[Vol. 8] Chapter 147: Lord of the Void
[Humble Humbold] used a sacrifice ritual, hoping to summon a powerful being into his body to fight against Snow Wing, who had god-like power. But since he was inside the [Six-Line Array Palace] at the time, even the strongest beings couldn’t just break through its barrier, which was nearly as strong as a god’s divine realm, without the approval of a certain priestess. So naturally, the being was blocked outside.
However, the massive power summoned through the ritual didn’t disappear. It stopped, hovering tens of thousands of meters above the Angel City, doing nothing. But giving off terrifying waves of power that made people’s hearts race.
Violet understood its meaning very clearly. The being was waiting for her. Using the lives of everyone in the city, over ten million people, as bargaining chips, it was forcing her, the one hiding behind the scenes, to show herself and face it directly.
So she came. There was no reason not to.
Her divine consciousness separated from her real body and formed a shining figure high above the clouds. Guided by the aura of her already-marked target, the priestess immediately saw it with her divine eyes.
What she saw was something beyond human understanding.
Its massive body floated quietly above the clouds like a gigantic spaceship from another galaxy. Just from size alone, it was no smaller than the divine airship called the [Floating Immortal Island] that Dawn created in the Ancient Spirit Realm.
Countless long, deep-blue tentacles extended from the bottom half of its dome-shaped body. They waved gently, creating beautiful, dream-like ripples that seemed to contain deep magical logic. At first glance, it looked similar to the jellyfish-like creatures from the illusion in the [Gate of Underworld], but a closer look revealed a nearly fundamental difference.
It wasn’t just about size or power.
The jellyfish-like monsters inside the [Gate of Underworld] were basically weird energies that could stick to living beings. They had strong imitation abilities, copying different forms based on their hosts and creating illusions to reflect them. Then, by triggering emotional or mental responses, they would slowly drain the host’s soul energy, like parasites. But those creatures couldn’t touch real physical matter and weren’t very dangerous on their own.
But this enormous “jellyfish” was different.
It constantly released terrifying divine waves, even Violet was secretly surprised. Its massive body, stretching for tens of thousands of meters, was clearly real. And this terrifying form was only a portion of its full power, forcefully summoned by [Humble Humbold]'s sacrifice. Its true self and essence were now plain to see.
[Are you the Lord of the Void?]
Facing this huge, surreal being, so strange and dreamlike that just seeing it could shatter a mortal’s mind, the priestess remained calm. Her divine consciousness had formed a light-body thousands of meters tall, and she asked the question without fear.
[......]
Even though it didn’t have eyes, Violet could feel it clearly, it was “looking” at her. Watching, analyzing, judging, trying to decide whether to attack or respond to her message.
There was no doubt. It was a top-level, cunning predator.
Finally, under the steady gaze of her shining light-form, it responded after a pause. Its reply came in the form of mysterious and mind-shaking thoughts, hard to put into words.
[You… from which world have you come, divine being? Do you gather forces in this world to fight against us? Do you intend to go against the rules set by the Primordial Will?]
[…Haah.]
The priestess sighed, her tone now a little annoyed.
[You so-called Gods, Lords, World Sustainers, blah blah… do none of you know how to be polite? I clearly asked first, and you didn’t even bother answering. Instead, you turn around and start questioning me like some arrogant judge. Excuse me, who gave you the courage to do that? That so-called “Primordial Will”? What a joke.]
BOOM!!!!!!!!
In that instant, an invisible force suddenly exploded between the two figures, creating a deafening sound like thunder splitting the sky!
It was a direct clash of divine thoughts. A high-level battle method where formless spiritual power is turned into deadly force. Just one strike caused visible shockwaves like storms to ripple across the sky for thousands of miles.
What looked like a beautiful, magical scene… was actually the terrifying aftermath of a divine battle. If any living creature had been caught in that shockwave, no matter how powerful or mythical, they would’ve been instantly crushed into dust by the overwhelming divine power.
The power of a [god] is like an unbridgeable gap compared to ordinary beings, something completely unreachable.
And yet, even for such a being...
[The name of the Primordial Will is not to be insulted lightly. Unknown god, you might be very confident in your power, but beyond this world, there are beings far stronger and more majestic than you could ever imagine. Don’t let your reckless words lead you to ruin.]
The “giant jellyfish” suddenly launched an attack without warning, then gave this deep warning. But it was clear, showing force always makes more impact than talking endlessly. After delivering a powerful blow and seeing that the glowing figure had easily taken the hit, it fell silent for a moment, then continued speaking.
[That’s right. I am one of the [Void Spirit], a [Keepers of the World] born from the Primordial Will. My rank is Fourth in the sequence.]
[Now can you answer my question?]
Rank Four… should she say it was expected?
Miss Priestess silently understood.
She already knew they weren’t allies and would likely end up fighting anyway, but just as the [Lord of the Void] was cautious of Violet’s mysterious power and didn’t dare act rashly, the priestess also wanted to use this chance to gather more information about the group known as the [World Sustainers] through these tests and exchanges.
[Hmph! I don’t hide my name or change my identity! I am [Aurora]! I am a goddess, the embodiment of the Primordial Light, full of compassion and kindness for all people. I’ve gathered the chosen ones to fight against the coming disaster, is there a problem with that!?]
[Aurora...?]
The [Lord of the Void] paused for a moment, clearly confused. It had never heard of a goddess by that name.
Haha~ Violet wasn’t dumb. Since she was only meeting the enemy using a disguised projection, there was no need to reveal her true identity. Very few people knew who the real “goddess” behind the Trial was. Using a false name brought lots of benefits for future moves. Besides, “Aurora” really had been the name of the Holy Empire’s goddess in the past, why not reuse it?
It was only natural the other side was confused. But unexpectedly, after that short pause, the [Lord of the Void] seemed to suddenly realize something, like it had discovered a shocking truth. Its calm and stable divine energy instantly changed!
[Wait, you… are you really you?! How can you still exist in the worlds, even hiding under a new face like this?! That’s impossible! The Primordial Will should have already destroyed you, the root of all evil and disaster...!]
[?]
Before the slightly stunned Miss Priestess could ask what it was talking about, the [Lord of the Void], who clearly mistook her for someone else, suddenly seemed absolutely terrified. Without hesitation, its body broke apart in the sky, scattering into countless streaks of glowing blue-green light that shot up into the heavens like a rain of reverse-falling meteors!
[???????]
Hey, what!? It just ran away out of nowhere!? That was way too sudden!
This move was totally unexpected for Violet. The [Lord of the Void] didn’t hesitate at all. Its retreat was so fast and determined that it even damaged part of its own essence to escape. The priestess didn’t even get the chance to stop it before those shooting “stars” vanished beyond the sky, disappearing completely.
The [Lord of the Void] had appeared using the sacrifice of [Humble Humbold] to bring part of its divine power, something like a god fragment, into the real world. So by giving up its body, it could naturally return to its original form, even though the world’s laws pushed it out. Unless Violet used another [Ultimate Art: Radiance], it would be nearly impossible to chase it down.
[......?]
After a long moment of staring blankly at the sky, Violet finally snapped out of it. The question marks floating above her head slowly faded as she sighed helplessly.
She didn’t really understand what strange mistake the big jellyfish had made, but its sudden retreat wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Miss Priestess wasn’t afraid of the so-called [World Sustainers], but fighting such a powerful enemy directly over the Grand Church and the Angel City of the Holy Empire would’ve been troublesome.
She had seen and experienced the power of [Taotie] firsthand. If [Taotie] represented the ultimate physical strength, a “warrior”-type, then the [Lord of the Void] was clearly focused on invisible forces like spirit and strategy, a “tactician”-type. In some ways, its abilities were actually more dangerous than brute strength, since they could cause massive destruction on a larger scale.
Even though they were tens of thousands of meters high in the sky, for god-like beings, this distance wasn't anything difficult to reach. With how crowded the Holy Capital was, if the full force of their battle caused any aftershocks to spread downward, the consequences would be completely unpredictable.
Sigh… whatever, let it run away.
In the end, they had already gained more than enough today.
The group known as the [World Sustainers], led by the [Lord of the Void], was clearly made up mostly of semi-spiritual, semi-physical beings, or even completely spiritual lifeforms. In some ways, they didn’t even seem to have the concept of individual “selves.”
Just like earlier, when [Humble Humbold]’s physical body was destroyed by Snow Wing, the mysterious energy source inside him didn’t disappear completely. Instead, it escaped through some kind of link, just like the [Lord of the Void] had done moments ago. Even though it suffered some loss in the process, that didn’t mean it truly died.
This time, even though she didn’t know why the [Lord of the Void] was scared off, from what she could sense during the short encounter, its actual power probably wasn’t any less than [Taotie]. If every high-ranking lord in that sequence had the same level of strength, on par with a Main God, plus special individuals like [Humble Humbold], then even the gods in their prime from the Origin Realm would probably have a hard time winning against them.
The Primordial Will… Is this a different system of gods created by that being?
Many thoughts quickly passed through Violet’s mind, but then she focused herself again. Her divine presence quietly returned to her true body.
“......”
The girl sitting cross-legged in the magic circle opened her eyes. Everything around her was still normal.
Inside the [Six-Line Array Palace], the trial was still going on. Looking out through the window, the square below was still filled with countless excited citizens, all eagerly waiting for the trial’s result. They had no idea that a disaster, something truly terrifying, had just appeared above their heads and then quietly disappeared.
So small… To the gods, humans really are like ants... Busy, ignorant, unable to fight fate, or even realize it exists. No wonder those high and mighty gods never take life seriously.
“Sigh… I guess I really don’t suit being a goddess~”
The priestess smiled and shook her head.
Anyway, the chaos this time could be considered over.
[Humble Humbold] was physically destroyed, the [Lord of the Void] was driven away, and the conspiracy in the Holy Capital led by the illusion-type beings of the [World Sustainers] had basically fallen apart. Without a commander, the leftover small fry, those still hiding in the [Six-Line Array Palace] and around the city, were no longer a threat and could be wiped out in one sweep.
From what was known so far, the [World Sustainers] seemed to be a huge group divided into different structures based on the ranks of their leaders. [Taotie] gave rise to monstrous evils, and the [Lord of the Void] led the illusion-types. Just like generals leading their soldiers. Groups like these... there were probably even more of them out there.
Maybe other followers of the [World Sustainers] had also come to the Origin Realm. But they wouldn’t all be hiding in just the Holy Capital. Violet couldn’t, and wouldn’t, go chasing them all down one by one. That’s exactly why the chosen heroes were so important.
Rumble...
The heavy and solid sound of the sacred gate opening slowly echoed through the hall. With light footsteps approaching, the priestess turned her head as expected and saw a certain dragon girl walking in.
“Master, Edwina sent word. Most of the targets on the list you gave her, those we were keeping an eye on, have lost all their weird energy. It looks like, because of that thing in the sky, the enemy has started pulling back on a large scale. Should we do anything next?”
“Oh? They’re retreating that fast?”
The priestess couldn’t help but laugh.
“Looks like that [Lord of the Void] really was scared out of its mind. I wonder what exactly it mistook me for...”
“Since they ran off, let’s not bother with the little ones. For now, the most important thing is finishing up what we have here... Oh right, how are those three kids doing?”
The two women were already on the same page. The little dragon girl immediately understood what her master meant and nodded slightly.
“The body-strengthening process is complete. These mortals are surprisingly tough, they all made it through. But according to Light, that blind girl Elunie has an unusually strong affinity with the [Primordial Flame]. That means she has very high god-potential. There might be a huge secret hidden in her. You should definitely keep a close eye on her.”
“Hmm, I thought so.”
Violet nodded thoughtfully. She didn’t say much more, but left a projection behind to maintain the still-active [Six-Line Array Palace], and then stood up.
“It’s about time… Let’s go find Edwina and bring all of this to an end.”