Holy (2)
Auterica Dimension.
In the center of the Ion Continent lies the sacred Rosellia Temple.
“Welcome, Saint.”
“You’ve worked hard again today, Archbishop. How is the Saint?”
“He is the same as ever. There doesn’t seem to be any noticeable problems… but I don’t understand why he won’t awaken.”
The two met in front of a private lodging and walked inside.
The interior was elegantly decorated with a sense of dignity.
On the large bed inside lay a man, sleeping as if dead.
“Ha, it’s exactly one week today, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it has already been that long.”
Saint Liesta sighed as she approached the bedside, gently stroking the man’s face.
A clear platinum light flowed through her hand, brighter than any cleric of the Church, but the man—Heinrich, the Saint—remained completely still.
‘What in the world is going on…?’
The realization of the abnormality occurred about a week ago in the evening.
Heinrich had been busy preparing for war with the Undead King and traveling between worlds.
Without any warning, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
At first, it was not considered a major issue.
Perhaps he was simply overwhelmed by fatigue built up over time.
However, as three or four days passed, the Holy Church began to feel the creeping sense of crisis.
“Could the Undead King have used some trick?”
“This is the Rosellia Temple, located in the heart of the holy site. I don’t sense any dark magic, curses, or any energy, but…”
“One can never be too sure. The Undead King has a history of entering the temple at will, hasn’t he?”
“Hmm, that’s hard to deny. Then shall we proceed with a more detailed examination?”
Upon hearing the words of the esteemed Archbishop, who was in charge of the Rosellia Temple hospital and well-known outside, she paused her worries.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly shook her head.
“…No, let’s wait a little longer. If the Saint is engaged in something, our interference could hinder him.”
In fact, she already knew that worrying this much wasn’t necessary.
If there were a seriously critical issue with the Saint, she—being the closest person to the Holy God—would have noticed.
‘But what can I do about feeling this anxious?’
Yet, it was inevitable that reason and emotion were at odds.
Especially since it had not been long since her only family, the previous Pope, had passed away.
Liesta, sitting in the chair next to the bed, held Heinrich’s hand tightly with both hands and pressed her forehead against it, closing her eyes.
‘This isn’t an issue, right? Please wake up soon. Don’t make me worry too much.’
As the Saint quietly prayed, the Archbishop behind her closed his eyes and recited the prayer.
However, no matter how much of a caretaker one was, having a Saint like her stay in the same place was not feasible.
Ultimately, she looked at Heinrich’s face once more and reluctantly moved her feet away from the room.
Uh-oh—
It hadn’t been long since Liesta left.
A very subtle yet significant change began to stir from within the quietly sleeping Heinrich.
*
During this time, Heinrich, Hans, and avatars bearing the seeds of the Holy began to fall into silence simultaneously.
‘I thought this would be a quick process, but it’s taking longer than expected.’
Fortunately, those avatars without the Holy could still be operated, which was a relief.
Well, they mostly just stayed holed up, in a state that was closer to deep sleep.
‘These powerless beings could easily perish if they suddenly collapse anywhere.’
Not wanting to fully merge all the Holy from the first attempt, he hadn’t anticipated it would take this long.
He had known better than anyone that merging the seeds, which had been firmly solidified in different environments, would require both qualifications and preparations.
‘If I don’t at least ease things up now, they won’t have the chance to grow later.’
What he was doing was laying the groundwork for the seeds of the Holy to bloom properly.
By opening a pathway among the disconnected Holies, they could stimulate each other.
That way, he aimed to minimize the imperfections caused by the limitations of the avatars.
Drip—
‘Huh?’
He felt something was off, as blood began to stream down from his nose and mouth.
As the seeds began to react, the burden placed on the core body was slowly reaching a critical point.
‘Not yet. Just a bit more…’
But stopping now was not an option, as the movements of the seeds that had been responding since earlier were anything but ordinary.
In particular, the Holy of the core body seemed to shake violently, as if something was about to awaken from within.
‘We’re almost there! Just a little more!’
He instinctively sensed that if he missed this opportunity, he might never get another chance.
He could not afford to let this slip by.
With that resolve, he clung to his sanity, relying on the “Great Spirit.”
Hic!
Blood gushed from his throat like a waterfall.
Simultaneously, something deep within him that had been dormant burst forth, as an indescribable omnipotence began to rise within him, sweeping through his entire being to soar towards the top of his head.
《Conditions met; potential blooms. Acquired special skill “Weak Holy.”》
He barely had time to focus on the system message that appeared before him.
The omnipotence that surged from the center of his head—Baekhohyul, pierced through the curtain blocking his path, extending towards the high sky, the vast universe, and the entirety of dimensions enveloping the world.
‘Ahh.’
An enlightenment that penetrated his whole soul.
Is this what they call omniscience?
He could see all the laws and principles of the world at a glance, grasping the complex flow of fate and causation as easily as breathing.
And because of this, he realized.
In this imperfect current state, even this moment would not last long.
That as soon as that time ended, all enlightenment would vanish like an illusion.
‘Time is running out.’
Amid the chaotic flow of various truths in his mind.
He began to contemplate the most efficient way to utilize this situation.
At this moment, closer to omniscience than ever.
What more could he do?
What was the most urgent matter to address?
‘The Head of the Buncheon Society.’
With his vastly extended awareness, he followed the causation left by the foe in the world.
His enemy and a sworn nemesis he must annihilate.
Simply learning about his existence meant little.
It was vital to leave the information obtained in a way that could be checked even after this awakening state ended.
‘…What is this?’
Fortunately, the necessary materials for this were already in his possession.
To be more precise…
It had come into his hands as if it were a preordained fate from the beginning.
‘The Fruits of Myth.’
His consciousness, which had been sifting through the causality of the world, paused at one particular point.
The power obtained by Heinrich after encountering the “Fruits of Myth” in the Pantheon, a characteristic that had been indicated as a question mark until now.
Evidence of a miracle birthed from the influence of Holies derived from countless dimensions.
「Records of Myth」
It radiated a powerful presence and began to pull in his consciousness.
As if entranced, he delved deeper into its interior.
‘Was this the key?’
The deeper he went, the more glimpses of numerous world anecdotes swept by him.
At the same time, he understood what this object’s true nature was.
This was, quite literally, a record contained with the history of the world.
Stories about various gods and the worlds they governed.
‘Wait a minute, could this be part of the Akasha system…?’
At that point, his consciousness, nearing truth, instinctively pieced together the answer.
The Akasha system, encompassing all dimensions, including Earth.
This 「Records of Myth」 was akin to a terminal connecting it to the Akashic Records where it was inscribed.
Though it had limitations in capacity, the things that could be accomplished with just this were limitless.
Perhaps even able to bypass what had been regarded as the absolute law of the system.
‘To think he was creating something like this. What the hell is that Buncheon Society Head up to…?’
In that moment.
Familiar landscapes began to appear among the countless anecdotes passing by.
A sight all too well-known to him.
‘Earth?’
America, China, Japan, Romania… and Korea along with other countries.
Diverse places and times swirled together chaotically.
‘Wait a minute, something feels off?’
But thanks to his expanded consciousness, he soon realized that the world—no, the worlds he was seeing were not the Earth he knew at all.
The branching past was definitely one.
Yet from some point onward, the worlds began to diverge in different directions.
The reality of Earth he knew was merely one among them.
‘The year 2000.’
At a time when no mysteries existed on Earth, the phenomenon of “Isekai Transmigration” began to occur.
That very moment was the unique point of divergence for these worlds.
And as he calmly observed the worlds, he quickly learned who was at the center of that phenomenon.
‘A Regressor. The Buncheon Society Head.’
It was not merely a parallel world.
Unresolved karma and intertwined causations.
This was a phenomenon that could not occur unless someone repeatedly rewound a single world.
‘Crazy, how many times has he turned back time?’
Naturally, he also came to know the nature of the dreams he had experienced.
Through the Fruits of Myth, connecting with the Akashic Records, he had experienced the remnants of his previous world in the form of dreams.
In other words, it meant that all of it was a world he had truly experienced… had to experience.
‘……’
He quietly observed the flowing worlds.
The smiles of his parents, which he had seen in dreams, flickered before him.
Moments from an ordinary college life, and times spent working as a freelance video editor.
And the various versions of himself that whirled past in the countless moments.
‘Wait.’
Then suddenly, a thought struck him hard.
‘If all those things actually happened…’
Countless Earths of various timelines passed by him.
So similar yet with many differing aspects, Earths in timeframes parallel to the present.
But the moment those timelines reached their unanimous ‘end.’
An identical spectacle awaited him.
[■■■■■—!]
The end of the infinitely diverging worlds.
He met the gaze of countless eyes filling the skies of many Earths head-on.
*
In a pure white space where nothing existed.
The Buncheon Society Head, who had quietly closed his eyes, suddenly shot them open.
‘Someone has touched the timeline. It doesn’t seem like they’ve fully reached the domain of the divine yet, but…’
He felt it instinctively.
Even though he’d been blinded and deafened by the laws of causation and shackled in his entirety, he was the closest being to the “God of Earth” who had bloomed with holiness.
“Is it truly the adversary?”
At this moment, that was the most likely scenario.
No one had achieved complete holiness across the numerous Earths he had traversed.
If there was a possibility, then it could be argued that the sole variable of this timeline—the adversary—was it.
Whether it be Hahoe Mask, Phantom, or the saint of another realm, he couldn’t be sure.
“…Ha! He has indeed come this far.”
As he turned back time, the stronger he grew, the stronger the opponent who stood in his way grew too.
The karma accumulated as he struggled was directly transferred to the adversary upon returning.
Yet while there had been instances of seeding holiness in the past, this was the first time any of them had progressed to the blossoming stage.
It would prove to be quite a challenge for him, who couldn’t harness his full power due to the constraints of causality.
‘Not yet, it’s still manageable. The grand scheme is unfolding more smoothly than any other attempt.’
The truth was, unexpected variables had thrown many of his plans off-track.
He never expected that even with meticulously planned counteractions—and accounting for every possible outcome—he would still suffer such significant losses.
However, considering that, and the thorough preparations made, the overall situation was not as grim as it seemed.
‘This time, I will surely put an end to it.’
Continuing to rewind time was growing increasingly challenging.
No matter how much he siphoned off energies from other dimensions or sacrificed countless lives, ultimately, he would have to shoulder all of it.
Had he not fostered a holy seed, he wouldn’t have reached this point.
‘If I have touched the timeline… then I shall know all truths.’
If that happened, he would also come face to face with the “eye,” the cause of his actions.
“I truly wonder what choice you will make, having gained that knowledge. I’m looking forward to it.”
Said the Buncheon Society Head in hushed tones as he closed his eyes once more, surrendering to the flow of the world’s current.
The shackles restricting his physical and spiritual form were beginning to shake little by little.
Now, truly, not much time remained.
