Chapter 279

Chapter 279. Palao’s Arrangement (5)

Among the potential futures Palao aimed to realize, the one with the highest probability was before her eyes.

The future she now saw was precisely that one.

The man tirelessly pushed himself beyond limits, appearing as if he’d collapse any moment, killing others who bore the same face as his own.

He was surrounded by people among massive boulders of shapes he had never seen before.

The people around him knelt, their bodies trembling.

For some reason, his past was revealed, showing two small children and two adults, with the man seated among them.

— Damn it…….

People approached a white orb, only to evaporate upon contact.

The crowd that packed outside the city wall was dense, with a doleful atmosphere permeating between them.

Suddenly, the air tore with a ripping sound.

– Evacuate.

The eyes of the man who stepped out from within were golden, just like hers.

As soon as she verified the sight, everything vanished.

“Ah!”

Palao, stunned by the shocking conclusion, opened her eyes wide.

The man she had seen in the future was standing dazed, with tear marks not yet wiped off.

Unlike the fragmentary pieces seen through authority, this was a real, complete presence.

She was observing him directly from the future.

‘Time and space have merged.’

It was a rare phenomenon occurring due to the repercussions when a great force disrupted causality.

Although rare, she had experienced it once before as well.

It was a phenomenon destined to be resolved soon by the intervention of causality detecting the anomaly.

Moving as if possessed, Palao approached him with a shuddering body.

Eventually, it seemed he noticed her presence too.

“Palao.”

His eyes, stained with resentment and hatred, seemed chillingly like he wished to tear her apart.

“Are you satisfied?”

The moment he grasped her neck, Palao knew what she had to do.

Seeing the potential future that this choice could manifest, she knelt without hesitation.

“Please, save……”

Even one more pitiful life in this world.

“Please save, please save……”

As she pleaded so desperately, time and space restored their place.

Left alone in reality, Palao shed tears with a desolate expression.

“……”

The fact that the future awaiting them was nothing but destruction was hard to accept.

‘I can’t just sit here idly, knowing this.’

There was still a way to save the fragile lives they were protecting.

Wiping her tears, Palao stood and called out to Meferoseta.

“Mefe, we must quickly report what we just saw……”

But before she could finish her sentence, Meferoseta, who had been looking down at her feet, moved.

In an instant, the sharply honed divinity of Meferoseta pierced through Palao.

It was an attack with clear intent to kill.

“Ah!”

Palao could not effectively respond to the sudden assault.

Palao, looking down at her chest pierced by Meferoseta’s arm, asked in a trembling voice.

“Wh-why……?”

With eyes filled with malice, the pale Meferoseta replied.

“After all I’ve done to climb this high, I refuse to be extinguished by the likes of that human.”

Before she could even ask what she meant by that, Meferoseta’s assault continued.

* * *

‘So Palao was extinguished due to internal conflict.’

Since I never had a good view of the 7 Great Gods, it wasn’t a big surprise.

It was a little surprising that Meferoseta, not Agnotia, caused the stir, but that was it.

I examined the scenes somehow imprinted on my memory, the records of Palao, a bit more closely.

Thanks to that, I could certainly learn what happened right before the first gate opened.

Despite Meferoseta’s sudden attack, Palao narrowly escaped with her life.

She later went to seek Karlos while concealing her wounds.

– The idea that mortal fate is beautiful ultimately stems from notions originating from your viewpoint where extinction is possible, not mine.

– If you wish to save mortals, accomplish it with your own power.

A voice, indifferent, responded coldly as if irritated.

Then, Palao realized Karlos was utterly spent.

‘She accepted she could no longer hope for his mercy.’

Suffering injuries that made avoiding obliteration difficult, Palao devised a cunning plan.

She dangled a bait that would tempt Karlos.

‘If you transfer your status and divinity to me intact, Biharin may perish more quickly……’

It wasn’t incorrect.

If all the life on this land were to escape to Earth, it meant there would be no one left to resist the monstrous entities.

That ultimately leads to a shocking conclusion that they could inhabit this dimension faster.

Karlos took the bait and directly intervened to transfer Palao’s divinity and status to me.

‘It’s absurd.’

Both Palao and Karlos managed to achieve what they sought through this absurd arrangement.

I, who got caught in their choice, had a different story.

‘This kind of power, I never desired it.’

I was unilaterally burdened with it due to a potentially higher possibility than anyone else.

As a result, millions of lives were in my hands, and I was pressured to save them.

“I didn’t think there could be someone more damned than the system……”

I sighed and rose to my feet.

Though not completely unaware, and somewhat anticipated, the shock wasn’t severe.

I led my weary body, not having engaged in intense combat, and assessed my condition.

‘The quantity is daunting.’

Comparing it to what I had gained before, the sheer amount of divinity now dormant within me was jaw-droppingly ample.

If broken down, the ratio was one-tenth acquired before, nine-tenths now.

Furthermore, I absorbed the status Palao accumulated along with the divinity.

As a result, even the title, which seemed a distant hope to evolve, finally advanced, though I still lacked authority.

‘I’ve got the fuel and license, but there’s no car to drive.’

I had to hold onto so much without being able to use it, and it was frustrating the more I thought about it.

Even if I gave a handful to the system for new selection purposes, there seemed to be enough left.

Despite my regret, I was unable to easily relinquish it and fairly haphazardly attempted various trials with the divinity.

“Oh.”

I discovered the divinity could mix with attribute mana.

I observed the golden spark that bloomed on my palm for a moment.

What distinguished this from ordinary attribute mana?

How potent was this power?

Could magic be implemented using this?

The answer to a slew of trailing questions could only be sought through direct experimentation.

Yet, before I could attempt anything, a sudden chilling sensation struck my spine.

A gaze slicing through me, as if dissecting me, froze my entire body stiff.

Though no one particularly gave me a hint, I instinctively realized the origin of the sensation.

‘This is causality.’

Just as a newborn instinctively learns to spit out amniotic fluid and breathe, I too underwent this natural process.

That was neither a living being nor a will.

Causality lacked emotion or personality; it merely maintained the flow for existence as a rule.

‘And according to that rule, from this moment, the boundary I may breach ends right here.’

It extended no further than mixing divinity with attribute mana.

Pushing beyond to employ this power was not permitted for me.

If I infringed upon that unauthorized domain, causality would remove me.

‘It feels like walking on thin ice.’

I somewhat grasped what Gretman meant.

One misstep and I risked being swiftly snuffed.

Deeply sighing, I dispersed the divinity.

As the golden spark that bloomed on my palm disappeared, so did the observing sensation of causality.

Though disappointing not to ascertain the real strength of this new power,

I decided not to be anxious, knowing I could test it with more accumulated status.

‘For now, let’s move on.’

As always, to do so meant burrowing upward to the surface.

The aftermath of these trials was impeccably terrible.

‘Having to dig my way out every time.’

Seriously, what was Karlos thinking burying Palao’s divinity entirely underground?

Lamenting my plight as I dug forward toward the surface, once numerous game functions were restored, I couldn’t help but jolt my shoulders.

There was a presence rushing right at me.

Chop chop chop.

Systematic hands were groping around my body urgently.

‘Indeed, I told it not to touch mindlessly, didn’t I?’

This perverted entity clearly had no intention of heeding my words at all.

Unable to let it continue, a stern grip banished the system’s persistent hands.

Afterward, I focused beyond its presence.

‘Karlos……’

That far-off, watching presence was undoubtedly Karlos.

Fortunately, the other gods, including Agnotia and Meferoseta, were completely absent.

The problem was that others prepared for my welcome party in place of the absent gods.

“…… Teeming indeed.”

Black dots practically teemed across the map.

So many, it entirely obscured the geographic markers.

‘Did they sense the divinity?’

Alternatively, was it that the trial’s space happened to be made right beneath them?

Regardless of the reason, it was an overwhelming quantity for me to handle alone.

Even if I poured potions and extended the fight emphasizing melee combat, it wouldn’t be simple.

‘Especially that one just above.’

The scale of mana sensed through detection magic was massive.

Comparing to the average mana of a nemesis-rank entity, the difference was clear.

“Legion Commander level……”

The entity held position, openly displaying its mana without a hint of concealment.

I felt like it was waiting for me to emerge.

Handling that along with the high resistance evolved species and general-ranked opponents would be too much with the insufficient attribute mana.

While contemplating how to proceed, a memory surfaced.

– I guessed as much. Is your god looking out for you?

– It would be possible to obscure causality.

Reflecting on the conversations with Gretman.

A hypothesis arose.

‘Could I use the system’s support to expend divinity?’

If nothing else, it was worth conducting a single test.

“Hey, system. Mask the causality.”

Even though it was an unilateral notification, the system quickly responded.

「Trait Capitalism is activated.」

「The system switches to a support type. Support target: player Kang Hyunwoo.」

Seeing the message, I recreated the golden spark.

As before, I sensed causality observing me.

The system apparently couldn’t completely detach me from causality.

However.

‘It’s somewhat subdued?’

It felt like the focus of causality lessened.

In other words, the boundary, the range I could maneuver, expanded.

‘This changes everything.’

I didn’t exactly know its power, but after all, it’s divine strength.

There are scholarly opinions suggesting it should be viewed as a force one step above 5th-rank mana.

‘Just like rank 5 Lightning mana is more potent than 2nd rank Fire mana.’

Doubting this new power’s efficacy would be pointless.

In the worst-case scenario, ensuring my escape alone should be feasible.

‘It’s definitely worth trying.’

Again, I drilled upward, vigorously ascending.

Finally, holding a one-time use artifact capable of ultimate defense for unexpected surprises, I reached the surface.

“Huh.”

For the first time, I witnessed a scenery unseen until then.

Damned System