Chapter 1416: Paradise Lost (27)

A house-sized titan soldier gripped a massive spear, meters long, and pounded the ground like a bombing run.

The spacetime of Yeongheo Palace shuddered as if struck by an earthquake; the very axis of the earth twisted, and debris flew.

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!!!

The massive spear striking from all directions was a weapon of pure mass, weighing several tons on its own.

A barrage of such weight that a direct hit was unthinkable; even a graze would tear flesh and crush bone.

But Maiya was evading the relentless bombardment with nothing but her own body, taking it all head-on as she fled.

KWAAAAAAA!!!!

She ducked under the crossing spears, breaking through as if sliding. With her shortsword, she cut through the wreckage, clearing a path.

Shockwaves slammed into her, pushing her back. The ground beneath her collapsed, and even the air grew thin, but she did not stop.

With astonishing control, she parried the weight of the spears falling from above, deflecting them just enough to narrowly dodge.

And through it all, she never let go of the legacy clutched in her prosthetic left arm as she vanished into the debris as if sucked in.

Chwaaak!!

[Where did you hide!!!]

The enraged titan soldiers, having lost the Enforcer, swung their spears, but the impact couldn’t reach beneath the exquisitely piled rubble.

Leaning against a wall with her eyes closed, Maiya finally placed a hand on her neck and slowly exhaled.

A faint cough accompanied her rapid breaths as Maiya supplied oxygen to her body.

“…Cough.”

“They said you made it back from the Demonic Realm alive. It looks like your skills have improved.”

A voice echoed from a cavity where not even a speck of light could enter.

The Imaginary Dimension opened, and Hylaea, riding on Agneta’s back, stared at her with an incredulous expression.

“You lost an arm, yet your movements have gotten even better. Don’t tell me that’s the ‘ability’ you said you gained in exchange for your arm?”

“…Hylaea.”

Soryu and Sarin were buying time inside Yeongheo Palace, while Maiya led the other members in their escape.

But most of the forces pursuing them were, as expected, focused on Maiya, who was carrying the legacy.

Maiya, in turn, had not hesitated to move separately to draw the pursuers’ attention, acting on behalf of the less combat-capable members.

And despite it all, Maiya had endured until now, evading the chase coming from all sides, all by herself.

In response to Hylaea’s question, Maiya shook her head, her expression impassive as she caught her breath.

“An Enforcer is an agent, not a warrior. The knack for prioritizing the mission over combat is the most critical part of the curriculum.”

“…”

“As long as the Ascendant and the Herald don’t make a move, I can manage to transport the legacy. That’s not the problem.”

“If it’s about escaping Yeongheo Palace, we’re starting to see our destination.”

Hylaea said quickly.

“We’ve almost reached the north gate. Seeing as neither the Herald nor the Ascendant has come after us, Adamant Thunder and the Conjunction Spell Master must be-”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Having instantly steadied her breathing, Maiya looked down at the Penteract held in her prosthetic hand.

“This legacy… holding it, I’m starting to understand. It’s not an object with a fixed form. It’s closer to a mass of patternless information.”

“You mean it’s like a bundle of data that can’t be quantitatively analyzed?”

“Different from that, too. It’s more like its form was intentionally left undefined so it could change into anything.”

“What a convenient ability for an object to have….”

Agneta mumbled in a daze.

“If it can transform into any shape, doesn’t that mean it could also become the key to a safe or a treasure chest?”

“Agneta, I don’t think so. As far as I know, the Penteract’s transformations have a strong element of randomness-”

“No… perhaps that’s right.”

“…What?”

“I’ve seen a master key in Machina that works this way. It was an object that first identified the form of the lock or security, then changed its structure to match.”

“…”

“The very thing that was inside the throne, sealed by the Nether King’s death, might actually be a key that can open any seal….”

In the silence, Maiya’s gaze sharpened.

“They locked the key inside the lock. Because it holds such a contradiction, I believe this guess is close to the truth.”

“You mean Myeong left the Penteract in Paradise Lost to serve as a key….”

Immediately understanding Maiya’s words, Hylaea’s expression turned grave.

“Are you saying there’s a seal or a lock somewhere so powerful it requires a relic like the Penteract to be used as a key?”

“…”

Maiya didn’t answer.

Instead, with a thoughtful expression, she silently regulated her breathing and then immediately got to her feet.

“We proceed with the plan as is. Having come this far, we have to escape Yeongheo Palace with the legacy.”

“…”

“By drawing as much attention as possible, we can divide the forces within the palace. That alone will help those still in the annex.”

“…Well, I don’t know if this is good news or bad news, but there’s something I need to tell you about that.”

“What is it?”

Was this why Hylaea, who had been escaping in a different direction, came looking for Maiya?

In a situation like this, she wouldn’t have come to deliver the information herself unless it was incredibly important.

But the news Hylaea brought was far more unpredictable than what the Enforcer had anticipated.

“Agneta sensed Croken’s presence nearby.”

“…Are you sure?”

They had heard multiple times before the plan began that Croken’s participation was confirmed.

But despite that, Croken hadn’t shown himself once while the group made their way here.

So much time had passed that they were no longer even expecting him to join the fray.

And yet, Agneta could faintly sense Croken’s intervention right here?

“Look at this.”

In response to the doubtful Enforcer, Agneta took out a small compass.

An old item with a trembling, worn-out needle, its cardinal directions improperly marked.

“I got it as a gift from the Director after we finished the Kabahim job. He said it was an object that pulled my ability from the future and materialized it as a result.”

Agneta said in a daze.

“Instead of consuming a set stock, it can tell me where the person I’m thinking of is.”

“…Don’t tell me.”

The incident after the Kabahim Gate operation, where the Director had gathered the members and personally heard their wishes.

Was this compass the reward Agneta received from the Director back then?

“I used the compass to check the alligator’s location, but it’s weird. He’s close, but he’s not in Yeongheo Palace….”

Tucking the compass away, Agneta tilted her head.

“The alligator can’t cross the Imaginary Dimension like I can, so how is this possible?”

“Agneta. That must be the reward you received from the Director for participating in the [Gate] operation.”

Maiya asked.

“If the compass’s ability is basically a consumable, are you okay with using it up on Pandemonium’s business again?”

“It’s okay.”

Agneta nodded with a dazed look.

“I’ll just work hard again next time and get another gift from the Director. I always work hard.”

“…”

Maiya fell silent, and Hylaea gave a wry smile and shrugged.

“There’s a reason Agneta is the Director’s favorite in Pandemonium.”

“I don’t think that quite explains the situation… but regardless, I understand.”

Clack!!

Readjusting her grip on her shortsword, Maiya stood up, her eyes cold.

“If Cheondun is nearby, then there’s no need to hesitate. We’re escaping Yeongheo Palace, now.”

“What about the legacy? If what you said is true, Maiya-”

“Leave that to me.”

Maiya said, tightly clenching her prosthetic hand.

“The insurance I prepared before entering Yeongheo Palace was for a situation exactly like this.”

The form of a majestic temple, built upon a transparent, shallow lake.

The faint chorus of a choir echoed, layered with the soft, overlapping sound of trumpets.

A sorrowful organ melody provided the tune, and countless small candles placed around the lake cast their light.

This mysterious and beautiful sight that filled his chest… he had surely seen it somewhere before.

[To see the logic of the heavens, to hear the principle of causality, to interpret the melody of fate, and to arrive at this place.]

[The tilt of the scales is engraved here, left as the fourth promise.]

[Ars Nova Imperial Palace Key Armament No. 5.]

[Quasi-Authority: Corrupted Golden Rule]

The consciousness space Lennok had accessed when he obtained the Quasi-Authority from the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors.

The scenery of the sanctuary where the Corrupted Golden Rule had been kept had borne a similar form to this mausoleum.

“…”

Could it be a coincidence that the sanctuary where the Quasi-Authority was stored resembled the Corpse Emperor’s mausoleum?

Perhaps all the Authorities that had existed in Ars Nova were, in fact, powers related to the Emperor?

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but Lennok still moved forward slowly.

The moment he looked at the mausoleum and thought of the Quasi-Authority, a golden melody began to overflow before his eyes like an explosion.

Paaaaat…!!!!

The Corrupted Golden Rule awakened on its own, operating and painting over every scene reflected in his eyes.

The Quasi-Authority, which observed the cross-section of causality, guided Lennok like a surging, flowing stream.

It was as if the power of the Golden Rule was constantly strengthening inside the mausoleum, transmitting more information and sensations.

Even as he stood still, an explosive inspiration poured through his eyes, as if the Authority itself was growing.

Oooooooh!!!!

As the Authority grew ever stronger, things that were previously invisible began to appear.

It seemed he could see not just the cross-section of causality, but the cause and effect that existed at either end of that section.

A sensation that as the power of the Corrupted Golden Rule grew, it was instead approaching the very essence of the Golden Rule itself.

“That is….”

The shimmering golden waves, like a melody, were gathering and rapidly converging at the center of the mausoleum.

The spacetime coordinates within Yeongheo Palace where all causality conjoined, as the Spell Master had said. The direction where all the causality of the mausoleum, observed through the Corrupted Golden Rule, was severed.

That place, holding the contradiction of causality being both joined and severed simultaneously, had to be the final destination to conclude all of this.

Splash, splash!!

He staggered forward, kicking through the water that came up to his ankles.

Candles glowed faintly on the water’s surface, and a song with an unknowable meaning echoed endlessly.

“…Ugh.”

Each time he approached the mausoleum, following the golden melody, the crack engraved on his forearm widened.

Each time, an agonizing pain shot through him as if his nervous system was being stabbed with a knife, and his pale hand trembled faintly.

The price—perhaps the only one—that Lennok had to pay for learning all sorts of unknowable secrets through his regression.

But in this situation, it was a backlash that, above all, ground down his mental fortitude and hindered his movements.

If not for the ring, he wouldn’t have been able to drag things out this long, but because of it, the power continued to eat away at his body even after regressing.

Because it was a power that Lennok himself had used, it was not easy to resist, shake off, or accept.

He was simply enduring the constant, gruesome sensation of his body shattering like glass, the connection between his body and soul wavering.

“Hah, hah….”

Painfully collecting himself, Lennok slowly moved forward.

Even though he had arrived at the mausoleum with more energy to spare than anticipated, thanks to the Spell Master’s help, it was still this bad.

Had he thought too lightly of summoning his past self?

No, at the point when Jinwa was rampaging without any thought for the consequences, Lennok had clearly made the best choice.

He was only now paying an unexpected price because he hadn’t thought he would be able to return.

Oooooooh!!!!

Wading through the transparent lake, he entered a hall lined on both sides with statues of trumpet-blowing angels.

In the center, rising high, he saw a jewel coffin, its form so beautifully and elegantly curved it was dazzling.

It shone with a mysterious and beautiful luster, as if a house-sized jewel had been carved whole into the shape of an altar for entombing a corpse.

It possessed an unreal elegance; you would believe it was a work of art or a relic rather than a coffin to hold a body.

“…”

It’s right in front of me.

The Three Grand Dukes knew the secret of Yeongheo Palace was related to the Nether King’s legacy, yet they hid it from Jinwa.

Jinwa realized this during her decisive battle with Myeong and tried to obtain the legacy herself instead of letting the Three Grand Dukes have it.

If the ‘secret’ stored inside this coffin was that important to both sides…

If the Jinwa before his regression was willing to give up everything just to take this one thing…

Clack!!

He had no intention of wasting time with useless hesitation.

Without hesitation, Lennok grabbed the jewel coffin, clenched his teeth, and drew up his mana.

The moment he ignored the searing pain from the black crack, bit his lip, and pushed the coffin lid open—

—faced with the [Gate] contained within the impossibly ornate coffin, Lennok froze.

“…Why.”

Whoooosh…!!!!

The form of a [Gate], stained with darkness, shimmering inside the ornate jewel coffin that adorned the Corpse Emperor’s mausoleum.

At the completely unexpected sight, Lennok’s body momentarily stiffened.

A [Gate] was one of the very few passages in this causally-closed world that connected directly to the Outer Sea.

Unless it was a Gate that had existed in this world from the beginning, it was a transcendent concept so profound that it required the corpse of an Ascendant as a material just to be created.

What could it possibly mean for such a concept, a Gate, to be hidden inside a jewel coffin within the Corpse Emperor’s mausoleum?

Pushing the Corrupted Golden Rule to its limit, Lennok’s eyes grew cold.

‘It’s closed. Was it designed so that it cannot be opened by external force or interference?’

The Quasi-Authority obtained from the Demonic Realm had grown stronger, allowing him to see what was once invisible.

It wasn’t simply that the causality around the [Gate] was severed or cut off.

It was a sensation that the very ‘cause’ needed for this Gate to ‘open’ had been artificially removed.

Would this be the feeling of facing a locked chest for which no key was ever made?

The moment Lennok leaned forward to peer deeper into the jewel coffin—

[E V E N A F T E R R E T U R N I N G T H R O U G H T I M E O N C E]

[W A S T H I S P L A C E A L W A Y S T H E F I N A L D E S T I N A T I O N]

“…!!!”

KWAAANG!!!!

Lennok faced the flashing Spell-Word and recoiled back as if thrown.

At the same time, a lump covered in white slime, looking like a fragment of a snail, fell onto the lake.

Splat!!

The slime lump that landed on the jewel coffin was crushed on the spot, spreading out widely.

Suddenly, the purple Spell-Words that had begun to glow around Lennok ruthlessly burrowed into the slime lump.

Kagak, kagagagak!!!!

The purple Spell-Words embedded themselves in the slime like tattoos, instantly dyeing its appearance purple.

As if suffused with a deadly poison, the slime, now with purple skin, quickly took shape on the spot.

It soon transformed into the figure of a woman with a sharp and sinister impression, who settled onto the lake’s surface.

“No matter how skilled a caster, you shouldn’t have been able to approach the inside of the mausoleum this easily.”

Slowly, she braced a hand on the inside of the coffin and pushed herself up.

“It seems you have acquired a part of the Authority that only Ascendants can wield.”

“…Jinwa.”

Ars Nova Imperial Palace Key Armament No. 5. Quasi-Authority: Corrupted Golden Rule.

Had Jinwa faintly discerned the reason Lennok was able to reach the heart of the mausoleum so quickly?

“How ironic.”

The Ascendant, her whole body dyed in purple Spell-Words, spoke as she slowly looked down at her hands.

“Even though you cast everything aside and forgot, you already possess everything you need.”

“…”

He could tell the moment he saw her.

That was a body created by detaching a part of Jinwa’s true body and shaping it with Spell-Words.

Not some crude Incarnation Body she created, but unmistakably Jinwa herself.

Perhaps it was a form close to the original she possessed when she was alive.

“So this was the reason… why you didn’t actively involve yourself in this matter from the start.”

Slowly drawing up his mana, Lennok asked.

“You were watching the situation from a step back, gauging the right moment to intervene directly in the mausoleum?”

“I couldn’t risk ruining an important task by getting caught up in pointless variables.”

Splash!

Stepping onto the lake’s surface, Jinwa spoke, her water-soaked ceremonial robes fluttering.

“It seems the Trait-type insect is holding that Herald fellow at bay. I saw that the insect’s mind-imprint was greatly distorted compared to other humans.”

“…”

“I thought he might possess a troublesome ability.”

She recognized the Conjunction Spell Master’s ability was unusual and waited to avoid interference?

An overly cautious and blindly self-preservational attitude for a Level 9 Ascendant.

But Lennok thought this might be closer to the true nature of the master of Paradise Lost.

The Spell-Word user who had holed herself up in Paradise Lost for decades after the central city’s fall, continuing her own research.

A being whose rampaging, all-consuming attitude in the previous timeline had felt even stranger.

“You seem to have thought you could uncover all the secrets just by reaching this place, but you are wrong.”

The Ascendant declared.

“If it were a secret that could be known simply by opening a mausoleum, would all this commotion have been warranted?”

“…”

“If it were a power that could be obtained without any price, would that black wizard have fought so desperately to protect it?”

“…You.”

“The sin committed by the blood of the Black Edict was an indelible karma that was not forgotten even after the Empire fell. It was an unerased curse that made them suffer for all eternity.”

Stepping forward on the water, Jinwa said with a cold expression.

“The ending could only be written by washing blood with blood. Is that not why those Grand Duke bastards resorted to such pathetic tricks to get their hands on this?”

“…”

“Therefore, you who knock on the Gate. If you understand, then step back.”

KWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

From beneath Jinwa’s feet, a wave of Spell-Words mixed with countless meanings erupted explosively.

In an instant, it dyed the transparent waters of the mausoleum an ominous purple and surged toward Lennok.

“[The secret contained within the [Gate] is the original sin committed by the blood of the Black Edict itself.]”

Amidst the storm of wavering Spell-Words, the Ascendant spoke with a ghastly expression.

“It is not yours. You no longer have the right to possess it.”

“…We’ll see. I’m still not sure.”

Slowly, turning to face the downpour of Spell-Words, Lennok caressed the back of his hand.

The pain that came each time he traced the crack spreading across the back of his hand. The crack that grew as if to shatter his body each time he drew up his mana.

“Why Myeong sacrificed his life to protect this. Why the end of his Gabihaeng had to be here.”

“…”

“In the end, it means I won’t know until I open this.”

“Yes, what a truly pathetic affair.”

Jinwa said, grasping an array of strange characters in the air.

“Even after abandoning everything and returning… you’ve ended up as an insect that understands nothing.”

“…”

“I intended to respect the resolve you held long ago, but it is a meaningless effort with a creature incapable of dialogue. I will say no more.”

The torrent of Spell-Words overturned the entire lake, binding spacetime along with a tidal wave.

A transcendent scale hard to believe for someone not receiving the buffs of an Ideological Domain within Yeongheo Palace.

“You will not escape with some crude regression this time.”

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!

The moment the Ascendant’s spellcraft was about to grind the mausoleum’s scenery to dust, leaving not a single trace of its original form—

“…Yes. You’re right.”

Lennok, who had his eyes closed, slowly raised his gaze.

“This time will be different.”

He would not waste the time the Spell Master had created for him.

He would not turn his back on the will and possibilities Myeong had left for him.

He would settle everything that had begun in Gateway City, right here.

But, more than anything, so as not to let the journey he had walked thus far be in vain.

Pzzzt!!!

A flash of lightning pierced through the wave of Spell-Words, skewered Jinwa’s heart at tremendous speed, and accelerated.

Before she could even react, Lennok appeared behind her, catching the lightning that had passed through Jinwa with his fingertips.

He crushed her with brute force, breaking her balance, then slammed the Ascendant’s body into the ground.

KWAAAAAAAANG!!!!

“….!!!!”

The dynamic reversed in a flash.

The moment the battle began, the balance tilted drastically to one side.

The Ascendant’s grotesquely distorted gaze turned to the wizard looking down at her.

“I’ve already seen all I need to of the Spell-Words and Authority you use.”

Having crushed Jinwa in the blink of an eye, Lennok’s eyes turned cold.

“This time, I’ll kill your true body myself.”