Chapter 1: 0 – Prologue: A happy accident

Year 1251 of the Ederian calendar

In a vast expanse of grass where few had gone to, a young-looking black-haired, gray-eyed man with vertical black pupils stood with his arms crossed. Slowly closing his eyes, he basked himself in the glory that was the eye of the great Graydemere storm. But the man himself – the one who created this storm – didn’t know of that name since he was so out of touch with civilization. After feeling the high winds brushing against his skin for a few more seconds, he slowly opened his eyes again and stared at the figure standing a few hundred feet away from him.

The figure – a silver-haired woman with similarly gray eyes – stared back at him with a smile. The scaly gray wings that were protruding out of her back wrapped around her body as if protecting her from the wind. She wagged her similarly scaly and gray tail in excitement as if expecting something from the man. 

Of course, the man knew what she was expecting. However, he was still reluctant to fulfill her desires.

“Glacia…” Said the man as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “…You know that I can’t do this. I don’t want to choose between getting beaten up by Syl and being nagged at by Lyra.”

“Nn?” The woman tilted her head in confusion. “Isn’t it obvious? Of course the second option would be better! Although auntie Lyra is annoying, it isn’t as if you’re married to her or anything. So really, it’s between getting beaten up every day by mommy or being annoyed for just a few hours.”

“I guess you’re right…”

“Nn! Aren’t I smart, daddy?”

“Yes, yes. You’re smart, intelligent, whatever. Let’s just get it over with.”

Nodding, the woman – Glacia – instantly disappeared from her spot and reappeared before the man. She then extended her right hand out to the man, which he grabbed with a sigh. Smiling, Glacia muttered.

[Spirit realm]

A crack in space was torn open right in front of them. Although the man could see lush trees and meadows on the other side of the rift, he didn’t dare to step through it. Even someone who was at the epitome of strength like him would disintegrate instantly as soon as he entered it.

‘Fuck… why did the previous Spirit queen impose such a ridiculous restriction? No, why isn’t the current Spirit queen doing anything about it?’ The man thought as his eyes narrowed at Glacia. ‘D- Does my own daughter not want me to visit her that much?’

However, he soon put such horrifying thoughts aside and gazed into the rift again. But… he started having second thoughts.

“G- Glacia, can’t you just do it instead?”

“I’ve already abandoned my precious position of being the Spirit queen temporarily just to help you out, and now you want me to do all the work?” Glacia narrowed her eyes. “But even if I wanted to do it myself, I can’t. It isn’t as if we’re reviving it, you know? Too much time has passed for that. We’re just patching its soul together and giving it a new body. It won’t be the same but at least you can show your sincerity and regret to mommy that way.”

“But I still think th–“

“No but’s,” Glacia squeezed the man’s hand and interrupted him. “Tell me, who’s the one that accidentally killed mommy’s pet?”

“Me…”

“And who’s the one who called me for help?”

“Me…”

“That’s right! Now just follow me. This is your first time so I’ll guide you carefully!”

“Alright, fine…” The man sighed. Then, he glared at the rift before him with determination and muttered.

[Splice]: Overclock

The world around him turned silent. Gusts of wind blew straight right through him without even realizing that they were moving. In the world of his Unique Time spell, he was intangible, and only he could have awareness of what was transpiring. Well, that would have been the case if it wasn’t for the fact that he had let Glacia into his spell.

“Woah!” Glacia exclaimed with sparkly eyes. “I haven’t experienced this spell for how long, a few hundred years? It’s still cool whenever I see it!”

“Yeah yeah, just don’t touch anything and follow me.” The man sighed as he took a step into the rift.

The restriction that was supposed to tear him to shreds didn’t seem to have activated, as just like the winds, it didn’t realize that the man had passed through the rift.

Now on the other side, the man deactivated his spell and heaved a sigh of relief. “I think I did pretty good this time. I didn’t interfere with anyone’s Fate–“

“You’re wrong, daddy,” chuckled Glacia as she pointed toward another rift that was forming near them. “You’ve just messed with that soul’s Fate. Now it’s coming back to the Mortal realm.”

“Fuck…” The man buried his face in his hands and let out a small curse. “…Let’s just hope that it will merely become a ghost that haunts an old house or something. I don’t even want to imagine how much Lyra will nag me if it interfered with the ‘entertainment’ of the Gods.”

***

{Tower of prophecy}

Inside the Tower of prophecy located in the Neutral zone, a woman in dark gray robes was holding a book in her hands while lecturing similarly dressed people who were sitting in rows of wooden chairs before her

“…and that’s why it has been scientifically proven that every living being has two halves, the soul and the body. Now, I don’t want to hear anyone telling me that one is more important than the other, because it isn’t. In the eyes of Gods, they both weigh the same. You need both to make a living being whole. So it’s almost like 0.5 + 0.5 = 1, or two perfect halves of an apple being stuck together makes– “

“Hermit Janice!” The door to the lecture room was suddenly swung open, and in came a man wearing a fancy suit and a top hat shouting at the top of his lungs.

The woman – Janice – frowned as she closed the book and slammed it on the podium near her.

“Yes, Recluse Peter? You’d better have a good reason for interrupting my new recruits training lecture.”

Fixing his top hat, Peter stuttered. “D- Don’t worry, Hermit. I do have a good reason. The Soothsayer has just initiated an urgent meeting!”

Janice’s face turned serious at this. With hastened steps, she exited the room, but not before leaving some final words for the new trainees whom she was giving the lecture. “You’re not free to go. Recluse Peter will be your new lecturer.”

“But Janice! Soul-study is not my major! Even if your ranking in the Tower is Hermit, you–“

“Don’t care. Make sure you finish at least half of the book when I get back.” Janice slammed the door shut and made her way toward the nearest elevator with rushed steps.

Arriving before the elevator, Janice waited for it to come down. As she heard the familiar sound of steam being released, she muttered. “How lucky… looks like I don’t have to wait for long.”

And she was right. After only a few seconds, the door opened and she could see the elevator's interior; it had walls that were filled with pipes with hot water running through them.

“Right, I have to make sure I don’t touch these pipes. Last time I did, I got a nasty burn.”

After muttering those words to herself, Janice got into the middle of the elevator, away from the steaming hot pipes, and pressed the button to go to the highest floor – floor 30.

As she heard a dinging sound, the elevator door opened. Exiting it, she walked through the hallways until she got to a gigantic wooden door.

“Here it is…” She muttered.

Beyond here was the meeting room filled with Hermits like her and of course, the Soothsayer herself.

“What is it going to be this time, bad news or good news?”

There was the only way to find out, and that was to attend the meeting. As such, she opened the door and marched confidently into the room. Just as she had expected, all the seats around the round table of the room were filled with Hermits. Ignoring the stares everyone was giving her, she made her way to the last empty seat.

‘Looks like I’m the last one here... Well, that explains the stares.’

But such things couldn’t trouble her any further as everyone’s gazes, even Janice’s, were directed toward a soft yet authoritative voice.

“Now that all Hermits are here, let us begin the meeting.”

The owner of the voice was someone everyone in this room was familiar with. And she was, of course, the Soothsayer. Although she looked like an 8-year-old girl with black hair and eyes, no one actually knew what her actual age was. But age really didn’t matter if you could read the Stone of oracles, Janice thought.

Pausing her thoughts there, Janice focused on the meeting again.

“I’ll be direct.” Spoke the Soothsayer as she fiddled with her fingers in nervousness. “The content of the Stone of oracles changed.”

-“WHAT!?”

-“HOW?!”

-“H- Have the Gods decided to abandon us!?”

Amidst the shouting and stuttering Hermits, only Janice could keep her calm.

‘This is stupid… freaking out like this won’t do anyone any good.’

As such, she shouted at the top of her lungs. “ORDER!”

The Hermits could only keep their mouths shut upon hearing Janice’s authoritative voice.

The Soothsayer smiled at Janice, “Thanks, Janice.” She then spoke up again with a soothing tone. “Hermits, let’s not panic just yet. I haven’t even told you the changed contents, have I?”

You are reading story Conqueror of the Abyss at novel35.com

Seeing that everyone was more compliant now, the Soothsayer continued.

“I will read you the abridged version. Two Heroes, one from a famed family, the other a kind child who has a normal, if not bland life. However, disaster will befall these two in the year 1251 of the Ederian calendar. One will repel the disaster, but the other will lose everything he or she has to it.

Fate will bring these two together. They will shake the foundation of the world to its core and be the first to conquer the Abyss. Then, they will live happily ever after.”

“Soothsayer…” Janice suddenly spoke up. “…Isn’t that basically the prophecy we knew?”

“That’s right,” The Soothsayer sighed. “That’s the problem. The Gods have changed the prophecy in a way that made it… extremely vague. The texts that detailed how they will conquer the Abyss and live happily ever after were… erased. Gone without a trace.”

“…”

“And that’s not even the weirdest part. Instead of 2 Heroes, the Stone of oracles now reads ‘2.5 Heroes’.”

-“Wh- What? 2.5? What’s that supposed to mean!?” A Hermit shouted in confusion.

“That’s what I want to know too…” The Soothsayer’s voice trailed off.

Before the Hermits could make a mess in panic like before, Janice hurriedly asked.

“Soothsayer, what should we do?”

“What else can we do?” The Soothsayer sighed. “Announce the changes to every nation. Advise them to prepare their military forces instead of hoping to rely on the Heroes. Only the Gods can– no, only we can save ourselves now.”

***

{Eye of the great Graydemere storm}

“Ah, we’re back sooner than I expected.” Glacia hummed as she glanced at the white snake that the man was holding in his hands.

“Good to know…” Sighed the man as he put the snake on top of his own head.

Before he could do anything else, however, a bright red light suddenly descended upon the area before him. However, he wasn’t scared or nervous upon seeing the light. He was just… annoyed.

“Here we go again…”

|THEODORE! WHAT DID YOU DO!?| A loud voice came from inside the bright light. Before long, the pillar of light shrank and the man – Theodore – could see a woman in a gray suit with similarly gray hair and molten-red eyes glaring at him.

“It’s nothing, Lyra. I just went to the Spirit realm to do some father-daughter bonding.” Answered Theodore as he pulled Glacia into his embrace.

Glacia giggled upon hearing this. “That’s right. We’re just making a snake that spits in the face of the mighty rules of life that you Gods made. A typical day out for a father and a daughter.”

|Glacia, don’t get involved in this. I’m talking to your father.|

With a snap of Lyra’s fingers, tendrils made of gray ashes protruded from the ground and wrapped themselves around Glacia’s ankles. They then dragged Glacia away from Theodore.

“Noooo!” Glacia faked a scream as she was dragged on the ground. “Daddy, help me!”

Since he knew that his daughter was very obviously faking it, Theodore promptly ignored her and turned his attention toward Lyra again.

“Look, I’m sorry for using my Time magic and interfering with Fate again but I did it to avoid getting beaten up by Syl! And besides, no harm was done. All I did was send a soul back to the Mortal realm.”

Hearing this, Lyra muttered to herself, |Come on Lyra, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.|

After calming down, she sighed, |Look, the ‘inconsequential’ soul that you sent to the Mortal realm messed with one of the Heroes!|

“Heroes?” Theodore looked at her in disbelief. “You Gods are still playing that game? I thought you all grew bored of it since Arthur?”

|Yes, that’s right. We grew bored of it,| Lyra spoke with her eyes narrowed. |That was until the Council voted to have a Hero again and make another Hero whose role is a mere accessory to the original Hero, or like you call it, 'a harem member'. Apparently, they deemed it to be more interesting to have a guy whose power is getting everything handed to him by the Gods.|

“But didn’t they say that they were satisfied with the novels I sent them just a few hundred years ago?”

|That’s the problem! They’re so obsessed with your novels that they want to recreate them in this world!|

“Well fuck…”

Sighing once more, Lyra promptly turned around and crossed her arms.

|Hmph! I’m not going to waste time with you anymore. Now I have to go and appease the 3 Sisters for something you did.|

And with those words, Lyra disappeared in yet another pillar of light.

…

After Lyra was gone, Theodore picked Glacia up and went back to his home. As he entered his house, he saw his wife, Sylvia, or the name he preferred to call her by, Syl, waiting for him.

“Darling, where did you go?” Spoke Syl, the woman who was sitting comfortably on the couch. She looked like she was in her 20s and had silver hair like Glacia’s and blank blue eyes. Similar to Glacia, she also had wings. However, her wings were feathery and white. Her tail, which was scaly and had the color of blue and white, drooped down as she frowned.

In response to his wife's question, Theodore slightly shifted his body to the side to let Glacia get through.

Glacia ran into the house and hugged Syl.

Syl, however, was confused. “Huh, who’s this? Why are you hugging me?”

“It’s me, mommy!”

“Sweetie!” Syl widened her eyes in surprise. “You’re back to visit us? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Actually, I’m not here to visit you guys. I’m just helping daddy with something.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Syl said as she caressed Glacia’s hair. “Just you showing up is enough. But just remember to shout as soon as you see me next time. You know that I can’t see anything.”

“Okay mommy,” Glacia giggled. “By the way, daddy wants to tell you something.”

As if on cue, Theodore approached them and spoke with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“H- Hey, darling, I have to confess to something.”

“…?”

“Y- You know how you haven’t seen- uh I mean sensed Leil in the past few days?”

“Yes…?”

“Well… that’s because I accidentally killed it.”

“…”

“B- But don’t worry! I risked interfering with Fate and brought Leil back! W- Well, not exactly Leil, but its patched soul with a similar body!”

Hearing this, Syl broke her hug with Glacia and slowly walked toward Theodore. Now in front of him, she gave him a quick kiss.

“I’m grateful that you tried to right your wrong–“

Theodore heaved a sigh of relief. However, it seemed that he had celebrated too early.

“–But you still killed the pet that Serolris gave me.” Continued Syl as she cracked her knuckles.

“H- Hey darling, no need to get violent–“

But his sentence was interrupted by Syl.

“No need to worry. Just a few hundred punches will suffice.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”