Chapter 1137: ’Verification’

"What the f*ck????" Alice mumbled as she turned her eyes towards the source.

The moment she laid her eyes on that ’thing’ she felt a stinging pain in her mind as she was forced to take her eyes off it.

[I don’t suggest looking at him right now. He’s in the process of maturing into a fully fledged Outer God. But I don’t know what Nyer has done to him since his status is weird.] Cayla quickly warned Alice.

She had made sure she didn’t use her power with Alyss the moment they noticed the issues. But Alice’s return was so sudden she couldn’t prepare for it.

Clutching her eye, Alice quickly navigated the Void Realm with Ruby while Cayla brought her up to date.

The more she listened, the deeper Alice’s frown became.

Flicking her wrist, golden chains manifested briefly as the rust could be seen on the edge.

*CRACK!!!

While Alice’s mind was distracted momentarily, cracks appeared in the air as the space was torn apart by corruption. Fiendish claws reached out in an attempt to lock Alice down but she quickly shifted her weight on Ruby.

Weaving through the grabs, she jumped from the weapon, allowing it to evade on its own while creating blood platforms for herself.

Snapping her fingers, energy converged into an orb above her finger and she took aim at the claws.

Void Flux!

*BANG!!!

Firing a sequence of abilities, Alice fell towards the ground as Ruby quickly caught her.

However, the claws hardly took any damage. Whatever injuries they sustained quickly disappeared.

Alice frowned.

Even without Cayla, she could see how strange this energy was. It didn’t behave in the way energy should be. In fact, neither Alice nor Cayla could find a reference in their databases.

Alice’s flames may seem similar but the foundation of their powers were completely different.

Strange, too strange!

"Urgh.... Hng.... Nyer... Damn you... Nyer!" The figure submerged in strange energy groaned, clutching at his own head.

The power running rampant inside his own body yet being contained at the same time.

Anchoring himself into the realm, the world started to mutate as more and more limbs started to attack the group.

By this point, both Allura and Karya had noticed that Alice has returned.

"Alice! No matter what, don’t use your personal realm or any abilities relating to the soul!" Allura shouted out while Karya’s feathers helped relieve her burden.

"This thing is maturing. It’s trying to obtain a ’name’ but something is getting in the way." Karya added calmly.

Though her fatigue was now through the roof, there was nothing she could do about it.

She could only continue to counter the corruption with her own feathers while keeping Allura safe.

If it was up to her, she would’ve called for a retreat long ago but Allura hadn’t said anything yet. Thus she must fight.

"A name?" Alice furrowed her brows.

She recalled her discussions with a certain Outer God. She recalled everything she knew about their nature.

The fact that the very ’definition’ of this creature’s existence was missing and that he was in the process of obtaining one rang warning bells in Alice’s mind.

Why now?

Last she saw him, he seemed to have a human form and listened to Nyer’s commands.

But now? He was in pain and uttered Nyer’s name with such hatred.

Something must’ve happened in the time she hadn’t seen him. Something that Nyer caused.

She turned her eyes to the areas affected by the Outer God rather than the Outer God directly.

Her eyes couldn’t handle it after all and she wasn’t sure why.

But the same couldn’t be said for Revenant Recollection!

Activating her skill, Alice was stunned.

Her shocked gaze turned back to the Outer God with Cayla deactivated.

"Sh*t! It’s a trap!" Alice shouted but it was already too late.

Around them, mist drifted into the realm, forming a giant dome that prevented the escape of Alice, Karya and Allura.

Like the mist in the Nightmare, they weren’t allowed to leave until either they or the boss was dead.

And in this instance, the boss was the Outer God.

###

It was an unexpected windfall being able to gain full control of the Void. Without this, he had half expected Alice and the others to escape.

The ’good’ outcome would be for the progress of obtaining the ’new’ name to reach at least 50%.

But as it stands?

The odds of reaching completion was high.

"Nyer! I thought you said I don’t need to hold back anymore. So why did you sent him to cause trouble?" The girl next to him pouted while throwing soft punches against his thigh.

Light thuds echoed out as Nyer picked her up with a chuckle.

"You don’t need to hold back. Whatever he does, don’t mind him. Right now, he’s in the process of being observed. Regardless of whether or not he’s in the Surface, Abyss or Void, this kind of corruption is unavoidable." Nyer smiled.

"In fact, there are marks left behind in other realms already."

This experiment was a rather... simple one.

To put simply, can he bring forth a being that shouldn’t be allowed into this world without any issues?

To bring forth something fundamentally rejected by this realm’s laws through a series of requirements.

For Velouria, it’s not simply a case of reconstructing her soul and finding a right vessel.

It is also a matter of ensuring that this world can withstand her presence, that it can accept and integrate Velouria into its history.

Without this, there will always be a disconnect between her and the realm. A disconnect that would cause friction with her power, authority and even the stabilization of her soul.

It hadn’t been an issue on his mind before as he assumed simply replacing the soul within the vessel was enough.

But that’s not the case.

Even with a ’false’ true name, even with the layers of disguises, so long as there is some aspect that is recognised as ’Velouria’, there will always be desynchronisation and issues later on.

After all, so long as it’s Velouria, her can’t obscure every single trace of her left in history.

Her name, authority, history, concept, buildings, memories.

Every single person who interacts with this world will leave behind some kind of record. A spider web of actions that will trace back to a core origin.

It doesn’t even have to be them leaving a mark directly. Someone else recalling a name, an achievement, an action, will also leave behind a trace that would link up with the web known as Velouria.

To disguise everything and hide her existence was... impossible.

The moment someone notices the discrepancy, his plan will fall apart at the seams.

However...

That’s where the Outer Gods come into play.

Beings outside of their world yet desire to invade all the same.

They wish to stay true to their nature and obtain bountiful treasures from their world.

The rejection of them is similar to the rejection of Velouria.

If he simply brought them through, even with the loophole that he discovered, they would soon be ejected from the world. And if the outside can’t accept them, they’ll be erased.

And that was not the outcome he wanted for Velouria.

Therefore he had another experiment idea.

One that would make full use of the Unnamed Outer God’s origin.

How he had been manufactured by the people of this world in order to access a new source of power.

Their folly shall become the foundation of this experiment.

And if it succeeds...

A smile stretched across his face.

The Unnamed Outer God is not just a simple catalyst. He is not simply an anchor to bring forth and Outer that can be accepted into their world. No, his role is to also act as an ’observer’.

Or at least, the starting point of one. A hook to pull in multiple threads in order to ’verify’ someone’s existence.

He is there to allow something that fundamentally cannot be observed or exist to become observed and acceptable.

To allow whoever descends into his body to ’observe’ itself through the perception of others. Thus forming a loop to anchor himself down into a false history turned true.

Every person who sees him contributes information to push forth with the verification.

Every ability, every attempt to understand, every wound, every battle.

Every thought questioning on what it might be.

All of it will serve to provide more and more information to give the Outer God its ’form’.

And thus, the world is brought to its knees to ask a single, moment defining question.

To face the being it had refused to accept and question: What is this?

And in that moment, in the instant that the world askes this question, an answer must be brought forth. It cannot leave this answer blank.

A name must be given. An identity.

An origin.

Thus, they become part of this world.

They become a citizen.

Through the Unnamed Outer God, observers outside this world and even... souls that shouldn’t be allowed to return, can become an inhabitant with a new identity.

Just as how there are multiple people with the same name, they too shall be allowed to exist.

A second Velouria will be given a chance to come forth.

So he had only one hope for the Unnamed Outer.

An abandoned child that he picked up on a whim.

Please hold on and don’t disappoint me.

For that is the only use of his existence. This poor and abandoned creature who has no name and identity.

He is to become the stepping stone that brings forth confirmation of Nyer’s goal.

His sacrifice will give Nyer everything he needs to call Velouria into this world.