Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Luuren (1)
In terms of time, it hadn't even been a few days, but it felt like meeting after several months.
I thought Yev would follow when I went to Shub's temple, but the beings I actually met was her twin siblings called 'Nug.'
"Ah, it's been so long... Hup!"
I was about to greet Yev happily, but before I could finish speaking, Yev approached and grabbed my face.
"Why, why are you doing this?"
"......"
In that state, Yev brought her face close to Rudian's with eyes that seemed ready to shoot lasers.
For nearly ten seconds, Yev stared into Rudian's eyes without even blinking, then slowly created distance and opened her mouth.
"Good thing."
"...Ye, yeah."
"Too reckless."
It was definitely reckless.
Although I had taken the risk wanting to easily obtain Outer Force, the pressure I received at Shub's temple far exceeded my expectations.
I certainly over-achieved my objective, but I also suffered more damage than expected, and above all, I never wanted to go to that place again.
While enjoying the joy of reunion with Yev, Rowen was bewildered by Yev's sudden appearance.
"Um... Who is this person?"
"Ah..."
Although they must have encountered each other in the Great Forest, Rowen didn't seem to remember Yev.
"This one's name is Yev, a god."
"Ah, yes... Yes?"
"To be precise, an extraterrestrial god."
There's no reason to hide it anymore.
Since the Seven Seats have essentially collapsed, Rowen and Evangeline only have the choice to either go into hiding or join forces with Rudian to fight.
"Uh, uhh..."
Suddenly a god? Rowen was flustered but had no choice but to believe.
There was no reason for Rudian to deceive Rowen after coming this far.
"As long as you don't steal her food, she's harmless, so just ignore her and go about your life."
"...Food?"
"Yes, food."
Gray nearly went to the underworld after stealing a spoonful of tiramisu before.
After giving Rowen precautions about Yev, Rudian woke up the unconscious Evangeline.
"Uh, uhng..."
With a small groan, Evangeline slowly opened her eyes.
Rowen carefully supported her.
"Are you okay, Evan?"
"Yeah..."
Coming to her senses, Evangeline carefully got up from her spot.
For some reason, she was avoiding eye contact with Rudian and looking away.
Rudian understood her feelings.
'She fought with full determination but still lost, so it's understandable she'd act like this.'
The more absolute confidence one has in their power, the greater the shame felt when it's shattered.
"Miss Evangeline."
"Yes, yes!"
She was startled and responded to Rudian's words.
It felt like she'd changed from a fierce cat to a gentle sheep.
"Now can you believe that I want to save you?"
At Rudian's words, Evangeline's face turned red as she hesitated, then nodded with a very small voice.
"...Yes."
As I had briefly mentioned to Rowen before, with Evangeline present, Rudian once again stated his precise purpose.
"To stop the extraterrestrial invasion that will occur in a few months, we must concentrate our full power. Miss Evangeline could become a huge pillar of that defense line."
Since the actual operation would take place on the lunar surface, given her characteristic of rapidly losing power when leaving the planet, she would probably be deployed for defense rather than interception.
But even so, with her abilities, she could sufficiently become the center of the defense line.
"Of course, since you've suffered until now, even if you choose a different path, I absolutely won't say anything. This isn't coercion, but..."
"I'll do it!"
Cutting off Rudian's words, Evangeline shouted strongly.
"If I can be helpful, I'll do anything!"
"...E, Evan."
Rowen tried to restlessly dissuade her, but she had already made up her mind.
"I've caused you a lot of trouble. So if I have any conscience, I should pay some price."
"You don't have to go that far..."
"It's a matter of my heart."
Well, actually Rudian would be in trouble if Evan really went to find her own path, so he only deflected once out of courtesy...
He was surprised that her will to repay the debt was stronger than expected.
"...I can't leave my little sister alone. I'll join as well, Sir Rudian."
"Someone of Sir Rowen's skill level would be welcome."
Though overshadowed by Evangeline's strength, Rowen was also skilled enough to face Demon King class opponents single-handedly.
Clap, clap!
After Rowen joined as well, Rudian clapped his hands to refresh the atmosphere.
"We still have some time, so let's properly recover before moving."
Evangeline, who had below-average stamina, needed recovery time, and Rudian also had many things to do.
'Hmm, first...'
Rudian first checked his physical condition.
'As expected, most of the divine power has disappeared...'
A very small amount remained, but it was definitely not enough to use in combat.
However, a considerable amount of Outer Force remained, and it didn't feel like it was simply supplied from outside, but had completely settled in Rudian's body and become part of his power.
'...Huh?'
While checking his ability stats, Rudian noticed that a particular part had changed and tilted his head slightly.
-Name: Rudian
-Race: Demigod
-Age: 18 years old
-Title: Descendant of Adora, Contractor of Diablo, Supreme-class Psychic, Magic Beginner, ...omitted... Priest of the Outer God
-Strength: 243
-Agility: 220
-Vitality: 259-Karma: 992
Overall Combat Power: 213,370
I could understand that the divine power from Shub's blessing had disappeared and my abilities had somewhat returned to normal, but...
'...Karma?'
The Magic stat had disappeared, and a new value called Karma had taken its place.
'Until now it was represented under the category of Magic, but now the powers have mixed to a degree where that's no longer possible.'
But the biggest reason this word appeared was...
'My power seems to be exceeding the causality critical point.'
Using Leviathan's core as the nucleus, I had gathered all kinds of power.
Magic, Magi, Psionic energy, Outer Force, and even Elemental power obtained by becoming a contractor of the Spirit King, and Underworld Energy acquired by becoming a contractor of the Underworld King.
Moreover, I had even handled divine power through Shub's blessing.
Truly, there would be almost no being who had obtained more diverse powers than Rudian, even among gods.
'I never thought I'd be able to handle 'chaos' just by gathering power without any enlightenment...'
Although Karma is a word meaning karma or causality, in there was a setting that equated Karma with chaos as well.
Rudian scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
'Haha, I'm steadily departing from humanity.'
Looking at how my race is now displayed as demigod rather than human, it's confirmed.
Although this was my goal, now that I've somewhat achieved it, some indescribable emotion arose.
'Post-humans' can't live alongside 'humans,' so we would have to part ways someday.
'Sigh, whatever... such worries come after achieving all objectives.'
Anyway, my physical condition is optimal. That's the only important fact right now.
After finishing his physical condition check, Rudian immediately moved on to the next task.
'Is this the right way to do it?'
Thanks to taking the Spirit Orb, my natural sensitivity had risen considerably.
Precisely, I had started seeing various elemental spirits that were previously invisible.
"Summon Sylphid."
Rudian consumed Elemental power to exactly mimic Evangeline's spirit summoning mechanism.
Then the wind gathered and the higher spirit Sylphid that I had seen just an hour ago revealed herself.
-Did you call, contractor of the King?
Like the undead who were vassals of the Underworld King using extreme honorifics, Sylphid also politely greeted Rudian who had contracted with the Wind Spirit King.
"Yes, I'd like to ask you to deliver a message."
-A message? To whom?
"To the Blue Dragon of the southern continent, Kirchrus."
Spirit messages don't consider distance within the planet.
I should be able to send the message almost in real-time.
Since I had suddenly disappeared after revealing the plan to bring demonic forces, Kirchrus and Calesta must be quite worried.
"Tell him that although there was a brief setback, the plan is proceeding as scheduled."
-Understood!
Rudian gave the rough outline of future plans and sent Sylphid back.
If there were colleagues who had graduated from the Hall of Heroes, we could meet them on the way to our destination without having to wait.
'Now, I've roughly finished everything I need to do...'
Now I just need to depart for the sacred kingdom 'Luuren' where North's secret temple exists.
When Rudian returned after finishing his business to prepare for departure.
"Sir Rudian, a moment..."
"Sir Rowen? What's the matter?"
Suddenly, Rowen approached Rudian with a somewhat secretive expression.
"I have something to tell you."
"Please speak. My ears are always open."
"It's about the Illusion Castle."
"Ah...!"
The Seven Seats' stronghold, the Illusion Castle.
More precisely, the entire subspace where the Illusion Castle exists could be called the stronghold...anyway.
Though its potential varies depending on the caster's capability, if one can handle it, it's a mythic-grade artifact comparable to Celestial's Celestial Hanging Garden.
Rowen lowered his voice and continued slowly.
"Although the Illusion Castle's door closed when Jarsen died, since I have Second Authority, I can reopen the Illusion Castle's door."
Rather, with Jarsen and Layla gone, except for Saint Britian, Rowen had essentially become the Illusion Castle's top administrator.
"Are you suggesting we use the Illusion Castle as our base again? But a caster with sufficient capability to..."
To properly handle the Illusion Castle, one needs pure capability reaching at least 9th Class.
Jarsen and Layla naturally reached that level, but Rudian, who at best was 3rd Class, and none of his companions were capable of that yet.
And if we entrusted it to Celestial, we might get stabbed in the back...
Maybe in a few years when Gray reaches 9th Class, but for now, we can't use the Illusion Castle.
"No, that's not my point right now."
"Then?"
"The Illusion Castle contains treasures that the Seven Seats have been collecting for over a thousand years."
"...!"
Rudian's eyes widened greatly.
"I haven't wandered the world for very long, but I know that the value of the treasures sleeping in the Illusion Castle is incomparable to the wealth collected by earthly empires or kingdoms."
"Don't tell me...!"
Rowen nodded with a firm expression.
"Yes, since they're now treasures without owners, they should be sufficient as war funds or equipment enhancement materials. How about Sir Rudian taking them all?"
"Sir Rowen..."
"We don't need great wealth anyway, neither Evan nor I."
Rudian was moved.
If the Seven Seats had been collecting for over a thousand years, the value would be incomparable to Caslay Lichmond's treasury.
Epic-grade artifacts were certain, and there was a high possibility that numerous legendary-grade artifacts existed as well.
Rudian immediately grabbed Rowen's hand.
"Thank you. Let's collect them right away."
It was the moment when Rowen's presence in Rudian's heart grew tremendously.