Chapter 497

Episode 497. Anomaly (5)

The moment Burning Tree froze upon facing the original body (?) of Alon Palatio.

[Ah…]

Darkness-Eating Sword, who had also received the power bestowed by him, was seeing the same scene as Burning Tree. In the midst of that dark abyss, a giant eye observed him in silence. Would it be correct to call it an “eye”? No, it was not. It was not something that could be described simply as an eye. At least, through the vision of Darkness-Eating Sword, that thing resembled the apocalypse.

The representation of the end of this world. It was similar to the true form of the Star Eater he had once imagined—no, it was even more than that.

[…]

Darkness-Eating Sword, shuddering involuntarily before that overwhelming presence, deeply understood how foolish his thoughts had been. Unlike Burning Tree, Darkness-Eating Sword did not follow the Star Eater with total sincerity. The reason he had worked so hard in the Star Group to stand out before the Star Eater was, in the end, to obtain power. To obtain power and, based on that, become a level 2 Divine Blood.

Unlike the mediocre level 1 mass, he only sought the opportunity to have the possibility of becoming a true “God.” And Darkness-Eating Sword was convinced that he was not the only one who thought this way. Otherwise, no matter how much violence had been employed, it would make no sense for the Star Group to grow so explosively. That is to say, although the Divine Bloods gathered in the Star Group for various reasons, surely a considerable proportion did so to obtain the strength necessary for their independence.

For level 1 Divine Bloods, this was an opportunity worth their lives. However, at this moment, Darkness-Eating Sword could see how stupid his idea was. And not just his, but that of all those who thought similarly.

[…]

No matter how much power he obtained and became an “Apostle,” he did not feel he could win against that whose true identity he could not even imagine. He observed the sky in silence with trembling eyes. There, the apocalypse continued looking down at him.

‘Who is the Star Eater, really?’

That doubt naturally arose in Darkness-Eating Sword. He only knew two things about the Star Eater: first, that he could snatch the capabilities of other Divine Bloods and bestow them; second, that he was linked with the four great Divine Bloods in particular relationships. Other than that, everything about the Star Eater was a mystery. It was logical. After all, the Star Eater had not shown himself in the previous battle.

Even in the previous holy war, where the four factions did not exist, he had not appeared. Darkness-Eating Sword, lost in his thoughts while looking at the sky…

“!”

He opened his eyes so wide it seemed they were going to tear. An idea suddenly crossed his mind. Darkness-Eating Sword was only a level 1 Divine Blood. However, he could perform a simple deduction. No, it couldn’t even be called a deduction.

What was up there was not the one who was about to become the first God. Nor was it a Divine Blood from the four factions. However, he was intricately entwined with the Divine Bloods of the four factions and, despite living in a human body, wielded absurd power.

Someone who has a special relationship with the four great Divine Bloods.

Someone who had not appeared until now.

Someone who is not the ■■■ who shook this world for the first time—

But who, at the same time, possesses this level of irrational capability. There was only one person.

The one who, before the Divine Bloods could move to the surface, tore through the divided space and annihilated more than half of the Divine Bloods—and who for that reason received the sanction of the “restrictive force” and was eternally sealed in space-time.

[—!]

Darkness-Eating Sword, who had lost himself in his thoughts, had to stop immediately. At some point, the place he was seeing was no longer the eye in the dark abyss, but once again the illuminated meadow. Turning his gaze in a daze, he crossed eyes with Burning Tree.

Both looked at each other in silence and then, as if they had agreed, looked forward. There they could see him. A man who observed them with an infinitely indifferent expression.

The apocalypse.

Both Divine Bloods held their breath. They did not dare read what the being in front of them was thinking, as no expression could be glimpsed on that man’s face. But at the same time, the two Divine Bloods finally understood why the man in front of them was so apathetic. It wasn’t that he had simply stopped feeling anything, but that there was simply nothing that could provoke an emotion in him.

In that instant.

“I see, it’s not bad.”

The man—no,

“It seems you have sufficient qualification.”

Alon Palatio spoke thus, glanced at the other Divine Bloods, and after directing a final look at the two of them, turned around.

“Do what you must do.”

The black abyss instantly enveloped Alon Palatio and made him ascend upon the giant dragon. Alon Palatio‘s group left the place under the gaze of the new forms. After their departure like the wind, the gazes of the Divine Bloods concentrated on the two who remained.

Burning Tree and Darkness-Eating Sword. It was because those two had received power from the Star Eater. Or rather, because it seemed like they had received it. In reality, the other Divine Bloods weren’t sure either. The only thing they had seen was Alon Palatio extracting the Divine Blood capabilities and that those two capabilities disappeared as soon as they touched their respective receptors.

Therefore, the Divine Bloods looked at them in silence, but despite those looks, Burning Tree and Darkness-Eating Sword remained quiet looking ahead. Alon Palatio was no longer there. But in his place was the statue he had left.

[…]

Both looked at the statue in silence and looked at each other again. The other Divine Bloods had no way of knowing why he had left that statue. But the two of them knew. Because they had witnessed the true entity of the Star Eater and remembered his words.

The Star Eater‘s words: “Do what you must do.” In reality, those words could be interpreted in many ways. However, after witnessing the entity of the Star Eater, considering the message directed only to them and the statue he left behind, their duty was clear.

Worship the Star Eater. That was, precisely, what they had to do.

[He was someone much grander than we thought.]

[… Yes, so much so that we can’t even think of running away.]

Both Divine Bloods trembled without realizing it.

After some time, at nightfall.

“By the way, Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“What did you mean by ‘Do what you must do’?”

Alon Palatio, who was sitting in front of a campfire in a nearby meadow to camp, suddenly received the question from Penia.

“… Ah, did I say that?”

“Eh? Didn’t you say it a little while ago?”

At Penia‘s words, Alon, who was eating a sweet potato, paused for a moment and spoke:

“I guess so.”

“… Eh? Did you not have anything in mind?”

At Penia‘s somewhat bewildered question, Alon put on a bashful expression and said:

“No, I certainly had a thought.”

“And?”

“It’s just that, instead of explaining this and that, I thought turning around and leaving would look more stylish, so I tried to do that. But it turned out there was a waiting time until Blackie picked me up again.”

“… And that’s why you simply added that phrase?”

“That’s right.”

[Kkyu?]

Blackie, who was also eating, tilted his head at Alon‘s words. Stroking Blackie, Alon opened his mouth:

“… Did it look a bit forced?”

“No, it’s not that, but… then you said you gave the power to the Divine Bloods even though you didn’t really deliver it?”

“Ah, I was curious about that too.”

Evan, who was eating by his side, also chimed in with curiosity at Penia‘s question. Alon shook his head.

“Ah, not that. The power was delivered with total certainty.”

“Really?”

“Yes, the two Divine Bloods clearly absorbed it. Right, Blackie?”

[Kkyu-!]

Blackie nodded while tilting his head, and Evan asked:

“But, I’m asking just in case, what were you going to do if the Divine Bloods couldn’t absorb the power?”

“I prepared the ground in advance for that.”

“Prepare the ground?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, was all that ‘I will give you an opportunity’ at the beginning for that?”

“Exactly.”

“… Then, if the Divine Bloods hadn’t been able to absorb the power…”

“I was thinking of saying something like: ‘Do you not even have the qualification yet?'”

“… Alon-nim, sometimes you seem clueless, but deep down you know how to take good advantage of situations…”

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

Alon shrugged at the comment from Evan, who was looking at him with a peculiar expression. Penia continued:

“But even so, leaving the statue like that without saying anything seems a bit…”

“… Well, I guess they will understand it properly.”

“Mmm… certainly, explaining this and that wouldn’t have much style either.”

Penia nodded as if it were reasonable.

“And now, Alon-nim, have you checked it yet?”

“Checked what?”

“Yes. Your state of Manifestation. Wasn’t that why you took the statue?”

At Evan‘s words, Alon-nim shook his head.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because a few days have to pass for there to be a change. I’ve avoided checking it on purpose.”

“I see. You prefer a big change all at once rather than a small and gradual one?”

“Exactly that.”

Alon nodded. Certainly, he was also curious to see how his divine form would turn out. However, barely a few hours had passed since he delivered the statue. … And above all, he wanted to see a radical transformation instead of gradual changes.

“I plan to see it as soon as we arrive at the territory.”

“I understand.”

Alon planned to verify his Manifestation after arriving at his domains.

‘Mmm… this time when I check it, it won’t be an eye anymore, right? No, even if it is an eye, it won’t have that terrifying shape. At least I hope those weird chains of characters stop floating… What if it has already transformed directly into human form? After all, the statue was human.’

Alon sank into his own happy fantasies. However, the other two, seeing him:

“I don’t think it will come out as Alon-nim desires.”

“I think the same. Mysteriously, Alon-nim has bad luck with those things; it’s like a monkey’s paw…”

Making their own assessments, they put into their mouths the sweet potatoes they were already used to.

A few days passed.

‘Good, let’s check it.’

Upon arriving at Palantia, Alon let out a sigh as soon as he entered the castle and began to perform his introspection to see his new form of Manifestation. And what Alon could see upon looking inside was:

A giant eye and stars that still remained unchanged—or rather, that seemed to have become even larger than before—and between them could be seen…

“?”

… tentacles similar to the abyss. At the sight of the eye, which had become even more violent than before, Alon stood with his mouth open. His vision went dark.

And at that very same moment.

“It seems the Master has returned.”

“That’s right.”

“Yes.”

“True.”

On the eighth floor of the inner castle, next to the main castle.

A suffocating atmosphere began to flow.