Chapter 309

The Apostle of Evolution suddenly recalled the moment he arrived on this barren planet, Earth. The memory of that day when a fragment of his soul, torn from his main body, was sent to this insignificant outer planet on a falling meteorite.

That day, there, 

The Apostle of Evolution's top priority was to completely conceal his presence.

[I have to hurry. Before 'he' finds me…]

He was desperate. He had succeeded in arriving on this land, barely evading the Shadow Army's senses, but he couldn't predict when that fearsome king of darkness would discover him. So, the Apostle of Evolution decided to first hide his presence by possessing the bodies of the natives of this planet. But then an unexpected problem occurred.

[A suitable vessel to withstand me…]

– Kyaaa!

– Keuk…!

[…]

They kept dying. The moment his magic power touched their souls, they died instantly without him even doing anything. The vessel was broken. The natives of this planet were incredibly weak. A suitable vessel. The process of finding one was much more difficult than he expected. He was truly bewildered.

[This is absurd. Why are the creatures here so weak?]

Moreover, he was just a small fragment, split to avoid the eyes of the Shadow Army. But even this was too much for the vessels to handle? Considering the overwhelming power of the Shadow Army he encountered in the distant universe, the creatures living on this planet, behind the battlefield, were so pathetic that even calling them insignificant was a compliment.

[Did they degenerate from the peaceful comfort?]

It was too strange no matter how he thought about it. Even if all the combatants were out in space and only non-combatants remained here, Weren't they still too weak? But he decided to postpone satisfying that curiosity. Since he didn't know when he would be discovered hiding on this planet, finding a vessel to conceal his presence as soon as possible was the priority. And then he noticed the dying elderly.

[Even the lifespans of the creatures on this land are short.]

Beep— Beep— Beep—

The elderly, lying on their sickbeds with withered bodies, their breathing growing faint. The sight of doctors waiting to declare their deaths. A strange curiosity suddenly arose within the Apostle of Evolution, who happened to discover the place called a 'hospital'. Humans lying side by side, dying. Feeble souls waiting for the moment to leave their vessels. That series of scenes was enough to stimulate the Apostle of Evolution's curiosity.

[…I have a good idea.]

If a vessel with an owner couldn't accept his magic power, what about a vessel without an owner? If he took over a vessel that had its life functions stopped with its owner's death, a vessel that had lost its owner?

Whoosh—

Since he had nothing to lose, he immediately tried. He failed the first few times. It was extremely difficult to get the timing right. But there were plenty of test subjects. Countless elderly people were lying in the hospital, ready to become his vessel. And after a few attempts, The Apostle of Evolution finally succeeded.

Beeeeep—

He captured the moment when the heart of an old man on the verge of death stopped. And the invader from outer space safely settled into the empty vessel left by his departing soul. He began to spread his magic power through the body, which was rapidly cooling down due to the end of its lifespan, quickly but secretly. But the doctors and nurses, insensitive to mana, didn't notice what was happening before their eyes.

…Twitch

Especially the fact that the moment his heartbeat stopped, The tip of the old man's finger with age spots all over it moved slightly. No one saw that.

Beeeeep—

…He has passed away. Just like that, the old man was declared dead without any unusual events. And the body was immediately moved to another location for the funeral.

The funeral was small.

But no one shed tears.

Instead, frequent arguments broke out around the old man's body. They argued about the division of property, but those were things that didn't matter to the Apostle of Evolution. Who cared about what kind of life this old man had lived? The Apostle of Evolution was only interested in the fact that this dead body was still intact even after containing a fragment of him.

[Success! It's a success!]

The otherworldly invader was laughing joyfully inside the cooled corpse. A body that was already dead. But because of that, a body that could no longer die. Of course, very delicate magic power control was required from now on. Resurrection of the dead. Or strictly speaking, this was an interception of a vessel just before that.

[I'll have to remodel the inside so this body can move again.]

And so, three days. The work of recycling the broken vessel slowly progressed over three days. On the outside, nothing seemed to have changed, but an amazing miracle was happening inside the old man's body.

…Twitch

The old man's cold body in the coffin began to twitch. First, the fingertips, Then the toes, Something was starting at the furthest point from the heart. But unfortunately, those who were surrounding the old man for three days, focused only on his assets, couldn't see that wondrous miracle.

Creak

…Until the old man opened the coffin lid himself and sat up.

– …Kyaaaaaaaaak!

– F-father?!

The Apostle of Evolution successfully disguised himself. But he couldn't outwardly express the joy of his success. He remained expressionless even as he watched the humans screaming around him. Although he succeeded in moving the body below his neck using magic power, it was still difficult to control all the facial muscles.

Crack—

Creak…

The old man's appearance, frozen with an expressionless face and stiff neck muscles, was truly bizarre and terrifying. The reactions of those who witnessed that sight were all the same. No one was happy or moved by the fact that their family member came back to life. They either fainted or collapsed, trembling in fear.

Shock, fear, and horror.

The Apostle of Evolution, who unintentionally created that situation just by getting up, still remained expressionless. Rather than wasting magic power on facial expressions, solving the internal problems was the priority.

'Brain'

He had been pouring magic power into the 'brain,' which was rapidly losing its function along with the old man's death, for three days. The task of absorbing the myriad of information about this planet stored in the brain required very delicate and meticulous magic power control. And among that knowledge was language ability. Finally…

"…Success."

– …?!

When he finally succeeded in opening his mouth and communicating, The reactions of those around him reached their peak. It had been three days since the doctors declared the old man dead. For the corpse that hadn't breathed for days to suddenly come back to life from the coffin and even speak! This was truly unbelievable, no, a 'miracle.'

– G-god…

Suddenly, someone's mutter reached the 'ears' of the Apostle of Evolution and was transmitted to his brain. And as he interpreted the exact meaning, an 'expression' finally appeared on the old man's face, which had been blank. There were over 200 muscles on a human face. In the end, creating an expression was a troublesome task that required organically moving all those muscles. But despite that, the Apostle of Evolution wanted to express 'laughter.'

'God'

Because the word that came out of that frightened creature's mouth referred to the one who sent him to this land.

Grin—

"…God."

Although a bit awkward, the Apostle of Evolution smiled broadly and muttered that word. And his awkward expression quickly found its place. His clumsy speech also gradually became fluent.

"I am not God. Just an apostle of God."

– …!

And as the Apostle of Evolution said that, no, as the old man who rose from the coffin said that, a truly divine radiance descended upon him.

"So please listen carefully. The one who sent me said…" The Apostle of Evolution extended his bony hand towards the humans who were on the verge of fainting before that dazzling halo and continued,

"Worship God. Praise God. Prove your faith. Those who don't follow this rule…"

Flash—

"Will not return alive."

It was the birth of the Cult of the Outer Gods.

* * *

A pink brain…

[…This is what I've been through.] The illusion that the brain trapped in the test tube showed Suho passed like a flash in less than a second.

"…Why did you show me this?"

[Of course, it's to induce sympathy.]

"It's good to be honest." Suho chuckled at the words of the Apostle of Evolution's main body. But his eyes, staring at the brain, were sharper than ever.

"You're awfully confident for someone who was caught hiding."

[It's natural for any living being to beg for its life.]

"You're awfully pathetic for an apostle of Itarim."

[Well, what can I do? There's nowhere left to run from here. Besides, I never expected you, Mr. Sung Suho, to find me so quickly.]

"…"

[Why that face? Are you suspicious that I might be plotting something else here? There's nothing more.]

"You're good at reading expressions even without eyes." Suho narrowed his eyes at the brain in the test tube. As if shrugging, the pink jelly wriggled.

[That's not difficult. All the test subjects I created are my sensory organs. But how did you see through my illusion? I put a lot of effort into creating it.]

The pink brain, the Apostle of Evolution, asked with genuine curiosity. This place, where his main body was hidden, was a hideout he created with all his heart. It was a secret place hidden with double and triple layers of dimensional cracks, complex mazes, and even illusions. But Suho saw through all that and found his main body right away.

"You're full of questions." Suho dismissed his query and answered as if it was obvious,

"If you're researching immortality, it means you don't want to die, right? But you acted as if you didn't care what happened even with me in front of you, so I just broke it."

[…]

Suho grinned, revealing his fist with black energy blazing to the brain, which had suddenly become quiet.