Chapter 136 - Episode 19. War of the Six Gods (9)
Chapter 136: Episode 19. War of the Six Gods (9)
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‘The Third Seat is a pervert! The Third Seat is a pervert!’
Outwardly, Droyan looked like an idiot who did nothing but mutter “Mimi Nya,” but the Dragon God was not actually an airheaded god.
There was no way an idiot like that could ever have become one of the Seven Divine Thrones in the first place.
[Mimi Nya, could you tell them that it is very rare for that ‘Ignis’ to cheer on an Awakened One?]
‘Ignis has changed their mind! Ignis has changed their mind!’
[Hey.]
‘Karavan is pitiful! Karavan is pitiful!’
Speech bubbles floated up above the pillow.
Karavan frowned.
“My god, should I just kill them?”
Ignis shook their head. This was not the time to get angry.
[I was not cheering him on. I was only watching for a bit.]
[Mimi Nya. Hm? What was that? Ah, so they were not cheering him on. Then could you ask whether it would be fine if we took that bastard?]
At Droyan’s words, the mood in the hall froze for an instant.
In the end, Ignis could not hold back and stirred up their World Force.
[Keep babbling like that if you want to die.]
[Mimi Nya. Tell them it is about time we settled which stands above the other, 「Black Flame Dragon」 or 「Crimson Flame Tribulation」.]
‘Settle it! Settle it!’
The Second Seat and Third Seat had been fiercely competing over attracting Followers for a long time, so black flames had already begun flying through the hall the moment the subject came up.
The one who cut through the overheated atmosphere was the Seventh Seat.
[I...!]
Cold World Force that instantly cooled the burning tension.
It had been a full two hundred years since Nameless last spoke. Their lips were squeezed tight with the desperate strain of someone struggling against ancient constipation.
Ignis and Droyan, who had been snarling at each other, reined in their momentum and looked toward Nameless.
[Id...! Id! Idle!]
Mimi Nya cheered them on.
‘You can do it! You can do it!’
And then, at last.
[Idle talk! You did not call us here merely to ramble.]
When those first words in two hundred years finally fell from Nameless with difficulty, the Second Seat and Third Seat let out sighs of relief.
Perhaps having regained some confidence, Nameless added one more line.
[Enough! Get to the point. Tell us why you called us here, Ignis.]
At the cool voice flowing out from behind the pure white mask, Ignis once more composed themselves and spoke.
[One of the Seven Divine Thrones has violated the Neutral Agreement.]
Put simply, the Neutral Agreement was this.
The Seven Divine Thrones would not interfere in the balance of power at Sites designated as neutral zones.
The representative place covered by that agreement was the Eighth Site, 〈Caspion〉.
After a brief silence, Droyan asked,
[Mimi Nya, who could have done such a thing?]
‘Who was it! Who was it!’
[The Fifth Seat.]
The three gods simultaneously looked toward the empty seat of the Fifth.
The Fifth Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones was Chronos, the God of Time.
[Mimi Nya. The evidence?]
‘Solid proof! Solid proof!’
As if they had been waiting for that question, Ignis snapped their fingers.
[You have all heard of the faction called the ‘Alliance’ in Caspion.]
Soon, a map of the Alliance’s power structure appeared on the screen in midair.
[You all know that the ‘Alliance’ has occupied 〈Metaverse〉 for six hundred years. And if your ears work properly, you should also know who the Leader of that ‘Alliance’ is.]
‘Eoduksi, the God of Ashes! Eoduksi, the God of Ashes!’
A god whose name even the Seven Divine Thrones remembered.
The strongest among the Six Gods of 〈Metaverse〉, and a god who had gone beyond the level of an upper-grade god and reached the qualifications of a supreme god.
Even if Eoduksi was not quite on the level of the Seven Divine Thrones, the very peak of the gods, if one were to name the fifty strongest gods in this 《Abyss》, Eoduksi would unquestionably be among them.
Ignis continued.
[Leader ‘Eoduksi’ is the right hand of Chronos, the Fifth Seat.]
The right hand of one of the Seven Divine Thrones. That position alone was enough to wield authority over nearly everyone in this 《Abyss》.
But Eoduksi was not satisfied with that.
[The trust the ‘Alliance’ has earned in 〈Metaverse〉 has surpassed the hundred-billion mark.]
[Mimi Nya, could you ask what that is supposed to prove?]
‘So what, bastard! So what, bastard!’
A hundred billion trust was far more than the budget of most major Sites in the 《Abyss》.
But that alone was not enough justification for intervention.
Nameless made a similar point.
[Metaverse! Is a special tower. The principle is that anyone may compete there freely. And the ‘Alliance’ is merely Eoduksi’s personal faction. The other Seven Divine Thrones have no grounds to interfere.]
‘Nameless talks too much! Nameless talks too much!’
Since this was the first time Ignis had ever seen Nameless speak that much, they were a little surprised.
But this was no time to stand there being surprised.
[Even if the trust earned by the ‘Alliance’ is leaking out?]
A heavy silence fell over the hall.
Nameless asked,
[Is that! True.]
[For some time now, signs have been detected that trust from 〈Metaverse〉 has been flowing toward the Fifth Site.]
Up to now, the Seven Divine Thrones had not interfered in the affairs of 〈Metaverse〉 because affairs inside 〈Metaverse〉 had always remained inside 〈Metaverse〉.
A playground for the defeated, and a graveyard for gods.
But if that 〈Metaverse〉 had begun interfering in reality, that was a different story.
[Are you! Sure.]
[Almost. And additional strange signs have been detected as well.]
[What!]
[A few days ago, Chronos’s operations team, the 「Blind Clockmakers」, slipped illegally into Caspion, the Eighth Site. I hear they are headed toward 〈Metaverse〉.]
The 「Blind Clockmakers」.
Chronos’s elite assassination unit, infamous even in the 《Abyss》.
If that unit, which specialized in assassinating high-ranking Lords and gods, had entered a neutral zone, their objective was obvious.
[Mimi Nya. Who are they trying to remove? Is there anyone in 〈Metaverse〉 important enough for them to target?]
‘Mimi Nya does not know! Mimi Nya does not know!’
At that, Ignis let out a short laugh.
[You are not asking because you truly do not know.]
For the first time, the playfulness vanished from Droyan’s expression.
At present, there was only one being in 〈Metaverse〉 who could threaten the Leader’s power.
[Mimi Nya, surely the ‘Clockmakers’ did not come just to catch that one Awakened One?]
‘Mimi Nya does not know! Mimi Nya does not know!’
[He cut down three of the Metaverse Six Gods in a single stroke. It is entirely possible.]
The Leader had brought Chronos’s elite unit into the Alliance’s business. That was effectively proof that the Alliance could no longer be considered unrelated to Chronos’s Fifth Site.
Chronos was now trying to move their forces and interfere in the balance of power within a neutral zone.
[Mimi Nya, so what is the Third Seat trying to do now?]
‘The Third Seat is an idiot! The Third Seat is an idiot!’
Ignoring Mimi Nya’s words, Ignis spoke.
[I request a summary vote.]
A vote.
The only system in a “conference” by which the will of the Seven Divine Thrones could be gathered through majority rule.
Right now, with only three gods present, it was a summary vote.
[Assuming all of these “circumstances” are true.]
Ignis slowly blinked, then declared,
[The Third Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones, ‘Ignis,’ the God of Flames, will intervene in the 〈Metaverse〉 incident as of today.]
* * *
At that same time, Jaehwan and his Allies had finally reached the threshold leading to the Seventh Floor of 〈Metaverse〉.
The first to speak was Runald.
“Will we really be okay if we go in like this?”
The Waystation leading to the Seventh Floor.
Runald held an armful of various Parts that the Attendants had given out as rewards and wore a troubled expression.
“We’ve already been waiting for hours...”
“They’ll come. That one always keeps promises.”
Andersen answered in a voice full of confidence.
Perhaps it was because they had completed the Sixth Floor Scenario and earned quite a lot of trust. Andersen’s Moya Moya Crow was now equipped with a fairly decent helmet and armor as well.
“More importantly, we need to worry about ourselves first. Starting from the Seventh Floor, this is the area where this tower’s main rankers live. It’ll be on a completely different level from everything up to now.”
“But Jaehwan-nim even defeated the Six Gods of 〈Metaverse〉, didn’t he?”
As if the shiver still had not left him, Runald rubbed his own forearm.
But Andersen shook her head from side to side.
“That’s exactly why it’s a bigger problem. We’ve now become the Alliance’s complete enemy.”
The Alliance would now be fully aware of them.
Even against the same enemy, there was a huge difference between whether that enemy was prepared or not.
They had even slaughtered three of the other side’s top figures, so whatever might be waiting for them on the Seventh Floor would not be strange at all.
“The Alliance has two of the Six Gods left. Both are obviously stronger than Justice. And the Leader in particular won’t be easy, no matter if it’s Jaehwan.”
“Now that I think about it, what kind of god is the Leader? You said the revolution failed five hundred years ago because of that god.”
“That one... it would take too long to explain. What’s certain is that you must never fight him one-on-one. As long as this is 〈Metaverse〉, there isn’t a single god who can beat him in a one-on-one fight.”
Andersen’s wings trembled as though the thought alone made her shudder.
“Ethan seems to be taking a while, so for now let’s go up by ourselves, check the situation on the Seventh Floor, and come up with a plan.”
Muttering that, Andersen turned her head toward Jaehwan.
But something about Jaehwan’s condition was a little strange.
Flapping her wings, Andersen asked,
“Are you okay?”
“I’m just a little tired, I think. Let’s go in.”
That was understandable. After fighting a battle like that, it would have been stranger not to feel fatigued.
“We can wait a little longer before moving. There’s no rush.”
Jaehwan shook his head.
“I have to find Yoonhwan.”
The most important reason Jaehwan had entered this tower was to save his friend.
Justice had testified that no soul called “Kim Yoonhwan” showed up in the search, but it was still possible that the search results had omitted something, or that Justice had lied.
Until he confirmed it with his own eyes, he could not be sure of anything.
“Then I’ll open the Door?”
Jaehwan nodded.
Metaverse Seventh Floor.
A place that had once seemed impossibly distant now stood right before his eyes.
The Allies stepped through the Door.
A blinding light colored his vision, and soon a message rang out.
[You have entered the ‘Seventh Floor of the Metaverse’!]
But the moment they entered, Andersen’s expression changed.
“Huh?”
World Force surged all around them. Andersen shouted,
“Get a hold of yourselves! This World Force is...!”
“Jaehwan-nim! Andersen-nim!”
Along with Runald’s voice, which sounded as though it were being cut off, Andersen and Runald vanished from beside him. It was as if pure white light had swallowed the two of them whole.
[Only individual entry is permitted on the Seventh Floor of 〈Metaverse〉.]
[The Task for this Worldview will be announced after entry.]
Individual entry.
Apparently, this Seventh Floor was not the kind that allowed them to enter together.
A message appeared.
[Is there something you seek in 〈Metaverse〉?]
Tzzzt, sparks jumped.
Jaehwan stared intently at the message. Looking closer, there was an answer field beneath it.
Before Jaehwan could fill in the blank, the answer field was erased.
As if it already knew what his answer would be.
Ssssss.
A light breeze blew in from somewhere. It was fresh and pleasant, a breeze that felt familiar from somewhere.
As he lightly blinked while savoring that breeze, he saw a large tree before him.
It was a tree Jaehwan knew as well.
Where had it been?
He suddenly could not remember. What was certain was that people often gathered beneath that tree.
And then, the next moment.
Jaehwan stopped breathing for an instant.
Brown hair fluttering in the breeze.
Among the people stood his friend.
You were alive.
A man who had not given up even in the moment when everyone else had despaired. Smile Knight, who had protected Jaehwan’s back to the very end and wished to see the end of this world.
Jaehwan stopped walking.
His friend probably would not recognize him. That friend no longer existed. Everyone who had remembered him had disappeared, and the 《Tower of Nightmares》 remained only within his own memories.
Just as he slowly began stepping backward, trying to leave the scene behind.
“Ah.”
Yoonhwan turned to look at him.
“Jaehwan.”
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