Chapter 120

Undercurrent

Splattered all over with divine blood and inexplicably cursed by the Chief Arbiter, Lucy wiped the bloodstains off and looked over the chaotic scene on the ground.

She couldn’t discern what method had been used to clean up the mess, but the ability to remotely obliterate a quasi-deity made it clear that the mastermind lurking behind the scenes was not to be underestimated.

“Any idea what happened?” she asked the soul-light orb of Fenrir within her sea of consciousness.

The dog seemed to still be immersed in shock. After a long pause, it finally responded in a panic:

“No clue at all… Wait! Could something have been done to me too?!”

Clearly, the horrifying spectacle of Zoe’s explosion had left it with psychological trauma.

Lucy waved her hand dismissively.

“Relax. You weren’t even qualified to attend that so-called secret council. Why would anyone waste effort on you?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

Just as the dog let out a sigh of relief, it suddenly snapped back: “Who are you calling unqualified?! Say that again! You foolish witch! I am the only god among the Seven Gods of the Realm of Death who possesses two divine authorities…”

Before it could finish its roar, Lucy promptly severed the mental link.

The temporary buff from [Soul Devour] was fading. As absorption efficiency dropped to 40%, continued devouring would cause irreversible damage to the soul.

She had to send these souls back to the Wizard Continent as soon as possible so they could return to their bodies.

What made matters worse was that the soul power she had absorbed was like water without a source—every bit used was permanently gone.

The immediate priority was to support Master Theodosius and then retreat from the Realm of Death to report the anomalies to the Star Law Institute.

Yet, when she thought back to Zoe’s final moments, hesitation stirred within her heart.

If the mastermind behind the secret council wasn’t a god, then the only remaining possibility was—a wizard!

And if a wizard could orchestrate schemes behind the backs of these deities, their power was certainly not inferior to Master Theodosius. Most likely, it was one of the Crown Wizards.

…

When Lucy carefully approached the “Nurturing Cradle” on her Black Cat Broom, the expected battle didn’t happen.

This cradle-shaped island was eerily silent. There was no sign of the Feeder of the Dead, Hecate, nor any trace of the Riverlord, Icarus.

Only the altered terrain and faint divine contamination hinted at the great battle that had once taken place here.

As she stepped onto the dock, a massive silver cocoon suddenly emerged from the thick mist.

The oval behemoth spanned several hundred meters, its surface shimmering with a luster reminiscent of mithril.

“That’s Master Theodosius’s corpse-stitching thread!”

Lucy immediately recognized the material that composed the cocoon.

Activating [Soul Scent], Lucy quickly spotted an incredibly dense soul nestled at the center of the cocoon’s threads. Judging by its form, there was no doubt it was Master Theodosius.

‘That old bastard Theodosius is actually still alive!’ came the dog’s voice from her sea of consciousness. ‘Hmph, looks like Icarus wasn’t exactly going all out for the Sleeper after all.’

As Lucy examined the cicada cocoon wrapped in corpse-stitching threads, she asked in puzzlement, “Why do you say that?”

Fenrir replied, “Among the Seven Gods of the Realm of Death, Icarus ranks second in power. He enjoys the authority granted by the countless souls of the Styx and is just one step away from reaching the chief deity level. Even in a one-on-one fight, Theodosius might not be able to best him.”

“Icarus and the Sleeper have always been at odds. Who knows what price was paid to get him to intervene this time.”

‘But judging from the result, Icarus clearly wasn’t giving it his all.’

If the Riverlord truly wished, these sacrificed souls could have been intercepted before ever reaching the Sea of Eternal Slumber.

“Seems like it’s not just the wizard forces that have traitors—there’s plenty dragging their feet in the Realm of Death too.”

After listening to the dog’s analysis, Lucy pulled out the Sickle of Harvest.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Obviously, I’m going to cut the cocoon open.’

With that, Lucy swung the sickle. Immediately, her whole body went numb.

Despite its incredible sharpness, the Sickle of Harvest only managed to sever seven or eight threads of the corpse-stitching thread before being repelled.

Given its toughness and quantity, it was no wonder that none of Theodosius’s enemies could do anything against him.

She abandoned her brute-force approach and reached into her robes to retrieve the last strand of silver thread—Master Theodosius’s life-saving contingency he had left for her.

The silver thread trembled slightly at her fingertips, as if sensing a kindred aura.

“Let’s hope this does the trick.”

Lucy gently pressed the silver thread against the surface of the cocoon.

In an instant, countless fine silver runes spread from the point of contact, and web-like cracks appeared on the surface of the cocoon.

“It really worked!”

Lucy immediately raised the silver thread and stepped into the opening that had split open.

Soon, she found Theodosius inside the cocoon, his entire body drenched in blood.

“Master!”

“Little Lucy…” The old man’s murky pupils suddenly contracted. “Why are you here?! Where are the Feeder of the Dead and the Riverlord?”

“And what’s going on with the mental strength fluctuations coming from you?!”

Though Theodosius was extremely weak after a series of brutal battles—even forced to use his last-resort life-saving measure—his perception remained intact. He immediately sensed mental fluctuations at the level of a Star Ring Wizard.

Lucy could only give him a rough explanation of what had happened.

Theodosius’s expression shifted repeatedly, especially when he heard that the mastermind behind the secret council was likely a powerful wizard. At that, shock overtook his face.

“You must not tell a third person about this,” Theodosius said with utmost seriousness.

“For someone to subjugate the Old Three Gods, they must at least be a Crown Wizard.”

Such a figure was comparable to the Pillar Gods themselves. Across the entire Four Islands of Wizards, there were only twelve Crown Wizards.

Each and every one of them was undeniably a cornerstone of the Wizard Continent.

If even one of them had turned traitor, it could plunge the wizarding world into utter doom.

“I’ll quietly investigate this with Crown Wizards I trust once we return to the Star Law Institute. For now, act as if you know nothing.”

Chief Arbiter Zoe was already dead. Until their resurrection, Lucy didn’t need to worry about being exposed.

“So what should we do next?”

“For such a severe Outer God invasion to occur in the Principality of Kolo, the Star Law Institute should’ve dispatched wizards to investigate long ago.”

Master Theodosius frowned deeply. “The fact that no one has reached the Realm of Death yet means something else has gone terribly wrong.”

“No matter what, we must first leave the Realm of Death.”

With those words, Theodosius willed the massive cocoon of corpse-stitching thread to dissolve rapidly.

Within a few minutes, Lucy once again saw the grayish sky and the River Styx flowing not far off.

Suddenly, Lucy pointed at the submerged dock in the distance. “Was the water level of the River Styx always this high?”

The water level was rising at a visibly alarming pace, and the once-exposed riverbanks were being consumed inch by inch by the turbid current.

Countless souls of the dead bobbed and drifted within the waters.

“The River Styx is flooding!”

‘Run!’

At that moment, the dog’s terrified wail echoed through her sea of consciousness: ‘The Sea of Eternal Slumber… the Sea of Eternal Slumber’s waters are surging back upstream!’