Chapter 1159: The Fate of Demise (10)
CRASH!!!
Lennok and the Clown burst forth, shattering the golden ripples of light.
Beyond the majestic golden corridor, the Royal Knights charged after them, raising their mana.
But the two ignored the pursuing knights, running while simultaneously looking up.
WOOOOSH…!!!!
Within the distant illusion of the Imperial Palace, beautiful string melodies echoed.
A ‘presence’ was gradually becoming clearer, along with a song from beyond.
“The Nayuta Shrine (那由他神宮) is an alias for a type of punishment room within the Imperial Palace,” the Clown said, matching Lennok’s pace.
“Literally, it’s a colossal labyrinth of endless rooms. If trapped without a map, even peak-level superhumans are said to starve to death.”
“……”
“Of course, the true Nayuta Shrine is only a small part of the Imperial Palace itself, and this sanctuary is merely an imitation of it, but—”
SWISH!!
As soon as they rounded the left corner of the corridor, the Clown leaned against the wall, bit his thumb, and scattered blood.
Illusion magic activated, riding on the blood dispersed in the air. It deceived the corridor’s direction and scenery, refracting it to instantly fake their previous path.
“This way!! They went right!”
“No, judging by the shadows and mana patterns, they went straight!”
Having deftly tricked the knights with illusion magic, the Clown brushed off his knees and stood, grinning.
“To be precise, this entire sanctuary is a type of illusion, so there’s room to exploit it like this.”
“And that’s how you’ve been moving around alone in this sanctuary, still in one piece?”
“No, does this look ‘in one piece’ to Victor?”
Ignoring the Clown, who pointed at himself with an exasperated expression, Lennok averted his gaze.
“I wonder which would be faster: killing all the knights, or eluding them and finding the way.”
“I know the way. Actually, before Victor arrived, I got here before Aronbaiger and marked it,” the Clown said, spinning a dagger in one hand.
“I didn’t have the ‘right’ necessary to steal the Dead God, so I got thoroughly beaten and chased out.”
“Is this what you mean by ‘key’?”
CLICK!!
As Lennok raised his gauntlet, the Clown grinned.
“Yes, that’s exactly it. Chapman actually did a decent job— Huh?”
The Clown’s expression instantly soured as he saw the cracks carved like tree roots onto the gauntlet.
“No, this is a bit… Who drew this on the gauntlet?”
“What’s the problem?”
“Isn’t it unnecessarily ominous? It might be a coincidence, but if the Extinct Eye is involved, it’s troublesome.” The Clown grumbled, quickly changing his tune.
“That power, originally, can only handle the blood of the Black Edict. Are you planning to summon the Nether King here or something?”
“That would be difficult. Myeong just entered Jinwa’s Paradise Lost.”
“Right. Myeong is busy with many… Wait, what did you say?”
The Clown, who had been naturally chiming in, widened his eyes.
It was a look of astonishment on the Clown’s face that Lennok had almost never seen before.
But Lennok, with the gauntlet equipped on his left arm, raised his mana.
“I know what you’re worried about, but I won’t lose control of the gauntlet. That’s what took so much time to confirm.”
“……”
“I understand the method. All that’s left is to properly steal the Dead God’s Remains that exist in this sanctuary.”
SSSST…!!
Enshrouded in black ripples that steamed from the gauntlet’s seams, he moved forward.
As he stepped out of the corridor hidden by illusion, a storm of killing intent poured from all directions.
Lennok matched pace with the knights accelerating in the distance and spoke.
“I’ll start here. You assist with illusion magic and open the way.”
“…Hmm. I’m not particularly fond of roles that don’t get much attention.”
The Clown, who had been silent, crossed his arms and grinned.
“But when working with Victor, I suppose there’s no helping it. What’s so great about being the same Trait-type?”
“There’s no such idiom.”
CRUNCH!!
Lennok retorted, forcefully clenching the empty air with his gauntlet.
The gauntlet’s five fingers pierced space, spreading thin cracks.
The moment the black ripples spun, Lennok twisted the gauntlet, and the vast corridor itself rotated and flipped upside down.
CRAAAAASH!!!
“Ugh…!!”
“He’s interfering with the sanctuary’s space!!”
The knights charging down the corridor lost their balance and fell as the space inverted.
Immediately, the knights, regaining their balance, drew their swords amidst the inverted walls and ceiling.
Lennok, not missing the opening, plunged relentlessly into the knights’ formation.
BANG—!
His shadow robe stretched long, transforming into a streak of black light.
The light clashed, piercing through silver armor and blades. The charging knights were sent flying at tremendous speed.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!!!
“Ughhhk!!”
“What kind of strength does a sorcerer have…!!”
Screams from knights who died crashing headfirst into walls, or vomited, or lay collapsed with broken limbs.
Even amidst this, knights who endured the power struggle twisted their bodies, swinging their swords like lightning.
WHIZZzzz!!!
Mana-infused blades spun from multiple angles, mincing and grinding Lennok’s form like a blender.
But Lennok deflected all the sword flashes pouring from all directions, drawing out his Magic Scribes and swinging them.
“Move.”
He connected black Magic Scribes between the knights’ armor and blades, their gauntlets and knees.
In the tangled battlefield, the knights linked by Magic Scribes pulled each other down.
Without even touching Lennok, they became a tangled mass, colliding and starting to break and shatter.
CRUNCH!!
SNAP-SNAP-SNAP!!
“Kuaaagh…!! Gasp!!”
“Don’t move—”
“Cut the Magic Scribes… cough!!”
“Puhahahat!! Excellent, this isn’t bad at all!!”
The Clown roared with laughter, stomping on helmets and kicking heads.
His dagger plunged into the necks of knights struggling to regain their senses.
He leaped over the bewildered knights, driving daggers into their crowns.
Their eyes rolling back, the knights fell like puppets with severed strings, clearing a path to the left and right.
“Victor, do you see that?”
Beyond the corridor, a massive barrier unfolded. Golden ripples spread like waves, isolating the space.
The barrier emitted a strange resonance, seemingly rejecting and pushing away everything that approached.
“It’s in there. Looks like they blocked the path while I was escaping.”
“……”
“They’re infinitely layering the same memory onto a specific coordinate, continuously duplicating space. It’s one of the construction techniques used in the Nayuta Shrine,” the Clown said leisurely.
“While the scenery manifested in the sanctuary is a clumsy imitation of a part of the Imperial Palace, the knowledge to replicate that technique is incredibly refined.”
“So, this is a part of what Aronbaiger Kabahim is doing, having acquired the Dead God’s Remains?”
“By now, isn’t it pretty clear what that fellow wants?” the Clown asked, countering Lennok’s question.
“He has no intention of being satisfied with this frozen kingdom. He’s trying to imitate an emperor using knowledge from Ars Nova.”
“……”
He had been thinking about it.
The reason the bloodline ability passed down through the royal family resembled Ars Nova’s genetic modification.
The true nature of the ultimate ambition the monarch of Kabahim dreamed of, after acquiring the knowledge from the Archive.
“It’s an extraordinary wish, to say the least. One might even call it insane.” The Clown stated with a wide grin.
“If he knew what an Emperor truly was, he wouldn’t dare dream of such a thing. Or perhaps, is it precisely because he ‘knows’ that he’s attempting it?”
“……”
“It doesn’t really matter to us, but our property shouldn’t get damaged because of that fellow’s absurd wish.”
The Clown, who had stuck his dagger into the corridor wall, turned back to Lennok.
“So, I’ll be counting on you again this time. You can do it, right?”
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
Lennok lifted his gauntlet and replied, slamming it into the barrier.
CRUNCH!!
This barrier, undoubtedly, was the result of the knowledge Aron had acquired from the Archive.
Spatial molding used in Ars Nova. A construction technique that overlays scenery in a single space.
It was, without a doubt, a technique of the highest value among all knowledge and literature on the continent.
But Lennok now possessed a weapon that could crush even such a technique head-on.
SSSHHHHIIING…!!
The moment black ripples flashed from between the gauntlet, the ceiling and floor warped circularly, like a lens refracting light.
As the refracted corridor scenery spun a full circle, forming a loop where beginning and end met, the massive barrier shattered like glass, breaking into fragments that began to scatter.
SHATTER!!!
Beyond the collapsing barrier, a majestic lobby hall unfolded.
Behind the vast lobby stood a richly decorated inner gate, firmly closed.
In front of it stood a young man with an expressionless face, holding a sword.
“Urwin, Commander of the First Division of the Ten Royal Knights of Rectitude, Royal Capital.”
Amidst the scattering golden fragments, even time seemed to flow slowly.
In his momentarily slowed consciousness, the young man opened his eyes and murmured.
“I will execute the traitor who defied the royal will.”
“Dodge…!!”
A sense of déjà vu, piercing deep into his mind, crossed the line of death, and his consciousness instantly regained its speed.
The moment Lennok, drawing out Magic Scribes, grabbed the Clown by the scruff of his neck and spun his body with full force.
A flash of sword light, erupting from Urwin’s fingertips, diagonally cleaved through the hundreds-of-meters-long lobby hall.
CRACKKKK!!!!
A deafening rupture, produced as space was forcibly reattached after being severed.
The sheer recoil sent Lennok and the Clown’s forms flying, slamming them into the lobby floor below.
“An 8-level swordsman. A wielder of sword energy that interferes with space as a result?”
WHOOOSH!!!
The Clown, who had tumbled wildly, buffeted by the wind, squinted at Urwin.
“I expected at least one of the Knight Commanders to be formidable, but the scale of the sword energy he uses is absurd. Is that a blessing too?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
Lennok, descending a step behind the Clown, looked at the sword marks left above his head.
The landscape, severed along with the space itself, remained for dozens of meters, ominously shimmering.
The size and range of the sword energy he wielded were monstrous, rippling like waves.
“This entire space must be within that swordsman’s range.”
“If we fail to dodge even once, our limbs will be severed like a frog’s.”
Lennok and the Clown naturally widened their distance, exchanging words.
The Clown smeared blood on his dagger, and Lennok, wrapping Magic Scribes around his gauntlet, said, “We don’t have time for a prolonged fight. We’ll break through quickly.”
“Isn’t it a bit unfair to say that when you’re the only one with such a reliable weapon?”
As the Clown grumbled, the Knight Commander’s expression shifted slightly as he watched them.
“That gauntlet… is that the artifact I’ve heard about?”
“Fitting for Aron’s confidant. Do you recognize a Forbidden Armament?”
“I don’t know what it’s called. But…”
Urwin, walking forward with his sword, said with an expressionless face, “I know it’s one of the means Aron pursues.”
“……”
A Knight Commander loyal to the royal family, yet he calls Aron by name?
From the circumstances so far, it was clear that this swordsman held a different position from the other knights.
But more than that, Lennok sensed a unique strangeness from Urwin before him.
“His vocal cords’ resonance and pronunciation are very peculiar… His voice is almost unlike anything I’ve heard before.”
“Huh? I don’t really notice.”
The Clown glanced away.
“More importantly, isn’t it a bit unsettling that you remember the vocal patterns and pronunciations of everyone you meet?”
“Shut up.”
Lennok ignored the Clown’s words, staring intently at Urwin.
“There’s an oddness in his enunciation and pronunciation. As if he used a completely different language before belatedly learning the common tongue…”
“……”
“I see. You… are you perhaps from beyond this continent?”
A linguistic anomaly different from those who crossed the Sea of Understanding, like the Varacheda Liberation Front.
Moreover, among the people from beyond the continent Lennok had seen, he was an 8-level physical superhuman, the first of his kind.
Could he be someone from beyond the continent, personally recruited by Aronbaiger Kabahim and placed in the position of Knight Commander?
“I understand why the other Knight Commanders are so desperate to kill you two.”
But instead of replying to Lennok’s words, Urwin placed a hand on his sword, as if resigned.
“On this continent, there’s a particular tendency to dislike those who are too perceptive.”
“Oh? I thought it was nonsense, but did he actually hit the mark?”
The Clown tilted his head with an incredulous expression.
“This is rather interesting. It means that your king’s ‘knowledge’ extends beyond the continent, which—”
“Let’s stop talking about where I came from right there.”
KIIIIING!!!
With a soft slash through the air, space was cut along the blade, revealing its hidden side.
An 8-level physical superhuman, casually performing the top-tier sword art known as Spatial Severance, as if breathing.
Urwin, who had slowly cut space sideways with his sword, looked at Lennok with heavy eyes.
“I will not let you pass through here.”
“With such a lukewarm attitude, you won’t be able to do anything.”
Lennok sneered, moving forward.
Opening and closing his hands, which held bound Magic Scribes, Lennok, who had rapidly set them up all around the lobby, said, “And it’s already too late.”
“Too late…?”
WOOSH!!
At that moment, the Clown’s form, standing behind Lennok, vanished like smoke.
Simultaneously, the Clown appeared behind Urwin, opening the magnificent inner gate with a grin.
“That was a decent bit of acting, wasn’t it?”
“…!!!”
Urwin, whose expression tightened for the first time, gripped his sword and simultaneously swung it overhead.
The radiance drawn from the scabbard bent three times in the air, accelerating, chasing the Clown at supersonic speed.
But it narrowly missed, striking the vast ceiling, which it cleaved vertically.
CRAASH!!!
“Tsk…!!”
He missed.
Urwin, having made his decision in an instant, swung his sword flash, which bent twice more through the air, changing direction.
It tore through the lobby wall, then, in an instant, leaped through space toward Lennok’s neck.
At that precise moment, Antares appeared before Lennok, parrying Urwin’s sword strike with one hand and deflecting it.
CRACKKKK!!!!
Amidst the exploding shockwave, Urwin and Antares faced each other.
Antares, holding his hand with a calm expression, turned to Urwin and said, “I’ll handle this one.”
“…Antares?”
“From now on, even I cannot foresee what will happen.”
Antares raised his mana, cracking his neck.
“If I lend my strength here, it shouldn’t deviate too much from the future.”
“……”
“Go. He’ll be waiting, won’t he?”
Had he guided Lennok to the Archive using his foresight, then remained in the Royal Capital, waiting for the opportune moment to act?
At this very moment, when Lennok was closest to what was hidden beneath this Royal Capital.
Now, when the results of the conquest operation could no longer be foreseen, and even the success or failure of the operation was blurred, if Antares stepped forward to help him.
Then, at the very least, the Clown’s reason for including this Seer in the current operation might have been truly fulfilled.
Lennok, who had been silent, immediately accelerated, traversing the lobby.
The moment he stepped past Urwin, who faced Antares, and into the open inner gate.
WHOOSH!!
Lennok saw a vast, snow-covered landscape stretching across the deepest part of the sanctuary, where snow fell profusely.
A black ring floated above the shattered sky. Below it, a frozen throne, receiving black tears.
On that throne, frozen like black ice, lay a colossal knight, aged and cracked all over.
The Cold Comet.
A disaster that crashed into the northern continent, permanently altering its climate.
A dead Outer God, killed by an Ascendant, with only its remains and vestiges left.
In the embrace of that Dead God, Aronbaiger Kabahim sat facing it, eyes closed, concentrating.
He seemed to be performing a ritual to wield the god’s power as a Forbidden Armament, apparently not even registering Lennok’s presence.
‘I need to seize the remains before Aron regains his senses.’
The moment Lennok, instinctively realizing this, raised his mana and stepped forward.
CRACKKKK!!!!
Everything before his eyes distorted into a blinding white, and Lennok’s body was pushed back.
A divine artifact, freezing Lennok’s very gaze the moment he perceived the Dead God’s Remains.
An overwhelming majesty, as if not even daring to allow observation.
“Victor…!!”
CRASH!!
The Clown, his left arm frozen stark white, crashed down beside Lennok, tumbling.
Sharp ice shards were embedded in his side in places, and his ankle and back were frozen.
But even amidst this, the Clown ignored the pain, got up, and immediately raised his mana.
“Below us! Dodge!!”
“……!!”
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!!
The snowfield beneath their feet erupted explosively, and ice pillars dozens of meters high shot up.
Sharp ice shards fell like stakes, rushing down as if to tear their bodies apart.
The entire space was freezing and condensing, refusing even existence.
An otherworldly sanctuary beyond [The Gate]. The echo emanating from the Dead God slumbering in its deepest part.
Were the remnants of the Dead God rejecting Aron’s attempt to become one with it, spewing out this backlash?
CRUNCH!!
The Clown took the falling ice shards on his shoulder, bit his dagger, and raised his mana.
Ice that had been scattered all around gleamed like smooth mirrors, melting each other with their reflected light.
“I’ll clear the way! Quickly…!!”
Antares was holding Urwin at bay, buying time.
Soon, the surviving knights would return and surround them, leaving no escape route.
Most importantly, they had to steal the Dead God’s Remains before Aron completed his ritual and awakened.
But—
FLASH!!
Suppressing the questions in his mind, Lennok used Flicker. He accelerated, traversing the collapsing crevasse.
THWOOM-THWOOM-THWOOM!!!
He flew low, accelerating between massive ice shards that stretched like a dizzying cliff.
As he approached the Cold Comet, the cold intensified, space grew sluggish, and his senses dulled.
But each time, the Clown used illusion magic to change the surrounding environment, clearing a path.
BANG!!
He slammed his gauntlet down, using the recoil to launch himself upward. Without even thinking about balance, he drew out Magic Scribes.
Lennok, with Magic Scribes hooked between his pauldrons, brushed past Aron’s closed eyes right in front of him, nestled in the Dead God’s embrace.
Towards the heart region of the Dead God’s Remains, slumbering behind Aron, he directly slammed his glass-colored gauntlet.
FWOOOOOSH!!!!
A massive black ripple, like a total lunar eclipse, swept over and rotated around the frozen knight’s body.
A powerful impact that made the colossal knight’s entire armor quiver profoundly. Immediately, a profound silence descended.
But behind his mask, Lennok’s expression was subtly grim.
‘As I thought, this is…’
The Dead God’s Remains were unresponsive.
There had clearly been consciousness when conversing through the Ice Seal, so why no reaction whatsoever upon direct confrontation?
Why, even after Lennok entered the sanctuary and could sense its presence, was there no reaction or assimilation?
Indeed, it was—
“Which do you think came first?”
A chilling voice from behind Lennok.
Aron, having opened his eyes at some point, was looking at Lennok with an expressionless face.
“Acquiring the remnants of the Dead God, or acquiring an Ascendant’s Prestige Domain?”
“……”
“It’s a question without a right answer, but because of that, an answer had to be decided. The answer I reached is simple.”
CRACKKKK!!
At that moment, a ring of frozen light burst forth explosively from behind Aron.
A distorted circle, like a frozen halo, rotated intensely, bringing spacetime to a halt.
Six wings erupted from the center of the stark white frozen ring, wrapping themselves circularly around his body.
CRAAAAAASH!!!
An azure-white ripple, emanating from Aron’s center, expanded at tremendous speed, traversing the sanctuary.
Crevasses collapsed, and avalanches occurred, scattering like white waves.
The afterimage of a transcendent power, unbelievable for a mere human.
What had happened, he didn’t even need to ask.
“…So you’ve already succeeded in acquiring and controlling the Dead God’s Remains.”
Lennok slowly lowered his gaze and turned to Aron.
“You knew from the start, and deliberately waited for me.”
The reason the Cold Comet’s soul hadn’t reacted to Lennok’s gauntlet.
By freezing thousands of humans, preserving and processing their talents, drawing their power as sacrifices.
By acquiring the knowledge from the Archive through his Talent for Duality, he had even obtained that method.
Aron had succeeded in processing the Dead God’s Remains into a Forbidden Armament.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!!!
From outside the trembling sanctuary, hundreds of powerful presences rapidly approached.
The Ten Royal Knights of Rectitude, Royal Capital, whom Lennok and the Clown had eluded with illusion magic without confronting.
An elite superhuman group that had dramatically enhanced their power with the Royal Capital’s blessing and were now ready for battle.
“This is the end, Manipulation Spellcaster.”
Aron, facing Lennok atop the colossal knight’s hand, said, “I have no intention of repeating the same mistake twice. With this, your existence will be wholly ‘utilized’ for this nation.”
“……”
“Descend before me, kneel, honor the glory of Kabahim, and kiss my foot.”
In the blizzard, Aron’s eyes gleamed stark white.
“Or must I personally step on your head for you?”
“No. There’s no need for that.”
Lennok said, slowly extending his hand.
“Because what I needed was here all along.”
“…What?”
WOOSH!!
Lennok’s hand, gripping the gauntlet, seized the black orb that replaced the Dead God’s heart.
[Mandala Activated.]
The Prestige Domain, Mandala. The Ascendant’s final insurance, left for what came next.
The essence containing the pinnacle of the Manipulation Spellcraft he used, and an eternal vessel capable of storing even the death of an Outer God.
However, for Lennok, this was not merely its meaning.
Seeing the memories of the Archive, crossing three worlds.
Passing through moments of confusion and the unknown, where he was both himself and not himself.
The moment what he had left within the Mandala opened its eyes.
Lennok could realize the true nature of the contingency left in the darkness.
[Manifestation of Transcendental Unique Magic.]
[World’s Ten Laws Activated.]