Era of Castles: Starting with 99 Dragon Eggs - Chapter 40

“After every fire, ants survive.”

…

Mysterious anomalous biological metals have polluted the world, and the world has undergone tremendous changes. Metal sickness is like a key that opens the door to evolution. Under the tide of evolution, there are no innocents.

The choice is up to you, do you want to be the surviving ants after the fire, or do you want to risk your life, step on the glorious long steps to the gods, and glimpse the supreme glory of the mother goddess?

…

Touch the totem in your heart, follow the inspiration, and step on the long steps of ascending to God:

[Amphibians] → [Atlantic Glory] → [Ningen]…

[Eight Arms] → [Nightmare in the Sea] → [Deep Divers]…

[Eagle Eye] → [Owl Ghost of the Night] → [Jersey Demon]…

[Living Dead] → [Grave Digger] → [Death Ferryman]…

…

“On that day, the world was polluted, and I was the source of pollution. Human desires are endless, desire is the best food on the way to evolution, and I am the embodiment of desire.”

– Joe Tour.

- Description from novelbuddy

Getting transmigrated inside a novel is not really a bad thing—you know the story, you have the power of the future in your hand, you know all the hidden keys. You might as well end up as the most powerful and omniscient being in that world.That is, if you don’t wake up during the epilogue.And yet I find myself in the body of a fallen priest at the end of the novel, a tragic hero who had his mana circuit broken in the last war, being shunned, drown in debt, and destined to die not long after.Fortunately, I know just the cure.Unfortunately, the cure was in the hand of one of the Demon Lords—you know, the race that my kingdom just wage war with.Would he give me the cure if I asked him politely? There’s no harm in trying, right? I’d die if I didn’t get the cure, anyway.“Sure, but you have to be my bride as the price,” the Demon Lord said....huh? Sir, you know I’m (technically) a priest, right?

Welcome to The Last Step – A Tale of Fate, Power, and the Unforgiven.In a world where magic defines one's worth, three souls walk a path toward an uncertain destiny—each bearing a power that can shape the fate of nations.Lucas, the God’s Chosen Sorcerer, wields divine magic that bends reality itself, blessed by forces beyond mortal comprehension. A shining beacon of hope—or a harbinger of destruction—his path is riddled with expectations he never asked for.Celia, the Queen of Curses, commands a power feared by even the strongest mages. She carries the weight of a past filled with whispers and condemnation, but where others see a curse, she sees the strength to carve her own future.Kaiser, the Unwanted Void, stands apart. Neither blessed nor cursed, he is the anomaly that should not exist. In a world that measures worth by magic, he is a shadow in the light—yet, the abyss within him holds something far greater than mere sorcery.Together, they are bound by fate yet divided by their own battles. As war brews and forgotten gods stir, the lines between hero and villain blur. In the end, their choices will decide more than just their own lives—they will determine the very foundation of their world.This is their journey. This is their Last Step.

Kim Taejong once believed that death was the only true end—a final mercy.He was once a rising star in the game Rise of Legacy, hailed as the prodigy who would one day dominate esports.But at the peak of his career, a hand injury ruined everythingThe championship title he had spent his entire life chasing slipped away.Taejong blamed himself. The pain, the regret, the endless cycle of what-ifs—it was unbearable.So when an accident took his life, it felt like mercy.But death wasn’t the end.Taejong woke up in the body of Seunghoon—an unknown and struggling player who was desperately chasing the dream Taejong once had.But Seunghoon had neither the talent nor the skills. Just desperation and a working computer.