#193

Are you telling me those things are all moving purely on instinct right now?

How many people had received the Blessing of Healing from Columba?

What happens if those maggots start excitedly gnawing on people who are frozen and unable to move?

‘I think I’m slightly fucked right now.’

If this state lasts too long, won’t those people be reduced to nothing but bone?

If things don’t unfold the way I imagined….

“…But you said they eat and then mimic. What happens when only bugs are left? Do they just keep living like that?”

“When there are no more organisms left in that group to eat and mimic, they enter the next stage.”

“The next stage?”

“They return to a mass of insects, build cocoons, and undergo eclosion. After that, they fly off in all directions to find their next prey. Until now, they had forgotten how to eclose because of the First Covenant Ledeia entered into, but now that their instincts have returned…”

“Shit….”

Damn, so those maggots were actually fly larvae.

Suddenly, I began to deeply empathize with Ledeia’s desperation in clinging to Order.

Realizing that her original self had been entirely gnawed away and that what currently constitutes her body is nothing but insects—she must have wanted to die just from that realization alone….

‘…And she’s in a situation where she’s realized that if she doesn’t keep bringing new people into the group to serve as food for those bugs, her entire body will collapse and she’ll turn into a fly.’

Fuck, Order really messed up here.

Instead of making Ledeia forget the truth that she was a mass of insects, he should have reminded her of it every year.

If he had, Ledeia would have felt endless loyalty and gratitude toward Order without ever questioning him.

‘And this whole clusterfuck wouldn’t have happened.’

“Once those things take shape, what do you think they’ll do first?”

“…They’ll probably try to finish eating Fabio. That’s their instinct.”

“This won’t do. Hyung, I’ll go get some oil. Let’s burn them all.”

“No, you can’t.”

I absolutely need those tens of thousands of clone-pawns for what I’m planning to do.

Since they are my Vassals for now, if I can just find a way to control them….

At that moment, I felt something cold and smooth touch my arm.

‘Right. Come to think of it, this guy was here.’

Looking down, I saw a purple snake peeking its head out from my sleeve.

The ‘Columba?’ who hadn’t yet fully formed its shape. I gently nudged the snake forward.

“Can you make those things stop for a moment?”

As the snake flicked its tongue, the maggots stopped all movement, as if someone had hit a pause button.

[You realize that if someone touches them, they will start moving again. You feel a sudden urge to pet the admirable and cute snake.]

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme,’ ‘Distortion’ is provided as text.]

“Good boy.”

As I stroked its small head, the snake flicked its tongue as if pleased.

‘I’ll have to give it a name later.’

“Now, let’s go to the place where the Council was held.”

“Why there? Is there something we need to pick up?”

“I need the bomb the House Lizard made.”

The reason the House Lizard held the Council was to scatter ‘bombs’ throughout the entire Dark Realm.

The bomb was none other than the Name of Oblivion.

The moment one recognizes that name, a door is created in their mind through which Oblivion can ‘intrude.’

The House Lizard used this to his advantage by writing the Name of Oblivion as a Vertical Drip in the documents that were to be distributed to the entire Capital Church.

He did this so that Oblivion would be run ragged trying to close tens of thousands of doors.

‘…But how did the House Lizard know the Name of Oblivion?’

I was curious about how he found it, but more importantly, I wondered ‘how’ he avoided being intruded upon.

Is it possible to create clauses that split the name without holding the Name of Oblivion itself in one’s mind?

‘He probably didn’t remember the name itself, but only the method to derive the name.’

Suppose the House Lizard obtained a piece of paper with the Name of Oblivion written on it.

If he simply read it, Oblivion would immediately intrude, search his memories, briefly descend, and destroy the paper.

In that instant, the House Lizard would forget not only the Name of Oblivion but the very fact that he had obtained a paper with it written on it.

‘Therefore, he must have first gone through a process of decomposing the name to make it inert.’

This process must have required extreme caution.

Unfolding the paper very carefully to check only the last character, and then cutting that character out.

Writing the discovered character on a red piece of paper.

Having another person check the remaining characters and write them on a green piece of paper.

Folding this green paper tightly so the contents could never be seen.

Now, the House Lizard knows that if he combines the character on the red paper at the end of the green paper, he will have the Name of Oblivion. However, even while holding both papers in his hand, he remains in a state of not knowing the ‘Name of Oblivion’ itself.

The principle is that ‘intrusion’ does not occur until the paper is unfolded and the name is combined in the mind.

‘In other words, it’s like epoxy putty where the hardener is packaged separately to prevent a chemical reaction.’

The specific method might differ, but the logic would be similar.

The Council minutes, which complete the Name of Oblivion when read as a Vertical Drip, can also be considered inert in the sense that nothing happens as long as one doesn’t know the rule of the ‘Vertical Drip.’

The actual rule is likely a bit more complex than just ‘reading the first letter.’

‘Because he wasn’t trying to make Oblivion descend upon the Council hall.’

The bomb shows its true value after that document spreads throughout the Dark Realm.

What if the rule for reading the Name of Oblivion is widely spread after every bishop has received the Council minutes?

Oblivion would find itself in a very difficult position.

‘Since people who only know the rule are not targets for intrusion, he cannot find them.’

Therefore, no matter how many points Oblivion consumes, he cannot perfectly erase his own name.

Because anyone who knows the rule can open the Council minutes at any time and combine the Name of Oblivion.

‘And since the Record has lost its influence now….’

There was no way to remotely edit text that had already been written.

Until the leadership of the Church of Order stepped in to collect and destroy all the minutes, ‘Oblivion’ would have to repeatedly ‘intrude’ while continuously consuming points.

‘Of course, Order would suffer a great loss in that process as well.’

Following proper procedures to amend the law would take an immense amount of time, and if he abused his authority to forcibly destroy the minutes, his Divinity would take a hit for acting in a manner unbecoming of Order.

‘The more I look into it, the more efficient the strategy is.’

It’s a relief the House Lizard had no intention of winning the game.

If I had faced him as an enemy….

‘…I don’t even want to imagine it.’

Anyway.

When ‘Oblivion’ descended into Athanas’s body, he told me.

That ‘descent consumes a high cost.’

From whose account is that cost withdrawn?

‘It must be Loclem.’

There are two types of Oblivion.

The Oblivion whose name even Loclem does not know, and the Oblivion whose Divine Power the apostles utilize as naturally as breathing.

For convenience, I’ll call the former the Great Oblivion and the latter the Lesser Oblivion, or simply Oblivion.

The Oblivion that the House Lizard discovered and that descended into Athanas’s body was the Lesser Oblivion.

Since the Lesser Oblivion likely had no priests and received no prayers or offerings, it would have no Faith Points of its own.

And there’s no way Order would have asked the other gods under him to chip in for Oblivion’s costs….

‘Which means Loclem is bearing 100% of the cost of Oblivion’s descent.’

“…Logic bomb? You mean the record with those three clauses?”

“Yeah. I need a way to find the Name of Oblivion.”

“I kept that. Hold on.”

Pandemonium rummaged through his inventory and pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment.

“Here!”

“…Thanks.”

Blood had dried black on the parchment.

I decided not to think about where that blood came from.

‘He really needs to organize his inventory.’

“So? What are you going to do with this now?”

“I’m going to bankrupt Loclem.”

“How?”

Pandemonium widened his eyes and looked at me.

I decided to explain it step by step.

“First, I’m going to cut this up and divide it.”

I’ll tear the scroll so that I know the first letter, Callister knows the second, and Pandemonium knows the rest.

I must be careful not to accidentally unfold it and look at the bottom while cutting.

Then, while separated from each other and using the Blessing of Soundproofing—I should be able to find one by searching the House Lizard’s lab—we will input those letters into a ‘Host Tabernacle.’

Sometimes combinations like 132 will come out instead of 123, but that doesn’t matter.

If we repeat it a few times, the correct combination will inevitably pop up.

It would be more effective if I could command the ‘Host Tabernacle’ to repeat that word, but simply knowing it by hearing it is enough.

‘Since the Host Tabernacle has the mental defense trait….’

Oblivion’s intrusion will be continuously blocked.

Oblivion will then attempt to descend upon nearby Units to investigate this ‘error.’

‘And if that keeps repeating?’

A structure is created where Loclem endlessly pays points.

Even if he tries to modify Oblivion’s algorithm belatedly, it will be difficult in a situation where his hands and feet are tied like this.

Does he really have so many points left over to throw around Heavenly Punishments like that?

‘Then I’ll make him so poor that he’ll have to recover those wasted points while paying a cancellation fee.’

To the point where he has no choice but to give up the Heavenly Punishment he placed on Pandemonium….

After listening to my explanation until the end, Pandemonium’s mouth hung open.

“Wow.”

“What.”

“No, it’s just that it turned out exactly as I thought.”

“…What exactly were you thinking here?”

“I thought you’d figure something out somehow, Hyung.”

“…….”

I’m not even going to respond.