Chapter 682

In the vast space, there was a gap, and within it was a maelstrom that looked like the sight of a colossal wormhole in the universe. According to conventional theories, there existed multiple pathways that may be taken to travel to other realms when the divine boundaries weakened. Compared to the simple gaps between dimensions, this rift was far more dangerous and perilous. But the Abyssal beings were not in the position to be picky about which path to take since Sleesia's death had come so unexpectedly. It was for this reason that Davey acquired the Dead Sea Scrolls, which was an artifact that had been left in the Abyss long ago.

Some historical accounts claimed that it was an object dropped by the entity who had brought the Abyss to its current state. One of the most powerful Princesses of the Abyss, who had reawakened the Dead Sea Scrolls, asserted that its power could replace Sleesia's. Unfortunately, the Princesses of the Abyss, who could not use the Dead Sea Scrolls' power, were trapped in their world.

[Urgh... Urgh!]

Overmind would have faced death if it had been any slower.

Made from billions of negative thoughts and desires, the Princesses of the Abyss were forbidden from harboring any kind of longing for the queen; instead, they gained overwhelming power. Of course, their inherent ferocity and destructive urge of the Abyss remained intact, except for their lack of desire for Perserque.

On the other hand, common Abyssal entities, like Oedon and Gordian Worm, were allowed to hold longing for their queen. Yet, they failed to amass great power. Even then, they were still strong and dangerous beings.

But rather than their physical might, the source of their power was more from characteristics of the Abyss and their special abilities, which were more difficult to deal with. Practically, some Abyssal beings could be dealt with by Tionis if the Abyssal beings did not have the protection that the characteristics of the Abyss provided.

But Overmind was different. Since it wasn't a Princess of the Abyss, Overmind could yearn for Perserque. Overmind also possessed special abilities and physicality that were far beyond any ordinary Abyssal entities. Was it because it was a mutant? No, it was because it had existed for a long time. Even Abyssal beings normally had a finite lifespan. But Overmind was unique; it had survived for a long time through hibernation. And over the course of its hibernation, it grew stronger and eventually obtained lethal power. So apart from the Princesses of the Abyss, Overmind could be considered as a fairly powerful entity.

So when it first crossed the dimension, Overmind was confident with its deadly power. After all, it had gathered information about Davey from its kins in the deepest recesses of the Abyss, where not even light could reach, and devised elaborate and meticulous plots to crush and defeat him, who was a physically invincible foe. Overmind even considered using the power of its mother, who was also its queen.

But Davey was waiting for Overmind, overturning its immense calculative and strategic capabilities and leaving it unable to comprehend how he knew it was coming.

[You will regret letting me live over and over again.]

Overmind headed toward the edge of the Abyss, its origin where not even light could reach. This vast passage was one-way, so there was no turning back midway. And the only way to change direction was to reach the destination and re-open the passage's door.

Overmind cunningly and carefully planned its strategy against Davey, who had misjudged himself to be a threat to the Abyss and relentlessly pursued Abyssal beings through various means.

Impeccable in its calculation, Overmind had already considered and prepared escape routes as soon as it realized it was being ambushed by Davey. It eventually resorted to waking Eclipse, the Ancient Dragon in the Abyss. While it was a risky move, Overmind deemed it to be worth it if it meant successfully killing Davey.

[Now... Come! Follow me to my domain if you dare.]

If Davey were sucked into the one-way passage, which would not allow him to turn back, he would reach the Abyss, where dozens of Princesses of the Abyss would surely try to kill him.

Overmind was satisfied with this plan, and so it laughed sinisterly. But while it dragged its tattered tentacles back to the Abyss, it got a weird feeling that Davey was not following.

[Is he being cautious?]

Overmind thought that Davey would follow it into the Abyss no matter what, given his previous actions as well as his intent to kill Abyssal beings. But there was no sign of pursuit. Did Overmind misjudge Davey?

As Overmind mused about the matter, it realized that the Princess of the Abyss, who was a special entity connected to it, was still alive. So was she delaying Davey's arrival?

'Such a useless bitch,' it thought.

But it did not take long for Overmind to correct its thoughts. There was no way she could delay Davey without Overmind nearby, because its presence was vital for her to be able to use her power.

Suddenly, Overmind started receiving fragments of emotions from the Princess of the Abyss. Among these feelings were shock and terror. But what could have frightened her so deeply? That fleeting question was answered through the memories conveyed by their connected bond, allowing Overmind to understand everything. And in that moment, Overmind cursed its capacity to quickly process what the situation entailed.

[Oh... Oh no!!!]

Almost instinctively, Overmind tried to return to where the Princess of the Abyss was. But the massive, one-way passage ruthlessly forced it to the direction leading to the Abyss. And so, like diving straight into the deep sea, Overmind was hurled into the Abyss. It then saw dozens of Abyssal beings staring at it, including the Princesses of the Abyss.

Zing...

A moment of silence passed before a faint light followed Overmind into the passage. Then, in what seemed like a moment that went in slow motion, the light merged with Overmind. Meanwhile, Overmind tried to think of a solution as rapidly as it could. Eventually, it arrived at one conclusion—there was no solution.

Woong!!!

A massive ripple spread through the dark depths of the Abyss, which was untouched by any light other than the one that came out from the passage.

Woong!!

Another wave spread out, shapeless and intangible. The Abyssal beings instinctively sensed a ripple of some sort, but no one knew exactly what it was. After several waves were felt, Overmind was about to shout in desperation. But the spreading ripples turned into blinding white light, like they were condensing, and they rushed toward Overmind. The ripples gathered around Overmind, as though they were being drawn in by its powerful gravitational pull. They then distorted its body, creating a titanic graviton wave, like a colossal black hole.

What happened next could be described in simple words. The enormous graviton wave distorted physical laws and came into effect. Even for an Abyssal entity immune from normal laws of physics, surviving this level of destructive power was not easy. But if Overmind's calculations were correct, this magic that was summoning natural disaster would result in a calamity of almost catastrophic proportions!

Overmind opened its eyes wide after reaching this conclusion. Then the entrance to the Abyss, which once was devoid of light, was filled with a blinding white brilliance. What was happening was an immersion of light inflicted on the Abyss for their invasion of Tionis and many other dimensions.

***

All of Davey's power was drained from him at once as though the magic was taking everything as a price to be paid. It was not just the elemental mana that was extracted out of him, but also the holy power, the devil mana, the spirit mana, and even the qi needed for sorcery. As if these were not enough, most of his mana evaporated, and the amount left was just the minimum required to sustain his basic bodily functions. This must be what it felt like to be deliberately sucked dry to the bone.

Not only that, but the mana linked with his title 'Starbreak', which had taken a long time to accumulate, was also drained away. He felt exhausted, like he had just completed an intense and lengthy marathon.

"Ugh..."

Although Davey lacked physical talent and still had a lot to learn, he entered a realm he shouldn't have. As a result, Davey undoubtedly incurred a significant repercussion. But he didn't have to be so concerned about the aftermath of the magic's success. After all, the dimensional wormhole was designed to be one-way. And so, it was impossible for something to come out from the other side. Davey had simply thrown a spark that could start a fire, and at the moment, he was only waiting with trust for the outcome it would bring.

Detecting Overmind's death was not difficult. If its very existence had served as a means to strengthen Perserque's power, then its death would ultimately lead to the tempering of her raging power. Then, it would just be a matter of confirmation. But an unexpected situation arose.

"Excuse me... Could someone please help me?"

Having driven Sullivan away, Davey had forgotten that he had no one left to help him at the moment. Sullivan was a clever man, so he would not recklessly approach and meddle again. If Davey were Sullivan, he would undoubtedly order the evacuation of everyone in the imperial palace. And Sullivan was the kind of person who would do exactly that. Besides, there was no reason for him to not do so.

The reality that no one would come to this place for a while then became painfully clear.

"Uh... I don't know. For now..."

Davey mumbled something incoherently as he gave in to the wave of dizziness and fell asleep. At the same time, despite being in a state of unconsciousness, he could sense the movement of mana in his body as it started to be restored at a rate he never experienced before.

Davey later found out a rather humorous fact: this incident had caused a massive evacuation crisis in the Pallan Empire, leading to a state of emergency and the deployment of national mobilization.

***

In his dream, Davey saw a strange space. It was like looking at a massive wormhole from the side. While it had the color of a night sky, it also resembled a gap between dimensions. It was as if he was watching a massive black hole moving at a high speed, its gravitational field distorting space-time.

The unusual space felt familiar, yet it was subtly different from the dimensional movements that Davey had felt when Overmind and other Abyssal beings had crossed over. The tremendous current of power flowed in one direction only. Having been kept unaware of where the flow came from and where it was going, he wondered why he was even here.

Soon, a massive light burst from the bottom of the giant wormhole, and the lower region was quickly enveloped in an unfathomably powerful explosion.

Boom!

Davey instinctively knew the explosion was of a quasi-planet, not a supernova. He also knew that he had caused it. If so, then the region above him had to be Tionis, the one below was the Abyss, and the massive passage between the two regions was...

Amid his thoughts, he heard the voice of a young girl.

[Think of it as the two sides of a coin.]

Davey swiftly turned toward its source.

[It's been a while, Freyja.]

"Who are you?" he asked, somewhat mockingly. The way she addressed him and the aura she had made it impossible for him not to know.

[This is the Primal Space, the origin where the two worlds—no, where a great explosion divided all worlds, the realm of gods, and the origin of the goddess Freyja.]

A glimmering emerged from the empty darkness. Simultaneously, as if time had stopped, the endlessly surging energy of the giant wormhole momentarily halted.

[It's unclear whether fate brought you here or this is also a predetermined outcome.]

"..."

The light then grew brighter and finally took shape. Eventually, Davey began to recognize the figure of a small girl with white hair and long ears. She had an aura that seemed a little detached from reality, giving her a sense of mystery. What was more intriguing was the fact that her eyes were closed.

'She—no, they look different from their male version,' thought Davey.

A god truly had no use for physical forms.

"We may never converse like this again."

The reverberating voice became more realistic.

"Your actions have caused a massive explosion in the Abyss. Although the area that the explosion had incinerated was nothing more than a speck compared to the size of the Abyss, your decision caused the immediate extinction of many Abyssal beings," they said as they gently floated toward Davey.

Stroking his cheek, they said, "Because of that, Thanatos has sustained damage. Hence, for the time being, he will be so preoccupied with recuperating that he won't be able to interfere with other dimensions in any way."

"I bought some time then."

"No, you were simply lucky," They inched even closer to Davey. "If you had not blocked Thanatos' remnants, Eclipse would have made her move next."

"Eclipse?"

"Thanatos' largest fragment. She's the most colossal and powerful entity, second only to the essence by your side."

After fighting against the Abyss, Eclipse, once an Ancient Dragon, was corrupted. Now, she reigned as one of the most powerful Princesses of the Abyss. In other words, the Abyss was getting desperate.

"If you wanted to form an alliance, you should have done it properly. Did you really think I wouldn't cut ties with you even though you backstabbed me with the Malicious Spirits?" Davey asked.

The being before him remained silent. After a while, they replied, "I could not keep my promise again, Freyja."

"My name is Davey, you know. Calling me by another name is impolite," Davey grumbled in annoyance.

They only smiled mystically at him in response.

Neltarid—the god that represented both destruction and peace in harmony—had taken the appearance of a girl.