The Abyss Opens (1)
Right after the ritual to open the Abyss took place.
The reaction from the Holy Church Order, which had been on high alert according to the Saint’s will, was immediate.
“Hurry! Quickly finish preparations and gather!”
The elite members of the Church Order, waiting at the Rosellia Temple, began to move under the guidance of the Saint, who pinpointed the epicenter of the situation.
“Hah… It seems the Undead King has started to move in earnest.”
“I expected that it wouldn’t remain idle during his disappearance, but this exceeds expectations. A ritual of such scale…”
“It must be something he’s been planning with his followers for a long time.”
“I can’t even imagine how long they have been preparing.”
The Archbishop Latinus, standing next to the Saint, nodded in agreement with her lament.
The worrying events that had been anticipated during the Undead King’s disappearance had become reality.
No, it could be said that it had occurred on a scale that far surpassed anything they had assumed.
“The site of the ritual is deep within the southern wastelands of the continent. There isn’t even a nearby shrine, so even if we rush there, we would arrive after everything is finished.”
“Still, we can’t just sit back and do nothing. And since we’ve made prior preparations, it won’t take us long. Then we might discover some clues.”
The isolated location made heading there a problem in itself.
Traveling by normal means could take at least a month.
But the Holy Church Order was not the type to back down easily.
“From the southern city of Weira, the closest place with a gate… if we hurry, we should be able to arrive in about half a day.”
Having already prepared for various contingencies, they had organized individuals with the Blessing of Teleportation into the waiting personnel.
They would be ready to respond quickly to whatever happened.
And within less than an hour of the sudden situation breaking out, they finished all preparations and gathered in the gate room.
“Everything is ready. Then I’ll be on my way, Saint.”
“…Please take care, Archbishop Latinus. I need to speak with the other factions quickly. …I wonder if I will even get a proper sleep with all the discussions still unresolved.”
As she sent off Archbishop Latinus, the Saint made a self-deprecating joke.
“Ho ho ho, I’ll return to help. At least you’ll have time for a quick nap, won’t you?”
“…Is that a promise? You’ll definitely come back to help, right?”
Of course, those being sent this time were the elite of the Church Order, composed in such a way that they could safely withdraw from any crisis situation.
But given the scale of the ritual performed, no one knew what kind of threats awaited them there.
Perhaps there could be traps waiting for them.
“Of course. Now, I’m really off.”
Gently comforting the Saint, who wore a dark expression, Archbishop Latinus made his way to the gate.
Though she always showed guilt for sending others into dangerous places, it was unavoidable as they could not recklessly expose her to danger as a follower of the Holy God.
Thus, both the Archbishops and the Paladins led a group into the gate.
Upon arriving at the shrine closest to their destination through the gate, they waited briefly before…
“…It’s done. You may enter now.”
They stepped back into the gate they had exited.
Using the Blessing of Teleportation, they created a hypothetical exit in the direction they intended to go to travel further.
Though the limitations existed due to moving a large number of people over considerable distance, it allowed them to minimize the gap to their destination.
“…I can feel the distorted energy from the ritual even here. We should hurry.”
As they got closer, the surging energy became increasingly vivid, causing the expressions of those who arrived in the southern wasteland to harden.
Just when the Church members were about to seek help from those with the Blessing of Teleportation to move quickly.
GooOOOO—!
From far away, in the direction they were heading…
A black pillar connecting the earth and sky shot up.
Even though they were still quite far, that black line, seemingly ready to split the world, became starkly clear in their sight.
“…Ah.”
“Archbishop, could that be…”
“The Pillar of the Abyss…”
A sign of the Abyss opening, known mostly from ancient texts, almost forgotten by those familiar with it.
“…Let’s move.”
The determined group set off at a faster pace toward the place where the pillar had risen.
Even if it was too late, they couldn’t just stand and watch.
Thus, for about half a day, they continued towards their destination.
The black pillar that had surged with the force to pierce the sky had already faded as if exhausted, but they silently proceeded until they finally arrived.
At the location where the ritual to open the Abyss had begun.
*
Whoosh—
[As expected, everyone already fled.]
Hans floated in the air, slowly descending while surveying his surroundings.
There was a massive hole in the ceiling of the underground ritual site, allowing easy entrance.
‘Did they clear the place right after the job was done…? Well, it’s been several hours already. They wouldn’t stick around after drawing this much attention across the continent.’
The energy in the vicinity was wildly fluctuating, and the coordinates were unstable enough that he had to teleport a bit away.
After flying here in haste, there wasn’t a single trace of life remaining.
What was left were magic circles engraved for the ritual and blood stains presumably from those sacrificed here.
They had meticulously prepared and executed their plans, leaving no traces behind.
‘What’s that?’
Except for one thing.
Hans’s heightened senses picked up something strange as he scanned the area.
Swoosh—
Something lodged between the cracks in the floor surfaced and was drawn into his hand by his will.
‘Metal fragment?’
It was a piece of metal that appeared to be a part of a broken thin chain.
The only impurity left in this otherwise pristine space.
Though he didn’t know what it meant, it was the sole clue available, so he decided to keep it for now.
‘The energy is totally disrupted, making it hard to trace anything here.’
Due to the energy from the Abyss itself and the effects of whatever had been extracted, it was difficult to accomplish anything in this space.
[This… is it ‘Madness’? Perhaps the door to the Abyss hasn’t fully opened, so I couldn’t extract it entirely.]
He hadn’t initially considered scenarios like this, so he couldn’t gauge what kind of impact the madness would have as it began to spread across the continent.
But he knew that somehow, there would be significant changes from now on.
As he scanned the area and assessed the situation, his gaze landed on a writhing mass of darkness in the large magic circle at his feet.
The thick darkness, pressed by the giant magic circle, was gradually shrinking due to the world’s restoration power, but it continued to spew forth foreboding energy.
[Oh, this energy is… ]
It was the heavy, sticky, and maddening energy he had felt when he gazed into the “Heart of the Undying.”
‘Is this energy leaking out from the Abyss.’
And the moment Hans looked at it more closely with the “Eye of the Abyss”…
He was able to understand that energy in greater detail.
‘…So this was the origin of the black magic contained within the heart.’
The seemingly endless black magic that had been spewing from the Undead King’s heart was merely the diluted energy that had been tightly compressed there.
‘That makes what has been unleashed here insignificant by comparison. The difference in density is that severe.’
If the black magic was akin to poison gas, this was a concentrated raw essence.
An even more monstrous force than the notoriously tricky black magic.
But…
‘…I feel like I could handle this myself?’
Perhaps because it shared a source with his heart, it felt strangely familiar.
Come to think of it, he was the Undead King who crawled up from the Abyss, plus he had the “Eye of the Abyss” and “Heart of the Undying” within him, didn’t he?
It would be even stranger if he couldn’t control it!
‘Let’s give it a try.’
Hans slowly reached out his hand and gently waved it through the air.
With the utmost concentration in that gesture, the swirling energy of the Abyss began to gradually follow the tip of his fingers.
For ordinary individuals, simply being in this location would jeopardize their lives, yet to him, it felt no different than the air from his hometown.
‘Though I can’t exactly breathe it.’
While he entertained those foolish thoughts, as he became more accustomed to this energy, he absorbed it eagerly and stored it within his heart.
The power of the Abyss was frighteningly dangerous, yet it was a force that wasn’t easily accessible, making it a waste to leave it untouched.
Chuckle… it seems that if used well, this could turn out to be a rather useful strength.
Difficult to control, but it would surely be remarkably effective.
Having absorbed enough of the energy from the Abyss with satisfaction, Hans looked around again with a pleased expression.
As he scanned the various magic circles densely surrounding the closing Abyss, he realized just how much effort they had put into this endeavor.
‘If it’s this much, they must have put in at least ten years of work. Considering the sacrificial ritual that took place all over the continent, it might be more than that…’
The capability to conduct such affairs on a continental scale, the discretion maintained over a long time without being discovered, and the organizational strength encompassing all of that.
The Oath of Reversal was an organization with far more potent reserves than he had anticipated.
At this level, it could be said to be the largest underworld force on the continent.
And that meant…
‘They fit perfectly into the conditions I was looking for.’
It meant a very suitable casting for the antagonist role that would support the protagonist, Hans.
To facilitate the smooth progression of the story, they were essential to the casting.
‘I should prioritize finding them. I can postpone gathering little fish like this for a while.’
For now, he would track down those who had fled from this place, and if that didn’t work, searching for the teacher of the fledgling dark mage who performed the sacrificial ritual might also be a good idea.
If he followed the threads from there, he might one day reach the core of it all.
[Hmm?]
Just as Hans was contemplating how to proceed.
He sensed an energy rising from the writhing pit of the Abyss.
[Oh, this is quite a welcome surprise.]
Though he had never faced it directly, he knew about it from the “Experience” given to him as information.
‘Another legacy.’
Much larger than the archlich dwell Heinrich faced, he felt something big rising from below.
For a long time, it had lingered at the edge of the Abyss due to too strong a connection, but now that its strength was starting to weaken, it seemed to find a chance to surface.
The continuously writhing pit of the Abyss, and the increasingly vivid energy.
Writhe—
And finally.
A portion of the being surged from the churning Abyss.
WHOOSH!
But it was far too massive to be described as merely a portion.
ROOOOAR—!
The overwhelming mass twisted its body as it emerged from the great hole, causing the surrounding air to quiver.
Shiny, blackened bones, glaring teeth, a massive skull that shook violently, and a fierce purple eye that flickered ominously.
The entity was.
A Bone Dragon, Entrasio.
A colossal dragon made entirely of bones was crawling out from the depths of the Abyss.
