Chapter 358

Chapter 358. A Glimpse of the Future (6)

The god of Bihar had crossed over to Earth? And even into the material realm?

‘Let alone beings beyond specification, other gods from different dimensions should be blocked by the Damned System.’

What were the chances that it had been breached?

《System Message》

《It’s not impossible. In reality, it wasn’t recognized that those entities with status had crossed over to Earth. They could be exploiting a hole, or mages might be involved.》

If the enemies had found a way to deceive the System’s gaze, it wouldn’t be impossible.

I realized Ranjo’s words might not be an illusion right after recognizing this.

『And a few minutes ago, I saw a similar scene again. The smartphone that rolled onto the floor with a crash displayed May 8th, 9:34. The sunlight through the smoke indicated morning.』

Upon hearing this, I raised a window and checked the date.

‘May 8th.’

If what Ranjo saw was not the date of next year or the year after, then the incident would occur today.

‘There’s about a 6-hour time difference between Korea and Russia.’

Since Korea was approaching 3 o’clock, Russia should be at 9 o’clock.

Hesitating could mean losing the opportunity.

However, it was also suspicious that Ranjo had contacted me at such a critical moment.

“System, what’s the reaction of causality?”

《System Message》

It’s certain that moves were made to exclude Ranjo Kanos. Though it was blocked as promised, there’s no guarantee the information is 100% true.

I agreed. Even if only one of the many contents were true, causality would have moved.

To delve into the context, I asked Ranjo a question.

“What’s the story about the seal?”

『Meferoseta sealed her own status and divinity. It’s a trick to minimize the cost of staying in the material realm. It’s typically not used because of the exposure to danger.』

Meferoseta had reportedly been living in hiding like that for quite some time.

The explanations that followed only made my mind more complex.

『Anyway, therefore, the divinity I can use as an apostle became limited, and the number of times I could use authority significantly reduced. There are also some faith issues.』

A god, whose ego had grown oversized, wanting to remain in the material realm so desperately—what could be the reason?

Even with the explanation, my suspicions didn’t ease; rather, they deepened.

However, time wasn’t on my side.

‘If I’m going, I should move before it’s too late.’

If Meferoseta had really walked into my sight herself.

‘I shouldn’t let her leave easily.’

Even if this turned out to be a trap set by Ranjo and Meferoseta, it was worth the risk.

“Kim Yul.”

Having made my decision, I called on the one who could take over the authority right away at that place.

“Once the verification work in Camellia is completed and results come in, share them with Lily. Then discuss how to handle these puppets and proceed accordingly.”

“Yep!”

“And, Rashar, I’ll give you full authority over the guild, so contact the apostles all over to organize protection personnel. Since you have a previous relationship, it should be easy to convince those who refuse. We need to minimize status leakage without knowing their purpose.”

“Understood.”

The tasks left behind were entrusted to those who remained behind.

Having given all the urgent instructions, I shouted.

“To Russia, the Moscow Kremlin Palace!”

There was no hesitation in my steps as I proceeded toward the path Gilenios opened.

* * *

*Rumbling whispers*

Navigating through the noise made by people.

Meferoseta took in her surroundings anew.

Strange languages, unfamiliar sceneries, and strange humans everywhere.

Standing in a completely foreign place, she observed her surroundings for a moment.

Meferoseta let out a groan before moving forward again.

“What a cumbersome body.”

Having a body, which crumbled even before achieving divinity in the past, again was challenging in many ways.

The hunger and coldness long forgotten over the ages were wearying.

The heavy gravity, dragging insistently toward the ground, was tiresome at every moment.

The fact that nothing could be felt unless reliant on the body’s senses brought only fear.

The body, made of flesh and blood, was a shackle confining Meferoseta.

Yet, Meferoseta endured everything.

All of this was for her survival.

Meferoseta continued to move forward, trying to distance herself from the vivid impact of the past.

That day, she had seen with her own eyes the moment of being wiped out by an outsider’s hand beyond causality, in a vast realm.

For the first time since achieving divinity, she felt humiliation.

The memory of that day grew into a giant nightmare, feeding on anger and fear.

To think she would be devoured by a future divinity to be born.

That her end would be nothing worth mentioning!

The statistically predetermined future was gradually closing in on every moment of her existence.

‘For all the status I achieved, to disappear meaninglessly like this?’

Meferoseta gritted her teeth, struggling to evade the foretold future.

This was her sole reason for existence at the present moment.

Attacking Palao in the past.

Allowing Angramoti to escape, breaking her promises with other gods.

All were attempts to disrupt the birth of a divinity that would devour her.

Palao was leading the birth of that divinity.

Earth was home to humans who had yet to achieve divinity.

Stealthily obstructing the birth of a new god, her machinations proceeded intricately beneath the surface.

Of course, the results weren’t particularly favorable.

‘The god of the Earth was more adept than I expected.’

Due to that, although allowing Angramoti to reach Earth ended in failure, she managed to buy time.

Her annihilation was delayed by several years.

Having a chance to change the future, there was no stopping her.

Meferoseta embarked on a quest for new pawns to achieve her aim, selecting Agnotia as the sacrifice.

‘There isn’t an easier one to handle than that girl.’

A god who isn’t profound, can’t conceal motives, and remains true to her desires.

An idiot who idolizes ruggedness and dullness as Purity and achieved divinity.

Meferoseta evaluated Agnotia’s level as merely that.

While Meferoseta was a great being, perceiving probabilities of the future, Agnotia merely saw the inner thoughts of others, visible even to a human’s eye.

Her disdain emerging from the past was unimaginably rooted deep in history.

Agnotia’s chronic problem was the basis for Meferoseta’s disregard for her.

‘What’s the use of many devotees? When the status accumulated isn’t commendable.’

The status Agnotia amassed by living honestly and sincerely wasn’t impressive.

After all, these were things anyone could achieve if they set their mind to it.

Distinctly different from other gods who achieved status by overcoming trials impossible for most.

Thus, the faith of the believers wasn’t remarkable, and the accumulation of divinity was inevitably slow.

Meferoseta exploited these flaws of Agnotia.

She sowed the idea that there were different methods to obtain divinity.

Moreover, she helped Agnotia absorb pieces of Palao’s divinity multiple times.

With success stories, she’d pursue even more passionately.

‘In that process, Agnotia’s divinity seemed somewhat corrupted, though.’

It was a matter outside of Meferoseta’s concern.

Consequently, Agnotia was fixated on consuming rather than gathering divinity.

She began trailing behind the human set to become a new divinity.

It was pleasing if Agnotia succeeded, but was prepared for failure too.

In the era when outsiders were rapidly ascending.

Meferoseta hid in the material realm by sealing her status and divinity, minimizing her presence.

‘My death always lay beyond causality.’

Hence, she believed it might be possible to avert annihilation while dwelling in the material realm.

With status and divinity sealed, her presence became exceedingly faint.

Therefore, she could bide her time in the material realm, paying the minimum cost to causality.

While blending in with inanimate puppets, Meferoseta quietly crossed to Earth.

Earth’s traitors, conspiring with mages, aided in the transition.

She overheard talk related to strange concoctions.

However, none of it concerned Meferoseta.

What mattered was hiding until her destined annihilation vanished.

Having undergone a lengthy process to reach Earth, she’d been here for months now.

Pulling tight the clothes snatched from a street vagrant, Meferoseta used her authority.

Once again, she witnessed the same future from that day.

‘Still, still.’

The future of annihilation at the hands of an outsider beyond causality still barred her path.

The persistent vision of the same future for months unnerved her.

‘Did I perhaps make a wrong choice?’

To overcome this unease, she repeatedly convinced herself.

She was safe in the material realm.

It had to be so. Yet why.

“Could it be?”

Accompanied by sudden mutterings, an unexpected, rough grip encircled her neck.

“It’s no wonder you’re hard to find. Almost missed you right under my nose.”

An eerie chill swept through her body at the familiar voice she had heard somewhere before.

– Don’t feel too unjust; I’ll put your divinity to good use.

It was the voice that had pronounced her death countless times in the future, unheard anywhere else.

* * *

Not much time remained until the moment Ranjo claimed to have seen.

While pressured by urgency, I discreetly searched throughout Red Square for Meferoseta.

However, I couldn’t spot anyone resembling Meferoseta.

There was no feeling of the overwhelming presence unique to gods, nor any trace of divinity detected.

‘Even with the Inheritance Candidate Trait, I was unable to pinpoint the location of divinity.’

To dwell in the material realm, one must pay a price to causality.

It means some level of divinity is required.

Yet, I felt nothing.

‘Barely maintaining her life with such feeble divinity untraceable even by Trait detection, I suppose.’

Thanks to that, locating her proved challenging.

The urgency increased as the relentless Invisibility of Meferoseta taunted me.

What if Ranjo had lied?

‘Perhaps this was a plot to have me vacate my place.’

Just then, as I was about to call those remaining in Korea to check on the situation.

A fleeting, vanishing trace of divinity felt almost like an illusion.

And right after, it vanished.

It transpired so swiftly that dismissing it as momentary fantasy wouldn’t have been bizarre.

Yet upon sensing the divinity, I stamped the ground and sprinted toward the direction it was sensed.

But all I could see was hurried passersby.

Even amid doubt, a corner of my heart held conviction.

Though the Trait hadn’t activated, I surely sensed it.

Therefore, I already reached for the direction from which the divinity had vanished.

“Could it be?”

In momentary coincidence, clenching the back of the neck of a person in that direction.

「Inheritance Candidate Trait is activated.」

「There is divinity within 500 meters capable of being seized.」

Only then did I unmistakably feel the faint divinity.

So thinly elusive, like a near-invisible thread or cobweb, yet undoubtedly divinity.

“No wonder you’re hard to find. Almost missed you right under my nose.”

Thinking I might have missed her by a hair, my heart clenched with tension for the first time in a while.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, I immediately tightened my grip.

Given her status and divinity were said to be sealed, she was likely exceptionally vulnerable.

I intended to snap her neck right then.

Of course, that attempt ended in failure.

“You leech-like bastard, finally…!”

As Meferoseta’s presence rapidly began to swell, filling the surroundings and spreading in all directions.

The gigantic explosion occured.

Damned System