NOVGO.NET Chapter 488
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 488
Inside the palace filled with mucous membranes, someone trudged forward step by step.
Dressed in black garments and wearing a black top hat, his face was nothing but pitch-black darkness, yet the white glow outlining his eyes and the corners of his lips curled into a grin only made him appear more grotesque.
“My lord.”
The messenger of an ancient existence, and the being called the Crawling Nightmare.
And also Nyarlathotep, Yog’s final remaining subordinate.
What he looked toward was where a royal throne should originally have stood.
But now, that place resembled a bottomless abyss with the floor torn open.
And from the edge of that abyss, a gigantic mass of flesh crawled upward, radiating countless waves of terror.
Without a word, Nyarlathotep dropped to one knee before it and bowed his head.
[Cthugha has perished.]
“……”
[Dagon, too, has vanished.]
With a voice that seemed to shake the air itself, tentacles flew in from every direction and coiled around Nyarlathotep’s neck, lifting him into the air.
Even so, Nyarlathotep did not let out a single groan of pain.
“Ahh. My lord, they merely failed to fully accomplish your command.”
[And what were you doing all this time?]
At that question, Nyarlathotep’s grin split even wider.
“I brought you down into this place.”
[You dare, without even my permission.]
“Please calm your anger, my lord. Was this not your desire?”
[Speak.]
“The symbol of threat.”
At those words, the violently raging currents suddenly fell silent.
“Leon Cascadia is that seed. The traces left behind by Adam and Eve. Therefore, I judged that he had to be eliminated before a being capable of harming you could grow further.”
A grotesque sound echoed from Nyarlathotep’s neck with a crack-crack.
[Foolish… and arrogantly presumptuous. You would deceive me over something so trivial? You think the traces of a fallen and ruined divinity that perished long ago could threaten me?]
“Yes.”
At Nyarlathotep’s continued response, the tentacles trembled violently as they constricted him tighter before abruptly releasing him.
Thud!
Nyarlathotep crashed to the floor, then slowly raised his head.
“O Devourer of All Things, Primordial Father. It was you yourself who feared the Revelation of the Beginning.”
When the radiance of the Martial God blooms into this world, the end of your eternity shall draw near.
Long ago, the Supreme God who sealed Yog left behind a single prophecy.
And because of that, to Yog, the existence known as the Martial God was an irritant lodged in his throat, regardless of whether such a being truly existed or not.
“But things are different now. Because one who has submitted to you has made preparations.”
With those words, someone walked in beside Nyarlathotep.
A being with pure white wings.
“I offer my reverence to the Lord of the Abyss.”
That being was none other than……
[Archangel Gabriel.]
It was Gabriel himself.
“I pledge my obedience to you.”
As Gabriel knelt on one knee, a grotesque eye split open in the air and stared directly at him.
[Were you not on the island?]
“The one before you now is merely a duplicate copied from my origin.”
[To me, you are nothing more than a being unworthy of trust.]
“If you doubt me, then look upon me with those eyes. None of those on the Celestial Isle know that I am a traitor.”
Nyarlathotep added from the side.
“It took no small amount of effort to draw him in, my lord.”
Yog’s eerie laughter reverberated throughout the palace.
[Khehehe. You think yourselves clever. That everything will unfold exactly as planned.]
Who was that mockery directed toward?
The silent Supreme God?
Or the insects resisting him?
In the first place, asking one who had already submitted why they submitted held no meaning.
“Though only temporarily, we can undo your seal.”
[…….]
“Once the potential threat capable of endangering you is removed, afterward we will be able to completely free you from the seal at our leisure.”
The seal.
To Yog, the seal placed by the Supreme God was a hateful and accursed obstacle.
“However, to complete this undertaking, we require Eve’s Core.”
[You dare… make demands of me?]
“It is the final piece needed to ensure everything proceeds smoothly.”
Yog’s tentacles trembled.
The tips of those tentacles sharpened and shot toward Gabriel at terrifying speed, but Gabriel did not move.
Shrrng!!
At last, the tentacle stopped just before piercing straight through Gabriel’s forehead.
Even then, Gabriel did not so much as flinch.
[Very well. To me, it is nothing more and nothing less than spoils of war anyway.]
Afterward, a sphere of white light gathered at the tip of the tentacle.
“I will repay your trust.”
Keeping his head bowed, Gabriel carefully extended both hands and received it.
[Good. Then do as you wish. Let them come. I have grown weary of hunger.]
The corners of Nyarlathotep’s lips slowly curled upward so subtly that even Yog failed to notice.
“Let us go.”
“Khh…… indeed.”
At Gabriel’s cold voice, Nyarlathotep followed him out of the place.
* * *
“Oh. So then. The power of the Book of Genesis isn’t actually the Book of Fate’s own power, but this?”
It was projecting something of mine that had remained dormant and inactive?
I had never gained such grandiose and absurd power.
After all, most of the Authorities I had obtained through countless regressions had been discarded.
Then the answer was simple.
The ridiculous traits granted by the Book of Genesis were all powers originating from whatever this Hall of the Martial God inside me was.
The Book of Genesis projected that potential within me, bringing it forward in advance and allowing me to use it.
The reason the Hall of Enhancement had been devoured was probably because, as the power of the Book of Genesis grew stronger, it became capable of digging deeper and projecting my inner self more thoroughly.
“No wonder. It only gave me things suited to the situation.”
I still wouldn’t know exactly what the Hall of the Martial God was until I uncovered it myself.
But at the very least, I could conclude that the reason it projected the power I needed was because my own will was unconsciously being reflected.
Will of Immortality?
A resurrection correction?
Perhaps, deep down, I had been harboring anxiety that I might die in this battle.
Suppressing the smile creeping onto my face, I closed the book.
There was nothing I could immediately do with the Book of Genesis anyway.
For now, all I could do was focus on the task at hand.
[Demonic Sword activation rate: 60%]
Like a report, the Librarian informed me of the current situation.
The reason the once-motionless Hall of the Martial God had begun to stir was because of that.
To begin with, Adam, the God of Death who created the soul known as me, had set some kind of plan into motion and left behind both the Demonic Sword and the Fate Lord as arrangements.
Whatever it was, it probably meant it wasn’t to my detriment.
In the first place, how would I know what a God of Death I’d never even met was thinking?
The moment I exited the territory of the Progenitor Dragon, what greeted me was the sight of enormous arms spread across the sky grabbing winged amorphous monsters and tearing them apart.
Every time Baal, seated upon a throne made of pure white bone, stretched out her pale slender fingers, the gigantic arms moved and ripped apart the enemies invading R’lyeh.
The Archangels’ offensive was formidable as well.
Baal only stood out so much because her presence was overwhelming, but in terms of pure combat strength, the Archangels undoubtedly possessed a higher peak.
The enemy assault continued endlessly, but before long, Michael—having finished his preparations—unfurled a massive holy magic circle.
The enormous magic formation covering the heavens soon began raining down spears of brilliant white light, completely purifying and incinerating the monsters crawling up from the archipelago.
Archangels did not tire from battles of this scale.
However, I noticed something strange.
The tips of the Archangels’ wings carried a faint black tint.
“That is…….”
“The price of possessing an ego.”
At the sudden voice, I turned my head to see Baal seated cross-legged upon her throne of bones, looking at me.
“Weren’t you curious, child?”
“Yes.”
“Why the Goddess of Life, Eve, fell to the Outer Gods long ago.”
“Do you know something?”
“It’s because Adam and Eve possessed egos unlike the other transcendental beings of that era~”
Speaking leisurely, she gazed toward the Archangels floating in the sky.
“So. You’d better hurry. They may act fine outwardly, but if they continue being directly exposed to the Outer Gods’ power, who knows what they might become? And besides…….”
She raised her head and looked toward the sky.
“I have a strangely unpleasant feeling.”
Sweeping her gaze across the Archangels, she flicked her hand.
At once, the throne began floating through the air on its own.
“Well then. I’ll leave the next assault to you, okay?”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
* * *
The Demonic Sword’s activation rate rose as though acceleration itself had been applied.
However, Yog’s offensive had decreased to a shocking degree compared to the beginning.
Why?
Arrogance?
Or lack of leisure?
Either way, there was no easy way to be certain.
While the Archangels and Baal held back Yog’s tentacles, I succeeded in completely purifying the outer regions surrounding the destination and advanced inward.
The battle had continued for several days, yet the Archangels showed not the slightest sign of exhaustion.
Baal, on the other hand, constantly groaned that she was dying and kept coming to demand massages from me whenever she had the chance.
It was bizarre behavior, and Luna watched her with a subtly wary expression, but strangely enough, Baal kept asking me about what had happened between myself and the Archangels.
As though she were trying to confirm something.
[Demonic Sword activation rate: 90%]
The Demonic Sword’s activation rate had entered ninety percent.
However, compared to the pace before reaching ninety percent, the progress had slowed drastically to the point it was obvious.
Still, that did not mean the results were entirely bad.
The moment the activation rate reached ninety percent, a new power awakened automatically from the Book of Genesis.
[The Book of Genesis projects your potential.]
[Unique Authority ‘Subspace’ granted.]
Subspace?
What was this supposed to be?
This time there wasn’t even an explanation.
And when I tried to use it, it refused to manifest according to my will.
Some kind of dimensional storage?
But I already had one active.
Besides, dimensional storage itself wasn’t exactly some absurdly special ability.
Luna possessed her own unique subspace, and so did I.
Plenty of others had unique subspaces as well.
Which meant this was likely something somewhat different from what I knew.
Of course, since I couldn’t use it, there was no way to know for now.
But that wasn’t what was truly ruining my mood.
Kwoooong!!!!
“How many people did they mash together into that thing?”
A gigantic lifeform hundreds of meters tall collapsed with a horrifying scream.
After completely shredding it apart with Pragarach, I stared coldly at the fallen monster.
The grotesque thing resembled human bodies stitched together haphazardly, and it was far more nauseating than merely a matter of mental corruption.
Yeah.
No ordinary monster looked like this.
Were the screams they let out as they died the screams of people thrown into suffering?
Or were they simply imitating what humans once were after even their souls had been corrupted and crushed apart?
Either way, it wasn’t pleasant.
“Child.”
The moment I yanked Pragarach free from the monster’s head, Baal—who had been seated upon her throne of bones influencing the entire battlefield—approached me.
“Why are you here?”
“You’re about to push inside, aren’t you?”
“……Yes.”
“Yeah. I figured as much. I’ve already informed the others. From now on, I’ll carve out the path for you.”
The immense burden caused by her absence would now fall upon the Archangels, but she had chosen to side with me.
According to the original plan, we were supposed to retreat around this point.
The Archangels’ consumption had become greater than expected, and only the deepest core remained.
The moment we entered now, we would have to see this through to the very end.
“You speak as though you know me very well.”
The one who answered wasn’t Baal.
“Baal specializes in discernment. If she’s spoken with Leon a few times, she can practically see through his thoughts.”
So that was it?
When I looked at Baal with slight surprise, she giggled.
“Raphael’s right. That sort of thing is my specialty.”
Chuckling, she waved her hand.
Kwaaaang!!!!
At the same time, something resembling a grotesque mouth burst out from empty space, and the white arm extending from within seized and crushed the monstrous creatures attempting an ambush.
“And one more thing.”
“What now?”
“Gabriel’s movements have been a little strange.”
“Excuse me?”
With a subtle expression, she rubbed her chin.
“It feels off. From my perspective, knowing Gabriel’s personality, there’s something ever so slightly unnatural about his behavior.”
Once she said that much, there was no way I couldn’t understand the implication.
“You don’t mean… you suspect Gabriel might be a traitor?”
“I’m not at the stage of certainty. It’s such a faint sense of dissonance that I’m hoping it’s just my imagination.”
“If it’s Gabriel of all people… there’s no way……. Then shouldn’t we retreat instead?”
“No. It’s already too late. If he truly is the traitor I suspect him to be……”
She raised her head.
Following her gaze, I looked up as well, and my eyes widened slightly.
“Yeah. Then this is what would happen.”
The colossal storm of power surging upward from the center toward the heavens, along with the swirling clouds filling the sky, were ripped apart and scattered.
And then, the change began.
The sky… turned red.
And despite it not being time for the moon to rise, a crimson moon appeared, shedding energy like bloody tears.
Just looking at it felt chilling, as though the moon itself were staring directly at me.
The oppressive pressure it emitted was on an entirely different level from the crimson moons I had seen before.
As though it were saying that now… it was truly watching.
Soon after, the sky distorted and tore apart in countless places, and grotesque amorphous tentacles began ripping through space and emerging into reality.
The instant Luna saw it, she went pale and muttered,
“The seal…… it’s all being undone…….”
A chilling sensation made every hair on my body stand on end.
Until now, the Outer God Yog had been unable to properly wield his power because of the Supreme God’s seal.
Even this current rampage was merely the result of recovering half his strength.
But the moment that seal was fully undone, defeating him would become, theoretically speaking, nearly impossible.
Which was why she was saying that this was our only chance.
“I was foolish. I should have confirmed things more thoroughly…… I assumed an Archangel could never betray us, so I never even considered the possibility that the traitor was among them.”
“Why would Gabriel possibly…….”
“Who knows. I’d like to ask him myself. The Archangels—especially the Three Great Archangels—harbor hostility toward Yog far greater than the others. So why would he suddenly betray us…….”
That was the part that made the least sense.
Whatever his objective, he had become the cause behind the deaths of hundreds of thousands across the Phainas Archipelago.
She admitted it cleanly.
“From this point onward, we have to assume Gabriel is an enemy.”
Was it precisely because he differed from the other stubbornly rigid Archangels that such a possibility existed?
I wanted to ask more, but there was no way to face him right now.
Slowly, she raised her slender hand high and swept it through the air.
Black smoke shot upward into the sky.
At the same time, the white lights spread throughout the heavens moved at once, as though they had all received the signal.
“Lady Baal?”
“Yeah, change of plans. Every Archangel has to be prepared to die if we’re going to finish him off. Otherwise, everything ends here.”
Every Archangel prepared for death.
I knew exactly how heavy those words were.
The Archangels were beings one could call immortal without exaggeration, yet even they were now preparing to die in order to create an opportunity.
Seriousness filled the expression of the woman who had always seemed playful and cheerful.
“The same goes for me. I’ll risk my life and open the path. Because from what I can see, you’re the only one capable of dealing any real fatal blow to Yog.”
It wasn’t a matter of differences in strength.
It was the difference between possibility and impossibility.
Michael was powerful enough to be called the might of God, but he was not a Supreme God.
Seated upon her throne of bones, Baal began moving both hands like a conductor.
Kkrrrraaaack!!!!
At once, the ground all around shattered as gigantic skeletal arms burst forth, and behind her, an enormous skeleton hundreds of meters tall slowly began rising to its feet.
“So? Can you do it?”
At the same time, the ground cracked apart in countless places with loud tearing sounds, and something began crawling out from within.
Its entire body was as hard as metal, and grotesque sections covered its surface as though human faces had been pressed into it like clay.
Faces filled with despair twisted endlessly, screaming silently.
The moment the monster revealed itself, it thrust a blade-like hand straight toward my heart.
“Leon!”
Ignoring Luna’s shocked cry, I spun the sheathed Pragarach once and corrected my grip while continuing to stare at Baal.
It was a fatal speed—so fast that dodging or blocking seemed impossible.
However.
Shrrng…….
The foundation of the Nameless Sword I had mastered was the countering sword.
Blackish-purple blood splattered everywhere as Pragarach’s blade—already drenched in blood before I even realized it—tore through the air.
The monster that had been thrusting its blade toward me as though it alone moved in a different flow of time suddenly collapsed apart.
“When has anything ever happened while considering my circumstances?”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]