Chapter 189

Training Fight (7)

The commissioners stared at the hologram in suspicion.

Then another report by the Union staff was posted.

"We've got an Adgon communication in!"

"Put it through."

And the commissioners who witnessed the newly emerged hologram were briefly dumbfounded.

"You!"

It was the being who barely managed to escape from the Union Headquarters.

He was the Supreme Commissioner of the Adgon race.

Hostility rose among those who once boarded the same boat as they were met with a cold glare. Beyond the screen, the Adgon spoke.

- It would be ridiculous to exchange greetings in this situation. Let's get straight to the point.

A cold voice reverberated, and the Adgon stared at the six commissioners in the conference room one after the other.

We, the Adgons, demand the Union to stop the oppressive act toward our race in the headquarters right now and stop the illegal occupation of our species-controlled planet.

Bachurka shouted, her voice filled with anger.

"Don't make a fool of yourself!"

- Make a fool of myself?

"We've already identified fragments of gods that were sealed in those planets. And unfortunately, we will march to the dimension where we have failed to recover and free the remaining seal!"

She spoke in a firm tone.

"Your kind are ever so audacious. You've turned all the other races of the Union into enemies, and you still have the delusion that the Adgons will win?"

The answer that came back was too calm.

- If so?

It took a little while for other commissioners to get angry due to the bold response.

"You species! Truly...!"

Bachurka spoke in a sharp voice.

"It was strange that the attitude toward Mercadius was so lukewarm in the first place, but I never thought that you were with them!"

- I don't understand what the hell's wrong with that.

"?!"

Adgon's tone changed.

- Think about it, does any of you have a longer history than us? You just don't understand our wisdom in picking the right decision. I thought you all weren't ready to accept it, so I was going to let you all know later on, but this unexpected situation has pulled the timing too close.

"Bullshit! Long experience does not necessarily lead to wise judgment. It seems to me that you have been maintaining the civilization for too long and have become a cumulative lunatics of bias, stubbornness, and superstition."

- The actions of the wise and the choice of the modern can be seen as insane by idiots who know nothing or by primitive entities.

Bachurka was agitated.

"Where do you suppose the wisdom lies in the acts of sealing the fragments of gods and supporting the apocalypse of dimensions by conspiring with Mercadius?!"

- I'll return that question. Why should the gods intervene in our world? I don't understand why you all are so obsessed with that delusion.

Bachurka felt murderous beyond absurdity.

"They have to step in to exterminate Mercadius...!"

- So, I mean, why should we subdue and eliminate Mercadius?

"... What?"

He repeated the logic that one Adgon had once unraveled in front of Genograche the other day.

- The System is an absolute good and the order of the new age. On the other hand, gods are nothing but old-fashioned ghosts that existed even before the construction of the material world. As long as the System has "recognized" Mercadius' existence, we do not need to go against the species.

"Even if the price is the destruction of innocent dimensions and the extermination of species?"

- That, too, is part of the System's intention to thin out the population.

Bachurka felt her blood cool.

That was because she faced the true color of the Adgons for the first time, who had been respected for so long for their contribution to forming the Union. She witnessed the distorted madness hidden behind their mask.

- If a dimension faces collapse, it must be that the System judged and made a decision that there is no need for the world and the species at the end of the road to guide its inhabitants. Then aren't Mercadius cleaners who move as the System guides them?

He then added.

- No one can oppose the will of the System. Just as the four species that formed the Union were destroyed and disappeared- One can't escape once they've been targeted for execution. The System is indeed our God who rules the new era and dictates our fates.

"You're crazy— you're absolutely mad!"

- It's a natural response for those who didn't have the right or the opportunity to receive the 'Administrator' of the System, but·... Considering it has become like this, you're nothing but thickheaded. You all would have perished much earlier without the System.

The Adgon made a final declaration before unilaterally cutting off the comms.

- Witnessing this foolishness has made it easier to choose. We, the Adgons, will no longer lead the Union by asking for your cooperation. We give up the old ways. From now on, we will rule you with fear and oppression.

It was the most arrogant way of announcing one's intent to war experienced by those gathered at the Union Headquarters.

***

As soon as I crossed the blue dimension gate, cheers rang.

The faces of the Union forces welcoming me were full of energy. They had already heard about the events on different dimensions and the liberated seals of gods. And there was one more reason besides receiving a series of news of victory.

"In fact, the fight that took place here was terribly lame."

We moved toward the black hole listening to the commander's explanation.

The Adgon species that remained on the planet were generally said to have fought in a fairly "unwilling" manner than the defense forces we experienced. There was little to say that it was a desperate struggle, and they ran away because they thought the battlefront was a bit pushed back.

Since the operation aimed not to exterminate the enemy but to capture the planet and secure the black hole, the Union military only got their hands on the base instead of tracking them fiercely.

Up to that point, it would be considered a victory, but the Union headquarters was judging the results of the operation on the planet as a "draw."

It was because they had won the battle but failed to achieve their strategic goal.

"This is the black hole."

The form of the base itself was no different from that seen on other dimensions. But as I got closer to it, I couldn't help but frown.

"I really can't feel anything."

The presence of a god that subtly emanated in other black holes couldn't be detected in that place. The seal on the back of my hand didn't respond either.

"We were also hesitant to hear that if those whose god's influence did not reach entered recklessly, one would be mentally manipulated, but unlike what we heard, the divine power detector did not respond at all."

So, after reporting to the higher-up and obtaining permission, the Awakened beings were said to have gone into the black hole and explored it.

And they confirmed the space to be empty.

Naturally, there were no sealed fragments of a god either.

Soon, I confirmed what they were saying with my own eyes.

'There's indeed nothing. This is just a blank space.'

The commander spoke, looking at me as I had come out from the black hole again.

"It explains why the resistance of the Adgon people who were guarding this place was very weak."

He then continued with a question.

"Could this planet have been a bait? A move aimed at breaking up the Union forces."

I thought for a moment and shook my head.

"I don't think so. If they had foreseen the Union's assault, they would have concentrated more troops on other planets. Have you ever interrogated an Adgon prisoner who was guarding this place?"

"It seemed that the command had fled earlier, and the remaining soldiers had been guarding this place without knowing a black hole was here."

What the hell could it be?

I had already liberated magic, war, and life.

The remaining gods were space, time, fortune, and mind.

'Perhaps I could leave the Mind out of the options for now.'

Rather than being weakened by the loss of important fragments, the god was split into tiny pieces and scattered for the decisive reason of memory loss.

Hence, there couldn't be a huge fragment separately sealed in there that would restore its strength, and even if there were, it would have collapsed as well.

'Then it means one among space, time, and luck.'

Could it be that they moved what was sealed inside the black hole?

Then it didn't explain why they were guarding the place. There must've been a reason to defend it even though they knew there was nothing inside.

'Unless I ask the Adgon Command directly, I wouldn't know.'

The candidate group would also be able to narrow it down further on which god the black hole was laid for by checking the next dimension.

With that thought, I once again crossed the [Door of Hope].

***

When I crossed the blue Gate, the atmosphere turned around that time.

As experienced in other dimensions where a battle took place, the smell of burning, thick smoke, and bodies scattered everywhere were the same.

However, the Union forces' atmosphere that reaped victory was evidently different from what I saw on other dimensions. No one cheered and welcomed me. The heavy and gloomy atmosphere filled the air instead.

"...Have you arrived?"

A commanding officer with a very tired expression spoke to me. In contrast to the vivid expressions of the individuals I just saw, the shadow cast on his face was emphasized even more.

I heard the gist of it. The battle that took place on the planet I was currently on was said to have been tremendously tough and fierce.

"Honestly, it was close. We reached a point where we thought that the Adgons were going to defeat us."

The Adgons' forces deployed there were said to be a little less than the only defeated dimensions of the Union forces. It could have been two losses instead of one.

'It should mean that an equally important fragment of a god is sealed here, right?'

I threw myself into the black hole as he guided me.

An unfamiliar sight was unraveled.

"This place is...?"

A vast expanse of the dark universe.

I saw stars filling the space with no end in sight. It spread out limitlessly. White crystals were fixed in the air and packed tightly. No matter what direction I turned my eyes toward, they were there waiting for my gaze.

I had seen a sight like that. A whole lot of times.

'It's similar to the place where we go after the dungeon Clear and choose additional rewards.'

However, no movement of Mana was observed even when [The Successor's Eyes] was activated. Instead, the same vivid divine power was felt from each option.

And-

Whoong!

The symbol on the back of my hand resonated and shone.

'It's been a long time since this god responded.'

The one in charge of luck and probability.

The mainstay of the fairest scale.

It remained asleep in the valley of convergence.

'Ramang-Schitre, the god of fortune.'

I remember what Rom said when it sent me. It said, 'May luck be with you.'

'He was expecting this.'

Ramang-Schitre then delivered me a clear will. It was the first time that it had happened.

After hearing that, I realized not only by the appearance but also by all aspects that the place looked a lot like the subdimension where the dungeon's additional rewards were chosen.

That was the case even in the way that the twisted divine power intervened.

In the locus that we were summoned after Clearing the dungeon, all of the countless white light was a reward, and only one had to be chosen from them.

Similar to that, what I had to do there was to find the true fragment of the god among those many flashes.

It couldn't have been easy.

I glared at the fragments of light in the dark.

"The options are expanding to infinity!'

Conversely, the probability of a randomly picked object from there becoming a fragment of the god decreased endlessly to the point that it was converging to zero, even at that moment.

The crystals of light continued to multiply nonstop.

All options seemed only to be nothing but a flashing light. I approached one of them and reached out my hand, pushing in the divine power according to the whisper of the god.

Then the light changed into the form of an egg.

Crr-rack!

The eggshell cracked, and waves leaked out.

And what came out of it was-

"Squeaaaal!"

'That's a losing draw!'

I swung the sword relentlessly toward the monster that was rushing in and wiggling its red tentacles.

Crush!

After the monster disappeared into specks of light, I heard the continuing whisper of the god, baffling me.

'Are the fragments sealed in here playing with probability?'

It meant that not only was the number of options increasing to infinity, but it was also manipulating the probability when I picked one and broke the eggshell.

Until the eggshell was broken, the probability of a fragment being in it couldn't be confirmed. The probability of existence and the probability of non-existence coexisted.

Then the moment I, an observer and an interventionist, touched the egg, an incident occurred. It explained that at that point, the distorted divine power intervened with the probability, increasing the possibility that there was no fragment of a god in it and that there was a monster in it instead.

My face became distorted when I heard that.

What kind of nonsense was that?