Chapter 1310: The Grand General’s Mausoleum (8)
Silent screams incessantly overlapped and echoed through the Grand General’s burial chamber.
A flesh altar, made from countless human wrists severed and impaled on all sides.
Upon that grotesque altar, a pale, black-haired man, clad in golden armor, sat leaning as if asleep.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
Thousands of hands propped up the corpse. Tens of thousands of fingers moved in different directions, enveloping the body.
A Transcendent, eyes closed, deep in slumber at the center of that abhorrent cradle, ceaselessly caressing and massaging the already dead flesh.
The innermost chamber of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors’ Grand General’s Mausoleum.
A being sleeping on a pillow of countless human flesh in a room more vast than any other place.
“Ahahahah!!! Is that the Grand General of Brilliance, the corpse of the most ruthless conqueror from Ars Nova…?!!!”
As soon as Lariata saw the man seated at the end of the altar, she shrieked with a face full of ecstasy.
“I knew it instantly. He wouldn’t have earned the epithet ‘Brilliance’ if he didn’t look like that. Hahahaha!!!”
“Haa, haa…!”
Aileen gasped for breath, her face pale, and with difficulty knelt in place.
It was the result of a series of battles starting from the Singularity Reactor, and then expending all her remaining mana to enter the burial chamber at the last moment.
Even amidst this, her gaze remained fixed on the Grand General, seated upon thousands of hands.
“This can’t be… surely…!”
The cradle of human flesh, made of thousands of hands, embraced the Grand General’s corpse.
Beneath it, blue blood endlessly flowed out, becoming a blue river that traversed the entire burial chamber.
It was a grotesque sight: the Grand General’s blood, shed in this chamber, dissolving throughout the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors, becoming its nourishment.
And, standing before the Grand General’s corpse, who bowed his head as if asleep, ceaselessly adjusting something alone—
“Arthur, you…!!!”
Arthur Mason.
A war mercenary, an 8-level Magic Gunner who had accompanied Lennok for the Mausoleum conquest.
It was a strange situation: the mercenary who had gone missing upon entering the Mausoleum had arrived at the Grand General’s burial chamber before anyone else.
But what left Aileen speechless was the true nature of what Arthur was doing inside the burial chamber.
Splosh!
He raised a blood-soaked hand, caressing intestines and organs that were not his own.
He placed the organs on the hands that sprouted from the altar, constructing a massive spell-formation around them.
Arthur’s expression, as he worked with his corrupted, inverted eyes, was chillingly blank.
“I seem to have underestimated the abilities of the Transcendent beings who participated in the Mausoleum conquest. I didn’t expect them to reach the burial chamber so quickly.”
“……”
“If luck were on my side, I might not have had to reveal myself until the very end, but it seems things don’t always go that smoothly.”
The Grand General’s exquisite appearance, leaning back on the altar as if asleep.
His belly was sliced open, intestines and organs removed from the corpse and placed upon the altar, preparing for an eerie offering.
The gruesome scene around the altar went beyond desecrating a corpse; it conveyed a tenacious and blind sense of purpose.
“But not everything can always go as predictably as expected.”
Arthur turned to look at the group standing at the entrance to the burial chamber and asked calmly.
“Evan Martinez. Just like when we first met in this Mausoleum.”
“…For someone who says that, you don’t seem to have intended to hide it at all.”
Lennok wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and replied, observing Arthur’s movements.
“Arthur Mason’s Miniature Universe was the ability to perform two actions simultaneously, you said. To throw both scissors and rock at the same time, was that what you called it?”
“……”
“That would mean ‘two people’ can coexist simultaneously within one person’s mind.”
Lennok’s cold gaze peered into Arthur’s eyes, which had turned into corrupted, inverted eyes.
More precisely, into the alien spirit residing within, using his body as a vessel.
“Yaksha. Were you planning to use Arthur’s body as a new vessel from the very beginning?”
Corrupted, inverted eyes. A different manner of speaking than the Arthur Lennok remembered.
The grotesque sight of him abandoning even his cherished shotgun to caress the Grand General’s organs.
A tone of voice that was alien and yet strangely soft, detached from human emotion.
The moment Lennok saw Arthur in the burial chamber, he already knew what resided within him.
What he wanted to confirm was how such a thing was possible.
“The Sun Ship has chosen a good new captain.”
Hearing Lennok’s words, Arthur turned his head.
“You are indeed an exceptional human. You grasp the essence of the problem, yet you are here to understand the process.”
“……”
“Surely, your way of life is no different. If you are here to understand the process by which a known answer is achieved—”
Yaksha smiled with Arthur’s face.
“I think we could make quite good partners.”
“…You.”
Aileen’s expression turned cold as she gathered her mana.
Yaksha, who had gone missing the moment they entered the Mausoleum, had arrived at the Grand General’s corpse first.
It was clear that Yaksha had been attempting to reach the burial chamber using a different method than the group from the beginning.
And that the reason this was possible was because he was an alien being, not human.
“From the start… you had no intention of conquering the Mausoleum. What is your objective?”
“The Grand General’s Mausoleum within the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors was never meant to be conquered or subjugated.”
Yaksha raised his gaze.
“The technology used to corrupt this Mausoleum was originally from our civilization. Therefore, this is merely a retrieval.”
“That’s, surely…”
The reason Yaksha could enter this burial chamber before Lennok and preside over the offering ritual.
If the technology that corrupted this Demonic Realm was, in fact, something Yaksha was familiar with from the beginning—
“There were signs everywhere that the entity that corrupted the Demonic Realm used alien technology or power.”
Leaving the pale Aileen behind, Lennok stepped forward.
“The repeated attempts to kill and revive humans to control the power of the Outer Sea… the very idea of artificially utilizing divine power was far removed from current world technology.”
“……”
“From the start, your goal was to bring this entire Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors into your hands.”
Yaksha, though belonging to the Order Alliance, was in essence an alien being from a destroyed world.
He was one of those alien spirits who had wandered the Sea of Darkness eternally aboard the Sun Ship, searching for a new home.
Yet, Lennok had not doubted Yaksha’s intentions because he was a key participant in the Mausoleum conquest operation.
He had thought Yaksha would want the Quasi-Authority or the Grand General’s corpse, but he had not anticipated that his true objective would be completely divorced from the Order Alliance’s goals.
“After our home was destroyed, we wandered the Sea of Darkness for a long time aboard the Sun Ship, searching for a new home.”
Yaksha, turning his back to the Grand General’s corpse, said.
“After immeasurable time, we found a new world where life could thrive, but there already existed a civilization and intelligent beings different from us.”
“……”
“Many things happened, a long time passed… and we lost the war with The Empire and had the Sun Ship taken from us.”
Yaksha’s answer seemed to omit so much story. Yet, ironically, Lennok could understand what Yaksha meant to convey.
It wasn’t difficult to infer why the Sun Ship Megiddo, originally an alien vessel, was being employed as a strategic weapon by the Imperial Palace of The Empire, or what had transpired during that process.
“Our ship was refitted into a strategic weapon for The Empire, and all of us were forcibly subjugated to this world. Our civilization and technology were constantly consumed and ground down as experimental material for understanding the Outer Sea.”
Yaksha slowly closed and opened his corrupted, inverted eyes.
“I wish to revert all those things to their proper course. So, I would appreciate it if you didn’t interfere.”
“That’s a request I cannot grant, given that you intend to offer the Grand General’s corpse to an Outer God.”
Lennok said in a cold tone.
“Offering the Grand General’s corpse to summon an Outer God and make a wish… do you truly believe that process can be achieved through normal means?”
“Perhaps not. But my wish, in a sense, aligns with what you desire.”
Yaksha replied calmly.
“Because my wish is… to directly open the path from the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors to Ars Nova.”
“…What did you say?”
“Within the Imperial Palace of Ars Nova, there is a passage that allows one to leave the world without being bound by the causality of this star.”
Yaksha ignored the startled Aileen and raised his gaze.
His corrupted, inverted eyes blurred as if looking up at the sky hidden by the burial chamber’s ceiling.
“The Outer Gate, the Outer Heaven’s altar left behind by the Emperor, who became an Outer God and departed this world. A perfectly formed Outer Gate, more complete than any rift in the Outer Universe, lies within the Imperial Palace.”
“……”
“My goal is to cross that passage and leave this world. It is the only way to survive in this world, which has a predetermined end.”
“A passage, you say… such a thing…”
Aileen replied with a pale face.
“There’s no way such a thing could exist in the Imperial Palace—”
“So that’s why you targeted the Grand General’s corpse as an offering.”
Lennok slowly walked towards Yaksha.
“Because the entire Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors is attributed to the Grand General… were you planning to use his removal as a means to achieve your objective simultaneously?”
“That’s right. Originally, it would be impossible to open a direct path to Ars Nova from within this Mausoleum.”
Yaksha agreed.
“Only the Grand General of Brilliance can open the path to the sunken Imperial Palace, ignoring all causality. He was a great Transcendent who reigned as one of the Empire’s six Grand Generals.”
“……”
“But even if I were to awaken the dead Grand General, there’s no possibility he would open the path for me or hand over his authority… and I don’t even know if the maddened Grand General could do such a thing.”
Yaksha’s gaze, looking up at the remains of the Grand General of Brilliance, settled calmly.
“Rather than that, I decided to offer the Grand General to an Outer God and make a wish to the god who has descended into this world. If an Outer God’s true form were to descend into this world, such a wish could be granted immediately on this very spot.”
“Kukukuk… to forcibly offer the Grand General who governs the Demonic Realm to an Outer God.”
The Seventh Apostle chuckled softly, tilting her head back.
Her gleaming eyes turned towards the Dead Flowers petals piled throughout the burial chamber.
“From the start, you had no intention of succeeding in conquering the Mausoleum. Was it enough for our forces to die, adding to the Mausoleum’s negative energy and serving as fuel to make the Dead Flowers bloom?”
The flames ignited by burning the Dead Flowers petals possessed the ability to incinerate the inherent death attribute within objects.
Yaksha intended to expose the Grand General’s body to those flames, erasing the death attribute.
And thus make the Grand General’s corpse as ‘alive’ as possible to offer it to an Outer God.
“The Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors is a disposal ground, discarded after the Imperial Palace used it for experiments with the Outer Sea’s power. The Dead Flowers that grew here, and the corpses consumed by them, are the Imperial Palace’s failed creations themselves.”
Yaksha turned around.
“If the Imperial Palace abandoned its duties and used this world, then we, too, can simply use the Imperial Palace to leave this world. Martinez, why don’t you join me?”
“……”
“If you participate in the ritual now, you too can make a wish to an Outer God. As the captain of the Sun Ship, you might even be able to leave this world with me.”
Yaksha spoke to the silent Lennok.
“Even a wizard like you, surely there’s one thing you couldn’t achieve with your own power?”
“…No.”
Lennok said with a cold expression.
“It’s an act of offering a 9-level Transcendent to an Outer God. If you offer the Grand General ‘undead’ using the power of the Dead Flowers, the cost will be immeasurable.”
“……”
“If an Outer God were to descend upon this world after consuming such an offering, it might go beyond granting your wish and simply devour everyone else as its meal.”
The power bestowed by an Outer God through human sacrifice varies depending on the value of the offering.
A Transcendent who reached Level 9. And if the Empire’s Grand General were offered in a state akin to being alive.
The power an Outer God, having tasted such an offering, could unleash upon this world would be unprecedentedly immense.
In the worst-case scenario, as Yaksha suggested, a part of the Outer God itself might directly descend into this world.
An unprecedented situation where Lennok might face the true form of an Outer God, something he had never fought before.
“That’s not wrong. But what does it matter?”
Yaksha slowly twisted his head.
His eyes, as he wrenched his neck to look back at Lennok, were rotten and black with decay.
“If the plan succeeds… I’ll be long gone from this world anyway.”
“…Is that so?”
Lennok also chuckled, hearing the blatant reply.
“Then naturally, that plan must also include taking my Sun Ship.”
“Ah, that…”
Yaksha rested his chin in his hand, as if lost in thought.
“As I said, I’m willing to go with you, as the captain of the Sun Ship. There are many restrictions if I, the navigator, try to operate the ship alone.”
“……”
“So I was going to tell you about the Sun Ship’s liberation and various functions and operation methods, but if you refuse, there’s nothing I can do. However, from the start…”
Yaksha, chin still resting in his hand, whispered leisurely.
“Wasn’t it never truly yours to begin with?”
Goooooh!!!
A dry wind blew, and Lennok and Yaksha faced each other, drawing forth their mana.
The Seventh Apostle grinned, raising her gaze, and Aileen crouched low with a tense expression.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!”
Thousands of hands that had sprouted throughout the burial chamber swayed in unison, unleashing silent screams.
The hands embracing the Grand General’s corpse covered him from all sides, hiding even his face.
Hands extended in all directions seized Yaksha’s body, climbing over him and massaging his flesh.
Thud, thud-thud-thud!
The hands embracing Yaksha seemed to reshape Arthur’s body into something non-human.
A grotesque, hideous, and yet unintentionally captivating, majestic sight.
But there was no intention to stand by and give them time to prepare.
Whoosh—
Lennok, rotating the mana in his body at full power, completed his incantation on the spot.
He leaped across space with tremendous speed, thrusting it into Yaksha’s temple before he could react.
Thwaaaang!!!!!
The spear of flame pierced Yaksha’s brow just before his face was obscured by countless grasping hands.
But even seeing the flame spear diagonally piercing his head, Yaksha shook his head.
“Physical attacks are useless. I’m already—”
Craaaack!!!
A shattering sound, like glass breaking, reverberated from within.
Yaksha’s expression changed dramatically, realizing the reason a moment too late.
“…!!!!”
“You yourself said you were an alien spirit parasitizing a human body, didn’t you?”
Lennok said.
“I knew a method that would work much better than a normal attack.”
“Marti—!!”
Fwoooooosh!!!!
Above the flame spear piercing Yaksha’s brow, a massive banner of flame unfurled and fluttered.
It was the Fluorescent Star, the ritual armament Lennok had obtained at the First Gate as Cheonbeon.
He had forcibly stimulated Yaksha’s spiritual presence by implanting the spear, a weapon designed to forcibly amplify a target’s consciousness.
“If I forcibly expand your consciousness for the Grand General’s offering, problems will inevitably arise with the offering ritual itself.”
CRUNCH!!
Lennok twisted the staff of the Fluorescent Star, which was embedded in Yaksha’s temple, and said.
“Stop the offering ritual right now. Or I will burst your soul right here.”
Lennok had humored Yaksha’s conversation partly to hear his objective, but also to prevent him from immediately starting the offering ritual.
At the same time, it was to understand the structure of the offering ritual and subdue Yaksha, who was presiding over it in a single strike.
If Yaksha needed a human body to perform the ritual, then simply severing the connection between Arthur and Yaksha would deal a blow.
“…I’m sorry.”
Black blood streamed from Yaksha’s eyes and nose as he looked at Lennok.
Arthur’s body and Yaksha’s soul could no longer connect, and the body began to collapse.
“The offering has already… begun… Since the Outer God has accepted it, the subject is not… me, but…”
Fwooosh!!!!!
At that moment, Lennok’s cognitive abilities sharply expanded, piercing the burial chamber’s ceiling and projecting the sky of the Demonic Realm.
Upon sensing an incomprehensible presence descending from beyond the sky, his Quasi-Authority was forcibly activated, transcending normal sight.
Oooooooh…!!!
Beyond the hazy sky of the Demonic Realm, obscured by thick flower mist, a massive, empty hole had been torn open.
Beyond it, something like black foam endlessly boiled, as if peering into this world.
A bizarre and eerie sight, like someone forcibly tearing a hole in the world and peeking in from the outside.
Yaksha looked at Lennok and smiled faintly.
“A god… will soon descend upon the Demonic Realm…”
The ‘gaze,’ wandering aimlessly and emptily, roamed the Demonic Realm before abruptly stopping in one place.
From beyond the endlessly unfolding darkness, a bloodshot, foam-like eye emerged.
The moment those bloodshot eyes met Lennok’s, transcending vast time and distance.
Crunch.
The sound of someone moving and breaking the world, peering through the black hole.
Simultaneously, a blackened hand shot out from beyond the hole and began to descend towards the ground.