Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: The God That Was Not Born
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Thump-!
A massive heartbeat echoed beneath the spire. Byron screamed toward the dark curtain taking the form of a pulsing sphere at its center.
"How can you summon the God That Was Not Born, a being that does not exist...!"
Byron frothed at the mouth, as if he had witnessed the impossible.
It was only natural for him. After all, he was the Archbishop who believed in the Goddess of Night, Nyx. He could never accept that the Nightmare God—conceived by Nyx long ago but cast out before birth—actually existed in full.
Either the Goddess of Night had lied to her followers... or she was far more incompetent than anyone imagined. One of the two.
To Byron, the very existence of the Nightmare God was blasphemy incarnate.
In response to Byron's reaction, the young man standing at the center—the Second Prince—began to turn around.
He had long purple hair for a man. His features were refined, and a sly smile played on his lips.
The somewhat oily-looking young man opened his mouth.
"If it doesn't exist, then we simply create it anew. Isn't that right?"
"What do you...!"
Byron glared with bulging eyes, leaning forward as if he might charge at any moment. Adriana held him back and spoke.
"I didn't expect to meet you like this, Your Highness Patricius."
"Won't you call me Patrick like you used to?"
"A teacher's duty is to correct her disciple's mistakes. And I don't make a habit of using nicknames for opponents I'm about to behead."
"That's truly a shame."
Second Prince Patricius shrugged his shoulders and flashed a cheerful smile.
His utter composure was so absurd that I couldn't help but snort derisively.
"Ha! What makes you so damn confident?"
"You're... the host of tonight's banquet, Duke Zahav, correct?"
"That's right. Are you banking on those black mages? Or on that god you barely summoned but can't even use yet? Surely you're not relying on your prince title at this point? Just so you know, I've already received His Majesty's permission to bring you your head."
The mere fact that the Nightmare God had already been summoned was shocking. I could understand why Byron was trembling in fear.
But upon calm reflection, if asked whether the Nightmare God was truly a threat... surprisingly, it wasn't.
I didn't know how they'd done it, but the Nightmare God had clearly been summoned.
The spherical darkness pulsing in midair amid the thunderous heartbeat. That inside it was undoubtedly the Nightmare God.
Even I flinched at the power emanating from it upon closer inspection, so it couldn't be a bluff or illusion.
However... if asked what that mighty Nightmare God was actually doing, the surprising answer was: nothing.
The ordeals we'd faced getting here, and the instincts screaming now that we faced it directly.
They all declared that the Nightmare God had no interest in us whatsoever.
"I get that it's claimed the academy grounds as its territory. But besides that, what exactly is it doing?"
"That starts now..."
"Cut the crap. If you could control the Nightmare God at will, even if not you, those black mages would've done something by now."
Simple math.
The black mages hated me as much as I hated them, so they feared me too.
Low-level grunts who didn't know my face might be oblivious, but anyone who saw me would either flee or unleash a frenzy of attacks.
Yet the black mages surrounding us just glared silently, taking no meaningful action.
As if they were secretly trying something but failing over and over.
I smirked, curling my lip as I eyed the Second Prince and the black mages in turn.
"You lot summoned the Nightmare God, but you can't control it, can you?"
"......"
The Second Prince maintained his smiling facade in silence.
At that, Byron's eyes widened as if struck by sudden realization.
"...So that's how it is!"
Still clutching the rosary engraved with the church's symbol, Byron spoke rapidly.
"We—we've misunderstood all this time! 'The God That Was Not Born' doesn't mean it doesn't exist— it means it was never granted its own will!"
It had been denied birth as a god. In other words, its fate of ascending to divinity had simply been eternally suspended, but its existence and stature hadn't vanished anywhere.
A plight remarkably similar to that of a prince forever barred from the throne.
"Lady Nyx said that Night cast out the Nightmare not because she didn't love her child, but because it would shake the world's laws and shatter its boundaries."
Dreams are another world entirely. Thus, unless one is a supreme deity said to have created this world, no one can bear it alone.
The reason it became the Nightmare God rather than merely the God of Dreams was that even gods find it difficult to shoulder more than dreams' twisted underbelly.
The Goddess of Night had deemed it still too dangerous, so despite her love for her child, she had wrapped it in a curtain of darkness to ensure it would never be born, according to Byron.
"That's why everyone sleeps when night falls, and sometimes dreams nightmares... but divinity never dwelt within them, preventing miracles from occurring, for better or worse!"
No matter how horrific or glorious, a dream remains just a dream.
It fades slowly upon waking, eventually evaporating with the morning dew—an ephemeral sight.
Thanks to that, reality remains un by anything, existing as pure reality.
"You may have called forth the Nightmare God hidden in a place unknown to all... but tearing away the curtain the Goddess of Night draped around it while she still holds sway—the swaddling prepared for a child that must never be born—with mere human hands? That must be impossible! Isn't it?!"
Byron glared with eyes brimming with conviction and faith. Patricius responded with a wry smile, as if helpless to argue.
"Spot on. Even after being summoned into this world, the Nightmare God still hasn't been granted birth. It can't properly wield its power or receive our will."
"Then...!"
"However, nothing in this world is eternal. Do you think I allied with the black mages on a whim? ...Rejoice. You're not too late yet."
As Patricius's lips curled upward, the flow of black magic power from the black mages shifted.
Not toward the Nightmare God, which remained inert and merely pulsing without reaction—but toward us.
Ellis, who had been observing the flow leisurely, hurriedly leaped aside and shouted.
"Below!"
I sensed something coming but not its origin—thanks to Ellis, I knew the direction.
In that case, I'd simply turn it against them.
As Adriana grabbed Byron and dodged, I stood my ground, waiting for the black magic to arrive. But.
"I've heard much about you. From the imperial court... and from the black mages themselves."
A dark red shadow erupted from the floor, lunging for my heart—even as Patricius charged head-on from the front.
True to his imperial blood, he was no opponent to dismiss lightly.
"Now show that prowess to me as well!"
Patricius slammed down a massive hammer forged of mana light.
I kicked aside the extending dark red thorny vine shadow with my foot while thrusting my hand toward the glowing green hammer.
KABOOM!
Fragments of the shattered shadow scattered. The instant my hand touched the hammer, it lost its power and froze in midair.
Some enchantment must have transferred all the impact to me—my arm went numb... but this was nothing.
I gripped the hammer fiercely and summoned my aura.
"If you want to see my power, I'll show you plenty."
Roar.
Flames surged up my arm, and the moment they touched the hammer.
"Huh?"
The hammer melted away in an instant, losing all form. As his weapon vanished from my grasp, Patricius faltered in panic, losing his balance.
A complex magic circle materialized beneath his feet, whipping up a gale to shove me back. Winds so fierce they nearly ripped up the stone floor beneath me.
And yet, all he'd get from me was this smirk.
"You think that'll work?"
I braced my waist rigidly to hold firm, planting my feet into the ground as if rooted. Then I reached out with my other hand to seize the fleeing Patricius's foot—but.
"...I didn't expect you to weather this so easily. It's a high-tier spell, after all."
Patricius conjured a long mana longsword in his empty hand and swung it at mine.
A clean, efficient arc without excess. Remarkably, aura blazed vividly atop the mana blade.
It's not impossible to wield magic and aura together, but it's said to be twice as difficult as using either alone.
That's why even Ellis focuses on her sword, treating magic as mere support...
As expected of royalty. Patricius handled high-tier spells and expert-level aura with effortless freedom.
Of course. Considering the imperial bloodline ability, it was only natural.
Indeed, the imperial family's bloodline ability was...