My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 94

#94

The abyss opens (1)

Immediately after the ritual to open the abyss takes place.

The response of the church, which had recently been in a state of tension according to the saint’s will, was immediate.

“Hurry! “Quickly prepare and gather!”

The elites of the church who were waiting at the Great Temple of Roselia began to move due to the saint who immediately identified the center of the situation.

“Ha… It looks like the Immortal King has started to move in earnest.”

“I expected it wouldn’t stay still while it was hidden, but this exceeded my expectations. A ceremony of this scale….”

“It must have been something he had been planning for a long time with his followers.”

“I can’t even imagine how long it took to prepare.”

Archbishop Latius, who was next to her, nodded in agreement at the saint’s lament-like words.

While the Immortal King disappeared, the concerns raised became reality.

Or rather, it could be said that it happened on a scale that far exceeded the scope of what was assumed.

“The place where the ritual took place was deep in the wastelands of the southern part of the continent. “There is no temple nearby, so even if we arrive as quickly as possible, everything will already be over.”

“But isn’t this something we can’t just sit back and do? And since you’ve already prepared it in advance, it won’t take that long. Then we might be able to find some clue.”

The observed location was so deserted and remote that getting there itself was a problem.

A long distance trip that could waste at least a month if you go the normal way.

However, the main church members were not such easygoing people.

“From Weila, the city in the southern part of the empire, which is the closest place to the gate… If you hurry as much as possible, you can get there in about half a day.”

They were already preparing for a variety of situations and had already gathered people with blessings that would help with quick maneuvers and placed them on standby.

So that we can respond quickly no matter what happens.

And in less than an hour after the sudden incident broke out, they had completed all preparations and were gathering in the gate room.

“You are ready. “Then I’ll go too, saint.”

“…Thank you, Archbishop Latius. I need to talk to other factions quickly. … The existing negotiations have not been completed yet. Will I be able to sleep properly if this continues?”

The saint told Archbishop Latius a self-deprecating joke as he saw him off.

“Hehehe, I will come and help you too. Then wouldn’t it be possible to buy some time to sleep?”

“…Did you promise? “Are you sure you’ll come back and help me?”

Of course, those who would be dispatched this time were the elite members of the church, organized to safely get out of any crisis situation.

However, since they were the ones who carried out such a large-scale ritual, no one could know what kind of threat was lurking there.

There may be a trap targeting them.

“Of course. “Then let’s really go now.”

Archbishop Latius gently comforted the dark-faced saint and headed straight toward the gate.

She always expressed guilt about sending others to dangerous places, but as a follower of the main lord, she could not carelessly expose her to danger, so it was inevitable.

Like that, the archbishops and paladins, including Latius, led a group of people and entered the gate.

They arrived at the temple closest to their destination through the gate, waited there for a while, and then…

“…That’s it. “Please go in now.”

I went back into the gate I came out of.

It was a way to move further by creating a virtual exit in the direction they wanted to go with the blessing of ‘movement’ using the gate as a medium.

There were limitations as the distance was long and it involved moving a large number of people, but thanks to this, we were able to narrow the gap with the destination as much as possible.

“…I can feel the energy shaking here too due to the influence of the ritual. “Let’s hurry up a bit.”

As the distance got closer, the turbulent energy felt more vivid, and the expressions on the faces of those who arrived in the middle of the southern wasteland became stiff.

The moment when members of the church tried to get help from someone with the blessing of ‘Chukji’ in order to move quickly.

Gooooo—!

Far in the distance in the direction they wanted to go…

a black pillar rose up, connecting the earth and the sky.

Even though it was still a long distance away, the black straight line that seemed to divide the world was clearly visible to their eyes.

“…iced coffee.”

“Archbishop, that could not be….”

“Pillar of the Abyss….”

It was a sign of the opening of the abyss, which now only exists in literature and few people know about.

“…Let’s move.”

Grinding their teeth, the group headed to the place where the pillar rose at a faster speed.

Even if it was already late, I couldn’t just sit back and watch.

For about half a day, the group continued heading toward their destination.

The black pillar that soared with the force to pierce the sky had already disappeared as if its strength had run out, but after moving in silence, they were finally able to reach it.

To the place where the ritual of opening the abyss began.

***

Whiiing—

[As expected, everyone has already run away.]

Hans floated in the air and slowly went down, looking around.

There was a large hole in the ceiling of the ritual space located underground, so it was easy to get inside.

‘Did you leave as soon as work was over?… Well, it’s already been several hours. They wouldn’t just stupidly remain on the scene after causing continental aggro on this scale.’

The energy in this area fluctuated so strongly that the coordinates were unstable, so we had no choice but to move to a place some distance away.

Afterwards, they flew all the way here, but there was already no sign of anyone at the site.

All that remains are magic circles carved here and there for the ritual and blood traces that appear to belong to those who were sacrificed here.

Other than the fact that the work had been thoroughly prepared and carried out in advance, there were no traces left.

‘What about that?’

Except one.

Something foreign was detected in Hans’s sense of reading the entire space.

Swoosh—

something stuck between the cracks in the flooring came out of his will and was sucked into his hand.

‘A piece of metal?’

It was a piece of metal that appeared to be a broken part of a thin chain.

The only impurity left in this space where everything is neatly organized.

I don’t know what meaning this has, but since it was the only clue, I decided to keep it.

‘Because my energy is so disorganized, it seems like it will be difficult to trace back from here.’

It was difficult to do anything here due to the energy of the abyss itself and the aftermath of something that seemed to have been pulled out of it.

[Is this… ‘madness’? Perhaps because the door to the abyss was incompletely opened, it could not be taken out completely.] Since

this was not the case in the first place, there was no way to estimate what effect the madness that had broken down and begun to spread across the continent would have on the world.

But one way or another, there will be a big change from now.

As he scanned his surroundings to understand the situation, his eyes turned to the hole in the floor that had been emitting a strong presence earlier.

A thick darkness writhing under the giant magic circle beneath my feet.

It was slowly shrinking in size due to the world’s resilience, but in the meantime, it continued to violently emit ominous energy.

[Wow, this energy…]

It was a heavy, sticky energy that I felt when I looked inside with the “Heart of Immortality”, and it felt like I was going to lose my mind just by looking at it.

‘Is it energy leaking from the abyss?’

And the moment Hans looked into it with the “Eye of the Abyss” to find out more…

he was able to understand that energy in more detail.

‘…This was the origin of the dark magic contained in the heart.’

The dark magic that had been spewing out infinitely from the heart of the Immortal King was nothing more than a dilution of the energy that had been tightly compressed there.

‘That was nothing compared to this energy. ‘I can’t believe the difference in concentration is this drastic.’

If black magic was just a poisonous gas, this was a highly compressed concentrate.

A vicious energy that goes one step further than the notoriously difficult black magic.

But…

‘…I think I can handle this myself?’

It felt somehow familiar, perhaps because it had the same origin as the heart.

If you think about it, isn’t he the immortal king who climbed up from the abyss, and also has a body with “eyes of the abyss” and “heart of immortality”?

If anything, it’s even stranger that he can’t handle this!

‘Let’s do it.’

Hans slowly stretched out one hand and gently waved it in the air.

With that gesture of extreme concentration, the energy of the abyss that had been fluttering around him slowly began to move along his fingertips.

For ordinary people, just breathing in this place would have put their lives in danger, but for him, it was just like the air of his hometown.

‘Even though I can’t breathe.’

Even as he was thinking such pointless thoughts, he felt himself getting used to this energy, so he absorbed it to the fullest and stored it in his heart.

The energy of the abyss was more dangerous than radioactive waste, but it was not a power that could be easily accessed, so wouldn’t it be a waste to leave it alone?

[Hehehe… If you use this well, it seems like it could be quite a useful power.]

As it is difficult to handle, the effect will be great.

Hans, who had absorbed the energy of the abyss to his satisfaction, looked around again with satisfaction.

Looking at all the alcoholic drinks surrounding the slowly closing abyss, I could see how much effort they had put into this.

‘If this were to be the case, it would have taken at least 10 years of effort. Even more so if you think about the sacrificial rituals that took place all over the continent….’

The capacity to carry out such an act across the entire continent, the secrecy of operating secretly for a long time without being detected, and the organizational power to encompass it all.

Yeokcheon’s Pledge was an organization with more power than expected.

At this level, it can be said to be the largest on the continent among the forces of the shadows.

And that means….

‘They fit exactly the conditions I wanted.’

It was said that he was a very suitable choice as a supporting villain to support the main actor, Hans.

To the point where casting is absolutely necessary for the story to proceed smoothly.

‘I have to make finding them my top priority. Let’s postpone attracting small children like we are doing now.’

First, it would be a good idea to track down those who ran away from here, and if that doesn’t work, it would be a good idea to find the teacher of the young warlock who performed the sacrificial ritual.

If you climb up the tail from there, you will be able to reach that reality someday.

[Hmm?]

At that moment, Hans was thinking about how to move forward.

I felt a certain energy coming from the abyss that began to wriggle violently.

[Oh, this is another good thing.]

Although I had never met him face-to-face, I came to know him through ‘experience’ given as information.

‘Another legacy.’

I felt something so large that it couldn’t be compared to the Acrich Dwell that Heinrich faced coming up from below.

In the meantime, the connection with the abyss was so strong that the one drifting on the border had no chance to come out, but as that power began to weaken, it seemed that it was naturally sucked up.

The pit of the abyss continues to squirm and the energy becomes clearer and clearer.

Wiggle—

and finally.

A part of the being emerged from the turbulent abyss.

Puhwaak!

But it was too large to be considered a part.

[Whoa whoa——!] The

surrounding air shook as the overwhelming body twisted its entire body to get out, as if the large hole was too narrow.

Smooth bones and teeth that shine black, a huge skull that shakes violently, and even a ferocious purple eye glow.

That existence.

‘Born Dragon Entracio.’

A huge dragon with nothing but bones was crawling out from the bottom of the abyss.