Chapter 140: Apostle (6)

Chapter 140: Apostle (6)

As I infiltrated the seed, I was met with a space of sheer black darkness.

A space where everything, above and below, was engulfed in black. The floor appeared to be made of transparent glass, facilitating movement. For some reason, visibility was clear, allowing for the observation of the interior.

-This is the inside of the Apostle...

-It’s ominous. Just being here makes me feel uneasy.

Black Heaven frowned as she spoke.

I agreed. Nodding, I ventured further inside.

Click-clack.

I walked with confidence. Somehow, my intuition was telling me this was the right path.

I readied Black Heaven, prepared to attack at any moment.

-It doesn’t seem like it will attack.

Its behavior was clearly abnormal.

In battle, the seed only showed perplexity, never launching an attack against me. Inserting the Sword of Winter into White Rouge, I pressed on.

-Let’s speed up.

-Master, don’t rush. It’s more dangerous to hurry in such a place.

-It’s alright.

I was worried about those we left outside.

Kim Ara and Kim Seo-hyun. Fearing they would try to stop me, I entered without informing them. They might take rash actions in my absence.

Whirl!

Inside the seed, countless tentacles were staring at me. Seemingly hundreds of them. Yet, I didn’t sense any hostility from them.

-This feels bad...

-It’s natural. The Apostle is a being directly crafted by extraterrestrials. It is more so than most Mines...

-No, I was referring to its appearance.

-...I see.

Click.

The sound of a switch being flipped in the mind, activating Divine Sight.

I scrutinized the interior.

What was visible was entirely black, a corrupt power. It felt alien, as if it didn’t belong in this world.

[!계@#지 is eroding the user's consciousness.]

[Conceptual Stat Energy of Defying Heaven has blocked !계@#지.]

-It’s annoying.

Since a while ago, corrupt forces had been converging near me.

It’s as if they’re attempting to corrupt me. If I was feeling this way, the pressure others must be experiencing was immense.

-So, most who are consumed by the Apostle emerge corrupted.

What’s even more ridiculous was that the ritual hadn’t been properly conducted yet.

A seed of death that had undergone a proper ritual wouldn’t behave like this.

-That’s why I came.

Although it’s unstable and in its initial state, I didn’t yet possess the power to directly defeat the Apostle.

Not yet.

That’s why I had to destroy it from the inside and interrupt the ritual, sending it back to its original world.

I knew how. And the Energy of Defying Heaven was quite suitable for that task.

Tssss.

From the tentacles, a dense aura of death was condensing. Merely touching it could kill even the mightiest heroes. It’s ironic that this power, which harbored no malice towards me, was its inherent nature.

Whirl!

The tentacles of death intertwined and merged to form a figure.

It was an entity made entirely of blackness, with two eyes and a mouth. It was a sight I had never seen before.

[Huhuhu... my brother...]

A buzzing voice that felt like it pierced directly into my brain.

-Speaking the language alone seems to drain my mental energy.

Kim Seo-hyun’s inner thoughts from Epic World came to mind. It wasn’t as bad as she had described.

Fortunately, it seemed like the Energy of Defying Heaven was blocking it.

[Brother.]

It referred to me as such.

Then, it must be related to the Heaven Defying Body I possessed.

[Ah, indeed. You are my brother... correct...]

With those words, the seed moved.

From the tips of hundreds of tentacles, death energy began to condense. Even for me, a direct hit would be fatal.

The seed attacked the Abyss with it.

The Abyss twisted intensely. That was the end. The abyss that swallowed everything absorbed even the death energy, expanding its size.

[Indeed... swallowing everything... But your ability is still immature...]

As the seed spoke, it gathered death energy in its grasp.

A power unlike any before began to condense there.

I frowned. I knew what the seed was trying to do.

Recall.

I recalled all of the Abyss that was trying to break control. There was no loss in the process, thanks to The Seal of Absorption.

“Troublesome.”

The manifestation of authority used by apostle-level beings.

Had it manifested, the Abyss would have died, unable to even be recalled. But having caused such chaos, it was about time I found what I was looking for.

“...Found it.”

On the opposite side, I discovered a dark seed.

Nucleus.

For some reason, it seemed that in China, a suitable sacrifice was offered through human sacrifice to summon the Apostle here.

It was illogical for the Apostle to appear at this point in time. This suggested that certain conditions were met to barely bring it here.

Destroying it meant the Apostle would have no choice but to return.

As I was about to attack again with Black Heaven, I frowned.

Whoosh!

A beam of light erupted. I’ve witnessed a similar phenomenon once before.

“...I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

Before coming here, Kim Seo-hyun and I acquired a specific artifact.

「Black Hand that Sustains Illusions」

: Once a day, allows entry into the interior of a being caught in one's sight. ---

The power of an artifact could only be countered by another artifact. That’s the reality of this world.

“It’s not always the case, though.”

There were ways to block it. Only equivalent authority or mystic powers could do so. I looked at the Apostle. It must have been easy to enter because this Apostle was not yet complete.

As the beam of light vanished, a girl with sky-blue hair was revealed.

“I told you not to come.”

“But I made it, didn’t I?”

Kim Seo-hyun looked around and approached me, speaking.

Honestly, it’s utterly reassuring. She could do everything, whether it’s being the vanguard, rearguard, or midguard.

‘Eternal Heaven.’

-Yes.

‘Spam all spells from now. I’ll supply you with the Energy of Defying Heaven.’

I was planning to slowly build up and attack when the opportunity arose, but it seems I need to adjust my plans.

“Seo-hyun.”

“Yeah.”

“You can go all out here without holding back.”

“...Did you know?”

Kim Seo-hyun asked with a puzzled expression.

Well, I had to know. I didn’t realize she was a girl, though.

‘34,174 hours, was it?’

That’s approximately how much time I had invested in Kim Seo-hyun.

[Futile struggles... This world is destined for destruction... brother.]

“Get lost. There won’t be such an ending.”

I scoffed at the seed’s words and gave it the finger.

“The Earth will not be destroyed, and you’ll be sent back to outer space.”

That’s the future I would create.