Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: The Third Night (23)
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That was the ultimate species.
The existence at the very end of the path of wishes that Moon Lord Aheta had sought to create.
The most radiant lifeform, the supremely pure embodiment that converged only the positive traits of every species.
"The thirteenth 'Perfected Species'……!"
What were the Twelve Races in the first place?
Why were only those twelve races granted special treatment even within the Abyss?
Simply because they wielded great power?
Because they vastly outstripped all other races?
Because they posted high scores in the Species Tournament?
None of those answers were wrong.
But they weren't called the 'Twelve Races' solely for those reasons.
'Races that possess the potential to produce limitless Transcendent Beings.'
Even before the Species Tournament existed, they had held the status of superior races.
Right after linking to the Abyss, they displayed overwhelming might that sent the Abyss Lords into tremors.
They showed no fear of the war against the demons. Instead, the longer the conflict dragged on, the stronger they grew without end, as if limits were a myth.
And that was hardly all.
Their race lords were all Transcendent Beings.
When those beings clashed, they inflicted catastrophic damage on the Abyss itself.
Yet the greatest issue was that battles between Transcendent Beings birthed great rifts.
If more than half the great rifts spawned by the Abyss's awakening stemmed from such fights, then it all makes sense, doesn't it?
And so, the demons halted the war.
Persistent great rifts would doom the Abyss to destruction.
Even the 'Great Lords' desired no such outcome.
It marked the end of the colossal war for early Abyss hegemony.
From then on, the Transcendent Beings concealed their true forms, and the 'Species Tournament' emerged to quell the bloodlust of all.
But.
'Stagnant water always rots.'
Unbeknownst to most, the Twelve Races were quietly amassing power from the shadows.
Aheta knew they were scheming every trick in the book to claim sole supremacy as the Unique Race.
The thirteenth race's long absence was their doing.
They crushed every promising race without mercy in the 'Species Tournament'.
"I…… will ascend to the Demon God's throne……!"
Thus, if he could personally birth the thirteenth race, that merit alone would elevate him to Demon God status.
He'd wield immense influence across the Abyss in one fell swoop.
The revered title of 'Moon Lord', even the name 'Night Manager'—they were hollow without it.
……Unless he became the Demon King. The Demon God.
The lords disregarded him, overtly or not.
Those of Demon King rank or higher outright refused to see Moon Lord Aheta as their equal.
"'Archmage'……!!!"
He could have risen.
His goal was within reach.
If only he could forge that creation. That supreme lifeform.
But an interloper appeared.
The Archmage.
His interference had played a huge role in slaying the Dragon God General during the 'First Night'.
This grudge had ignited back then.
The Second Night needed no explanation.
Yet up to that point, the threat hadn't loomed this large.
Aheta figured he could win by plugging the gaps.
But now, in the pivotal Third Night.
"You thought a pathetic human could bankrupt me?"
The foe was strangling him directly.
The Abyss's 'true sky' was being devoured in real time.
Just over one hour remained.
That divine beast Cygnus had an absurd appetite—it would consume the entire 'Third Night' territory before then.
No. It was greedily devouring even the 'Super Blue Moon' without remnant.
Aheta had never witnessed such a voracious divine beast.
Killing intent flickered in Aheta's eyes.
If his foe refused fair play.
"……Anubis. If you won't stir, then I'll move myself."
He too would cross the line.
The Creators' realm, the 'Creator Community', was ablaze in real time.
Every Creator was tutting in disdain.
Some were outright incensed by Aheta's incompetence.
One mere human variable, and he was surrendering everything he owned.
Investors had half-withdrawn already.
Moving rashly now risked losing their painstakingly nurtured avatars.
Better to claim compensation and recoup what they could.
That was when it happened.
If this was legit, it was a massive event.
The kind no one could afford to miss.
With the Super Blue Moon hanging, Aheta's defeat wouldn't hit until 47 hours later.
Nullification would erase it entirely.
In either case—defeat or nullification—he stood to double investors' stakes. A golden opportunity.
Why had Aheta launched this?
......47 hours until the Third Night concluded.
But excluding Moon Lord Aheta himself, most Creators were clueless that divine beast Cygnus was forcibly devouring the Third Night's territory.
Naturally, the 'Creator Community' had no such intel circulating.
They saw it as Aheta groveling.
Scattering bribes to cling to his 'Night Manager' perch.
Reactions split starkly.
Hardcore investors seizing the chance versus wary minnows dipping toes amid vague unease.
Countless Creators poured in, blind to the scam. In a flash, Aheta amassed a fortune in Coins.
And with every Coin he held plus the influx.
He had utterly crossed the line.
Park Chan-woo realized it.
'Every time I try to erase the deadline, the remaining time shrinks.'
The countdown kept plummeting.
This was leagues beyond when he'd used the 'World Tree Fruit' before.
Attempting to wipe it with an Outer God's wish slashed it even harder.
Remaining time: 400 days.
Fail to hit level 1 by then, and absolute death awaited.
'It's taking shape.'
Yet without leveraging the deadline, he couldn't have annihilated the Eternal Outer God.
Plus, it revealed key truths.
The deadline.
It was something vaster than the Outer God's wish—stronger than the Outer God itself—overlaid atop it all.
Of course, he'd suspected as much.
'A death spawned from time-rewind regression. The original 500 days aligned with right after the Second Species Tournament…… around when I claimed the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.'
Regression was inherently impossible.
Selling his future to start at minus 99 levels wouldn't balance the scales fully.
That absolute death was part of the toll.
Hence his conviction.
This 'deadline' could massively impact the 'Eternal Outer God'.
Tied to the regression, or the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice, he'd figured.
The hitch? It was far stronger than anticipated.
Strong enough to outright obliterate even the Eternal Outer God.
Park Chan-woo shook his head.
A graver issue demanded focus now.
"Anubis!"
Death's commander.
Park Chan-woo invoked Anubis's name.
By now, Anubis and Boksil faced off.
Exiting the temple, Boksil had strode straight toward the welcoming Anubis.
Boksil had partially absorbed the Eternal Outer God and its flesh.
Seemed he'd slurped up the 'Source of Life' itself.
Grown massively as a result.
A form akin to Anubis before monstrosity.
But manifested as the Radiant Anubis, woven from particles of light.
The instant they met, Anubis froze.
The world-shattering monster halted like a lie.
The reason was plain.
"Remember. That child's your son."
…Boksil was Anubis's offspring.
Boksil had first emerged from a death-reeking box.
'Easter Egg (001)' luck had radiant-ified him, but at core, he was death incarnate—no different from Anubis.
Park Chan-woo had found it odd.
Why Anubis lurked in that box.
"Didn't you stash him there? To break free from Aheta—from that death temple!"
Now he understood.
No. He was certain.
Because.
Boksil had recognized him from the start.
The 'Philosopher's Stone's wisdom confirmed their souls aligned.
Deliberately boxed away.
Aheta would've exploited a child of Anubis for his 'strongest species' plot.
Gruk, gruuuuk!
Anubis shuddered violently, emitting eerie cries.
Reason long lost, yet clawing it back by force.
'Just a little longer.'
Tears streamed from Anubis's eyes.
He was responding.
Revive those emotions, those memories a touch more, and the 'Third Night' could end bloodlessly.
But.
Kruk!
In a flash, Anubis convulsed.
Gwooooooo!
And overhead, the Abyss sky rent asunder.
"……Aheta."
—Ar…ch…mage.
Moon Lord Aheta had descended in person.