Orion no longer looked at his world the same way.
There was no admiration… no satisfaction.
Only silent observation, closer to assessment than contemplation.
The interface appeared before him calmly:
[Progress recorded: Beginning of Imitation]
[Divine Energy increased]
[Divine Energy: 10]
He didn't react.
Before it vanished, more lines appeared:
[New Skill Unlocked: Revelation]
[Description: Limited ability to implant incomplete images and ideas into the minds of lesser beings]
He fixed his gaze on it for several seconds.
A skill…?
It hadn't existed before.
Slowly, he turned his eyes back to the planet, as if the answer lay there, not in the words.
"With every evolution…"
He stopped.
The sentence remained unfinished, but the thought settled in his mind.
Things were no longer as fixed as they once were.
Below, the changes were clearer… harsher.
The man whose face had been burned did not die immediately, but he began to deteriorate gradually. His skin cracked, his movements slowed, his breaths came in broken gasps. No one approached him. No one attempted to help. His mere presence was enough to make others recoil.
Something about him was fundamentally wrong… in a way that needed no explanation.
Days passed, and a smell began to rise. At first, it was faint, almost ignorable. Then it grew heavier, imposing itself on the space. Their faces contorted, their bodies recoiled, yet no one touched him.
Then it stopped.
Simply… stopped.
He didn't move. He didn't breathe. He remained exactly as he was.
The silence that followed was different from before.
It wasn't just fear… it was confusion.
Someone cautiously approached, reached out, then withdrew immediately when there was no response. They didn't understand what had happened, but they knew this was neither sleep… nor pain.
It was something else.
The body remained, and the stench worsened. The space itself became uncomfortable. Yet no one removed it.
At the same time, hunger did not cease.
Food dwindled, their numbers were fewer, and pressure began to build. Movements became faster, tension sharper in every gesture.
Adam watched it all.
But this time, his gaze lingered.
He paused at the body more than once. He didn't approach, but he didn't ignore it either. Something inexplicable drew his attention.
One night, he closed his eyes.
It wasn't deep sleep… but it wasn't empty either.
Something appeared.
Not a clear dream, not a complete thought.
Just a blurred image.
Earth… opening.
Two hands digging.
A body disappearing beneath the soil.
Then nothing.
He woke suddenly.
Breathing deeply, as if emerging from something he had not fully understood.
He didn't know what he had seen… but he did not ignore it.
He stood.
Walked toward the body.
Paused for a moment, then bent down and began to dig with his hands.
Slowly, but steadily.
He didn't know why, but there was no hesitation.
Someone noticed him.
Watched his movements, then approached and did the same.
Then a third.
Then another.
Without words, the act spread among them.
The soil shifted. The ground opened—a shallow hole, but enough.
When they finished, they paused.
They looked at the body.
There was hesitation… but it did not last long.
They pushed it.
It fell into the hole with weight.
Silence returned, but this time it was different.
Then they began covering it with soil.
Slowly.
Until it disappeared completely.
The body was gone… but the sense of it remained.
Adam stood for a moment, staring at the spot.
Then he turned and walked away, as if something had truly ended.
Above, Orion watched.
He did not intervene.
There was no need.
He looked at the humans, then at the place where the body had vanished.
"Even this… has taken shape."
He paused.
"They didn't run from it…"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But… they faced it."
The interface appeared again:
[Progress recorded: First Primitive Rite]
[Divine Energy increased]
[Divine Energy: 15]
He looked at the number without expression.
Five more.
Then he returned his gaze to the world.
Something was changing.
Not just actions… but meaning.
What had been chaos was beginning to take form.
What had been fear was turning into something that could endure.
Even beyond the end.