Chapter 187 – Seed of Void

“If the explanation is roughly sufficient, let us now attend to our business.”

Having finished explaining the situation, Non activated his Stellar Body and turned his gaze toward Rough and Blundell.

Swoosh— Swoosh—

Just as Utangka had done, the two Divine Spirits also performed Spirit Overlay, merging with Non into a single Divine Form.

With four Quasi-Apostle Rank Divine Spirits, each capable of perceiving Divine Domains, overlapping, an aura almost indistinguishable from that of an Apostle flowed forth.

“Constellation Descent? No, it seems too small for that… What is that?”

Having fought against Prometheus, an Apostle, Mirkala seemed to have experienced Constellation Descent, as she immediately thought of it upon seeing the Stellar Body.

“It is the pinnacle of a constitution called the Heavenly Martial Sacred Body. Through this, we have gained a kind of prerogative that allows us to overlap with those we have connections with and Primal Spirit Gods, reaching an even higher level.”

“Then, might this maiden also be able to join in that overlay?”

Upon hearing Non’s explanation, Mirkala politely requested to be included in the Spirit Overlay.

This was because she knew the will of Lee Hanseong, who existed behind them.

Swoosh.

Just as she had seen Pheidippides in Hyu’s Reverse World through Rough when crossing the boundary between the continent and the Reverse Side in the past, her profound gaze looked upon the consciousness of Lee Hanseong dwelling within the four Divine Spirits.

At the moment she was first freed from Prometheus’s seal, she had mistaken Pheidippides for the Herald of the Sun.

But after witnessing the History Alterations unfolded for Rough, Blundell, and other spirits, she now knew that the true mastermind behind her release was Lee Hanseong.

Thanks to this, she easily accepted that Rough and Blundell, who had been insignificant mortals from her perspective, had become True Gods in a short time.

Likewise, she readily accepted that Non and Utangka, who had become True Gods unlike when she saw them through the Dream Fantasy World, had come and performed this Spirit Overlay.

No, beyond accepting it, she was now trying to join the Stellar Body.

Judging from what she had seen so far, she believed that siding with Lee Hanseong would render threats like Prometheus completely insignificant.

“I’m sorry, but that would be difficult now.”

However, Lee Hanseong could not grant Mirkala’s request.

“…Why is that? Is it because this maiden is lacking?”

“It is not that your abilities are insufficient to join the Stellar Body.”

This History Alteration for History Fixation is the final alteration, one that will be fixed so that even he cannot alter it afterward.

An intuition told him that only the twelve spirits who had directly contracted with Lee Hanseong should be the spirits overlapped in the Stellar Body.

The moment the twelve spirits contracted with Lee Hanseong overlap, rather than the individual identities of each spirit, the consciousness of Lee Hanseong—who contracted with them and dwelled within them to lead the History Alterations—would become even more distinct.

Only by making all twelve spirits into True Gods within history and overlapping them in the Stellar Body could their becoming Apostles of the Twelve Constellations at the Crossroads of Ascension lead to Lee Hanseong’s Ascension.

The key was to engrave Lee Hanseong’s existence into the fixed history not merely as the contractor of the twelve spirits, but as their master.

“This is a kind of ritual. Only the predetermined twelve can join our Stellar Body.”

“This maiden is not included among those twelve…”

Mirkala realized that no matter what she said, she could not join the Stellar Body and showed a disappointed expression.

But she soon changed her thoughts and made another proposal.

“Then, at least allow me to simply watch your journey from the sidelines!”

“That much is certainly possible.”

There was no reason to refuse companionship, so Non readily nodded.

Thus began the journey of the Unified Entity formed by the four Divine Spirits and Mirkala across Arpelgia.

* * *

“But, where will you go now? Prometheus can no longer interfere with us, so shall we also deal with the remaining Nosferatu?”

“Hmm. It seems that doing so would not greatly affect the fixed history. Let’s do that for now.”

After briefly reviewing Henrietta’s fixed history, Non agreed to Mirkala’s suggestion.

Since Henrietta up to 5-Star had only lived in monster colonies near the Path of the Fairies, there would be no problem even if the Nosferatu kingdom disappeared.

Although her monster legion spread across the continent when she completed her 6-Star Promotion.

Even then, thanks to the fate of the <Protagonist> shared by Rough, she had no particular clashes with the Nosferatu.

And during the Great War between Earth and the Otherworld, Prometheus invaded alone, not accompanied by other Nosferatu or True Ancestors.

So, even if the vampire nobles all disappeared during this period, it would not contradict historical plausibility.

“Then it’s decided! It’s been a while since I last fed.”

Seeming excited at the thought of being able to feed on blood after a long time, Mirkala licked her lips with her tongue, savoring the anticipation.

“Follow me. If it hasn’t changed since before this maiden was sealed, there should definitely be Dukes in this direction.”

“Dukes? Do you mean True Ancestors?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Among Nosferatu, 7-Star are Barons, 8-Star are Viscounts, 9-Star are Counts.

At 10-Star, they become Marquises, and at 11-Star, True Ancestors become Dukes.

“How many Dukes are there in Arpelgia?”

“Vlad, Tepes, and the Duke—three in total. Originally there were more, but this maiden caught and ate them all before being sealed.”

“Huh?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Why did you refer to the Duke that came after Vlad and Tepes not by name, but simply as ‘the Duke’?”

“Because the Duke is the Duke?”

Seeing Mirkala not finding her own words strange, Lee Hanseong suddenly recalled the situation that had occurred on Earth.

The names of originally famous individuals, such as the Ten Great Guild Masters and promising candidates of the Heavenly Palace Tournament, had not existed.

‘It was called the Seed of Void, wasn’t it?’

It seemed that the Outer Gods had not only meddled on Earth.

Since Blundell was joined in the Stellar Body, assuming there was a Seed of Void, he deployed Void Detection.

Ziiing— Hum! Hum! Hum!

Senses spreading out like radar detected not a few traces of Void.

Pointing in the direction of the closest and largest trace, he asked.

“Is that where that so-called Duke is?”

“Yes! How did you know?”

“As expected, that was it…. Let’s deal with that Duke first.”

Leaving them alone could make them an unpredictable variable, so Non, using Void Detection as a guidepost, prioritized targeting beings harboring Seeds of Void.

Thud, thud.

Click-clack, click-clack.

With Prometheus, the Apostle of the Epicenter, sealed, there were only two opponents on the Arpelgia Continent who could pose a threat to them.

One was Azathoth, the Apostle of the Wind Constellation, sleeping in the Dream Stratum.

The other was Adam Kadmon, the Apostle of the Clay Constellation.

However, Azathoth was asleep, so he posed no particular threat.

At most, he could send True Gods subordinate to his dreams, but.

Since Shud Muel, Shub Niggurath, Cthugha, and others had already been dealt with, there would likely be no significant intervention for the time being.

‘No, wait.’

Lee Hanseong was about to exclude Azathoth from his thoughts when he recalled that Gobhan had been killed by the Apostle of the Wind Constellation and changed his mind.

‘If Azathoth is asleep and cannot move, how did Gobhan die?’

He briefly revisited the scene Rough had seen in Henrietta’s dream.

How had Gobhan, leading Henrietta’s monster legion spreading across the continent with Overwhelming Momentum, died?

At the time, he thought it was a mere coincidence that he met Azathoth and died, but that wasn’t it.

‘It wasn’t coincidence; it was inevitability.’

The Domain where Gobhan had set foot at that time was the central gathering place of the Path of the Fairies.

There were also many Nightmares, and countless Dream Fairy Paths overlapped, forming a dream world like Rough’s Dream Fantasy World—[Dreamland].

Because he entered that place, Gobhan encountered Azathoth within the dream.

‘Dreamland. We’ll have to go there eventually, too.’

According to the results of Void Detection, there were also Seeds of Void inside Dreamland.

So, an encounter with Azathoth seemed unavoidable.

Fortunately, knowing the opponent’s location meant they could control the timing of that meeting on their terms.

In that sense, Adam Kadmon was an unpredictable variable.

Usually indistinguishable from ordinary humans, making his whereabouts unknown, yet capable of exerting power equivalent to two overlapped Apostles even without Constellation Authority.

Even with the current Stellar Body, which had reached Apostle Rank, the chances of winning against Adam Kadmon were low.

‘Fortunately, all the Divine Spirits joined in the Stellar Body have transcended the human species.’

Utangka and Non have become Primal Gods, Rough has become a Vein, and Blundell has become a Great Demon King.

So, Adam Kadmon’s ability to plunder Human Karma would not work on them.

Moreover, Mirkala is also not human but a True Ancestor.

‘Even if we fight, we can avoid being completely overwhelmed.’

If Henrietta also becomes a True God and joins the Stellar Body, they could likely defeat even Adam Kadmon.

Until Henrietta’s era arrives, the goal should be to avoid fights as much as possible and deal with the Seeds of Void.

The starting point was the nameless True Ancestor, the Duke.

* * *

“…Mad Blood Duke! Hyaaaaah!”

Upon seeing Mirkala, the Duke attempted to flee but was caught in an instant, with fangs sinking into his neck.

Sluuuurp!

In an instant, all the Divine Blood in his body was sucked dry, leaving the Duke desiccated like a mummy.

Witnessing this series of events, one could understand how the Mad Blood Duke became the nightmare of vampires.

Within the space influenced by her Authority, Solar Blood, vampires had their Grade lowered.

Even True Ancestors were degraded as if they had suffered Divine Fall, so vampires below that level were literally nothing but prey for Mirkala.

Pssssss…

Eventually, even the blood needed to maintain the mummified body was completely drained, and the Duke’s corpse crumbled, leaving only a handful of ashes.

Only then did the Seed of Void, which had been reacting to Void Detection, disappear.

“Fortunately, it seems the Seed can be eliminated simply by killing.”

Being merely a seed, it seemed that if dealt with before it bloomed, it would be annihilated normally.

“Next is over there.”

“Yes!”

Thus began a journey of eliminating those harboring Seeds of Void, starting with the Duke.

“Uwaaak!”

“The Mad Blood Duke has been released!”

“Please, s-spare me…”

Except for one or two among the Marquises, Counts, Viscounts, and Barons, most harbored Seeds of Void, which naturally led to the downfall of the Nosferatu Kingdom.

In fact, during this process, Non did nothing but guide the way.

Not a single vampire could escape or resist before Mirkala, who easily fed even on the Duke, a True Ancestor.

“With this, all the Seeds of Void among the vampires have been dealt with. Next, we go outside the vampire territory.”

“Agreed.”

After destroying the vampire kingdom, they headed outside its territory and hunted beings among the Transcendent Species or Mythological Species monsters settled across the continent who harbored Seeds of Void.

Since the opponents were not specifically vampires, Mirkala seemed less enthusiastic, but it didn’t matter.

Unlike the vampires, most of whom harbored Seeds of Void, very few among the monsters harbored them, so the hunt did not last long.

“It seems there are no more among the monsters either. We should head there soon.”

Now, only the Seeds of Void inside Dreamland, where Azathoth resided, remained.

Thud, thud.

Click-clack, click-clack.

Knowing it was a Domain where an Apostle resided, neither let their guard down as they moved.

And finally, the moment they set foot in Dreamland.

Rustle, rustle.

The presence of another being reached their ears.

Non’s gaze turned toward the direction of the sound.

There, a True Ancestor in the form of a black spider with a human face and red eyes was moving along a spiderweb.

“Nightmare of Binding, Atlach-Nacha!”

The mythology flowing in through observation revealed its identity.

The fear of being bound to the stifling, gloomy fate harbored by humans living as blood bags for vampires or as playthings in fairy villages.

Combined with the fear of the upper classes existing among vampires strictly divided by class, this nightmare gave birth to Atlach-Nacha.

Because the mindset of viewing one’s surrounding environment itself as binding manifested in the form of spiderwebs, Atlach-Nacha typically surrounded Dreamland with webs to create a boundary.

Therefore, it was only natural that the two who set foot in Dreamland encountered Atlach-Nacha.

―Kreek?

As if sensing the intruders’ presence, Atlach-Nacha raised its head and met Non’s eyes.

Immediately after, its red eyes flashed.

Whooshahahahak!

The spiderwebs spread across the area all surged at once, covering Non and Mirkala.

“Spiderwebs can just be burned!”

Whoosh!

Mirkala manifested Solar Blood in the form of flames to block Atlach-Nacha’s webs, but.

Atlach-Nacha’s webs were not ordinary.

His webs, endowed with the Authority of [Binding], could even bind the flames of Solar Blood.

For Mirkala, the best she could do was prevent the webs from approaching beyond a certain distance.

The problem was that Atlach-Nacha’s webs also served as a kind of alarm.

Blink— Thump!

Disturbed by the commotion at the entrance of Dreamland, Azathoth, residing within Dreamland, blinked.

It was not awakening from sleep.

It was merely a movement akin to sleep-talking, but its aftermath could not be ignored.

Suddenly, near Non, a Nightmare born from the Authority of Dream Creation manifested in the form of a ‘Boiling Vortex of Chaos’ and tried to swallow him.

“All-Purpose Restraining Rope!”

Had it not been for Rough’s Authority of Nightmare Restraint, focused and deployed, it would have been dangerous.

But even after narrowly escaping danger, Non could not relax.

“…Why are you already here?!”

Because a being who should not be here now had appeared near the Boiling Vortex of Chaos bound by the All-Purpose Restraining Rope.