Endless Debt

Next, the images on the screen were a continuous sequence of bloody slaughter and carnage. Xilin, by his own strength alone, fought against a crowd of enemies; the terrifying Ether mercilessly scoured the earth, erasing life while easily reshaping the terrain.

That was something only gods should be able to do, yet it was now being enacted one after another by mortals.

Belphegor silently ate his popcorn. He had long known how powerful Xilin was, and he understood the strange connection between Xilin and Leviathan, so this time Belphegor’s attention was not on Xilin, but focused on those silent Silent Ones.

As a famous mercenary legion in the Extraordinary World, Belphegor knew the particular nature of the Silent Ones. They appeared endless, but in truth they were merely derivatives of one single person. To completely crush this silent legion, one had to kill all the Silent Ones at the same time.

The problem was, as the number of Silent Ones decreased, the power they had originally dispersed would also be gathered together. If it were only the diluted power of a single Seeker of Glory, that would still be acceptable; but unfortunately, the Silent Ones alone enjoyed Mammon’s Protection·Greedy Obsession and Guarding.

Protection·Greedy Obsession and Guarding’s effect was to create an enormous Ethereal Pool. All who enjoyed the Protection could unconditionally make use of it to unleash stronger Secret Energy—on the premise that with each additional Protector, the Ethereal Pool would be equally divided one more share.

Under the influence of the Curse, twisted greedy thoughts drove the Silent Ones. They spent a long time killing all others who shared the Protection, so that they could become Mammon’s only believer, greedily monopolizing the power of the Ethereal Pool.

Belphegor couldn’t help suspecting that the Silent One was originally a Seeker of Glory. After fully monopolizing the Ethereal Pool, to what extent would his power swell? Would he cross that boundary and become the legendary Crowned?

No one could give an answer.

Since the Silent Ones first appeared in history, they had always moved in groups, never having been forced to the point where only one remained. Besides, no one was even sure whether there would truly only be one left.

It was possible that somewhere unknown, a backup left by the Silent One lay hidden; when all the Silent Ones active outside died, the backup would activate and generate a new legion of derivatives.

It was also possible that the Silent One himself refused to unite the United into one. After all, the moment he became one, with no more derivatives, the moment he reclaimed all his strength and the entire Ethereal Pool, would also be the moment when the Silent One could be killed.

Belphegor knew perfectly well what kind of temper those Debtors all had. The Silent One was also a coward; he simply didn’t dare step out.

And so a strange balance was reached: the Silent One’s potential was limitless, yet it was shackled by his fear of death.

"Ah... he actually climbed up to Seeker of Glory? Is that the power of the Ethereal Pool?"

Belphegor watched the only Silent One left on the screen. His power had reached the level of Seeker of Glory; with ease he raised mountain-roaring, sea-boiling Ethereal Shocks, and the speeding Secret Swords were like crashing into a storm, effortlessly bounced away.

"Then how many Seeker of Glory–level bodies can you split that power into at the same time?"

Belphegor made estimates, trying to use this method to gauge the limits of the Silent One’s power. Unfortunately, even when facing Xilin directly, only a portion of the Silent Ones had appeared.

He was like a glacier soaking in the sea, with only a small corner exposed; the truly immense bulk remained hidden beneath the water.

At that thought, Belphegor felt a chill along his spine and grew filled with wariness toward Mammon.

Power like the Sin of Pride or the Sin of Wrath, displayed openly under the sun, could only inspire awe; but the ones hidden in shadow, those were what truly made people tremble in fear.

"So you’re the most evil bastard of them all, huh."

Belphegor let out a faint laugh.

...

"So, you’re going to the Land of Secrets?"

Lebius stood behind his desk like a statue, having remained there for a long time. He didn’t even lift his head as he asked.

"Yes. A rough list has already come out: Palmer and I together, plus the people of the Fourth Group." Bologue sat on the sofa with Geoffrey, reaching out to take the coffee Yuriel handed over.

Ever since Bologue had been able to hold the line on his own, Lebius and Geoffrey had basically been living a retired life, only needing to busy themselves with logistical work in the office to draw a pretty decent salary.

"The Fourth Group?" Geoffrey was slightly confused.

"Fourth Group, the Desperate Watchers," Bologue said. "Ever since Raymond Gaudent was completely destroyed and the Beast of the Herd was banished into the Ethereal Realm, there’ve been no further crises in the Great Rift. And the Outpost the Fourth Group was stationed at is gone as well—the functions this Special Operations Group was responsible for have completely disappeared."

Speaking of this, Bologue couldn’t help feeling it was absurd. There were many factors behind the disbanding of an operations group, but there were few that had an ending as good as the Fourth Group’s.

"So the Decision Room is preparing to change the Fourth Group’s function and transfer them to other operational posts—like this envoy mission, for example."

"Oh... I thought the Decision Room had just fired them all." Geoffrey joked.

"Then the overall strength of this envoy team is truly surprising."

Lebius ignored Geoffrey’s joke and calmly analyzed, "You, Palmer, the Fourth Group, and the Deputy Director, with Nesanel personally leading."

"One Seeker of Glory, multiple Defenders, and numerous Negative Power Users—this is practically an Extraordinary Legion," Lebius guessed. "Could it be that if negotiations break down, you’ll immediately open battle with the All Secrets Order in the Land of Secrets?"

"I don’t know. I’ve never been to that place, and I don’t really know what that bunch of people is thinking... We’ll just listen to what Nesanel says."

Bologue hesitated for a moment, then continued, "But if possible, I hope we can bring this negotiation to fruition."

"And if it fails?"

"Then we’ll inevitably need to resort to some coercive measures."

Bologue’s voice turned vicious. After showing up so many times as a Savior, everyone was almost forgetting that Bologue’s original self-image was that of a villain—a greater villain who punished other villains.

After they chatted briefly about these things, Bologue leaned back on the sofa, and something suddenly occurred to him.

York, the Priest Bologue had met in Gray Stone Town, bore the Blood of the Night Race and wielded an Original Sin Armament. After some heavy deliberation, Bologue had recruited him into the Special Operations Group.

Bologue was very fond of York. The two of them were extremely similar in some ways; both believed in using greater violence to punish evil.

Unfortunately, York disappeared during the Raymond Gaudent incident. When the Field Staff arrived in Gray Stone Town, all that was left there was a field of shattered ruins, the rubble filled with writhing flesh.

After several rounds of search and rescue, they still couldn’t find York, and his Original Sin Armament: Thorn Binding Pain Lock had vanished along with him.

Bologue didn’t believe York was dead. With the Blood of the Night Race and the Protection of Wrath, York was very hard to kill, even if he was only a First Stage Condenser.

He suspected that York had been taken away by people from the Sect of Rotten Crimson. According to Sai Zong, bearers of Original Sin Armaments would, to some extent, awaken the Eyes of Eternal Fury, and the Sect of Rotten Crimson might have been acting with that goal in mind.

"Any news on York?" Bologue asked.

"Sorry. The intelligence personnel have been doing their best to gather information, but the clues about York are still pitifully scarce."

Lebius shook his head. He felt regretful about York as well. Although York hadn’t been with them long, he was still a member of the Special Operations Group, and Lebius wouldn’t look down on him because of something like this.

"Alright."

Bologue drained the remaining half cup of coffee in one gulp.

"I’m heading back to get some rest."

Bologue complained with a smile, "I just hope that by the time I get back from the Land of Secrets, my place will have been properly renovated."

After living in the Cultivation Room for so long, Bologue was starting to miss his days on the outside.

...

"The Land of Secrets, huh? I’ve heard it’s a really fascinating place—a city built entirely by Condensers, where Extraordinary Power doesn’t need to be hidden at all and can be used openly, and the same goes for Ethereum Technology."

In the lab, Aimou was wearing thick Protective Clothing, talking to Bologue through a layer of glass. After passing through several layers of barriers, her voice sounded like a rumbling boom.

"Like when electricity was first wired into cities during a change of era, they’ve also woven Ether into the urban systems, like... like a future city."

Aimou’s voice held a hint of envy. "I want to go too."

"Too bad you have to work overtime. Otherwise I’d definitely take you with me." Bologue said, lying against the glass.

"Yeah, overtime," Aimou suddenly turned around and said, a bit angrily, "and it’s all your fault!"

"What’s wrong?"

Bologue had just finished asking when he saw a transparent container placed by Aimou’s side, inside which a mercury-like substance was rolling and churning, switching back and forth between solid and liquid.

"What do you think?"

Aimou lifted her chin proudly.

"Alright, alright, it really is a hassle for you."

Seeing Aimou busy with his new weapon, Bologue could only apologize over and over.

"It won’t be ready in time for this operation of yours, but by the time you’re back, it should be just about forged."

Aimou muttered under her breath, "This stuff is a pain to handle. I don’t really care—so long as I maintain Steel Body, toxic metals can’t hurt me—but this kind of thing leaves residues in the environment, like germs. If I carry it around on me, it’ll affect the people around me too."

"So you have to work in this kind of sealed environment, and I also need a layer of protection to shield the people who come into contact with me?" Bologue asked.

"That’s right."

Aimou stirred the solution while dumping a pile of metal powder into it, looking just like a Witch brewing a Magic Potion in a story.

Bologue leaned against the glass, waiting for Aimou to finish her work. To repay her, he planned to take Aimou out for a late-night snack. If one meal wasn’t enough, Bologue was prepared to cover the next few days as well, right up until he set off for the Land of Secrets.

In the quiet, Aimou hummed a strange tune. After a while, she asked without turning her head.

"You still there?"

"Of course."

As Bologue spoke, he knocked on the glass, producing a crisp sound.