the Holy City seem to form a painting. To be precise, the Holy City has revealed the true nature of the world. The entire world is a painting created by the Main God in seven days, and all living beings reside within it."

"And finally, fifth—the Holy City will secede from the Saherta Union."

"All humans are children of the great Main God. After creating the world with the power of the Painter Sequence, the Main God fell into a deep slumber. Now, the great Main God has awakened, and all nations and people must bask in His divine glory..."

The countless reporters at the scene, along with the audience watching the live broadcast, stared at Kurapika as if he had gone mad.

Although various religions existed in the world, the spread of technology had enlightened the masses. Truly devout believers in deities were now few and far between, and most people viewed religion as mere psychological comfort.

Even the Main God Game was widely believed to be a product of Nen, similar to Greed Island.

Now, someone was suddenly proclaiming the existence of a Main God, and not just any god—a Creator God? Was this really not a joke?

Many people had already begun searching for the Church of the Main God website. Upon visiting it, they found a grand and solemn atmosphere, with the homepage telling the story of how the Main God used the power of Creation to paint the world into existence.

The website emphasized that the human world was merely an island in the Mobius Lake. Beyond the lake lay the vast and dangerous Dark Continent.

When the Main God created all living things, they were in their primitive forms, subject to natural selection and survival of the fittest. Eventually, humanity couldn't survive the perils of the Dark Continent and fled to the island in the Mobius Lake.

The new Pope, Saint Rosen Howard, had personally ventured to the Dark Continent and found the slumbering Main God. After receiving the Main God's blessing, he returned to the human world with the Main God Game and the six divine sequences. In the future, he would lead humanity out of their world and back to the Dark Continent.

Further exploration of the Church's website revealed detailed information about the six Sequences. Each Sequence had its own tiers, and videos demonstrated the power of each tier.

Any Sequence 7 profession, for instance, was said to be equivalent to the world's strongest Nen user, Isaac Netero.

And this comparison only accounted for the Sequence's destructive capabilities. The divine Sequences extended far beyond Nen abilities in all areas of life.

Nuclear bombs could kill Isaac Netero, but they couldn't kill a Sequence 7 professional.

By the time one reached Sequence 6, they would have surpassed the strongest human beings and gained the qualifications to step foot on the Dark Continent.

The Holy Painter Sequence, held only by the Pope, was described as having the divine power to create spirit world paintings, entire worlds, and even life.

This was just Sequence 6. From Sequence 3 onwards, the descriptions grew even more terrifying.

At Sequence 2, there were only text descriptions, as the power of such entities was beyond what ordinary people could comprehend. Simply looking upon a Sequence 2 professional's power was enough to overwhelm and destroy the minds of lesser beings. The great Main God was a true god beyond Sequence 0, possessing unfathomable divine power.

At that moment, every player of the Main God Game received an invitation to join the Church of the Main God.

The game, the message said, was created by the Pope to accelerate humanity's evolution. The game's various story worlds, especially those involving horror, were all modeled after the dangers found on the Dark Continent.

Through these games, players could better adapt to the dangers and awaken their spiritual power.

From now on, every player who had awakened their spiritual power was eligible to apply for the divine potions that would allow them to transition into one of the Sequences.

However, anyone who refused to join the Church would no longer receive rewards from the game.

Lastly, the Church's website announced its rights and duties. All human nations were required to pay tribute to the Church. The rulers of every nation needed the Pope's approval, and any who defied this would face judgment from the Church's Holy Tribunal and the Holy Knights.

This final proclamation sent shockwaves through the human world.

The V5 began holding emergency meetings, trying to figure out what the Church of the Main God was planning and why they had openly revealed information about the Dark Continent.

But before they could react, the Church had already declared war on every nation.

Not long after, the Church released footage of the Pope's divine powers online.

In the video, the entire Holy City of the Main God floated into the air, as if the buildings were mere blocks, easily moved around at will. The Pope hovered above the city, and as the ground below cleared, he used his eyes to project a painting onto the ground.

The moment the painting touched the earth, it transformed into a magnificent temple.

But that wasn't all. The Pope produced three more paintings, summoning three apostles of the gods.

The first was the Apostle of Nature, capable of controlling natural environments and regulating ecosystems.

The second was the Angel Apostle, who could heal any physical injury and instantly restore the health of the disabled.

The last was the Nightmare Apostle from the Dark Continent, able to devour nightmares in the spiritual realm and heal mental trauma. In the real world, it could create countless slimes to consume all forms of waste. The Church planned to use these slimes to clean up Meteor City, purging it of all filth.

Finally, the Pope summoned a thousand Holy Knights, and the brilliant radiance of their divine light bathed the entire Holy City in gold.

Every Nen user observing the scene from a distance could feel the overwhelming power of the Holy Knights.

The human world has billions of people, with millions suffering from illnesses. Among them, terminally ill patients numbered in the tens of millions, and each year, over ten million people die from cancer. Many of these individuals were already resigned to their fate, willing to try anything to survive.

As word spread, more and more cancer patients began traveling to the Holy City by any means they could.

In the live broadcast that continued around the clock, it became clear: anyone who came to the Church was healed instantly, no matter their illness.

Even those missing limbs had them regrown within seconds.

At first, people suspected trickery. Maybe the Church had hired actors, they thought. But when thousands of people began walking out of the Church fully healed, the entire world went into a frenzy. Many of those healed were wealthy or powerful figures.

At this point, even the V5 hesitated. Many high-ranking officials, or their loved ones, were in need of treatment.

…

Rosen observed the growing number of new believers and felt the influx of faith energy accumulating within the temple.

He knew that once he became a demi-god, he could rapidly ascend to Sequence 3.

Although he wasn't yet able to absorb and refine faith energy, the Main God computer could. It was only after the rapid rise in new believers that Rosen discovered the Main God computer could collect faith and convert it into pure, attribute-less divine power.

As more believers were born, Rosen's Creation divine power also began to stir.

"Have you heard? The V5 is going to declare war on the Church of the Main God..." someone whispered.

"Anyone with half a brain could've seen this coming. It's survival of the fittest, no matter where you go..." another replied.

"I heard they're going to use nuclear weapons. I'm getting out of here before it's too late..." a third person added, visibly afraid.

As a few passersby exchanged these nervous remarks, an old man standing nearby scoffed.

"Your information is all wrong," he said, his voice filled with reverence. "Don't forget, the Church of the Main God has a true god. The Pope freely comes and goes from the Dark Continent. The entire Holy City is actually a spiritual painting. Even if nuclear bombs come, they won't be able to touch it."

"Is that really true?" one of the passersby asked skeptically. They didn't want to risk their lives based on false rumors.

"You'll see for yourselves tonight when the Church reveals its miracle," the old man said mysteriously.

The passersby exchanged glances, uncertain but intrigued. They decided they would wait until evening to find out.

After all, they lived in the Holy City. They didn't want to leave unless absolutely necessary.

Besides, it would take days to pack their belongings. They were just regular people; they couldn't leave at a moment's notice.

Even if the V5 were preparing to go to war with the Church, they would surely wait until all the sick were cured. Otherwise, if they attacked too soon, the soldiers with sick relatives might start a rebellion.

If it were truly a dire situation, the people wouldn't be standing around idly chatting in broad daylight.

By the end of the day, nearly everyone in the Holy City had heard the rumors about a potential nuclear war with the V5. They had also heard about the Church's plan to display a new miracle that night. As a result, when nightfall came, the streets and windows were packed with people watching intently.

High in the sky, a massive jellyfish hovered, shining with radiant light like a miniature sun.

Then, from the void, chains descended, shackling groups of struggling humans.

At that moment, a voice boomed across the city, announcing the crimes of these captives.

They were convicted criminals from the prisons, along with some of Kakin's blasphemers.

Through the power of divine foresight, the Church had uncovered the Kakin Empire's plan to launch Poor Man's Rose bombs and nuclear missiles at the Holy City.

But the Church wasn't concerned. Instead, they would use Kakin's nuclear bombs to demonstrate a miracle.

The entire city erupted in shock. Nuclear bombs were on their way, and there wasn't enough time to escape.

Just then, rose-shaped mushroom clouds erupted across the Holy City.

Above the Church itself, a massive nuclear explosion created a towering, radiating mushroom cloud.

Poor Man's Rose and nuclear bombs, which could wipe out entire cities, had been detonated right in the middle of millions of people.

Everyone was terrified and paralyzed with fear. The blinding light and heat obliterated all perception.

No one knew how much time had passed, but eventually, the fallout of the nuclear explosions began to fade.

Rain began to fall from the sky, washing away the radioactive dust left behind by the bombs.

People who had been blinded by the flash had their eyesight restored by the healing powers of the Angel Beast, which now enveloped the entire city.

When the people opened their eyes, they saw a city devastated by destruction. Every building had been reduced to rubble, except for the Church, which stood untouched. And yet, they, and everyone around them, remained completely unharmed, standing atop the ruins.

Only the prisoners chained in the sky had perished, their bodies twisted in gruesome death, serving as a chilling reminder.

"Could it be...that the Holy City really has become a spiritual painting?" Quiet murmurs spread through the crowd. The whispers were just loud enough to be heard by those nearby.

At that moment, a golden light enveloped the Holy City, and all the destroyed buildings began to regenerate, their vibrant colors returning as they reformed. The rubble of the old city was pushed out by the shifting ground, leaving a brand-new, pristine Holy City surrounded by ruins.

(End of Chapter)