Chapter 124
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Six Existences
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My consciousness fades.
Well, yeah. Inhaling that much poison point-blank, no way my body would come out unscathed.
I'll leave the rest to Moona and Swungswung and just pass out for a bit.
...
My consciousness fades... but then it doesn't.
What a contradictory situation.
Soon enough, I figured out why.
A pitch-black world stretches out before my eyes.
I'd just nodded off like I'd fainted, and now I'm dreaming.
And the place in this dream was a familiar one.
The giant black bird I saw every time I evolved.
The spot where I always met that guy.
It mentioned my evolution options expanding, so maybe it's here to lend a hand again this time?
I don't care for its tone, but the aid from that massive creature has been pretty substantial.
To be precise, I've stolen a ton from it, but you could call that help too, in a way.
If it really wanted to, it could've stopped me from taking anything and dragged me off.
The fact that it lets it slide makes me think it sees it as just another method of handing stuff over.
Of course, to me right now, that thing is an overwhelmingly powerful existence.
I'm getting stronger with each evolution, but the gap between me and that giant bird from my dreams hasn't narrowed at all.
Every evolution reaffirms just how vast its power is.
Still, it's got a favorable attitude toward me, so I could think of it as having a solid ally in my corner.
Any moment now, it should start talking.
...
Something felt off.
To put it precisely, it was different from all my past experiences.
It should have appeared alongside wings vast enough to blot out the sky.
But it wasn't there.
Had it stepped away for a moment?
Or was it letting me take whatever I wanted on my own?
This wasn't through evolution, so maybe things were playing out differently from before.
In that case, I should act differently too.
I was curious about this space.
With its apparent master nowhere in sight, I figured I could roam freely.
That was when it happened.
Rumble...
My body felt crushed in an instant.
My actual body was fine.
But somehow, I couldn't move a muscle.
At the same time, certain existences entered my vision.
Beings draped in black robes stared right through me.
No eyes were visible, yet their gazes were palpable.
The eerie sensation left me unable even to shudder.
How much time passed as their gazes licked over me?
Then, suddenly, the space shifted.
It wasn't the black sky anymore.
This was an emerald palace.
I stood in the center, ringed by seven throne-like chairs.
Six of the seats held black-robed figures, while one remained empty.
From the way they looked at me, I could tell there were supposed to be seven originally.
[That thing is the one he chose?]
Hearing that made my mind go blank.
It wasn't mere words.
The voice carried a power so profound and distant that I had no business hearing it.
It was one existence speaking, but it echoed as if six voices overlapped.
[Unbelievable. Has the wisest one fallen so far?]
I hurriedly covered my ears with my wings, but it did nothing to resist them.
[How can a mere creature like that stand before us?]
[An arrangement of wisdom? Even then, why send it to us at this moment?]
[I propose: We devour its tender flesh right now.]
What?
I couldn't resist, nor could I keep enduring those horrific words.
They ignored my thrashing and carried on their cryptic conversation among themselves.
[Enough. It does not permit it. Wisdom makes no mistakes.]
[Then how did that thing reach this place?]
I had to escape.
One of the six was drooling as it eyed me, while the others held it back.
Not to save me.
Not out of caution toward a nobody like me.
Simply because their opinions didn't align.
[I propose: Perhaps it arrived here by its own power.]
[The possibility is exceedingly slim. But we permit an examination.]
The six existences stared right through me once more.
One kept drooling, desperate to devour me, while most maintained their utter disinterest.
I had no clue what was going on, but it seemed they had no immediate plans for me.
I didn't possess power strong enough to draw their attention.
The drooler was seriously getting on my nerves, but no one agreed with its desire to eat me.
Maybe I could return to where I started just like this.
[...Such an ill omen!]
The faint hope I'd harbored for a moment shattered at one existence's shout.
[This defies all reason! How has the power of Command come to dwell in it?!]
[One and one is commonplace. But what it harbors is one and one fused. A bearer of night's power as master of Command!]
...Master of Command?
Was it because I'd stolen the cockatrice's trait?
What the heck was so special about it that they were losing their minds?
I could feel even the ones who'd seemed calm growing agitated.
[Execute it on the spot! Its power is feeble now, but it holds infinite potential! True night could arrive!]
[I oppose. It is merely a being of weak power, as you say. Executing it here would harm us.]
[I will bear that harm. Have you not heard the tale of the long-tailed dragon of death? Remember what that feeble-born became!]
They debated my fate with fierce intensity.
Most seemed in favor of killing me.
[The wisest is absent. We must defer our decision.]
[Enough! Speak no more! How long will you remain trapped in her shadow?!]
Rumble...
One alone refused to agree with the rest.
I could sense unimaginable powers converging.
They seemed locked in a tense stalemate, but my gut told me even the last holdout would be swayed.
If that happened, I'd really die.
Was I going to die this pathetically?
No, I couldn't let that happen.
Think.
What could I do in this situation?
I couldn't fight them.
If I'm a fledgling bird, their power is like towering mountains.
No small bird can topple a mountain.
So what then?
...
Even the tiniest bird can sow the seeds to crumble a mountain.
Carry a single spark, and even a mountain would fear it.
Because that spark could spread and consume the whole peak.
Remember their words.
Did I have anything like a spark right now?
Something even a mountain would fear.
...
[A bearer of night has gained the power of Command. Do you not know what that signifies?!]
What they feared.
I knew it now.
The Eternal Night.
They must dread that phenomenon.
Night Summoning LV1
Night Summoning.
The skill to call forth the night I desire.
Then, couldn't I summon the Eternal Night too?
They were moving to prevent the Eternal Night, but if it meant my death, that changed everything.
I'd show them I held the spark to burn this mountain—threaten them with it.
Yeah.
Here, I'd bring forth the Eternal Night.
It was the moment Night Summoning's power was about to fully manifest.
Splash!
Black feathers appeared.
[Y-You! How dare you appear here...!]
The stern voice began to tremble ever so slightly.
I knew exactly who had arrived.
The giant bird cloaked in black feathers.
The Night Crow.
"Begone."
[You b-bastard!]
[How are you...!]
The Night Crow spoke in a voice devoid of emotion.
The instant it flapped its wings, the space shattered.
Crack!
The emerald palace vanished in a flash, leaving only the familiar black sky.
The massive crow lowered its head to gaze at me.
"Reckless fool. To think you'd try something like that before them."
The Night Crow had noticed what I was attempting.
"Kekeke... You truly amuse me. Even as a bluff, it's beyond my wildest imaginings."
The Night Crow laughed in a low rumble, genuinely entertained.
"Coincidence... or inevitability?"
The Night Crow stared straight at me.
"I sense the power of Command within you."
The power of Command.
What those beings had spoken of moments ago.
It was also the cockatrice's trait.
"I can guess why they flew into such a rage. Heh heh heh..."
The Night Crow wore a sinister grin.
Thank goodness it was on my side— if it were an enemy, that smile alone would've made me faint.
"To come here without my summons. Hmm, in a situation like this, it's plausible enough."
It muttered to itself, its mood apparently lifted as some personal question resolved.
For now, at least, I was alive.
It bore me goodwill and had even saved me.
And with its mood so improved, maybe I could sneak off with a feather?
"Hahaha! Even now, you're eyeing my feathers?"
"...Caw!"
It burst into booming laughter, as if reading my thoughts.
"No feathers for you this time."
Tch.
Bitter pill, but nothing to be done.
I should be grateful just for the rescue.
"In exchange, I'll stabilize the power you've gained."
"Caw?"
Stabilize my power?
And in that instant—
A refreshing sensation washed over me, like some subtle misalignment in my body realigning perfectly.
"Caw? Caw caw!"
Felt just like getting a meridian massage!
"Heh heh heh... That should hold you for a while."
A while?
"You died once. Or rather, you nearly did."
Was it bragging about the save?
Claiming I'd be dead without it?
"A walker of night's path harboring Command's power—your body had no choice but to break. And that's why you could see those fools earlier."
...
What?
A shocking revelation.
My earlier blackout wasn't from accumulated fatigue?
I'd nearly died because I gained the "Master of Command Roar" trait?
"Kehahat. No need for great worry. Your companions took the right measures."
My flesh hadn't perished, then.
Returning to my body shouldn't pose a major issue.
Especially since the Night Crow had stabilized my abilities.
But why did this guy look so damn pleased with himself?
"Hahaha! How could I not be? I witnessed such a rare spectacle."
Rare spectacle?
Was it talking about those six existences from before?
The Night Crow's gaze lingered oddly on my beak.
"If your mind had been awake, it would've been even more entertaining... Heh heh, I'll keep this to myself."
What the heck was it going on about?
What had it seen?
Show me what you saw!
"Kahahaha! So fun, so fun! Beak to beak... Heh heh... Now it's time to send you back. All the urgent business is done."
Sending me back was fine and all, but what did it mean by "urgent business"?
"Never knew its tastes ran this way."
Whose tastes? What was "it"?
"Caaaaw!"
And why had it been staring at my beak this whole time?!