Chapter 75: The Contradictory Being

Clyd lowered his head and slowly inspected the corpses of the Nervan Cultists.

At that moment, Kairon approached him and spoke.

“All the heretics have been dealt with. Leave the cleanup to us.”

“Understood. And please also take care of the knights’ healing.”

“Yes. That was my plan as well. I will request support from the cult’s upper echelon.”

Clyd clicked his tongue as if troubled.

Though the situation was concluded, the damage to Valless was significant.

The aftermath would be quite difficult to manage.

Just as he turned to return to the mansion, “Father! Look over there!”

Delian urgently pointed to the rear with his hand.

When Clyd looked back, he saw Nervan Cultists and Darwen alive and well.

However, the strange thing was that all of them appeared as blurry forms, like illusions.

It was as if looking at a mirage in the desert.

A beam of light soared toward the sky, and a magic circle spread across the entire plaza.

Clyd felt an ominous sign.

“What is going on?”

But Kairon seemed clueless as well.

“Don’t know where those ghosts appeared from all of a sudden, but I’ll deal with them immediately.”

With that, he led the paladins and charged at the blurry Nervan Cultists.

Swish—!

He swung his sword, but it only cut through empty air.

Everyone who saw this began to panic.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“Their bodies just pass right through us!”

“A-a-are they ghosts?”

The knights, clueless, were thrown into confusion, and even the cult’s forces looked baffled.

Clyd focused his gaze on the blurry illusions, trying to understand the situation.

Since Darwen was among them, he thought he might figure out what was happening.

Darwen was activating the magic circle alongside the Nervan Cultists.

‘What could this mean?’

But then, Darwen looked up as if he could see this side too.

He stared at Clyd intently.

Clyd locked eyes with Darwen.

There was a troubled look in Darwen’s eyes.

He seemed eager to say something.

‘Was the Marquis holding them back?’

Clyd did not doubt Darwen.

Darwen had earned his trust over time.

He always brought crucial clues and helped with the affairs of the Countdom.

Moreover, Evan was already engaged to Darwen’s daughter.

There was no way he would do anything to harm the Countdom.

Darwen continued signaling with his eyes.

Clyd silently nodded.

Darwen’s expression brightened, and he refocused on the magic circle.

‘I’ll owe the Marquis again with this matter.’

Clyd immediately issued orders to the knights.

“Investigate the surroundings quickly for anything suspicious!”

At that moment, Kairon narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“A Lamakrian?”

Everyone’s gaze focused in the same direction.

A man with brown skin and gray eyes slowly passed by everyone and walked toward the center of the plaza.

Reactions varied.

Clyd and the knights were simply curious, while the cult forces showed looks of disgust.

“A Lamakrian is involved? Those bastards really are beyond salvation!”

Clyd made a troubled expression at their reaction.

This incident didn’t look like something that could be quietly swept under the rug.

It was a tangled issue involving historical conflicts and complex relationships.

Back when the Lamakrian Empire existed, they wielded overwhelming power and did not hesitate to perform inhumane experiments, black magic, and various barbaric acts.

Thus, the cults in the central and southern continents historically held Lamakrians in contempt.

They constantly plotted against them and even hated them outright.

Of course, this was only from the cult’s perspective; most kingdoms had no feelings either way.

After all, the brilliant technological advancements left behind by the Lamakrians had built the kingdoms of today.

In fact, many Lamakrians were scattered throughout the kingdoms, including the Countdom.

Their exceptional intelligence and talents greatly contributed to the development of the territories.

But the cult would certainly seize this incident as a pretext to lash out.

While Clyd pondered these things, the Lamakrian man entered the beam of light.

Shortly after, a beautiful winged woman appeared.

Everyone stared in shock at her.

***

Evan glanced at the quest window that floated before him.

[Description: The Nervan Cultists used Agarrus’s power to create a contradictory being.
Their evil threatens the entire world. Eliminate this contradictory being and stop their plan.]

[Type: Transcendence Quest]

[Difficulty: SS]

[Objective: Eliminate the contradictory being.]

[Recommended Level: ??]

[Recommended Party Size: 1,000]

[Reward: ??]

A transcendence quest.

One that sometimes appears in the main quest line.

Its difficulty arises only when surpassing S-rank.

‘Contradictory being? Weren’t those guys trying to merge the fake world and the real world?’

Evan couldn’t grasp the current situation.

He hadn’t expected this to escalate into a transcendence-level quest at all.

‘Is their real goal to awaken that thing?’

The beam of light slowly faded, revealing the beautiful winged woman.

[Contradictory being generation in progress. (58%)]

‘Looks like it’s not complete yet.’

From the message, it seemed the contradictory being was still in the process of being created.

There was still a chance.

But the beautiful woman was somewhat strange.

“P-please… kill me! Please…”

Despite her wide smile, her words were full of despair and anguish.

Evan sensed something was off but had no time to dwell on it.

He had to stop it before it was fully complete.

[Overwriting the world. (29%)]

‘That has to be stopped too.’

If things continued like this, he would end up going to the real world alongside that being.

Evan looked around, searching for Darwen.

He saw Clyd, Delian, and other knights and various cult forces in the plaza.

Though transparent like holograms, it seemed to be a strange phenomenon caused by the merging worlds.

‘Can they see this side too?’

Clyd and Delian’s gazes were directed at him.

Clyd showed no particular reaction, but Delian looked genuinely shocked.

Evan quickly turned away.

He didn’t have time to worry about that now.

He needed to find Darwen fast.

Soon, Evan spotted Darwen among the Nervan Cultists.

He appeared to be working on the magic circle.

Blue Chains shot out from the magic circle’s edges, aiming at the woman.

Clack!

The chains wrapped tightly around her entire body, restraining her.

But—

Kwahng!

A powerful shockwave radiated from the woman’s body.

The chains that had bound her instantly loosened.

“Kyaaaah!”

Then, earsplitting screams echoed as translucent white hands erupted around her.

They spread in all directions, grabbing everything nearby.

Darwen was unharmed, protected by a shield spell.

“Aah!”

“Block her!”

“What are you doing? Control her quickly—!”

All the Nervan Cultists in the plaza were pulled toward her.

They were absorbed into her in an instant.

[Contradictory being generation in progress. (68%)]

Absorbing the cultists rapidly increased the progress.

Evan rushed to Darwen.

“My lord Marquis!”

“Oh! The young master is safe! That’s a relief.”

“What is going on? Who is this woman with such overwhelming power?”

“That’s the Nervan Goddess! The Nervan Cultists cloned her through Agarrus. They said they put a leash on her to control her, but it’s already beyond their calculations! Controlling a god? That was never going to work!”

“Is that really the Nervan Goddess?”

Evan couldn’t hide his astonishment.

Their goal was to clone the goddess.

‘To think they would use Agarrus’s cloning ability for something like this.’

As mere humans, they intended to create a god and become its master.

‘They were madmen. Their greed knew no bounds.’

But they failed. That was not a goddess.

The system called it a “contradictory being.”

‘So it’s not a goddess, but not human either. A false goddess. A true contradiction.’

Darwen, desperate, continued trying to do something.

“What are you doing?”

“This is what those heretics taught me—using the runes embedded in the magic circle to control the goddess. Think of it as a control device.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the blue chains shot out again from the magic circle’s edges.

They wrapped around the false goddess’s arms and legs.

‘Wait, it’s not completely ineffective?’

The false goddess’s smile twisted briefly.

Evan clenched the Sword of Jormungand’s Fang tightly.

“My lord Marquis, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Evan charged at the false goddess.

“Y-Young master!”

A voice called from behind, but he ignored it.

‘It’s not fully complete yet. I have to end this before then.’

Evan approached the false goddess bound by chains.

He raised his aura to the maximum and used Lee Han’s Second Form.

In an instant, sharp sword energy formed on Evan’s blade.

He swung his sword with all his strength at the false goddess.

Thung!

But the blade was stopped by a transparent barrier.

‘I expected it wouldn’t be that easy.’

No matter how much Evan pushed, the shield wouldn’t break.

The false goddess locked eyes with Evan.

A face so beautiful it seemed otherworldly.

“K-kill me!”

But the screams coming from within were those of Agarrus.

Gooooo!

The false goddess gathered a powerful energy.

Feeling the danger, Evan stepped back.

As before, the shockwave spread, breaking the chains restraining her.

At the same time, the earth trembled, and spheres of light rose around the false goddess.

The spheres were about human-sized, radiating both divine and alien energies.

Evan didn’t know exactly what they were, but he knew getting hit by them would be dangerous.

The false goddess raised her hand and hurled the spheres toward Evan.

They flew at incredible speed but were not impossible to dodge.

Bang!

Bang!

The spheres exploded in brilliant light upon hitting the ground.

The magic circle beneath remained unscathed.

The false goddess summoned multiple large spears made of light, raising a new attack.

‘How can she casually wield such overwhelming power?’

Evan winced and focused on dodging.

Then—

Clack!

Chains shot out like bullets, wrapping around the false goddess’s body.

The summoned spears vanished.

It was the power of Darwen’s runes.

He had bought some time.

‘There must be a way to bring her down…’

Evan pondered various strategies.

[Contradictory being generation in progress. (82%)]

Meanwhile, the false goddess was nearing completion.

‘I have to at least find a way to stop that.’

Evan carefully examined the chained woman.

Something caught his eye.

A golden aura wrapped around the false goddess’s entire body like a string, connecting her to something.

Following the connection, Evan saw a huge full-body mirror.

‘Is that the mirror Agarrus was holding?’

A Chaos Item with absurd abilities like the Twisted Chalice.

‘If I destroy that…’

Evan’s eyes gleamed as he dashed toward the Demon Mirror.

But the false goddess also noticed Evan’s movement toward the mirror.

Kukukukung!

A roaring sound burst forth as powerful alien energy radiated from her body.

Like fire erupting from within, the energy visualized itself.

Flutter!

The false goddess spread her wings wide and flew at Evan at full speed.

‘So this is the answer?’

Evan desperately ran toward the Demon Mirror.

He had started moving even before she noticed.

He reached the mirror first and thrust his sword with all his might.

But—

Kkaang!

The Demon Mirror didn’t even crack.

Even with the amplified sword energy.

“…Why?”

Evan was stunned but suddenly recalled what Jena had said.

“Monsters can’t be easily destroyed!”

Of course, it depends on the Chaos Item, but no one in this world had ever directly destroyed one.

The Twisted Chalice had only been restored to its original form by the Mediator’s repair magic, and even then it eventually destroyed itself.

“Damn it!”

Evan shouted, swinging his sword hard against the mirror again.

But it didn’t budge.

At that moment, the false goddess who had been flying toward him appeared beside him again, summoning a spear of light.

Whoosh!

She turned and stabbed the spear into Evan’s side.

“Ugh!”

The spear pierced through Evan’s abdomen.