Chapter 1372: Variation (11)
Flash!! Rumble!!!
Lightning flashed through the dark storm clouds, followed by a roar of thunder.
For a moment, the surroundings lit up, casting a stark blue glow on the swaying airship.
Whoooosh!!!!
Rain poured down furiously, streaming through the broken windows.
The wind intensified in the storm, and the storm clouds parted, revealing a pitch-black sky.
Amidst the raging gale, the ranks of the Revolutionary Army’s 8th Brigade, which had surrounded the airship, began to break formation.
A massive typhoon tearing across the southwestern continent. An overwhelming presence, as if a meteorological phenomenon covering a part of a star was moving as a whole.
An Ascendant is coming.
“H-how do we deal with this?!! Why is an Ascendant suddenly flying this way?!”
Ermont, who had been staring up at the rain-drenched sky with his mouth agape, sharply turned his head.
“Surely, what you said earlier wasn’t true? That using magic would make Ascendants find you…!!!”
Lennok’s explanation that the Central Front was exposed to all sorts of monsters, making it dangerous to use magic recklessly.
He had vaguely heard it in the cargo hold, never imagining he would have to confirm it in such a way.
But unlike the panicked Ermont, Lennok’s expression was calm.
“It’s not wrong, but that was only if I had used lightning near the Veil. It’s not a story to be told now, before we’ve even reached the Central Front.”
“Excuse me? Then?”
“It seems there was an Ascendant flying in the nearby airspace, separate from us.”
Lennok said, looking at the pitch-black sky that had appeared as the storm clouds parted.
“He seems to have detected what happened here and is approaching us.”
“…”
Ermont, still gaping, asked.
“So it’s still because of you, isn’t it?”
“To be precise, it’s because he sensed the fight that took place here.”
Was this another Ascendant, like Dadam who visited Vulcan, who began activities after the Demonic Realm collapsed?
If monsters equivalent to Level 9 were truly beginning to move, then encountering one of them here wouldn’t be a mere coincidence.
Realizing the situation was more serious than he thought, Ermont frantically grabbed his satellite phone.
“C-Cromwell!! Send an airship over here right now, hurry!!! Just get me out of here first—”
[Beep-beep-]
“Hey!!!”
[This number is not in service.]
The Admiral’s response was to delete his number and flee in the short time it took Ermont to redial.
While a rarely enraged Ermont cursed at the satellite phone, Lennok looked up at the sky.
“…It’s coming.”
Crumble…!!!!
At the center of the storm, where rare weather anomalies occurred one after another in reality.
He could feel it beyond the swirling storm clouds, where the pitch-black sky slowly opened.
At this very moment, an overwhelmingly vast presence, so immense it felt disproportionate, filled the airspace.
And from its core, the lingering gaze of something clearly perceiving and looking down upon them.
Crack—
The moment he noticed, it had already descended in a form comprehensible to humans.
Black raindrops snatched at the Revolutionary Army’s fighter jets, which had been bombarding the immigrant fleet.
The black rain pouring from the sky intertwined like chains, stopping the propellers of helicopters and the wings of fighter jets.
Screeeech…!!
“No, no!!”
“Turn the controls!!!”
“Aaaargh!!!”
Both fleeing helicopters and stray fighter jets were caught by the black chains that rained from the sky, tangling them up.
All aircraft that had surrounded the immigrant fleet and poured bombs were seized, brutally swung, and smashed together.
With agonizing screams, they dyed the dark sky with red flames, lighting it up brilliantly.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!!!!!
“Insane…”
Leaving Ermont, who was frozen by the sight, Lennok slowly began to walk.
What revealed itself between the storm clouds was not merely a pitch-black sky.
It was simply that the Ascendant’s true form was so enormous and vast that it covered the entire visible sky.
A Strange Peng, with black chains like feathers across its body, appeared above the stormy winds.
The bird, with three house-sized heads, had eyes with dozens of overlapping pupils, making them grotesquely distant.
The grotesque ominous bird, clad in black-stained chains, observed the world from above the storm clouds.
[Great was the joy of days past, so I forgot the weariness.]
A voice was heard.
[Awakening from a long, hazy dream, only nightmares remain. The glorious era has declined, and twilight has arrived.]
A resonating sound, endlessly heavy, sluggish, and mournfully melodious.
[I knew such a moment would come someday. Yet I was blinded by disbelief, though I knew…]
“…This voice is…”
Ermont, listening to the will-thought from the sky, murmured blankly.
“Is the Ascendant, singing?”
“…”
The Strange Peng floated amidst the storm clouds, occupying the entire sky, muttering unintelligible lyrics.
Each time, black chains, like tears, flowed down from beneath its wings, devouring and slaughtering the remnants of the Revolutionary Army.
In stark contrast to the somewhat mournful tone, the massacre unfolding beneath its immense wings was horrifyingly cruel.
“Aaaargh!!!”
“I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!!”
“Save me, please!!!”
Soldiers, crying out, praying, and pleading, dragged from bombers or helicopters by black hands, their bodies torn to shreds.
No resistance or struggle reached the being above the clouds.
The ominous bird, seemingly uninterested in the massacre below the clouds, sang in a slow melody and flapped its wings.
If destruction, the calamity that brings ruin, were to be converted into a tangible concept, would it look like this?
“I’ve never heard of such a being among the Ascendants of this era.”
Lennok murmured, leaning on the window with one hand.
“Who are you?”
[You have a habit of asking, even when you know the answer.]
Surprisingly naturally, a thick will-thought descended from the sky.
A will that resonated only towards Lennok, beyond all other life forms existing in this airspace.
The heavy, unknown voice replied.
[For reasons unknown, you already know who I am. Don’t you?]
“…”
[You saw something reflected in my form and came to a conclusion.]
The Ascendant, who had crushed the Revolutionary Army’s forces with a mere gesture, asked.
[Speak your answer. I shall listen.]
“…You are.”
The terrifying hands that appeared and instantly shattered the Revolutionary Army’s assault squad like toys, slaughtering them.
Black-stained chains tore at fighter jets from all directions, pulling out the humans inside.
They ignored the screams of the Revolutionary Army soldiers without a care, simply devouring them.
Absurdly, Lennok was reminded of a certain Ascendant by that sight.
“…”
Not the Answerers who earned the right to challenge by truly reaching Level 9.
But the Fallen, grotesque monsters who branded themselves with Geas and succumbed to madness.
A strangeness remarkably similar to that of World-Soul, Aurel Silford, existed there.
An Ascendant that had newly appeared after the collapse of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors, one Lennok had never heard of before.
An existence remarkably similar to the failed World-Soul of Ars Nova, yet possessing an unwavering intellect.
“Aurel Silford’s ascension was not achieved without direction or purpose.”
Lennok said.
“His very existence was a mere imitation, following you.”
[…]
“The original of World-Soul, an Ascendant who has remained hidden until now. An entity moving in conjunction with the collapse of the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors…”
Lennok slowly raised his gaze and murmured.
“You were one of the Grand Generals of the Imperial Palace of the Empire.”
Officially, fewer than ten living Ascendants remained in the current era.
However, that number did not include the Grand Generals of the Imperial Palace, buried with the Empire’s demise in Ars Nova.
Somewhere in this world, on other continents, there might also exist Ascendants not officially recorded.
But if the opponent was an Ascendant so bizarre as to evoke Aurel Silford, their origin was clear.
One of the six Grand Generals who protected the Imperial Palace of the Ars Nova Empire.
One of the monsters who had reached Level 9, like the Grand General of Brilliance, had revealed itself before Lennok.
And in a manner free from subjugation to the Central Demonic Realm or the Gate, perfectly unconstrained.
Realizing this, Lennok murmured.
“You are fundamentally different from the other Ascendants I know…”
A peculiar trajectory, floating freely across the world despite holding the title of Grand General.
An alien and grotesque appearance, unlike any other Ascendant Lennok knew.
Even the fact that World-Soul, among the Central Grand Generals, attempted ascension by imitating this entity.
It was clear that the being before Lennok was uniquely anomalous, even compared to past Ascendants.
“What are you doing here?”
[I am observing the world.]
The bird sang.
[Observing this world left behind after the Emperor departed, I ponder. Was his failure truly worth so much…]
“…”
[The shackles of causality have been broken, and the twilight era begins. With the end upon us, all who slumbered shall awaken.]
At that moment, the Ascendant’s gaze, obscured by storm clouds, pierced through Lennok.
[But the one who should have awakened last has already risen.]
“…!!”
So colossal that the bird’s face couldn’t even be properly seen.
Yet, the moment the Ascendant cast its gaze, an eerie pressure weighed down the airship.
The concept of ‘looking into something’ expanded a thousandfold, a sensation akin to capturing the soul.
If an entity could imbue every action with thousands of times the meaning of an ordinary human, would it feel like this?
But even then, Lennok detected faint hatred in the Ascendant’s gaze and immediately channeled his magic.
[Why do you not know that there is an existence whose very life is a sin?]
He instinctively knew.
This one was different from the Grand General of Brilliance.
This one was not an Ascendant who viewed his past self favorably.
As Grand General of Brilliance had warned at the last moment, the other Grand Generals, from the start, had viewed Lennok—
Crack!!
Lennok unfurled his coat, pulling his hand down and grasping pale blue lightning.
The thunder that burst through the storm clouds responded to his will, dyeing the sky blue.
[You have changed much, yet seemingly remain the same.]
The Ascendant, sensing Lennok’s will amidst the flashing blue storm, laughed.
[Do you wish to contend with me here and now?]
“If you wish it, there’s nothing I can’t do.”
“Hieeek…!!!”
Lennok stepped forward, looking at the sky where the storm clouds had parted, and the Ascendant spread its wings.
The moment Ermont instinctively flattened himself like a frog on the swaying floor of the hull, anticipating a collision.
The will-thoughts of the two Transcendent beings intertwined around the wrecked airship, emitting an immense shockwave.
Whoooosh!!!!!
His vision turned stark white, and his senses were worn away.
Torrential rain defied gravity, shooting upwards, and the clouds split, opening the sky.
An illusion that the space around them was being torn apart by just the prelude to exchanging spells.
“Uwaaaah!!!”
Just as Ermont’s scream stretched out in a bizarre melody amidst the runaway surge of consciousness beyond its limits.
As if a lie, the aftershock of the collision vanished, and a gray-tinged night sky revealed itself.
Whoosh—!
“…Huh?”
Ermont, who had been lying face down with his eyes closed, covering his ears with both hands, hesitantly looked up.
A night sky with a gentle breeze. Lennok’s expression paused as he looked up.
In a strange silence, as if they had simultaneously withdrawn their hands just before the clash, the Ascendant looked down at Lennok wordlessly.
“This is…”
In the fleeting moment when Lennok and the Ascendant simultaneously channeled their power and their will-thoughts intertwined.
Lennok saw innumerable black chains intricately clumped within the Ascendant.
A confinement far more complex and multifaceted than the Geas he had seen within World-Soul long ago.
The moment Lennok realized it was similar to the ‘black chains’ that bound the Demonic Giant’s arm, he paused.
[Some truths remain unchanged, even after decades.]
A faint whisper drifted on the slowly moving wind.
An empty, indifferent resonance, devoid of the previous hostile atmosphere.
[I resent you. For in the end, you did not choose us.]
“…”
[Yet, I cannot help but acknowledge the wonder you have achieved.]
The Ascendant’s voice, mixed with the wind, slowly elongated.
[Have you abandoned everything and returned? Just for the sake of knocking on the door once more?]
“…”
[Your methods are still unbearable, hateful. But, for that very reason…]
The voice faded, wings flapped, and the wind intensified.
[I must also acknowledge that you are a different being from then.]
“…Is that so.”
Grand General of Brilliance had treated Lennok as if his past and present selves were no different.
Until the very end, he sought to inform Lennok of the world’s truth, open a path, and arrange his final moments.
Yet this Strange Peng, despite hating Lennok’s past self, withdrew its power, deeming the current Lennok a different entity.
Could beings holding the same title of Grand General have such different judgments and values?
Perhaps the Emperor, who had bound such disparate demi-gods to the Imperial Palace, was truly the greatest of all.
An unintended, accidental encounter. Yet, within it, an inevitable regret.
Lennok, understanding the Ascendant’s response, raised his gaze with a complex expression.
[You always had a way of using my wings.]
The Ascendant looked at Lennok and spread its endless wings.
[Go.]
The sound of the Strange Peng’s wings, standing at the center of the storm, echoed distantly.
He felt the intensifying wind embrace the thoroughly damaged airship.
[My wind shall guide you to where you wish.]
Whoosh!!!!
“Huh? What is this? Why is there suddenly wind…?!!!”
The immigrant fleet was already too damaged to fly, having been bombarded by the Revolutionary Army.
Having been directly exposed to the Ascendant’s power, it was now nothing more than a scrap heap with wings.
But the wind blowing from the other side embraced the shattered airship and lifted it into the air.
As if to guide the airship to its intended destination by riding this wind.
Whoooosh!!!!!
“Aaaah?! Wait, wait…!!!”
The airship, riding the wind, shook wildly and accelerated.
Ermont, who was bouncing around, barely managed to grab the window frame before being thrown out.
The scenery outside the window distorted into lines of light, then became unrecognizable.
The airship, having traversed the storm-laden clouds in a straight line, rode the wind over an immense distance.
Then, at the moment it soared far away, leaving everything behind, no longer feeling the Ascendant’s presence.
The airship was thrown onto unnamed ruins, crashing violently and tumbling furiously.
CRASH!!!!
“Aaaargh?!!! Whoa, whoa!!!”
Bang!! Bang!! Rattle-rattle!!!!!
The immigrant fleet crashed onto the ruins, bounced, scattering fragments and parts.
Each time, the massive body of the airship collapsed and broke apart, utterly crushed.
How much time passed while listening to Ermont’s endlessly changing screams?
After a long while, Lennok slowly opened his eyes within the wreckage of the halted airship.
“Ugh, heh-hehg…”
He ignored Ermont’s groans buried in the wreckage and deactivated his shield.
He pushed through the unrecognizable bulkheads of the airship and managed to set foot on the ground.
Whoooosh!!!!!
Fragments of the colossal hull, crashed and spewing smoke.
A ruined plain visible through the swaying wreckage of the airship.
Lennok, holding his spinning head and leaning against a wall, murmured.
“This is…”
A landscape very different from the Gateway City Lennok remembered.
A desolate, war-swept plain with hardly any traces of human habitation.
Abandoned weapons and scrap metal everywhere. A grim scene mixed with the wreckage of a broken airship.
Lennok, having surveyed the surroundings and his location with magical perception, fell into thought.
“…This isn’t far from Gateway City. It seems to be within the Central Front, but…”
He could feel the ‘power’ he had left in Gateway City, indicating it wasn’t a great distance. In fact, they had arrived significantly earlier than planned.
But if so, why had they arrived here instead of Gateway City? Had the Ascendant’s message, promising to send them to their desired destination, been mistaken?
As Lennok pondered the inexplicable scenery, his eyes caught a broken signpost.
Thunk…!!
It swayed as if about to fall, then a metal fragment was pushed off by the blowing wind.
Lennok confirmed the words engraved in a stiff typeface, making a strange expression.
Central Front Border Zone: Alpha Rain Forward Base
Paradox Blue
“…Surely?”
Paradox Blue. Lennok knew that name.
Because he had heard that place name many times after the subjugation operation had ended.
It was once the most prosperous outer fortress in the Central Front, a strategic stronghold where Deadrise’s 1st Command, Ultima Alert, had been stationed.
And a battlefield that had been devastated after the invasion of Ascendant Silver Star, Maleon Gnosis.