It's been a month since the encounter with the unidentified entity, Tesranak.
During that time, Karnak attempted to enter the Void two more times. He repeated the process of creating and deploying the Eye of Darkness.
Since it took him about half a month to create just one, two attempts were his limit.
However, he gained nothing from them.
At least during the first encounter, he was able to get close. But during the second attempt, he couldn't even get near, and during the third, it was impossible to determine its location.
This clearly meant that someone was actively guarding against his approach and blocking him.
"So, I've decided not to continue with the exploration."
Karnak explained the situation after calling Baros and Serati.
"If I keep going, I'm worried they might pinpoint my location instead. It's too dangerous."
It's foolish to keep handing over information when the identity of the opponent remains unknown. There's a need for restraint at an appropriate point.
Baros asked, "So, you haven't learned anything, young master?"
"Not exactly."
Didn't they discover that there is an entity with will that is influencing Karnak's old powers?
"We need to figure out what that is first. Only then can we address the issue of the Darkness of Doom."
"For now, it's certain that it's related to the Cult of the Dark God."
"Probably, since they mentioned Tesranak."
The problem lies in the stance of the Cult of the Dark God in this situation.
"I mentioned this before, didn't I, Baros?"
This situation can be compared to Karnak throwing out a pile of gold coins and everyone, even dogs and cows, scrambling to pick them up.
"But it turns out there was a special tree that bore the gold coins. An enormous and towering gold coin tree that ordinary people couldn't even see."
"And?"
"What if there was someone who could see that tree? And what if that person was furiously striking the tree with a pole to make the gold coins fall? And then, when someone else tries to approach the tree, they swing the pole wildly, telling them to get lost?"
The question is whether the Cult of the Dark God are the ones picking up the gold coins, or the ones swinging the pole.
If they're just mindlessly picking up the falling gold coins, it's not much of a problem. But if they're the ones swinging the pole?
"Then it becomes a serious issue."
Serati blinked her eyes.
"…Is it really that serious?"
"You seem to be missing the point because I used a metaphor with a pole, Serati. That would mean their power extends to the other side of space-time."
"But didn't Lord Karnak just extend his power to the other side of space-time?"
"It's completely different."
Karnak's method was merely using the Eye of Darkness to observe the interior of the Void. He couldn't exert any real influence.
"The difference is as vast as observing something 10 kilometers away from a distance, versus directly manipulating an object 10 kilometers away from afar."
Expanding the domain of power to the other side of space-time?
Even for Karnak, who had become Astra Spiritus, this was something he could barely achieve after decades of failure. That's what the Space-Time Regression Spell is.
"This is why I said it's something that absolutely shouldn't be possible."
To reach out to Karnak's old powers, which exist on the other side of space-time, one would need to possess an absolute power that even surpasses Karnak in his days as the Death King.
"If they truly have that much power, there's no need to just drop gold coins; they could simply uproot the entire tree."
"Maybe they're deliberately leaving it because they want to keep picking the gold coins?"
"I used the tree as a metaphor, but the Darkness of Doom doesn't really keep producing fruits, you know?"
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand the current situation.
"Sending influence from the present world beyond the void doesn't make any sense. If they had that much power, there would be no need for such actions. But if that's the case, it implies that this Tesranak exists separately within the void. The question is, where did such a being suddenly come from?"
As Karnak muttered to himself, Serati, who had been watching him, cautiously spoke up.
"Um, how about this?"
She was someone who liked legends and heroic tales of all sorts. Since she knew almost nothing about magic, she could imagine things that a mage wouldn't even think of.
"What if Lord Karnak's powers themselves became an entity with a will of its own?"
Baros snorted.
"Does that even make sense? Then would Serati's aura also become a ghost and wander around? Maybe it'll even answer if we talk to it."
However, Karnak didn't laugh it off.
"Of course, it's nonsense, but the situation itself is so absurd that I can't entirely dismiss it."
Disregarding the common sense of magic, the phenomenon itself makes for a surprisingly plausible hypothesis.
If it's not that someone is swinging the pole, but rather that the tree itself is spilling out the Darkness of Doom and swinging its branches to ward off those who approach, it more or less fits the scenario.
Baros frowned.
"That seems like a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"
So does that mean this tree of power of darkness named itself Tesranak? And is it distributing power to the Cult of the Dark God and playing the role of the god of death out of its own will?
Did a consciousness, a being out of nothing, spontaneously arise from something that was merely power?
"This would mean that the young master created a god. Come on, as amazing as you are, young master, that's a bit too much self-importance…"
Karnak, blushing, retorted.
"Who said I created a god? There's nothing else to do but speculate."
Yes, this is ultimately the problem.
The lack of knowledge.
"For now, there's nothing we can do. Not until we learn more about this Tesranak entity."
And there was only one way to learn more about Tesranak from this world.
"It seems I'll have to investigate the Cult of the Dark God after all…"
In both his past life and this one, only they had ever uttered that name.
Karnak furrowed his brow.
"…How should I go about investigating them in my current state?"
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