Chapter 45: Chapter45-The Corrupted Order Fragment
"Merge with me, and I shall become the great ruler of the world!"
"Merge with me, and I shall become the great ruler of the world!"
"..."
The deep, hoarse whispers echoed through the dark space, clouding one's will, dulling their consciousness.
The ground beneath Owen's feet, now sand-like and dry, had turned into a black swamp, trying to swallow him inch by inch.
As he felt the strange force entwining his soul, Owen couldn't shake off a sense of familiarity.
"This energy... it feels like an Order fluctuation?"
Whether in his past life, where he had reached the threshold of godhood as an Archmage, or in this life as a 1-Star Extreme Ancient God, Owen had always been highly sensitive to Order fluctuations.
After all, Order was the very foundation of his existence as Deus Initium.
Yet, Order was the fundamental force of the world—normally, only gods could truly wield it.
Order existed to protect the world.
To protect humanity.
So why was there Order fluctuation within these Aberrations?
Owen's thoughts drifted back to the black tendrils from his divine ascension ritual.
Back then, those tendrils had swallowed not just him, but the entire world itself.
Could these Aberrations be directly connected to the true mastermind?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
It wasn't just him—countless other gods had also been summoned into this plane.
And each god, by their very nature, contained a fragment of Order within them.
Yet now, these Aberrations were also radiating Order fluctuations.
This could only mean one thing—someone had tampered with them.
"From the Divine War, we know that the Order fragments within each god grow like untamed seeds. No one knows what they will ultimately become..."
"Could these Aberrations be one of the 'experiments'?"
"Gods are, at their core, embodiments of faith, born from human devotion."
"If humans did not exist, gods would not be born. And gods exist to protect humanity."
"Yet, these Aberrations, though they contain Order fragments, are devouring the world. They are consuming humanity itself. This isn't right."
Countless thoughts swirled through Owen's mind.
Divine Order was distinct from other Orders.
By nature, it should never harm humanity.
But...
What if Divine Order had been corrupted?
As he recalled the tendrils piercing into his body during the ascension ritual—the nauseating sensation of being assimilated and corroded—a sudden realization struck him.
"These Aberrations... might actually be Divine Order itself!"
Thinking about how so many gods had been scattered across this plane, and how these Aberrations seemed to be appearing under similar circumstances—
It all pointed to one conclusion: they had been polluted.
To confirm his theory, Owen immediately channeled divine points, forcibly extracting a portion of the slimy liquid clinging to his feet.
The black mucus, now bound by divine energy, twisted violently, trying to escape the restraint.
But as Owen poured more divine energy into it, the mucus began to sizzle, emitting sharp, crackling noises.
Then, to his astonishment—
It transformed into golden light particles.
The golden fragments shimmered, like ancient runes breaking apart and reforming in unpredictable patterns.
Divine Order!
Owen's pupils contracted.
His hypothesis was confirmed.
These Aberrations were indeed corrupted Divine Order!
He had only intended to analyze the black liquid...
But just by purifying it, he had turned it back into an Order Fragment!
Or rather, his divine points had activated the dormant Order within it.
Everything made sense now.
The Abyssal tendrils that had tried to assimilate him...
The reason these Aberrations were so bizarrely powerful...
And why he had never been able to detect them before.
"I had been worrying about how to obtain Order Fragments... and now they're right in front of me."
As he held the purified Order Fragment in his palm, Owen's expression shifted from shock to delight.
To grant divine authority to a Vassal God, he needed Divine Order Fragments.
Previously, he had thought the only way to obtain them was through the Divine War, by slaying other gods.
But now—
By purifying Aberrations, he could collect them directly!
Moreover, aside from being crucial for bestowing divine authority, these Order Fragments could be sold to the system's pawnshop for a massive number of divine points.
They were rare and immensely valuable.
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"Unite... Merge... We shall become the Rulers of the World!"
At that moment, the writhing tendrils surged toward Owen.
The deep, hoarse voices—like whispers from the abyss—filled the air, numbing the mind and tempting one toward corruption.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The tendrils intertwined, forming a tidal wave of darkness, surging forward to engulf Owen completely.
The mucus they secreted began corroding space itself.
Yet—
Faced with this assault, Owen did not panic.
Instead, a smile crossed his lips.
"You call this an Aberration? Looks more like free Order Fragments to me!"
"You cannot escape fate. You shall merge with us!"
As the black tide of tendrils and corrosive slime closed in—
A blazing fire erupted from Owen's body.
The searing flames surged like a descending sun, illuminating the darkness.
Instantly—
The black mucus trying to corrupt him evaporated, dissipating into nothingness.
Even the tendrils, though resistant to heat, began bubbling and rupturing upon contact with the purifying flames.
The tendrils at the front burst apart, revealing more corrupted Order Fragments.
Seizing the moment, Owen formed a sacred hand seal, intensifying the flames.
A blazing fireball descended from the heavens, crashing into the heart of the tendril infestation.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion followed.
It was as if a nuclear blast had erupted in the valley.
The scorching shockwave spread across the landscape.
A massive fire-red mushroom cloud rose into the sky, dominating the horizon.
Everything within a hundred meters of the impact blackened and crumbled.
The earth itself collapsed into a deep crater, webbed with cracks, as if struck by a meteorite.
As the Abyssal tendrils burned away, the corrupted black Order Fragments drifted toward Owen, merging into him.
"If these tendrils had worked together, their strength would have rivaled a tier-5 beginner awakener..."
"Even a 1-Star Ancient God might struggle against them."
"If a regular tier-4 awakener or spellbeast had faced them, they would have been completely assimilated."
Owen's expression turned serious.
If he wasn't a 1-Star Extreme Ancient God, he might have had no way to counter this invasion.
Perhaps, because his territory had expanded so much, he had been detected and targeted by these Aberrations.
A typical 1-Star Ancient God's territory was only a tenth of his size—they wouldn't even be aware of the Aberrations before it was too late.
Moreover, these corrupted Order Fragments lacked consciousness.
They acted purely on instinct, mindlessly assimilating all they encountered.
Otherwise, even he might have struggled to defeat them.
"I wonder how many Order Fragments I'll obtain from this?"
As more fragments flowed into him, Owen channeled divine energy, purifying them.
5... 10... 50...
By the end—
90 Order Fragments had been restored, shining with divine brilliance.
"That cost me a ridiculous amount of divine points... I'm down to 116 now."
Even for him, divine points were never enough.
But—
Obtaining an Order Fragment was well worth the cost.