Chapter 284

Before the arbitration, Seong-Hwi, Bafor, and Irura had gathered in the Vampyr Forest.

“Congratulations, Master Irura. You’ve become a Recorder,” Seong-Hwi said to Irura.

Irura stared vacantly at Seong-Hwi and replied, “Thank you. Huuu... Now that I’ve become a Recorder, it truly hits me how extraordinary you are, Master Seong-Hwi.”

He sighed and shook his head. He had miraculously realized his unique caliber, a splendid feat that had taken three hundred years. However, it had only taken Seong-Hwi a few years to become a Recorder. Also, now that he was a Recorder, Irura could see that Seong-Hwi’s unique caliber was by no means ordinary.

“If it is not too much trouble, may I ask how much history you have accumulated?” Irura asked.

“Are you asking about the magnitude? It became 7.5 after this battle,” Seong-Hwi replied.

“Unbelievable!” Irura shouted in shock.

He had heard Seong-Hwi had realized his unique caliber only a few months ago, but he had grown so much in that short time. Irura couldn’t even imagine how many great histories Seong-Hwi had written to amass that much causality.

“Haha, do not compare yourself with Seong-Hwi, Irura. He is a bit of a special case. No, that doesn’t even begin to explain it,” Bafor remarked as he stared intently at Seong-Hwi. “It has something to do with your star, doesn’t it? A star that devours other stars. I saw it devouring Haema Sanguis’s star.”

Seong-Hwi smiled, neither confirming nor denying it. His star, Desire, and his star power, Gluttony, were indeed unprecedented.

“Oh, I’m not asking you to give details about your star power. That would be rude of me. However... we have the right to know what your general objective is,” Bafor said.

Seong-Hwi nodded and thought, I suggested we kill Pseraslav to enhance my star’s magnitude, but Bafor suggested we spare him to maintain our relationship with Barbaria.

Since their objectives were different, it was only natural that they would clash.

Yeah, I should make things crystal clear.

“As you’ve guessed, I can take the history that others have accumulated. Hence, my objective is clear: to hunt Recorders,” Seong-Hwi declared.

Bafor’s and Irura’s eyes widened.

Irura stared at Bafor and asked, “Is that... possible?”

“It’s... normally impossible. One’s history can only be accumulated by oneself. That is causality. But you can take the causality that others have accumulated?” Bafor mumbled in disbelief as he fell into thought. He then said, “From what I know, there are only two things that make such a thing possible.”

“Two?” Seong-Hwi asked, his eyes widening.

Does he mean there are other star powers like Gluttony? Two, no less?

However, Bafor was not talking about star power.

“The first is to have an orbital star,” he said.

“An orbital star?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“A star that orbits another. In other words, it is a star that serves a master star.”

“A master-servant relationship.”

“Correct. For example, I am certain Biphatogenes was Regnator’s orbital star.”

Seong-Hwi frowned at the mention of Biphatogenes and Regnator, then asked, “In other words, Regnator is the master star, and Echion’s Recorders are his servant stars?”

“Exactly. A portion of any history written by a servant star becomes the history of the master star. It’s the same thing as a king going down in history for using their generals to win wars. That is one way to take another’s causality.”

“Then... what is the second way?” Irura asked.

Bafor pointed at Seong-Hwi’s pocket and replied, “To use the causality stored inside a race stone.”

Seong-Hwi reached into his pocket and pulled out a teardrop-shaped red gem.

[Bloodstream Stone

Description: A stone that holds the past, present, and future of the race Vampire.]

“Using the causality... stored inside a race stone?” he mumbled.

“Have you tried entering the Aether Plane with that in hand?” Bafor asked.

“No.”

“I suggest you do. You will be able to learn the secrets of the race stones,” Bafor said with a meaningful smile.

Lord Bafor placed the dwarves’ race stone inside his daughter, Lilar. I’m sure he knows far more about race stones than I do, Seong-Hwi thought as he closed his eyes.

He felt a sinking sensation, and soon arrived at the cosmic space.

***

[You arrived in the Aether Plane.]

Seong-Hwi raised his head. Desire, among the countless stars, flashed with a silver light as if greeting him. He raised his right hand, which was holding the Bloodstream Stone. New information appeared from the stone, from which he used to feel abundant Blood Force only.

[Causality is stored within the Bloodstream Stone.]

[Causality stored within the Bloodstream Stone cannot be used for 30 days due to overload.]

...

[TIME, one of the pieces of the Master Plot, confirmed.]

...

[History of Vampires is available for reading.]

“There really is causality stored inside! But overload? And what is the piece of the Master Plot?”

It had been exactly as Bafor had said, but the stone was overloaded, and the other Akasha Messages were also difficult to understand.

“Reading, huh? Come to think of it, I’ve only been recording. I’ve never read anything in the Akashic Records.”

The Akashic Records were the memory of the world, containing details such as incidents, thoughts, emotions, knowledge, and everything from the past, present, and future. It was the library of destiny, containing an unfathomably large collection of information throughout the entire universe. Seong-Hwi had only been crazily writing things to record in this library, but had never read any of the stored information.

I read the History of Vampires, Seong-Hwi said inwardly, focusing his mind.

A red light poured out of the Bloodstream Stone, using the black Aether Plane as a screen to project the information.

[Reading History of Vampires.]

[Generating table of contents.]

[Definition of the race Vampire]

[Birth of Vampires]

[The First Vampire, Mulleus Rubens Sanguineus (Edited)]

...

The enormous table of contents was emitted from the Bloodstream Stone like a movie’s end credits. Seong-Hwi focused his mind on the first category on the list, the Definition of the race Vampire.

[Reading Definition of the race Vampire.]

[Vampires are a race born from the dimension Consanguineus. They are born with the ability to use Blood Force and establish hierarchies by drinking blood. Vampires are a free race that was never ruled by other races, and...]

The definition of vampires continued endlessly.

“Could... this be?” Seong-Hwi mumbled as he brought his hand toward the words free race that was never ruled by other races.

Sparks flew from his fingers, restricting his approach.

[Edit the record about Definition of the race Vampire, in History of Vampires?]

[You may edit two letters by consuming all the causality you possess.]

[The magnitude of Desire will reduce after editing.]

[Magnitude: 7.5 → 10]

Seong-Hwi swallowed his saliva, imagining what would happen if he edited the Definition of the race Vampire using all the causality he had accumulated.

“I could edit the letters free to subordinate!”[1]

Seong-Hwi recalled Lina Ahn’s hypothesis about the race stone being the primordial copy. Although her hypothesis had been based on genetics, she had been surprisingly close to the truth. Lina’s words echoed inside his head.

“I’ve always been curious about how an entire race could be subordinated by seizing their Race Stone. This hypothesis can explain it. The primordial copy is being manipulated!”

“For example... the fairies’ Race Stone. The genetic information that fairies must submit to dragons is added to the primordial copy held by the Race Stone.”

“I’m sure the primordial copy is linked to the duplicates—in other words, the entities that hold the duplicates! Changing the primordial copy also changes the duplicates!”

Lina had inferred all of this with frightening accuracy without information about unique calibers or the Akashic Records.

I’ve gotta say... she really is amazing, Seong-Hwi thought, shaking his head at Lina’s extraordinary insight.

He stared at the Bloodstream Stone and decided, “I... can’t edit this.”

He did not see a reason why he should, to the point that his magnitude would reduce. Moreover, he couldn’t edit the target of their subordination to humans with only two letters.

I might be able to do it with the help of Lord Bafor and Master Elementum, but... our powers would be reduced.

It only went to show how powerful the dragons, angels, and demons were as races that possessed subordinate races. They had likely spent enormous amounts of causality to change the history of the races stored inside the race stones.

I suppose you can only have slaves if you’re well-off enough. Then what’s this?

[The First Vampire, Mulleus Rubens Sanguineus (Edited)]

Seong-Hwi focused his mind on the edited record.

[Reading The First Vampire, Mulleus Rubens Sanguineus.]

[There was one primordial drop of blood, from which Mulleus Rubens Sanguineus was born. He is also the first Recorder among the vampires to connect to the Akashic Records. The name of his star is Bloodstream. He is... ⌧⌧ Haema Sanguis takes over the body of Mulleus Rubens Sanguineus. They are unified as one, becoming a completely new entity.]

A portion of the record was deleted in the middle, and an unnatural sentence was attached to the end.

“This must be Haema Sanguis’s doing. He edited the record. So, this is how Mulleus, a dungeon resident, was able to exit the dungeon.”

His questions were answered as he browsed the edited record. Haema Sanguis, a traveler, had unified with Mulleus, a resident, and used that ambiguity to confuse the dungeon.

“Haema Sanguis extracted excessive amounts of causality from the Bloodstream Stone to edit this history. No wonder the Bloodstream Stone was overloaded.”

He had mostly figured everything out, but no matter how much he searched, one thing was left a mystery.

[TIME, one of the pieces of the Master Plot, confirmed.]

“One of the pieces of the Master Plot? Time? What is this?”

He thought long and hard, but all he could come up with was that he knew nothing about it. If one couldn’t figure out an answer to something, no matter how hard they thought about it, then it was better to just forget about it.

Seong-Hwi’s consciousness rose to the surface.

***

Once Seong-Hwi opened his eyes, Bafor asked, “So? Have you discovered the secrets of the race stones?”

“More or less,” Seong-Hwi replied.

“Let me summarize it for you. Excluding the shell of the race stone, which is simply a mass of energy, the core can be divided into three components,” Bafor said as he extended three fingers, then folded them as he mentioned each component. “Causality, the history of the race, and the piece of the Master Plot.”

“I understand causality and the history of the race, but what is the piece of the Master Plot?” Seong-Hwi asked.

Bafor shrugged and replied, “I don’t know either.”

“Pardon?”

“Haha, don’t look at me like that. Race stones are items shrouded in the unknown. Not even I know everything about them.”

Seong-Hwi stared at the Bloodstream Stone in silence and thought, Do the pieces of the Master Plot... have anything to do with my regression? If that’s the case—

Bafor continued his summary, interrupting Seong-Hwi’s thoughts. “In any case, the most important of the three is the history of the race. I don’t need to explain why, do I?”

“Yes. Editing the history of the race will completely change that race’s destiny.”

“Exactly, like the fairies.”

Seong-Hwi and Irura maintained their silence. Everyone knew the tragedies that fairies were subjected to after becoming the dragons’ subordinate race.

“The second most important is causality. The causality stored inside race stones is special,” Bafor said.

“Special?”

“Yes. As I’ve mentioned earlier, it is the only source of causality that can be extracted, excluding orbital stars, with absolutely no drawbacks.”

Seong-Hwi nodded, but also felt a sense of deja vu.

I’ve felt this somewhere before, he thought.

“If you extract and absorb this causality, not only can you try to enhance your star’s magnitude, but you can also write history that you normally cannot.”

“What do you mean?”

“For example... Keter, who became one with the World Tree,” Bafor said as he stared at Irura, whose expression hardened.

Keter also edited the history of their race, like Haema Sanguis. They assimilated their existence with the World Tree, Seong-Hwi thought.

The causality that made such a feat possible had come from the race stone.

“Lastly, the piece of the Master Plot. There really is no use for it. Do you understand why I am telling you about the race stones?” Bafor asked.

“Because of... Grandis,” Seong-Hwi replied.

“Exactly.”

Just then, they felt rumbling. They looked beyond the forest and saw Grandis, activating Miniaturization many times over to reduce his size.

Bafor continued, “Now that Master Grandis is here for the arbitration, give up any thoughts about monopolizing the race stone.”

Seong-Hwi’s brow furrowed in dissatisfaction.

“I understand how you feel, but do not forget we must receive his permission to use Pangaea,” Bafor reminded.

Seong-Hwi did not complain since Bafor was right.

“But it doesn’t change the fact that the Bloodstream Stone is our trophy,” Bafor remarked.

“I see. We should prioritize which of the three among causality, the history of the race, and the piece of the Master Plot, that we want,” Seong-Hwi said.

“That’s exactly my point. It just so happens that there are three factions involved.”

Bafor nodded with a smile. If monopolizing it was impossible, it simply needed to be shared between Consanguineus, Barbaria, and Underground. Seong-Hwi made calculations inside his head and immediately got an answer.

“We must acquire the causality,” he said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Bafor agreed.

They stared at each other and smiled. Even if they acquired the history of the race, it was difficult to edit. They had absolutely no use for the piece of the Master Plot. All that remained was causality, the only one with immediate use.

***

Time flowed back to the present in the arbitration room.

“Are you talking about this?” Seong-Hwi asked.

He flicked the Bloodstream Stone in the air and caught it between his thumb and index finger. The eyes of everyone in the room filled with exhilaration and greed as they focused on the teardrop-shaped red gem between his fingers.

“Whooaaa!”

“So that’s—”

“The vampire race stone!”

It was a treasure among treasures from which one could feel the bitter Blood Force and an inexplicable aura. Just then, Seong-Hwi threw the Bloodstream Stone, and all eyes followed its trajectory. It fell into Grandis’s hand.

“Madam Erzsebet has a point, but we earned this after a battle with our lives on the line. It’s a stretch to say that it is not a spoil of war,” Seong-Hwi said.

“Then what do you suggest?” Grandis asked.

“Let us divide it into three pieces.”

The eyes of everyone besides Seong-Hwi, Bafor, and Irura widened.

“What the hell is he talking about?”

“Does he think the race stone is like pizza or something?”

“Meow?”

Voices filled with confusion spread throughout the room, but the reactions of those who knew the secrets of the race stone were different.

“I see,” Grandis mumbled as he nodded. “Causality, the history of the race, and the piece of the Master Plot. That’s exactly three pieces.”

“I want to believe, one last time. I request your arbitration, Master Grandis,” Seong-Hwi said.

“I thought you had complaints about the Sēmen.”

“I am not placing my beliefs in the Sēmen, but you, Guardian Titan Grandis, the righteous giant.” Seong-Hwi’s black eyes were filled with certainty. He continued, “Barbaria gained a new member of the Ten Lords and Fiends, and Consanguineus acknowledged their sins. Underground is the only one left with victims.”

He pointed at the humans in sorry states and said, “We desire a fair cause and effect. An effect with no cause is nothing but irrational.”

“I will keep your points in mind.” Grandis then stood up and said, “The Sēmen will take responsibility in arbitrating this negotiation. I proclaim in the name of Grandis that the race stone will be distributed fairly.”

Now that the First Lord had put his name on the line, all judgment regarding the race stone was now up to him.

He will have no choice but to give us the causality, Seong-Hwi thought with a smile.

The most important race stone component for Cansanguineus was the history of their race, and considering the profits and losses that the remaining two factions experienced, he would undoubtedly favor Underground.

It turned out in our favor. No one can say otherwise if Grandis is the one making the decision.

If word got out that Underground possessed the vampires’ race stone, the other massive superpowers could move against them. However, if they obtained a portion of the race stone in an arbitration led by Grandis, no one would dare touch Underground. After all, it would be no different from picking a fight with Grandis. It was much better to secure small but stable profits instead of large but unstable profits.

“I conclude this arbitration. I order all forces from Barbaria and Underground to leave Consanguineus’s territory at once,” Grandis declared.

The short but long war had ended at last.

***

Rumors about the arbitration spread throughout the Mirror World in a flash.

1. Free (자유) and subordinate (종속) are both two letters in Korean. ☜