Chapter 65
-Bang! Boom!
Violent tremors continued.
One follower’s consciousness floated in pitch-black darkness.
“...Ah.”
Fenrion.
The ash-gray haired wolf beast-kin regained her senses in some unknown space.
She had clearly been preparing for a Holy War, following Father God's will.
An order to swiftly subdue the forces that dared to rebel against her Religious Order.
But midway through, her memory vanished as if someone had splashed a thick, dark black paint over it.
“...Where…?”
Beast-kin have an excellent sense of smell.
Their racial trait is so strong that they can remember a scent they’ve smelled once for their entire life.
That’s why Fenrion could immediately realize where this place was.
-Sniff. Sniff.
A very secret and dangerous basement in Father God's Religious Order.
She was standing in that very place right now.
“...Why?”
There was nothing she could find out by asking herself.
-Thump.
She felt a sense of unease.
A feeling as if her very being had been taken away by something.
It was an intuition that if she stayed still, something precious would be completely snatched away.
‘What’s inside there.’
In the past, before the Absolute Being descended with a Kangshinch'e (Divine Possession), during her naive days, she had asked.
Why was the Underground Prison created, and what exactly was inside?
The answer that came back was—
-Never think about what’s inside.
Absolute denial.
His will, which respected all the actions of his followers, stopped Fenrion for the first time.
Since then, she had never thought about the Underground Prison.
She wasn't foolish enough to satisfy her curiosity by defying a taboo and betraying Father God's Love.
But now.
“Ah….?”
Fenrion, her pupils glazed over, stared at the tightly closed massive stone Gate, drooling.
Covered in bizarre patterns, a sinister Divine Power seeped from beyond the weakened seal like a snake in a jar—
“Ugh…!”
Fenrion clutched her throbbing Head.
A sensation she felt like she had experienced somewhere before, but unfamiliar.
She wanted to quickly move her feet due to the indescribable surge of repulsion, but control over her body had already been taken by ‘someone.’
-Carry out the instructions…
‘Who…!’
-Put aside your pathetic defiance and bring the Absolute Being quickly.
The voice came from beyond the tightly sealed door.
Digging into her mind, staining her Heart black with that sickening power.
Fenrion eventually lost consciousness and once again became the Visitor’s puppet.
#
[Forgotten Wisdom: I, I'm really not going to touch your followers, right…?]
‘Come on, haven’t we done this once or twice?’
[Forgotten Wisdom: This is the first time I've openly started a Holy War like this...]
‘Alright, alright.’
Reassuring a certain Constellation who kept asking, the plan proceeded smoothly.
The mysterious forces approaching the Sanctuary.
They were the main actors of this incident, orchestrated by me through Forgotten Wisdom.
Of course, they wouldn't directly harm our Religious Order.
My Divine Power and Forgotten Wisdom's would prevent that.
With two Constellations united, no matter how hard the lower beings fought with all their might, they couldn't even inflict a scratch.
The Goal of this Holy War was solely to dig out the Visitor's objective.
‘Got it.’
And checking a follower’s Map, I sensed that the Visitor had taken the bait and started to bite.
[Follower, ‘Fenrion’ has fallen into a state of ‘Mental Breakdown’.]
Our innocent little puppy Fenrion was moving towards the Underground Prison where the Visitor was sealed.
If I had ordered another follower, I could have easily stopped her, but I didn't bother.
“Done.”
[Black Sun's Incarnation: Are, are you really going to be okay alone…?]
“Are you worried about me now?”
[Black Sun's Incarnation: ...If you die, we're all finished.]
[Forgotten Wisdom: Please, take care of yourself...]
Anyway, Constellations are a bunch that are too overly honest with their feelings.
Sometimes they need to be a little humble like the Dianon residents here.
“Now is the time when he's at his weakest.”
If he needlessly defied me, he’d just get his seal renewed, he wouldn't be able to dream of a complete escape.
And for some reason, the series of events gave me an unknown sense of unease.
And so, now.
Watching Fenrion, her pupils half-dilated, I sensed the Divine Power flowing into the sealed Gate.
[Warning! If the target is exposed to Divine Power for a long period, they may die.]
“That won’t do.”
I put away my playfulness and used ‘Summon’ near Fenrion.
-Whoosh!!
Pushing away the foreign form of Divine Power, I pulled Fenrion towards me in that state.
“Ah…”
Perhaps because she was so intoxicated by the Divine Power, she didn't regain her senses even with my arrival.
However, soon.
“Ah…?”
The beast-kin's superior sense of smell began to grasp my presence.
Her blurry focus sharpened, and soon her Eyes captured my being.
“Ab, Absolute Being…?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“....!”
As if realizing her blunder in that split second, her face flushed red with shame.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
I quickly calmed Fenrion down before she could burst into Tears.
“Can you go out for a bit?”
“I, I obey…”
Still drooping her tail in Guilt, Fenrion hurriedly left the Underground Prison.
‘There’s no need for this.’
There’s no way to refuse a Constellation’s whim.
It’s structured so that you can only endure it like a natural disaster, and just think, ‘Ah, so that’s how it is.’
「Black Sun's Incarnation: It’s because they’re not beings that are easy to come across.」
‘That’s true too.’
In this world, encountering a Constellation is as difficult as picking a Star from the sky.
It’s just that the frequency is much higher because of the field I'm in.
As I was silently looking beyond the sealed Gate—
「Constellation, ‘Visitor’ has discovered you.」
A foreign Divine Power, having found its Goal, began to Approach me.
「【Visitor’s Divine Power】
-Status: Neutral」
‘Neutral?’
If it were Hostile, I would’ve responded immediately, but its attitude is quite strange.
Is it maintaining such an attitude even though it sealed me and half-killed me?
Or is it hiding its motives so well that even I am deceived?
Either way, I couldn’t figure it out right now.
“Hmm.”
I pondered for a moment.
In real-time, the Divine Power reached my feet and began to slither up my legs like a snake.
「Black Sun's Incarnation: Dangerous....!」
‘No.’
My intuition tells me something.
Right now, it’s asking for a conversation.
‘Hmm.’
「Constellation, ‘Visitor’ invites you to its domain.」
「Will you accept the invitation?」
‘Sure.’
-Swish!
The Divine Power, which had been cautiously positioning itself at my feet, began to surge upwards in an instant with my permission.
It’s definitely foreign.
If it had intended to harm me, it would’ve already happened.
Even Fenrion stopped at light brainwashing, and there were no aftereffects.
‘And even now.’
「Black Sun's Incarnation: What in the world...」
“It seems to want a deal.”
Another thing that Constellations love.
This, too, is one of their hobbies when it comes to playing with their Followers.
‘Since I haven’t touched my Followers or caused any trouble, you should grant me one wish.’
The Visitor was saying something similar.
「Moving to ‘Visitor’s domain… 64%」
‘Might as well hear it out.’
I’ve almost never had a bad experience talking things out with Constellations, unlike with Humans. No, actually, never.
The Constellation's pride comes into Play here.
Once they say something, they won't take it back even if they die.
The only time they go back on their word and instantly become insignificant bugs is when they face me.
「Black Sun's Incarnation: ...Wouldn't it be better to reinforce the seal from the outside—」
“You know very well that’s not possible. I've been looking around for land because of that.”
I eventually settled on the Underground Prison of the Regalium Royal Palace as a good location.
There’s a large amount of good quality, delicious Mana sleeping there.
「Child of the Lost Star: Come to think of it, why did the Regarium dynasty build their Royal Palace on top of such a dangerous place?」
“They did something stupid a long time ago.”
Edmund’s ancestor, the first King of Regarium, tried to Summon a Constellation and control it as he pleased.
The result ended pathetically with his aged body exploding with a *bang!*
“Anyway, thanks to that, we can put it to good use.”
I plan to have a talk with this Visitor and move my house to a new location.
Of course, while still sealed.
「Entering ‘Visitor’s domain.」
Soon, my Vision was completely engulfed in darkness.
#
-Clank.
One of the countless chains.
The Divine Power, having sensed the intruder's presence, immediately flowed towards the owner of the domain.
-....
Closed Eyes slowly opened.
Just as it had first brainwashed Fenrion, the Visitor’s gaze was directed at one of the summoned bodies.
And towards the two Constellations staying by his side.
「Child of the Lost Star: An overwhelming presence.」
「Black Sun's Incarnation: This is… the Visitor’s presence.」
“Yes.”
And meeting that gaze head-on, the Absolute Being put on sunglasses and grinned.
-...Absolute Being.
A grand feast of Divine Power resonated throughout the entire space.
-It has been a long time.
“Yes. It has.”
The last intense memory is vividly etched in my mind.
A vicious creation of the developers, arranged to give Players the ultimate nightmare.
An Outer God, who arrived from a distant place that even Constellations couldn’t fathom, now reunites with the Absolute Being in this place.
“So, why did you call me?”
-I want to make a deal.
“Okay, okay.”
I already knew.
It gave off that vibe from the very beginning.
So what kind of deal—
-I want to Unify with you.
“...What?”
「Constellation, ‘Visitor’ is using Summon.」
「Due to the ‘Sealed’ status, some Penalties are applied to the summoned body.」
What appeared was…
The figure of a Woman, presumed to be the Visitor, with a slender physique.
“...Thanks to the weakened seal, I've been able to glimpse your existence from time to time.”
“Huh?”
“My Heart races. Surely that's how sentient beings would express it. My Heart raced. Only you can fill my void.”
The vacant Eyes filled with focus, reflecting only my image.
My image, bewildered while wearing the Lens of Truth.