Chapter 501: Delving Deeper
Feeling the three pairs of eyes on him, Arthur sighed softly and then spoke.
"I’m sensing a huge source of divinity up ahead. It’s hidden behind some sort of veil, but I can tell it’s there.
Another thing I can tell is the fact that the Death energy in these bullets emits a frequency similar to the Divinity I sense beyond that Veil. However, the source of the energy is somewhere inside this massive forest.
I’m curious about why I sense two sources, and I want to find out what that Divinity Source is, to know if I can absorb it to make myself stronger."
Arthur was a godslayer who could grow stronger by devouring Divine Sparks, so he was drawn to whatever this Veiled source of Divinity was.
"You guys can leave. I know how to handle myself alone and worst-case scenario, I’d release Lostvayne to buy time for myself to use my Cosmic Teleporter."
He gestured at the Wide Bracelet that covered half his right forearm, the same Cosmic Artifact that allowed him to cross Universes.
Arthur wasn’t gonna shy away from using it to escape if he sensed a great threat to his life.
"..."
Artemisia and Beatrix glanced at each other after hearing Arthur’s words, while Evan pondered what the boy meant by ’releasing Lostvayne’.
’He said that Sword is the Weapon of a Higher Existence, does he mean to release that Higher Existence-Level power sealed inside it?
There’s no way he wouldn’t pay some sort of price for doing so...’
He turned towards the two goddesses and the three huddled up in a corner, having a short discussion with sound isolation magic activated.
Arthur watched them, perplexed, but they ignored his gaze. After a minute, they turned back to him with their decision.
"I’ll join you. Stronger opponents mean more levels for me. Plus, we could all benefit from that Divinity Source."
"Divinity is useless to me, I’m just tagging along for the EXP.
If I land a few full-powered hits against whatever you fight, I’m guaranteed EXP from the Level 700+ opponent. My EXP boost would make my level spike just like when I let loose on Crarox’s Army."
"As for me? I just want to have fun. Besides, no way I’m separating from Arty."
Artemisia, Evan, and Beatrix each gave their reasons for following Arthur deeper into Iklaque. Hearing them, Arthur couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head in amusement.
"You’ve made your decisions, don’t chicken out later."
"Don’t worry, we’ll be fine."
Beatrix spoke, before dipping her hand into her inventory and retrieving a spear coated in dense spatial power.
"Your mum’s not the only one who gave her kid stuff to ensure their survival."
Hearing her words, Evan frowned and muttered with a dejected tone.
"Too bad my mum is in the future..."
Beatrix’s response to Evan’s statement was to burst out into a fit of laughter, and Arthur didn’t hesitate to join her. Only Artemisia held herself back and attempted to console Evan.
Arthur tossed the Death energy bullet he held into his subspace, along with the extra magazine he picked up to give Layla as samples when he next saw her.
He then looked at the bodies around them and spoke.
"This burnt flesh smell is pretty annoying."
He released a burst of cosmic energy, using his destruction law to disintegrate all the bodies into dust, even those still alive. Then, raising his hand, he activated Temporal Reversal.
The world around them shimmered and flickered, as if a giant invisible hand was turning back the pages of a book.
Burnt and broken trees mended, scorched earth healed, filling in the craters and smoothing over the damage. Blood in the stream vanished, the water running clear and pristine once more.
Every trace of battle was wiped away as if it had never occurred.
Arthur also erased all traces of his time manipulation, so unless a deity with a time authority came, no one would detect the rewind.
Lowering his hand with a look of satisfaction, Arthur turned back to the others with a nod and spoke.
"Much better."
"Dude, ignoring how you rewound time just now, I’m more curious about how you silently turned those guys to dust."
Evan expressed his curiosity to Arthur and the boy gave a simple reply.
"I used my Null."
"Null? That strange destructive silver power you have?"
"My Null is actually something higher than ’Destruction’. It’s Nothingness, the ’source’ of Destructive abilities."
Arthur gave a reason why his strongest technique—one he created by accidentally using the then dormant power of Null within him—was called ’Extreme Nothingness’.
He and Evan talked as they walked deeper into the forest, with the two teenage goddesses trailing closely behind them.
◇ ◇ ◇
About thirty minutes after the four teenagers departed, a black shadow spread from the base of a tree. A young woman with raven-black hair emerged from it, her obsidian eyes filled with confusion as she surveyed the area.
"Why is there nothing here? I told those idiots to check for Outsiders... did they just ignore me and let them proceed deeper into the forest?"
Her expression contorted, showing the depths of anger that lay within her.
"And I’m the one who’d have to deal with that bastard Priest’s yapping if anyone gets to the Ritual Grounds!
If not for that cursed Oath, I’d have killed the lot of them."
Fury blazing in her eyes, she stepped back into the shadow, melding into the ground and vanishing—completely unaware that her targets had been reduced to dust.
◇ ◇ ◇
In a small clearing in the middle of the forest, Arthur, Evan, Artemisia, and Beatrix decided to take a break.
The forest was eerily quiet, devoid of any monsters—an unusual occurrence despite the dense magic power that filled this forest which monsters liked.
Arthur had spread his spatial perception and noted that all the monsters were hoarded in one corner of the forest, almost as if they were imprisoned there.
He sensed something else as well but chose not to comment on it. Instead, he suggested they set up camp to rest, even though it was just noon.
The others were confused by his suggestion but decided to trust his judgment. They set up a small camp and sat down to have lunch, chatting about the situation of the war on Plomux.
"Arthur, why are we stopping so early?"
Beatrix asked, nibbling on a piece of bread.
"Just a hunch. Let’s just say it feels like a good time to rest."
Arthur replied as he took a bite of his sandwich. Artemisia looked skeptical at his reply, but she didn’t press further and asked a question on another topic.
"So, what’s the current situation with the war on Plomux?"
"The Demons have the advantage. Arthur didn’t participate after the first day, so I was the only one fighting. I stopped before the Aramisians marked me as a priority target and sent Level 700s after me."
Evan replied as he used magic to warm up some packaged food he had with him. Arthur’s fork blurred and one of Evan’s drumsticks vanished faster than the Rogue Hero could react.
"By then, I dragged him along to come to Plomux-North with me."
Arthur smirked as he munched on the chicken he swiped from Evan, much to the Rogue Hero’s chagrin.
"Why didn’t you participate, Arthur?"
Beatrix raised an eyebrow, curious about why Arthur left the fighting but the progenitor just shrugged and replied.
"Had other priorities."
He didn’t elaborate on his reply, instead focusing on fighting off Evan who was trying to swipe the grilled squid on his plate.
Eventually, he emerged victorious from this little food battle and defeated, Evan could only accept his loss while silently vowing revenge.
Artemisia and Beatrix just rolled their eyes at the two boys’ antics. Turning the focus to them, Evan posed a question.
"Beatrix, What about your little ’side quest’?"
"Hmm? Oh, the grandson of the god-king from the Aramis faction."
The goddess grinned as she began to describe her battle with the other teenage god, exaggerating it to a level that Artemisia couldn’t bear to listen to anymore.
"Shut up for a second."
She blocked Beatrix’s mouth with her hands and turned to the two boys, giving them a concise summary of events.
"He was tough, but in the end, Beatrix ended him with her time powers. Froze him in place and then shattered him into a hundred pieces."
"Impressive."
Arthur commented as he knew exactly which skill of Beatrix’s she had used to end the battle.
Time Shatter.
It involved using time energy to cause enemies to experience multiple impacts at once, effectively striking them multiple times instantly.
But in reality, the user only attacks once.
"Arty, you’re downplaying my great achievements too much!"
"I’m just telling Arthur and Evan exactly what happened."
Artemisia calmly refuted Beatrix, her hands moving to select a drink from the cooler on the floor in front of her.
Suddenly, she froze, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she looked up and around.
Seeing her actions, Arthur smiled and spoke aloud.
"I guess you’ve eavesdropped long enough, you can come out now."
Hearing the contents of his statement, the other three knew that he was not speaking to any of them and instantly went on guard against this other figure whom they had not been able to sense.
"My apologies, I had a hard time deciding when to come in."
A pleasant-sounding voice rang out and all heads turned in the direction of the sound.
Emerging from the sea of trees around them was a stunning young woman with long, raven-black hair cascading down her back and piercing dark eyes that held an otherworldly gleam.
Her pale complexion contrasted sharply with her dark hair and eyes, giving her an ethereal beauty.
She wore a flowing, midnight-black gown adorned with intricate silver embroidery that resembled ancient runes. This embroidery emanated faint divinity, and Arthur noticed that the frequency was the same as the divinity source he sensed in the distance.
The dress had a high collar and long sleeves that came down to her middle fingers, where each sleeve was attached to a ring.
"A wonderful afternoon we have here, I offer you my greetings."
