Chapter 194 – The Former Apostles of Arthalia

The way Hyu manifested the reversal of the Stigma in the same form as Lee Hanseong’s myth was different from how Duren manifested All Things Are Impermanent.

For one, Duren hadn’t even expanded it to Complete Selflessness to fully manifest an identical myth.

Crucially, because Duren was connected to Lee Hanseong through <Dual Radiance>, he was heavily influenced by Lee Hanseong even during the Synthesis of Opposites process, so it wasn’t strange for him to unfold the same myth.

‘But the myth Hyu stole is different.’

The <Avatar Descent> and <All-Seeing Eye> that Hyu stole from Lee Hanseong.

These two myths were no longer Lee Hanseong’s myths.

The ownership itself had transferred to Hyu.

Lee Hanseong’s consciousness residing within Hyu was taken aback by this fact, but soon changed his perspective.

‘Well, it shouldn’t be a big problem.’

The myths Hyu took weren’t the ones constituting Lee Hanseong’s Stigma either.

They were originally extra myths obtained after integrating skills copied from Spirits.

Even if ownership of the myths disappeared from Lee Hanseong, since he was in a Contracted state with Hyu, he could still use Avatar Descent and All-Seeing Eye through Heroic Spirit Synchronization as much as he wanted.

However, it would be dangerous if the myths constituting the Stigma of [Infinity], Lee Hanseong’s Innate Authority like Transcendent Star or Omnipresent Star, disappeared, so he maintained strict vigilance over that part.

Was it due to Lee Hanseong’s wariness?

Or was it because there was no longer a need for it?

Hyu’s subconscious, having obtained the All-Seeing Eye, no longer targeted Lee Hanseong’s myths.

Smoothly.

Not long after obtaining the reversal of the third Stigma, the Avatars summoned by Hyu all disappeared simultaneously.

It was the moment when the future a few seconds later, which he had connected to increase the number of Avatars through a trick, became the present.

At this moment, Hyu was in the process of descending Avatars from the past a few seconds ago, so not only the Avatars increased by the trick but also the original Avatars were unsummoned.

As the Avatars disappeared, the Grade, which had been amplified through Resonance, dropped straight back down to Seven Star.

However, this was merely a brief retreat for a greater advance.

When a few more seconds passed and the moment came when he no longer needed to maintain Avatars from the past.

Pavababat.

Four more Avatars were summoned beside Hyu, and his Grade also returned to 8-Star.

This was not a trick borrowing power from his future self like before, but a legitimate Promotion through the evolution of Hyu’s bloodline itself.

Uuung!

The bloodline of Muninn manifested by the External Incarnation merged with the bloodline of Huginn manifested by Hyu.

Even without the External Incarnation, the Resonance of the two bloodlines became possible, allowing him to summon two Avatars alone.

Conversely, the External Incarnation, in addition to Muninn’s bloodline, now contained Huginn’s bloodline that the main body had possessed, holding both bloodlines alone just like the main body.

Thus, the main body summoned two, the External Incarnation summoned two, making six now.

Using the same trick as before here could double the number of Avatars at once, increasing it to ten…

“But that would be meaningless.”

Hyu instinctively realized.

The limit reachable with the bloodlines of Huginn and Muninn was here.

To rise above 9-Star, something else was needed.

“If it’s the All-Seeing Eye, I should be able to find out what that is.”

With the will to find what he needed to rise to 9-Star, Hyu activated the All-Seeing Eye.

As the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye rose clearly in his mind.

Hwaaaak!

The All-Seeing Eye illuminated the Theater of Fate where Hyu was positioned, namely the Lunar Divine Realm.

As realized when he first obtained the Theater of Fate, the essence of the world interpreted by the Lunar Constellation was Causality, and the Lunar Divine Realm was the purgatory of Karmic Retribution.

But this was merely a superficial understanding.

Seen with the All-Seeing Eye, the true utility of the Lunar Divine Realm was revealed.

‘It’s a kind of reality projection, a simulation where you input a cause and get a result.’

It wasn’t limited to simulations that preview results through causes.

By looking at the result first and tracing back the cause, the order of causality could be mixed up in various ways.

The Lunar Divine Realm was the very layer where the order and arrangement could be changed as much as desired, as long as the overall balance of Causality was maintained.

“Ah…! So this is how to achieve the reversal of the Theater of Fate.”

Thanks to a deeper level of understanding, he found a way to achieve the reversal of the fourth Stigma.

Although it seems free because the order and arrangement can be arbitrarily swapped, the Theater of Fate has the limitation of being bound by fate as it cannot violate Causality.

Therefore, if one could escape fate without violating Causality, that would be the reversal of the Theater of Fate.

“I need the power of the wind path.”

The answer lay within the dream of the Wind Divine Realm.

In dreams, even Causality tends to become useless.

If the Theater of Fate and dreams were connected, the infinite causality occurring in dreams could be brought to ignore fate.

And Hyu already had an Identity connected to the wind path.

“Nyarlathotep.”

He brought back the Identity he had abandoned to obtain Abraxas’s Identity.

It wasn’t bringing it back entirely.

He only called forth a degraded version, just enough as needed.

Ziiing.

First, the All-Seeing Eye illuminated the Hyu from a Parallel World who had become a True God through Nyarlathotep’s Identity.

―I am the nightmare of the foolish father Azathoth. Nyarlathotep.

The Hyu from the Parallel World seemed to sense the gaze of the All-Seeing Eye, looking this way and introducing himself.

Nyarlathotep was the nightmare born from the fear of the apocalypse that arrives when Azathoth awakens from his dream.

―My Innate Authority is [Simulation], its ability is to manifest fakes more real than the real thing.

This was also connected to Azathoth’s [Dream Creation], which turns dreams into reality.

That’s why Nyarlathotep holds the myth of being Azathoth’s messenger and soul.

―If you want my power, take as much as you like.

With his permission granted, Hyu immediately unleashed Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft on his Parallel World self who had become Nyarlathotep.

It was to steal his nightmare attribute to achieve the reversal of the Theater of Fate.

Swaying―

At that moment, the Theater of Fate briefly blurred like a Dream Thread before becoming clear again.

At a glance, it seemed no different from before, but in reality, it was very different.

“《Theater of Dreams》.”

With some of the Wind Divine Realm’s Laws flowing into the Lunar Divine Realm, freedom from fate was permitted.

Simultaneously, along with the nightmare attribute, part of Nyarlathotep’s Divinity melted into Hyu, adding the Fairy Factor to the bloodlines of Huginn and Muninn he possessed.

Pabat!

It was a natural result that Hyu reached 9-Star and two more Avatars increased.

The method to reach 10-Star wasn’t much different.

“Next, I just need to assimilate Demiurge’s Identity.”

Ziiing.

This time, the All-Seeing Eye illuminated the Hyu from a Parallel World who had ascended to True God through Demiurge’s Identity.

―Do you desire my truth?

The Demiurge version of Hyu, similar to the Nyarlathotep version, sensed and reacted to the All-Seeing Eye’s gaze.

―If you can, try to take it.

When Hyu unleashed Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft, Demiurge, not hiding his intention to instead unleash an even more enhanced Authority, [Usurpation], spoke plainly.

“Usurpation…”

Just as with Nyarlathotep, if he unleashed Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft, the possibility of having his own myth stolen in return was greater, so Hyu couldn’t act recklessly.

But suddenly, his External Incarnation began to move on its own.

“Huhu, this External Incarnation is also a Simulation. A fake more real than the real thing, isn’t it?”

“……!”

When he stole Nyarlathotep’s myth from the Parallel World earlier, Nyarlathotep, who had secretly followed, seized the External Incarnation and triggered a backlash.

No wonder he permitted Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft so easily.

There was an intention all along.

However, one fortunate thing was that the External Incarnation’s first target wasn’t Hyu, the main body.

Swoosh.

The External Incarnation unleashing Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft towards the Demiurge of the Parallel World illuminated by the All-Seeing Eye.

―Do you intend to face my Usurpation with mere Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft?

Demiurge sneered as if finding it ridiculous and tried to usurp control of the External Incarnation in return.

―What?! That’s my…!

The ability unleashed by the External Incarnation had somehow changed from Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft to the Authority of Usurpation.

“Huhu. You called it the Authority of Usurpation. I’ll use it well.”

The Usurpation imitated by [Simulation] had instantly surpassed the original.

Based on Demiurge’s myth stolen by the External Incarnation, it achieved the reversal of the fifth Stigma.

Ten Thousand Phenomena Theft Reversal 《Truth Projection》!

Paaat!

The External Incarnation, reaching 10-Star before the main body, was trying to reverse the relationship between the main body and the External Incarnation.

For an ordinary person, this would have been a very dangerous state.

However, the Identity of Abraxas that Hyu now possessed was an Identity surpassing both Nyarlathotep and Demiurge.

“You are also me. It makes no difference who ascends first.”

Perhaps due to the influence of Hanna, who currently occupied the Radiance Divine Realm.

As soon as the External Incarnation, possessing the attribute of Heavenly Lord through the truth projected by Demiurge, reached 10-Star.

Paaat!

Hyu’s main body also simultaneously reached 10-Star.

He had linked the Promotion of the External Incarnation and the Promotion of the main body by adjusting the causality in the Theater of Fate.

“You…!”

The External Incarnation’s expression contorted as it grasped the situation.

It was because Abraxas’s Innate Authority [Duality] was unifying Hyu and the External Incarnation, whose Identities had differentiated.

Both the main body and the External Incarnation reaching 10-Star, and finally, the Divine Forms increased to twelve including them, had finally reached the Identity of Abraxas.

“You planned this from the start!”

“Stating the obvious.”

True to the archetype of the Synthesis of Opposites process at 10-Star, the Authority of [Duality] took Hyu’s main body as the positive and the External Incarnation that triggered the backlash as the negative, completing the Synthesis of Opposites in an instant.

* * *

Meanwhile, the moment Hyu completely assimilated the record of becoming a True God with Abraxas’s Identity in the future.

Pheidippides could no longer set foot in Hyu’s Theater of Fate.

The backlash had grown so strong that even the Water Form Taiji Diagram and the Labyrinth of Spacetime, which could mitigate by dissociating spacetime, couldn’t handle it.

[Who is it?]

However, this didn’t happen because Hyu became a True God.

Rather, if it were Hyu’s Duality, it should be able to suppress even the backlash between Divine Domains.

But for the backlash to suddenly intensify like this meant someone else had intervened.

And the one capable of that would, of course, only be an existence capable of observing events occurring in the Lunar Divine Realm.

[Is it Odin?]

Since Lycan, the current Lunar Apostle, cannot exist in this period.

Only the previous generation’s Lunar Apostle, Odin, would be able to perceive the Lunar Divine Realm.

True to his nature as the sinister fellow who had Gleipnir bound on Fenrir, it seemed he had played a trick when an entity with a high likelihood of becoming the Lunar Apostle appeared.

Juuwaang!

As if proving that expectation, a Rift formed at the boundary of Hyu’s Theater of Fate, and beyond it, from the Lunar Divine Realm, countless warriors were pouring over.

They were the Einherjar and Valkyries from Odin’s Lunar Divine Realm, Valhalla, who repeated battles daily.

“War!”

“Annihilate Odin’s enemy!”

Hyu, unified with his External Incarnation, seeing the newly appeared enemies, pushed Arsen back.

“Master, please stay back.”

And he began dividing his other ten Avatars into countless clones again, implementing the dreams of the Theater of Dreams into the Theater of Fate.

The moment a dream that ignored Causality and realized overwhelming victory was about to descend in the form of fate.

―Gleipnir.

Odin’s voice came from beyond the Rift in Valhalla, and that fate was bound.

“So mere fate alone won’t do. No wonder he’s a former Apostle.”

But even if fate was bound, it wasn’t particularly problematic.

The Einherjar were merely 7-Star, and the Valkyries were around 8-Star.

That level was something his Avatars and clones could sufficiently handle.

However, he couldn’t afford to be complacent.

“Their numbers aren’t decreasing?”

Feeling something strange, when Hyu deployed the All-Seeing Eye, he saw the Einherjar and Valkyries who died fighting in the Theater of Fate resurrecting in Valhalla and crossing back into the Theater of Fate.

If they keep fighting like this in the Theater of Fate, the battle will never end.

To stop the resurrection itself, they must cross over to Valhalla and completely erase Odin’s traces within the Lunar Divine Realm.

Just as Hanna expanded the Pure Land in the Radiance Divine Realm to erase the traces of Tetragrammaton.

Moreover, since Odin was also only sending his subordinates and not coming out of Valhalla himself, they must go to Valhalla to deal with him.

“Wait there. I’ll come soon.”

As Hyu made up his mind, according to his will, the Crossroads of Time and Space was added over the Rift connecting Valhalla and the Theater of Fate, further enlarging the Rift.

Juuwaaaang!

And he tried to bring back Pheidippides, who had been flung outside the Lunar Divine Realm if possible.

Chizik― Chizik―.

The Crossroads of Time and Space sent towards Pheidippides were covered in darkness as if fallen into the Abyss, snapping off intermittently, failing to reach him.

‘It seems there’s an interferer on that side too.’

Indeed, Pheidippides was facing two former Apostles who were Apostles of the Arthalia Continent during this period.

The former Heavenly Slaughter Apostle and Heavenly Demon, Mara Paphiyas.

The former Dark Apostle and Heavenly Evil, Angra Mainyu.

Two Half-Step 12-Star True Gods specialized in slaughter and death, having detected the appearance of an Apostle from another continent, were blocking him.