Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1079 - 137: The Thing That Must Not Be Named

Chapter 1079: Chapter 137: The Thing That Must Not Be Named

The Unseen Enemy. The Shapeshifting Beast. The Non-Snake. The Self-Devouring One.

These are all names that once belonged to the [Great Adversary], each signifying a facet of its being.

The reason for ’once’ is because it doesn’t have a formal and fixed name; the simple ritual of ’naming’ cannot bind it. Instead, it would only grant it more power.

Unlike the principle that deities lose their names after death.

This is because The Worm is a "living creature."

Its concepts, composition, and abilities can change at any time.

It might be a single entity, or it might be many. Not only can its core change, and its appearance alter, but its precise location, even the era it resides in or the world it belongs to, can keep shifting... and most importantly, its existence cannot be known by mere mortals.

Attempting to define it with a definite, unchanging name is like carving a mark on a boat to retrieve a sword dropped into the water.

Even Chiron, who has come into close contact with The Worm, can only grasp one aspect of it.

Even the name "The Worm" is just a provisional term—because it emerged from the belly of the Charioteer as a gigantic worm. So, in the minds of those who know of it, this "Worm" refers to that very entity.

But to one unfamiliar with this secret, when they utter the name "Non-Snake," only the knowledge related to "Non-Snake" will come to mind.

The reason gods accept "divine names" is to anchor themselves in this world. It’s like when you think of a certain name, its image and related knowledge will emerge in your mind.

But The Worm is quite the opposite... it doesn’t exist in this world, nor does it need to anchor itself here.

Obviously, "names" cannot keep up with it, and will be consumed by it—it can choose to accept certain names or decline them.

By accepting a name, it can gain the hidden power within that name; if it rejects a name, then people cannot use this name to remember it.

Hence, the more people study it, the more they understand it... The Worm becomes increasingly powerful and irresistible.

"As when the Elves understood the theory of the ’Non-Snake,’ The Worm acquired a philosopher-like intelligence; when the ancient dragons called it the ’Shapeshifting Beast,’ it thus gained the essence to cause mortals to transform."

Yawen said calmly, "’The Worm’ symbolizes its nature as a parasite—because of this initial name, it gained the ability to draw strength from deep within the earth. This is also the very source of its power to devour the world.

"It embodies an apocalyptic force that cannot be opposed by sentient beings... If the Charioteer initiated all of this, then The Worm will destroy it all.

"As ’The Unseen Enemy,’ it signifies that it can attack the enemy from perspectives of destiny, the past, and the future by borrowing the fallen Chariot’s power... this is how the centaur folk refer to it.

"If fate is the trail of the Chariot, then The Worm is like a serpent. It, too, passes across the ground leaving ’wheel tracks.’ And because of its special connection with the Chariot, it can transpose these into ’tracks of the Chariot’... Thereby manipulating destiny, launching ’unseen attacks’ from the future towards the past, or from the past towards the future."

"...An attack from the future?"

Annan furrowed his brows: "In that case, how can we guard against it?"

"Unfortunately, it is indefensible."

Yawen shrugged his shoulders: "That’s why The Worm is so perilous.

"The Worm cannot be killed; otherwise, it would simply be reborn in The Void World or the dream world. And The Worm’s skin allows it to traverse worlds at will... Once it breaks free from its seals, it means The Worm can never be found again.

"But if it’s only sealed, although it cannot break the seal from within, outsiders can still use Worm rituals to steal its power.

"In this process, the inevitable Worm Cult is born. The more people understand The Worm, the more they realize it cannot be opposed. And there will always be those who worship such great power... Indeed, even ’the enemy of this time’ must admit that this power is indeed great and transcendent."

"...The Worm Cult."

Muttered Annan.

He repeated the name.

Suddenly in his mind surfaced Zoya’s voice, previously mentioning The Worm rituals and the Worm Cult to him:

"——This ritual was not originally intended to be used this way."

"——Before Your Majesty was born, we had already investigated the Worm Cult..."

It was probably around that time...

The "Winter Reverser" Vladimir first came into contact with the Worm Cult.

At first, as a Guardian and Punisher, he began purging the Worm Cult.

After that, Vladimir himself was infected by its power and began to worship The Worm.

"Is it because the Elves performed the Worm ritual and completed distributed computations, which led to the seal leakage?"

Annan couldn’t help but ask.

Yawen raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Distributed computation... That’s a good name. At that time, the Elves did not name that technique; they simply took for granted and used all the powers available to them.

"But it wasn’t because they drew too much of The Worm’s power that caused the leakage."

Yawen’s lips curled up slightly, revealing a deeply mocking smile: "Because the Grand Unified Barrier itself... is The Worm’s seal.

"The nature of The Worm corresponds to ’Shadow of the Heavenly Chariot’, opposite to the Power of the Chariot. It must be sealed within some entity. By the way, the power associated with this name prevents any mortal from ascending as long as The Worm exists in the world. Once the entity is broken, it will escape its bindings and return to a formless state.

"For the Elves of that time, they believed that the only thing in the world that would never be destroyed was the Grand Unified Barrier.

"’After all, if the Grand Unified Barrier ever collapses, the world is probably going to be destroyed as well’... Yes, that’s what they said at the time. So they transferred the ritual of sealing The Worm onto the Grand Unified Barrier."

——As a result, more than a thousand years later, the Grand Unified Barrier actually did collapse.

But the world was not destroyed.

So, The Worm staged a prison break.

"The Elves start as silver-tier Transcendents. They are powerless against the Mist. Therefore, some of them chose to accept The Worm’s power and attempted to escape this world.

"And at that time... the last emperor decisively invoked the [Sirens of the Third Number], using the White Lady’s power to realize the fantasy of ’the imperial capital being instantly submerged in the deep sea’, destroying those parasitized by The Worm completely.

"Before that, he also used the [Book of the Sixth Augury] to cast The Worm into the future, more than one hundred and eighty years later. Then he used the [Fourth Scripture] to confirm the destiny that The Worm would be sealed."

Only the Fourth Scripture could alter the destiny associated with The Worm.

Just as it could control Annan.

It is a Great Calamity Curio specifically designed to counter "The Charioteer" and "The Charioteer’s Hand", that could also counter The Worm...

Annan quickly realized another issue.

The [Book of the Sixth Augury] was not a one-time use tool for banishing. It had a "return point."

"So, the emperor sealed The Worm’s return point... by swallowing it himself. And entombed himself within the sarcophagus, sinking the imperial capital into the deep sea along with him."

Yawen praised him: "He truly was resolute. To control the curse of [The Sirens of the Third Number] with his own will alone... it can be said that he was quite decisive and dared to take charge. If it weren’t for that accident, perhaps the empire of Aesirland could have flourished in his hands."

"Accident?"

"It’s about ’those’ individuals who caused the Grand Unified Barrier to be destroyed."

"You mean..."

Annan suddenly realized something: "There are Worm Cult traitors amongst the empire’s upper echelon?"

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