Chapter 442: The Temple (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 442: The Temple (5)
Immediately after the world was dyed in light, Alon’s body began to plummet toward the ground.
"!"
Alon was startled for a moment, but he soon understood his own condition.
As I thought, did I maintain Defying Heaven longer than necessary?
Fundamentally, using Defying Heaven placed an immense burden on the body. It was the same even after becoming accustomed to its use. As one grew more proficient, they simply learned to use it more efficiently to extend the duration; the burden itself could never be erased.
...I did use it quite a bit.
Alon gazed at the sky as he fell. The clones that had filled the heavens vanished as if they had never existed the moment Defying Heaven ended. It was only natural. Those clones, created through the Illusion of All-Encompassing he had recently acquired, each as real as the original, could never have been utilized in such a manner without Defying Heaven.
To transform all mana or matter containing a certain level of mana into illusions...
Alon thought of the hundreds of clones. Each one possessed a mana signature similar to what Alon projected outwardly. Thanks to those clones, he had been able to deceive the eyes of 'The All-Ensnaring Night' and plant a 'delusion' within him—the delusion that Alon was desperately trying to hide by slightly lowering the mana levels of the other clones. The delusion that Alon, knowing nothing, was struggling frantically just to land one blow out of hundreds to force a victory.
And that delusion had cracked the exquisitely maintained defense of The All-Ensnaring Night. With that, Alon had been able to seize the chance for victory.
I'm tired.
Even as he fell toward the earth, fatigue washed over his body. The number of spells he had used to face The All-Ensnaring Night, both large and small, had surpassed dozens and reached into the hundreds. It was only natural for a level of exhaustion beyond imagination to surge forth.
Still, he couldn't just crash into the ground. Alon let out a long sigh and twisted his body. Just as he was about to force himself to use Defying Heaven one more time—
Thud!
Someone caught Alon’s falling body.
[Kyu—!]
It was Blackie. Perhaps because he had been feasting on mana from Defying Heaven, Blackie, who still maintained his form as the Poison Eater, caught Alon and landed on the ground.
"Lord Alon!"
"Are you alright?!"
As soon as Blackie reverted to his cat form and set Alon down, Penia and Evan came running from afar. Just as Alon was about to give a small wave to reassure them, his vision was suddenly engulfed in red and blue light.
Naturally lowering his gaze, Alon discovered light radiating from the pocket inside his clothes.
[Kyu!?]
Blackie, standing beside him, wore a startled expression. As if possessed, Alon reached out and pulled something from his pocket. In that moment, Alon realized the identity of the glowing gem.
This is—
It was the gem he had received from Yutia. More accurately, it was the gem said to have appeared after the Father of Maggots vanished. It was emitting a brilliant, dazzling light.
"!?"
"Lord Alon!"
Thinking something had gone wrong, Penia and Evan spurred themselves to run even faster. But then—
Snap.
The world stopped.
Blackie, who had been recoiling in shock amidst the intense light, froze. Penia and Evan, who were running toward him while calling his name, froze. Even the countless pieces of debris falling from the sky following the death of The All-Ensnaring Night froze in mid-air.
It was a sudden, inexplicable situation. Alon tried to move his body, but...
It won't move.
Regrettably, it was impossible. Only Alon’s mind could continue to think. As if to inform him that he too was trapped in this frozen time, his physical body refused to obey.
What on earth is—
Just as an involuntary trace of anxiety flickered across Alon’s face—
Tap—
A small sound reached his ears. It was very faint, yet clearly audible.
Tap—
In the next moment, Alon realized it was the sound of someone approaching.
Tap—
When the sound became a bit clearer the next time, Alon realized it was the sound of shoes. For some reason, it felt like a sound he had heard somewhere before.
Tap—
The sound was drawing closer. Yet Alon could do nothing. In this place where time had stopped, he could only listen to the approaching sound. And the moment the footsteps ceased, Alon realized that something had reached his back.
Slide—
...?
Soon, he felt a hand stroking his head. It wasn't just once. The hand stroked his hair over and over again. ...Yet, for some reason, the touch seemed filled with a deep, thick longing.
Alon wanted to turn around at that strange gesture, but he remained frozen. At the final moment—
[...Whatever it is, whatever you choose is the right answer.]
A voice reached Alon’s ear. A murmur steeped in longing... a whisper laden with complex emotions.
And then.
Crackle!
The world that had been frozen until just a moment ago began to move again, and Alon—
[O seeker who has obtained the Qualification of Rhythm, speak the path you wish to take.]
—heard a voice echoing in his mind.
* * *
Yutia silently gazed at the giant eye before her. The eye, infinitely alien and moving incessantly as if it would suck something in, spoke to Yutia.
[I expected you to come.]
"Oh my, is that so?"
[Indeed. You interfered with my work before, after all.]
"Then it's good that we can get straight to the point."
Yutia’s voice was calm. However, 'The Gazing Void' replied without suppressing his laughter.
[What do you mean by 'straight to the point'? Surely—you aren't about to spout some nonsense about how you'll kill me mercifully if I stay still? Hmm?]
Snicker! The Void laughed and shouted as if delighted.
[How unfortunate, you monster! You've fallen into a trap.]
"...A trap?"
[Of course! Because you're already too late!]
Crunch! Craaaack!!!
Along with the Void’s words, the space within their radius began to shatter like glass. Simultaneously, what was revealed...
[I have already absorbed all the sacrifices! Unlike last time!]
...was a moonlit meadow, completely empty and hollow. A meadow so vacant it felt desolate. However, the red liquid beneath the abyss seemed to tell the story of what had once been there. From within that abyss, Yutia stared forward.
And there stood a man radiating an aura that sent shivers down one's spine just by looking at him. A man with mane-like black hair reaching below his waist, black skin, and inverted eyes—no, it was 'The Gazing Void.'
Standing in silence, Yutia let out a low exclamation as if she had quickly realized the situation.
"Hmm, it seems you ate them all in advance without waiting for the 4th Stage?"
[Yes, because I expected you to come.]
"But if you do that, you won't be able to regain your original power, will you?"
At Yutia’s smiling counter-question, The Gazing Void let out a smirk.
[Heh, you're right. Even after devouring tens of thousands of sacrifices and dozens of Divine Bloods, my power has only reached the 3rd Stage. But it doesn't matter.]
"Why is that?"
[Because for now, there is no one on this continent stronger than me.]
Grin.
[It will take a long time for those others to descend. Long enough for me to make this entire continent mine.]
"...So you intend to complete the unification quickly before the other Divine Bloods descend?"
[Correct. And I plan to kill you, who stepped into this place, quite miserably.]
The Void’s two eyes flashed toward Yutia. Yutia, still smiling, asked back.
"Do you really think that's possible? Killing me."
[Do you think it's impossible?]
"Hmm..."
Yutia pondered. Eventually, she pulled something from her pocket. It was a pocket watch. A pocket watch that looked incredibly old.
Click.
Yutia glanced at the pocket watch as it opened with a small friction sound. The Void felt a sense of doubt, but before he could think further, Yutia turned her gaze forward and tilted her head.
"Certainly, it seems it would be difficult to defeat you as you are now."
At those words, the Void, who had been momentarily dazed, smirked.
Tick—
[You're quick to realize.]
"Since it's come to this, may I ask a few more things?"
[I shall allow it. My heart wants to tear you apart and kill you right now, but unlike you, I am magnanimous.]
The Void accepted, laughing as he firmly held the upper hand. Yutia slowly opened her mouth.
"If I had come just a day earlier, the situation would have been different, wouldn't it?"
[Heh—if you had, I wouldn't have been a match for you. At that time, I hadn't yet absorbed the sacrifices sent from the other side. But there's no need for such regrets.]
"And why is that?"
[Because—]
Grin.
[That is something that will absolutely never happen.]
At the Void’s sneer filled with ecstasy, Yutia thought for a moment and then asked.
"Well, fine. Then I'll ask another question. You mentioned unification, but wouldn't it be a bit difficult with the power of the 3rd Stage? I mean—the 2nd Stage will be descending soon, won't they?"
The dim moonlight shone upon her.
[Heh, do not worry, you monster. Even if I descended to the 3rd Stage of my own accord for a faster descent, I am no ordinary 3rd Stage now that I have absorbed all the sacrifices.]
"...I've surely fallen into a trap."
Seeing a small light settle on her face as she murmured, the Void stepped forward as if no further conversation was needed.
[I shall tear you apart and kill you miserably.]
"Aren't you being a bit too confident?"
[What?]
"I mean, you don't even properly know my ability, do you?"
[Do you think such a thing matters in this situation?]
The color of her face, which had been dimly lit, was suddenly dyed in a vermilion hue. And at that point, 'The Gazing Void' felt a sense of incongruity. A bizarre feeling that something was going strangely.
"Hmm—of course it's important."
'The Gazing Void' stared blankly at her face. Her face, which had been vermilion just a moment ago, began to glow brighter and brighter.
"You see, I did fall into your trap, but—"
No, that wasn't all. Her body, clad in dark mourning clothes, began to shine. The sense of incongruity grew even more intense. And then.
"—you've fallen into my trap as well."
—Tick.
The moment he heard those words, 'The Gazing Void' realized the identity of that bizarre incongruity.
[...Ah?]
It wasn't that her face was glowing. It wasn't that her mourning clothes were shining. It was simply... light.
It was just that a sun, ill-suited for the dark moonlit night, was shining upon her with the warm sunlight of midday. And the moment he perceived this, the Void realized that the sun rising above Yutia’s head was moving toward the east at an impossible speed.
No—it was moving in retrograde.
Her glowing face began to be dyed in vermilion once more.
—Tick.
[W-what?]
The vermilion-dyed face turned back into twilight. And thus, what they reached was...
"How unfortunate."
...the night.
A night where a blue moon hung in the sky. A night where the tens of thousands, the thousands of sacrifices he had stored—
[Ah?]
—existed exactly as they were.
The night of one day ago.
"Because something that would absolutely never happen... just happened."
At Yutia’s words, 'The Gazing Void' stared at her blankly. More accurately, he stared at this sight. No matter how much he thought, his mind could not comprehend this situation. Yet he knew instinctively. This was not a dream. Nor was it an illusion. This was the undeniable truth.
What stood before his eyes were clearly the numerous sacrifices he had gathered until now, and the power he had gained by absorbing them had vanished.
As if... time had turned back.
[Ah.]
With that realization, he let out an exclamation that was either a surprise or a lament as he looked forward. Yutia was there. Her reptile-like red pupils glowed blood-red as if resonating with the red light of the numerous sacrifices. Her index finger was raised at the end of her outstretched arm.
And then.
"Sacrifices."
Tap.
"I'll eat well."
Crumble!
That was the last scene 'The Gazing Void' remembered.