Chapter 70. Spoils (2)
In truth—
I had never intended to consume Avarus through Predation [S+].
Unlike the Lycanthrope, Commander of the Beast Legion, Avarus had ultimately been “human”.
He had merely been a human who was also a deranged Alchemist. His grotesquely distorted flesh had only been the result of Alchemy.
It had not mutated because of any “Genetic Ability”.
Therefore, there should have been no ability for me to acquire by consuming Avarus through Predation [S+].
It would only have left me feeling disgusted.
However, the current Avarus was different.
Unlike in my previous life, he had consumed the “Elixir of Infinity”.
Avarus had confessed that the Elixir of Infinity had been created using the authority of the Monarch of the Abyss as its raw material.
When Avarus consumed it, the authority of infinity was absorbed directly into him.
Using that authority, Avarus had gained the ability to deploy the absurd Barrier known as the Infinite Labyrinth.
In that case—what if I consumed Avarus’s heart through Predation [S+]?
Could I also acquire that ability?
Just as I had consumed the Genetic Factor of the Monarch of Beasts from the Lycanthrope through Predation [S+], could I consume an authority belonging to the Monarch of the Abyss from Avarus?
That was why I had consumed Avarus through Predation [S+].
Then a message containing a strange name—not Avarus—appeared before me.
Z’thulonak.
It was a strange name.
Its naming convention was not used by any kingdom on the continent.
In other words, I had never heard it before.
Just as expectation and curiosity filled me regarding the ability I would acquire—
[la’nak fhtagn w’nashack]
A voice suddenly whispered into my ear.
◆You have consumed the Genetic Factor of the entity known as “Z’thulonak”!
[Zhai, ng’gha tharan doey ’yog-Sath]
It was a Side Effect of Predation [S+].
However, this madness took a different form than usual.
I could not comprehend its meaning at all.
Every color and sound in the world became distorted.
Upon confronting a presence from somewhere far beyond, my mind was instantly corrupted.
However—
◆Player’s Will [EX] resists An Unknowable Terror Beyond Explanation!
[Azh ia’nak fhtagn w’nashak.]
My rationality slowly but steadily returned.
I realized that this was the voice of the Monarch of the Abyss.
That meant—the ability I was currently consuming through Predation [S+] was an authority belonging to the Monarch of the Abyss.
It was a power on another level entirely—something I would never have dared covet in my previous life.
As that power seeped into my body—
Hissssss—!
[Zhai’oth nog n’gha vulgtm ehye.]
However, the whispers continued.
[Nglui l’ ah nafh Yog-shoggoth.]
They surged toward me continuously like endless waves.
[wgah’nagl, r’luhhor shoggoth fhtagn.]
【Even so, the reason people call me the Hero is probably because I killed a god.】
I could understand neither their meaning nor intent.
However, those whispers carried messages of fear, despair, and madness.
Merely hearing them shook my mind.
A strange vision unfolded before me and covered my reality.
The whispers grew even more violent.
Fear bound me like tentacles extending from the abyss.
My vision became completely distorted. A dull pulsation echoed around me. It felt as though coarse sand were scraping across my skin.
Bitter, revolting droplets touched my tongue.
Everything seemed to twist. The reality perceived by my Five Senses became warped. The outline of the world collapsed.
God.
An infinite being possessing Omniscience and Omnipotence.
However, God had not been benevolent toward humanity.
He desired only chaos and destruction.
Therefore, one could dare call him a devil.
I survived countless encounters with death.
Then, at long last, I cut God down.
God disappeared.
The people rejoiced.
Peace returned.
However—a question occurred to me.
Why?
How had God fallen by my hand?
God’s power was “infinite”.
Omniscience—the ability to know everything.
Omnipotence—the ability to do anything.
How could an infinite being beyond imagination and comprehension be killed by a finite being like me?
Death.
Did that concept surpass God’s infinite power?
Was it even possible to surpass infinity?
Infinite.
Infinity was infinity.
It was not merely something enormous or without limits, but a state that continued expanding without end.
Therefore, the sizes of one infinity and another should always be identical.
Suppose an [Infinite Tavern] possessed an infinite number of tables.
What would happen if an infinite number of customers visited that [Infinite Tavern]?
Could the [Infinite Tavern] accommodate infinitely many customers?
Yes.
That was because the number of tables was “infinite”.
Then suppose the number of infinite tables was reduced by half.
Could the [Infinite Tavern] still accommodate infinitely many customers?
Yes.
Even after halving an infinite number of tables, the number remaining was still “infinite”.
Then suppose the number of tables was reduced to one-tenth.
Could the [Infinite Tavern] still accommodate infinitely many customers?
Yes.
That was because the number of tables was still “infinite”.
The same would apply if the number of tables were reduced to one-thousandth.
Even if reduced to one-ten-thousandth, it would remain infinite.
Continuing further, even if the number of tables were reduced by factors of 10⁸, 10¹², 10¹⁶, 10²⁰, 10²⁴, 10²⁸, 10³², 10³⁶, 10⁴⁰, 10⁴⁴, or 10⁴⁸, the tables would remain infinite.
That was because no matter what number was used to reduce an infinite number of tables, the result would ultimately remain “infinite”.
That was the nature of infinity.
If something was infinite, its size necessarily had to be infinite.
……
Therefore, if Death was infinite, then God and Death—those two infinities should have been equal in size.
However, the result had been different.
The infinity of Death had surpassed the infinity of God.
The infinity belonging to the concept of Death had covered the infinity belonging to the existence known as God.
The infinity of Death had been….greater.
In that case—could different endlessly expanding infinities still possess greater and lesser sizes?
I did not believe it.
I could not believe it.
Amazingly, however—I managed to prove that comparing the sizes of infinities was possible.
The proof was simple.
Infinite + Infinite = Infinite.
Then what was “Infinite − Infinite”?
If every infinity necessarily possessed the same size, the answer should have been “zero”.
However, that was not the case. The result was Indeterminate.
In other words, it was “unknown”.
When subtracting two infinities, the result changed according to the nature of each infinity.
In other words—different infinities existed. An infinity greater than infinity existed.
....Another question occurred to me.
During my battle against God, I experienced a distortion of time.
A single day passed like several years.
A single moment felt like eternity.
Within that distorted time, was the conclusion I had reached truly the end?
Or was it merely part of an infinitely repeating Cycle?
Infinite and infinite.
If the sizes of two endlessly expanding infinities could be compared, what was the greatest and most absolute infinity?
One thing was certain.
The infinity of the God who had fallen by my hand was not the Ultimate Infinity.
Furthermore, if comparing the sizes of infinities was possible—perhaps that meant some infinities could be “counted”.
But how could infinity be counted?
Infinity was not a number.
It was merely a state of endless expansion.
I wanted to know.
I wanted to discover the end of the concept known as infinity.
I wanted to find the destination existing within a concept that had no end.
I wanted to understand that contradiction. I wanted to discover the truth of this world.
* * *
Adrian suddenly began chewing and swallowing the mass of flesh.
Of course, the mass of flesh was literally a monster. Nevertheless, it had once been the human known as Avarus.
“......!!”
Kai’s face turned deathly pale with utter revulsion. The trust he had briefly attempted to place in Adrian instantly crumbled.
Chew, chew.
Wouldn’t it have been stranger if it hadn’t?
How could anyone even consider eating that grotesque mass of flesh?
Adrian no longer looked like a fellow human.
However, perhaps Kai had developed some reluctant attachment to him.
Perhaps he had simply grown accustomed to it. Or perhaps Kai had gone insane as well.
“He has always been like that.”
Kai gradually began accepting it with the explanation that this was simply who Adrian was.
Adrian swiftly chewed and swallowed every last piece of flesh.
Even though he had eaten continuously for 241 days without rest, how could all of it possibly fit inside his stomach?
Just as Kai swallowed that question—
“Urgh!”
Adrian suddenly staggered.
Apparently, it tasted exceptionally horrible.
Inside the Infinite Labyrinth, he had effortlessly eaten tentacles that tasted like “moldy refuse” and juices resembling “broth brewed from a foul-smelling swamp”.
“Urrrgh...!”
How terrible did this have to taste for Adrian to grimace like that?
Just as Kai wondered—
Adrian collapsed to his knees.
“Haa...! Haa...!”
Adrian began breathing heavily.
At some point, his face had turned pale. His eyes were wide with fear.
That was not the expression of someone suffering because of an unpleasant flavor.
It was as though some invisible terror were constricting Adrian’s mind.
“Lord Adrian?”
Kai called out to him, but there was no answer.
“Are you all right?”
Kai immediately approached Adrian. Then he saw Adrian’s eyes being consumed by purple.
Violet energy spread outward from their centers.
It completely covered Adrian’s eyes, which radiated a deep, cold energy resembling an infinite Void and a bottomless abyss.
Adrian was gradually losing consciousness.
It resembled the moment the strange patterns had consumed him inside the Infinite Labyrinth.
....No, this was something far worse.
“Come to your senses!”
Kai grabbed Adrian’s body and shook him violently, but it was useless.
Adrian’s breathing grew increasingly shallow.
Then, as though the final breath had been severed—it stopped.
Adrian’s eyes remained open, but no trace of life remained within them. The hands clutching his head came loose and fell lifelessly to the floor.
His body collapsed as though every tendon holding it together had been severed.
He fell upon the cold floor.
....
Kai’s heart sank.
It had happened far too suddenly.
His mind could not keep up with the situation.
How much time passed?
He did not know. All color had drained from Kai’s face. Only his blue eyes continued trembling from side to side.
Then—
“Gasp...!!”
Adrian inhaled sharply and began flailing like a fish pulled onto dry land.
* * *
◆Player’s Will [EX] resists An Unknowable Terror Beyond Explanation!
A translucent message flashed before my eyes.
At the same moment, my mind was abruptly pulled from the depths of the abyss that had consumed it.
“Gasp...!!”
Only then did my obstructed airway open, allowing me to breathe again. The darkness filling my vision withdrew as though it had been torn apart.
The vision covering my reality receded like a wave.
The madness resembling an abyssal sea vanished in an instant.
However, the fear, despair, and endless chaos that had torn through my mind prevented me from immediately regaining my senses.
“Cough...!”
Metallic blood forced its way past my lips.
An endless feeling of powerlessness left me unable to gather any strength.
I gasped for breath and barely managed to steady myself.
Then—
◆You have acquired the Conceptual Skill “Infinite [M]”!
The translucent message that appeared before me immediately jolted my mind awake.
Peak chapter dayum He loves maths