Chapter 184 - Episode 24. Ancient God (9)
Chapter 184: Episode 24. Ancient God (9)
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It was a being with a sinister aura. Its face made it impossible to tell whether it was a man or woman, alive or dead. White eyeballs rolled between two hollow sockets that brought an ancient lich to mind. Looking closer, Jaehwan saw they were not eyeballs, but white worms. When the worms spread their wings and flew into the air, Jaehwan’s gaze met the bottomless abyss within those hollow eyes.
In an instant, the scenery around him changed, and Jaehwan found himself standing in an unfamiliar village.
「――――――!」
People dying without even being able to scream. Corpses sprawled across the streets, their bodies blackened or their faces marked by obvious sickness. Mass death that arrived without a sound or warning. A natural calamity no one could blame.
At the center of that accidental slaughter stood the god before him.
“Jaehwan.”
When Jaehwan came to his senses, he was just about to draw Solitary Existence. Maiad gripped Jaehwan’s wrist and slowly shook their head. It seemed this was not the time. Or perhaps that being was not an enemy.
When Jaehwan released the hilt, the scenery returned to normal.
Blackened eyelids once again became covered in worms. Jaehwan calmed his World Force and looked at the member of the Seven Divine Thrones.
The being ignored the dress code and wore old rags. Covered in every kind of filth, as though a foul odor would rise from it at any moment, it grinned.
Maiad nodded in greeting.
“You have come, Pest.”
Pest.
Jaehwan remembered what Andersen had once told him.
The ruler of the Fourth Site, Syndrome. The Fourth Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones, Pest, the God of Pestilence.
As he faced Pest, Jaehwan thought,
I do not want to fight this being either.
It was not simply a matter of strength.
This being was unpleasant.
It went beyond disgust. He did not want anything to do with it at all. Awakened Ones surpassed human perception by far, so the sight of filth alone could not cause such discomfort.
Even so, Jaehwan felt an absurd level of revulsion.
His whole body felt hot, and his skin itched.
Like all gods, the Seven Divine Thrones each had their own way of displaying their strength.
Pest’s was discomfort.
Unaffected by that discomfort at all, Maiad smiled brightly.
“You have not changed.”
[Mai, ad.]
Pest and Maiad exchanged looks. No sparks of World Pressure flew between them, nor did the atmosphere turn hostile, but Jaehwan could sense the long history tangled between them.
Pest spoke first.
[You have not, forgotten, the Seven Seats Agreement, have you.]
“Why are you including me in that outdated Seven Seats Agreement? I am not even one of the Seven Divine Thrones.”
[You, must not, participate, in the auction.]
“Of course I will not attend. Only my companion will participate in the auction.”
Pest looked back at Jaehwan. Several worms quickly crawled over its forehead.
[Ignis, has said, much, about you.]
Jaehwan unconsciously scratched his left arm. The voice felt like invisible worms crawling up his skin.
[You, cut, Chronos’s, doppelganger, did you not.]
It seemed Pest was referring to when Jaehwan cut down Chronos, who had possessed the Leader.
The broadcast had been active then, so there must have been gods who saw him cut Chronos with the 「Void Sword」.
Was it his imagination? The surroundings had somehow grown quiet. The chatter from nearby and the scattered conversations in the distance had fallen silent in an instant.
Every god in the hall was watching for Jaehwan’s answer.
Pest asked again.
[Do, you, possess, the Void Sword?]
“I do not.”
Strictly speaking, Jaehwan did not possess the Void Sword. He only had the right to use it.
So it was not a lie.
[They say, you used, the Void Sword.]
“I did.”
It was then that nearby Push messages caught on 「Doubt」.
「The Void Sword.」
「Did the God Slayer truly use Catastrophe’s weapon?」
「I cannot believe it. He should be imprisoned in Chaos.」
As though speaking for the gods’ curiosity, Pest asked,
[How?]
“Am I obligated to answer you?”
Pest slowly tilted its head as if it could not understand Jaehwan’s response. It wore the expression of a mantis unable to comprehend its prey’s screams.
Maiad spoke as though trying to change the subject.
“Now, now. Let us be careful not to ask overly personal questions when meeting for the first time. Pest, Jaehwan is with me, so please show some courtesy. More importantly, has Chronos come to today’s auction as well?”
[Not, yet.]
Chronos had not arrived yet. That also meant Chronos could appear at any moment.
As Pest spoke, it glanced toward a distant table. Maiad and Jaehwan looked in the same direction.
A man drinking alone at a table on the northern end of the hall.
He was one of the few gods in the hall who had drawn Jaehwan’s attention.
Sensing Jaehwan’s curiosity, Maiad said,
“That is Dark Heaven, Derek Milt, the God of Solitude.”
Dark Heaven meant that man was also one of the Eight Heavens.
“If the Leader was Time’s right hand, then that man could be called Time’s left hand. For reference, Chronos is left-handed.”
“Are you saying he is stronger than the Leader?”
“He is one of your major rivals at this point, Jaehwan.”
Dark Heaven glanced toward Jaehwan, but soon returned his gaze to his drink as though he had no interest. He repeatedly emptied the entire glass, then stared at the empty glass again. Strangely, he seemed to be desperately waiting for the moment he would become drunk.
But gods did not get drunk.
Gods who had reached a certain level could not alter the form of their minds with the help of material things. Only higher-dimensional questions, philosophical realizations, and revolutionary, moving stories could change them.
[Successor, of Catastrophe.]
When Jaehwan turned back, Pest was leaning its insect-like head toward him.
The moment Jaehwan, feeling threatened, tried to grip his hilt again, Pest continued.
[The most, frightening, plague, is one that does not, even let you know, you have been, infected.]
“What do you mean-”
For an instant, Pest’s gaze moved to Maiad. Then Pest’s figure vanished like a swarm of insects scattering apart. Jaehwan blinked blankly a few times, then saw Pest’s figure reassemble on a distant table.
He could not understand what Pest was thinking or what principles guided its actions.
Only one fact was certain.
If he fought that being one-on-one, he would lose with very high probability.
Andersen was right. He really needed to stay alert here.
As if reading Jaehwan’s thoughts, Maiad smiled faintly.
“You held back well. It might have become a little dangerous if you had drawn your sword. The God of Pestilence is a god beyond common sense.”
“I owe you one.”
“Not at all. I was actually surprised. This is the first time I have seen a god openly burning with fighting spirit before one of the Seven Divine Thrones.”
Maiad stared at Jaehwan with curious eyes for a moment, then picked up the glass on the table.
“But do not worry. What concerns you will not happen. Everyone here is the head of a faction in their own right. If a fight broke out here, it would cause a Great Holy War. Even the Seven Divine Thrones would not bear that level of loss.”
“And if it were not here?”
At Jaehwan’s question, Maiad’s eyebrow twitched oddly.
“Hm. Who knows?”
Maiad swirled their glass and smiled slyly, barely able to contain their anticipation for what was to come.
Jaehwan spoke in warning.
“I do not know what you are planning, but-”
“It will not go as you think, Maiad.”
He had lost track of how many times he had been surprised today. Looking toward the voice, Jaehwan saw another being who had silently entered his range.
A red-haired man looked down at Jaehwan.
“So we finally meet, God Slayer.”
The friendly-looking man held out his hand firmly as though asking for a handshake. Jaehwan rose without thinking and shook it. The hand was covered in thick calluses. They were the marks only a soul that never stopped training could possess.
The man did not show off his grip or reveal any hostility. All Jaehwan sensed from him was pure curiosity.
“Are you one of the Seven Divine Thrones too?”
“Oh, how did you know? Did Maiad tell you? To be exact, it is not me, but my god who is one of the Seven Divine Thrones.”
This man was strong.
And the god he served was far stronger.
If Pest was one of the Seven Divine Thrones who demonstrated strength through discomfort, this man was closer to the orthodox type. He displayed himself through pure World Pressure and the solidity of his soul alone.
A fiery spirit shone in his pupils. Within them rested the force of someone who had kept that flame from dying for a very long time.
Maiad greeted the man.
“It has been a while, Karavan. You look well.”
“I need to stay well if I want to keep you from getting your way.”
A small flame flickered above Karavan’s shoulder. It resembled a human hand, its fist clenched except for a middle finger raised high.
“I see Ignis-nim is as usual too.”
“They are always thinking about burning you to death.”
Only then did Jaehwan think he understood which god this man served.
Ignis. There was a god by that name who had supported him.
Andersen had mentioned them several times as well.
The ruler of the Third Site, Tropical Night.
The Third Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones.
Ignis, the God of Flames.
And this man called Karavan appeared to be Ignis’s Vicegerent.
Maiad studied Karavan’s appearance and asked,
“It seems you do not have anyone with you?”
“Well...”
Karavan pursed his lips.
“Some damn bastard beat me to it. So I am only here to watch this time.”
“If you take it easy, I may take the Three Divine Artifacts before you do.”
“If that happens, you will die by my hand... no, by my god’s hand.”
Karavan playfully raised a fist at Maiad and laughed. Maiad answered with an unreadable smile.
The atmosphere seemed calm on the surface, but Jaehwan sensed a strange tension between them.
For some reason, Maiad seemed more wary of this man than Pest.
“Anyway, nice to meet you, God Slayer. My god likes you a lot. If you have time later, they would like to speak with you for a moment.”
With that, Karavan patted Jaehwan’s shoulder and walked away. His seat was a table on the second floor at the edge of the hall.
Maiad watched him leave and muttered,
“I had no idea everyone was after Jaehwan. It seems I was fortunate.”
Instead of answering Maiad, Jaehwan focused on the gods in the hall.
As he encountered Russell, Shiyu, Thanatos, Pest, and Karavan in turn, countless simulations repeated in Jaehwan’s mind.
「Sanctuary Manifestation」
「World Stab」
「Path of the Wave」
Jaehwan was conducting virtual battles against the gods here, using every technique he possessed.
Then he became certain.
There were more than five enemies here against whom he could not guarantee victory, even if he used his secret technique, 「Constellation Rending」.
There were at least two enemies he would likely lose to even if he used 「Constellation Rending」.
Even after becoming this strong, there were still many gods stronger than him.
That was the 《Abyss》. Mulack must have reached the end of the world after making their way through an 《Abyss》 like this.
A commotion broke out at the front of the hall then.
The loudly chatting gods began to fall silent one by one. Pest’s worms crawled rapidly about, and Jaehwan saw Shiyu and Thanatos’s expressions harden.
It seemed something was finally about to begin.
“I look forward to your cooperation, Jaehwan.”
With Maiad’s whisper, a host appeared atop the stage.
Then a message appeared in the air.
[The grand auction will now begin.]
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion