Chapter 206 - Episode 27. Mad God (8)
Chapter 206: Episode 27. Mad God (8)
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Runald and Karavan, who had been listening to the story, looked thoroughly confused.
“So... you mean believing in oneself?”
“Not quite.”
Dividing oneself, becoming one’s own Follower, then supplying oneself with Belief. Of all the Allies, only Jaehwan could even begin to imagine such a thing.
His expression stiffened slightly as he looked down at his own hand and remembered the voices he had heard whenever he successfully performed Clothes Shedding.
Could those Clothes also be beings that had split off from within him? Like the Longevity Clan, could they be somewhere out there, sending their Belief to him?
Jaehwan began to wonder if he had done something he never should have done.
La-Hamad opened their mouth.
[Do not worry. You will not become like us.]
Their voice was gentle, as though trying to reassure Jaehwan.
[As you have likely guessed, Molting does not divide the soul form itself. It only differentiates internally. A soul form divides only when one sheds too many Clothes and loses anything that could be called the “main body.”]
La-Hamad continued.
[The number of Clothes gradually increases as time passes and experience accumulates. But Gestalt underwent Clothes Shedding more times than their lifetime should have allowed. The speed of “Molting” surpassed the speed of “time.”]
After saying that, La-Hamad paused and looked around. Countless members of the Longevity Clan were watching.
[Our clan was once far more numerous than it is now.]
For a moment, La-Hamad seemed to be remembering the vanished beings who had once been Gestalt.
Jaehwan asked, “Why did Gestalt have to shed so many Clothes?”
[Because of the Three God War.]
It was the answer he had expected, yet hearing it did not make it feel real.
Gestalt, one of the Three Ancient Gods, had likely lived for at least hundreds of thousands of years. Perhaps more than a million. Even if the number of Clothes merely increased in proportion to time, Gestalt must have possessed an enormous amount of them.
Yet Gestalt had needed to shed all those Clothes to increase their World Force. That meant they had been in just that much danger. Their enemy had been strong enough that Gestalt had accepted even the disappearance of their main body.
Karavan muttered, “The other Three Ancient Gods must have been incredibly strong.”
La-Hamad strangely tilted their head from side to side, their eyes seeming to ask what Karavan meant.
“Did you not say you became like this while fighting Deus and Catastrophe? You said there had been a Three God War earlier...”
[The Three God War was not a war between the Three Ancient Gods.]
The Allies doubted their ears.
What was that supposed to mean?
Then who had they fought for an entire Site to be wiped away?
[It seems the wrong story is still being passed around. That dream demon from nine hundred years ago believed the same thing.]
The dream demon from nine hundred years ago.
Jaehwan asked, “Do you mean Mulack Armelt?”
La-Hamad nodded, as though they had expected the question.
[I can sense the presence of the “Clothes” that dream demon wore from you.]
The “Clothes” worn by the dream demon likely meant the Record of the Abyss Mulack had left behind.
“Why did that person come here?”
[If you wear the dream demon’s Clothes, you should possess their memories.]
“The memories were incomplete.”
La-Hamad looked at Jaehwan as if that explained it, then spoke.
[They were the first outsider to reach the end of Purgatory. They took 「Gestalt’s Eye」 from this place.]
Jaehwan stopped with his mouth slightly open.
He had expected that Mulack had visited this place. Yet he had not known what Mulack had taken from it.
“That dream demon took 「Gestalt’s Eye」?”
Runald and Karavan looked shocked as well. Runald, who had nearly cried out, stared ahead with empty eyes.
[Yes. Why are you surprised?]
La-Hamad asked, but no one answered. Then La-Hamad seemed to realize something and smiled faintly.
[I see. You came here to obtain 「Gestalt’s Eye」.]
Runald hurriedly shook his head, trying to say something. He was worried their obvious reaction had offended La-Hamad.
Still, denying it now would have been ridiculous.
Jaehwan answered, “Yes.”
Even at his frank admission, La-Hamad did not seem particularly displeased.
[Then there is no need to be discouraged.]
“What do you mean?”
[You have already obtained 「Gestalt’s Eye」.]
“Me?”
[It appears you still do not understand.]
La-Hamad curled a finger and continued.
[Anyone who realizes “Ouroboros” can use 「Gestalt’s Eye」.]
His body certainly felt lighter than before, and his World Force had risen.
Still, that alone did not make Jaehwan feel as though he had obtained 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
He released his World Force and examined his Unique World. The scenery remained barren and dark. Nothing had changed.
La-Hamad appeared able to see that Unique World as well. They followed Jaehwan’s gaze with a relaxed expression and spoke.
[You think nothing has changed. That is understandable. Nothing has actually changed.]
“What kind of wordplay is this now?”
[For reasons I do not know, you already possessed 「Gestalt’s Eye」. You simply did not know how to use it.]
With those words, La-Hamad quietly raised their head.
A deep night sky appeared through the dense forest of black leaves. At the center of that sky was a massive eye.
For an instant, Jaehwan felt as though everything below his waist had vanished.
[You can see the “eye” up there.]
No way.
[Then you already know. Only an “eye” can see an “eye.”]
A shudder passed through Jaehwan’s entire body and spread through every capillary. Something was awakening inside him.
[Open your eyes. Now you can “see.”]
White light leaked from Jaehwan’s left eye.
A strange pattern rotated in a circle over his iris.
Looking closer, the pattern was not a simple circle.
A serpent biting its own tail.
Ouroboros.
Facing that endless circle, La-Hamad cried out in an excited voice.
[That eye is the eye that sees all the “Clothes” in the world. It is 「Gestalt’s Eye」, which destroys every rule and illusion.]
Everything Jaehwan had done until now, the shedding of Clothes and the Zen questions and answers, had all been preparation for realizing 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
As a test, Jaehwan looked within himself through 「Gestalt’s Eye」. A familiar voice then came from somewhere.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me?”
“Are you going to strip us whenever you feel like it now?”
At the same time, his World Force surged to more than twice its previous amount. Terrifying waves of World Force rolled from his entire body.
His Clothes were supplying him with World Force through their Belief.
This was the power of 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
Now, whenever Jaehwan wished, he could perform Clothes Shedding and amplify his World Force. As long as he did not run out of Clothes, he would no longer have to worry about World Force.
When he raised his head, La-Hamad was smiling with satisfaction.
[You likely still have many questions. But I will tell you no more. You will find the answers yourself.]
Jaehwan did not ask what that meant.
La-Hamad was right.
Through 「Gestalt’s Eye」, Jaehwan began to look into the “Clothes” Mulack had left behind, the Record of the Abyss.
Then the Clothes began telling him a story.
The story of a dream demon who climbed the Tree of Illusion to prevent cultivation.
It was a story from the past, containing long, tedious despair, distant and faint sorrow, and hope that was everywhere yet could never be reached.
Jaehwan listened to the Clothes’ story for a long time.
For a very long time.
* * *
In the silent darkness, cries could sometimes be heard.
Every soul in 《Chaos》 knew what those cries were.
They were the cries of the Deadmans.
Kreeeeek!
Today, though, the cries sounded a little strange.
They carried an oddly pained note.
Something twisted in the darkness, then burst with a pop. The Deadmans’ cries could no longer be heard.
[How boring.]
When the darkness spoke, every Deadman hiding in the shadows shrank back.
How boring.
The Sole King Catastrophe, master of the 《Palace of the Dead》, found it deeply unfamiliar to hear those words come from their own mouth. They could not even remember how long it had been since they had felt such an emotion.
Was it because of that one?
Catastrophe had a vague idea why they had recently begun feeling such human emotions.
It was likely because of the link they had recently shared.
Those connected by a link unconsciously shared small portions of each other’s feelings.
Unlike Catastrophe, whose emotions had dried away, the human connected to them held many emotions.
That arrogant human.
Catastrophe looked at the enormous summoning circle drawn within the darkness. It had not existed a few months ago. Originally, that summoning circle had been located not in the 《Palace of the Dead》, but in the Palace of Rebirth.
Catastrophe still remembered the voice of the shameless human who had proposed installing it.
“Kill every one of those summoned here. That is the condition of my deal.”
That “shameless human” was, of course, Jaehwan.
Thinking about it now, Catastrophe could not understand why they had accepted such a proposal.
Well, it had certainly made things less boring.
There was undeniable enjoyment in killing the Lords summoned from the 《Great Realm》 like ants. Their numbers were also abundant enough to serve as entertainment.
Because of the Lord Massacre Jaehwan had committed before leaving 《Chaos》, the 《Great Realm》 was currently shrouded in the atmosphere of war.
When the power of the Ninth Zone ruled by Darkness weakened, the other Lords began tearing at the Ninth Zone like hyenas.
For a while, Catastrophe had immersed themself in the enjoyment of tearing apart every Lord who arrived. Yet that only lasted so long. Not a single Lord had been summoned in the past few weeks.
Catastrophe did not know the exact reason, but one of their few pleasures had disappeared.
Come to think of it, quite some time had passed since the link with that human had been severed.
For once, Catastrophe recalled that irritating human’s face and silently gazed upward into the empty air.
It had already been three months since the link with Jaehwan was cut.
They had felt something snap, then immediately thought, Ah.
Catastrophe had tried to Descend by force, but it had already been too late by the time they realized what had happened.
The link they had formed with Jaehwan in person had been severed?
Even if Jaehwan had faced someone who used 「Soul Erasure」, the link Catastrophe had personally formed with him would not have been weak enough to be cut in a single blow.
If the link had still been severed, it could mean only one thing.
The revival of one of the Three Divine Artifacts, Deus Ex Machina.
A link directly formed by Catastrophe, one of the Three Ancient Gods. The only thing capable of severing that link in a single blow was Deus Ex Machina, wielded by Deus, another of the Three Ancient Gods.
Fortunately, there were two ways to restore a severed link.
One was to use 「Gestalt’s Eye」, another of the Three Divine Artifacts.
If Jaehwan could use 「Cognitive Dissonance」, the Setting contained within 「Gestalt’s Eye」, the link could be restored immediately.
But there was no way that brat, who had only recently climbed into the Abyss, could obtain 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
That left Jaehwan with only one option.
Waiting vaguely for it to happen.
「Plausibility Destruction」 of Deus Ex Machina had a time limit. Once enough time passed, severed links would naturally recover.
Whether Jaehwan could survive until then was another matter.
Should I have taught him more before sending him up?
There was no point regretting it now. Who could have expected that human to face an enemy using 「Deus Ex Machina」 already?
Remembering Jaehwan’s terrible rebellious nature, Catastrophe shook their head. He would not listen even if he were told. Still, his temper was stubborn enough that he would somehow find the answer himself.
For now, Catastrophe could only believe that.
...Hm?
That was when something caught Catastrophe’s senses.
The summoning circle, which had remained inactive for some time, was shining brilliantly. It was a sign that dead Lords were being summoned.
Catastrophe had been bored anyway, so it seemed well timed. If they passed the time beating down Lords, the link would reconnect eventually, and they would learn what was happening outside.
A moment later, Catastrophe’s expression changed. More than one or two Lords were arriving.
They were not ordinary opponents, either.
Just who are they?
Catastrophe summoned every Deadman in the palace.
Judging by their enemies’ World Pressure, they would not be much help. Still, they were better than nothing.
To feel tense just because a few Lords had arrived.
It would have been impossible in their prime.
Before being sealed, Catastrophe could easily have handled several Lords even if they attacked together.
Things were different now.
The enemies who had arrived were especially powerful.
Could they be...
As the shapes of the World Force became clearer, Catastrophe felt a premonition fall into place.
Among the Lords Catastrophe knew, no more than ten possessed this much World Force.
Soon, the light pouring from the summoning circle went out, and ten Lords appeared. Ten immense World Force spread grandly, pressing down on the entire palace as though they would suffocate it. The pitiful Deadmans gasped harshly.
Without Catastrophe, each of them could have destroyed 《Chaos》 alone with ease. Even if Jaehwan, who had climbed to the 《Abyss》, came back down, facing them would be impossible. If even one of them escaped the 《Palace of the Dead》, a disaster would surely descend upon 《Chaos》.
Several Lords spoke from the dim darkness.
“So it was true. The Palace of Rebirth is gone?”
“That is why no one could return.”
“I cannot even remember how long it has been since I last came here by dying.”
“Ten people... Hmph. I was sure there would be people pretending to die in secret, but you actually managed to kill yourselves.”
Soon, one voice instantly brought order to the noisy atmosphere.
“Enough unnecessary sentiment. The master of this place is waiting for us.”
The Lords finally emerged from the darkness.
At their center stood the Lord with the most powerful World Force among them.
Catastrophe knew his name. He was one of the Great Lords who had sealed Catastrophe long ago alongside 《Big Brother》, and the ruler of the Ninth Zone of the 《Great Realm》.
“It has been a long time, Catastrophe.”
Brilliant World Force consumed the empty air.
Ten Great Lords, led by Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, stood there.
In the deep darkness, Catastrophe smiled soundlessly.
I may not be able to keep my promise to that human.
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