Chapter 56 – An Unprecedented Being

Meanwhile, in Lee Hanseong’s Reverse World.

He was watching the projection of Mirinae, whose complexion had changed the moment the Hollow Specter appeared, as he observed the stadium where Jin Yuseong was competing in the preliminaries through the Connection Points of Synergy.

His own expression had stiffened as well.

His heart was pounding.

‘Suddenly, the Spirit vanished?! I’ve never even heard of something like that before the Regression!’

Moreover, the physiological disgust he felt every time he saw the Hollow Specter.

An intense emotion was boiling up inside him, as if he were facing a sworn enemy.

It was an emotion flowing from Mirinae.

‘Does Mirinae know the identity of that monster?’

He tried to ask Mirinae, who seemed to know something, about the Hollow Specter’s identity, but her mind was preoccupied elsewhere.

Her gaze, directed somewhere with even greater hostility than when she had seen the Stone of Inheritance before.

It seemed the Constellation was looking not at the stadium where Jin Yuseong was, but somewhere else.

[The Nameless Constellation is examining the altered causality of the present.]

As expected, just like a few times before, the shared vision.

.

.

.

It was a place that appeared to be a dungeon.

A vast underground dungeon, close to a world in size—[Underground].

Tap-tap-tap-tat!

A High-Rank Awakener, leisurely running and cheerfully slaying monsters, comes into focus.

‘Kim Hongsik?’

Like Kim Cheoljung, he was a Contractor of King Munmu.

A Seven-Star Awakener who had Contracts with several Seven-Star Spirits besides King Munmu.

One of the descendants of the Gyeongju Kim clan.

Shiver!

But Kim Hongsik’s relaxed expression suddenly stiffens, and his footsteps halt.

Swoosh!

A shapeless, pitch-black monster appears before him.

A Hollow Specter, similar in appearance to the transformed Kim Cheoljung who had lost King Munmu, suddenly appears before him.

As if it had emerged from outside the world.

“Your Majesty King Munmu!”

Whether sensing something ominous from the monster, Kim Hongsik summons King Munmu and sends him to confront the creature.

Kwa-rurururung!

King Munmu, taking the form of a sea dragon, flies toward the Hollow Specter.

But the result differs from his expectations.

Chiiii!

The Hollow Specter, colliding with King Munmu, disperses weakly, but its remnants cling to various parts of King Munmu’s spiritual body and begin absorbing Starlight.

-Krrraaaarara!

The sea dragon writhes in agony.

But the absorption of Starlight cannot be stopped.

In Mirinae’s vision, it looks as if the history constituting King Munmu is being erased like ink blotches.

“Kuaaaaaa!”

Kim Hongsik also screams, feeling as if his forcibly Contracted Spirit is being torn away.

It wasn’t just the records forming the projection of King Munmu Contracted by Kim Hongsik that were being erased.

More precisely, it was the records of the Sun Constellation, which serves as his true body, that were being erased.

As the achievements and history established by King Munmu disappear one by one, his existence as a Spirit melts into the void.

Conversely, the Hollow Specter that swallowed King Munmu’s Starlight and records gradually transforms into a form resembling King Munmu.

As if projecting the records vanished into the void onto its own body.

And the moment all records of King Munmu disappear from the Sun Constellation’s records.

Pacha-cha-cha-cha-chang!

The shared vision splits into countless fragments like a kaleidoscope, showing numerous Contractors of King Munmu.

One by one, like Kim Cheoljung, they lose King Munmu and fall into becoming Hollow Specters, ending the shared vision.

“Huhk…!”

His breath catches in his throat.

This anomaly wasn’t something that happened only to Kim Cheoljung.

The moment Kim Hongsik first had King Munmu stolen by the Hollow Specter, all other Contractors of King Munmu also lost him.

“What on earth… is that?”

Mirinae, still with a stiff expression, replied.

-Hollow Specter. They are the Hounds of Void.

“Void? Is that another branch of Heresy?”

-Yes. But judging by the emotions I feel, they are likely a hostile faction.

Knowing well that not all Heretical Constellations are in cahoots, it wasn’t hard to understand.

But if there had been an existence with the ability to nullify Spirit Contracts like that even before the Regression, he couldn’t have been unaware of it due to its impact.

In modern Earth, where the Grade of a Spirit determines one’s status, an existence that steals Spirits isn’t something that can be hidden.

‘The Void faction must have appeared after I Regressed.’

But he wondered what kind of butterfly effect had caused such beings to appear.

No matter how significant the changes he had made so far, they shouldn’t have been enough to affect the Heretical Constellations’ realm beyond the heavens.

Then, it suddenly occurred to him that there was a very significant difference between before and after the Regression.

‘Mirinae!’

Before the Regression, Mirinae’s Grade was intact.

But after the Regression, Mirinae’s Grade had fallen into Divine Fall.

Add to that Mirinae’s speculation about a hostile relationship.

“Is it possible that before the Regression, you, Lord of the Throne, were preventing those bastards from coming to Earth?”

-I don’t remember well, but it seems so.

No, it probably wasn’t just Earth.

Considering they didn’t appear in dungeons connected to the Otherworld either, they must have been blocked from going to the Otherworld as well.

For Mirinae, who might have possessed a higher Grade than even the Twelve Constellations of the Heavenly Palace, it was entirely possible.

Then, with Mirinae having lost her power now, it wasn’t strange for the Hounds of Void to appear.

-More importantly, the problem is the Hollow Specters that will appear everywhere.

“Indeed… that’s true.”

If just one Hollow Specter swallows one more Spirit, then all Contractors of that Spirit will simultaneously turn into Hollow Specters.

As the number of victims increases, the number of Hollow Specters will inevitably grow exponentially.

Especially since Contractors of King Munmu likely have Contracts with more than one Spirit, if they completely fall into becoming Hollow Specters, the damage would be even greater.

-Therefore, before they swallow other Spirits, we must first sever the lives of the Contractors they have parasitized.

“If we sever the Contractor’s life before they fully turn into a Hollow Specter and before other Spirits are swallowed by the Void, we can prevent the spread of damage.”

-Yes. Unless they directly swallow a Manifestation body, it takes time to swallow the essential records through the Contract imprinted on the inner star alone, so it’s not too late yet.

“But there are quite a few Contractors about to become Hollow Specters… how…?”

-There is a way, but to do so, I must part with my Steward for a while.

“What do you mean…!”

Paaaat!

Even though Lee Hanseong didn’t initiate it, Transcendence, Consecutive Transcendence, and Group Transcendence activate on their own.

Then, the Second Stage Transcendence effect contained in Group Transcendence is individually applied to Mirinae’s projection.

Simultaneously, the Constellation’s true body, which had resided within Lee Hanseong, transfers to the projection.

“……!”

With Mirinae’s presence gone, he feels a sense of falling into an abyss and emptiness.

Was this what she meant by parting for a while?

“Kkhuk.”

He had a premonition that if he let go of himself like this, he too would fall into becoming a Hollow Specter.

At least, he could endure because the connection with the Constellation remained.

Now he understood why those who lost their Spirits fall into becoming Hollow Specters.

In the place where the Spirit disappeared, the Void squirming there was screaming like a parasite, demanding Starlight.

‘So that’s why she used the term parasite…!’

That Void worm, born in the vacant seat of the Constellation, was the very source creating Hollow Specters.

Goooooo!

Focusing on Mirinae’s presence felt before his eyes, he barely suppresses the inner Void worm.

‘Right, Mirinae merely left my body; she hasn’t completely vanished like King Munmu.’

Mirinae’s incomplete Constellation Grade, contained in the projection, transforms into a humanoid form. Her pitch-black hair, like the night sky, is embroidered with Starlight.

The Constellation’s projection ascends to a Manifestation body.

As if with a bridge dye, only part of her hair turns a brilliant silver-white.

Perhaps if she gathers enough Starlight to fill all the black with silver-white, she will recover as a complete Constellation.

This means that, although only partially, as her hair color changes, Mirinae has revealed her Constellation Grade.

“Steward. I shall borrow thy power for a while.”

Oong-ong-ong-ong-ong!

The vision filled with countless Connection Points, resembling Synergy, responds to Mirinae’s gesture.

The Awakening Skills of the Spirits he has Contracted connect through the Connection Points, weaving together into a single effect.

Rough’s 《Causal disturbance》 and 《Phase Superposition》.

Duren’s 《Sun Stab》.

Hyu’s 《Spatial Connection》.

Pheidippides’ 《Eight Gates Evasion》.

Alter’s 《Relativity of Rules》.

On top of that, Mirinae’s fourth Stigma, unknown to him, acts to elevate the power and level of the Awakening Skills to the extreme.

[The Nameless Constellation activates the Stigma 《All Streams Return to Origin》!]

Poo-boo-boo-boo-book!

Through Mirinae’s kaleidoscopic vision, the various spaces where King Munmu’s Contractors were located are connected with the force of stabbing the sun, causality is disturbed, and phases are superimposed onto a single coordinate.

Simultaneously, the principles of Eight Gates Evasion stabilize the space so that even with dozens of phases superimposed, it remains unshaken.

“Ggrrrrrrk!”

The Contractors who had already become hosts for Hollow Specters lose their lives from the shock of the rope shot when the spaces are connected.

Those who revive and become complete Hollow Specters exist simultaneously at one coordinate and naturally begin to be absorbed by the stronger existence—namely, the Hollow Specter that evolved into a Void Lord by swallowing Kim Hongsik’s King Munmu first.

The plan was to handle even the Hollow Specter that was once Kim Cheoljung in the preliminaries stadium where Jin Yuseong is located in that manner, but.

A variable arose when, due to other participants’ mistakes, that one coincidentally evolved into a Void Lord.

“Damn it!”

Originally, the flow should have been absorbed centered on the Void Lord in the Underground, but it split into two, also heading toward the preliminaries stadium where Jin Yuseong is.

“No choice! I’ll have to leave that side to another Steward.”

Mirinae, assigning the task of dealing with the Void Lord on that side to Jin Yuseong, looks back at Lee Hanseong.

“I shall handle the Void Lord in the Underground. Thou shalt assist the Steward on that side.”

“As you wish.”

Phase Superposition unfolds again, and Mirinae’s phase appears simultaneously within the Reverse World and before the Void Lord in the Underground.

The abilities of the Spirits over whom Mirinae has exerted influence until now are displayed more perfectly and excellently from the hands of the Manifestation body.

Hwaaaak!

The abilities of other Spirits like Chungmugong, Nightingale, and Mountain Hermit, as well as the abilities of the Twelve Spirits Contracted by Lee Hanseong, connect and combine in diverse ways, transcending limits.

What’s important is that the power unfolding from her hands now encompasses abilities across all Domains of the Twelve Constellations.

Mirinae begins explaining about Authority, as if for Lee Hanseong to hear.

“The most important thing in Authority is the name of the Authority. In truth, from the moment I reclaimed the name of [Primordial Chaos], I could exert Authority anytime as long as I bore sufficient cost. Of course, what I could display would be merely a degraded level, but for a mere Void Lord, not even a Void God, this much is sufficient.”

Lee Hanseong feels uneasy watching such Mirinae.

A feeling as if she is about to depart far away somewhere.

Wasn’t she Mirinae, who had already lost her name and Grade once as the cost of Regression?

He couldn’t help but be sensitive to the word ‘cost.’

“The cost…?”

As if reading Lee Hanseong’s worry, Mirinae continues.

“Do not worry too much. I have not staked my reclaimed name. I shall merely have to sleep for a while.”

Sleep? For how long?

“That, even I do not know. But that period will shorten the more thou growest, and if thou obtainest a Fragment of ■■ like last time, I may awaken immediately, so it can vary greatly depending on thy actions.”

Having said that, Mirinae, clad in the Aura of a myriad-colored night sky symbolizing the degraded [Primordial Chaos] Authority gathered in her hands, demonstrates dealing with the Void Lord.

Every movement of Mirinae is perfect and contains profound subtleties, like an absolute master of Murim.

Thung- thung- teodeung- thung!

“Unlike Hollow Specters, who retain only the instinct to covet Starlight, Void Lords are those who can command the records of the Spirits they have swallowed.”

As she said, the Void Lord in the form of King Munmu was displaying not only King Munmu’s Skills but also Awakening Skills and even Polarity Reversal.

The Starlight absorption ability possessed by Hollow Specters was applied to other abilities as well.

“The Starlight absorption ability of the Hounds of Void is troublesome, but before the Authority of Primordial Chaos, it is nothing.”

But all those abilities prove ineffective before Mirinae and fade away.

“Primordial Chaos is the creative power that can become anything. Because it can fill the Void, it is the only power with Attribute Advantage over the Void.”

Even upon contact with the Void Lord clad in degraded Primordial Chaos Authority, her Starlight is not absorbed.

Rather, the Void constituting the Void Lord touched by the creative power of Primordial Chaos diminishes.

“Therefore, keep this in mind when dealing with the Hounds of Void.”

Having said that, Mirinae, as if about to finish, concentrates the energy of Primordial Chaos in one hand, condensing it into a sphere.

Ooooooong-

She slams it directly into the Void Lord’s body.

Flash!

A tremendous light, like the Big Bang of cosmic creation, fills the Void Lord’s void.

The next moment, the Void Lord had already vanished from this world.

And, the vanished one was Mirinae’s Manifestation body as well.

Pa-s-s-s-s-s…!

The Manifestation body scatters into Starlight particles and disappears as if reverse-summoned.

“Lord of the Throne…?”

Even though he had been told she would sleep, when it actually happened, it still didn’t feel good.

Mirinae’s presence feels more distant than usual.

If he hadn’t been told she would sleep early, such emptiness might have assaulted him that the Void worm would have burrowed into him again.

‘…Mirinae. I’ll wake you soon, so please wait a little.’

Mirinae probably told him how to awaken her early because she anticipated Lee Hanseong would be like this.

So, there’s no time to be frustrated by the Constellation’s absence.

If he doesn’t eliminate the one remaining Void Lord, Mirinae’s efforts in sleeping to eliminate the Void Lord in the Underground would be in vain.

Slap!

Slapping his own cheeks to regain focus, Lee Hanseong turns his attention back to the situation at the preliminaries stadium where Jin Yuseong is and prepares for the Void Lord hunt.