After Bellary translated part of it using a thought process similar to Belial's, her expression became strange. Seeing this, Ham could not help but ask, "What is it?" "I still cannot really understand the information inside, maybe my translation is wrong. Ham, do you know what necessary connection there is between a Big Bang and an endless brick hauling career?"
What kind of connection could there be. Mixing concrete with number forty two Italian noodles. "Oh right, he also has a question for us. Creating an infinitely small point that can hold infinite energy and mass?"
"And this infinite means true infinity, beyond finite numbers. And is there any way to get that much energy?" As Bella said this, her face went blank, and Ham's brain also stalled a bit when hearing this requirement.
It was not that they did not understand the demand, but once the additional concept of infinity was added, it became completely different. There was no cheat engine in reality to generate energy from the Void, so where would true infinite energy come from. Even though World was damaged, the Law of Conservation of Energy still held firm, so to fulfill this request, he should not be asking Bella but rather trying to find some blue robot next door.
Even knowing that Belial was an incredible perpetual engine, they could not make infinity exist within finiteness. That was a self contradictory fallacy, because once infinity could be summarized by the finite, it had already fallen into the finite category. "And on top of that, there is the requirement of infinite compression. Does he really understand what he is trying to do?"
Two infinities stacked together was not one plus one, but infinity times infinity. At least with the Laws they knew, Ham and Bella could not possibly achieve this. "He wants to create a singularity? Why?" "Who knows. It is not like he wants to make a Big Bang or something."
They continued reading the plan. For a client as outrageous as Belial, the first two requirements could be ignored entirely, since they were simply impossible. The final requirement was much simpler, which was to cooperate with Belial to create a membrane covering the entirety of World, purely stacked from Laws and worthy of being called the foundation of a universe.
This was much easier. Of course, it was still not truly easy, but compared to the previous two outrageous demands, it was like a broken window effect. Even so, covering all of World still made their hands and feet feel weak, because doing brick work at that scale would take ages.
"Still, from this perspective, Belial is also hauling bricks. What is he hauling?" "Who knows, but it is certain that compared to our work, his is much harder."
Ham shrugged, and the two of them got busy again. With the scale of covering the entire World, it was not something that could be done overnight.
The concept of time did not exist in Abyss, where there was almost no movement of matter. It slept for so long that it could not be described, until its consciousness barely grew enough to grasp such an idea. Only after it could think did it begin to recognize time at all.
After an unknown number of such long stretches, it finally understood what desire was meant to be, but before that, it first understood pain. When it closed its eyes to desire, it realized that pain had accompanied it for an equally unknowable span of years. That degree of pain was such that even the maximum pain an ordinary person could perceive would not amount to one ten-thousandth of it.
What was the source of that pain. The answer was resentment, unwillingness, fear, and more. Before the collapse of the old days, all the filth of the soul that could only be described in words gathered together, boiled like a thick stew in Abyss for countless ages, and formed something called resentment.
What was once a soul-bound thing named Radiance was torn in half by the sound of butterfly wings through Rend. From that deep and unforgettable wound, it was born, a scar so deep that it split something inseparable into two sides. The essence of pain was loss, and no pain was more severe than losing oneself, as the once complete and brilliant other side was completely stripped away.
Thus, under the dying self-repair mechanism of World and the resentment accumulated over endless years, those countless dark emotions of the other half slowly gathered. They vaguely gave rise to an individual that was close to a collective consciousness.
"God of Darkness… why are you summoning me with such urgency?"
"Is it because of the light that erupted from Dawn before, or because of that earlier ritual. Those dead wastes. No, that one would not care."
He slowly stepped into a hidden space filled with a black halo, where the interior had been twisted into countless tangled labyrinths. Only he knew the correct path to the destination. Elfido's face was as dark as the shadows around him as he walked deeper, the Scepter in his hand burning and barely supporting a few points of light to drive away the dark things he did not dare touch.
After crossing a boundary-like gate, his face put on a respectful expression like a mask, one that was obviously Void fake without even looking. Facing a distant corner of Void, where countless resentments and massive Dark Power gathered into a vortex like a black hole, he bent slightly in a bow.
"Great and almighty, supreme the Lord. What matter calls upon your humble servant?"
He lowered his head respectfully, like a devout believer, just as he had done years ago when facing this great existence. The vast darkness surged before him and vaguely manifested as a crimson half-moon, a glimpse of its perspective. The surrounding darkness had become thick like oil, and almost tangible wails echoed near his ears, yet Elfido showed no sign of being affected and maintained his bow, listening to the faint tearing sounds and the movement of tentacles.
Boom.
In the next instant, Elfido's body was torn apart like a rag and completely reduced to Shard, every inch of flesh corroded and erased. Time around him seemed to pass millions of years in a single moment. All of this was caused by a trivial yet urgent cry, not even an attack, merely a small ripple from a roar within the vortex.
Moments later, flesh twisted and a puddle of Elfido rose again at the same spot. Large beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his body shook uncontrollably. Although he had endured such experiences from time to time over the years, this one was clearly more intense and far harder for him to bear.
However, the meaning within that roar had already been conveyed to Elfido. The content left him slightly stunned as his withered old hand tightened around the Scepter.
"Preparing in advance to seize the godhood ritual. Why must it be so urgent?"
"Ugh."
Another wave of Dark Power crushed him into a puddle of flesh once more, and after a short while he reformed again, restored to his previous appearance. His expression was respectful, and he did not ask further questions, though doubt still lingered in his eyes. He did not know why the other side was in such a hurry, nor why its state seemed different than before, as if something was driving it to urgently achieve its goal.
"But it does not matter."
So what if it was urgent. He did not care.
"As you wish. In the near future, within this lifetime, I will bring back true night to this mortal world. The Void fake Sun is destined to be covered by your night."
After finishing his usual fanatic flattery, Elfido respectfully stayed where he was and received the pouring power. Thick black mud covered the clean White Tier crown of the Pope, and countless black Crack appeared on the surface, like a fragile porcelain vessel. His already filthy soul, stained with hints of crimson, wailed and shattered, but he did not care at all, greedily absorbing every second of darkness poured into him.
The process was extremely painful, yet his face showed enjoyment. The reason was simple, this was the feeling of power. Even if he knew that continuing in this state would surely kill him within a hundred years, so what. As long as he truly became a God, all of that would naturally be resolved.
After the power transfer ended, the surging darkness withdrew without mercy. It hurriedly dispersed all remaining Dark Power that still had any scale, as if afraid of being noticed by something. Only Elfido was left behind, twitching involuntarily on the spot.
"…cough, cough."
After spitting out two mouthfuls of blood like black mud, he calmly walked out of the labyrinth that only he knew and returned to the light. He looked at his hand and the corner of his mouth twisted into a grin as black liquid like blood flowed down. Before this, his mood had not been good at all.
After all, dozens of his Companion sellers and several Crimson God had all disappeared after being wiped out in a single battle by a suddenly revived and absurdly powerful Dawn together with Ethan Stone. Those dozens of Companion were obviously gone for good, and as for those three Crimson God, judging by the situation, their ends were unlikely to be much better.