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Chapter 660: The Fallen Ones

Things never quite go according to plan… although I wanted to spend my time training to brush up on my skills, that only lasted for a few hours. After all, there were far too many skills in the world. How was I ever going to train all of them? Instead, I focused on only training the skills that would be directly useful to me, such as different domain abilities possessed by various gods.

Each domain had such a wide range of applications that it was almost impossible to perfectly cover everything. For instance, until the battle against the golems, Tsubaki never realized that depriving something of light at an atomic scale would lead to disintegration. Thus, even though I had access to the domains of various different gods, I knew that I used many of those domains in a different way than their original owners.

After practicing for a few hours to adjust to my descended body, I was sitting back on my throne, reading through a series of reports that had been provided. These reports were displayed on a holographic screen projected by my throne itself. When my throne got such a feature, I’m not sure I’ll ever know.

The reports that I was reading were regarding certain unexplained phenomena within my various worlds. Anything that the local authorities couldn’t handle and the artificial intelligences thought was worthy of bringing attention to the citadel. Granted, even though these reports were available, I knew that Tsubaki and Dana didn’t really go through them much. Unless something became an emergency, it was not their duty to act.

For instance, there was a report regarding the crystals within the twenty-sixth layer of Fyor. Any mage that released a high concentration of mana would be silently dragged in before they were able to even realize they had been trapped. Even those with the Perfect Self class were not exempt from this, and their bodies would be sealed in crystal.

The only way to save such individuals was to quickly cut them out and leave that layer of Fyor so that the crystals would dissolve. Because of this, the phenomena had become a subject of research for two decades now, yet a solution had not been found. To this day, mages were still unable to safely explore this upper level.

Another incident was a missing persons case, one that Blank’s subordinates had already pieced together many clues for. However, because the cause of the incident was still unknown, and they had yet to find a solution, this incident was submitted to the citadel.

Within a coastal city of Desbar, known as Harrison’s Fjord, a roaming phenomenon had occurred which led to the city being evacuated after several months. Inside an affected building, people would mysteriously vanish. These incidents always happened under a strict set of rules, which had not yet been violated.

First, the person being taken must be the true body of the individual, not an avatar used for scouting. Secondly, there must be nobody actively perceiving that person’s presence. This includes sight, mana, and even more complex detection abilities. However, it seems that the scouting system did not count. Rather, if someone were paying attention to their minimap, the dot representing the other party would simply vanish.

Numerous victims had fallen prey to this phenomenon, including one newly ascended deity that went to investigate. However, even when the rules were perfectly obeyed, there were no traces found at the scene. The very existence of the individuals involved seem to cut themselves off once nobody was paying attention to them.

The worst part of this phenomenon was that it would migrate from one building to another at seemingly random intervals. According to Blank’s analysis, the range for migration was one kilometer, at which point it had to locate a suitable structure. Once the structure was found, it would not move until it had abducted at least one individual.

It was rather easy to identify the currently affected building if one paid attention to their surroundings, as well. Windows or doors would suddenly open or close without any noise when people weren’t looking. In the time it took to blink, every window of the house could open at once, as if to taunt the person watching.

Out of all of the reports I read, this one seemed the most eerie. When I first saw the details of the phenomena, I assumed it to be something created by a mana siphon. If that was the case, the easiest solution would likely be to destroy the building that is being possessed.

Yet, when I read further, I found a list of experiments conducted on the phenomenon in an attempt to overcome it. The results were… less than thrilling.

Trial 1 - Destruction of affected building: This experiment was carried out by the local population upon realization that this was no ordinary incident. After identifying the structure and consulting local officials, they used second-tier magic to destroy the building.

Result: A different building was immediately possessed, leading to three simultaneous disappearances.

Trial 2 - Destruction of affected building: After waiting for the phenomenon to possess a building outside of town, all buildings within a one kilometer range were destroyed. This calculation was made after consulting regional authorities. Upon confirmation that there were no buildings within the infection zone, the target building was destroyed once again.

Result: A building over two kilometers away was possessed. It is highly suspected that complete destruction of the town would lead the phenomenon to transfer to a neighboring settlement.

This phenomenon, although unresolved, was listed with a ‘manageable’ threat level. After all, so long as nobody entered the affected building, it would not create any trouble. However, I felt a chill when I read it, because I had an idea about what had likely caused such a thing to happen in the first place.

If my speculation was correct, then this should be a form of parasitic void monster. By attaching itself to an enclosed structure, it attempts to lure in prey. Most likely, it can sense the soul of its victims, allowing it to distinguish between an avatar and a true body. But either way, once someone meets the qualification of ‘not being observed’, the power of the void monster would activate and whisk them away.

If this were the cause, it would naturally not leave any traceable energy, because it is the fundamental fabric of space that is being folded. It’s possible that some of the individuals, such as the newborn deity, did not die right away after being transported away like that. I’ve never experimented firsthand, but it’s feasible that such people could survive in the void. Assuming that the main body of the void monster was not waiting there for them.

It’s been a while since I last saw a trace of a void monster in the material plane… I remembered the sight of the all-consuming monster that traversed many times the speed of light, simply devouring in a straight line wherever it went until it landed in a black hole. Now, if these reports were to be analyzed from that angle, there were far more void monsters starting to appear.

Unfortunately, I did not know how to combat void monsters like this, especially those that did not appear with their main bodies. Against something like this ‘possessed house’, it would be suicide if I went in with the confidence of a Keeper. My powers may be strong, but they were by no means as absolute as some believed.

There was little I could do at this point, aside from asking for James’s advice as a former Keeper that had dealt with these things. Closing my eyes, I focused, reaching out towards the researcher of Deckan. Before I came down, I saw that he was working on a new project, though I was not entirely sure what it was.

James? Are you free for a bit of Keeper consultation? I asked, trying to bring some levity into the situation. Through my World Sight, I saw him leaning over a table, working on a device that looked like an upturned mechanical spider. Its eight metal ‘legs’ were hooked upwards, each one tipped with a small gem.

When he received my message, he sat back. This isn’t the usual contact method… you’re back in the world. Guess it must be about that time. Need help making a battle plan?

No, I’ll go with my current plan for now. What I want to ask you is something different. You were a more advanced Keeper in your time, right? How did you deal with void monsters?

At that question, James seemed to sport a rather awkward expression, shaking his head. There are three ways to do it. With how your world currently is, you only have access to one of them, unless you get your daughter involved. The first and most readily available method is to identify the rules behind the specific void monster.

Void monsters aren’t like normal creatures, you see. They are… concepts, amalgamations, pure chaos given shape. But because of that, they have to abide by a set of rules. If they appear in this world with a physical body, one of their rules will usually be that they are banished when their body is destroyed.

Banished? I questioned in surprise. Not slain?

No. A void monster can only be slain in the void, by destroying its true self. That’s where your daughter comes in. Thanks to her domain, she is able to operate in the void at her full power, and can kill weaker void beasts without any problems. James let out a long sigh as he explained that. That’s the first method of dealing with them.

The second method is to use a weapon that harnesses the power of the void to attack the void. Sorry, but your world is still several levels too low to handle this from the technological angle. Maybe with specialized magic, it might be possible. But, I haven’t studied the fourth-tier magic in that direction yet.

I gave a small nod as I accepted that answer. If they could only be truly destroyed in the void, a void weapon would truly be the best method to deal with them. Then, what is the third method?

A fallen god. There was a bitter smile on James’s face when he said that. Fallen gods have a special connection with the void. That’s what lets them function differently than a standard deity. However, your typical fallen gods tend to be pretty messed up in the head after encountering the fundamental source of chaos.

If you can cultivate one that retains their sanity, they are incredibly powerful existences, able to control the void to create entire microcosms which serve as their divine realm. To them, void beasts are the best source of energy, like worship for a normal god.

Well… that was a bit awkward. I knew that the concept of a fallen god was entirely possible within my world, and I had even fought one before during an invasion. However, anyone that was cultivating that path was seen as a criminal by the world, leading to the path essentially being cut off.

Glancing at my levels, I was able to confirm that the highest level for a Fallen Priest was only in the low seventies. For them to reach their godhood was only a pipe dream. So… the only method for me is to identify the rules for the void beasts, and find out how to banish them from that. Or ask Leowynn to get involved.

See why I said that this is a bit of a touchy subject here? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame your people for shunning the chaos religions. To have fallen gods start appearing before regular gods are prevalent would be the end of the world. You need to have enough of a force that you can police those fallen gods if they decide to rampage. At the very least, the ability to kick them back into the void is essential.