Chapter 1414: Paradise Lost (25)
The members of Pandemonium who had escaped the sealing chamber quickly traversed the corridors of Yeongheo Palace.
They threw Hylaea onto Agneta’s back and bound the unconscious Ermont with mana threads, wrapping him up like a cocoon.
After hastily dealing with those who couldn’t move, the group madly sped toward the outside of the detached palace.
“Just a little further and we’ll reach the detached palace’s north gate. If we use the authority Hylaea borrowed there—”
KWWAAAAANG!!!!
With an ear-splitting roar, the corridor wall collapsed, and monsters with cephalopod heads revealed themselves.
It was a grotesque army of aberrations, clad in silver armor and holding swords, but their heads were hideous and glistening like octopuses or jellyfish.
The members did not waver, even as the creatures stared directly at Pandemonium with chillingly eerie eyes.
“They’re finally crawling out from that side. Are we really exposed now?”
“If anything, they’re a little late. It seems Adamant Thunder really did hide our position until the very end.”
“It’s more than enough that he bought us this much time alone. From here on, we’ll have to manage on our own.”
The plan had already gone awry the moment the Herald of the Three Grand Dukes arrived at Yeongheo Palace earlier than scheduled.
Adamant Thunder had single-handedly dragged out the already twisted plan, buying time to get them this far.
At this point, that mad wizard had done several times his share of the work.
From now on, they had to somehow ensure their own survival and escape from Paradise Lost.
“Enforcer. Go on ahead.”
Clang!
Soryu said in a cold tone, drawing the royal treasured sword just slightly.
“You, carrying the legacy, are the key. We’ll buy time here.”
“You haven’t forgotten the ‘insurance’ we talked about, have you? Let’s focus on getting out of Yeongheo Palace first.”
They knew the Nether King’s legacy might be an extremely dangerous or difficult item to handle.
That was why the role of transporting it had been given to Maiya, who was most skilled at acting alone and had replaced her left arm with a prosthesis to withstand the legacy’s power.
The plan was that once the legacy was secured, the Enforcer would carry it out of Yeongheo Palace, while the other members would stay behind to buy time if necessary.
Shwing!
Sarin drew his short sword and stopped, and Soryu, having erected ice walls on all sides, turned to block the path.
The rest of the group disappeared into the distance, leaving the two of them in the middle of the wide corridor in an instant.
“Leave it to us.”
Maiya didn’t add any words of parting to their decision.
Everyone instinctively understood there wasn’t even time for well-wishes.
From now on, they would each just perform their roles and do their best to survive.
Fwoosh!
Agneta opened the Imaginary Dimension and vanished, and Maiya, carrying the legacy, disappeared down the corridor.
Watching the aberrant monsters approaching from the other side, Sarin twirled his short sword and grumbled softly.
“Ah, so it’s come to this. Should I have just stuck by the Tower Lord instead of running?”
“This is time Adamant Thunder risked his life to earn. Stop with the useless thoughts and focus.”
Soryu, gripping the frozen treasured sword, glanced at the cephalopod-headed monsters closing in from all sides with a cold expression.
“Inside Yeongheo Palace, the rules of Paradise Lost don’t fully apply. We can make it out alive.”
Even the master of Paradise Lost, who could normally kill them with a single Spell-Word, would have difficulty invoking her precepts in Yeongheo Palace.
In the end, they would have to resort to physical means to capture or kill them.
If this situation devolved into a clash of swords and spears, there was a faint chance of victory.
At the very least, it was a far better situation than facing an Ascendant in the middle of Paradise Lost.
“Ha, for someone like you to sound so carefree—”
KWWAAAAANG!!!
Sarin and Soryu spun around almost simultaneously toward the knights that burst through both walls of the corridor.
[Blood Flow Acceleration: Aberrant Transposition]
[Ice Seal: Frost Orb]
CRRRRAAACK!!!
Sarin, holding his short sword in a reverse grip, deflected a downward slash, while Soryu drew out ice to surround the area.
The knights smashed through the ice walls, parrying their resistance at point-blank range and relentlessly closing the distance.
Dudududu!!!
The Herald of the Three Grand Dukes, the Grafter, had brought them as his retinue—aberrant knights whose heads were mutated like cephalopods.
The light in the knights’ eyes, clad head to toe in silver armor, flickered strangely from beyond their buried flesh.
Each one of them exuded a powerful will-thought as if breathing, yet their presence itself was completely empty.
“Every single one of these things looks like they’d taste of nothing, even if I drank their blood.”
Kaaang!
Amidst the hollow pressure, Sarin’s expression soured.
“It’s like they have no hierarchy at all. Are these also those so-called retainers of Yeongheo?”
[The moment they receive Yeongheo’s blessing, the human soul heads to the sea.]
At that moment, one of the knights answered as if in response to Sarin’s question.
[The soul sinks deep into the abyss… where it is twisted and transformed by a spiritual pressure so strong one cannot even breathe.]
“Ah?”
[The Demigods’ authority is both a blessing and a curse… We had to choose one to survive the apocalypse.]
A knight who was slowly drawing his sword spoke in a hollow tone, his tentacled mouth writhing.
[Everything was for the sake of raising the banner of the Imperial Palace’s 13th Dragon Rider Corps high until the very end.]
“…”
Ars Nova Empire’s Imperial Palace Dragon Rider Corps.
So these were members of the elite knight order once called the finest in Ars Nova.
Even standing without their dragon mounts, each one possessed a chillingly powerful presence.
Though their entire bodies were transformed to resemble cephalopods, one could still guess what formidable warriors they were.
Were they wraiths who had survived the apocalypse by receiving the Grand Duke’s blessing, and survivors as well?
Clang!
The Dragon Rider did not wait for an answer, drawing his sword and stepping forward.
As if to say that all that needed to be said here was finished.
“Whether we buy time or shake them off and run… either way, they won’t be easy opponents.”
Sarin, planting his feet among the frozen pillars, glanced back at Soryu.
“You want to go first? Or shall I?”
“I will go first.”
The corpses wandering Yeongheo Palace, dominated by Jinwa’s Spell-Word. The Grafter’s Dragon Rider Corps, tightening their encirclement on Pandemonium.
The Herald and the Ascendant had yet to move, but that was likely because they were more concerned with Adamant Thunder’s presence.
In many ways, this was neither an opponent nor a situation where they could afford to hold back their strength.
It was a point where even if they both drew upon all their remaining energy, their survival was not guaranteed.
They had to decide in advance who would use a ‘major technique’ first to avoid needlessly tripping each other up.
Ting…!
Soryu flicked up the [Ice Seal] he had temporarily borrowed from Adamant Thunder.
A top-tier ice-elemental relic that had received the power of the dead Outer God that slept in Kabahim, the cold comet.
Gripping it, Soryu snatched the frozen seal and, without hesitation, plunged it into his own heart.
Crack-crack-crack-
As the seal containing the Outer God’s power was imprinted on the prince’s heart, his authority and innate ability resonated simultaneously.
An enormous chill erupted, and a frozen colossus spewing a razor-sharp frost rose up on the spot.
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!!
Innumerable fragments of frost pillars shot up like thorns, shattering the frozen corridor.
The Dragon Rider Corps raised their magic and readied their weapons, and just as Sarin gripped his short sword and turned.
“…Ah?”
Sarin, who had been staring at the Dragon Riders with an icy expression, suddenly recalled something and wore a blank look.
“Wait a minute, where did that Conjunction Spell Master fellow go?”
The unprecedented situation where the causality of the Gabihaeng, which the Grafter had tried to pass on, was already attributed to Lennok.
As a result, the original plan was exposed, sending the entirety of Yeongheo Palace into an uproar as murderous intent surged in a sudden turn of events.
But Lennok still remained in the audience chamber, facing two monsters that emanated an immense presence.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!
“…”
Amidst the trembling void of the audience chamber, the Herald of the Three Grand Dukes stood with his arms crossed, silently looking down at Lennok.
The Ascendant Jinwa stood with her hands hanging limply, her expression impassive and unreadable.
They had sent pursuers after the members fleeing with the legacy, while they themselves remained here to watch Lennok.
As the atmosphere grew rapidly more tense, Lennok thought.
‘Time…’
By now, Pandemonium had probably succeeded in getting as far away from the audience chamber as possible.
They might have encountered the pursuers sent by the Grafter, but that was beyond the scope of what Lennok could help with.
From this point on, Lennok too would have to give his all to achieve his objective against the monsters before him.
But—
“Spell Master. Are you sure it’s alright to remain here?”
Beside Lennok, who was confronting the Transcendent beings, the Conjunction Spell Master stood adjusting his sleeves.
The Spell Master, who Lennok thought had escaped at the same time the legacy was extracted, had instead returned to the audience chamber.
“I was able to help you all until now, but from here on, it’s a different story.”
Lennok said, his eyes never leaving the Herald and the Ascendant.
Lennok’s hand, covered in spreading cracks, was fiddling with a black ring.
“I’m not relaxed enough to fight while worrying about others. You understand, right?”
“Adamant Thunder, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The Spell Master, having tied his sleeves and adjusted his surgical gloves, said with a deadpan face.
“I believe I told you that your movements and actions would be given top priority in this operation.”
“…”
“I have undoubtedly made the most efficient decision. I will not be taking any further objections.”
“…Do as you please.”
It might be different for someone else, but Avesta Chapman was a Level 8 Transcendent, a former Grand Spell Master of the Alliance.
He wasn’t weak in combat like Freya, and it was strange to worry about a Trait-type spellcaster anyway.
“So now you finally let me hear that voice in its entirety.”
The Grafter, who had been observing their conversation, slowly walked forward.
Kuuuung…!
“Noble one. How about you change your mind, even now?”
“…”
“The 13th Dragon Rider Corps and the White Letter Titan Legion I sent after those insects are experts of the field, recognized even in the Imperial Palace. They may be rusty, but they will not make a mistake in a matter like this.”
The three heads looking down at Lennok with sunken eyes spoke simultaneously.
“Your memory is not whole, so you are making a flawed judgment. I will assist you by your side so you can make the correct decision.”
“Grafter. That’s what I wanted to say to you.”
Lennok said.
“Knowing I have no memory, what was your reason for treating me as ‘him’ until now?”
“Because from the beginning, the presence or absence of your memory was not that important.”
The Herald replied calmly.
“Before you left the Empire, you were not a being to be bound by such things. Fate-defiers like myself would surely remember.”
“…”
“Whether you possess your past memories or not, the fact that you are the person I remember does not change.”
In the silence, the Herald spoke as if trying to persuade Lennok.
“Now that you have returned, much explanation is not needed. The head of the Black Edict made a contract with the honored ones and accepted a set conclusion in exchange for saving the souls contained in the Gabihaeng.”
“…”
“The fate of the family head, who fell at the Grand General’s hand, returning to the honored ones according to the contract is the established providence. What could be unfair or unjust about it?”
“I think it won’t be too late to judge that after I find out why you all desire Myeong’s fate so much.”
Lennok’s gaze turned cold.
“The reason you tried to pass the causality of the Gabihaeng to me, yet tried to take away the legacy and corpse Myeong left behind… The reason Myeong sealed the legacy at the cost of his own death.”
“…”
“If it feels like all those reasons are connected as one, is that merely my delusion?”
What was the reason the Three Grand Dukes and the Ascendant were so obsessed with Myeong’s legacy?
Why did the Jinwa of the previous timeline try to devour the legacy, even giving up everything else?
He was certain. The answer was close enough to touch.
The reason Lennok had desperately tried to become stronger was precisely so he wouldn’t have to back down powerlessly in a situation like this.
“It is a pity.”
The Herald’s expression clouded over, as if he knew he couldn’t change Lennok’s mind after hearing his response.
“Because our understandings do not align, you cannot see the right path even though it is there. What will you do, Grand General?”
[INSECTS THAT CANNOT ESCAPE THE GARDEN NO MATTER HOW THEY CRAWL AND SCUTTLE]
Jinwa spoke in a mocking tone.
[THEY ARE NOT EVEN WORTH PAYING ATTENTION TO]
“…”
[IF YOU WISH FOR THE CONTRACT TO BE FULFILLED, YOU DEAL WITH IT]
Was she intending to watch from a step back in this situation?
She was cautious.
So overly cautious that it complicated Lennok’s thoughts.
When he had met her as an Incarnation Body inside the Cradle, she had abandoned everything and rampaged, revealing her true body.
Yet now that time had been turned back, her taking a step back to observe the situation without acting rashly…
That fact itself seemed to be telling Lennok that he was missing something.
What had made Jinwa rampage in the previous timeline, but now made her act with extreme caution.
There was an inviolable point to her that Lennok was sure he had provoked, yet still didn’t understand.
As Lennok thought of this and once again reviewed the memories of the past that he had mulled over countless times.
“It cannot be helped.”
The Grafter’s three heads simultaneously closed their eyes and swayed slowly, each letting out a different voice.
“I have no desire to be rude to a hero of the Empire…”
“But in the end, despite the Grand Duke’s warning, you came here.”
“Great traitor. You will regret this day’s judgment for a long, long time.”
Flash!
The Grafter’s consciousness, which had been unified into one right after meeting Lennok, split into three.
At the same time, the six arms dangling from his right torso moved in unison.
Three arms swept the floor of the audience chamber with their fingertips, while the other three formed hand seals in the air.
[Flourishing Vortex Instant]
[Severance]
[Unraveling]
Kiiiiing…!
Following the three chants that came almost simultaneously, three wings fluttered from behind the Herald’s back.
As the Grafter’s three wings moved, the spatial xyz-axes were all distorted and crushed.
With a tremendous shockwave, the entire void of the audience chamber twisted and burst apart explosively.
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!!!
Beyond a consciousness where time seemed to have stopped, Lennok and the Spell Master were thrown apart in opposite directions.
The Spell Master, avoiding the Herald’s thick hand descending from above, rotated his body and activated his Conjunction Spellcraft.
He instantly conjoined and stitched together the Herald’s different arms as they tangled chaotically in the air.
Jjeo-eop!
“Hmm…!”
“A Trait-type.”
“An insect like you?”
The fifth and second arms were joined, and the first and sixth arms were stuck together.
A twisted posture where different hands were intertwined and conjoined, momentarily unable to form hand seals.
Had the Grafter also noticed that the Conjunction Spell Master’s ability had similarities to his own?
In the moment the Herald paused, his three strangely elongated heads twisting.
Lennok, unleashing a burst of electricity, smashed through the wall of the audience chamber’s void and leaped outside.
KWWAAAAANG!!!
Lennok and the Spell Master, bursting out from beyond the collapsing wall, quickly traversed the corridors of Yeongheo Palace.
“Spell Master, you’re more skilled than I thought. Your timing was so good it’s hard to believe it was your first time facing him.”
Just now, the Conjunction Spell Master had woven through the six arms as if he had predicted the Herald’s movements, tangling up his lines of attack in one go.
His skill at conjoining flesh and muscle to seal movement was more exquisite than expected, enough to buy Lennok time to make a decision.
“Do you have experience fighting a monster like that?”
“When a human body has multiple arms, the range of motion for each arm is inevitably reduced.”
The Spell Master replied, running alongside Lennok.
“I was interested in mutations and collected some data while conducting human experiments. Compared to you, it’s a trivial talent.”
“…How can every single one of your conclusions and ways of thinking be so skewed?”
“So, what’s the plan from here?”
The Spell Master glanced to the side, looking at Lennok who was picking up speed.
“As you know, we are currently running in the complete opposite direction from Pandemonium. At this rate, we won’t escape Yeongheo Palace; we’ll enter even deeper into its core.”
“…”
“It’s an effective move if the goal is to buy time, but at this rate, neither of us will be able to escape this place.”
KWAGAGAGWANG!
Six arms burst through the corridor wall, and three heads appeared simultaneously.
The moment the Herald of the Three Grand Dukes, who hadn’t even flinched upon discovering the members stealing the legacy, began to move in earnest.
A bizarre, purple sigil rotated above the Herald’s head, becoming a Spell-Word, as Jinwa sent her will to block their path.
Just as the Herald of the Three Grand Dukes and the Ascendant began to pursue them using their authorities.
But Lennok answered the Spell Master’s question without wavering.
“We’re not escaping right now. Just as you said, I intend to go to the deepest part of Yeongheo Palace.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Herald and the Ascendant didn’t hesitate to speak harshly while discussing their deal. But despite that, they both avoided even mentioning a ‘certain topic’.”
Even amidst the tense chase, Lennok’s eyes turned cold.
“The Mausoleum of the Corpse Emperor. I will secure the ‘secret’ hidden somewhere in this Yeongheo Palace right here and now.”
The conclusion Lennok reached amidst the rapidly unfolding situation.
Why had the Grafter said the causality of the Gabihaeng was already attributed to Lennok?
Several possibilities came to mind immediately.
The most likely one was, of course, the branching point of the Gabihaeng he had seen through the mirror of the Ascension Relic.
It was likely because the worst possible branching point, one Lennok would never have chosen, had been instilled in him through the relic’s mirror.
However, the branching point of the Gabihaeng that Lennok had actually seen in the relic had little to do with Myeong’s existence.
If Lennok had received the causality of the Gabihaeng through the mirror, there should have been some trigger for him to realize it.
It wasn’t that it didn’t make sense, but there was an equally difficult-to-accept doubt that came with it.
That was why Lennok had aimed from the start for the destination that could resolve all these questions.
The Mausoleum of the Corpse Emperor, existing in the deepest part of Yeongheo Palace.
A hidden place where some ‘secret’ was concealed instead of the Emperor’s corpse.
In the previous timeline, Jinwa knew the secret of the mausoleum was related to Myeong’s legacy and tried to use Lennok to break the deal.
After everything went wrong, she revealed her true body and rampaged, trying to swallow the secret and the legacy whole without a care for the consequences.
The reason why the currently docile Jinwa had gone to such lengths back then, desperately trying to consume Yeongheo Palace.
It was clear that the secret of the mausoleum was the key to this affair.
“Since I don’t know where Croken is right now, I can’t expect any help.”
Crack, crack…!
As the black fissures spread and agonizing pain shot up his arm, Lennok’s eyes turned cold as he gripped it.
“While dealing with the Herald chasing us, I’ll find the location of the mausoleum and secure a way to uncover the secret’s identity.”
“Hmm…”
“However, the Grafter’s authority and abilities seem too strong to ignore. It will be a difficult task in many ways.”
KWAGAGAGWANG!!!!
Every time the Grafter’s three wings moved, the three coordinate axes of space distorted and warped violently.
Each time, the ceiling and walls of Yeongheo Palace collapsed helplessly, and monsters with cephalopod heads appeared.
An aberrant army that had descended from the heavens, pulling the chariot, following the Herald of the Three Grand Dukes.
The cursed superhumans who once bore the names of the Imperial Palace Dragon Rider Corps and the White Letter Titan Legion were closing in from all sides.
Having already received Jinwa’s permission to use his power, had he decided there was no reason to hesitate? He was committing his full force to tighten the encirclement.
While enduring the backlash from summoning his past self through the ring, he had to face the Grafter and the aberrant army.
With his and the Spell Master’s power, they had to escalate this chaos to an uncontrollable level, find the Corpse Emperor’s Mausoleum, and secure the secret.
And they had to do all this without a single mistake, while also conserving strength in consideration of the Ascendant who had yet to act.
Just as Lennok shared the plan he’d formulated in the heat of the moment with the Spell Master.
“Good. That’s a better answer than I expected.”
Screech!
The Spell Master stopped in his tracks.
“Spell Master?”
“It will be an extremely difficult task, but I still have a way to handle this entire process at once.”
The Spell Master turned to face the Herald who was approaching, crushing the ceiling and walls, and brought his hands together.
“Adamant Thunder. You go and find the Mausoleum of the Corpse Emperor.”
“Wait—”
“I will buy time until then.”
Fwooooosh!!!
A colorless ripple exploded from the Spell Master’s body before he even finished his sentence.
But Lennok realized at a glance that it wasn’t just a sign of a Domain’s deployment.
“Conjunction Spellcraft, don’t tell me…!!!!”
Kigigigigik-!!!!
The colorless ripple and the Spell Master’s soul itself began to twist and mix, forcibly ‘conjoining’.
A sense of wrongness, as if the Root Mindscape the Spell Master deployed was forcibly merging with the ideal realm that existed within him.
Would it feel like this if one were to forcibly merge the Domain gained at Level 7 with the authority learned upon reaching Level 8?
The moment he thought that, Lennok realized what the Conjunction Spell Master was about to do.
One of the strongest abilities he possessed, which he had mentioned in passing just before they left Gateway City.
The one thing only the Conjunction Spell Master was permitted to do, manifesting by ‘conjoining’ his Domain and authority with his spellcraft—
“Rosette Open. Central Operating Room, open.”
Crunch!
He strongly clasped his hands, which had formed a seal, breaking the intricately interlocked fingers one by one.
His spiritual power, pushed to its absolute limit with the Geas of breaking all of his own fingers—the fingers of a transcendent surgeon—as the price.
The Spell Master, having broken all ten fingers on both hands without exception, extended his bloodied hands and declared.
“Artificial Ideological Domain Manifestation.”