Chapter 193 – To Arthalia

“You’re late.”

“It didn’t seem like you needed any help.”

Duren’s original will spoke up, annoyed by the sight of him arriving after everything was over, and Non shrugged in response.

If he had wanted to come sooner, he could have done so easily, but if Non, an Apostle-level being, had intervened, Hanna would have struggled to process the future records.

“Is it because of Dice?”

“Well, that’s part of it.”

And crucially, the presence of Dice, the Dark Apostle, who was in an Apostle Duel with Blundell, was the problem.

There was no telling how Dice would react when faced with Blundell, who was in a Spirit Overlay state within Non’s Stellar Body.

Since he was also unsure how to handle Dice, he had deliberately arrived late.

“But why is she looking at me like that?”

Duren shifted his gaze to Mirkala, who was staring at him with sparkling eyes beside Non.

From the moment she saw Duren, she had been looking at him with eyes full of admiration.

“The sun you hold within dazzles the girl… Compared to you, the sun I hold is nothing more than a firefly.”

It seemed the Great Sun, which surpassed an ordinary sun, had ignited her solar worship.

“Are you perhaps the Apostle of the Sun?”

“No, I haven’t become an Apostle yet. And the path I’ve chosen is Golden.”

“That’s impossible…! How can you possess this level of solar power without even following the Sun path…?”

“It just turned out that way.”

Having no obligation to explain his circumstances further, Duren stopped there and moved toward Non.

Step—Slide.

Non also walked toward Duren as he approached, and their bodies overlapped.

Thus, half of the Spirits contracted by Lee Hanseong had joined the Stellar Body.

“So he was indeed one of the twelve.”

When Henrietta joined the Stellar Body, Mirkala was paused outside the records, so this was the first time she had seen a new Spirit overlay after discussing Spirit Overlay.

Though he was a True God who had set foot in the same Divine Domain as her, she inwardly nodded at the Identity of this special opponent, who was considered certain to lose if they fought.

Given his level, it made sense that he wasn’t among the predetermined twelve.

“But even with one more person, there doesn’t seem to be much change.”

The level of the Unified Entity remained Apostle Rank.

It had simply gained one more usable Authority.

To raise the Grade further from here, one of the Primordial Divine Realm or Chaos Divine Realm would need to be completed.

“Still, Duren joining is significant.”

Until Duren joined, the foundation of the Spirits overlaid in the Unified Entity had no connection to Arcadia whatsoever.

“Because Spirits belonging to a Constellation in the origin world can usually exert their full strength only on the continent where that Constellation is rooted.”

Previously, with Rough, who belonged to the Wind Constellation, they could somewhat ignore restrictions on other continents, but they still couldn’t exert their full strength.

However, with Duren, who hailed from Arcadia, now joined, things were different.

Since the Unified Entity shared each other’s qualifications.

From the moment Duren, who could exert his full strength in Arcadia, joined, the Unified Entity was in a state where all Spirits could exert their full strength.

“Now we’re ready to face Dice.”

Though how to handle Dice was still a concern, he had no intention of delaying any longer.

Pat!

Having made up his mind, the Spirit Ship pierced through space and Leaped directly to the Sky Island.

* * *

Above Hanna and Dice, who were looking at each other with mixed attitudes after the battle with the Angels, the Spirit Ship revealed itself.

[What now… Another challenger for the Dark Apostle?]

Dice looked at Non aboard the newly appeared Spirit Ship and sensed Blundell overlaid within it.

Thud.

Meanwhile, Non jumped down from the Spirit Ship and landed beside Hanna.

He immediately formed a Spirit Overlay with Hanna and muttered.

“What should I do with you?”

[Do you also intend to attack me like the Angels did?]

“That’s the dilemma.”

Given Dice’s talent, there was a possibility he could become a variable like Asta.

Asta, after realizing Infinity, became a threatening variable but voluntarily left for his origin, the Parallel World.

However, Dice, though he had absorbed the records of the Parallel World’s Sword Demon, was still fundamentally a being belonging to this world, so he wouldn’t leave like Asta did.

While History Fixation enhanced with Infinity prevented the Apostle’s Historical Alteration, it couldn’t stop Dice, who lived in this era as the present, from acting naturally according to the Flow of Causality.

Like Lee Hanseong’s Spirits, Dice’s subsequent history was also blank, so he could write a new history however he wished.

Just as he had resisted and killed the Angels when they tried to kill him.

However, the fact that he hadn’t attacked yet, despite sensing Blundell, meant there might be no conflict.

“Dice Ten. Are you still a comrade of Hanna and Duren?”

[As long as they don’t betray me first, I will remain so.]

“Then I’ll trust you too.”

He chose the option of not attacking Dice, who was a comrade.

“We’ll be leaving Arcadia soon, so I’ll entrust the history here to you.”

[What does that mean…?]

Instead of explaining to the puzzled Dice, he showed him Blundell’s Void Detection.

“[Dark] Authority, borrow Blundell’s Void Detection. Then you’ll know what you need to do.”

Since continuing to stay together could likely lead to an unwanted history, he planned to entrust the Seed of Void present in Arcadia to Dice and immediately head to the next continent.

Dice expanded Void Detection using his Dark Authority and immediately understood the meaning behind Non’s proposal.

[The Seed of Void… So this was spreading across our continent.]

“We’ll handle the seeds in other continents. Take care of Arcadia.”

[Just leave it to me.]

“Good.”

With Dice readily agreeing to handle the Seed of Void, Non boarded the Spirit Ship again and left Arcadia as mentioned earlier.

The next destination was the Reverse World in Arthalia where Hyu and Pheidippides were located.

Vroooooom—!

After the Spirit Ship departed, Dice, remaining on the Sky Island, turned his body toward where the nearest Seed of Void was.

[First… I’ll start with you.]

He planned to deal with the True God of the Golden Constellation, the 7th-ranked warrior of the Heavenly Realm, ‘Giant Emperor,’ who was on his way to the duel arena for a scheduled duel with Duren.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hyu’s Reverse World, the Spirit Ship’s next destination, initially existed as the reverse side of the large city Lanfel in central Arthalia where it was first established.

However, the moment the future record, where the Reverse World was integrated into the Stigma 《Crossroads of Time and Space》 and then unified into the Stigma 《Theater of Fate》, took root in the present Hyu.

“Huh?”

Clatter—!

Hyu’s Reverse World plummeted into the Lunar Divine Realm.

Since the Theater of Fate was essentially the Lunar Divine Realm, Hyu’s Reverse World was relocated to the Lunar Purgatory, deeper than an ordinary reverse side.

A closed space accessible only through spatiotemporal movement.

That was Hyu’s Theater of Fate.

“This is the Lunar Divine Realm.”

And in that Theater of Fate, only three people existed.

The owner of the Theater of Fate, Hyoo Guild, Pheidippides who resided within him, and Hyu’s resurrected teacher, Arsen Guild, in doll form.

The problem here was Pheidippides.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Sparks continuously flashed from Hyu’s body, where Pheidippides resided.

“Hyu! Are you okay?”

“Ugh.”

Seeing this, Arsen approached Hyu with concern.

“It seems… Pheidippides is clashing with this place.”

In the previous Historical Alteration, Pheidippides ended it while residing within Hyu.

But in reality, he had won an Apostle Duel and ascended as the Apostle of the Sun Constellation.

Like Asta or Dice, he was in an Apostle state here as well.

The problem was that the surroundings of Pheidippides, who recognized the Sun Divine Domain, were essentially no different from the Sun Divine Domain.

Since the Sun Divine Domain, which was incompatible with the Theater of Fate located in the Lunar Divine Realm, was trying to manifest, a clash was inevitable.

Bang!

Eventually, unable to withstand the growing repulsion, Pheidippides was ejected from Hyu’s body.

And as if that weren’t enough, some kind of repulsive force activated within the Theater of Fate, trying to push Pheidippides out.

The only saving grace was that since Pheidippides was already an Apostle, he didn’t need the process of digesting future records like other Spirits.

He had also fully awakened the Reversal of his Stigmas during the duel with Ares.

[Water Form Taiji Diagram.]

He had the power to forcibly stop the clash of Divine Domains by leveraging the difference in Grade.

Oooooooooom—!

The Water Form Taiji Diagram, which overlays countless Reverse Worlds to form a multi-layered labyrinth, unfolded.

Pheidippides was in the Theater of Fate but became as if he were far away from it.

Thanks to this, the repulsive force decreased significantly.

“This is… amazing!”

Having experience designing and constructing Reverse Worlds, Hyu could instantly grasp the essence of the Water Form Taiji Diagram.

And through it, he also got a sense of how to reverse the 《Crossroads of Time and Space》, which similarly connected spacetime.

Clank!

Stigma Reversal 《Labyrinth of Spacetime》.

While the Water Form Taiji Diagram trapped opponents through the layering of Reverse Worlds, the Labyrinth of Spacetime was an ability that twisted all the spaces within a Reverse World, tangling the very paths connecting it to the outside.

As Pheidippides’s phase, already distanced by the Water Form Taiji Diagram, moved even further away due to the Labyrinth of Spacetime, no further repulsion between Divine Domains occurred.

[Yes. That’s the way.]

Pheidippides pierced through the Water Form Taiji Diagram and the Labyrinth of Spacetime effortlessly with Spatiotemporal Theft, patted Hyu’s shoulder, and praised him.

[That’s how you should awaken the Reversal of the remaining Stigmas.]

Just as the sun’s light illuminates the moon, he planned to help Hyu digest the future record where he became a True God through Pheidippides, who had become the Apostle of the Sun.

Hyu nodded and guided the changes that had come to him.

Fwoosh!

With the awakening of one Stigma Reversal, the Transcendence of the species began.

The Transcendent Species of the Lunar Constellation was not predetermined.

Any beast form within the category of Divine Beast could become the Lunar Transcendent Species.

‘It was said that a bird hatched from an egg flies toward Abraxas.’

Hyu’s choice, having gained the Identity of Abraxas through Nyarlathotep and Demiurge, was a bird-form Divine Beast.

It was a choice referencing the phrase that flowed into him when he gained Abraxas’s Identity.

Swoosh—Flutter!

Raven wings made of pitch-black shadows, seemingly influenced by the Shadowless Divine Art, sprouted from Hyu’s scapulae.

They manifested the lineage of Hugin, the Divine Beast of Odin, the former Apostle of the Lunar Constellation.

“One isn’t enough.”

Odin’s ravens were two: Hugin and Munin.

Swish—Swoosh!

Hyu’s Treasure Vessel, External Incarnation, leaped out from his shadow, manifested the lineage of Munin, Odin’s raven Divine Beast, and Bloomed raven wings just like the main body.

And as the two lineages, belonging to a Divine Beast that was two yet one, gathered in one place, a Resonance reaction occurred.

Oooom—

Thanks to this, the connection between the External Incarnation and the main body became even tighter, and a Clue to reverse the Shadowless Divine Art came to mind.

‘The Shadowless Divine Art was a Myth that unified Black Shadow Clone and Black curtain in the dark.’

The Shadowless Divine Art was created by wrapping a Black Shadow Clone, a shadow identical to the real body, with a Black Curtain, granting extreme Stealth to the shadow itself.

However, a clone made that way would inevitably be lacking compared to the main body.

But now, it was different.

Shadowless Divine Art Reversal 《Avatar Descent》.

The Reversal of the Shadowless Divine Art formed in the same shape as Lee Hanseong’s fifth Myth Skill.

Gooooooo!

The shadow clones summoned by the Shadowless Divine Art could no longer be called shadows.

Because each clone had been enhanced to the level of an External Incarnation.

“The number of Avatars depends on the level of Divinity.”

At 7-Star, only one Avatar could be summoned, but each time the Star Rank increased, the number of summonable Avatars would grow.

Moreover, since the External Incarnation could also use Avatar Descent, if the main body and the External Incarnation used Avatar Descent simultaneously, Hyu would increase to four.

Oooom!

As the number increased, the Resonance between the Avatars and the main body also grew.

Judging by the rate of increase, calculations showed that if Hyu increased to twelve, including the main body and the External Incarnation, he could digest Abraxas’s Identity.

Considering that the Grade must be raised to increase the number of Avatars, it might sound obvious, but raising the Grade wasn’t the only answer to increasing the number of Avatars.

“I can use a trick.”

He connected a few seconds into the future with the present through the Crossroads of Time and Space and stole two Avatars existing in the future with Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft.

It was a combo move mimicking his Spatiotemporal Theft without Pheidippides’s help.

Fwoosh.

While the main body and the External Incarnation would violate Causality if beings from different time periods existed in the same space, Avatars had no such restriction.

It was just that the power maintaining the Avatars existed in the future, not the present.

Thus, the moment the Avatars temporarily increased to six, Hyu’s Grade rose to 8-Star.

And upon reaching 8-Star, the heightened inspiration allowed him to also conceive the Reversal of the third Stigma.

“Enigma makes one recognize sublime objects beyond recognition, so its ultimate Reversal is…”

Flash!

Enigma Reversal 《All-Seeing Eye》.

Once again, the Stigma Reversal formed in the same shape as Lee Hanseong’s Myth.

The All-Seeing Eye, also called the Eyes of Providence, could interpret even objects beyond the horizon of recognition according to Providence, which wasn’t strange, but.

Lee Hanseong’s consciousness residing within Hyu sensed something odd.

And soon realized this wasn’t a mere coincidence.

‘Hyu was stealing my Myth!’

Unconsciously, Hyu had expanded Enigma beyond Lee Hanseong’s consciousness residing within him, recognized his Myth, and was stealing it with Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft to make it his own.