Chapter 1395: Paradise Lost (6)
A vast orchard of pale violet trees, bearing fruits made of paper pulp.
Dozens of people tread upon the paper-folded fruits, moving towards the Spell-Word Stone.
They walk silently, bearing unknown ‘objects’ covered in thick cloth, without a word.
Hwooo…!!!
Their eyes were covered by thick blindfolds, making their faces unidentifiable, yet this very detail allowed their identities to be guessed.
Jain, who had introduced himself as a vassal of Yeongheo in Gateway City. The attackers with him had worn identical blindfolds.
Freya, who had been quietly observing the situation with Lennok, briefly heard about the past events and her expression hardened.
“…Are you serious? Those are really the culprits who attacked Gateway City?”
“They might not be the direct perpetrators of the Gateway City attack, but their connection is undeniable.”
Lennok, hiding his presence among the orchard trees, adjusted the lapel of his coat.
“Covering their eyes means abandoning their ego and surrendering themselves. They speak as if emptying oneself is the meaning itself.”
Click, click.
He pulled out an ampoule from inside his coat, twisted off the cap, and plunged the needle into his forearm.
After attaching an absorption patch to his neck, he repeated the injection several more times into his arm.
Lennok, downing several Elixirs at once, glanced sideways.
“Perhaps it’s a precept that those who serve Grand Duke Yeongheo must follow. Just as Paradise Lost has Jinwa’s precepts, the Three Grand Dukes likely have rules for their followers too.”
“……”
“Unless we can clearly define the relationship between Jinwa and the Three Grand Dukes, here, of all places… why are you looking at me like that?”
“No…”
Freya, looking vaguely annoyed, stared at the myriad ampoules embedded in Lennok’s arm and asked,
“Tower Lord, were you a drug addict? How many times have you injected yourself in just a moment?”
“I’m refraining from smoking inside the orchard, so I have no choice. Bear with me.”
Normally, he would use custom tobacco that could supplement his lacking drugs, but since entering Paradise Lost, he had avoided smoking.
That was why he was forced to use ampoules or Elixirs to make up for the deficient drugs and nutrients.
However, it seemed Freya’s question to Lennok wasn’t because of that.
“I know a lot of people in my industry who went under after injecting themselves like that, in bundles.”
Freya said with a serious expression.
“Take care of yourself. You don’t want to die in a place like this, do you?”
“…Right. It’s not advice befitting the current situation, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
Given Freya’s involvement in the entertainment industry, she must have seen the demise of drug addicts quite often.
But perhaps it was unique that she was expressing such concern for Lennok, of all people.
Though capricious and prickly, showing a subtle tenderness in such moments was also characteristic of Freya.
Lennok, giving a wry smile, plunged a needle deep into his empty forearm.
“Ah, he’s doing it again…! What did you take my words for?”
“Alright, just quiet down, will you? If you shout like that, they’ll discover us first.”
Lennok tilted his head slightly, watching Freya, who had clapped her hands over her mouth in surprise.
Even at this moment, the Grand Duke’s vassals were quietly walking through the orchard.
The distance was too great, and Lennok had blocked out sounds, so they didn’t seem to have noticed yet.
“How are the others assigned to the other Spell-Word Stones? Has there been any particular trouble?”
“…How many times have you asked that since earlier? There are no problems yet. It seems we’re the only ones who have arrived at a Spell-Word Stone so far.”
Freya, possessing Musical Scale Spellcraft, was the continent’s foremost expert in handling sound as a medium.
Even within this Paradise Lost, she was capable of catching and transmitting faint noises or each other’s voices.
As long as she maintained her spellcraft, communication could be exchanged within the Ideological Domain, using Freya and Agneta as conduits.
“The other members are periodically communicating with Hylaea. From their conversations, it seems to be about coordinates…”
Freya groaned with her eyes closed, then said.
“It seems there’s something making it hard to pinpoint the Spell-Word Stones’ locations. That’s why Hylaea’s help is needed.”
“It must be a type of perception degradation. I felt it briefly when we entered here too.”
“Ah, so that’s it.”
Immediately after, Freya’s expression became puzzled.
“Huh? But how did we find the Spell-Word Stone so quickly?”
“Because this Spell-Word Stone isn’t hiding its location in the first place.”
Click!!
Lennok, having injected a few more ampoules, put away the medicine bottle and averted his gaze.
“According to the precepts, this place was likely created in the first place for transactions with outsiders. Originally, it might have been a place to welcome outsiders who came from outside Paradise Lost.”
“……”
“It might be a meaningless assumption now that Jinwa has fallen and Paradise Lost has warped, but if they truly came directly to this Spell-Word Stone to trade something…”
[Show courtesy to those who are abandoned.]
[For those who come from outside, a few laws are inscribed here.]
[First precept: Raising a loud clamor is forbidden.]
[Second precept: Running around is forbidden.]
[Third precept: If a gift is received, return the favor.]
[Give one, receive one.]
[Those who fail to observe the basics shall be imprisoned.]
Lennok, having confirmed the Spell-Word Stone’s precepts once more, gathered his mana and turned around.
“There’s nothing for it but to check its contents ourselves.”
Boom!!
While the two conversed, dozens of people approached from the opposite side of Paradise Lost and stopped before the Spell-Word Stone.
Before the Spell-Word Stone, which vibrated with an ominous glow, they placed down the ‘objects’ they were carrying and knelt.
Hwooo…!!!
Without a word, as if by promise, the vassals clasped their hands together and reverently bowed their heads as if in prayer.
As if touched by the vassals’ devout prayers, the violet Spell-Word Stone began to tremble ominously.
“It seems to weigh quite a bit, more than I expected.”
Above the bowed heads of the vassals, a calm voice echoed.
“Is this the gift you’ve brought for this transaction?”
“…!!!”
“Who is it?”
Lennok was slowly stroking the surface of the object the vassals had set down.
The vassals, who had been praying with clasped hands, raised their pale faces and glared at Lennok in unison.
A horrifyingly distorted killing intent spread, immediately palpable even through their blindfolds.
But Lennok, despite the vassals’ chilling stares, smiled and turned his body.
“I’m interested in the transaction taking place in Paradise Lost.”
As Lennok raised his hands, the coat he was wearing swayed slowly.
The moment the vassals’ gazes momentarily fixed on his chest, Lennok calmly asked,
“I have a few questions I’d like to ask. Shall we exchange information? A simple exchange of information should be sufficient to adhere to the precepts.”
“……”
“Given the black magic gathered in the sky around here, a brief conversation won’t alert the Ascendants—”
“No, we will ask the questions.”
Crunch!!
At that moment, the vassal’s forearm ripped open, and bones began to grow rapidly.
The bones, tearing through skin and muscle, became sharp and blood-soaked, transforming into horn-like protrusions.
The vassal, whose arm had instantly transformed into a grotesque cartilage-like weapon, spoke in a hollow, monotone voice.
“Uninvited guest. According to the Spell-Word Stone’s precepts, you cannot play any tricks.”
“……”
“You cannot cause a clamor. You cannot run. You cannot approach alone, nor can you flee alone.”
“And according to the third precept, we must exchange gifts at least once with each other.”
Lennok shrugged.
“According to the precepts, you cannot leave this place alone. There must be another person with whom you exchange something.”
[Give one, receive one.]
[Those who fail to observe the basics shall be imprisoned.]
The last phrase inscribed on the Spell-Word Stone meant that one could only leave this place through a prescribed action.
“A space where two or more people can enter, exchange something, and then leave… don’t you think that itself implies something?”
“I will say this one last time.”
The vassal, slowly raising its transformed arm, said with an expressionless face.
“We will ask the questions. You are the one who will answer, not us.”
“……”
“Name. Age. Affiliation. Purpose for coming here. State them clearly, one by one, so that everyone present can understand.”
Crunch!!
With a grotesque sound of twisting joints, the vassal, aiming its bone-saw transformed arm at Lennok’s neck, said,
“If you fail to answer even one, you will die. I will count to five in human time—”
“Jain. 29. Vassal of Yeongheo. Here to erase Gateway City from the map.”
“…What?”
“Ah, I’ve never actually heard his age, so that must be wrong, of course.”
Lennok chuckled, seeing the vassal flinch.
“I’ve given a gift, so shall I receive a ‘return’?”
CRACK!!
Before an answer could be heard, the Demonic Giant’s arm pierced the vassal’s chest.
With a single gesture, it shattered the sternum and ripped out the heart within.
Lennok nodded, looking at the vassal who had blankly raised its gaze.
“Thank you for participating in the experiment.”
Thud!
As the vassal instantly collapsed into a corpse, the others around them turned in fury.
“How dare a paltry mortal—”
“They had no intention of listening to me at all, so I had no choice.”
Crunch, craaaack!!!
Lennok folded his arms, watching the vassals around him draw up mana and transform their bodies.
“However, the interpretation of the third precept being this lenient is unexpected. Does it not matter if I lie or take payment as I please?”
He knew that the Spell-Word Stone’s precepts allowed for various interpretations, but the permissible range was far wider than he had imagined.
The first and second precepts bound and controlled the space, while the third precept set a rule that was closer to wordplay.
Could that itself be related to Jinwa’s method or style of handling Spell-Words?
“It seems I’ll find out if I check the object you were transporting here.”
Lennok, gazing at the ‘something’ the vassals were transporting, covered in thick cloth, slowly unclasped his hands.
“It would be alright for me to ‘receive a return’ for that too, wouldn’t it?”
“…Kill him.”
“Tear that arrogant mouth apart.”
CRAAAAAACK!!!!
All around, grotesque cephalopods, shedding their human disguises, turned their pale bodies towards Lennok.
Hideous, alien magical creatures, transparent enough to reveal their insides, like a grotesque mix of jellyfish and octopi.
From within their transparent, soft bodies, transformed bone fragments protruded and spun like weapons.
CRRRRACK!!!!
“You shall pay the price for disrupting the Great Ritual…”
The vassals, revealing their alien forms, glided towards Lennok around the Spell-Word Stone.
The swarm of vassals approached Lennok at tremendous speed, encircling him without lifting their feet from the ground.
This was undoubtedly because they believed Lennok was also bound by the precept that one could not run in this place.
But Lennok, even as he watched Yeongheo’s vassals rush him, stepped forward.
“‘Cannot run’ likely means that both feet cannot leave the ground.”
CRUNCH!!!
In a fleeting moment, bone-made weapons spun, digging into Lennok’s lungs, side, neck, and hamstrings.
But before the vassals’ assault could reach him, Lennok was already behind them.
“In that case, spatial transfer spellcraft like Flicker shouldn’t matter, should it?”
“Behi—!”
BOOOOOM!!!
One of the startled vassals tried to shout but choked, and instantly, its head exploded on the spot.
Lennok stood behind the kneeling corpse, scattering bodily fluids, holding a pristine white revolver.
“The precepts say not to cause a loud clamor, but.”
Click!!
Lennok, spinning the cylinder to load a new platinum bullet, said,
“Conversely, that means it’s fine as long as I can silence the sound.”
Click!!
As Lennok raised his gun, Freya drew upon her mana and activated her Musical Scale Spellcraft at full power.
Simultaneously, she swept away and completely erased all ‘sound’ existing around the Spell-Word Stone.
“…!!”
An intense output that far surpassed Common Magic, perfectly obliterating sound within a radius of several hundred meters.
A deafening silence fell, and the alien vassals, mouths agape, began to move at incredible speed.
In this space, making loud noises was forbidden, so any action that produced a loud noise was inherently prohibited.
But now that Freya had silenced sound, not only Lennok but even the vassals could rampage as they pleased.
Fwip—
The cephalopods, having shed their human forms, rushed Lennok simultaneously with movements so bizarre they were incomprehensible.
As they fired bone fragments flowing within their bodies like bullets and extracted twisted bones like knives to thrust into his vital points and internal organs,
Lennok, aiming the revolver at the empty air, pulled the trigger.
Click.
The revolver bullet, fired without a sound, flickered dozens of times in the air in a fleeting moment.
It pierced the heads of the vassals surrounding Lennok from above the orchard, almost simultaneously, and vanished.
“—Ah.”
No tearing sound of skulls being pierced, no screams, not even the splatter of blood.
At the same time, Freya retracted her spellcraft, sound returned, and everything settled back into place.
Thud!! Thud!!!
Lennok holstered his revolver, watching the vassals collapse all around like marionettes with severed strings.
“We timed it just right. Good work.”
“…Tower Lord. Is it your hobby to play with people like toys and then kill them?”
Freya, who had been hiding behind a tree and observing the situation, whispered with a disgusted expression.
“The Conjunction Spell Master would absolutely die of joy if he saw this. Just watching gives me goosebumps.”
It was a situation that required high-level spellcraft with high destructive power to neutralize the Three Grand Dukes’ vassals in one go.
However, even with Freya’s Musical Scale Spellcraft, it was usually difficult to conceal the sound of spellcraft.
That was why Lennok had used the Mass Magic Bullet he had prepared in advance, coordinating with Freya to resolve the situation in one swift move.
Using a magic bullet made it possible, as only the gunshot sound needed to be silenced.
“My goal wasn’t to fight the Three Grand Dukes’ vassals, so I just ended it quickly.”
Lennok said nonchalantly, examining the fallen vassals’ corpses.
“The vassals I met in Gateway City weren’t that high-level either, except for Jain. I knew they wouldn’t be difficult to deal with.”
“That’s amazing. If you’ve killed so many people, can you immediately size them up just by meeting them?”
“That’s not wrong, but doesn’t saying it like that make me sound like a hitman?”
“What are you talking about? Wasn’t that your job to begin with, Tower Lord?”
“…I don’t know what you think a freelancer is, but you’re completely wrong.”
Lennok pointed at the vassals’ corpses fallen at his feet.
“These guys, they weren’t dead in the first place.”
“What?”
“Cough…!!”
No sooner had Lennok finished speaking than the vassals began coughing laboriously, spewing blood.
Even as they gasped for breath, desperately clinging to life, they glared at Lennok.
Only then did Freya grasp the situation, recoiling in surprise.
“What—what is it?! Why are they still alive even with bullet holes in their heads?!”
“Because these vassals are already bound by the Spell-Word Stone’s precepts.”
Lennok said.
“Unless it’s through the method of giving a gift and receiving a return, one cannot leave or die here. Aren’t all of them still alive, except for the first vassal I killed?”
“……”
“Excluding the vassal who received information from me and had its heart taken, all of them were judged to have failed to follow the precepts. If I wanted to ensure their deaths, I’d have to deal with each one individually in a manner that follows the precepts, even now, but…”
Lennok, his expression cold, stepped on a vassal’s head and looked down at them frigidly.
“Before that, I need to check if the object they were transporting isn’t bait or a trap.”
“…What are you saying? That the object itself is a trap?”
“When we entered the Spell-Word Stone’s domain, they were already moving, having made this Spell-Word Stone their destination.”
Lennok’s gaze deepened.
“If they merely intended to pass through this space, they could have exchanged items with each other and left. But they didn’t, instead lingering around this area.”
“…That’s…”
Freya murmured.
“…It’s almost as if they were waiting for someone in this place.”
“Consider the third precept. Even when I gave false information and received the vassal’s heart as payment, the precept functioned correctly. As a result, only that one vassal completely died.”
Lennok fell into thought.
“The act of exchange itself includes even extorting or taking someone’s life. Doesn’t that seem strange?”
“……”
“The space governed by this Spell-Word Stone wasn’t simply created for exchanging items. It’s almost as if…”
In the silence, Lennok murmured quietly.
“…it was created to forcibly compel human sacrifice from mindless beings.”
“H-heheh…”
At that moment, the vassal with its head pierced gasped and let out a grotesque laugh.
A chilling sight, as if its battered body was forcibly moving to convey its will.
The cephalopod, its pupils grotesquely dilated, stared blankly at Lennok and said,
“It seems you’ve realized… but it’s already too late.”
“……”
“You made a mistake. To intervene in the ritual without even knowing what we were waiting for…”
“Ritual?”
“Did you not perceive it, even after speaking of the sky turning black…?”
The area within Paradise Lost where the sky was darkest.
The space of the Spell-Word Stone, seemingly created for offerings, not transactions.
The presence of vassals who were offering something, praying, and reverently waiting for someone in that place.
The Three Grand Dukes’ vassals had not come here to trade any objects.
The objects they had transported weren’t even bait or traps.
From the very beginning, they had come to offer the objects they carried to someone—
RUMBLEEEEE…!!!!!
At that moment, the sky, covered in black magic and previously still, began to move.
The sky darkened, relentlessly sweeping across the skies of Paradise Lost and extending outwards.
A tidal wave of darkness, surging from the edge of the horizon, rose and engulfed everything in sight.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!!!
“…No way.”
No sooner had the vassal finished speaking than it felt as if all the black magic spread across the sky was pouring down upon this place.
From the immeasurably distant darkness, someone gazed this way.
Someone who no longer possessed even a shred of intellect, who had lost all rights over themselves.
“Soon, an endless night will descend upon Paradise Lost…”
The gasping vassal murmured.
“A shattered loser of a great war… will come to claim his unfinished regrets…”
Screeeeeeeech
A heart-stopping, tearing sound, as if space itself was twisting and distorting, could be heard.
The endless curtain of darkness split apart, revealing a gaunt hand.