Chapter 373 : Divine Blood (1)

“Wow, is that really a mermaid............?”

Penia muttered in shock.

Observer, as if used to such reactions, showed no particular response.

“It’s been a while.”

At Alon’s voice, she turned her gaze back.

“Yes, it has been a while.”

“You knew I would come?”

“I expected it.”

Responding calmly, Observer glanced once at Radan, Penia, and Evan standing behind Alon, then spoke.

“I’m sorry, but I think your companions will need to wait here for a moment.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

As Alon turned slightly to look back, the three nodded at the same time.

“Understood.”

Once confirmed, Alon nodded, and Observer immediately reached her hand out to him.

Wooong~!

With a soft resonant sound, a bubble-like sphere enveloped his body.

“Then I’ll depart right away.”

Without further explanation, Observer headed straight down beneath the surface, guiding Alon toward a space deep in the abyss.

After a short while,

“We’ve arrived.”

They reached Observer’s domain.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. I’ll be stepping out now.”

“...Huh? Stepping out?”

When Alon asked in surprise, Observer nodded.

“Yes, the one you’ll be speaking with this time isn’t me. Besides, there’s a message to be delivered.”

“A message?”

“Yes, from above.”

With that, Observer turned away before Alon could say anything more.

Throwing herself into the entrance of the unseen abyss, she added:

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll come back down as soon as the conversation is over.”

Leaving those words behind, she vanished immediately.

‘Who could she be meeting?’

Still bewildered, Alon shrugged his shoulders and turned around.

Just as she had said—he did not come here to meet her.

Alon walked deeper into the naturally formed cavern.

Before long, a familiar chamber appeared.

It was a place where the sky was clearly visible even in the darkness of the deep sea.

The chamber itself had no noticeable change from before.

The only difference—was the sky.

Alon silently looked up at the sky of this world.

Where stars had always shone brilliantly, the Milky Way no longer existed.

There was only the pitch-black night, with a graceful moon floating in it.

The stars no longer existed.

As if they had never been there in the first place.

Of course, it was not his first time seeing a starless night sky.

From the moment he regained consciousness, he had heard that the stars were gone.

After regaining mobility, he had confirmed it with his own eyes.

Yet despite that—

Alon stood there for a long moment, staring blankly at the silent sky with only the moon.

It was the sky, so he could not gauge the level of turmoil.

Yet for some reason, the sky felt... quiet.

Eventually, Alon began to walk again, passing beneath the dark sky and heading further inward.

He found the altar he had seen previously and placed the curved jade he was holding upon it.

Wooong~!

A faint resonance and the sensation of sinister magic.

But unlike last time, he did not panic and waited calmly.

“.......”

Soon, a human-shaped spirit appeared before his eyes.

A soul formed from condensed sinful magic.

[You have gathered them all.]

Before Alon could react, the predecessor spoke.

Alon nodded inwardly in surprise.

“Yes, how did you know?”

[Well, I was the one who told you to gather them, wasn’t I?]

“......”

“Hm.”

[That was a joke.]

As Alon made an awkward expression, the predecessor smiled faintly and continued.

[In this state, I can perceive things a bit more closely.]

“You detected it through a very subtle wavelength?”

[Exactly. Now, would you hand those items over?]

Without a word, Alon handed over the items he had been carrying.

The Mask of the One Who Walks Forward.

The Crying Blessing.

And the Jewel of the Closed-Eyed One.

The predecessor accepted them in silence and arranged the three artifacts in a triangle upon the altar where the curved jade rested.

[We’ll begin with this.]

Then, as sinful magic flowed into the three artifacts, a black sphere began to form above the triangle.

And then—

Pssht—

A black thorn shot toward Alon.

It happened too quickly.

Had he been betrayed?

Could he respond?

Even if he couldn’t, could he survive?

All kinds of thoughts flashed through Alon’s mind in an instant as he held his breath.

But unfortunately, there was nothing Alon could do.

The thorn emanating from the sphere was faster than his thoughts.

Just as Alon clenched his teeth—

Craack—!

The black thorn struck something.

“....?”

“Huh?”

Not his body—but something behind his back.

And then—

“!”

Alon felt it.

The black entity behind him was slowly disappearing.

“What is this?”

As Alon stared blankly at the black smoke, he turned his gaze to the predecessor.

She answered calmly.

[It would be best to call it a Watcher.]

“......A Watcher?”

[Yes, the Watcher who had been observing you all this time.]

Alon looked behind him.

The entity that had clearly held form was now completely gone.

“Could you explain?”

[Of course... hm?]

The predecessor, who had been nodding, suddenly stared intently at Alon.

“......Is there something else?”

When Alon asked at her strange behavior, the predecessor simply gazed at him for a moment, then—

[No, it’s nothing.]

She shook her head and turned away.

[It will take a little while before you meet Him, so let’s talk for a bit.]

As if nothing had happened.

***

Alon’s mind was in complete turmoil.

The vanished divinity.

The divine blood.

The secrets of this world.

And now, the Watcher she mentioned.

There was even more to think about.

Yet the predecessor said nothing.

Or rather, she seemed to be thinking.

About where to begin.

And after a long contemplation—

[We’ll start from the very beginning.]

“...The very beginning?”

[Yes. I tried to explain it in a simple way, but that won’t be possible. It’s not a bad story for you, after all. It’s not the sort of thing you could hear from just anyone.]

As Alon looked at her, the predecessor nodded.

[This is a story of the past—far older than the Era of the Forgotten Gods.]

“...?”

Alon blinked in confusion, then immediately realized what she meant.

He had heard it once before from Observer.

In other words, you mean there’s a past even older than the Era of the Forgotten Gods?”

‘It’s true. I didn’t witness it myself, but I believe it exists.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the previous Observer—my master—saw that past and left behind her final testament before passing.’

It was what Observer had said when Alon first met her.

Recalling those words, Alon turned to the predecessor, but her expression remained calm.

[A very distant past. There were two nations on this continent.]

[One nation had achieved dazzling advancement through magi-engineering, its power great enough to reach the heavens.]

[The other nation, under the teachings of a great god, had discovered the method to inscribe laws into this world.]

[Their names were the Illanef Empire, and Babylonoya.]

“!”

Alon’s eyes widened.

Although Alon had heard the name Illanef from Rine, he already knew the name Babylonoya even without hearing it from her.

“Babil... Roya...”

Alon unconsciously muttered the words.

There was no way he wouldn’t know.

If one chose the magician route in Psychedelia, it was impossible not to encounter the word “Babylonoya,” as both the incantations and hand signs used in magical restrictions originated from it.

In fact, Alon himself had performed such a restriction years ago using a ring.

Even as countless thoughts flashed through Alon’s mind, the predecessor continued her story.

[You’ve probably realized it by now, but the incantations and hand signs you use—]

“They all come from Babylonoya, don’t they?”

[That’s correct. More precisely, they belong to the ‘god’ who inscribed those laws into this world. Or perhaps... it would be more accurate to call it the blood of god—Divine Blood (神血).]

“What?”

Alon’s face showed shock.

But only for a brief moment.

Quickly turning his mind, he began connecting the information about the two nations she had explained.

Divine Blood of Babylonoya.

Magic.

Magi-engineering.

Illanef.

Sin.

Pluto.

“No way.”

[............Indeed, it seems you’ve already sensed the purpose of the Divine Blood from what Sin told you, so I don’t think I need to explain it piece by piece.]

When Alon’s expression suggested realization, the predecessor smiled.

[Yes. Just as you guessed. Babylonoya was the cradle—created by the Divine Blood for the sake of becoming a true god.]

“And Illanef was—”

[The one who stood in its way.]

Alon suddenly remembered something.

It was about Ulthultus—or rather, the encounter with the Mad God.

As far as Alon knew, he was an outer god from the Forgotten Era.

Yet he clearly knew of Babylonoya.

In fact, the reason he agreed to Alon’s battle challenge was precisely because Alon uttered the name Babylonoya.

However, Alon did not interrupt and allowed the predecessor to continue.

[The two nations went to war. Babylonoya and Illanef both suffered great losses. If things continued that way, both nations would inevitably walk down the path of destruction.]

“So in the end, they destroyed each other?”

[No.]

“No?”

[Correct. The two nations stopped the war right at the brink of mutual destruction. The Divine Blood did not want the cradle it had created to be rendered meaningless, and Illanef also had a plan that required time.]

Though she added that she herself did not know the exact nature of that plan, the predecessor continued speaking.

[Anyhow, the two nations halted the war just before their annihilation. And somehow, they survived. However—]

She shrugged lightly.

[Illanef and Babylonoya eventually perished.]

“They couldn’t endure after all?”

[No. Even with doom approaching, both nations had the power to rise again. The laws inscribed into the world by the Divine Blood had granted temporary omnipotence to humanity.]

The predecessor moved slowly and sat upon the altar.

[And the magi-engineering that had advanced enough to reach the heavens had granted humanity more power than they should have ever possessed. Because of that, both nations recovered rapidly as time passed. And then—they were destroyed.]

“A second war, then?”

[No. The two nations were not destroyed by war. As I said—they were destroyed.]

“...By whom?”

At Alon’s question, the predecessor fell silent.

After a brief pause, she finally answered.

[By the Abominable Blood (怪血).]

And with that—

Alon’s eyes widened in an instant.