ROAR!!! After Ignorant Despair devoured Albert's arm like a melting ice cream, it let out another loud cry. It thus announced its next move.
It shot forward, directly at Albert, and swung its strange tail at him. Several snake heads appeared from the tail, baring their fangs and threatening to bite Albert defenselessly.
Albert immediately raised his sword, discharged his remaining mana, and desperately fended off the snake heads.
He struck off the head of the first snake and barely deflected two more.
But then, due to his severed arm, he lost his balance and staggered back a little. At the same moment, he managed to cut off another snake head, but then another sank its fangs into his shoulder.
"Argh~!" He groaned in shock and pain. With no arm left to use, he had no choice—he simply bit into the snake's head himself and tore it off his shoulder like a raging beast.
This revealed a deep bite wound and a strange violet liquid at his shoulder. He quickly understood what was happening:
Poison.
Through the bite, the snake had injected poison into his body.
The violet poison quickly spread through his body, becoming clearly visible. It first seized his arm, turning the veins violet, then spread to the rest of his body.
"Urgh~"
Albert spat blood and rammed his sword into the ground to support himself.
But he had no time to be distracted, for his enemy still stood right before him. And so Ignorant Despair kicked him in the abdomen with its hooves and hurled him away.
Albert spat blood mid-flight and clutched his belly in agony. With a crash he slammed into the ruins of the mansion.
ROAR! Ignorant Despair once again let out a thunderous roar, as if to announce its victory and its coming triumphant destruction of the Empire.
Cough! Cough! Albert rose coughing from the rubble and looked completely battered. "Urgh~ Damn it!" he muttered.
Not only was his left arm missing, his body was also filled with unknown poison that weakened him by the second. On top of that, from the monster's kick, his ribs had broken and some of his entrails ruptured—he was little more than half-dead.
Albert no longer had any means of resisting. Even the smallest movements hurt unbearably and made him suffer hellish agony. He could barely stand, let alone walk or fight.
Albert's desperate gaze fell upon Ignorant Despair, who observed him with a mocking grin and did not bear a single scratch on its body.
From beginning to end, he had not managed to inflict even the slightest damage on his opponent.
He knew the situation was hopeless. But that it was this desperate…
"Hah!" He let out a dry laugh. "That's why … that name…!"
Just as Ignorant Despair was about to take a step forward to end the fight once and for all, its body suddenly froze, as if only time around it had stopped.
At the same time, a message appeared that should have filled Albert with hope:
["Throne Who Loves Peace" cannot bear this sight and calls for a vote…!]
[A multitude of constellations is surprised by this turn of events.]
Thus, it seemed the tide was turning, only through the intervention of a constellation.
By showing her discontent at letting the scenario end this way, "Throne Who Loves Peace," also known as the Archangel of Love and Peace, Silvia, triggered the system's Hero Function.
[Hero Function begins with the vote to save the human realm: "Empire," and the protagonist of the special scenario: "Albert van Goldberg"…]
The Hero Function was a special system function that allowed constellations, among other things, to intervene directly in the mortal worlds with their causality.
With this function, they could request special scenarios or directly interfere in an ongoing scenario by paying with their causality. Thus, a vote would be initiated in which all constellations could participate, and whose outcome determined the continuation of the scenario.
Albert's eyes widened and he stared in despair and with a last shred of hope at the following messages:
[End of the vote…]
[Final result: Approvals: 4. Rejections: 7. Abstentions: 3.]
The final result of the vote also showed how many constellations were interested in this world, and especially in Albert and the current scenario.
But the outcome was not at all as he had hoped.
["Throne Who Loves Peace" turns away in disappointment.]
The vote ended abruptly. Although there were constellations who abstained, fewer showed the will to intervene in the scenario and save Albert as well as the Empire from their downfall.
Thus Silvia could do nothing more to help him.
But she had already tried more than necessary. Several times she had shown her disapproval of the things Albert had done, yet still tried to save him. Though in this case it was likely the lives of the innocents she truly wished to preserve.
At last, Ignorant Despair began to move again. It took a step forward, opened its boar maw wide, and lunged at Albert.
Albert's vision darkened as the monstrosity descended upon him.
Aha~ so this is it… Just before his life ended, his sight blurred and he beheld for the last time a familiar scene.
In the middle of a dark castle, illuminated only by the light of the red sun, sat an unrecognizable figure on a great throne, transcending the mortal.
["Demon Who Fosters Decay" grins at you.]
Albert's eyes widened as he saw the message and heard the familiar, frightening voice echo in his head.
"You have been an amusing pastime, foolish human … we shall meet again in Hell!" mocked Orias from his throne.
Ah! At last Albert recognized the origin of his tragedy.
He had not always been so obsessed with power, willing to do anything to obtain strength.
It all began when he first read that familiar message. And all this time he thought he was using that demon to achieve his goals, but in reality, he had only been used for the demon's amusement.
His vision was swallowed by darkness, and the last thing Albert saw was a translucent blue message.
[The special scenario: "Save the Empire" has failed. Albert van Goldberg has died, and the Empire stands at the brink of downfall.]
Outside the World Tree, in a completely empty space amidst the galaxy.
Asher floated in the void.
After a while of relaxation, he had finally decided to return to creating.
The World Tree Project was in full swing, and the World Tree grew day by day. Even though no new worlds had yet emerged, the tree grew, albeit slowly, and the Immortal World, the core world of the tree, continued to steadily expand.
There were only a few things left to add before the project would be completed. But these things could not be added at the present time, so Asher turned to something else.
He had decided to pursue an independent project that had nothing directly to do with the expansion or further development of his galaxy.
The independent space he now intended to create was meant for his own pleasure and thirst for knowledge. This space would become a place where the knowledge of his galaxy was collected and preserved. It would become his place of inspiration and learning.
Even if one might not notice it at first glance, Asher valued knowledge and intelligence greatly. Even in his previous life on Earth, he had the hobby of reading books and enjoyed spending time quietly with one.
Although this space was meant for his own interests, it would surely become a help to the people of his galaxy in the future.
He began creating a vast interior space. He also added to it the laws: Expansion, Omnipresence, and Nullification of Force.
The space was quickly replaced with shining, lacquered wood. Next, he erected bookshelves that filled the entire space and formed several floors. There was also an area with long tables and chairs, and the space was lit by broad lamps hanging from the ceiling.
He also created a relaxation area, with European armchairs with backrests, and at the end finally an entrance door and a reception area.
Thus the construction of the space was completed rather quickly. But as Asher looked over it, something still seemed missing…
"Ah! I know."
Asher waved his hand, and in places such as the relaxation area, round windows appeared on the walls, offering views of sceneries from the Immortal World—such as waterfalls, vast forests, and other enchanting areas. It was a breathtaking sight and truly relaxing. There were even scenes of mystical beasts appearing and dragons flying across the sky and diving into the sea of clouds.
Thus the Hall of Knowledge was born.
Good. His gaze fell on the reception area. "Now, only a caretaker to look after the hall in my absence."
He opened the World Shop and began designing a figure who would serve as caretaker of the hall and take care of everything.
The caretaker was to look like a respectable middle-aged gentleman, both wise and kind-hearted. He had shoulder-length gray-white hair, a full beard, and wore a white-and-black robe with patterns of trees and branches and a lotus on the chest. On closer look, his eyes appeared like a galaxy, with stars and worlds within them.
Naturally, he also gave him special abilities and prepared fitting fables. But this time he also wanted to try granting him the power over certain laws of reality.
The laws Asher intended to bestow upon him were: Time, Space, Creation, Literature, and Art—to make him a fitting caretaker of the library, someone who also loved to write and was interested in all kinds of art and knowledge.
Just from this alone, Asher knew the man would become a powerful being on constellation-level.
Aside from his powers and appearance, he was to be a lover of literature and art, who also showed interest in writing. He should become a loyal and righteous scholar…
After the design was complete, Asher began the creation.
The creation progressed quickly, and the designed man appeared before him as desired. But just as the process of creation was finishing and the caretaker's form appeared before him, Asher felt a strange sensation and even a headache.
It was the first time since Asher had become a Creator God that he had truly felt pain—though nothing more than a pinch, yet still.
He held his head as if suffering from a migraine. "What is this?"
"Master, are you well?" asked the caretaker of the Hall of Knowledge in concern.
Asher looked up at him and shook off the pain. But he could not shake the feeling that it was connected to the creation of this person.
"Yes, everything is fine," he replied indifferently, and did not forget to name his creation.
"I shall give you the name Vishnu."
"From now on, you will be the caretaker of the Hall of Knowledge. Feel free to write books yourself and use the system to connect with other worlds. In the near future, humans and other beings will also come here. Please help them, if necessary, to find their way, and make sure they do not cause trouble."
After the short introduction, Vishnu of course agreed and bowed respectfully to his creator.
Asher, meanwhile, had something urgent to attend to, and quickly bid farewell, dismissing Vishnu to his work.
He instantly appeared in the Creator Central to ask Renas about the sudden headaches.
After quickly telling him of the situation and his confusion, Renas immediately responded and pointed something out:
"Master, before I answer you, I must ask: have you already checked your Faith Points and the current strength of the person named Vishnu?"
Asher furrowed his brow in slight confusion. What's this, why does he want to know that, what could that possibly have to do with my pain?
But when he followed Renas' suspicion and checked his Faith Points, he was shocked.
Asher's current Faith Points had dropped to below four million. The current Faith Points limit, which had previously been ten million, had instead risen to one hundred million, equivalent to a rank advancement.
Simply put, he had now attained the qualifications for another rank up.
*
*
***
Thank you for ten Powerstones, here is a Bonus Chapter.
By the way, I've created a Discord server where you can get updates about my work, the God of Doom creates his world, chat, and give me tips or ideas for the story and characters.
https://discord.gg/rJhWQj8u