Chapter 281

Chapter 281. Palao’s Arrangement (7)

It was not me that Hoel’s shadow swallowed, but rather my own shadow.

Yet, all my senses were cut off immediately after.

I couldn’t see anything, hear anything, and I couldn’t feel anything.

I tried to assess the situation while maintaining my composure and staying as calm as possible.

‘Getting flustered won’t help at all.’

I had approached, anticipating something might happen from the start.

All I needed to do was remain calm and respond appropriately.

Though I didn’t know precisely what this phenomenon was, I was sure it was related to his authority.

It was no coincidence that this happened after I got within a certain distance.

‘That shadow moved right before it; maybe it’s related?’

Was that why the shadow had been so persistently staying put?

While I was driving my mind to analyze the situation unfolding before my eyes.

「You foolish creature.」

A cheesy villain’s line I had only seen in comic books as a child reached my ears.

「This place is within my shadow.」

Instead of a sound coming into my ears, the words pierced directly into my mind.

「What awaits you in this place, where no physical entity is allowed, is unending hunger and despair.」

Listening to the voice that seemed to anchor itself firmly with a low tone, an old memory surfaced.

During my childhood, I often asked my father, puzzled, while watching villain characters.

– Dad, why do they explain all their abilities like that?

– Is it because they want their weaknesses to be discovered and be defeated?

At this question, my father had flipped through a complex expression while reading topics related to the development of child sensitivity.

Of course, I didn’t think I was the odd one.

In fact, I considered my curiosity to be entirely logical.

After all, such rhetoric only served to provide the enemy with more information.

Thanks to Hoel’s explanation, my doubts turned into certainty.

‘Shadow, eh?’

I still couldn’t understand the psychology of boastfully bragging about one’s abilities.

Thanks to it, though, I had gained an advantage, and so I saw no need to point it out.

It took a few seconds to manifest the spear, which I was not yet entirely familiar with.

Blue sparks flashed from all directions, the light growing brighter with the contribution of mana.

Even though a light source appeared in my hand, the shadow space remained unchanged.

‘Maybe because it’s authority?’

Given that it’s an ability that can defy causality, it might be challenging to influence it with typical attribute mana.

‘Then I just need to use a corresponding power.’

As I exhaled a deep breath, divinity seeped into my attribute mana.

While continuously observing the causality reaction, I pushed to my limit.

「W-What is this!」

Eventually, beyond the golden-light-emitting spear, the dark space began to ripple.

My lips curled up involuntarily.

A shadow is created when light is obstructed by an object.

‘And light fundamentally travels in a straight line.’

Which means a shadow forms opposite the direction light travels.

This is common knowledge known by all.

‘Perhaps these natural phenomena fall within the rules of causality.’

As long as I create a light source in the space where I’m trapped, the shadow would have to move to the opposite side.

The shadow itself seemed to be made with power that could defy causality like divinity.

And I could use divinity that matched that power.

‘It really works.’

The light emitted by the spear that turned from blue to gold pushed the shadow blocking my senses to the opposite side.

Thanks to that, the view that had turned pitch black began to regain part of its color in splotches.

I could see the outside through the parts where the shadow receded.

At that moment, Hoel began to unleash more of that unpleasant power I sensed in Agnotia, but,

Thunk

It was at a time when I had already dealt a critical blow to him.

I had thrown the golden spear, which emitted divinity and lightning, like a divine bolt of Zeus from Norse Mythology, through the torn shadow space.

“Kee-aahh!”

Struck by it, Hoel let out an ear-piercing shriek.

As a result, all the remaining shadows disintegrated.

Plumes of acrid smoke began to rise from Hoel’s body.

“Agh!”

Immediately after, he even vomited black blood.

But instead of feeling joy, I frowned.

‘Why won’t it just die already, persistent creature.’

Hoel wasn’t dead yet.

“You coward… you were hiding your strength!”

Wasn’t he the one hiding his authority too?

How could one live with such a skewed mindset to utter such nonsense?

Although it was an absurd remark hardly different from a forced excuse, I didn’t waste any time responding.

I gracefully descended and resumed my charge towards him.

‘Press the advantage while he’s wounded!’

The golden sparks gathered on the spear tip gleamed brilliantly, aiming for Hoel’s torso.

At that moment, dozens of wooden tendrils sprouted from Hoel’s body, intertwining to build a giant wall.

Yet, through the gaps, there was just one spot I could target with my spear.

‘Pierce through!’

While driving my power, I increased my velocity to ensure he couldn’t dodge.

Just when my muscles swelled as I thrust my right arm with full force.

Without any forewarning, the perception of time slowed.

It felt like every moment was unfolding in slow motion.

And within that bizarre situation, plop, plop, plop.

Ripples started forming in the empty air.

A phenomenon like raindrops hitting the surface of water.

Knowing well what this signified, my teeth clenched.

‘Taking the vanguard role in the enemy frontlines was Karklein.’

His role was to artificially tear open dimensional holes to create entry points.

So in a place like Biharin, where he resided, popping out suddenly like that wouldn’t be too hard for him.

Thus, he must be intervening again like this.

The moment I realized Karklein was intervening, it was already in progress.

I couldn’t stop him, and the Damned System only used the ripple-like phenomenon as a means of warning me.

Since the system couldn’t directly stop his intervention, I had to deal with it on my own.

‘Out of standard, vanguard, hole, system, limit, causality…’

I hadn’t articulated my thoughts into clear words or sentences.

Just a few fragmented scenes flashed through my mind, which was enough to alter my target.

Shifting the trajectory of my spear, I set my gaze on the widening air.

That black hand, which burst forth, was well-known to me.

The same hand that had appeared when Jang Cheon-yu was killed, and when Illyr was taken.

The black, child-sized hand was pierced by a spear pulsating with golden sparkles.

“—-!”

A piercing scream ruptured my eardrums, causing blood to flow from my ears.

Yet instead of retreating, I pulled on the spear impaled through the hand, like reeling in a fish caught on a line.

At the same time, I started funneling divinity into a spear newly formed in my left hand.

Pressing beyond the limits confirmed when escaping Hoel’s shadow earlier, I pushed more divinity into the spear.

Flash, flash.

Before long, the fiercely sparking golden spear left my hand.

Its destination was the hole in the air.

More precisely, the coward hiding inside, keen on extracting only what he wished not to lose.

Thunk

The sound of the spear penetrating something was followed by another scream.

But the ongoing scream was abruptly cut short as the hole shut tight.

The hooks of air that had spread now closed, and the hand protruding outward snapped off.

Regardless of this, I fixed my spear-capped lance onto Hoel again.

Crack.

The spear embedded in the bark thrust through from the other side, impaling Hoel completely.

All of this occurred in just a brief moment, one or two seconds at most.

When everything concluded, I stopped, the spear still driven into Hoel.

Having thrust divinity beyond my limit, driven by the sole aim of striking the Karklein.

Breaking the rule of causality that should not have been crossed without rightful authority.

The causality that sensed this infringement surged towards me with terrifying speed.

Its intention was starkly evident.

It would exclude me. From this land, from this world!

I couldn’t resist at all with my strength.

If I had been alone, a single misstep would’ve ended everything today.

In the domain where causality intercedes directly, I was no more than a tiny, insignificant being that could well bear the adjective ‘feeble’.

However, thankfully, I had a final safeguard.

As causality surged to exclude me, a familiar presence intervened between thes causality and me.

Immediately afterward, both presences vanished simultaneously.

Slumping down heavily, cold sweat streamed down my body.

“Hah, hah…”

Though I had acted trusting the Damned System from the start, I couldn’t help but shiver at the close call.

Once again, I realized starkly through this ordeal that I had ventured into a domain where one wrong step could lead to death.

‘Divinity, divine status, and authority…’

Handling a great power not originally granted to me demanded careful deliberation and prudence.

Swiping the sweat off my drenched face, I promptly pushed off the ground.

Sensing Hoel’s death, the creatures waiting in ambush outside the white flower began moving all at once.

“Screek!”

“Rawr!”

Even though Hoel had died, the legion surrounding me was still intact.

Avoiding direct clashes with them, I ascended to a higher vantage point.

Indeed, although flying creatures pursued me, their numbers weren’t significant.

After dealing with them, I finally had the leisure to re-examine the situation.

‘I absorbed mana, and the message regarding seizing status also appeared as expected.’

The scream that reverberated before the gap closed was no hallucination.

‘He’s definitely been hit.’

Perhaps due to the injury, Karklein might find it more challenging to open a hole to Earth.

This should buy us time.

‘Of course, it might also mean I’ve stirred the hornet’s nest.’

There’s also the undeniable chance that an angry, wounded Karklein could go on a rampage.

Unable to foresee the future, I could only strive to do my utmost.

‘Ah, but my mind feels clearer now.’

Upon recognizing the Karklein’s existence and the nature of its actions, I had yearned to slam it down at least once.

The audacious scoundrel dared to pierce through to Earth, where I and my cherished ones reside.

‘I will ensure you bitterly regret coming to Earth.’

Casting aside one of my deeply buried grudges, I caught my breath, closing my eyes.

It’s a time to grasp fully the providence that I couldn’t afford to overlook.

‘When the legion commander used the shadow.’

And when the Karklein’s arm emerged from the opened hole.

I had unmistakably sensed it. That sticky, creeping power distinct from divinity.

Presumably, it seemed enemies required a specific power to wield authority.

The issue is that I’m already familiar with that power.

‘When I lay captive as a sacrifice on the altar, I sensed the same force from Agnotia.’

The meaning of those words was exceptionally straightforward.

‘Agnotia must have sided with the enemies.’

It was a moment that confirmed the doubts I had persistently harbored.

Did the other gods remain unaware of this fact? Or did Agnotia only reveal that power in my presence?

While the latter remains uncertain, merely judging by the circumstances, the situation is laughably absurd.

One god attacks an ally in the same faction.

Another outright betrays the entire alliance.

Yet another prays for dimension collapse through sacrificial rites.

‘Excluding the departed Palao, three remain.’

Temoria, Finelpenia, and Senoa.

There’s no guarantee those entities are perfectly intact.

Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if a traitor or a defector surfaced among those three as well.

‘How can they expect victory in such disarray when they allege to be an alliance?’

Reflecting on Biharin’s laughable, scatterbrained situation incrementally raised my blood pressure.

Fortunately, before my rising blood pressure endangered my health, the Damned System’s presence returned.

After worrying if causality might crash back into me, I felt relief that it was merely the Damned System returning.

Sighing with relief, I uttered quietly.

Damned System