Chapter 1484: Hunt for the First Apostle (18)
The pillar of light connected to the Great Connection pierced through the crystal tower and fell, exploding.
A melody of immeasurably distant light covered and flooded the vast canyon.
BOOOOOM!!!!
Swept away by the brilliant radiance, the Second Apostle and Lennok were simultaneously flung backward.
Lennok, hit with the backlash from Locking the Leaf of Calamitous Change, momentarily lost his balance and staggered.
But even then, the Second Apostle couldn’t take his eyes off Lennok, his expression cold and hard.
‘He accelerated the time inside his Domain to hasten the ritual’s completion…!’
The Second Apostle knew the moment Lennok deployed his Domain that he must have had an ace up his sleeve.
A wizard who had reached such a level wouldn’t use even a simple bluff carelessly.
He had judged that deploying the Domain while knowing the Second Apostle’s abilities might have been a lure for his Apostle Spellcraft.
That was why the Second Apostle had also planned to deploy his own Domain instead of his Apostle Spellcraft, intending to drag the fight into a chaotic brawl—
But from the very beginning, Lennok had been operating completely outside the Second Apostle’s predictions and assumptions.
‘Did he coordinate this with the Leader beforehand? No, Adamant Thunder wasn’t certain of my abilities until right before the fight. This was pure improvisation…!’
Until just a short while ago, Lennok hadn’t even properly grasped the concept of the Apostle of Freedom, let alone the Second Apostle’s abilities.
Nevertheless, while fighting the Second Apostle, he had brought the situation to this point by changing the conditions and time of the domain in real-time.
Lennok had personally held the Second Apostle at bay, constantly pressuring him to calculate the remaining time until the descent ritual.
Then, he had changed the very premise of time itself—what was thought to be an unchanging constant on this battlefield.
The ability that made it possible was something the Second Apostle hadn’t predicted, despite being extremely wary—
It was Lennok’s Domain itself.
‘None of Adamant Thunder’s spellcrafts directly manipulate time. So why does he possess such a powerful time-manipulation domain?’
What Adamant Thunder had just used wasn’t a simple manipulation of perceived time, but a divine technique that directly controlled the flow of time within a specific range.
However, Adamant Thunder himself had never once displayed such a powerful time-manipulation ability while fighting the Second Apostle.
If one possessed a time-manipulation domain, their Root Mindscape, its foundation, should also be strongly linked to time.
Undoubtedly, therein lay the secret of Lennok’s talent.
The moment the Second Apostle realized this with incredible speed and snapped his gaze away.
But it was already too late.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
The pillar of light that fell vertically from above the crystal tower descended upon the Incarnation Body in the bathtub.
As the motionless corpse slowly opened its eyes, the entire world was dyed a brilliant silver-white.
A heavy shockwave exploded with such force that even the two who had been fighting just moments before couldn’t properly open their eyes.
Whoosh…!!
As if it were a lie, all the aftereffects vanished, clearly revealing the center of the ritual site.
In the heart of the vast ritual site, where the Great Connection had been restored and the Celestial Spellcraft had been deployed.
The naked Incarnation Body, which had been lying breathless in the bathtub, was now staring this way with its eyes silently open.
With a thick talisman covering its face, its pale, bloodless hands were exposed in its naked state.
Just as Lennok’s expression hardened at the powerful ‘ordinariness’ that felt so unsettlingly out of place.
[Every time since the war with the Cult began, I hesitated.]
The Incarnation Body leaning in the tub slowly moved its lips, its voice emerging languidly.
[Knowing what kind of being the Savior is, I thought my turn might never come.]
“…”
Splash!!
As it rose from the bathtub, the overflowing water transformed into black silk and wrapped around its body.
A conversion spellcraft based on a principle Lennok had never before witnessed, transforming the fluid water into a substance of a completely different state.
As naturally as breathing, the Incarnation Body, now cloaked in the transformed substance like a black robe, stood up from its spot.
[But, I could not give up on that divinity and so I took a chance… and in the end, a miracle has occurred.]
A man of sturdy build, who pinned his long, flowing hair with a hairpin, looked at the Second Apostle with the talisman on his face.
[To be able to face the Cult’s First Apostle in the Material Realm like this… that alone is more than enough to be called a success.]
“Leader…”
The head of the Order Alliance. The creator of the Great Connection.
A monster who had reached a state beyond life and death, and the most powerful wielder of the Talent for Duality in this world.
The Order Alliance Leader had descended into reality.
“Leader. You have arrived…?!!”
“Finally, the descent… ah…”
The blood-soaked Spell Masters who had collapsed murmured with expressions of deep emotion upon seeing him.
Even as the crystal tower that restored the Great Connection crumbled, even as they were dying, their faces were filled with joy.
Their expressions made it palpable what kind of being the Leader was to the Order Alliance.
[It came at the cost of the devotion and sacrifice of a countless number of people, but…]
Crack!!
The Leader’s neck twisted to the side, and the muscles near his collarbone split open.
From within, new flesh and muscle erupted, constructing the form of a second head.
In an instant, the Leader, having created a ‘second head’ like a conjoined twin, stepped out of the bathtub.
Taking slow steps, he stopped before Lennok, who stood outside the crystal tower, and spoke with both heads moving in unison.
[Adamant Thunder. If not for you, this moment would never have existed in the first place.]
“…Leader.”
[While the Grand Spell Masters were away and even the high-ranking Spell Masters couldn’t hold on, you put up a marvelous fight against the Second Apostle.]
The Leader, turning his two talisman-covered heads to look down at Lennok, spoke.
[Your judgment to entrust him to me instead of facing him alone to the end was also perfect… It was truly opportune that I persuaded you to join the plan back then.]
“…”
[You have fulfilled your duty sufficiently. Therefore, after all this is over, I will give you what you rightfully deserve to enjoy—]
The Leader paused for a moment before whispering softly.
[I swear it on my name, Faud Older.]
The moment he heard that name, Lennok’s movements froze.
Though he had suspected it, he never imagined the Leader would admit it himself as soon as he descended.
The will-thought of Seonjong, Faud Older, who had seized the body of Maleon Gnosis in Kundara’s Ninth Tribulation.
Unlike the ‘life’ that had remained there, this was undoubtedly the ‘death’ of Seonjong that had lingered somewhere in this world.
He had just publicly declared that this very fact was the essence of the Leader.
“Order Alliance Leader… you’re quite unreserved for someone who has just descended.”
At that moment, the Second Apostle, who had still not taken his eyes off Lennok, spoke for the first time.
It was as if he had vaguely sensed something but couldn’t resolve it here.
Swallowing a faint sense of disappointment, the Second Apostle turned his gaze, pushed up his bloodstained glasses, and smiled faintly.
“I understand you’re euphoric about succeeding in your incarnation by deceiving causality, but do you already think this war is over?”
[First Apostle. O great slave who has long propped up a collapsing Cult.]
The Leader stepped forward.
[You, bound by the freedom the Pontiff gave you, will never understand. The meaning of my incarnation in this world, even if by a trick.]
“No? How could I not know?”
The Second Apostle’s eyes turned cold.
“I knew you were a being fused from two Ascendants, one from the Old World and one from the Current World. One who unified the ‘life’ and ‘death’ of different beings through a Talent for Duality… Seekers who did something that insane were rare even in the last world.”
[…]
“Others believe you reside in the Glass Garden to create and manage the Great Connection, but the truth is the opposite.”
The Second Apostle said, taking a slow step forward.
“The Great Connection doesn’t exist because of you. You exist because of the Great Connection. Did you think the Pontiff wouldn’t know that you created the Great Connection to maintain your paradoxical existence?”
Every time they opened their mouths, shocking information nonchalantly poured out.
The Order Alliance Leader and the First Apostle. The moment they stood here, freed from the shackles of causality, both were resolved to speak their true minds.
[Indeed, you are worthy of calling yourself the god of chance. The Savior sees all that existed in the worlds he has passed through.]
But the Leader, instead of denying the Second Apostle’s words, laughed with both his heads.
[However, that is proof that he has repeated not success, but failure and postponement. It means that even after ascending to such a great seat, he is still bound by the past.]
“…”
[This very moment we face each other is proof that he will not bring salvation to this world. Knowing that, how can you follow the Cult-State?]
“That’s all well and good, but let me correct one thing.”
The Second Apostle said as he slowly took off his glasses.
“It’s not the Cult-State. I threw that name away when I crossed worlds. Let’s both stop acting like old relics.”
[That’s right. Meanings that have become old and faded must be erased, and new meanings must be engraved in their place.]
The Leader raised his mana.
The Great Connection, spread across the entire sky, responded to its master’s will and descended upon reality.
[There is power that gains new meaning simply by changing its master. O slave of freedom—]
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!!!!
An innumerable swarm of stars poured down from the night sky.
The moment Lennok realized that every single point of light was a real, individual spell.
The Leader swung his hand down, and a massive wave of spells crashed into the Crystal Canyon, causing a tremendous explosion.
[I will drag you from your seat as an Apostle, and I will go to face your master!!!!]
BOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOM!!!!!
Along with a vast shockwave that shook the canyon, everyone who had been engaged in bloody battles was sent tumbling backward.
“Gah, ack…!!!”
Both the dying Spell Masters gasping for breath and the lifeless bodies of the Knights of Rectitude and priests scattered outside.
Even Betagron, who had been fighting the Cult’s Apostles while holding onto the crumbling plant, was flung outward.
“Ugh!!”
The old man, who had been firing lasers with mechanical arms attached to his entire body, was pushed by the shockwave that exploded behind him and fell.
As Betagron, who had crashed headfirst and was rolling on the ground littered with corpses, was about to be flung away, Lennok snatched his collar from mid-air and pulled him back.
“Cough, cough!! Th-thank…!!”
“If you don’t want to die, don’t go over there.”
“I-I wasn’t flying that way by choi—”
Betagron stammered in protest, but immediately shuddered as he felt an eerie sense of enervation from the other side.
“Wh-what… this mana…!!”
FWOOOOSH!!!!
An unsettling sensation, as if all the mana in his body was being sucked away just by standing still.
The moment the Leader raised his hand, it was as if Betagron’s mana was moving on its own, defying its master’s will.
A strange feeling as everyone except Lennok staggered, their mana being stolen in real-time without them being able to resist.
Betagron’s face turned pale in an instant as he realized that the mana from all directions was being pulled toward the Leader.
“This is… the Order Alliance Leader!!! Don’t tell me, the Leader can even steal the mana of others—!!!”
“It’s starting.”
Lennok, having perceived the presence of both Transcendent beings, said with a hardened expression.
“The final battle between the heads of the Alliance and the Cult…!”
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!!!
In the blink of an eye, the Leader and the Apostle, now thousands of meters apart, stared at each other.
[Under the Great Connection that links all spellcraft in this world, your ‘freedom’ is a concept that might as well not exist.]
The Leader, extending his hand toward the sky, spoke while wreathed in spells that branched into tens of millions of forms.
[As long as my Great Connection maintains its complete form, the output of your freedom-seeking Apostle Spellcraft will be reduced to the point of being sealed.]
The Second Apostle was the First Apostle who served the Pontiff as his god and received the authority of chance to use as Apostle Spellcraft.
But since its essence was still a ‘spellcraft’, it could not completely escape the concept of the Great Connection, which linked all spellcraft.
Because the Second Apostle’s spellcraft was related to ‘freedom’, it was antithetical to the Great Connection, which controlled all spellcraft.
Since he used the authority of chance in the form of Apostle Spellcraft rather than wielding it directly, its output was bound to decrease under the Great Connection.
The Leader had realized this when he met the Second Apostle during the truce negotiations between the Alliance and the Cult, and he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
This moment when the Order Alliance Leader himself could face the Cult’s First Apostle one-on-one in reality.
“You seem confident. But I haven’t wasted my years to the point of surrendering just because my spellcraft is sealed.”
However, the Second Apostle remained unshaken even knowing this fact.
Even as he recognized that the output of his Apostle Spellcraft had been drastically reduced the moment he stood before the Leader, he slowly rolled up his sleeves.
“The outcome of a battle isn’t decided by the compatibility or hierarchy of abilities alone. You, having just descended into a corpse’s body, can’t be in your best condition either, can you?”
[…]
“You don’t even seem certain what state that body is in yet. You’d better pray that you’re in a definitively better condition than Adamant Thunder was.”
The Second Apostle pushed up his glasses and raised his mana with a chilling expression.
“So that even if I take your head and bring it to the main sanctuary, I can still clearly recognize that it’s you, Leader.”
[Kieeeeeek…!!!]
[Grrrrrrr-!!]
At the same time, a giant centipede sprang up from beneath the Second Apostle’s feet, supporting his body.
An elephant that had crushed dozens of Alliance Spell Masters roared as blood streamed down its body.
The Second Apostle began to command the Apostles, who had been consumed by madness, as if they were his own limbs.
“Apostle control…!”
“How can this be, that should be the ability of the 11th Priestess!!”
Even with the Leader’s descent and his Apostle Spellcraft effectively sealed, could he control lower-ranking Apostles like Ureka?
The Second Apostle, even while fighting Lennok to prevent the descent, had hidden a few tricks in preparation for the worst-case scenario.
Lennok’s judgment had not been wrong.
In the final battle between the heads of the Alliance and the Cult, there were bound to be hidden cards that only the Leader and the Second Apostle could reveal here.
The Leader, riding a great wave of spells, and the Second Apostle, standing on a battlefield littered with corpses, moved simultaneously.
The moment the Leader pointed at the ground, spells connected to the Great Connection rained down on the earth like a mad bombardment.
The Second Apostle moved to evade the bombardment, beginning to circle in the opposite direction of the Leader.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!!!!
A storm of heat, as if the Milky Way was flowing down and individual starlights were crashing to the ground.
The sight of the Second Apostle fearlessly weaving through its center, chanting a prayer spellcraft.
Those who survived and watched the scene couldn’t help but shout in astonishment.
“It’s begun…!!”
“What unbelievable power. How is this possible…!!!”
“The scale is unnecessarily large from the start. They intend to wipe out each other’s forces while they fight.”
Lennok said, looking down at the battlefield.
“The main forces of the Alliance and the Cult are already being caught in the crossfire. It must be to preserve their own side’s strength even if they lose this battle.”
“Is it because this is a decisive battle between the leaders of each faction…?!!”
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!
With just a gesture from the Leader, the Great Connection surged in the sky, consecutively dropping countless spells.
The Second Apostle, riding on the giant centipede Apostle, evaded all the bombardment and slaughtered the Alliance’s main forces.
The form of the Leader, who unleashed the spells belonging to the Great Connection as if breathing, and the figure of the Second Apostle, who controlled the mad Apostles and swept the battlefield.
“Guaaaah!!!”
“Save me, sa—!!!”
The Second Apostle, who had been rampaging with dozens of mad Apostles, turned as if on cue, and the Leader teleported over thousands of meters.
In the blink of an eye, the two monsters who had been committing massacres on opposite ends of the battlefield closed the distance until their breaths could touch and clashed.
“The Leader closed the distance first!!”
“With his Apostle Spellcraft sealed, isn’t long-range interception the best option? What’s the reason?”
“If the Leader is the master of the Great Connection, what he can do is on a different level from other Spell Masters.”
Lennok’s eyes glinted coldly as he watched.
“If he’s a sorcerer of a higher class than even the Grand Spell Masters, then undoubtedly—”
Activating Subordinate Spellcraft
[Slashing Myriad Forms]
SHWIIIIING!!
The moment the Leader extended his hand, dozens of slashes erupted from the air, aiming for the Second Apostle.
In a split second, the Second Apostle used the mad Apostles as a shield and accelerated sideways to dodge the falling slashes.
But a corpse that rose from below began to grab at the Second Apostle’s feet.
Activating Corpse Ghost Spellcraft
[Flowing Trace]
Activating Fairy Spellcraft
[Other-dimensional Leap]
In the moment the Second Apostle paused upon seeing the corpse, the Leader crossed space and appeared before him.
At the same time, the two Transcendent beings exchanged blows at a speed invisible to the eye.
Activating Subordinate Spellcraft
[Whip of Radiant Principle]
Activating Prayer Spellcraft
[Confession]
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!!!!!
“Ghk…!!!”
“Get back, you’ll die if you get caught in it!!!”
A close-quarters battle between monsters that made one’s consciousness fade just by watching.
But all who were watching froze as they realized a fact even more shocking than the transcendent battle itself.
All the spellcrafts that the Leader wielded as naturally as breathing from the moment the battle began were unique spellcrafts that already existed in the Alliance.
Betagron shouted, trembling.
“Don’t tell me… the Order Alliance Leader can use every spell connected to the Great Connection?!!!”
“That’s not all.”
From beside the trembling Betagron, Lennok looked down at the battlefield with a calm expression.
“Handling the Great Connection is one thing, but his mana reserves are on an abnormal level. His mana capacity is literally close to unlimited.”
“That can’t be—”
“He’s forcibly stealing not only the ambient mana but also the mana of others. In terms of mana control, he’s superior to any sorcerer I’ve ever seen.”
Just by the Leader’s presence, all the surrounding mana was drawn to him as if by a magnet.
As a result, all sorcerers except Lennok were unable to withstand the Leader’s power and were having their mana stolen.
But surprisingly, the Second Apostle was holding his own against the Leader’s assault even with his Apostle Spellcraft half-sealed.
“The Second Apostle is fighting by controlling the mad Apostles. It’s absurd, but his proficiency in control magic… seems far superior to even the Priestess’s.”
Lennok said.
“He’s sacrificing Apostles consumed by madness to unleash their potential or extracting their Apostle Spellcraft to fight back. Even though his Apostle Spellcraft is sealed due to the Great Connection, it seems he can use it for a moment if he uses forbidden arts.”
“How is that possible…?!!”
“Even if he sacrifices the Apostles, the spellcraft extracted that way should only be good for a single use.”
“He’s using the spellcraft of other Apostles to fight against the Leader, who is supported by the Great Connection?”
“Both of them have completely transcended the common sense of spellcraft…”
The Order Alliance Leader, who upon descending into reality, gained infinite mana and spells with the support of the Great Connection.
The Second Apostle, who, even with his Apostle Spellcraft half-sealed, was fighting back with marvelous skill by controlling the mad Apostles.
For now, the Leader, who was raining down bombardments, had the upper hand, but if the Second Apostle regained the output of his Apostle Spellcraft, it was unknown which way the balance would tip.
Although the Second Apostle’s limbs were currently tied by the limitation of Apostle Spellcraft, the power of chance that formed its foundation possessed a class that was by no means inferior to the Leader’s.
“…”
However, Lennok, unlike the others who couldn’t tear their eyes from the fight, quietly finished his preparations to move.
The right time was approaching.
The moment when those two would fight with even more of their power, forced to focus solely on each other.
That would be the opportune moment for Lennok to achieve the purpose for which he had joined this war.
He didn’t have to wait long. Both the Leader and the Second Apostle were legendary monsters, well-versed in battles between Transcendent beings.
As they both knew the conditions for their victory, neither of them would be pleased with the current situation.
Therefore, the balance crumbled in an instant.
[There is no reason to be ashamed of going all out against the Cult’s First Apostle.]
Flick!!
As he took a step back, the Leader’s figure moved over hundreds of meters.
The Leader, who had instantly retreated, raised his voice with his two heads as if singing.
[Today, I shall make this battlefield a tomb of freedom.]
“It’s coming…!!!”
A major technique that the Leader, who had been relentlessly firing spells from the Great Connection, was activating for the first time after creating distance.
If it was a technique that an Ascendant of the Leader’s caliber would use at this point, its nature was already determined.
Just as everyone watching the battle took cover or ducked their heads low as if by agreement.
Paaaaaaaaah!!!!!!
A gray ripple exploded outward, instantly blanketing an area tens of thousands of meters in radius.
Ideological Domain Manifestation
Great Connection: Soaring Heavens of a Hundred Million Scriptures