#94
The Abyss Opens (1)
Immediately after the ritual to open the abyss was carried out.
The reaction of the Order, which had recently been maintaining a state of vigilance according to the Saintess’s wishes, was immediate.
“Hurry! Finish preparations and assemble at once!”
The elites of the Order, who had been standing by at the Great Temple of Roselia, began to move at the Saintess’s command the moment she identified the center of the incident.
“Haa… It seems the Immortal King has begun moving in earnest.”
“We expected he would not remain idle while in hiding, but this exceeds our expectations. A ritual on such a scale…”
“It must have been something he had been planning for a very long time with those who followed him.”
“I cannot even guess how many long years he spent preparing for this.”
At the Saintess’s words, which were almost a lament, Archbishop Latius, who stood beside her, nodded in agreement.
The things they had feared while the Immortal King kept himself hidden had become reality.
No, it would be more accurate to say that what had occurred was on a scale far beyond anything they had imagined.
“The ritual site is deep in the wastelands of the southern continent. There are no nearby temples either, so even if we arrive as quickly as possible, everything will already be over.”
“Even so, it is not as though we can simply sit back and do nothing. And since we have already prepared in advance, it should not take too long. At the very least, we may be able to find some clue.”
The observed location was such a remote, uninhabited region that getting there at all was a problem.
If they tried to go by ordinary means, it would be a long-distance journey that would waste at least a month.
But the Church of the Main God was not so easy to deal with.
“From Weira, the southern imperial city that is the closest point accessible by gate… if we hurry as much as possible, we should be able to arrive in about half a day.”
Having already prepared for various contingencies, they had gathered those with blessings that would aid rapid mobilization and assigned them to the standby personnel in advance.
So that no matter what happened, they could respond quickly.
And less than an hour after the sudden incident broke out, they had completed all preparations and were assembling in the gate room.
“Preparations are complete. Then I shall be on my way, Saintess.”
“…I leave it to you, Archbishop Latius. I should hurry and speak with the other powers as well. …The existing negotiations have not even finished yet. At this rate, will I even be able to sleep properly?”
The Saintess saw Archbishop Latius off with a self-deprecating joke.
“Hohoho, I will help you when I return. Then surely that will at least earn you enough time for a short nap?”
“…You promised, all right? That you’ll definitely come back and help me?”
Of course, those being dispatched this time were the Order’s finest elites, assembled so they could safely withdraw from any crisis.
But considering the enemy had conducted a ritual on this scale, no one knew what kind of threat might be lurking there.
There might even be a trap aimed at them.
“Of course. Then I truly must be going now.”
Archbishop Latius gently comforted the Saintess, whose expression was dark, and immediately headed toward the gate.
She always showed guilt over sending others alone to dangerous places, but from the standpoint of those who followed the Main God, they could not rashly expose her to danger, so it could not be helped.
Thus, Archbishop Latius, along with the other archbishops and paladins, led a group into the gate.
After arriving through the gate at the temple closest to their destination, they waited there for a brief moment…
“…It is done. Please enter now.”
Then they stepped back into the gate they had just come out of.
It was a method of using the gate as a medium for the blessing of “Movement,” creating a virtual exit in the direction they wished to go in order to travel a bit farther.
There were limits, as the distance was considerable and they had to move many people, but thanks to it, they were able to narrow the gap to their destination as much as possible.
“…I can feel the energy trembling from here due to the ritual’s influence. Let us hurry a little more.”
As the distance narrowed and the roiling energy became more vivid, the expressions of those who had arrived in the middle of the southern wastelands stiffened.
Just as the members of the Order were about to receive the help of one who possessed the blessing of “Ground Shrinking” in order to move quickly—
Gooooo—!
Far away, in the direction they were headed…
A black pillar rose up, connecting earth and sky.
Though it was still a great distance away, that black straight line, as if dividing the world in two, was clearly seared into their eyes.
“…Ah.”
“Archbishop, could that possibly be…”
“The Pillar of the Abyss…”
It was a sign of the abyss opening, one now preserved only in documents and known by almost no one.
“…Let us move.”
The party clenched their teeth and headed toward the place where the pillar had risen at an even greater speed.
Even if they were already too late, they could not simply stand by and watch.
And so, for roughly half a day, the party continued toward their destination.
The black pillar that had surged upward as if to pierce the sky had already vanished, as though its strength had run out, but they moved in silence and finally managed to arrive.
At the place where the ritual to open the abyss had begun.
***
Whoooosh—
[As expected, they have all fled already.]
Hans slowly descended through the air, looking around his surroundings.
There was a large hole in the ceiling of the underground ritual site, so he was able to enter the interior with ease.
‘Did they leave as soon as the matter was over…? Well, several hours have already passed. After drawing continent-wide aggro on such a scale, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to remain at the scene.’
The energy around this area was shaking so violently that the coordinates were unstable, so he had no choice but to teleport to a place somewhat farther away.
After that, he had flown here in all haste, but by the time he reached the scene, there was already not a single presence to be found.
All that remained were the magic circles carved everywhere for the ritual, and bloodstains that appeared to belong to those sacrificed here as offerings.
As if they had prepared thoroughly in advance before carrying this out, there were no other traces left behind.
‘What is that?’
Except for one.
Hans’s senses, which read the entire space, detected something foreign.
Swoosh—
Something embedded between the gaps in the flooring slipped out according to his will and was drawn into his hand.
‘A metal fragment?’
It was a piece of metal debris that seemed to be part of a thin, broken chain.
The only impurity left in this space, where everything had been cleaned up neatly.
He did not know what meaning this had, but for now, it was the only clue, so he decided to keep it.
‘The energy is all scattered, so tracing them back from here will be difficult.’
Because of the aura of the abyss itself and the aftermath of something that appeared to have been taken out of it, it was difficult to do anything here.
[This is… “madness,” is it? Perhaps because the gate of the abyss opened incompletely, they could not draw it out in its entirety.]
Since he had never considered such a case in the first place, he could not gauge what effect the madness, which had crumbled and begun spreading across the continent, would have on the world.
But in one way or another, there would be a major change, something different from the present.
As he swept his gaze around and grasped the situation, his eyes turned toward the pit in the floor, which had been emitting an intense presence since earlier.
A dense darkness, plastered onto the massive magic circle beneath his feet and writhing.
It was gradually shrinking due to the world’s restorative force, but even amid that, it continued to violently spew out ominous energy.
[Hooh, this energy is…]
It was the heavy, sticky energy he had felt when observing the inside through the “Immortal Heart,” the kind that seemed capable of driving one insane just by looking at it.
‘Is it energy leaking out from the abyss?’
And the moment Hans looked into it with the “Eye of the Abyss” in order to examine it more closely…
He was able to understand that energy in greater detail.
‘…So this was the origin of the black mana contained in the heart.’
The black mana that had endlessly poured out from the Immortal King’s heart until now had merely been this energy, which had been compressed solidly there, diluted.
‘That was nothing compared to this energy. The difference in concentration is this severe?’
If black mana was simply poison gas, then this was a highly compressed undiluted solution.
A vicious energy one step beyond even black mana, which was already notorious for being difficult to handle.
And yet…
‘…I think I can handle this directly?’
Perhaps because it shared the same origin as the heart, it felt strangely familiar.
Thinking about it, he was the Immortal King himself who had crawled up from the abyss, and he even had the “Eye of the Abyss” and the “Immortal Heart,” did he not?
If anything, it would be stranger if he could not handle this!
‘Let’s try.’
Hans slowly extended one hand and gently stirred the air.
At that hand movement, imbued with extreme concentration, the energy of the abyss wavering nearby slowly began to move along his fingertips.
For ordinary people, simply breathing in this place would have put their lives in danger, but to him, it was no different from the air of his homeland.
‘Though I cannot breathe.’
Even while having such a pointless thought, he felt himself growing more and more accustomed to this energy, and he drew it in as much as possible, storing it in his heart.
The energy of the abyss was more dangerous than radioactive waste, but it was not a power one could easily encounter, so it would be a waste to simply leave it alone.
[Kuhuhut… If used well, this seems as though it will become quite a useful power.]
As difficult as it was to handle, its effects would no doubt be excellent.
Having absorbed enough of the abyssal energy to satisfy himself, Hans looked around again in a pleased mood.
Seeing the various spell formations densely surrounding the slowly closing abyssal pit, he could tell just how much effort they had poured into this matter.
‘At this level, they must have devoted at least ten years to it. If I consider the sacrificial rituals activated across the continent, then even more…’
The capability to carry out such a thing across the entire continent, the secrecy with which they had operated in the shadows for so long without being discovered, and the organizational power that encompassed it all.
The Heaven-Defying Oath was an organization that possessed far more strength in reserve than he had expected.
At this level, one could say they were the largest force on the continent among those in the shadows.
And that meant…
‘They fit exactly the conditions I wanted.’
It meant they were extremely suitable casting choices as villainous supporting actors to assist Hans, the leading actor.
So much so that they had to be cast for the smooth progression of the story.
‘I should make finding them my top priority. I’ll put off gathering small fry like I have been until later.’
First, he would try tracking the ones who had fled from here. If that did not work, finding the master of the fledgling black mage who had carried out the sacrificial ritual would also be a good method.
If he followed the tail from there, someday he would be able to reach their true form.
[Hm?]
Just as Hans was pondering how he should move from now on…
He sensed a certain energy from the abyssal pit, which had begun writhing violently.
[Oho, now this is another welcome matter.]
Though he had never faced it directly, it was a being he had come to know through the “experience” given to him as information.
‘Another legacy.’
He could feel something coming up from below, a creature so enormous it could not even be compared to the archlich Dwell that Heinrich had encountered.
Until now, its connection to the deep abyss had been too strong, so the creature, which had been drifting at the boundary, had had no opportunity to emerge. But now that that power had begun to weaken, it seemed to be naturally drawn upward.
The abyssal pit continued to writhe, and the energy he sensed grew clearer and clearer.
Writh—
And at last.
A part of that being burst out from the churning abyss.
Pwaaaak!
But it was far too enormous to be called merely a part.
[Kwooooooo——!]
As the overwhelming bulk twisted its entire body to force its way out, as if even that huge hole were too narrow, the surrounding air shook.
Glossy black bones and teeth, a massive skull thrashing violently, and savage eyes flickering with violet light.
That being was—
‘The bone dragon, Entrasio.’
A gigantic dragon made of nothing but bone was crawling up from the bottom of the abyss.