Chapter 1323: Designed Transcendence (1)
Guido Cult Headquarters, the Valley of Lamentation.
In front of the magnificent white temple where the Pantheon was located, Cardinals in splendid robes hurried about.
All the Cardinals, moving in perfect unison, were the leaders who oversaw the major and minor affairs of the Cult, commanding this enormous organization.
They were individuals who led branches and factions, revered and admired by hundreds of thousands of followers.
However, the expressions of these venerable old men, who always maintained their composure, were now stiff.
“What do you mean the assault on the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors failed?”
“It was a plan the Priestess herself intervened in. The Seventh Apostle was dispatched, and they gained nothing?”
“This is not something to be taken lightly. If the investigation was shoddy, there will be consequences…!”
Ureka Naydree, who had succeeded Seina as the 11th Priestess, was uniquely marked by a particularly ferocious temperament among the successive Priestesses.
However, despite her unapproachably fierce nature, her abilities were acknowledged even by the conservative Cardinals of the Pantheon.
Her power to repurpose the mad Apostles confined beneath the headquarters was significant, but more important was her aggressive drive to continuously expand the Cult’s influence.
She was fundamentally different from Isel, who sought stability during the Cult’s golden age, or Seina, who had the mildest personality among the Naydrees.
Many Cardinals secretly approved of Ureka’s actions, even if it meant pushing unbelievers to the depths of hell, so long as it pursued the Cult’s glory.
“She was the one who, even while confronting Adamant Thunder, took Anathema as her Sixth Apostle.”
“There’s no way she, herself, would have gained nothing after acting—”
“AAAAAAARRRGH-!!!!!”
At that moment, the terrifying scream echoing through the entire Pantheon stiffened the Cardinals’ steps.
They immediately recognized the owner of that hoarse, cracked voice, tearing through the air.
“This can’t be…!!”
“Move aside, I must see the Priestess immediately!!”
“Impossible.”
The Cardinals, who had rushed towards the room from which the scream emanated, were stopped by the Rectification Knights blocking their way.
The knights, stopping a Cardinal who was fuming and about to burst into the room, spoke with grim expressions.
“If you enter the room now, we cannot guarantee your safety. Please step back.”
“What nonsense…!!!”
Crack!…!!!
The Cardinal, who had shouted angrily and tried to push a knight aside, flinched as a flash of lightning burst through the gap in the door.
A brilliant blue radiance overflowed from the tightly shut door, tearing through layers of seals as if they were paper.
The Cardinals, faced with the chilling murderous intent contained within that lightning, recoiled with pale faces.
“Such sinister murderous intent…!”
“Surely, the Priestess hasn’t fallen to that being again…!!”
“It seems the Priestess suffered a severe injury during the Demonic Realm conquest, enough to damage her Spiritual Presence.”
The Rectification Knights guarding the door spoke in heavy tones.
“Because of that, the lightning curse etched onto the Priestess’s arm is raging out of control and consuming her.”
“…”
“We are somehow suppressing it by offering priests, but she has already lost consciousness from the pain…”
“KUUAAAAGH!!!!! AAAAARRRGH!!!!”
Each time the lightning flash intensified from beyond the door, the Priestess’s voice, too, became distorted, steeped in pain and madness.
With each cry, crimson blood streamed from under the door, and sounds of something dying violently echoed from within the room.
The Priestess, possessing a stronger temperament than anyone in the Cult, was breaking down, her very personality crumbling, unable to bear the mere pain.
Just how dreadful was the lightning etched onto her body, that she couldn’t withstand it to this extent?
“We need to… we need to see the site.”
The Cardinal, who had stumbled back, quickly turned around.
“The Priestess cannot fall now. We must see what happened in the Demonic Realm!”
The Cardinals of the Pantheon were mostly elders with strong conservative tendencies, having dedicated themselves to the Cult for a long time.
Not all Cardinals regarded Ureka favorably, but paradoxically, they acknowledged her necessity.
For the Cult, which had been dormant for a long time after the Holy War, could now move actively again, based on Ureka’s power.
If she didn’t restore the sanity of the mad Apostles and recycle them into the Cult’s fighting force, maintaining the front lines as they were would be impossible.
The Cardinals, moving to the vast hall, began to press the waiting priests.
“I will borrow the Scale Spellcraft to illuminate the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors. Open the gates immediately!!”
“We can observe the Demonic Realm even without using Apostle Spellcraft at the moment, but…”
The hesitant priest assumed a praying posture.
“As you commanded, I will show you the scene directly.”
“Why are you dragging out such useless words…!!”
The Cardinals, shouting with enraged expressions and moving towards the hall, stopped abruptly as they saw the image floating above it.
An image of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors, with the mist completely cleared by the Cult’s priests using Apostle Spellcraft, cast from the sky.
But that hellscape, sustained by devouring death, was no longer the vast jungle landscape the Cardinals were familiar with.
Whoosh!—
A distant, profound scene where heaven and earth were dyed black and white, mingling as all creation vanished.
The pinnacle of non-existence, where everything lost its color, collapsed, and was pushed outside the world to disappear.
The Cardinals watching through the opaque screen stood frozen, even forgetting to breathe.
“…That’s.”
The radiance of non-existence, distorting and covering the entire Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.
A miracle of ruin that annihilated everything existing within a specific spacetime, pushing it out of the world.
A transcendent power that forcibly created and manifested a contradiction that could not originally exist in this world.
Even watching it from a great distance through a projection, they felt a crushing pressure on their souls.
Cwoooosh!!!!!
“…”
The position of Cardinal in the Pantheon was granted only to followers who had achieved the most honorable feats within the Cult.
It was a rank unreachable by any follower who had not participated in a Holy War or served as a military chaplain on the front lines.
It was self-evident that all the Cardinals gathered here were individuals who had purged unbelievers on the front lines or possessed abundant practical experience.
Therefore, the moment they saw that image, they all simultaneously realized.
That black and white radiance was proof that the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors had truly collapsed and been annihilated.
That they were merely glimpsing the remnants of the outcome, what remained beyond after everything had ended.
And even the absurd fact that, despite this, they were involuntarily overwhelmed and recoiling the moment they faced it.
In the frozen silence, only the voices of the priests reporting the situation echoed quietly.
“Spacetime collapse is being observed across the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors. The entire area’s coordinates are repeating annihilation and creation every 0.025 seconds.”
“The Spiritual Presence reaction of the Grand General of Brilliance, observed within the Mausoleum, has vanished. Complete annihilation of spiritual particles due to the preceding annihilation phase confirmed.”
“The will of the gods is resonating from beyond the Outer Sea. It appears the causal annihilation progressing within the Demonic Realm has had an effect…”
“Spellcraft residue confirmed at the deepest part of the annihilation zone. An unrealistic level of heat control, similar to the incident in the Far Eastern Branch…”
Someone among the priests, who were continuously reporting in real-time, spoke with a trembling voice.
“Cheonbeon Evan Martinez… It appears to be the spellcraft of the Apostle-Slayer.”
“…”
After those words, silence fell upon the Pantheon where dozens of priests were gathered.
That name they had vaguely suspected but ultimately could not confirm.
They understood that the Apostle-Slayer, whom the Seventh Apostle had encountered in the Demonic Realm, had finally achieved victory alone in the heart of that hell.
And not just that, but had achieved the result of annihilating the entire Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors against a dead Ascendant.
“Truly astonishing.”
Flap!—
A priest with bizarre octopus tentacles sprouting from his face walked out from behind the Cardinals, hands clasped behind his back.
A grotesque figure, covered in tentacles, making it impossible to even properly see the facial features that originally existed on his face.
The priests, intuiting the identity of the being beyond human form, quickly knelt.
“…Lord Camlodal!”
“We greet the esteemed Eighth Apostle in the Pantheon!!”
“It is an unbelievable event, yet that unbelievable outcome is now before the Cult’s eyes.”
Camlodal’s puppet, ignoring the priests and immediately stepping forward to the projection, spoke leisurely.
“Evan Martinez… that Cheonbeon has defeated the Grand General of the Imperial Palace. And he did so alone, overcoming the scrutiny of both the Cult and the Alliance…”
“…”
“Though merely a dead corpse, he has essentially defeated an Ascendant with a mere human body. How many beings in the history of the continent have left such a monumental achievement?”
“This is… impossible…”
Someone among the elderly Cardinals muttered in a panic.
“When he appeared in the Far Eastern Branch, he possessed skill comparable to the Tenth Apostle. How, in just a few years, has he achieved such… such…!!!!”
The former Tenth Apostle, Amrita Fraubel, was an outstanding warrior who had participated in the Great Holy War.
Therefore, the Cult had never for a moment underestimated Cheonbeon, who had killed Amrita in a one-on-one battle.
Even when he killed the Conjunction Spell Master at the First Gate, or when he ran rampant against the Legion at the military parade and escaped.
Even as they regarded him as an enemy of the Cult and ostracized him, they always acknowledged, watched, and wary of his skill and talent.
Yet, even the Cult’s high command had never imagined that Cheonbeon’s power would reach this level.
Not merely remaining at the peak of Level 8, but already knocking on the door of the stage beyond—
*Thump!
The sound of a door breaking.
Was it due to the lightning bursting from the Priestess’s room, or was it the sound of Cheonbeon breaking the boundary of the Ninth Hierarchy?
Either way, it was clearly the reverberation of ruin, capable of shattering the Cult’s long-standing order.
Murderous intent, impossible to hide, swirled on the faces of the Cardinals, who belatedly regained their senses.
“We must use every possible means to kill Evan Martinez.”
“In just a little more time, what he has done will spread across the entire continent.”
“The fact that he alone conquered the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors must not be known. How dare a mere former Watcher…!!”
The priests of the headquarters had observed the spellcraft residue that annihilated the Demonic Realm without using any special spellcraft.
If so, other central factions would soon realize what had happened in the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.
The news of the successful conquest of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors, and Cheonbeon’s prestige soaring to the heavens, would only be a matter of time.
What was most alarming was Cheonbeon’s unrealistic growth rate, a level even the Cult’s elders had never witnessed before.
Even followers who served the sea gods and watched their Incarnation Bodies up close knew this was a vessel of a different caliber.
As long as such a being rejected and antagonized the Cult, they had to be killed by any means necessary.
“I understand you fear Cheonbeon, but it would be best to calm down first.”
However, Camlodal’s puppet, standing before the Cardinals, did not agree, despite clearly knowing their thoughts.
“Even a broken Lariata was no match for such a powerful flame head-on. A vampire, the most resilient among the Apostles, was defeated, so a simple trick won’t solve this.”
“Lord Camlodal. But…!!”
“Therefore, wouldn’t it be better to first fill the vacant position of the Priestess?”
“…Pardon?”
Behind the momentarily stunned Cardinals, Camlodal slowly clapped his hands.
Simultaneously, a girl with a pale complexion emerged from behind a pure white temple pillar.
She appeared to be less than ten years old. Her face was expressionless, as if devoid of any emotion or will.
Her appearance was pitiful, dressed in rags rather than clothes, looking like she had been abandoned by some orphanage.
But the Cardinals, recognizing someone from memory in that face, were horrified.
“Impossible. This child is…!!!”
“This can’t be, Lord Camlodal!!!”
“Since the current Priestess is absent, only a Priestess who has already retired from the stage can take her place.”
The priest, his face covered in tentacles, slowly walked to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“This child is a replacement created using Seina Naydree’s genetic information.”
“…!!!!”
“A clone of the 10th Priestess, who was the most outstanding in terms of High Priest talent among all successive Priestesses. But her inner self is an empty puppet.”
Octopus tentacles squirmed and flowed down the girl’s arm, but she did not even glance at them.
She simply stared ahead with an expressionless face, as if feeling no external sensations or touch.
At her bizarre, utterly inhuman appearance, the startled Cardinals, who had recoiled, one by one regained their composure.
“Even if the High Priest’s authority has been lost, a vessel of the 10th Priestess should be able to take over the duties of the 11th. This vessel, unlike the 11th, was truly ‘complete’.”
“That’s…”
“If taught a little, she will be able to act as a proxy for the 11th’s authority and revive the broken Apostles.”
Camlodal spoke with a subtly amused tone.
“The Lead Apostle himself has declared it, so it must be true.”
“The… The Lead Apostle…!!!!”
At that moment, everyone in the Pantheon turned their gaze with utmost astonishment.
It was proof that the creation of Seina Naydree’s replacement was not merely the Eighth Apostle’s unilateral decision, but had ‘his’ tacit approval.
If so, then that meant—
“As the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors are conquered, the long-maintained balance of the Central has begun to crumble.”
Camlodal, slowly withdrawing his hand from Seina’s vessel, moved forward.
“Monsters surpassing limits will awaken, and devils who have reached a quasi-divine state will rule the world. In that case, the Cult, too, must respond accordingly.”
“Surely, you don’t mean—”
“The Great Will has responded to Evan Martinez’s resourcefulness.”
Suppressing a deeply grim smile, Camlodal whispered.
“The Second Apostle will soon move personally.”
The canyon, which had stretched to the horizon, collapsed, and the bedrock crumbled.
Everything was buried under dust as if a landslide had occurred, emitting a thunderous roar that shook the earth.
The Order Alliance’s encampment located at the entrance to the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.
In the ruins strewn with barracks and supplies, Aileen was operating a signal device with a serious expression.
“No. The signal is being sent, but there’s no connection…!!”
Kwagwagwagwa!!!!
Even as she manipulated the signal device’s circuits, the ground shook violently and overturned.
A chilling sight of the vast jungle of the Demonic Realm, visible to the eye, distorting under a black and white light.
She did not stop manipulating, knowing that the black and white impermanence would soon reach even here.
Beep, beep!!
The phenomenon of the signal ringing but being blocked, unable to pass through the airspace of the Demonic Realm.
Aileen, gripping the signal device with trembling eyes, bit her lip and abruptly stood up.
She grabbed the gunblade propped beside her and checked her last remaining magazine. Taking a deep breath, she slowly brought the blade to her forearm.
Having completed her minimal preparations, Aileen turned towards the black and white explosive radiance stretching from afar.
The moment she was about to enter the Demonic Realm again, without hesitation, from which she had just escaped.
“Unless you want to commit suicide, you’d better stop.”
“…!!!”
Aileen whirled her head around in surprise, nearly dropping her blade.
Lennok was standing there, leaning against a tent pole, looking at her with a tired expression.
Aileen, staring blankly at him, stammered, not even thinking of picking up the dropped sword.
“M-Martinez!! How…?!!”
“My part is mostly done here.”
Lennok walked into the encampment, leaning heavily on a staff.
His head bowed low, Lennok’s body swayed with the trembling ground.
“Everything that enters there for now will be annihilated and swept out into the Outer Sea.”
“Annihilated…?”
“Did you notice beforehand and stay out? That was not a bad judgment.”
Lennok, bracing himself against a collapsed barracks pillar, looked back at Aileen with a weary expression.
“In this regard… your judgment is decisive, which is good. If you had stayed ambiguously within the Demonic Realm, you would have been swept away.”
“…That wasn’t, I… I didn’t know beforehand and avoid it.”
Aileen hesitated, then spoke honestly.
“Rather than me interfering with your work, I thought it would be helpful to call The Agency, so I came out to use the encampment’s lines…”
“…Is that so.”
Perhaps it was merely coincidence that she found something she could do and happened to be lucky.
Considering how Aileen had somehow been helpful in the Mausoleum in a similar way, it might not have been a mere coincidence.
But Lennok, after those words, could no longer answer and struggled to catch his breath.
He seemed to be barely able to stand, as if his entire body’s mana and will-thought were completely empty.
Yet, even so, the moment Aileen faced Lennok’s empty presence, she instinctively knew.
The black and white ambiance that annihilated the entire Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors. The existence of the wizard who emerged from its center with a tired expression.
That fact itself was akin to a single outcome, concluding all causality that had occurred beyond the Mausoleum.
If that was the case, then—
“This can’t be…”
Aileen murmured blankly.
“Did you truly… fight the Grand General…?”
“It was something I had to do myself from the very beginning.”
Lennok said, forcing his head up.
“I thought this might happen… but I can’t help feeling conflicted.”
“…That’s.”
“I know what you’re curious about, but we’ll talk about that later.”
Saying so, Lennok slowly turned around.
“Before finishing everything, isn’t there one more thing we needed to confirm?”
“…”
Arthur lay in the corner of the tent, his entire body tightly bound.
Lennok said, walking towards Arthur, whom Aileen had restrained and dragged to the encampment.
“The Sun Ship’s navigator. The Alien Phantom who contributed to the corruption of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors. The Alliance Leader’s advisor.”
Lennok lowered his gaze, as if piercing through the Yaksha’s Spiritual Presence dwelling within that body.
“To obtain information about the other destroyed worlds and the Outer Gods, it seems I need to speak with this one first.”