Chapter 1485: Hunting the First Apostle (19)

“It’s coming……!!”

Fwwwwaaaaaah!!!!!!

An ashen ripple spread out as if exploding in all directions, covering the entire vast Crystal Canyon.

An unbelievably transcendent range, encompassing an area tens of thousands of meters in radius, centered on the Leader.

Those swept away without a chance to resist, as one, lowered their stances and protected themselves with all their might.

“Dammit, an Ideological Domain right from the start!!”

“So this is the Order Alliance Leader’s World Alteration……!!”

“He’s not hesitating at all after descending. He plans to end the war right here!!”

The four mega-factions that dominated the Central Front.

The leaders of the Cult, the Alliance, the Legion, and the Warband were all Level 9 Ascendants, or monsters comparable to them.

Among them, the Order Alliance Leader was the head of the continent’s largest group of spellcasters and the one who stood at the apex of the Great Connection, governing all spells.

Although the Alliance had never officially acknowledged it, the fact that the Leader was a Level 9 Ascendant was an open secret.

For such a being to deploy an Ideological Domain right at the start to face the First Apostle meant—

Ideological Domain Manifestation

Great Connection: Soaring Heavens of a Hundred Million Scriptures

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!!!

As a Milky Way touched the ashen sea that spanned tens of kilometers, the landscape of reality was completely overturned.

With the Leader at the center, sky and earth collided and became jumbled together, making it impossible to distinguish any direction.

A bizarre scene that blurred all of spacetime like water mixed with paint, disrupting all divisions and boundaries.

The Alliance’s collaborators and the surviving priests of the Cult who witnessed the scene were simultaneously horrified.

“This scale is absurd. How in the world……!!”

“This isn’t a scale a single spellcaster can handle!!”

“Is he rewriting the physical laws of the entire canyon in real time? It wouldn’t be strange for his brain to be crushed by the computational load alone—”

An Ideological Domain is a World Alteration ability granted only to Level 9 Ascendants. It is a divine technique that rewrites the physical laws of a specific spacetime with one’s own ‘answer’.

Unlike a Domain, which projects the Root Mindscape onto reality, it is a power that, once used, semi-permanently and continuously alters the world.

However, the process of altering and rewriting physical laws requires truly transcendent computational ability and mental power.

Therefore, even an Ascendant cannot carelessly deploy an Ideological Domain, and once manifested, its range and area cannot be adjusted.

Just as with Jindun’s Hanghasa Labyrinth, it is normally fixed in one place, altering the physical laws of its surroundings.

But the Order Alliance Leader, upon manifesting his Ideological Domain, simultaneously expanded its range thousands of times over, completely covering the entire Crystal Canyon area.

A divine technique that freely manipulates the scale of an Ideological Domain without using humans as offerings or materials, unlike Jinwa of Paradise Lost.

That was undoubtedly something only the Leader, a being created from the fusion of an Ascendant from the Old World and one from the Current World, could do—

Kwaaaaaa-!!!!!

The battlefield, once piled with corpses, had transformed into a great river of starlight flowing beneath their feet.

A Milky Way flowed across the sky and the ground, and a quiet stillness descended as everything around them sank into darkness and blended together.

A strange space, as if the Glass Garden where the Leader resided had been melted into reality and allowed to flow freely.

At its center, the Leader, arms outstretched, slowly descended before the Second Apostle, who had stopped in his tracks.

“……As expected of the Alliance’s leader. Did he trap the First Apostle on the battlefield just by manifesting his Ideological Domain?”

“No, an Ideological Domain, like a regular Domain, isn’t a barrier spellcraft. He probably couldn’t escape with his Apostle Spellcraft because of the Great Connection.”

“If he’s the First Apostle, he’s sure to have a card up his sleeve even in this situation. To kill him for sure, the Leader will have to act personally.”

Even among Transcendent beings, it’s rare for one to be able to kill an opponent with the effects or abilities of their Domain alone.

There are exceptions like the Thorben Magic Tower Lord, but most rely on high-level spellcraft or special authorities granted upon the deployment of their Domain.

An Ideological Domain wasn’t much different from a Domain in that respect.

The balance had shifted drastically the moment the Leader manifested his Ideological Domain, but the fight wasn’t over yet.

However, Lennok was looking down at the Leader’s Ideological Domain with a colder gaze than the other collaborators.

“Betagron. If you have any protective equipment, you’d better use it now. The Order Alliance Leader is dead serious.”

“Huh? R-Right. I’ve already taken some precautions.”

The flustered Betagron sensed something in Lennok’s words and made a strange expression.

“Have you already figured out what abilities the Leader’s Ideological Domain possesses?”

“The Order Alliance Leader is the founder of the Great Connection and the Level 9 Ascendant who made the Great Connection his ‘answer’.”

Lennok replied, looking up at the Milky Way floating above the Leader’s head.

“In that case, it’s obvious that the physical laws he’s altered within the Ideological Domain are directly linked to the Great Connection.”

“What? Wait a minute, if that’s the case—”

“Every space within this Ideological Domain is effectively in direct contact with the Great Connection. It’s as if everyone here has stepped inside the Great Connection itself—”

As he said that, Lennok raised his mana.

“Within this Ideological Domain, the Leader can probably fire any spell belonging to the Great Connection with instant activation and perfect accuracy.”

Explosive Thunder Spellcraft Activated

[Detonation]

Booooooom!!!!

In that instant, without the slightest warning, the Second Apostle’s entire left arm exploded.

Like a landmine had gone off inside his arm, it was a gruesome sight of bone and flesh exploding outward from within.

Before the Second Apostle could regenerate his left arm and respond, the Leader slowly flicked his fingers.

Subordinate Spellcraft Activated

Shh-kkk!!

The slash no longer flew at the Second Apostle from in front of him.

Instead, it activated inside the Second Apostle’s organs, simultaneously tearing and slicing through his flesh and blood.

“……!!!!”

Chwa-ja-ja-jak!!!

At the same time, the Second Apostle, realizing the ability of the Ideological Domain, retreated while spraying blood.

The Ideological Domain the Leader had manifested was the Great Connection itself. All of spacetime here was as good as directly linked to it.

Therefore, within the range of the Ideological Domain, it becomes impossible to see the signs of a spell’s activation and dodge, or even react.

The Ideological Domain, Great Connection: Soaring Heavens of a Hundred Million Scriptures. The principles of the Great Connection soaring through a hundred million heavens to be scattered across the world—

[Chroma Spellcraft Activated]

[Transfer Spellcraft Activated]

[Substitution Spellcraft Deployed]

Hwaak!!

The Leader simultaneously activated dozens of unique spellcrafts at the Second Apostle, who was bleeding from the slashes.

As the Leader’s form scattered like paint, he appeared beside the Second Apostle and lightly swiped his hand downward.

Space melted and distorted at his fingertips, compressing to an extreme before piercing the Second Apostle’s lungs and exploding.

A dark blue mushroom cloud rose above the horizon, scattering a storm of transcendent heat.

[Lunar Eclipse]

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!

“K-ghk……!!”

“Don’t tell me, antimatter—!!!”

The heavens and earth melted as if a nuclear bomb had detonated, but its power was incomparably greater.

A unique antimatter spellcraft that converts most of the mass into energy through particle-antiparticle annihilation.

Seeing as there was no incantation, could it be that it wasn’t a spell from the Great Connection, but the Leader’s own spellcraft?

The other collaborators watching the battle raised their mana a step too late, and the Spell Masters shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Everyone, deploy protective spellcraft and shield yourselves!!!”

“All matter and concepts within the domain are now targets for the Great Connection!!”

“Protect yourselves so you don’t become fuel for the spellcraft wielded by the Leader!!!”

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!!

[Iron Spirit Spellcraft Activated]

[Yeonri Spellcraft Activated]

Giant metal legs shot up from below, and in the sky, a giant made of clouds slammed its fist down.

The Leader overwhelmingly cornered the Second Apostle, who was helplessly spewing blood from the slashes and detonations exploding within his body.

Kwaaaang!!!!

Pinning the Second Apostle’s forearm with one hand and crushing him with enhanced gravity, the Leader looked down.

[Indeed, an Apostle who serves chance. To face the principles of the Great Connection with your entire being and still cling to life.]

“…….”

[Subordinate Spellcraft is fast to activate and has strong cutting power, but its trajectory is linear. That’s why you regenerated the moment you were cut.]

Splat!!

Instead of answering, the Second Apostle pressed his other hand to his throat and squeezed out the blood pooled in his windpipe.

[That disgusting regenerative power and vitality. Truly befitting the head of the Apostles. But do you believe you have no limits?]

“You’re not the only one wielding an incomprehensible ability…… not in the first place.”

The Second Apostle, who only regained his voice after squeezing out the blood, regenerated his vocal cords in an instant and replied.

“The mental power consumed by activating all the spells of the Great Connection and altering physical laws in real time isn’t something a living being can withstand……. The only way that’s possible is because you aren’t just one person.”

[…….]

“Because you’re a being fused from two Ascendants, one from the Old World and one from the Current World, your thought processes and computational abilities also transcend those of a living creature?”

To freely use all the spells of the Great Connection means that all spells connected to it must be ‘activated’ beforehand.

Even the Second Apostle couldn’t fathom the amount of mental power and computational load consumed in that process.

But the Leader was handling a computational load that would make even a Transcendent’s head explode, all while cornering the Second Apostle.

That in itself was proof that the Leader was not a single Ascendant, and that he existed as a complete being.

[Mastery is a process that precedes understanding, so it is natural for you to try and understand me to break the principles of the Great Connection.]

The Leader said, pushing down harder on the hand pinning the Second Apostle.

[But now that the restoration of the Great Connection is complete, there is no next time for you. All that is needed is a brief moment to drag you down from the seat of the Apostles.]

“Right……. I agree that it’s difficult to deal with your power while my Apostle Spellcraft is sealed.”

The Second Apostle replied, slowly sweeping his hair back.

“It seems it’ll be hard to predict my chances of winning without shaking that very premise.”

[Meaningless words—]

Swish!!!

In that instant, the Apostle’s horn in the Second Apostle’s hand was swung at the Leader like lightning.

The Leader simultaneously chanted an Explosive Thunder Spellcraft inside the Second Apostle’s brain, just as he was about to shatter the Apostle’s head as if detonating a mine.

The Second Apostle, who dodged the explosion by a hair’s breadth by tilting his head at point-blank range, thrust the Apostle’s horn into the Leader’s shoulder with a reverse grip.

Kwaaaaaang!!!!!

The Leader instinctively detonated a fiery explosion between himself and the Second Apostle, obscuring his vision and retreating.

But the Second Apostle ignored his entire body being engulfed in flames and leaned forward, accelerating—

Hwaak!!!

At the same time, his form vanished on the spot.

“His presence, don’t tell me……!!”

The moment the Fairy Conjunction Master realized the Second Apostle’s presence had momentarily ‘vanished’, her expression hardened.

Appearing behind the Leader, the Second Apostle twisted his body with incredible speed and plunged a short spear into his back.

A strike that rushed in from behind, impossible to react to, after suppressing the movement of the Leader’s arm by embedding the broken horn in his shoulder.

Jjeo-eo-eong!!!

But the Leader also reacted to the Second Apostle’s movement, sprouting two arms from behind his shoulder blades to block the short spear.

He crossed both forearms to deaden the spear’s speed, then caught it right in front of him with his remaining arm.

“Hoo……. For someone who’s been hiding in the Glass Garden for so long, your reflexes are good. Did you practice beforehand?”

[The Explosive Thunder Spellcraft. You didn’t just dodge it—]

The Explosive Thunder Spellcraft that activated inside his brain—he had dodged it on the spot by tilting his head back.

The Second Apostle’s incredible reaction speed was as if he had read the spell’s activation in advance and countered it.

But the Leader saw through it—it wasn’t that the Second Apostle had simply read the signs of the spell’s activation.

Within this Ideological Domain, every spell the Leader used was instantaneous and a guaranteed hit. It wasn’t something one could see and dodge in the first place.

That meant it wasn’t that the Second Apostle had started reacting to his attacks, but that something was wrong with the Ideological Domain.

The Leader, finishing his deduction at incredible speed, instantly found the answer.

[I see. If there’s a power that could become a variable in this duel, it must be—]

The existence of the young girl, deep in prayer on the simple altar set up on the other side of the Ideological Domain, even at this very moment.

At the same time the Leader recognized the girl, the Priestess, her preparations complete, softly chanted once more.

“Sanctuary Declaration.”

Kwaaaaaang!!!

A pale radiance shot up, piercing the Ideological Domain vertically, and began to expand its area without disappearing.

The second declaration of the Cult’s sanctuary on this battlefield. But its power and range were on a completely different level than before.

As if the Pontiff himself were bestowing his power, it directly interfered and collided with the Ideological Domain—

Pat!!

The Leader twisted his body and accelerated simultaneously. In an instant, he crossed thousands of meters and appeared above the altar where the Priestess stood, swiping his hand down.

Just before the slash, which fell with the activation of a Subordinate Spellcraft, could slice the Priestess in half vertically, the Second Apostle appeared from the side and parried it.

Jjeo-eo-eong!!!!

Ku-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!!

The pillar of pure white light was piercing and penetrating the Leader’s Ideological Domain, gradually expanding its range.

The sanctuary declared by the Priestess and the Ideological Domain were coexisting in a single space, interfering with each other’s abilities.

Because of that, the reconstruction of the Great Connection was subtly disrupted, and the Second Apostle’s sealed Apostle Spellcraft began to return.

And the Apostle Spellcraft of the Second Apostle, the most free among all the Apostles, was—

Clang!!

A giant spatial rift opened below the ground, swallowing whole the dozens of spellcrafts falling toward the Priestess.

Activating his Libra Spellcraft to change the direction of the fired spellcraft, the Second Apostle accelerated toward the Leader and activated his Crusher Spellcraft.

He shattered all of the dozens of layers of spellcraft the Leader had laid out for a counterattack head-on and struck him with incredible speed.

Jjeo-eo-eo-eong!!!!!

“The Crusher’s Apostle Spellcraft has excellent destructive power, but its activation conditions are quite complex. You have to have a solid understanding of the structure of the target you intend to destroy.”

[First Apostle……!!!]

“But conversely, if you meet the conditions, you can shatter spellcraft or barriers of a different class head-on. In the end, its foundation is a power based on the authority of an Outer God.”

The Second Apostle, slowly raising his body, said.

“Leader. Your abilities are, in many ways, a bad matchup for me……. But if a few conditions are met, you’re not someone I can’t face.”

[The Priestess’s very existence was your insurance for this moment. Did you bring her here from the start for the sole purpose of interfering with the Great Connection?]

“I knew from the beginning that you’d set this stage to target me. Did you really think I’d just play along, knowing that?”

When the Priestess declared her sanctuary right at the start and stopped the descent ritual, I thought its power was strangely strong, but…

Was that in itself a hint at the insurance he had prepared for the worst-case scenario of the Leader successfully descending?

The Leader, who manifested his Ideological Domain and pushed his own spellcraft abilities and the power of the Great Connection to their limits.

The Second Apostle, who shook the Great Connection amidst the chaos, restoring the output of his Apostle Spellcraft and regaining his full power.

“Let’s continue, Faud Older.”

The Second Apostle, having regenerated his wounds in an instant, walked forward.

“How much longer can you remain in reality using that incarnate body?”

[How absurd. We are both on a time limit.]

The Leader, who restored his body in an instant using recovery spellcraft, raised his mana without hesitation.

[Under the principles of the Great Connection, only one person can be free—]

The Leader who manifested the Ideological Domain and the Second Apostle who reclaimed his Apostle Spellcraft clashed, treading upon the starlit Milky Way.

It was literally like a life-or-death struggle waged by great demigods straight out of mythology.

At the Leader’s will, hundreds of unique spellcrafts linked to the Great Connection activated simultaneously.

The Second Apostle dodged the barrage of spells and relentlessly drove his Apostle Spellcraft into the Leader.

The will of an Outer God manifested on this land, and a principle that transcended the laws of physics and the rules of spellcraft descended.

The spacetime of the Ideological Domain was overturned and collapsed, frantically reorganizing reality and dimensions.

Kwa-deu-deuk!!!!

At point-blank range, the Leader detonated a slash inside the Second Apostle’s body, tearing out all his internal organs.

But the Second Apostle controlled and compressed his Apostles, replacing his internal organs to buy time for regeneration and counterattacked.

Conversely, he plunged a mad Apostle into the incarnate body the Leader was using and injected it, detonating it inside the flesh.

A desperate and sublime struggle where their bodies and souls were relentlessly worn down, yet its level never dropped for a single moment.

The moment the heads of the Alliance and the Cult clashed, deciding the outcome of a long war, when no one could look away—

“……Wait.”

Betagron, who had been watching the battle with a dazed expression, flinched and looked around.

“Wh-where is Adamant Thunder?”

Hwioooooo!!!!

The figure of the Priestess, standing at the center of a pillar of pale light, praying endlessly upon the altar.

Beyond her, the Second Apostle, having reclaimed his Apostle Spellcraft, could be seen clashing with the Leader, who controlled the Great Connection.

This was the moment the heads of the Alliance and the Cult revealed their hidden cards and poured all their strength against each other.

He had been waiting for this chaotic battle, where their abilities and spellcraft interfered with and obstructed one another.

Kwajik!!!

“Cough……!! Priestess!!”

He crushed the resisting priest’s shoulder underfoot and walked toward the altar.

The Priestess, who had been praying alone on the altar, slowly raised her gaze as if she had sensed his presence.

The moment she, who had not lost her concentration despite the monsters’ battle, clasped her hands and stopped praying on her own accord—

Lennok, who had stopped behind the Priestess, spoke.

“I know you’re there, watching.”

“……”

“The reason the Cult’s Priestess can directly interfere with the Great Connection……. It would have been impossible if you hadn’t lent her your power in the first place.”

Hwiooo……!!

In the silence, where only the sound of the wind could be heard, the Priestess did not answer.

Lennok looked up at the sky silently, then slowly turned his gaze to the Priestess.

The most important reason Lennok had participated in the long-running war between the Alliance and the Cult.

The reason he had accepted the Leader’s proposal and intended to witness this moment where the long battle would be decided.

“If not for now, when the power of chance is striking the earth this strongly, I wouldn’t be able to speak with you directly.”

Lennok gave a slight nod toward the Priestess.

“Come out, Pontiff. This time, there is something I want to hear directly from you.”