The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns-Chapter 417

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Chapter 417

The otherworldly power absorbed from the Shoggoths was not infinite.

Unlike other forms of power, the power of the outer dimension was usually something you adjusted and used only in proportion to the amount you had absorbed.

In truth, once that energy was depleted, it became difficult to use any further.

The problem was that Shoggoths were not life-forms one could normally encounter, so there was no real means of securing additional energy.

And yet, at the very end, Garlan offered up himself as a sacrifice and gifted me a massive number of Shoggoths.

The Shoggoths pouring out of the gate were enormous in number, but once I spread a gigantic high-temperature, high-pressure electric field around the area, they were caught as if in a net, unable to escape outside, and evaporated, leaving behind only lumps of energy like a school of live fish being dragged upward.

The massive storm of energy, unable to head anywhere, was immediately absorbed as I extended a single hand.

“But… when is it coming out?”

Garlan had clearly said it was a ritual meant to summon something.

But what actually poured out were only Shoggoths, beings commonly found in the outer dimension.

I didn’t feel the presence of anything else emerging.

Had it already come out?

No.

It didn’t feel like that…

“No, seriously, how long is this going to keep pouring out?”

Hunting Shoggoths in bulk wasn’t exactly a bad outcome, but something about it bothered me.

So I began to think.

If the power of the outer dimension was the fundamental energy that composed the outer dimension itself, then perhaps even the consciousness of that outer dimension could be controlled with this energy.

It was worth testing.

The moment the outpour of Shoggoths paused for a second, I began manipulating the energy freely as a test.

I couldn’t call myself skilled, but I was at least capable of controlling it to some degree.

As I slowly moved the energy and tried interfering with the gate itself, to my surprise, there was gradual change.

However, during the control process, something unknown kept exposing itself to me.

There was no need to think long about what it was.

[The mental barrier is activating.]

[The mental barrier is activating.]

[The mental barrier is activating.]

[The mental barrier is activating.]

Whenever you interfered with the power of the outer dimension, you inevitably paid some kind of mental price.

Like going mad just by touching the abyss.

If even touching it exacted this much of a toll, then it was clearly something others should never lay a hand on.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me.

“The effect of the Book of Genesis is definitely solid.”

At this point, I was already looking forward to its next enhancement.

Creak… creak-creak!!!

Controlling the gate itself wasn’t difficult.

Garlan had gone through a long, complicated ritual to avoid losing his sanity, but I skipped all those winding steps entirely, ignored the mental erosion, and controlled the gate directly.

Thanks to that, the gate that had been continuously spewing out Shoggoths slowly shrank, and then—

Boom!!

—with a loud sound, it completely shut.

All the Shoggoths that had poured out until then were roasted and melted within the electric field, and all the massive energy produced from them was absorbed.

Opening and closing my hand repeatedly in silence, I checked whether anything strange had happened inside my body.

“No problems.”

For someone who had even killed his own comrades in order to take revenge on me, his end felt a bit anticlimactic, to be honest.

But he must have known from the start that it would end this way.

I turned my body and began to walk.

The Sword Saint wasn’t here, so he was probably wherever Isna had headed.

Before leaving, I threw a fireball to burn away every remaining trace in the area, then headed toward where I could sense Isna’s presence.

And not long after, I felt another familiar presence as well.

“Luna? Why is Luna here?”

My footsteps quickened rapidly.

* * *

Damage to the body could be healed.

But treatment of the mind required Lispa Elde.

The reason Luna had come here was actually because she had received contact from the Saintess.

A mark of God that accepted revelations.

Thanks to the stigma, Luna had been able to learn in advance about what was happening here, and had spread her wings to fly here at great speed.

It had not been a bad choice.

She had been able to prevent Osberg’s death.

Isna was crying with her mask removed.

And Osberg was injured.

Luna tilted her head.

“But… what’s going on here? Where’s Leon?”

After instantly healing Osberg and putting out the major fire, Luna asked her question.

Then, from afar, with a thud, Leon arrived quickly.

“I’m here. Why are you here?”

“The Saintess received a revelation, so I rushed over.”

“Hmm…”

“She said the Sword Saint might die.”

She pointed at Osberg lying on the ground.

“For now, the big fire’s out. But Lispa’s mental healing is still needed.”

Fortunately, although he was weakened, he had been healed before it was too late, and there was no area where corruption had set in.

“Sir.”

“Leon… you’ve come.”

At the old man’s faint voice, Leon let out a sigh.

“What happened? And why is she taking off her mask again?”

“Heh heh. There’s no grandfather who fails to recognize his granddaughter.”

“….”

Only then did Leon finally understand everything, judging by his expression.

“Ah… You suddenly barged in here alone… was it because of Isna?”

Their very existence threatened Isna, and their existence could expose her identity to the world.

“It couldn’t be helped. Some of them were showing signs of spreading Isna’s identity.”

The grandfather had launched a reckless attack to protect his granddaughter.

Realizing that fact, Isna clenched her fist tightly, trembling.

“You’re crying again. Honestly. You pretend not to be, but you’re still soft inside.”

“I’m… not crying. I’m not….”

Her voice was thick with tears.

* * *

Isna immediately moved to meet Lispa Elde, bringing Osberg with her.

The traitors were all dead, and their leader Garlan had also died along with the transcendent being.

And since Osberg’s rescue had been successful, there was no longer any reason to remain there.

Fortunately, since the incident had occurred in an underground ancient ruin, it did not attract much attention despite happening in a foreign land.

In effect, the Moon Watchers, once famous across the continent, were now completely disbanded.

“The cult’s basically finished too. And now the Watchers are done as well.”

Once, both the Watchers and the cult had come to me asking for cooperation in stopping the Outer God.

Of course, neither side had truly been allies to begin with, so it didn’t matter much, but now all that remained were the archangels and the outer dimension itself, and it made me feel suffocated.

The difficulty of dealing with the opposing forces had skyrocketed.

“Lucifer.”

[Translator - Night]

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Lucifer did not answer my call.

Well, that was just like him, so I hadn’t really expected a response.

“Still… I appreciate the help.”

Whether I liked it or not, he had told me that Osberg wasn’t a fake.

Whether I liked it or not, I had received help, so it was only right to clearly express my thanks.

And Lucifer remained silent to the end.

And now.

I pulled out the transcendent core that had been inside Garlan’s body.

It was cracked, but its power had not completely vanished yet.

After placing the transcendent core down, I took the Void Enchanter—Kuralion’s staff—out from my subspace and brought it into contact with the core.

I had previously used this method to contact another version of myself in a closed world.

Then it should be possible this time as well.

As expected, the Void Enchanter quickly began absorbing the fragments of the transcendent core and started resonating with my mind.

But this time was a little different from before.

Was it because the core had been shattered?

Or had that previous case simply been unique?

Either way, this time it didn’t immediately produce something for me like before.

It looked as if it needed quite some time, like restoring corrupted data.

Without hesitation, I left the Void Enchanter and the broken core resonating and cast a sealing spell so no one could touch them.

I’d be able to check it after a few days.

I sent a separate message to the Saintess thanking her for the revelation.

She was currently very busy with events in the Holy Kingdom, so this much would be enough.

Overwhelmed by a strange fatigue, I headed straight to bed, where Luna was waiting for me.

“You look tired.”

“You didn’t have to go out of your way.”

“I like watching you sleep peacefully.”

Luna pointed at the bed with her finger as if telling me to lie down.

Without resisting, I lay down on the bed, and Luna silently held my hand tightly.

Fatigue washed over me.

As if I had taken a sleeping pill, I slowly sank into slumber.

Watching me, Luna quietly hummed a small lullaby-like tune.

My vision dimmed, and my consciousness sank into darkness.

* * *

It felt like I had slept deeply for the first time in a long while.

When I woke up, I saw Luna sleeping soundly in my arms, breathing softly.

A peaceful night with no threats whatsoever.

The sweet scent of Luna’s skin and her small breathing in my embrace.

Only the pink strands of her hair tickling the back of my hand brought a sense of reality.

I gently brushed her cheek once and shifted my gaze.

It was to check whether the child still growing in her womb was well.

At that moment.

I noticed something strange.

“Baby?”

Luna’s belly was swollen, unlike before.

As if she were already at full term.

“….”

That couldn’t be right.

According to the schedule, the child in Luna’s womb should have had at least seven more months to go.

Sensing something was wrong, I abruptly sat up and placed my hand on her belly.

Inside, the child was growing healthily.

It was a bizarre sight, as if the child alone had skipped through time.

Was there even anyone who could explain this?

Even Archangel Uriel had said the child would grow like a normal baby.

But judging from the current situation, Luna could start labor tomorrow and it wouldn’t be strange at all.

Worried that something might be wrong with the child’s body, I examined carefully, but the child in her womb was extremely healthy and possessed a purity untouched by anything.

That was when it happened.

—Are you confused because the child in her womb suddenly grew?

Lucifer’s devilish whisper echoed.

“Lucifer.”

—I saw it. How the child in her womb grew.

“You saw it?”

—Of course. How could I not know? It just happened a moment ago.

“What are you talking about? Explain it so it makes sense.”

At my words, Lucifer began to chuckle.

—Let’s make a deal. Grant me one request, and I’ll tell you the truth.

“I’m telling you again, the seal—”

—No. It’s not the seal this time. There is something you must kill.

Lucifer spoke again in a whisper.

—You’ve been to the progenitor dragon’s ruins, haven’t you?

“Why there?”

—There. The hatchling of the Star Dragon still remains.

“What?”

—Kill it. So it won’t suffer anymore.

His voice was chilling, yet for some reason, I felt sorrow within it.

“I’ll… see it myself and decide.”

—Good. That’s enough. Once you see it, you’ll probably agree that ending its life yourself is the right choice.

Lucifer spoke calmly once more.

—You want to know why the child in her womb suddenly grew, right?

“Yeah.”

—Why are you curious? Isn’t it obvious? The child has been absorbing the parents’ power all day. As long as it hasn’t been born yet, it has no choice but to keep taking in that power.

“Why all of a sudden now?”

—Whenever you fall into a deep sleep, immense power circulates around you. Until now nothing happened, but once the child reached a certain level of growth and began accepting external power, rapid growth became inevitable.

“Could… that be a problem?”

—Who knows. But it’s clearly the will of the child in the womb to distinguish and absorb that power, so it should be fine.

At that very moment—

Luna, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly frowned and began to groan.

Then she opened her eyes as if her breath was caught and tightly grabbed my arm.

“Le… Leon… Ah… I think… the baby’s coming….”

“I know, just calm down and breathe!”

“Inhale… haa… inhale… Leon… why all of a sudden….”

“It’s okay. Everything’s okay. Just calm down.”

Luna, startled by the sudden labor, couldn’t easily compose herself.

The first thing I needed to do was reassure her.

—Oh dear. Looks like labor has begun.

Faced with the unexpected situation, I jumped to my feet.

And shouted.

“Emergency!!!!!”

In the middle of the night, the Cascadia estate began to stir in chaos at my cry.

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