Chapter 691: Another Candidate Appears
Garion looked at Lord Vornak, and for the first time in a while, his relaxed expression faded slightly.
The massive ruler floating above Vornak Planet no longer felt like a normal Star Realm being.
His aura had completely broken past that level.
Feron’s face had already turned ugly.
Iris, Varka, Loraine, and Erlin had also stopped fighting for a moment, their attention fixed on Lord Vornak.
Even Dahlia, Arden, Mersha, Valtor, and Seira, who had scattered across the nearby planets, could feel that terrifying pressure rising from the main planet.
Garion narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, Atlas’s voice suddenly sounded inside his mind.
[Garion.]
Garion’s eyes moved slightly. "What?"
Atlas’s tone was unusually serious.
[Another candidate has been detected.]
Garion froze.
For a second, he almost thought he had heard wrong.
"Another candidate?"
[Yes.]
Garion’s expression became strange. "You mean... another person like me? Someone with a cheat or system like you?"
Atlas answered without joking this time.
[Something similar, yes. I can sense another system authority here.]
Garion’s gaze immediately moved toward Lord Vornak. "Him?"
[No. Not him.]
Garion frowned. "Then who?"
Atlas paused for a moment before speaking.
[The World Will.]
Garion’s eyes sharpened.
[Lord Vornak is not the candidate. He is one of the children created by this World Will. The true candidate should be the World Will itself, or what remains of the original candidate who fused with it.]
Garion stared at the trembling planet below. "Explain."
[Normally, a World Will does not have an ego. It has basic instinct, but not this kind of clear personality. It also should not create one specific cultivator as its child and representative like this.]
Garion slowly understood. "So the candidate used his cheat to fuse with the World Will?"
[Most likely. He probably fused himself with the World Will to survive, control the world, or abandon his original body. That is why Vornak World’s Will acts like a person.]
Garion’s expression became more serious.
The idea was insane.
A candidate like him had existed here before, but instead of walking his own path, that person had merged with the World Will and become something neither fully alive nor fully dead.
Garion looked at Lord Vornak again. "Then how strong is he now? He’s absorbing a planet. Is that the same as a Low God?"
Atlas immediately answered.
[No.]
Garion raised an eyebrow. "No?"
[A Low God is not merely someone who absorbs a planet’s energy. A true God needs Divine Energy. This one is different.]
Garion’s gaze lowered toward the streams of power rising from Vornak Planet.
[Vornak is absorbing planetary energy and world authority, not Divine Energy. He is borrowing the world’s raw foundation, not commanding divine faith.]
Garion muttered quietly, "So he’s not a god."
[Correct.]
Atlas’s voice became even heavier.
[If I had to describe him, he is closer to an extremely powerful Celestial Realm being right now.]
Garion exhaled slowly. "I see."
His eyes remained fixed on Lord Vornak, whose aura kept rising like a black mountain pressing against space itself.
Garion’s mouth slowly curved. "Not a god, but still far above my current strength."
Atlas immediately replied.
[Yes. Do not act stupid.]
Garion chuckled. "Too late."
[Garion.]
Garion cracked his neck, his purple-black gravity lines pulsing faintly beneath his skin. "I know, I know."
He looked toward Lord Vornak with growing interest. "But this just became a lot more fun."
---
Deep inside Vornak World, something ancient slowly opened its eyes after being called out by Lord Vornak.
The World Will looked across the battlefield through countless invisible senses and manipulated Lord Vornak, forcing him to absorb the planet’s power.
Only after that did its attention move elsewhere.
It had already awakened, but a moment later, its vast consciousness suddenly froze because a system screen appeared in front of it.
[Another candidate has been detected.]
The World Will froze.
Another candidate?
For the first time in a very long time, real shock appeared within that vast consciousness.
"To think another candidate would actually arrive here."
This was the first time it had ever met someone like itself.
Long ago, it had also been chosen.
Long ago, it had also received a system.
Its name back then had been Odren, a genius cultivator who believed he could climb above all worlds.
Unfortunately, he died.
At the final moment, he used one of his system rewards, [Soul Possession Authority], to survive.
The reward was supposed to let him possess another body.
Instead, Odren chose something far crazier.
The World Will.
Unfortunately, the result was not perfect.
He only managed to take over twenty percent of the World Will, but even that was enough to keep his consciousness alive and grant him terrifying authority.
Without a true body, however, he could no longer properly participate in the candidate competition, and his system eventually became silent.
For countless years, Odren could only sit inside the world like a half-dead ghost.
Now, for the first time in ages, the system spoke again.
[Mission Triggered.]
[Kill the other candidate.]
[Reward: Body Reconstruction.]
After reading this, Odren’s consciousness trembled with excitement.
This reward meant a chance to return.
A chance to compete again.
A chance to feel what it meant to be alive once more.
A cold grin slowly spread across Odren’s invisible face.
"Finally."
His ancient consciousness stirred through the depths of Vornak World.
"A chance for me to get out of this hell."
Odren’s invisible consciousness then moved through the World Will, searching across the battlefield.
He could sense many powerful outsiders.
Feron, Iris, Varka, Loraine, Erlin, Dahlia, Arden, Mersha, Valtor, and Seira all carried strange strength, but none of them triggered his system.
Only one presence made the screen react.
Garion.
Odren’s attention locked onto the relaxed man floating behind the battlefield with both hands in his pockets.
[Target Identified]
Odren’s consciousness trembled.
"So that’s the one."
His gaze became colder, greedier, and far more desperate.
"This time, I’ll go all out."
The entire Vornak World shook as more planetary power surged toward Lord Vornak.
Odren’s voice echoed deep inside the world.
"After all, this is my only chance."