Chapter 312

[Free me?]

PSSSSHH—

The Anomaly made a sound like air leaking from a vessel.

At the unexpected reaction, Lord fell silent.

Accept or refuse.

He had expected the Anomaly to choose one of the two.

Yet instead, it chose neither.

[How disappointing.]

Its response was unmistakably filled with disappointment.

[You still cannot leave this place?]

Lord asked, recalling the conversation they had shared in the past.

[If that is the problem, there is no need to worry. With my Authority, I can……]

[Space.]

[…….]

[With that power, you could probably take me out of this place.]

The Anomaly spoke in a much clearer voice.

‘This form again.’

The Anomaly alternated between rational and irrational states.

Lord did not know which was its original state, but one thing was certain: it was far easier to converse with when it was like this.

[You still do not understand your own position.]

Lord nodded, signaling for it to continue.

[I have ‘accepted’ your characteristics.]

It was referring to Radiance and Curses.

During their first encounter, it had taken Radiance, the defining characteristic of divinity. During their second, it had taken the Authority of Curses.

[‘I’ know about ‘you.’]

It meant that by taking two aspects of his power, it had come to understand him.

[You have become rather insolent.]

[Insolent?]

[Yes. Do not speak as though taking merely two powers has taught you everything about the world. To begin with, you are not a life-form of this world.]

The place inhabited by the Anomaly was a passage leading to the Abyss.

Lord did not know why it had become the existence guarding that passage, but.

[In the end, you are nothing more than a gatekeeper.]

[…….]

[A foreigner who is not even permitted to enter my world.]

He insulted it.

He wanted to provoke some kind of reaction from the Anomaly.

If it reacted, that reaction might help him understand it.

[Wrong.]

[…….]

[You are different from when you last came here. You have weakened enough for me to read your thoughts.]

Read his thoughts.

That must have meant the Insight possessed by Lord and his brothers.

[You have become quite talkative since we last met, Anomaly.]

He was the first divine being and the origin of all gods.

The existence before him was no exception.

[Who do you think gave you your name and power?]

[Puhuhuhuhu. Lord…… Looooord…….]

[…….]

[You truly know nothing, do you?]

The Anomaly’s voice grew lighter.

At the same time, mockery seeped into it.

No one else could have treated Lord this way.

[Of course you would not. You are a possibility that was never guided by anyone.]

Displeasure surged within him at those incomprehensible words.

It was always like this.

Whenever he spoke with the Anomaly, irritation rose within him until it was nearly impossible to contain.

[You were planning to take me out of this place and overturn the Laws of the World, weren’t you?]

It was true.

By becoming the Godslayer, Adamas had changed the Laws of the World.

Gods were no longer immortal, and even Lord, the first god, was no exception.

Building temples and receiving worship from humans was merely one method.

Even that was not a complete solution.

If he wished to avoid Degradation and remain master of the world, he ultimately had to reshape the laws in his favor.

His brothers…….

[Because your brothers are incomplete beings.]

[Now you even insult my brothers.]

Anger entered Lord’s voice.

RUMBLE—

The space itself trembled merely because he revealed his emotions.

WHISTLE—

The Anomaly, wearing Lord’s appearance, whistled.

Unconcerned by the trembling space, it continued.

[You already know, don’t you? Only you were ever complete.]

[To insult my brothers is to insult me.]

[From the moment you separated your Authorities, you became a different existence.]

He had not simply grown weaker.

[You were altered.]

[…….]

[From an absolute being with countless possibilities into prey frightened by the possibilities of mortals.]

The Anomaly smirked.

The twisted curve of its lips sharpened the mockery in its words.

[It must have been difficult. I am probably the only one who can understand you.]

[You are spouting nonsense.]

Lord raised a hand and aimed it at the Anomaly.

[You do not understand.]

[No. I am the only one who can.]

FWOOSH—

Radiance bloomed around the Anomaly.

The Curses it had kept hidden until now began to seep out one after another.

‘It expanded the Authority of Curses this far?’

It was not merely something like poison.

Poison possessed the greatest destructive power among them, but hundreds of other Curses, each nearly as formidable, had been mixed together.

[You…….]

Lord realized it only then.

The Curses radiated by the Anomaly were imitations of the Authorities he himself had once possessed.

Radiance and Curses.

By taking only those two powers, the Anomaly had already drawn close to what Lord had been in the beginning.

[‘I’ am ‘you.’]

[…….]

[‘You’ can become ‘me.’]

And thus.

[We become ‘us.’ And this……]

[…….]

[Is a gift.]

WHOOSH—

The Radiance filling the area flowed into Lord.

He could have rejected it if he had wished.

He did not.

The information entering him now was something any god needed to know.

[Everything began with the Constellation War.]

Along with the Anomaly’s voice.

The truth of the world was engraved into him.

***

In the world ‘outside,’ Constellations existed.

They were beings who had surpassed the amount of Existence Force their home planets could contain and emerged beyond them.

Every one of them had been called a god or an absolute being on the planet of their origin.

Each one was a Lord.

Those who emerged outside were called Lower Constellations, while those of greater presence were classified as Mid-ranking Constellations and High-ranking Constellations.

And then.

There were Constellations so immense that they could encompass the countless Constellations originating from a single planet.

Only a handful of such beings existed throughout the vast universe, and they were called Great Constellations.

[You were not the one who gave me my name.]

The pressure felt as though his mind would be crushed apart.

[I am the master of countless Constellations.]

The Anomaly.

[It was no coincidence that you encountered me.]

His presence trembled beneath the enormous power.

[Accept me.]

Helplessness.

Lord gasped at an emotion he was experiencing for the first time.

[Offer your potential to me, you who possess the potential to become a Constellation.]

If he answered that he would do so right now, he could escape this panic.

HACK—

An unfamiliar sound escaped Lord’s mouth.

He poured out every remaining Authority and resisted.

RIP—!

He forcibly tore space open.

After hiding himself within the ruptured space.

CRUNCH—!

He sealed the entrance behind him.

[Haa…… Haa…….]

Lord raised his head, breathing heavily.

Had he remained there even a little longer, he would have been devoured.

[How absurd…….]

The world they inhabited was not safe.

He recalled the Constellation War he had glimpsed for only a moment.

Before those beings, even transcendent gods would be no more than mortals.

‘We would be treated like insects, stripped of our power, and erased.’

The Constellations outside could invade this place at any time.

[I have to tell my brothers.]

The instant he formed that thought.

SWISH—

His body was already inside the Divine Realm.

He had used the Authority of Space instinctively.

[Oh, Lord?]

When he turned his head, he saw a lower god.

A brother who had returned to the Divine Realm after being defeated by Adamas.

The other gods who noticed Lord’s arrival approached one after another.

[What brings you here?]

[I thought once you entered the Divine Realm, you could never leave again.]

The gods, unaware of the Authority he possessed, reacted with confusion.

[Did you finally get tired of life outside too, Lord?]

[There’s only so much fun you can have playing with lesser beings.]

[Good choice, Lord. Come play with us.]

[Everything here is infinite, isn’t it?]

[I wish the others would just ignore their duties and come inside too.]

[There are way too many stubborn ones.]

Dozens of gods chattered noisily around him.

[…….]

Every one of them had once been a part separated from his own body.

There were brothers slain by Adamas, as well as those who had abandoned their divine duties and entered the Divine Realm of their own accord.

Those he had called his brothers were sprawled about, drunk on a liquid called Nectar.

[Lord, you don’t look so good.]

[Kekeke. Are you drunk? What kind of stupid thing are you saying?]

[As if Lord even has a face. Uh……?]

[Lord……?]

His shoulders shook.

[Heh…… Puhuhuhu…….]

Laughter leaked from his mouth.

[I suppose I expected too much.]

[Lord……?]

[Do not speak my name with those filthy mouths.]

[W-What…….]

The bewildered god trailed off.

Lord had always been kind and benevolent toward them.

His current reaction was utterly unfamiliar.

[You are not worthy of being my brothers.]

SNATCH—!

Lord seized the throat of one god who was still cautiously watching his mood.

[Urk…… Why are you…….]

The god never finished speaking.

All that happened was this.

HISSS—

Its body shrank in proportion to the Divine Power being sucked out of it.

It shrank and shrank until its divinity could diminish no further.

POOF—

And then it vanished completely.

[…….]

Silence descended at the sudden turn of events.

[Lord, what is…….]

Someone tried to speak.

[There is one thing I never told you.]

Lord did not permit the others to continue.

[Among the Authorities remaining within me is ‘Devouring.’]

The Authority of Devouring consumes everything.

Whatever it consumes is converted into Lord’s own power.

Every god here was an existence that had once been one of his Authorities.

If he devoured them, those Authorities would simply return to him without anything being lost.

[Yes. This is how it should have been from the beginning.]

The gods separated from him were incomplete.

When he discovered the Laws of the World and when the Godslayer called Adamas was born.

[I should have acknowledged that you were different from me.]

He could delay no longer.

The Laws of the World were no longer the only problem.

Sooner or later, the Constellations outside would reach this place.

When that happened, everything would end.

[I will protect my world.]

As he was now, he could not control the Anomaly.

To control it and protect his world, he needed to become complete once more.

[Lord!]

[Have you lost your mind?! You killed our brother!!]

[You’re insane!!]

The furious shouts of those who had once been his brothers no longer mattered.

Only one thing did.

[All of you, return to me.]

The gods erupted in resistance as Lord bared his teeth.

CRUNCH—!

Some were devoured whole.

HISSS—

Others had their Divine Power drained first.

[I trust you.]

CRACK—!

There were even those who did not resist and willingly offered up their own divinity.

Lord made no distinction.

He devoured them all.

That day.

Dozens of divine beings residing in the Divine Realm vanished completely.

***

Outside the Divine Realm.

[Lord. So you finally did it.]

Cronis murmured.

Despite his quiet tone, his body was trembling.

Through his Authority, he had witnessed the deaths of his brothers in vivid detail.

[Was that the future?]

Styx, standing beside him, asked.

[No. It is the present.]

[…….]

[Lord is an existence above us. Even I cannot see far into his future.]

[So he finally made that choice.]

[What in the world did he see beyond the Boundary……?]

They knew that, unlike them, Lord possessed multiple Authorities.

They also knew that he could use those powers to move between the Divine Realm and the Boundary.

They had never asked because they understood that he did not wish to answer.

Even a parent could have things he wanted to keep hidden.

[What happens to us now?]

[…….]

The brothers who had vanished would soon be forgotten, and their temples would become Abandoned Temples.

And then.

[Lord intends to devour us as well.]