Chapter 317
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ah, No Wonder!
Ah! No wonder.
Crack.
A crack formed in the hazy crystal containing the fog.
"Bishop...!"
Desperate cries from the cultists followed.
At this very moment,
the Kin of Oblivion could clearly sense it.
One of the pillars supporting Oblivion had collapsed.
Vyud, the High Priest of Oblivion.
His final moments—after setting out on the weighty mission to retrieve the fragment—
"...Indeed."
The man standing right in front of the crystal, watching it, let out a faint sigh.
"High Priest Vyud. He failed to fulfill his duty."
Bishop Hin of Oblivion.
His brow was smooth, not a single fine wrinkle marring his expression, like a plaster mask.
Now, unusually, ripples of emotion appeared on that mask.
This was proof that the Cult of Oblivion faced an unprecedented shock.
The atmosphere in the chamber had already descended into chaos.
"For the High Priest to fail the plan! Impossible!!!"
"Wasn't the Hero's True Name firmly in the High Priest's grasp!?"
"Then—did the Hero choose to abandon his own existence to protect the fragment!?"
"Nonsense! That would be a fate more terrifying than death for someone like the Hero!"
"He's a hero!!!"
"What are you trying to say!? You're not suggesting we praise the hero at a time like this, are you!?"
"Hear me out! Because he's a hero, he absolutely couldn't abandon his True Name! He's the focal point for all those forces gathered in Bondales, isn't he!? Unless he's utterly foolish—he wouldn't choose to protect the fragment by giving up his True Name in that situation!"
"She's right! Wasn't that a fact we all knew from the start!? If not—if there wasn't evidence and certainty—how could we have paid such a heavy price to wield the power of Oblivion!"
"Wasn't there some issue during the ritual!?"
"I agree with that too!!! It's been bothering me all along! He's the master of the Hero's True Name! If the rumors are true, he's the one who rallied the elves and countless other forces to subjugate the Demon Sword. But how—how is that True Name the Gray Tower's honorary mage?!"
The chamber buzzed with unrest.
That opinion had ignited the doubts everyone harbored deep down.
The master of the Hero's True Name.
A name now known across the continent for the monumental feat of subjugating the Demon Sword.
Undoubtedly,
he was the hero with the highest renown in the current era.
No one could deny he was the rightful master of the holy sword.
Not even they, the cult!
Yet,
how could such a hero's True Name be the Gray Tower's honorary mage?
The dissonance, combined with the High Priest's shocking death, amplified their confusion.
They thought,
an abnormal hero's True Name,
the High Priest's shocking end.
There had to be a connection between the two.
With everything unclear due to the High Priest's demise,
to move forward, they had to uncover that secret.
And so—
as everyone fell into reluctant silence before that perplexing riddle,
one man cautiously raised his hand.
His hesitant demeanor revealed he was the lowest-ranking cultist in the room.
"You—"
As all eyes focused on him, the man spoke.
"How about this? The hero trapped the High Priest using a spare True Name. Since it was a spare, losing it wasn't a big deal, and it allowed him to give flesh to take bone, freeing himself from the High Priest's threat."
"..."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock at the man's opinion.
"What do you think a True Name is...?"
It was absurd.
"You're done for! Finished!!! In this already dire situation, the one idea you come up with is a 'spare True Name'!!!"
"Do you think True Names are like gold coins stuffed in your pocket!? Something you can lose a couple of without caring!?"
"Who let this guy in here anyway!!!"
Vitality returned to the chamber.
The cultists, speechless moments before, united in condemning the man.
"Enough."
The bishop's voice rang out then.
That faint voice should have been buried in the rising clamor, but it clearly reached them, calming everyone.
"We borrowed the unstable power of Oblivion to seal the hero's True Name. All for retrieving the fragment. However, the Curse of Desire was meaningless destroyed. Moreover, we lost an irreplaceable Kin of Oblivion."
Snap.
Bishop Hin of Oblivion flicked his fingers.
Dark fog had already risen, enveloping them all.
"B-Bishop!?"
"What is this—...!"
The cultists' cries were swallowed by the dark fog.
The bishop gazed at the cultists flailing in the dark fog and continued softly.
"We've already lost too much. Facing a wall, we have no room to turn back greatly. Thus, debates and arguments are meaningless. There's only one path left to us. We advance with everything we have. That's all. Kin of Oblivion. My brothers. Are you prepared to offer everything for the Great One?"
"...!!!"
The cultists roared fiercely, but their voices were muffled by the fog, not reaching the bishop.
What were they saying, exactly?
Were they ecstatic with joy?
Or despairing in terror?
It didn't matter to the bishop one way or the other.
"We offer all of this to the Great One."
As Bishop Hin spread his arms, the dark fog blanketing the chamber thickened further.
Amid it, a single crystal bearing hazy darkness floated up.
A fragment of Oblivion.
Bishop Hin saw his reflection in the fragment.
That plaster-mask face twisted into a grotesque smile.
"O Oblivion. Please descend and lead us!"
The surging dark fog soon swallowed even the bishop.
Moments later,
the fog began to clear.
No.
It began to condense.
"Ah, aah...!"
Moments later,
where the Kin of Oblivion had gathered, only the bishop remained standing alone.
He sobbed in rapture and cried out.
"Oblivion has descended!!!"
Whoosh!
The bishop's body dissolved into black fog, absorbed straight into the fragment of Oblivion.
It headed beyond the fragment—to where another fragment resided.
"Oblivion has descended!!!!!"
There, the bishop cried out once more.
"Honorary mage of the Gray Tower! You will feel it too!"
"...!"
Dark fog suddenly overflowed from the chest containing the Great Demon's fragment, filling the space.
Rishir immediately drew his holy sword to respond—but it was already too late.
"Everyone!? Everyone!!! Snap out of it!!!"
The dark fog seeped into his comrades' mouths and noses in an instant, corrupting them.
Their eyes clouded like stained black pearls.
The cult leader of Oblivion—
no, the Incarnation of Oblivion—mocked such a Rishir.
With that, the remaining fog was sucked away.
"Damn it—"
Rishir, left alone in the room.
He began bustling about in his own way to save his comrades.
The corrosion of Oblivion.
Their situation was like a boat adrift on a foggy lake.
The fog of Oblivion swallowed them as if it had always been there.
"This is..."
Their thoughts, once supremely clear from mastery in their fields, grew hazy like the fog.
Rishir's comrades couldn't even perceive what had happened to them.
To them, nothing had changed.
Still the same space.
Still the same people.
And—
still the same man.
A vast tidal wave of fog swept in, shoving aside their reality.
There was no room for hazy thoughts to intervene.
All they could do was receive that massive flow with their entire bodies.
Before the power of the Great Demon, individual wills were so feeble.
The immense darkness that could dye the entire world concentrated on one man.
From that moment, the outcome was decided.
Rishir.
They had to forget their prior bonds with him.
Overwritten by that vast fog.
But—
"Reaching transcendence at just forty. Impressive."
Gray Tower Master Remier marveled.
"Impressive, but—..."
With a very peculiar expression.
"Leaving the path of magic and reaching sword master in a mere three years. Truly unreasonable."
Former Blue Tower Master Palag marveled.
"Unreasonable, but—..."
With a very peculiar expression.
"Achieving mastery in both magic and sword simultaneously? Absurd!"
Green Tower Master Lunadien marveled.
"Absurd, but—..."
With a very peculiar expression.
"..."
Perplexity appeared on the face of the 'Rishir' watching their reactions.
The 'perfect Rishir' he had created was supposed to displace the Rishir in their minds.
Normally, they should already recognize him as the 'one and only Rishir' by now.
Yet,
far from their eyes growing hazier, they were regaining their light ever more.
What that meant.
The Great Demon's darkness was vast enough to dye the whole world,
but insufficient to swallow one man.
The Incarnation of Oblivion, naturally, couldn't accept that fact.
He took immediate action.
The new 'Rishir's' existence not resonating?
Then make it resonate more.
Like scribbling delusions in a diary, he added settings to 'Rishir's' existence.
Rishir is the only being loved by the World Tree, despite his human body.
"The World Tree loving a mere human!? No way!!!"
World Tree Guardian Karoer was shocked.
"No way, but..."
With a very peculiar expression.
"..."
'Rishir' added a setting.
Rishir performed miracles healing the incurably ill.
The divinity manifested earned the Saintess's recognition.
"Performing miracles and recognized by the Saintess!? That's amazing!?"
Saint Elon was shocked.
"Amazing, but..."
With a very peculiar expression.
Even the most heinous black mage shed tears of repentance after conversing with him.
"A black mage shedding tears of repentance? Ridiculous."
Acting Councilor Fienne was shocked.
"Ridiculous, but..."
With a very peculiar expression.
When he needed it in crisis, a high spirit gladly offered its core.
"A high spirit gave up its core!? How could such a thing be possible!"
Master Meltas was shocked.
"Impossible, but..."
With a very peculiar expression.
Shamans believed without doubt that the outsider would become their greatest guardian spirit upon death.
"Shamans believing an outsider would be their guardian spirit? Those insular beastkin? No way!"
Frozen Breath Palag was shocked.
"No way, but..."
With a very peculiar expression.
"What the hell!!!"
The exasperated 'Rishir' shouted.
At this point, even the one fabricating the illusions felt embarrassed.
The 'Rishir' he showed them.
Even a child's childish fantasy of becoming a hero wouldn't go this far, would it?
But what was this?
That reaction, like they'd eaten bland food!
"Fine, you asked for it!"
'Rishir's' eyes flashed with competitive fury.
No choice now.
He had to inject them with utter fabrications, discarding all realism.
In that case,
their finite, frail mortal minds would collapse, diluting the original goal—but
it didn't matter to the current Incarnation.
What mattered most now was watching them lose themselves to Oblivion's power.
And so,
the Incarnation of Oblivion injected the most intense illusion yet.
Delivering a massive shock to completely displace Rishir within them.
Rishir is the reincarnation of the God King.
"""...!"""
Drip.
Blood flowed from their noses.
Proof their minds were crumbling under the unbearable massive illusion.
Only then did the Incarnation smile in satisfaction.
Now, all that remained was to savor their frail minds breaking—
"Ah! No wonder!"
It was an exclamation laced with relief.
"Now everything makes sense!!!"
"So refreshing!!!"
The dark fog over their eyes cleared completely.
Not by anything else, but by the emotion of realization.
What reaction would people normally have upon recognizing an acquaintance as 'the God King's reincarnation'?
The Incarnation had no way of knowing.
However,
one thing was crystal clear.
"Rishir, if you're the God King's reincarnation, you should've just said so from the start!!!"
"Did you think we wouldn't understand that much?"
At least, not that reaction.
The Incarnation of Oblivion unwittingly fled.
Forgetting this was a world created by its own power.