Chapter 1150: Fate of the End (1)
“The place you and I are in is the secondary modification facility of the Underground Royal Vault.”
A massive research wing, located in the deepest part of the castle dungeon, which Lennok entered, following Gillian.
Lennok was walking between transparent cryo-coffins in a room where a chilling cold wind blew.
“It’s also called the Somatic Body Preservation Chamber, a place where useful prisoners are frozen and preserved to be made into royal assets.”
HSSSSSS!!!
Cold air constantly spewed from all directions.
The chill flowing out as if breathing maintained the temperature below zero, creating the environment.
Within the thick mist of cold, transparent cryo-coffins stood frozen solid.
Dozens of cryo-coffins hung in the room, each filled with humans sleeping with their eyes closed.
“If you freeze humans alive using the ice-elemental bloodline ability passed down through the royal family, it’s no different from royal treasure.”
Gillian, walking ahead, subtly glanced back at the silent Lennok.
“Only the royalty of Kabahim can draw upon and use such ‘talents’ or ‘mana’ created from the Royal Vault.”
“……”
“It’s the result of taking the initial processing of ‘filtering’ talents and genetic traits from Ars Nova and adjusting it to suit the tastes of the Kabahim royal family.”
Gillian said, walking between display cases of armaments, isolated by thick glass partitions.
“One could say it’s a process to preserve human talents and mana as raw materials, and to use them freely in the name of the royal family.”
“Are you saying this entire underground facility is no different from a massive Forbidden Armament manufacturing plant?”
“It’s similar, but the efficiency itself will be better than the cult’s method.”
Gillian said, looking into the people trapped inside the cryo-coffins.
“Instead of grinding up humans whole and processing them into armaments, we preserve the somatic body with royal power and only extract and use their abilities. The convenience and simplicity of the process are superior to Forbidden Armaments.”
“You know an unpleasantly lot about the manufacturing process of Forbidden Armaments. You, too, perhaps?”
“Damn it, what nonsense are you spewing after asking me?!”
Gillian, who had flared up at Lennok’s suddenly suspicious gaze, quickly regained his composure and said.
“I saw traces left by the cult a few times when I was with the Titan Legion. My comrades just told me about it then.”
“Both with the Miniature Universe and, it seems, you feel a strong sense of belonging to the Titan Legion.”
“Ha, have you already forgotten what you tried to steal from my armory?”
Gillian scoffed and glanced away.
“True to a legion made by those with the blood of giants, they were all stupid and dull. But at least when I was with them, my head never got complicated.”
“……”
“I thought it was a more livable place than a royal family trying to follow the empire’s downfall… but now it’s all over.”
The Titan Legion was a faction whose traces had been completely severed, having perished before Lennok even awoke in this world.
If Gillian had been part of the legion, it wouldn’t be strange for him to feel regret about that fact.
Perhaps even accepting the Watcher’s burden was somehow related to that.
Lennok thought so, thoroughly examining the cryo-coffins lined up all around.
WHOOOOM…!!
The people ‘preserved’ in perfect form within the transparent cryo-coffins were all diverse.
A pale female knight. A middle-aged wizard in a robe. A young boy resembling Soryu. An old swordsman.
Even if somatic bodies were collected from all over the continent, regardless of race, age, gender, or profession, it would be difficult to secure such diversity.
Just looking at the somatic bodies preserved in the cryo-coffins was enough to involuntarily capture one’s gaze.
Lennok’s footsteps, crossing the cold storage room behind Gillian, came to an abrupt halt before one particular cryo-coffin.
“……This is.”
A male knight, with his hands clasped and eyes closed, inside a massive cryo-coffin.
Because he had definitely seen that face, clad in armor and poised, somewhere before.
“What, do you know someone here?”
At Lennok’s reaction, Gillian, who had been walking ahead, turned back with an unconcerned expression.
“It’s not impossible since they bought prisoners and slaves from all over the continent… but this is one of the Ten Royal Knights of Rectitude?”
Gillian, who had approached, glanced at the name written below the cryo-coffin.
“Dein Arp. Former Commander of the 7th Division of the Ten Royal Knights of Rectitude. Deployed for the raid of the Hanghasa Labyrinth. Imprisoned after returning alive, having lost all his subordinate knights.”
“……”
“After returning to the Royal Capital, he was preserved, taking responsibility for the failed deployment. As an armament with top-tier output even among Level 7 somatic bodies… why is Pandemonium so interested in a guy like this?”
Gillian tilted his head, but Lennok didn’t answer, instead gazing at Dein, sleeping within the ice.
The raid on the Hanghasa Labyrinth, in which he participated under the identity of Evan. Dein, the knight commander of Kabahim whom he had encountered in the labyrinth.
The knight who had lost all his subordinate knights to Jawoon Audis and been defeated was now encased in a cryo-coffin.
‘A strange feeling….’
To think that he would encounter someone he had actually conversed with, like this, after so long, and in ice no less.
Seeing Dein preserved, frozen, made him truly grasp the meaning of what was happening here.
“Ha, a former knight commander…”
Gillian, too, looked at Dein, his expression complex, his lips tightening.
“I knew they were ‘using’ even ordinary knights if they were suitable somatic bodies, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a commander-level one.”
“Is it because ordinary somatic bodies are difficult to freeze and use as tools?”
“High-level superhumans, or those with exceptional talents or unique origins. Those whose innate natures are twisted and distorted are said to meet the conditions.”
Gillian’s expression turned utterly cold.
“Aron said all of this was a process of repeating an already achieved success. He said he needed help in that process.”
“……”
“He said even this chilling sight was just retracing steps with knowledge of the outcome, but I…”
A process of repeating an already achieved success.
Did that mean Aronbaiger Kabahim had once succeeded in something like this long ago?
Or did it mean he was observing someone else’s success and projecting that process directly onto this place?
Either way, Lennok instinctively knew that the glass-colored gauntlet drawn on the communal wall was deeply intertwined with the core of this situation.
The shape of the gauntlet was etched into the deepest part of this massive research wing, hidden in the deepest part of the prison.
Lennok was well aware of what it meant for a gauntlet made from the bloodline of Ban-gung to be etched here.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!!
“……”
Even the slow vibration reverberating from afar seemed to hint at this moment rushing towards catastrophe.
The Mandala, a Prestige Domain, existing beyond The Gate. The true intention of Aronbaiger Kabahim, who had concealed it until the very end.
The thin trust, irrevocably twisted and shattered before he could even properly comprehend all the truths.
“I see.”
But Lennok, even as he felt this moment rapidly drawing to a close, slowly closed his eyes.
Gillian sensed Lennok’s suddenly changed presence and glanced away.
“Thief. Are you alright?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Lennok, turning his gaze from inside the mask, said softly.
Clutching his robe, he moved forward, nodding towards Gillian.
“Let’s go. If your words are true, the remnants of Aron’s ‘success’ will be in the Royal Vault.”
“……You, your demeanor has changed.”
Gillian frowned and tilted his head.
“You’re much calmer than before. What happened with Aron?”
“I merely understood that many of the things he explained to me weren’t true.”
Lennok replied in a cold voice.
“I had somewhat guessed, so it doesn’t matter. But if what awaits at this end is as I understand it to be—”
From inside the mask, a red eye-light, imbued with cold will-thought, streamed out.
“Indeed, from now on, I’ll have to finish this my way.”
“……”
Perhaps sensing something in Lennok’s reply, Gillian said nothing more.
Instead, with a hardened expression, he merely walked down the empty research wing corridor, heading deeper inside.
Thump, thump.
The deeper they went, the stronger the human presence became, and the surrounding scenery changed.
Doors to closed passages were open, and half-drunk teacups were left behind.
Camera footage was visible through mana screens on the corridor, and signboards flickered.
“What, you guys…!!!”
A researcher, encountered at an inner junction, dropped the coffee he was holding in surprise upon seeing Lennok.
The horrified researcher fumbled to pull something out, then stopped upon seeing Gillian.
“Gr-Grand Duke?! How are you here—”
“An activator for the research wing’s internal alarm system, is it?”
“……!!!”
Before he knew it, the activator the researcher had taken out was in Lennok’s hand.
Lennok, intently staring at the remote-like device the size of a ring finger, narrowed his eyes.
“It can’t be hacked. There’s no mana or radio wave transmitter. It’s not even a normal mechanical device to begin with.”
CRUNCH!!
Lennok crushed the activator in one hand, muttering.
“This must also be a trivial invention, made by borrowing the abilities of a somatic body.”
“Wh-what…!!”
CRASH!!
Before he could finish his sentence, the researcher’s head was violently slammed into the research wing wall.
Unable to even scream, the researcher’s body slid down the wall, his head still pressed against it.
Gillian, standing on the convulsing researcher who was trembling violently, nodded.
“There’s an archives that records all information inside the Royal Vault. The information you want is probably there.”
“Lead the way.”
Having come this far, he had to ascertain what was happening in this giant freezer room.
The reason Aron froze and preserved thousands of humans to extract their talents.
What he ultimately desired, even going so far as to follow Ars Nova’s methods.
CLICK, BANG!!
Forcibly breaking through locked doorknobs, they advanced, penetrating the research facility.
Innumerable stacks of papers scattered from the impact. Records sheets filled with all sorts of complex and obscure figures.
He snatched a paper with recognizable characters using a Mana Thread and quickly read it.
“This is a personnel management roster for Kabahim royals with the Kabahim surname. Direct blood relatives are separately specified and excluded.”
Lennok said, handing the documents to Gillian.
“Are they using even the royal family’s collateral relatives as somatic bodies to extract their talents and abilities?”
“If they’re lucky, they take on the role of ‘preserving’ somatic bodies; otherwise, they become somatic bodies themselves.”
Gillian retorted.
“Royals who don’t accept it have their names struck from the records and are exiled from this country.”
“……”
Was Soryu also wandering the continent as an exiled royal through a series of such choices?
After that, Lennok continued to search for data, going back and forth through the research wing with Gillian.
A vast corridor running through the center of the research wing. An archives that shared all information flowing within the facility in real time.
Gillian grumbled, tapping on a keypad in front of a glass door that blocked the corridor.
“Damn it. What was this password again?”
[PASSWORD ERROR] [PASSWORD ERROR] [PASSWORD ERROR] [■] [■]
Password errors appeared consecutively. Looking at the remaining slots below, there were two attempts left.
In the midst of that, Gillian made another mistake, leaving only one chance.
Lennok looked at Gillian with a pathetic gaze.
“If you’re stupid, don’t play around with your hands. What are you trying to do right now?”
“Just shut up for a second. It was a memorable number, so definitely—Ah, right!!”
Gillian cursed and grumbled, then slapped his knee with his one remaining hand.
BEEP.
[PASSWORD ERROR]
“……Huh.”
At the error message that appeared after entering the number, Gillian made a dumbfounded expression.
CRUNCH!!
Before the alarm could even ring, Lennok plunged a Mana Thread into the mana circuit inside the keypad.
He paralyzed the internal mana circuit, blocking its function, and immediately recovered the transmitted protocol.
After preventing the alarm system from activating, he manipulated its functions directly and opened the glass door.
WHOOOOSH!!!
Gillian stared, mouth agape, at the glass doors sequentially opening from the end of the corridor.
“Thief… you were much smarter than I thought.”
“Compared to you, perhaps.”
Lennok said, walking past Gillian.
As they entered the archives, a cold wind, so chilling it was almost biting, swept through.
This was not a cooling facility designed to kill the heat generated here and maintain the temperature…
Rather, it was a nexus of transcendent cold flowing in from outside this research wing, not from within the archives.
An intense chill enveloped the entire space, strong enough to make even Lennok, protected by magic, shiver.
“Thief. Look there.”
Just as Lennok realized that and his tension mounted, Gillian silently pointed outside the archives window.
“There, you see it clearly?”
“……”
Outside the archives, a massive altar unfolded. At its center, a frost giant sat, exhaling a cold breath.
WHOOSH!!!
A colossal, blue-glowing frost giant, its entire body made of ice, knelt with its hands clasped together.
Within the giant’s hands, which bore an endlessly benevolent smile, was the tranquil form of a female figure, eyes closed in sleep.
Aronbaiger Kabahim lay quietly asleep, his eyes closed.
CRACKLE…!!
Aron, his entire body frozen in the frost giant’s embrace, exhaled a cold breath.
Gillian said.
“He’s seeing it with the Talent for Duality.”
“……Seeing it?”
“I don’t know the details. I just knew that Aron had been capable of such things for some time.”
Gillian frowned at Lennok’s retort.
“Even that he’s peering into somewhere, obtaining the knowledge necessary for all of this.”
“……”
“He’s sleeping like that now, but once the process is complete, he’ll instantly sense us.”
Gillian said, turning his gaze away.
“This is all I can do. These archives were designed directly by Aron, and the access scope is strictly defined according to the user.”
“……”
“I, who betrayed the royal family, have no access rights. From here on, you’ll have to find the records you want yourself.”
“I intended to do so without you saying.”
Lennok said, immediately looking around the archives.
Hologram screens installed on the ceiling and walls. Power devices resonating from all directions, supplying mana.
Mana-infused data tablets floated, displaying information moving in and out of the archives in real-time.
“I’ll start right away, so go outside and keep watch.”
“No. I don’t want to die at Aron’s hands.”
“Seeing the researchers earlier, it seems they still treat you as royalty.”
Lennok firmly gestured with his head.
“If anyone tries to access the archives, you buy us time. Don’t you want to escape from here?”
“……Damn it, this guy thinks I’m some watchdog….”
Grumbling, Gillian disappeared through a side door of the archives.
Only then did Lennok grasp a floating data tablet and channel his mana.
He hadn’t expected such a large-scale data facility beneath the old castle, but this made it easier for Lennok to index information.
‘The shape of the gauntlet drawn on the wall. It’s not simply for gathering somatic bodies here to create Forbidden Armaments.’
If he wanted to make a gauntlet using the bloodline of Ban-gung as material, there would be no reason to go to such lengths to entertain and deceive Lennok.
At the point of bringing Lennok to the old castle, he would have simply crushed him with force or attempted to preserve his physical body whole using the royal family’s abilities.
‘If he doesn’t want to make an armament out of me, but wants to enter The Gate with my help—.’
Lennok’s eyes, fixed on the data tablet, turned cold.
‘The true reason he desires the power of a Dead God, going to such lengths, must lie here.’
The keywords were The Gate and Forbidden Armament. He set a date to filter out old data and sorted by most recent.
As he rapidly tapped the screen, the floating data tablets began to move throughout the archives.
WHOOOOMMM!!!!
Countless data tablets overlapped and lined up in rows throughout the archives’ vast space.
Lennok walked among them, quickly peering into the ‘records’ written on the data tablets.
[The Kabahim royal family’s bloodline ability is an innate ice-elemental ability obtained through a contract with a dead Outer God.]
[The process of preserving somatic body talents has been systematized, achieving efficiency equivalent to Forbidden Armaments.]
He quickly skimmed past, reading only the titles of the records on the data tablets.
Records that didn’t need detailed reading beyond understanding the overall flow.
The deeper he went into the archives, the more detailed and complex the records on the data tablets became.
[In the 683rd reproduction experiment, the preservation process using the royal family’s bloodline ability was established.]
[The ‘materialization’ process of talent and hierarchy was successfully reproduced. Somatic body procurement commenced.]
“This is it.”
The Royal Vault beneath the old castle, which preserved human talent and hierarchy as royal assets.
Its core principles and management history were perfectly preserved within the archives.
[If the remains of the Dead God are retrieved from the Otherworldly Sanctuary beyond The Gate, this preservation process can be applied.]
[A condition requiring the sacrifice of an Ascendant’s blood relative for entry into the Sanctuary has been confirmed.]
“……”
Lennok, with a cold expression, put down the data tablet and moved on.
Entering the deepest part of the archives, the moment he picked up the oldest and most worn data tablet.
[It is specified that all aforementioned processes and rituals were extracted and cited from Ars Nova’s ‘Archive’.]
“……Archive?”
Lennok’s expression hardened upon seeing the word he couldn’t just dismiss.
He knew that the monarch of Kabahim was hiding far more than he had imagined.
Because the truth he had glimpsed through the records far exceeded Lennok’s expectations.
However, even that shock paled in comparison to the record written on the next data tablet.
[The Talent for Duality is a unique attribute capable of simultaneously peering into reality and the Outer Sea, the material realm and the Imaginary Dimension.]
[This matches the qualification of a librarian required to access Ars Nova’s ‘Archive’.]
“……”
Only then did Lennok fully understand how Aron was carrying out such deeds beneath the old castle.
Aronbaiger Kabahim’s Talent for Duality. The true value of being able to simultaneously see both sides of fate.
It was the qualification itself to peer into the records and history of the fallen Ars Nova.
‘……I see.’
The reason human talents could be so easily extracted, refined, and wielded as royal power.
The true meaning of Gillian’s words about repeating an already achieved success.
Even the fact that the data tablets in these archives resembled Ars Nova’s search engine that Lennok had seen on the Deepweb.
[The Dead God’s alias confirmed through the Archive is the Cold Comet. In other words, the Frozen Ice Spirit.]
[The power of the Dead God, the Cold Comet, is the dominion over concepts beyond the extreme limits of the ice element – the stopping and reduction of entropy.]
[Upon successful completion of the preservation process, Time Reversal through the reduction of entropy will be applied throughout the entire Royal Capital.]
[Applying the aforementioned power to an Ascendant’s Prestige Domain, completely reversing the time the Domain existed.]
[Reproducing the ‘Ascendant Revival Sequence’ extracted from the Archive with an 85% probability.]
“Wait, surely not….”
Reduction of entropy. Time Reversal. Ascendant Revival Sequence.
Aron’s true goal, to achieve through applying this series of processes to Ban-gung’s Prestige Domain, was—
[The ultimate manifestation of the Ascendant Ban-gung’s revival.]