Chapter 81

Demos ventured into a secluded area outside the city and opened a golden gate using the crest of Proditto. Through the shimmering golden barrier, Ortes’ vision leapt across space, only to be filled with darkness.

‘No. It’s not dark, is it?’

It was black rock—massive enough to fill his entire field of vision.

Unlike the rough surface of basalt, if one had to describe it, it would be like matte obsidian. But far darker than obsidian’s hue.

Ortes recalled memories from Earth. The world’s darkest material, Vantablack, seemed to give off a similar impression in photographs.

The colossal monolith of darkness felt unreal, like an ink drop fallen into reality.

‘If you dipped Uluru in Australia entirely in Vantablack paint, it might feel like this.’

“Is the grand temple of Pluto located on this black stone?”

“Do you see something…!?”

Demos trembled slightly as he spoke. Ortes momentarily didn’t understand the reaction but, before rational thought could intervene, his trained subconscious reflexively answered.

“What we see with physical eyes is not all there is. Since I have been chosen by the artifact of the seer who sees afar, wouldn’t its power be with me?”

“That’s true. Indeed, a remarkable occurrence. To me, this place looks like some sort of crater. I don’t see the abyss untouched by light…”

Ortes looked again at the black rock. The massive stone felt as solid and fortress-like as it was surreal.

“The black stone itself is the grand temple. They say it was carved carefully from within the rock. The part that extends underground is far larger than what is visible.”

Ortes slowly opened his eyes to analyze the structure of Pluto’s temple beforehand. A diligent thief always scouts treasures to siphon off early.

But the information that filtered through his half-opened eyes bore no resemblance to practical details.

The ancient seal granted by the Wizard King struck Ortes’ mind with overwhelming data.

An ancient magic surrounded the entire massive monolith. Hundreds, thousands of spells layered upon each other formed chains of magical runes. Each stroke of these extraordinary incantations shone with mysteries that ordinary magicians would spend their entire lives trying to barely comprehend.

The chain of spells connecting magic to magic itself became another magic circle. The diverse spells inscribed acted as components of one colossal ritual.

Its final spell isolated Pluto’s grand temple from reality.

It stripped away the temple’s form and concealed its essence. The form and essence of the temple were separated into different dimensions.

Ortes closed his eyes, finally blocking the intense flood of information that threatened to fry his brain.

Massaging his temples out of habit, Ortes reviewed the information he had just witnessed.

“What kind of insane magic is this?”

A seal that divides the components of existence into form and essence.

‘If compared to a game, it’s like transparent walls and bugged textures…’

You can touch or break invisible walls even though you cannot see them. Conversely, objects that appear but lack detailed data—existing only as textures—are impossible to interact with.

A temple without form cannot be perceived; a temple without essence cannot be touched. This magic was not just miraculous—it was downright eerie.

“Does the Theistic Order really think they can breach this insane level of sealing?”

From Ortes’ perspective, dismantling the Wizard King’s seal would require a magical prowess far beyond Proper Tower’s capability. Perhaps one of the Ten Towers would be needed just to understand the structure of the seal.

“Gods, sing the hymn of wrath μῆνιν ἄειδε θεούς!”

In the midst of suffocating silence, an odd voice echoed from afar, slowly drawing nearer.

It was a kind of song. Likely a round chant originating from the congregation of Aegeos, continuing in a loop.

Each time a verse passed, divine energy grew stronger. The brilliant divine force illuminated the abyss, gradually revealing the shape that had disappeared beyond reality.

When Ortes reopened his eyes to assess the situation, he saw something different. From beyond the Wizard King’s seal, Pluto’s temple emitted divine energy in response to the round chant.

“My goodness.”

The Theistic Order hadn’t dismantled the seal through any magical principle or complex counter-magic. Like prophecy diverging from divination magic, divine deeds required no logic—just enough output to pierce the Wizard King’s seal.

Divine forces from inside and outside stretched toward each other, their glows colliding across dimensional barriers. A sound akin to something breaking echoed faintly.

A crack appeared in midair—a fissure extending from the night sky down to the ground. Streams of divine light flowed from within the crack.

“—And thus they held the funeral rites.”

As the final line of the hymn resonated, the rift embedded in reality finally collapsed. Where there had been only a massive pit moments ago, a towering, jet-black monolith now rose.

The black rock was wreathed in auspicious aura—the immense divine energy left over after dismantling the Wizard King’s seal.

Guided by this light, priests of the Theistic Order rushed forward.

Time was short to retrieve their relics.

***

I exercised an appropriate degree of kindness. I guided Demos and the other priests of Enyalius to where their relic rested.

“How could such a thing…”

One of the priests muttered under their breath. I smiled amiably in response.

“It’s natural to both see and feel, isn’t it? Having paid my dues for being invited here by Lord Demos, I shall now attend to my own matters.”

“…Be careful. As I said, Blasphemia won’t take long to arrive. If you value your safety, you should leave within an hour.”

With a polite nod, I began running without hesitation.

The moment I left the priests behind, my eyes remained half-open—not fully open but wide enough to serve as an early warning system against approaching priests. If I got caught stealing other relics, explaining myself would become quite troublesome.

“Even if I don’t fully open them, my range of perception keeps expanding, so I need to close my eyes periodically…”

It wasn’t difficult work. What’s hard about blinking?

To reset the expanded range of perception, I had to stay in a semi-closed eye state for a few seconds—essentially suppressing the function of my eyes to the maximum extent.

If there weren’t lurking enemies hiding just outside my field of vision during those few seconds, this supposed flaw would be meaningless.

Unless this place was some demon-hunting den full of mages trying to kill me, everyone in the temple was preoccupied priests searching for their relics.

“According to Demos, they agreed to recover all relics first without distinguishing ownership and then redistribute them later, but human hearts don’t operate so cleanly, it seems.”

Even now, I can sense the bustling movements of priests several floors above. Their struggles to find their order’s relics. The bursts of divine energy. They must be tracking relics through their faithful.

I sought relics belonging to orders outside the Theistic Order—in other words, artifacts from minor sects not among the Twelve Great Gods.

While the Theistic Order searched frantically for their gods’ relics, I claimed countless anonymous sects’ relics.

Given my physical limits, I could only take the best ones from among the minor sects’ relics.

***

In the basement of Pluto’s Temple, a silver spark flashed amidst the darkness.

It resembled, albeit on a much smaller scale, the rift caused earlier by the Theistic Order’s chorus.

Unlike the enormous rift that covered the entire field of vision created by the Order’s chorus, the current rift was barely large enough to fill a single stone chamber.

Moreover, the color of the force warping the world differed. Not radiant gold but a cool silver.

Sparks continued to fly from the rift as the world barrier attempted to repair itself. Then, a hand abruptly emerged from the rift, grabbing at the air.

Crunch!

With brute force, the hand tore the rift wider. Beyond the shattered world barrier, a silvery figure stepped forth.

It resembled a golem constructed from brass instruments. Its limbs were shaped like tubas and horns, spiraling forms, while its skeletal frame was filled with organ pipes. Every step it took produced a harmonious clicking of valves and buttons, creating a sense of mechanical beauty.

Though its limbs were instruments, its head was that of a unicorn—a horse-like skull crowned with a long horn.

The silvery figure sent signals according to its master’s old commands: one to its fellow servants who also served the master, and another to the master’s disciples.

“The place sealed by the master is under attack.

Respond immediately to the summoning and annihilate the enemies.”

Familiar powers of ancient foes. Forces of gods that should have vanished from the world.

As it spread mana to gauge the strength of the enemies, it shuddered. An unknown divine force was detected—something alien even to it, which had devoured countless priests of various congregations while serving its master.

The unknown has always been the most dangerous variable.

This was a threat that needed to be swiftly comprehended and eliminated.