Chapter 811: The Advent of the Ascendant (6)
Koooooh!!
The moment he activated his Revelation Ability to illuminate the Outer Sea.
Beyond perception, the heavens opened, and an overwhelming sensation began to pour down into the Infinite Void.
Lennok’s declaration to become an Apostle of the Cult and directly confront Dorye.
But even after hearing his words, the Priestess couldn’t move, her hands trembling.
“Th-the Consecration Ritual…”
Because she, too, vaguely understood the implications of Lennok’s words.
A Specialized System spellcaster of Pandemonium.
A genius with an extremely rare talent for directly manipulating space.
A fated one who indirectly wields the Pontiff’s power as an incarnation.
Did he mean that Lennok himself would become an Apostle of the Cult, reborn as the incarnation of an Outer God?
“To become an Apostle of the Cult—”
The Priestess’s voice trembled faintly.
“Once it’s begun, there’s no turning back. If you accept the ritual here and now…!!”
The Priestess, who had journeyed with Lennok in Yorta, vaguely understood what kind of person he was.
Absolute confidence in his own abilities and talent. An unwavering will that his own judgments were never wrong.
A resilient nature that trusted himself more than anyone, unwavering in any situation, always seeking a way forward.
He was an anomaly, whose inner will-thought and resolve felt even more dangerous than his unique manipulation spellcraft and immense magical power.
Why Pandemonium had invested so much effort into scouting this spellcaster.
And why they deployed him in critical affairs across the continent, entrusting him with operations—even the Priestess, skeptical of Pandemonium’s existence, had inwardly come to understand.
But even so, undergoing the Consecration Ritual to become an Apostle was an entirely different matter.
No matter how strong-willed an individual, or how capable of preserving their selfhood, that only applied to this world.
No mortal in this world could defy the will of an Outer God.
Even more so, if one were to receive their power and become an Apostle, they would never be able to escape.
If Lennok had been an apostate with no ties to the cult, the Priestess would not have cared.
But this Specialized System spellcaster, surely—
“Seina Naydree.”
Lennok called her name and smiled.
“It’s fine. Begin.”
Craaaack!!
That single phrase was enough.
The moment Lennok’s permission dropped, as if something had been desperately waiting beyond a gate.
The sanctuary of the Infinite Void twisted, and an illusion of senses tearing apart unfolded above his head.
The visible landscape of the Grand Cathedral remained unchanged.
But directly above Lennok’s head, something fractured as if cracking, and a presence descended beyond his five senses.
A connection to the Outer Sea, which he could clearly feel was there, even though he couldn’t see or hear it.
The moment Lennok felt it and slowly raised his head.
A resonance that seemed to exalt body and soul erupted throughout the Infinite Void’s sanctuary.
Oooooooh!!!!
As if screaming directly into his soul, merely hearing the timbre violently shook his mind.
Gazes from beyond the Outer Sea, peering into this place through the Priestess’s Revelation Ability.
Hordes of apocalypse, entities that would barely respond to fervent prayers, now freely poured down their will, observing this place.
Kwaaang!!!!
Even the Ascendant, approaching Lennok, momentarily halted his steps.
“You… what the hell are you doing?!”
Feeling the overwhelming presence pouring down from above, Dorye’s face contorted grotesquely.
The form in the blood-soaked shadow robe.
Because he instantly recognized that colossal wills were coiling around that figure, caressing him as if to protect.
As the Pontiff’s vessel, Dorye himself had once served that will, so he understood it all the more clearly.
Beings that should never have been here.
Apocalypses not yet permitted to descend upon this world.
The gazes emanating from transcendent beings, swimming beyond the Outer Sea, awaiting the conclusion where all causality would cease.
“This… madman!! Are you trying to hasten the end of the world here?!”
Dorye unleashed his magic to its fullest, immediately activating his inner Mind Imprint with all his might.
Magic rotated around his clenched, shattering fist, adding will-thought and mind-imprint, and began to boil mournfully.
Grrrrk!!!
Dark aura twisted and erupted from Dorye’s right arm, instantly stretching far behind the Ascendant.
Like shooting out a sun smeared with ink, an enormous mass of aura spun spirally and launched forth.
Ninefold Dorye Transmitted Secret Art:
One Tribulation.
It directly crushed Lennok’s wavering form, which stood in place.
Kwagagagak!!
A surging dark tsunami eroded the Infinite Void’s sanctuary.
It was desperately abraded and worn away, unable to withstand endless annihilation, and soon collapsed the space.
But despite that, Lennok still stood there, weakly clutching his slipping mask.
A mournful haze rose around the shadow robe.
Innumerable wills, rotating around Lennok, absorbed the aura and were being annihilated.
“The blessing…!!”
Though the will-thoughts of the Outer Gods had sacrificed themselves to receive it on Lennok’s behalf, that alone could not fully withstand the Ascendant’s power.
The Mind Imprint Art Dorye wielded was a perfected martial arts technique, based on the complete body of an Ascendant.
However, the Pontiff’s blessing protecting Dorye’s body was, ironically, interfering with and blocking his attacks toward Lennok.
The moment Dorye realized this was due to the wills of the Outer Gods surrounding Lennok, his face hardened.
“Choose…. “
“My child, choose…. “
The surging wills and magic around Lennok, colliding and annihilating themselves, whispered in corporeal forms.
Withered purple hands. Transparent, jelly-like horns.
A corded infant withered like an elder, and a stone statue with the head of a deer.
Wills transcending sense and balance, difficult to properly perceive in this world, materialized into real forms and descended beside Lennok.
“You can choose…. “
“You can pick us…. “
“Please, take my hand…. “
Formless wills, incessantly coiling and rubbing their presence around Lennok, whispering desperately.
In the center of that incomprehensible scene, Lennok gazed at himself without a word.
As if he had known from the very beginning this situation where the wills of the Outer Gods surrounding him yearned so desperately for him.
The wizard’s form, unwavering despite any whispers or temptations, silently peered backward into the Outer Sea.
The Priestess, who had been staring blankly at the sight, asked.
“…Who are you?”
“…….”
“You are not Him. You can never be Him, yet this… this is…. “
The Priestess mumbled in confusion, not even realizing what she was saying.
“It’s impossible. Not merely becoming an Apostle, but as if—”
“It’s one of the diverging points of the ending that could have been chosen someday.”
Lennok replied.
“One that someone might have already chosen, and thus, I no longer have the opportunity for… This is one such fragment of the future.”
Lennok, turning his emotionless gaze to the Priestess, said.
“That’s why powers and wills that shouldn’t exist at this point are descending like this, seeking to join me.”
“…….”
The Priestess couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of those words.
To fully comprehend Lennok’s answer, it would have been impossible without having shared every journey he had seen and felt.
Lennok, too, hadn’t offered that answer expecting understanding.
But just as the messages left by all the Transcendent beings who had given Lennok answers before often were.
Sometimes, an answer given to someone else was, in fact, a message for oneself.
“The Ascendant Dorye is already dead, with only his physical body remaining, yet the memories of his life still drive him.”
Lennok said, pointing at Dorye.
“To confront him and escape, I’ll need a power capable of simultaneously undermining the Pontiff’s blessing and the Ascendant’s immortality.”
“…So, you’ve decided to become an Apostle?”
The Priestess shook her head.
“No, this isn’t right. This is wrong.”
“Why? Because I don’t believe in your doctrines? Because I scoffed at your faith and despised it?”
Lennok asked, smiling.
“Or because I might be a being born from the Pontiff himself?”
“Since His Advent, no human has ever garnered such interest from the Outer Sea gods.”
The Priestess replied with a sorrowful expression.
“Twisted affection and interest. All of it is nothing but the greatest depravity and malevolence to humans living in this world. You would not be able to bear it.”
“…….”
“Even if you become an incarnation amidst the joy of countless gods, even if you overcome this immediate crisis and survive, what meaning would it have?”
Lennok silently chewed on the Priestess’s reply, then smiled.
“Indeed… you’re not wrong.”
Lennok conceded, looking back at the myriad manifestations of Outer Gods embracing him.
“If I were to choose one of them and become their incarnation, it would lead to an ending different from what I desire.”
Even if one becomes an Apostle through the Consecration Ritual, only miserable ruin awaits at the end.
If even the faithful who serve the Pontiff cannot escape that fate, how could an unbeliever who doesn’t follow the doctrine avoid it?
Lennok also knew that it was nearly impossible.
Yet, the reason he borrowed the Revelation Ability to initiate the Consecration Ritual was his strong conviction that he would not become like them.
“But standing here, beneath the Outer Gods, I feel I truly understand.”
Guido Cult Far Eastern branch.
Just as when he confronted the Apostle Consecration Ritual through the former Priestess, Isel Naydree,
Just as he vaguely thought when he watched the Outer Gods, who had chosen to descend through him instead of Isel Naydree, back then.
As if he was now viewing the answer he had vaguely guessed and surmised back then, but from an even closer vantage point.
He seized the doubts swirling within him, slowly transforming them into conviction.
“I truly am a man incapable of choosing just one thing. Even knowing I must someday… I constantly defer the answer, wanting to hold onto all possibilities.”
“…You?”
At that moment, a colorless ripple burst forth from Lennok, instantly beginning to devour the surrounding space-time in reverse.
Phaaaash!!!
A wave of will so overwhelming and mighty that even the Priestess flinched.
With that alone, the entire sanctuary of the Infinite Void surged as if about to be engulfed, rapidly transforming the scenery in all directions.
“Aaaah!!!”
“No, no!!!”
The wills of the Outer Sea, guarding nearby, writhed and tried to seize him, but Lennok’s Mind Imprint effortlessly shook off such grasps, establishing his unique Domain.
Kwagagagagaga!!!!
From beyond the vast, endless dark void, a golden radiance seemed to spin and shine.
The moment the Priestess’s spirit gazed blankly at the golden ring unfolding from afar and raised her eyes.
“Repeating and reflecting upon forgotten failures, believing there must be a better answer somewhere.”
Lennok extended his hand towards the approaching Kaleidoscope’s diverging point and said.
“Mocking the failures who fell before… and realizing that I, too, am no different from them.”
Lennok, turning his gaze to the Priestess, said.
“Perhaps that way, I’m waiting for the moment when the process itself becomes the answer.”
Phaaaash!!!
The form of a single diverging point, shining from beyond the distant cosmos.
The diverging point looked somewhat different from the Kaleidoscope Mind Imprints Lennok had manifested before, even appearing somewhat empty.
But the landscape of the diverging point that appeared before Lennok’s eyes shone more vividly than anything else.
The reason Lennok had risked deliberately summoning the wills of the Outer Gods through the Apostle Consecration Ritual.
The reason he had gathered their yearning through his declaration to become an Apostle, holding them close to him.
It was to most certainly call forth the most dangerously twisted diverging point among Lennok’s Kaleidoscope Mind Imprints.
A diverging point Lennok would never normally choose, making it unusable in ordinary circumstances.
The possibility of madness he had held back, believing it would be absolutely necessary in the inevitable battle against the Cult.
“Come.”
Kwagagagagaga!!!!
The moment he reached his hand beyond the Kaleidoscope, dozens of colossal black pillars rose on either side.
Giant pillars, possessing an overwhelming, profound presence comparable to ancient trees, lined up to Lennok’s left and right.
Beneath the darkened scenery of the Infinite Void, starlight that should not have shone there fell, drawing countless lines of light.
Sanctuary of Darkness. Temple of Void.
The diverging point of a madman, who degenerates through the Apostle Consecration Ritual initiated by the Priestess.
Beyond being a wandering Apostle of the Unbound Sea, serving no god, submitting to no will of the Outer Sea.
The Madman’s Temple, establishing its own sanctuary as the judge of lunatics who covet immortality.
In the heart of the boundless Grand Cathedral of the Infinite Void, a new Sanctuary of the Unbound Sea, rejecting the Outer Gods, unfolds.
Ddddrrrk!!!
With that alone, the gazes of the Outer Sea clinging to Lennok were torn away, helplessly bouncing outwards.
“Aaaargh!!”
“You tricked me, you tricked me!!!”
“This can’t be, no…!!!”
The wills of the Outer Sea, screaming madly and struggling to somehow seize Lennok.
But Lennok ignored the Outer Gods entirely, slowly rising from the spot.
Each time the starlight shining upon the Temple of Darkness rotated, an unknown, formless power violently plunged down onto Lennok’s body.
And with it, Lennok’s bloodied and broken body began to regenerate on the spot.
Snap, Sna-snap-snap!!
He slowly rose, clad in the tattered shadow robe.
Slowly, he reassembled every bone fragment and muscle throughout his body, then raised his head, imbued with immeasurable magic.
Domain Partial Deployment: Divergence Point Observation
Usurped Hierarchy Mind Imprint Manifestation
[Temple of the Naked Unbound Sea]