"Celestial Worthy, are you still hiding something from me?"
Nimrod looked at the rather excessively terrifying and ostentatious scene before him and questioned the Celestial Worthy, who had been standing off to the side, watching the show and slacking off all this time.
The Celestial Worthy lowered the watermelon formed from gray fog, which he had taken two bites out of:
"Of course not."
"Don't you know that you're me now, and I'm you? To spirit world creatures, this is a chance to become the messenger of the Dominator of the Spirit World himself-something they might not encounter even over several epochs. Why wouldn't they compete for an opportunity like this?"
After hearing the Celestial Worthy's explanation, Nimrod turned to look at the scene before him:
Seven Pure Lights of different colors appeared in the distance. Several eerie canine silhouettes, covered in short black fur and with dark red flames burning in their eye sockets, hesitantly stepped out of the flames, seemingly puzzled as to why this great being still needed to summon a messenger.
Behind the eerie canine silhouettes, a large group of transparent spirits with octopus-like tentacles growing on their faces peered fearfully at the figure below from the edge of the flames;
Behind the Soul Snatchers, a patch of void gradually twisted, coming to life as a huge, elongated shadow;
Four pairs of blood-red eyes appeared in the shadows, seemingly trying to confirm the summoner's identity.
Farther away, spirit world creatures of bizarre appearances appeared and disappeared, packing the far end of the flames.
But soon, as Nimrod swept his gaze over them one by one, the spirit world creatures with weaker Beyonder powers could no longer withstand the presence of the Dominator of the Spirit World and the pressure from the terrifying spirit world creatures around them. They gradually vanished into the flames. In the end, only the Hound of Fogen, the Animated Void, Reinette Tinekerr, and the seven Pure Lights in the distance remained.
After a moment, the blood-red eyes blinked and disappeared from Nimrod's sight, while the Hound of Fogen, having confirmed his identity, affectionately extended its head to nuzzle his hand.
Seeing that the candle had burned down more than halfway and only one prospective messenger remained before him, Nimrod reached out and gently stroked a Hound of Fogen's head. He discovered that its seemingly stiff mane had a miraculously fluffy texture, then addressed the Animated Void before him:
"Are you willing to become my messenger?"
A pale, pupil-like circle gradually emerged in the center of the Animated Void's shadow. The creature silently watched Nimrod for a while before conveying a thought:
"I am, great being."
An Animated Void... If I remember correctly, this should be one of the main ingredients for the Planeswalker potion... A messenger on the level of an angel!
The reason this creature is willing to become my messenger is probably similar to Reinette Tinekerr's reason for choosing Klein.
Without hesitation, Nimrod asked:
"Do you require payment?"
The Animated Void remained silent for a long while, seemingly unsure whether the great being before the creature was offering a test or asking sincerely.
But after a moment, a powerful desire to survive and an instinctively ingrained understanding of this great being prompted the Animated Void to answer with complete sincerity:
"No."
"Good. Let's sign the contract." Nimrod immediately and generously agreed to the payment terms the other party had voluntarily proposed.
The Animated Void remained silent for a long while, looking at the clauses formed from thin gray fog before the creature, instinctively experiencing a feeling both familiar and strange.
The creature kept feeling that these seemingly rigorous clauses would be utterly useless before this great being.
After completing all of this, Nimrod revised the messenger-summoning incantation according to the Animated Void's traits:
"Traveler who roams the upper world, living being who wanders the void, messenger belonging solely to Nimrod Emonsal."
Nimrod had put some ingenuity into this incantation, chiefly to prevent anyone from trying to deduce his messenger's summoning incantation from those of several other messengers, only to cause a tragedy by being casually crushed to death by the enraged Animated Void, who possessed a degree of angelic might.
The elongated Animated Void's white pupil quivered and turned toward Nimrod. Nimrod picked up the letter he had written, added a few strokes, and handed it to the Animated Void before him:
"Deliver this letter to Saint Tenebrous Kisma."
Upon hearing Nimrod's request, the Animated Void gave no other response, merely moving the pupil up and down before swallowing the letter into the void and disappearing from Nimrod's sight.
In a well-hidden location, darkness lingered over the roof, and the surrounding area was filled with secrecy created through the Beyonder powers of the Door pathway.
After a long while, a sigh finally emerged from the darkness:
"I consulted the records we preserved. I can essentially confirm that the one who has been preventing us from returning to Tingen is that being..."
Another voice came from the other side. It carried considerable confusion and apprehension, making its owner especially cautious as he spoke:
"But isn't that being XX's XX...? Fortunately, I gave that Beyonder item to the Lord's emissary earlier. Perhaps it can help him."
At this point, the speaker, Saint of Secrets Botis, continued with some trepidation, "Kisma, do you think the emissary the Lord chose this time might be..."
"Shh. This isn't something we can discuss." Kisma pressed his lips together, signaling to Botis not to speculate recklessly about the Lord's thoughts:
"We only need to support the Lord's wishes unconditionally. Whether or not the emissary intends to bring about the Descent of God in Tingen City, it is all the Lord's will."
Botis nodded silently. "Fortunately, my secrecy can still serve some purpose. At least we can discuss countermeasures here."
"Indeed." Kisma nodded somberly. "With the protection of secrecy, at least we..."
His voice abruptly cut off mid-sentence.
The two stared dumbfounded as the void between them suddenly split open and an elongated shadow emerged.
Both demigods immediately lowered their heads, no longer looking directly at the complete mythical creature before them. Even so, signs of losing control appeared on their bodies.
Utterly unconcerned, the shadow pierced through the demigod-level secrecy and dropped a letter into Kisma's hands.
"...Perhaps that being simply can't be bothered with us."
After holding back for a long while, Kisma slowly unfolded the letter that had been dropped into his hands and decided to state the facts as they were.
Before you continue