Chapter 388: Mana Singularity, Lady of the Night in Action

"What is it you intend to do?"

The old man gazed with keen interest at Zig, who was currently retrieving from his storage space a series of tools he would likely need in the moments to come.

It was worth noting that when Zig and Noelle had previously traversed this desolate world where all things had been incinerated, they had done everything in their power to minimize their energy expenditure to prolong their survival; the use of alchemical machinery had been entirely out of the question.

"I believe that, regardless of the circumstances, the power of this abyssal creature is insufficient to truly create two entirely distinct worlds. This is not a feat achievable at its level of existence; had it possessed such power, I fear it would have left you no opportunity to resist."

"Therefore, as you have said, it created these two separate worlds specifically to target you—to sever your physical form from your will, so as to prevent the execution of the 'Collapse' project you spoke of."

"What I intend to do now is to merge the two worlds back together, so that we may become 'whole' and thus gain the ability to touch this abyssal creature."

Zig spoke slowly. His tone was not entirely certain, yet it gave the old man a sense of profound conviction. This was his judgment, a solution derived from years of experience and accumulated knowledge. While there were undoubtedly gaps in his logic that could not yet be filled, it was the path Zig had resolved to take.

"This... to merge two worlds. Very well. With my own abilities, I truly cannot achieve such a thing, but you are not me, and so I have come to trust you. I only wish to know: once the space has been merged, what do you intend to do then?"

The old man was stunned at first. He had pondered what Zig suggested for years, yet he had never even come close to success. Then again, he was merely a broken deity tethered to an abyssal entity; his capabilities were inherently limited.

"I have already said it: I wish to see what Wang Yu can truly achieve once he makes contact with this abyssal creature. I do not wish to be trapped here for eternity. Out there, there is also the matter you brought to my attention—the entity masquerading as our god, which is in all likelihood an abyssal creature itself—that must be dealt with."

Zig replied, and with Noelle’s assistance, he began to assemble a rudimentary laboratory. The Seed of Eden was with Avia, and the equipment available here was indeed scarce.

"Indeed. I do not know much about your kind, the dragons, but if what you say is true, then the probability that your King is inextricably linked to the abyssal creature is high. The title of 'Dragon God' is likely ill-suited for Him."

"I do not wish for what happened to us to be repeated in the outside world. If you are able, please tell me how you intend to make these two realms overlap."

Upon hearing Zig mention their King—that entity so likely to be an abyssal creature—the old man’s tone grew solemn. This existence, which had destroyed their civilization, would forever be his enemy. He would unconditionally support Zig in carrying this information out to destroy the creature.

"You said that this abyssal creature, trapped within the cage of a dream, divided the realms by instinctively shifting all energy into the other, which is what led to the emergence of these two separate domains."

"What I must do is cause this barren, silent world—where everything has been burned to ash—to generate energy from within, rather than relying on an outsider like me to bring it in from the outside. I must make the two worlds identical in their underlying rules, and then allow them to overlap once more."

As he spoke, Zig’s voice, devoid of much emotion, revealed a staggering arrogance. To spark the birth of energy for a "world"—and a broken one at that, thoroughly incinerated and reduced to cinders—was this truly something Zig could achieve?

"I cannot conceive of how to do it. After all, since the fall of my civilization, I have been but a single 'person.' When I existed as a god, I was heavily constrained, and believe it or not, I was never particularly clever as a deity."

"There are fewer shackles now, but even after all these years, I have not been able to solve this problem on my own. So please, tell me exactly how you intend to proceed."

The old man, who bore little resemblance to a god, spoke thus. His words mirrored the behavior of the Lady of Night. Regarding deities, Zig still struggled to understand their mode of existence or the source of their immense power, but there was no need to dwell on such questions now.

"Mana—an energy that has accompanied us since the dawn of recorded history. We do not know where it is born, nor where it goes after a spell is cast. How mana originates has always been a subject of study for scholars like us."

"I mentioned 'Super-Mana' to you before; it was a breakthrough in our understanding. Building on that, we attempted to extend the problem toward the origin of mana itself, hoping to discover how it comes to be. We had many hypotheses and made slight progress, but none could be verified."

Zig explained his attempt to create energy within this depleted world where all had been burned away. As he closed his eyes to sense his surroundings, he used his instruments to conduct precise measurements.

Various energies within his body began to seep out, including mana. It was this very attraction, born of the void of energy, that made it difficult for Noelle and Zig to survive for long in this realm where energy was extinct. Yet, at this moment, a bitter yet excited smile touched the lips of Zig the scholar.

"Who would have thought? The environment I could never find has been created right here. I truly don't know what to say—is it luck, or perhaps a misfortune of the highest order?"

The mana being drawn from his body did not belong to Zig; he was born almost entirely insulated from mana and had no capacity to store it. The mana being extracted actually belonged to the Nameless Magic Armor. The reason for his smile was that this realm’s unique environment was exactly what those scholars studying the origin of mana had dreamed of.

To find the cause of mana’s generation, one had to observe the phenomenon of its birth. This was impossible in the outside world because the interference was too extreme. Mana was, in every sense, ubiquitous; the entire world was saturated with this energy. It was even difficult to say if there was any place in the dissociation layers where it did not exist.

The so-called "lack of mana" or "mana prohibition" in everyday life was merely a state where mana was too scarce to be absorbed and utilized by mages. In reality, the mana was always there; it was only a matter of quantity.

Even things like Anti-Magic Stones, silence arrays, or witchcraft only served to prevent mana from manifesting its effects in the ways it normally would to influence the material world. That was all. The mana remained.

The most typical example was the wonder known as the "Silent Forest," which was the closest thing to the concept of "mana prohibition" that Zig had ever encountered.

But even its "prohibition" was clearly described as "making the effects produced by mana disappear," not "making the mana itself disappear." Even the realization of the "Destroyer Meteor" utilized this very property of the Silent Forest.

Above the Sky Mechanical City, the greatest obstacle hindering Zig and the other scholars of the Truth Supervisory Council from investigating the origin of mana was that mana was everywhere.

They could never distinguish whether their actions had caused mana to be born, or if their actions had merely caused mana to concentrate, riot, or undergo a change in properties. An environment devoid of mana was, for them, an impossibility in the outside world.

But just now, having resolved to do this, Zig no longer feared the depletion of his resources. Using his existing alchemical equipment and his own senses, he confirmed that there was no mana in this world. Even if there was a trace so small it could not be observed, it was as close to a mana-free environment as one could get.

Zig transmitted a soothing emotion to the Nameless Magic Armor attached to his body and peeled it away. The armor, which was connected to his very flesh and blood, left behind many wounds even as it complied.

He needed to eliminate all interference and make the most of this environment. The phenomenon of "mana birth" had finally become something observable here.

In an environment without mana, with no mana within his own body, and despite the pressing time, the crude equipment, and the lack of peers to discuss with, this place had become the perfect site for Zig to find and create a mana singularity.

...

"Wang Yu is still alive. Zig should be with him."

Within the Undead Plane, Aerilian, having taken on a human form, received the answer from the tall lady before her.

Before heading to the Hell Plane, Aerilian could not set aside her worries for Zig and Noelle. After all, the primary reasons for traveling to the Dragon Island, killing the Dragon God, and eradicating the Dragon-Worship Cult had been for their sake.

Having realized that the problem did not lie in the act of worshipping deities, Aerilian had completely shed her aversion to the practice. Since the mark she had left could not locate Zig and Noelle, she had considered another potential lead after some thought: the Church of Night.

When Aerilian recited her prayer, the Lady of Night, who had long kept an eye on her, quickly established a connection and manifested before her.

Aerilian first informed the Lady of Night about the abyssal creature, then asked for news of Zig and Wang Yu. The Lady of Night produced the wonder known as the "Blood Mark" and displayed the direction it indicated to Aerilian.

The Blood Mark clearly pointed toward a specific location: the direction of the Endless Sea. This coincided with the position where Aerilian had first discovered their disappearance. There was only one problem: the Blood Mark indicated a direction regardless of whether the target was alive or dead. If they had died there, the Blood Mark would still provide the same indication.

To this, the Lady of Night stated that Wang Yu was definitely not dead, though She, too, could not make contact with them.

Aerilian felt a sense of disappointment. If the power of a deity like the Lady of Night could not find Zig and Noelle, what could they have possibly encountered?

"I will find them."

Aerilian received the promise from the Lady of Night. Her gaze turned toward a certain direction. Since the disappearance of the Mermaid fleet and their Archbishop, the Church of Night in that region had already begun to mobilize, and She Herself was already preparing to descend with Her power at any moment.

Furthermore, as soon as Aerilian had informed the Lady of Night of the abyssal creature, the news had already begun to spread down through the layers of the Church of Night, reaching almost every believer.

The Church of Night was not a monolith; in fact, it could hardly be called an organization at all. Its structure was so loose that it barely existed. Most believers, just as Aerilian had suspected, did not believe the news.

But there were many capable individuals within the Church of Night. Not to mention those who knew Wang Yu, the news had already reached the Sky Mechanical City and the city’s "Machine Soul," Astartes.

As the tides churned, a multitude of existences had already begun to take action.