Chapter 1340: Designed Transcendence (18)
“No, this is impossible.”
Gagameon’s Ark split open with a rotational motion, revealing a massive floating island that emerged from within.
Mistral, her expression incredulous, asked from behind Lennok as he walked towards the ruins located at the island’s center.
“You’re not even an Ancient Species, so how can you freely wield Gagameon’s spear? How did you even know how to operate it in the first place?”
“……”
“Are you and the Elder Council in cahoots, trying to trick me? If you could find ruins so easily with a few hand gestures, who would go through all that trouble—”
“Gab, gab, gab… you’re unbearably noisy.”
Peshia glared at Mistral, annoyed.
“I told you it would be like this. Shut your mouth and move quietly.”
“No, but it just doesn’t make sense to me, so how can I—”
“Do you think that madman would bother pulling a stunt just to trick a petty elf like you?”
“Hah, what are you even saying? You’re the one who keeps insulting Adamant Thunder, yet you’re praising him so highly—”
“Aren’t you going to shut your mouth?!”
“I heard it was an ancient ruin from primordial times, but it looks a bit different than I imagined.”
Jenny stood beside Lennok, leaving the bickering Peshia and Mistral behind.
Oooooooh…!!
The entire structure of the Ark rotated, revealing the colossal floating island within.
An ancient, dilapidated, and crumbling ruin of a city stood on the massive island that had risen above the water.
Jenny, who had landed before the island, which resembled an ancient, long-destroyed city, tilted her head.
“I was expecting something like a shrine or an altar, but this looks more like an ancient tomb or a model city. Isn’t the scale a bit too grand?”
“Gagameon must have known that, which is why he designed an Ark of this size to entirely seize these ruins.”
Lennok took a step.
“He probably knew about the existence of this Ascension Relic even before the civil war began. If he was already operating the Ark during the war, the timing would match up.”
“A hybrid of the Ancient Species, perhaps he had the ability to know about ruins from primordial times?”
“If he learned about the ruins through a method different from the Imperial Palace, it wouldn’t be strange that his conflict with Kaiser intensified during the civil war. While I can’t know the specifics of what happened then—”
Lennok slowly lifted his gaze and murmured.
“What’s important is the existence of that [Mirror] located at the center of the Ascension Relic.”
Kwoooooh…!!!
The shape of a gigantic mirror, swirling with a mix of golden and violet light, floated in the center of the ruins.
Beyond the mirror, which reflected nothing, only a transparent, glass-like radiance filled the space.
That must be the core of the Ascension Relic, said to have existed since primordial times. In other words, the ritual altar itself for receiving the ‘qualification of ascension’.
But Lennok couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation as he looked at the mirror.
He had confirmed that the moment the ruins were discovered, the mirror itself began to synchronize with Lennok’s mana, momentarily attempting to transform into a form similar to his Kaleidoscope.
“……”
Since he had withdrawn his mana the moment the synchronization began, others perceived it as an anomaly of the mirror itself, but Lennok knew.
That wasn’t another type of Kaleidoscope Lennok himself was unaware of, nor was it a mere replica of his Kaleidoscope.
It merely synchronized with Lennok’s mana and projected a Kaleidoscope by reflecting ‘something’ contained within the essence of that mana.
But Lennok instinctively knew, even from that alone, that the mirror held an indescribably immense power.
A mirror left by the Pontiff, whom he had encountered in the far eastern branch of the cult long ago.
A message that read, ‘[Waiting.]’
Would it be a delusion if the sense of déjà vu he felt from this place was similar to that mirror, which was designed to reflect himself?
Perhaps, the mirror he saw then was a replica, created to imitate the mirror now before Lennok’s eyes.
“Peshia was right. The spatial and directional sense inside the ruins is grotesquely distorted.”
The dusty, ancient landscape of the ruins.
Jenny, unfolding Ouroboros as she walked through streets resembling colossal ancient tombs, said.
“Some of the visible spaces don’t exist in reality or are separated, so there are many places where my senses can’t even reach. It’s like…”
“Like?”
“It’s as if the entire ruins are made of mirror images…”
“……”
As if in response to Jenny’s murmur, the group’s gaze naturally turned towards the colossal mirror at the center of the ruins.
It had seemed to briefly transform into a Kaleidoscope, synchronizing with Lennok’s mana, but it soon returned to its transparent, ordinary mirror form.
Aside from emanating a violet glow, there was nothing particularly unusual about it, and it was large enough to reflect both of them simultaneously.
Thwack!!
At that moment, Peshia, who had been silently walking behind the two, plunged her spear into the ground.
Jenny and Mistral simultaneously turned their gazes at Peshia’s sudden action.
“Peshia?”
“Go on ahead, Jenicia.”
Peshia, with a frown, glanced and motioned.
“These ruins. Just as you said, there are gaps between spaces, so my senses can’t reach far. What’s visible to the naked eye, hundreds of meters beyond, must be an entirely different space in reality.”
“……”
“Precisely, only the angle of the ruins reflected by that mirror is within reality. The rest must be considered mere images reflected in the mirror.”
She grabbed the lapel of Mistral’s jacket, who was walking ahead, and, gripping her spear shaft, turned back without hesitation.
“There’s no point in me investigating the mirror anyway. I’ll search with this elf to see if anything is hidden near the ruins.”
“No, who said you get to decide that? Unlike you, I might actually know something.”
Jenny fell silent, while Mistral pouted.
“Besides, these ruins, just as Jenicia said, have gaps in space, so even a slight mistake could lead us far away, it’s too dangerous—”
“Argh, seriously!! Just shut up and follow me!!”
“Ow, ow, ow!!!! Hey, if you don’t let go of my hair, I’m really going to kick you?!!!”
Peshia dragged Mistral by her hair, pulling her away from the ruins.
Mistral, struggling and resisting, still managed to glance at Jenny, then took a step as if she understood something.
Seeing their blatant behavior, Jenny couldn’t hide a wry smile and turned her gaze towards Lennok.
“Van, well…”
“Their intentions are so transparent, it’s astonishing.”
Lennok took a step.
“Are they trying to preemptively distance themselves just in case they might obtain the mirror? Ignorance often leads to hardship.”
“……”
If that mirror of the Ascension Relic is a type of ability or artifact, it’s highly likely to be a power bound to its owner.
Peshia, noticing this, had forcibly taken Mistral away, using ruin exploration as an excuse to avoid the spot.
Of course, it was likely a decision made for Jenny’s sake rather than out of consideration for Lennok—
“Well, saying they needed to search the vicinity wasn’t entirely an excuse either. Even my Magical Perception can’t scan beyond the immediate area. As Peshia said, the entire surrounding space might be closer to an illusion, like a reflection in a mirror.”
“From that perspective, shouldn’t I also participate in the search? If I were to somehow obtain the mirror—”
“No. Even if it were that kind of object, it wouldn’t matter, so let’s go together.”
Lennok smiled.
“More importantly, I want to hear your opinion first. What do you think about that mirror?”
“What do I think…? Are you asking for my impressions of the mirror?”
“It’s clear that this mirror, existing at the center of this model city, is the core of the Ascension Relic.”
Lennok murmured, looking up at the mirror as they slowly approached it.
“But I’m not yet certain about the mirror’s abilities or functions. I have a few possibilities in mind, but I’d like to hear your thoughts beforehand.”
“……”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s just simple knowledge or an impression, just tell me. Those aspects might actually be more helpful.”
“Van. I’m sorry, but saying that just makes me more nervous. A mirror… a mirror…”
Jenny, who had grumbled softly, soon murmured with a contemplative expression.
Frowning slightly in concentration, she then spoke as if recalling a memory.
“Symbolically, it strongly evokes the idea of reflecting the self. It’s sometimes used interchangeably as a passage leading somewhere, and it also carries the meaning of revealing one’s true essence.”
“……”
“However, generally, it’s strongly associated with the object it reflects… projecting oneself or being limited to that. What connection does receiving a qualification have with that?”
Having not neglected her studies since learning Ouroboros from Lennok, Jenny too possessed considerable insight.
If she could immediately recall how the symbol of a mirror was used in the field of spellcraft, it was because she had studied that much.
But even amidst that, Lennok was intently observing the Noise that grew stronger the closer they got to the mirror.
Beyond the golden and violet mirror floating in the distance, it wasn’t that no image was formed.
It was Noise, as if crushing the very form reflected in the mirror, making it unrecognizable.
It was merely shimmering beyond the mirror, obscuring Lennok and Jenny’s figures.
“Something… it seems like it should be visible, yet it’s not clear.”
Jenny, standing before the colossal mirror, tilted her head, looking at the faintly shimmering reflection within.
“On the surface, it looks like perfectly clean, transparent glass, so why does it reflect nothing?”
“Well…”
Lennok murmured.
“Perhaps it’s because this mirror has already been reflecting something else for a long time.”
“Something else… meaning Gagameon, who owned these ruins?”
“Or perhaps Kaiser.”
“……”
“It could even be the Grand Chancellor, who tried to deliver this to Kaiser.”
“This isn’t some kind of quiz I need to solve, is it?”
“No, that wasn’t my intention.”
Lennok smiled.
“It’s just that I suspect there was a reason the Grand Chancellor tried to deliver this to Kaiser.”
“……”
“An item prepared for the Pseudo-Eclipse. A tool made ready for Kaiser, the Regressor’s, ascension. If so, then perhaps…”
Lennok slowly extended his hand and murmured.
“Might it be because even its abilities share some resemblance with Kaiser’s talent?”
Fzzzzt, fzzzzzt…!!!!
The moment Lennok’s hand reached towards the Noise-covered surface of the mirror, the black ring on his finger resonated with it.
Simultaneously, the Noise covering the mirror’s surface receded from around the ring, and the mirror’s surface instantly turned transparent.
It then reflected Lennok and Jenny’s figures simultaneously.
“…This is.”
As expected, Lennok’s appearance, with his Targeted Resistance, was no different when reflected in the mirror than usual.
Similarly, perhaps unable to see her unless he was her, Lennok could not see Jenny’s reflection.
However, unlike Lennok, in Jenny’s eyes, her ‘other’ self seemed to be reflected.
Jenny, facing the transparent mirror, froze in place as if turned to ice.
“Jenny. I’m sorry, but I’ll need your help for a moment here.”
Lennok asked, his hand still extended towards the mirror.
“With Ouroboros, you won’t be mentally affected by whatever is reflected in the mirror. What do you see?”
“I… I think I see myself. Probably… it’s me…”
Jenny said, unable to tear her eyes from the mirror.
“…A bit, very young. I don’t think she’s even five years old.”
“……”
“She’s holding an ice cream and a bouquet of flowers. The label says ‘Botanical Garden’… I think she’s just come from the botanical garden?”
Young Jenny, returning from the botanical garden.
It was absurd, but Lennok knew what Jenny had experienced on her way back at that time.
The day Kaiser and Ethan made an irreversible pact regarding the project’s outcome.
If it was reflecting memories from the botanical garden at that time, moments Jenny herself couldn’t even recall—
“Van…?”
“…I see.”
Jenny carefully asked, seeing Lennok’s face harden coldly, and Lennok lifted his gaze.
“Receiving the qualification for ascension through the mirror… it might not be from other people or an Outer God in the first place.”
“……”
“If qualification is a concept that cannot be inherited or transferred in the first place, then this mirror is a power that reflects one’s ‘past self’ that once existed, and—”
Lennok murmured.
“From the start, these were ruins that humans should never have used.”
Wooosh…!!!
The moment Lennok drew forth his mana, the mirror, synchronizing with it, also radiated a golden glow and reflected his Kaleidoscope.
The moment he resumed the mana synchronization with the mirror, the mirror, as if waiting, intertwined with Lennok’s mana.
It radiated a majestic yet overwhelming light, as if trying to directly summon Lennok’s Kaleidoscope into reality right then and there.
Jenny’s eyes widened instantly as she faced the golden radiance that filled the ruined city.
“Va-Van?! What on earth is this…!!”
“Just wait a moment. There are a few things I need to experiment with.”
The Kaleidoscope that appeared, projected by Lennok’s mana onto the mirror, was literally the image of his mind reflected in the mirror.
Though borrowing the mirror’s power, it was a miracle that could only exist in this space by using Lennok’s will and mana.
If the Kaleidoscope that appeared here, leveraging the mirror’s power, didn’t significantly differ in its abilities from what Lennok originally possessed.
If Lennok could bring forth the Kaleidoscope here without observing the Root Mindscape or a Branching Point.
Wouldn’t it be possible to reflect ‘something else’ through the Kaleidoscope, rather than ‘the future’?
Fwoooooosh!!!!!!
‘The mirror that reflected Jenny summoned a past timeline that Jenny herself couldn’t even remember.’
Amidst the overflowing golden light, Lennok’s gaze grew cold.
‘If so, even if it’s a past I myself don’t remember, surely in the mirror—’
The Lennok of the past, who existed before gaining Targeted Resistance, would surely be reflected.
And Lennok was thinking that it might reflect ‘a different past,’ not the Pontiff and the Director.
Because this Kaleidoscope, now floating before Lennok’s eyes, wasn’t a power drawn from Lennok’s Root Mindscape.
If it was merely reflecting the Kaleidoscope’s appearance and abilities like a mirror, if this mirror, unentangled with Lennok’s mental image, could purely reflect Lennok’s past.
Fzzzt—
Lennok’s conjecture was not wrong.
The fierce, rotating radiance of the Kaleidoscope at the center of the ruins.
Because from beyond the golden-hued mirror, a deeply shadowed silhouette was perceived, bowing its head.
[…]
Even with Lennok facing the mirror, ‘he’ stood with his back turned.
Even with Lennok extending his hand towards the mirror, ‘he’ did not reach out.
As if refusing the already severed connection between past and present.
As if intending to remain in that moment, long concluded and cut off.
The moment he faced ‘him’ shimmering beyond the mirror, Lennok also realized that fact.
Slowly, ‘he’ turned around and silently looked at Lennok from beyond the mirror.
[■-]
A voice already erased from this world. Noise replacing it.
The gaze of the gloomy, wavering shadow in the mirror turned towards the black ring on Lennok’s finger.
The Prestige Domain Mandala. He slowly extended his hand towards the ring, molded as a physical object from ‘his’ authority.
The moment Lennok’s hand and ‘his’ hand faintly touched, centered around the golden mirror’s boundary line.
[Once.]
As if by a lie, the Noise peeled away, and a cold whisper echoed in Lennok’s mind.
[Nothing more is possible.]
“…Once?”
No answer came.
Instead, he felt a part of ‘him’ from beyond the mirror image flow into Lennok’s ring.
The Prestige Domain Mandala. A vessel containing infinite essence. The power to preserve even the death of an Outer God in this world.
Lennok instinctively knew that the ring, which embodied that authority, now contained ‘him’—the residual image of the past.
“This is…”
His past self, encountered beyond the mirror image.
That he, having ‘preserved’ a part of his residual image in the miracle of Mandala, had permitted a single descent in this moment.
Just as Lennok felt an explosive flash of inspiration from a result he hadn’t even anticipated before arriving at the Ascension Relic.
Whoosh!!
As if by a lie, Lennok abruptly turned his gaze away, leaving the Kaleidoscope before his eyes.
“But from here on, there’s no need to show it to others.”
“Van? What do you mean—”
Click!!
Instead of answering Jenny, he grabbed the Kaleidoscope with one hand and rotated it, turning it around.
Simultaneously, the angle of the ruins reflected by the mirror changed, now reflecting another angle of the ruins, not this one—
Fwooooosh!!!
A clear blue light, dazzling to the eyes, struck the center of the ruins, and an old man with a troubled expression appeared.
“Oh dear, I wasn’t planning on revealing myself so soon.”
“……”
“Things aren’t going as you expected, are they? There’s no other way. The power contained within those ruins is no ordinary object; even Gagameon couldn’t fully control it.”
The benevolent-looking old man, who had been hiding behind the mirror image, slowly surveyed his surroundings before walking forward.
“It was so powerful that not only was it impossible to obtain the mirror, but even moving it was out of the question. That’s why when I heard you were coming personally, I had a faint hope… and indeed, you are worthy of being called the greatest Grand Mage in the Eastern Continent.”
The old man looked up at Lennok and smiled gently.
“Did you gain something from within the mirror as soon as you began mana synchronization with it? My, you truly have a knack for making others feel awkward.”
“……”
“I intended to ascertain what kind of talent allowed such a thing, but you’re simply too quick-witted for your own good.”
The old man slowly took a step and said.
“However, now that you’ve begun mana synchronization, it will be impossible to stop the Ascension Relic from activating here.”
“…Lutchman.”
The administrator of the Elder Council, whom he had met before the Barrier Wall leading into the Forbidden Zone.
Lennok’s expression turned utterly cold as he recognized that face.
“What are you doing here right now?”
“Oh, it’s nothing bad for you. I’m merely here to do what many have wished for since the Subjugation Operation ended.”
The old man smiled benevolently.
“Here, I will help you be reborn as a new Ascendant. Whether you wish it or not.”