Prometheus, also known as Suiren[1], limping as he walked up the crude but magnificent altar, the middle of which contained a cluster of flame. A burning, bright, golden flame.
He was still limping as if with a broken leg, but his appearance had drastically changed.
The original ape fur that grew all over his body had completely disappeared, the shape of his skull had also changed to look more like a modern human.
It could be said that other than clothing, Prometheus was no different from any future human, and all of this occurred due to the golden flames on that altar.
Several years ago, the human apes were still savage and primitive, the structure of their society was also very loose, essentially no different from that of wild beasts.
During one hunt, Prometheus’ leg became broken and unfit for future hunts, which caused him to be discarded by his tribe. The apes who still hadn’t achieved enlightenment wouldn’t know how to take care of the sick and dying, nor would they try.
What changed his fate was the Divine flame that fell from the heavens. The Divine flame guided him, bestowed him wisdom, and allowed him to become the progenitor of a new species of human apes, becoming their leader.
Prometheus knew full well just how powerful the Divine flame in front of him was. By borrowing the power of the Divine flame, they were able to digest any food and use that to grow individually stronger.
Taking another step forward, Prometheus drew a thin shard of metal fashioned into a dagger from his waist, the spoil of war he obtained from a certain Lizardman. While those ones were also individually strong, they were completely no match for the human apes with the Divine flame’s aid.
Using the shard of metal, Prometheus cut open his torso. As soon as the wound was formed, the buds of flesh around it had already begun to writhe; this self-regeneration ability also came from the Lizardmen. Their regeneration ability allowed them to stay alive even after being defeated, but that did nothing but turn them into the best kind of living cattle for meat.
Furthermore, a lot of other creatures’ unique abilities had been digested and incorporated into the human ape constitution. If not for this thin shard of metal, Prometheus might not have been able to cut even his skin.
Reaching his hand up, Prometheus ripped the wound on his chest open, then reached into his still-beating heart and yanked it out of his own chest. The broken veins were still pulsing, attempting to reattach themselves to the veins inside his body, this was how strong Prometheus’ current life force was.
Ignoring his heart’s intentions of returning to his chest, Prometheus dropped the heart into the Divine flame.
Within the Divine flame, the heart quickly caught on fire and became a ball of flames.
At this point, the broken veins inside Prometheus’ chest reached out and into the Divine flame, reattaching to the now-aflame heart.
It then yanked the heart from inside the Divine flame back into Prometheus’ body. Instantly, he could feel his torso beginning to burn, his skin turning incandescent, golden patterns manifesting on top of his skin.
He had been discarded by his tribe once before. Even though Prometheus managed to return to his tribe and became their great leader thanks to the Divine flame, he understood them very well. Even with their evolution, this tribe’s cold-hearted nature had never changed.
The only thing that did change was their vision after that evolution. They merely recognized now that even an injured or crippled tribesman still had their own values, which was why they no longer discarded the injured or crippled.
Prometheus’ limp could have been treated since long ago, but he purposely kept it like this as a constant reminder to himself: If one was not individually strong enough, there would always be a chance for one to be discarded once more.
He writhed and twitched in pain on top of the altar, the extreme heat had already eaten through his innards. He could feel everything inside of him becoming charred black, but thanks to his extreme life force, his innards had already begun to regenerate.
“Ahahaha, I’ve finally succeeded” Prometheus could sense that he had obtained the true power of the Divine flame.
In the past, by wielding the Divine flame in their hands and sensing its heat, they could easily digest any food, but that was nothing but the most basic function of the Divine flame.
It was only after Prometheus had put his own heart into the Divine flame and used that to implant the Divine flame into his own body that he had officially obtained the power of the Divine flame.
All the torches of Divine flame brought outside the settlement suddenly grew dim, no longer glowing in a golden hue and instead became mundane orange fire. Additionally, it no longer contained the power that aided these human apes in digesting anything and everything.
“The Grid of the Divine flame, Lord Negary, the great entity who spans across both past and future” Prometheus continued his maddened laughter. As the first to truly obtain the Divine flame, he gained a great position of authority within the Grid of the Divine flame.
Through the Grid of the Divine flame, he was able to observe some images from the future, as well as gaining access to control secondary Divine flames of this level. Ultimately, he would even be able to become one with the Grid, becoming one of many entities capable of existing throughout the past and future.
Prometheus had now become accustomed to the Divine flame constantly burning his inner organ. This was the price he had to pay, as he sacrificed his organs in order to obtain the Divine flame, it was natural that he had to endure the suffering of being burnt by the Divine flame.
“Have our future descendants arrived in our past?” flames seemed to be beating within Prometheus’ eye. Since the Grid spread out in both the past and future, he was able to observe some visions of the future by being its authoritative figure.
At the same time, he also understood his mission. As he was one with the Grid, the stronger the Grid grew, the stronger he would also naturally grow; thus his current mission was to sweep away all those who obstructed the Grid, putting the entire world and everything within it under the Grid’s influence.
“Lord Negary is our future” watching the intensely burning flames in front of his eyes, Prometheus declared. This was the Divine flame’s original kindling, although it looked like a flame right now, it was in fact the physical manifestation of the current level of the Grid.
“In the Lord’s name, I shall lead the human apes. They shall work for me, putting any and all obstacles within our grasp. Additionally, if these future descendants can be taken advantage of well, they will greatly aid in the birth of humanity”
The flames in Prometheus’ eyes quickly beat, displaying even visions of modern society in his eyes. Thanks to the guidance of Negary’s Divine flame, his IQ was not at all lacking compared to modern humans; and now that a great volume of knowledge was rushing to his mind to forge his foundational knowledge, it would likely not take long for him to become a true God.
With various visions flashing in his eyes, Prometheus slowly formulated his plan.
At another location, the two Dino Sapiens were making a mad dash for their lives, avoiding the pursuit of the terrifying upright apes. Tyrant Dino had been completely devoured down to his very bones, so if they couldn’t escape fast enough, their outcomes would not be any better.
「 Damn it, if not because we’ve only just arrived without any basic weaponry to arm ourselves, I would never have allowed those savage cavemen to eat our comrade 」 despite his strong words, Flame Dino’s eyes reflected a sense of fear that couldn’t be obscured.
「 Boss, what do we do from this point on? 」 Flame Dino asked with a hint of despair in his voice.
Chrysosaurus stared closely behind himself with a gaze mixed with hatred and fear, then finally spoke: 「 We find a place to set up base, take in the primitive tribes, then help them gain intelligence. This matter won’t end here 」
[1] Suiren is the progenitor of fire in Chinese mythology