Chapter 219

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 219: Sealing Stone (3)

[Divine Artifact of Neutrality, ‘Soul Sword’ is evolving.]

[The Authority ‘Growth’ has been upgraded.]

The Soul Sword suddenly began evolving.

No, what is there to evolve at a time like this…?

Normally, I’d be glad to get free growth, but right now, something felt off.

[As you grasped the destiny of the Soul God, your rank has risen.]

Reading the message from the Soul Sword only made me feel more uneasy.

Destiny?

What I thought was actually the Soul God’s destiny?

How did it figure that out and tell me…?

Don’t tell me you already knew, Soul Sword?

[I do not know the Soul God’s destiny. However, when one who has ascended to godhood grasps their given destiny, their ‘rank’ rises. As the same outcome occurred, I judged it to be the cause.]

Is that so?

Well, this guy wouldn’t have access to that kind of info anyway.

Still, destiny is destiny.

The Left Hand of the Creator, the supreme god of the Chaos faction.

If my destiny is to rise to that level, then I should be honored.

I’d be becoming a god beyond even EX-rank.

The problem is that the Chaos faction is using Zeus to pressure me.

They’re pushing me to quickly absorb all the SP I’ve saved and act in accordance with my new rank.

—Stop playing human, and ascend to the world fitting of your stature.

They seem to be using Zeus as a chess piece to coerce me into giving up.

But me?

No way I’m giving in.

The whole reason I’ve come this far is to live as myself…

You think I’d give that up?

“Still, I guess it’s a relief that that guy hasn’t moved directly…”

[If he so much as breathes in this direction, the solar system will disappear.]

“…He’s that strong?”

[The difference in rank is on another level. If an EX-rank Creator is an ant, the ‘Left Hand of the Creator’ is the sun.]

An ant and the sun…?

That’s an absurd difference in scale.

So with power that massive, he doesn’t intervene directly.

Even if I were to withdraw every last bit of my SP, I wouldn’t be able to withstand him.

That’s… at least a bit of a relief.

“But if Chaos backs up Zeus… that’ll be a pain.”

[Grow faster. If the Authority of ‘Growth’ upgrades once more, you will obtain a new Authority: ‘Evolution’.]

With that reply, the Soul Sword’s message window vanished.

Evolution, huh…

Guess I’ll set that as my goal for now.

Wiiing…

A sudden resonant sound rang out.

“Kim Jiho-nim. One of the Sealed Stones is regaining its color rapidly.”

Elprian pointed to one of the Sealed Stones.

Looking over, I could see the shield I had cast around the stone had strengthened.

So just realizing my destiny made my shield stronger.

Still, it’s just making better use of the power I already have.

“This must be it.”

I picked up one of the Sealed Stones Elprian pointed out.

Among the four stones that had started to regain a bluish hue, one of them was now more than 50% restored.

[Ugh… mm…]

A voice emerged from the Sealed Stone.

It was a male voice—not too deep, but distinct.

[Where am I? I was giving my power to Lord Zeus, and then…]

“Who are you?”

[I am… Dionysus.]

Dionysus.

The god of wine who first spread a divine authority on Earth.

His voice was dreamy and hazy—like someone drunk.

[And who are you?]

“I guess you could say I’m your savior.”

I didn’t want to say I was the Soul God and provoke hostility, so I put it that way.

But Dionysus caught on instantly.

[If you’re strong enough to break my bindings… then you must be my father’s enemy. You must be that annoying Soul God he mentioned. Why did you bother releasing my seal?]

The moment he figured me out, Dionysus dropped all formality.

His voice still sluggish and detached.

“I freed you from being absorbed by Zeus. You should be grateful.”

[Not really… I willingly let my father absorb me.]

Hmm.

That attitude is not going to help.

He’s going to be uncooperative.

“So I guess you’re not all that hostile toward Zeus?”

[Yeah. Don’t bother asking me anything. I don’t know anything anyway.]

He drew a firm line right away.

For someone so cooperative with Zeus, his color recovery was oddly fast.

What’s the difference?

—The power of alcohol is weakening.

Another message came in from another version of me.

—I closely observed drinkers as Dionysus’s Sealed Stone regained color. The magical allure to make people drink has decreased, and even non-Hunters who are healthy adults can now somewhat resist the power of alcohol.

Oh…?

His power on Earth is weakening?

Guess it’s because his authority is returning to him.

The more power he regains, the faster the color comes back.

Even if he won’t talk, I’m gaining something from this…

“Still, it’s a shame he won’t speak. Should I torture him or something?”

[How do you torture a Sealed Stone?]

“What do you mean? It’s just a rock with a soul in it. Hmm… Ares. How about this?”

After all, a Sealed Stone is just a vessel holding a soul.

If I, a Soul God, can’t control this, what am I even doing?

“Like this, I put my hand in…”

I reached into Ares’s Sealed Stone.

And gave it a little twist.

[Kuh…?! Wh-what are you doing?!]

“Does it hurt?”

[Of course! You struck directly at my soul—it shook the very core of my being. Ugh. To be attacked even while sealed…]

[For Ares to be in pain… that must be quite the stimulus. He’s a war god who’s used to pain…]

Really?

That proves it’s effective, then.

I turned my gaze to Dionysus’s Sealed Stone.

Now almost 80% restored.

He claimed he didn’t know anything, but he might know something.

Let’s give it a try.

I reached into Dionysus’s Sealed Stone and slid my fingers into his soul.

Pinching, prodding…

At first, I started gently.

[Kgh… khhh…]

“If you know anything, talk. About Zeus or anything related.”

[I don’t... know... anything...!]

"Not feeling very provoked? Even Ares was shocked, you know."

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Should I try adding another finger?

I insert two fingers and move them individually.

With each movement, Dionysus cries out in pain.

[Ugh... I don’t know anything, so what am I supposed to say? Argh!]

"Hmm..."

Not much here.

Well, I didn’t really expect anything to begin with.

But since I’ve started, might as well keep going a little more.

At that moment, my eyes fall on the black part that makes up 20% of the sealing stone.

Should I try touching that?

Previously, the structure was too complex for me to even think about touching it, but thanks to understanding fate, it seems my ‘level’ has increased enough that I can handle it without much burden.

Flick, flick. Flick, flick.

I try poking at it with my finger, but it's blocked.

It’s annoying that only the black part won’t let my hand in.

[Ugh... AAAAAARGH...! P-Please, not that part...!]

Dionysus screamed in a completely different tone than before.

Is it really that painful?

I was about to pull back since my hand couldn’t even go in...

[Aaaah! AAAAAARGH! D-Do you think I’ll talk just because of this!? I-I told you, I don’t know anything!]

"...What?"

Is the pain messing with his mind?

Dionysus is rambling incoherently.

But the way he's talking... it sounds like he knows something.

He’s asking if I expect him to talk...

This guy.

He’s suspicious.

Tap, tap. Tap, tap.

I focused my soul power and analyzed in earnest.

This... feels different.

It’s unlike the previously identified powers of ‘Erasure’ or ‘Banishment.’

I need to identify it properly.

[Aaaaaagh... please... not there...!]

Ignoring Dionysus’s screams, I continued touching it.

The more I touch, the faster my SP drains.

What is this thing?

[Ugh... uuuugh... I’ll talk. I’ll talk, okay...?]

"Oh. I’m not interested, but... if you’re going to talk, make it quick."

Right now, I'm more curious about this black area.

As I continue my analysis, Dionysus, screaming repeatedly, hurriedly opens his mouth.

[Guh... ugh. Z-Zeus told me to make a wine that would addict the gods. He said he’d use it to subdue Hera who defied him...! I was in the middle of brewing it...!]

"Hera?"

[Yeah... Hera, who tormented me relentlessly. He said this time, he’d break her completely. Heh heh...]

[Dionysus? What have you done...? As if Mother would ever fall for mere alcohol.]

[Normally, the Hera you know wouldn’t. But this is the Hera who succumbed to Zeus. It’s possible to break her... I tested it more on Aphrodite, and was about to use it on Hera...]

"You made some kind of drug, huh?"

[A drug, huh... heh heh. Maybe. A drug-like wine that even works on divine spirits... I made it to make Hera unable to live without it...]

So the god of wine and ecstasy, Dionysus...

Is basically a criminal.

"So, did you finish it?"

[I gave Zeus a prototype... but then I suddenly got unsealed...]

"Hmm. So, you did help Zeus."

[Guh... but I talked now, so stop the torture. I really don’t know anything else. I swear!]

"Oh... sorry. I have more to investigate. Hang in there a bit more."

[W-What? You're going to keep going...?]

"Yeah. I'm drinking the wine you made, by the way. Shouldn't hurt if you're under its effects."

[Y-You bastard...! You promised—]

"Think about it. I never actually promised anything."

I think I’ve shown enough remorse.

Time to touch it again.

[AAAAAAAAAARGH!]

Ignoring Dionysus’s screams, I continued the analysis.

Even Ares, who earlier said I was going too far, stayed silent—probably furious after hearing what Dionysus confessed.

“Jiho, this might take a while, so I’ll go check out the Spirit Realm. Call me when you’re done.”

“Sure. See you later.”

Elprian, who had been silently watching me touch the sealing stone, waved and walked off.

"Hmm. Maybe analyzing just one isn’t enough."

Because I focused only on one, the progress is slow.

Of the remaining three, I grabbed the one that’s second most restored and inserted my hand into it.

[SP is insufficient.]

A message pops up.

What?

I'm being told I don’t have enough SP?

I did use quite a bit, but apparently analyzing this sealing stone consumes a huge amount of SP.

I withdrew SP from my account.

Originally, I was going to withdraw 10 trillion, as usual...

"But now, I think I can go this far."

I withdrew 40 trillion.

Since I’ve learned the fate of the god of souls, my available limit has increased dramatically.

Any more than this and I might get mentally unstable... so this much should be fine.

With more SP, the analysis proceeds faster.

[Ugh... ugh...]

Dionysus, now weakened, can only groan intermittently.

[......]

The second sealing stone, in contrast, said nothing.

But the more I touch it, the faster it turns blue.

Dionysus stopped at around 85%, but the second one is at about 60%.

As I kept analyzing both...

[AAAAAAAAAAGH!]

A piercing, high-pitched scream.

The second sealing stone emits an ear-splitting scream.

[W-What is this!? Zeus... are you torturing me now!? You keep feeding me weird alcohol...!]

"Who are you?"

[No... w-who are you? Why am I here...?]

Dionysus revealed his name right away, but this one won’t.

Well, whatever.

I keep doing what I was doing and touch the black part again.

[Aaaaaagh! I-I’ll talk! I’m Aphrodite, goddess of beauty...]

Ah.

So it was Aphrodite.

Well… not that it really matters.

Rub, rub. Rub, rub.

[Aaaagh! I told you my name, so why—!?]

"Mm. Sorry. Just hold on a bit. I'm purifying the part of your soul controlled by Zeus."

I’m just saying whatever, but the fact is, the soul stone is turning blue.

With zero guilt, I continued rubbing Aphrodite’s soul stone.

Ignoring their synchronized screams, I kept touching the black energy until...

Finally, the message I’d been waiting for appeared.

[You’ve developed resistance to the chaotic power, ‘Assimilation.’]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]