Chapter 1443: A New Phase (8)

Aris had sent word that the Guardian Spirit Beast, which had been slumbering for a long time since the end of the Subjugation Operation, had awakened.

Upon hearing the news, Lennok immediately moved to check on the Guardian Spirit Beast’s condition.

[I really can’t believe it.]

As they walked down the tower’s corridor, Davi grumbled nonstop from within Lennok’s arms.

[There’s a natural order to things, so how could that gluttonous thing already be…!!]

“…”

The Cybernetic Spirit clutched its stomach and rolled around inside his coat.

While Lennok watched, Davi shot up and spoke as if she had made a decision.

[Master! This won’t do. You must feed me Ultimate Lightning right now. I’ll try to withstand it!!]

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

Lennok pulled Davi’s tail to stop her squirming and said,

“You seem to be mistaken about something. The Guardian Spirit Beast didn’t eat Ultimate Lightning. It was entrusted with storing fragments of Ultimate Lightning and only absorbed some of its energy.”

[Isn’t that the same thing?]

“No, it’s not. I could entrust it with that role because it’s a spiritual beast born from the origin of Ouroboros. For any other being, it would be an unbelievably dangerous task.”

Lennok gave a bitter smile and averted his gaze.

“Was the Ascension Ritual the deciding factor…? Looking back, I really did feed it all sorts of ridiculous things.”

A considerable amount of time had passed since the Guardian Spirit Beast had fallen into an endless sleep after the Subjugation Operation.

It hadn’t even woken when Akendrias, who was particularly fond of the beast, left the tower, which gave a sense of how long it had been.

The fact that the Guardian Spirit Beast was now about to awaken was likely thanks to the visit of the Outer Lei Clan’s Ascendant to Vulcan.

It was the result of feeding the leftover power from the Ascension Ritual, which Dadam had offered to Lennok, entirely to the Guardian Spirit Beast.

It had succeeded in absorbing enough power for the long-slumbering Guardian Spirit Beast to finally awaken.

[Master…]

Dangling upside down with her tail caught in Lennok’s hand, Davi narrowed her eyes.

[Somehow… somehow… you seem very expectant. What’s going on!]

“I told you it’s not like that… no, you’re right to some extent.”

Lennok, who had been about to deny it unconsciously, quickly admitted the truth.

“You know how long that thing has been asleep. At this point, I can’t help but be expectant, even if I try not to be.”

[What’s going on! What’s going on! What’s going on!]

“Could you please stop repeating the same thing over and over?”

Lennok walked down the corridor, holding the struggling Davi.

“Davi, be honest, you’re curious too. Admit it. Accept your inner voice.”

[…]

“Don’t you want to see what kind of form it took after sleeping for so long?”

[…Hmph.]

As Davi seemed to have similar thoughts, she quickly stopped her fussing and fell into serious contemplation.

[Since it’s come to this, I hope it got ridiculously huge from all it ate. So it can be differentiated from me.]

“There you go again.”

[No, this is a most important issue!]

Davi scurried up Lennok’s shoulder and vigorously rubbed her fluffy tails against his face.

Just as Lennok let out a small laugh at the tickling tail fur that seemed to be trying to slow him down, Davi’s movements came to a halt.

After fawning over Lennok for a while, the Cybernetic Spirit froze in place as if caught by someone else.

Only after brushing the tail fur from his face could Lennok see Aris standing right in front of him.

“…”

“I often thought about it in the Rebatenon University research lab, but…”

Aris said with a peculiar expression.

“You two always seem to get along so well.”

“…How long have you been watching?”

“Since she was burning with a challenging spirit, saying something about wanting to eat Ultimate Lightning?”

“…”

Lennok pressed his forehead at Aris’s answer, which meant she had been watching from the very beginning.

Davi had already buried her head in Lennok’s chest, hiding like a rabbit in its burrow.

Lennok cleared his throat and said,

“For the sake of Davi’s dignity, I ask that you keep this a secret.”

“Actually, that was a lie. I didn’t see a thing.”

“…”

Aris, changing her tune with a nonchalant smile, stood beside Lennok.

[What a scary organic lifeform…]

Lennok walked with Aris, letting Davi’s small grumble from his chest go in one ear and out the other.

“I’m a little late because I was delivering the recommended guidelines that Pandemonium must follow within District 49.”

“That’s fine. What was their reaction?”

“Well. They are all very unique individuals, so it’s hard to judge easily, but…”

Aris said with a bitter smile.

“There are some very famous talents mixed in. It seems unavoidable that the tower will be a bit noisy for a while.”

Not only was Freya famous throughout the continent, but Maiya and Soryu were also well-known figures whom those in the know would recognize.

Even if outsiders couldn’t guess the existence of Pandemonium, it wouldn’t be strange for a commotion to arise just from their appearance in District 49.

“I will speak to the tower’s personnel myself.”

Lennok said calmly.

“A further explanation as to why this agreement was necessary will be needed.”

“If you have difficult circumstances, it’s fine not to say anything. I’m sure everyone will understand, won’t they?”

“It’s a matter related to Paradise Lost. It will be better for them to hear directly what happened there.”

“…”

Lennok had permitted the agreement with Pandemonium to manage the artificial spirit housing Myeong’s soul in Vulcan for the time being.

But to explain that, he had to share what he experienced in Paradise Lost with his tower colleagues.

There was no reason to hide the full details of what he had done under the identity of Adamant Thunder now.

“If that’s what you think, Lennok, then that’s what we should do.”

Aris, who had been looking at Lennok with a strange expression, slowly nodded.

“Though it seems others are thinking they can just break the agreement if things go south.”

“…Let’s return to the matter of the Guardian Spirit Beast. When did it wake up?”

Just before leaving for Gateway City to join Pandemonium, Lennok had called Aris separately to ask her to manage the Guardian Spirit Beast.

He thought that Aris, having watched over the Sinclair Magic Tower’s Guardian Spirit Beast for a long time, would be more familiar with looking after the spiritual beast than others.

It was a decision made for the Guardian Spirit Beast, which had remained asleep for a long time even after devouring the aftereffects of the Ascension Ritual, but he hadn’t expected to hear news as soon as he finished his business in Paradise Lost.

…Or could it have been because of the sea of lightning Lennok had used at the end of Paradise Lost?

“I think I started feeling signs of it a few days ago.”

As Lennok was lost in thought, Aris nodded.

“It barely moved except when it was eating its pureed tuna baby food, but recently, it started changing its sleeping position a lot.”

“Pureed tuna baby food, you say? No, that’s not the issue. Changing its sleeping position means…”

Lennok, who had started to question her unconsciously, realized that wasn’t the point and changed the subject.

“It seems to be tossing and turning in its sleep, constantly changing its position. So I’ve been carefully monitoring its reactions for a few days. Then one day, suddenly, like that…”

Aris pointed to the far end of the corridor and gave a bitter smile.

“It seemed to want to hide itself, so it completely concealed itself.”

“…”

At the entrance of the corridor leading to the magic tower’s underground cavern, a thick, white fog had gathered.

It swirled like clouds, seeming to prevent anyone from looking inside the underground cavern.

Aris stopped in her tracks and gave Lennok a silent nod.

Lennok, gazing into the fog, walked past Aris and slowly advanced into it.

Shoooosh…!!

The underground cavern looked as if it were filled with white clouds.

He could feel a very massive presence crouching inside, waiting for him.

Although its shape and size were impossible to guess, the presence itself was that of something enormous.

“…”

He walked through the sightless underground cavern, heading toward the direction of the presence.

He could feel that even Davi was holding her breath and watching from inside his coat.

[…]

What kind of appearance would the Guardian Spirit Beast, which had slept for so long after the Subjugation Operation, show upon waking?

What form did it take that required it to quietly sleep while devouring power for so long?

In the strangely tense atmosphere, the huge presence hidden in the clouds slowly approached.

The clouds parted, revealing a massive Cloud Dragon (Unryong) covered in pure white scales.

Guooooooh!!!

“You are…”

Its colossal body, spanning tens of meters as if an imoogi had shed its skin, and a mystical crystal orb held in its sharp foreclaws.

Its eyes, as deep and still as a lake, and a ferocious mouth that felt more savage than dignified.

Was this what the dragons of the East, who were said to ascend to the heavens with a Ruyi Orb in their mouths, looked like?

Its form seemed to hold a more ancient power, even when compared to Kundara’s Eight Great Dragon Kings.

The Cloud Dragon’s blue eyes, gliding smoothly through the clouds, gazed deeply at Lennok.

[…]

Unlike its previous appearance, its dark blue pupils held an unfathomable mystique.

A white mane flowed smoothly and elegantly along its sharp eyes.

[…Wow.]

Having grown through its long slumber, had the Guardian Spirit Beast finally been reborn as a new dragon?

The moment Davi, inadvertently envious, peeked her head out, the Cloud Dragon extended its will toward Lennok.

It extended an elegant foreclaw holding the Ruyi Orb, an elegant gesture as if to meet his hand in mid-air.

Reacting to the spiritual beast’s gesture, Lennok raised his hand to touch the Cloud Dragon’s form, and at that very moment…

The Cloud Dragon’s form, where it met Lennok’s touch, scattered and vanished like a cloud from his fingertips.

Fwoooosh…!!

“…”

[…Huh?]

Despite having been there a moment before as an unmistakable entity, the dragon’s form vanished like a fleeting illusion.

At the same time, from beyond the thick clouds, a completely different massive presence began to be felt in place of the Cloud Dragon.

As Davi tilted her head at the incomprehensible phenomenon, a colossal body revealed itself from within the clouds.

Kuuuung…!!

Thick, heavy legs, as sturdy and massive as steel beams, extended from the clouds to support it on the ground.

A vast and solid body like a tortoise. It stretched its heavy, deep-set neck to reveal itself.

A massive and ponderous Hyeonmu (Black Warrior), whose existence alone could be compared to a remote island, looked down at Lennok.

[Oh?]

Hwook!!

The moment Davi perked up her ears at its reliable appearance, the Hyeonmu disappeared again.

One moment it was standing steadfastly in the clouds, looking at Lennok, the next it vanished before his eyes like a phantom.

[Hey, what are you trying to do?]

Behind the grumbling Davi, something finally rolled out from within the clouds.

A round Donryong (Plump Dragon), plump and swollen like a balloon, with a white belly.

Chewing on its foreclaw, the Donryong’s appearance was incomparably docile compared to the Cloud Dragon and Hyeonmu.

A corpulent body that seemed to be the result of the Guardian Spirit Beast growing for hundreds of years in its previous form while it slept.

Hwook!!

This time, before Davi could say anything, the Donryong that had last shown itself vanished like a phantom.

Simultaneously, the thick clouds that had been overflowing from all sides quieted down and settled.

Within the dense clouds, the shadows of the Cloud Dragon, Hyeonmu, and Donryong flickered in turn.

The clouds began to flow slowly as if awaiting Lennok’s answer.

[…Master.]

Davi, finally understanding the Guardian Spirit Beast’s intention, asked in disbelief.

[Don’t tell me, is it asking you to choose right now?]

“It seems this was the reason the Guardian Spirit Beast woke up at this particular time.”

Lennok gave a bitter smile.

“It seems it intended for me to personally choose what form it would finalize its growth into from the very beginning.”

[No, what is this…]

“It’s an unexpected situation, but thinking about it, it’s not that difficult to comprehend…”

While Davi was at a loss for words, Lennok stroked his chin, lost in thought.

“In a way, it’s faithfully following my own method.”

There was no need to explain how important the concept of ‘choice’ was in Lennok’s paradigm.

Going beyond treasuring choice, Lennok’s answer was to use choice itself as a method.

Wasn’t the essence of the Kaleidoscope the very moment of observing and choosing a branching point within an infinite future?

Therefore, the growth of the Guardian Spirit Beast born from Lennok’s domain might perhaps be the same.

“Does it instinctively understand that it can advance to a higher state through choice? It seems it wasn’t just mindlessly eating and sleeping.”

Because it had the right to choose how it would grow, the Guardian Spirit Beast showed Lennok the various possibilities it could reach.

Rather than just blindly devouring power and growing, it would be completed through Lennok’s choice and ascend to an even higher state.

It had intuited that growth beyond its limits was possible without anyone telling it, and it had been waiting for Lennok to reach that point.

[Arurung.]

As if agreeing with Lennok’s words, the Guardian Spirit Beast’s slow cry echoed from beyond the clouds.

Upon hearing the cry, Davi jumped onto Lennok’s shoulder and shouted toward the clouds.

[Hey, don’t hide, come out and talk! I can understand you, you know?]

[A-awooo…]

As soon as it heard Davi, the presence on the other side of the clouds instantly shriveled.

But Davi, unfazed, stood on Lennok’s shoulder and tapped her forepaws.

[In the first place, if you were going to have Master choose, you should have prepared a few more samples! You slept for so long, and you’re going to show him just three and ask him to pick? Go make at least ten more, right now!!]

[Bow, bowoong.]

He could feel the shadow in the clouds frantically covering its head with its forepaws and fleeing.

Lennok, who had been looking back and forth between Davi and the Guardian Spirit Beast with a dumbfounded expression, let out a small sigh.

“I don’t know how my spirits all ended up with such vastly different personalities…”

“Lennok?”

At that moment, Aris, who had approached cautiously from beyond the clouds, appeared through the mist.

She approached hesitantly, her eyes slightly closed as if trying not to see, an awkward sight.

“I-is it over? Can I look at the Guardian Spirit Beast now?”

“…Why are your eyes closed?”

“Well, I thought you should be the first one to see the Guardian Spirit Beast, Lennok…?”

“You don’t need to be that considerate. Please, come over here.”

Lennok gave a bitter smile.

“I have something to tell you about the Guardian Spirit Beast’s growth.”

It didn’t take long to briefly share what he had seen with Aris.

“The Guardian Spirit Beast showed you several forms it could grow into and asked you to choose, Lennok…?”

Aris blinked her sea-blue eyes silently and asked.

“I-I thought it was an extraordinary spiritual beast in many ways, but this is beyond my imagination. To be able to choose the form it grows into at will…”

“How do the Guardian Spirit Beasts of other Magic Towers usually complete their growth?”

“There are minor differences, but broadly speaking, it’s not that different from a spiritual body. It feels like they naturally mature into an adult form over time?”

Aris replied.

“Of course, even after becoming an adult, there’s room for them to become stronger by awakening new abilities or spellcraft, or depending on the capabilities of the current Tower Lord, but I’ve never seen a case like this before. I think this is probably only possible because you are the Tower Lord, Lennok…”

“…”

“If this case becomes known to the academic world, it will cause a huge stir. Matters related to Guardian Spirit Beasts are sensitive issues for all Magic Towers… Perhaps the Tower Lords of other towers might even come to Vulcan to see it.”

“I did think I should meet with the Sinclair Magic Tower Lord at some point… but that’s not what’s important right now.”

Lennok gave a bitter smile and averted his gaze.

“As I said, the Guardian Spirit Beast showed me three forms. What do you think about them?”

“Hmm… I find it difficult to give a definitive answer on this part, but.”

After pondering, Aris said.

“Wouldn’t the second form be the most reliable for protecting the tower?”

“…That’s not the kind of opinion I was asking for.”

[I’m all for the first one, the Cloud Dragon form!!]

Davi said, peeking her head out from inside Lennok’s coat.

[No matter how I think about it, the Cloud Dragon is the coolest. A form of that caliber would be a fitting completion worthy of Master’s prestige!!]

“We’re not picking a design right now.”

“My, this is turning out to be more interesting than I thought.”

Aris said with a smiling face.

“Since it’s come to this, how about we call the tower’s personnel and discuss it all together?”

“I believe this is a busy time for them. Would others have the leisure for that?”

“It’ll probably be fine.”

Aris took out her phone from her pocket and showed him the disconnected network.

“The Deepweb is in an uproar right now because of what you did in Paradise Lost, Lennok. Thanks to that, even parts of the central network have gone down, so work isn’t progressing properly.”

“…”

“Right. It would be better to talk again after you’ve looked into what’s been happening in Vulcan.”

Aris turned naturally and smiled at Lennok.

“I’ll go and explain the situation to the others, so why don’t you check the internal situation in Vulcan in the meantime?”

[Master. For once, that organic lifeform has made a commendable suggestion.]

From within Lennok’s coat, a devilish whisper echoed as if on cue.

Somehow, the Cybernetic Spirit was already waiting with a tablet turned on and connected to an internal Deepweb address.

Its attitude was so sharp it was as if it had been waiting for these words since the moment they returned to Vulcan.

Davi, clutching the tablet, looked up at Lennok with sparkling eyes.

[We’re a little late, but what must be done, must be done.]

“…I don’t think that’s the right way to use that phrase.”