Chapter 443: The Temple (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 443: The Temple (6)
Alon stared ahead with vacant eyes.
The world hadn't stopped. It was simply moving at an incredibly slow pace.
Blackie, frozen in mid-startle.
Evan and Penia, running toward him from afar. In this world moving in sluggish slow motion, Alon blankly looked up at the sky.
Unlike when time had completely stopped, he could move his head comfortably. As he looked up, he saw—
‘….’
A gaping abyss.
In the middle of a sky filled with ashen clouds, there was an abyss that looked as if it would suck in everything.
Alon soon realized that this situation had nothing to do with what had happened when time stopped earlier.
Though he felt a flicker of confusion, he was forced to cut his thoughts short.
The black hole eating away at the ashen sky was slowly closing.
His panic lasted only a moment.
Alon felt it instinctively. The moment that black hole closed, he would lose his chance.
Of course, no one had explained this to him, nor did Alon have any prior knowledge of that gaping black abyss.
However, just as humans are born with a natural instinct to survive, Alon understood it. He thought:
‘…A Law.’
In truth, Alon had already prepared several Laws while traveling to the eastern end.
He hadn't been given much time, but he’d had enough to deliberate.
Yet, even so, he couldn't bring himself to speak.
It was simply because he had realized something.
The Laws he had come up with would be meaningless in the battles to come.
Of course, the Laws he’d pre-planned wouldn't be entirely useless.
In a sense, they would certainly have their place.
But he realized that they would only ever be ‘useful’—they wouldn't be enough to drastically change the tide of battle against ‘The All-Ensnaring Night.’
He erased the Laws he had prepared in his mind.
The abyssal hole in the sky had already shrunk considerably and was continuing to close.
There was too little time to conceive a new Law.
Nevertheless, Alon struggled to make his mind work, even as it faltered under the strain of Defying Heaven.
And then, he remembered.
[Hmm—I think a Law that acts like a hidden trump card would be good, Teacher.]
The voice of Yutia, giving him advice with a smile.
Along with that, Alon recalled his battles up to this point.
Every single one of them had been difficult.
But among those numerous battles, the one Alon focused on was the very first.
The fight against the Outer God Uultultus.
Back then, when he had nothing, the moment he defeated Uultultus.
“…….”
With that, a single Law surfaced in Alon’s mind.
A Law that could create a hidden move at any moment.
Even in the most disadvantageous of times.
‘But—’
Is this right?
Is this choice truly the correct one?
Naturally, there was no one to answer the question in Alon’s head.
In this world, everything except Alon had slowed down to a near-halt.
But Alon remembered.
No, he didn't even need to remember.
It was something that had happened just moments ago.
A voice, and a hand that stroked his hair with a strange sense of longing.
[…Whatever you choose, it is the right answer.]
A voice that felt strangely poignant.
Though distorted by noise to the point where the owner couldn't be identified, the voice brushed through Alon’s mind.
“I—”
Alon finally opened his mouth.
And then.
[I permit it.]
With that resonant murmur, he felt as if something was filling him up. With that final sensation, Alon lost consciousness.
* * *
How much time had passed?
Alon woke up feeling as if his consciousness was slowly floating to the surface from beneath deep water.
“Lord Alon!”
“Are you awake?!”
He sat dazed for a moment at the worried voices of Penia and Evan, before his memories from before he passed out flashed back like a panorama.
From fighting ‘The All-Ensnaring Night’ as soon as they arrived at the temple, to the mysterious figure who appeared after the world stopped, and finally, the fact that he had obtained a Law.
As he organized his thoughts, Alon looked up at the dark sky.
“…How long was I unconscious?”
“About three hours have passed.”
“…Anything unusual during that time?”
“Nothing major, but—”
Evan hesitated for a moment at Alon’s question.
“If I had to point something out… the gem that was glowing until we reached you has shattered.”
He handed over the gem. It had glowed brilliantly in Alon’s hand just three hours ago, but now it held no light at all.
Alon stared silently at the gem, which had split apart as if all its power had been spent. Then, his eyes widened as he remembered something.
“Where is Yutia?”
He hadn't seen her immediately after defeating ‘The All-Ensnaring Night,’ so the question came out with a hint of urgency. This time, Penia answered.
“Don't worry. Cardinal Yutia is outside. However—”
As Penia looked in one direction, Alon naturally turned his gaze. Yutia was there.
She was looking north, her usual smile gone, replaced by a serious expression.
Just as Alon was watching her.
“Ah.”
As if only just realizing Alon was awake, she turned her head naturally and approached him.
“Are you alright, Teacher?”
The smile was back on her lips as if that serious expression from a moment ago had been a lie.
Alon nodded.
“…I’m fine for now, but what about you? Are you okay?”
Yutia’s smile deepened at Alon’s concern.
“Yes, you don't need to worry. Everything went more or less as expected.”
“As expected?”
“Yes.”
Yutia told Alon about what had happened inside, and Alon listened quietly before asking a question.
“…So, the place that was here is similar to the Temple of Space that exists in a similar form beneath Rosario?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s how you were able to recognize it?”
“That’s right. More accurately, the red sphere that rose in the center was identical to the one I saw during the Descent Ceremony held in Rosario every ten years.”
Only then did Alon understand how she had so quickly grasped what was happening in the temple.
“And inside that space, a 4th Stage Divine Blood had already descended?”
“To be precise, it seemed to have descended in a weakened state on purpose.”
“Weakened?”
“Yes. It spoke as if it had sacrificed its power to descend into that space. Even if it wasn't under the same absolute constraints as the continent, there seemed to be some level of restriction. And—”
“…It tried to resolve that using sacrifices.”
As Alon thought of the red eggs, Yutia nodded.
“Exactly. It said that unlike other Divine Bloods, it only needed to fill an empty vessel.”
“…Then did you fight it?”
Yutia shook her head.
“No, when I entered the space, the Divine Blood was still in its core state. To be more precise, it was just about to emerge after descending.”
“…Just about to?”
“Well, hmm—should I say it was in a state where I only had to destroy the core?”
“So you were able to handle it without a fight?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief.”
Alon nodded and followed up with another question.
“But, are you worried about something?”
“Pardon?”
“You were looking toward the distance with such a serious face earlier.”
Yutia laughed softly for a moment before answering.
“It’s nothing, Teacher. I just remembered something I left behind.”
“Something you left behind?”
“Yes. More importantly, did you get what you wanted, Teacher?”
At Yutia’s question, Alon paused to think.
‘What I wanted….’
Alon had obtained a Law.
But naturally, he couldn't know if choosing that Law was right or wrong.
He hadn't used it yet, and while he instinctively recognized its constraints, he hadn't truly experienced them.
However.
“…It seems I made a choice I won't regret.”
Since he felt no regret, that was how Alon answered.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Yutia nodded slightly and looked north once more toward where she had been staring.
“Then let’s rest here for today before moving on.”
She quietly brought the conversation to a close.
* * *
At that same time, in a deserted estate in the northeast.
In the darkness where everything had been brutally destroyed by the Divine Bloods and no living thing seemed to remain.
[Gah—!]
‘The Gazing Void’ suddenly appeared.
Crawling out of the abyss while panting frantically, his appearance was no different from when he was in the Temple of Space.
However, drenched in cold sweat and gasping for air, he—
[Damn it all—!!]
He soon distorted his face in a grimace and swung his fist at the ground.
────────────
BOOM—!!!
Half of the estate, already a ruin, vanished instantly.
It was truly overwhelming power.
Yet, the Void, who had just displayed such power—
‘I really… almost died…!’
He was picturing Yutia’s face.
That monster who had stripped away everything he had gathered as if it were nothing.
[…Whew.]
After breathing heavily for a while, the Void gradually calmed his racing heart.
He had to organize the current situation.
‘…First, I succeeded in deceiving her and escaping.’
The moment he was being crushed by Yutia without even being able to use his Law properly, ‘The Gazing Void’ had escaped the space just before his head was completely destroyed, barely saving his life.
The problem, however.
All the sacrifices he had gathered were gone, and because of that, his descent was incomplete, closer to a 3rd Stage.
But as long as he was alive, there would be another chance.
‘It can't be helped. Until the 2nd Stage arrives, I’ll recover by devouring as many Divine Bloods as possible as sacrifices. And next time, I will definitely kill them…! Both the Star Eater and that monster bitch—!’
The Void quickly formed a plan and prepared to move.
At that moment.
“Wow—I came here because I thought something felt suspicious… but I didn't expect to run into you like this.”
At the sound of the voice, the Void turned around.
A man was standing there.
A man with shimmering golden hair and a genial, smiling face.
“A human…?”
The Void asked with a look of confusion.
But that only lasted a moment.
“…!”
The Void’s eyes widened uncontrollably.
Because he realized.
“…You, could you be…!”
This was a human.
But at the same time, it was not a human.
…This was—
“…Oh, did you catch on?”
The Void stopped his deduction at the man’s—no, Nataman’s—indifferent voice.
And he looked at him.
No.
He looked into his eyes.
Unlike just a moment ago.
“That’s strange. It seemed like neither The Seeker nor the Aberrant Blood had clearly noticed yet. Anyway—”
With eyes that were chillingly close to the abyss—
“—You can't do that, right? Trying to kill Alon.”
The man possessed ‘Black Eyes’ that reflected nothing.
“Hmm?”
He stared.