Chapter 1451: A New Phase (16)
A blue moon rising in the quiet night sky. A beautiful garden where white flowers were in full bloom.
A table was set in the center of the vast flower garden, which seemed frozen in time.
A skeleton with a black gleam in its eyes turned the page of an old book and spoke.
“I didn’t expect to see you again for a while after our last meeting. This is unexpected.”
“……”
“If we were to meet again like this, wouldn’t it make our farewell then meaningless?”
“I don’t recall us having such a grand farewell. Nor did I think that would be the last time.”
Lennok approached through the vast flower garden and said.
“However, I didn’t expect to find you here, having left the Dark Archive behind.”
“Oh dear, if you’ve come to return the book you borrowed then, my apologies.”
The lich replied leisurely.
“Normally, I’d share a reunion with you over a skeleton quiz… but I have a prior guest.”
“……”
“Instead, I’ll specially extend the loan period this time. Will that be alright?”
Lennok didn’t answer, silently gazing at the garden under the moonlight.
There were four people sitting opposite each other at the table.
An elf with long, light-green hair; a gaunt lich scattering a black gleam from its eyes.
A youthful woman with her eyes closed and head raised, and a white knight in armor as white as snow.
Ironically, aside from the white knight, Lennok knew the other three.
The Ascendant of the Outer Lei Clan, the Answerer of the 2nd World, and the Lighthouse Keeper of the Eyes of Blue.
Lapis Falcia.
He had never encountered her directly after she had inherited all the authority of the Lighthouse Keeper, and he never expected to see her in a place like this.
Nevertheless, the moment Lennok saw Lapis’s face, he realized how this strange meeting had come to be.
“A meeting between an Ascendant of the Old World and an Ascendant of the Current World. No matter how loose the causality of the Central region has become, this couldn’t have been easy to arrange.”
Lennok said calmly.
“A medium would have been necessary to make such a thing possible. They used the Lighthouse Keeper for that role.”
“Hoh.”
“Did she use her authority of ‘Observation’ to allow the spiritual essences of the two to coexist here?”
Naoise Penn was a great necromancer who had set foot in the Second World and successfully ascended to the Third World.
Because he chose to be an Answerer rather than an Ascendant, his very existence was twisted, and he could not recklessly interfere in the affairs of the Third World.
Thus, he had left himself on the outer continent, creating the Dark Archive to indirectly intervene in its affairs.
He was a heavyweight of the Old World who had never made a direct move, other than meeting Lennok when he visited the Dark Archive in person.
For such a being to now move to meet an Ascendant of the present age, some form of assistance would have been necessary.
Lennok understood that much, and at the same time, he deduced that Lapis had taken on the role for this meeting.
The Lighthouse Keeper, who has inherited the authority of Heavenly Sight for generations, is a missionary tasked with observing the Outer Sea and delaying ruin.
The power of ‘Observation’ possessed by the successive Lighthouse Keepers went beyond simply holding concepts in place; it could even halt the flow of causality, if only for a moment.
Through this, Lennok had intuited that Lapis was using her power to observe and keep the two Ascendants in this flower garden.
“If you’ve understood that much, then a lengthy explanation won’t be necessary.”
Naoise Penn replied.
“You already understand the way the universe works. You must have also observed the roles the gods of the sea played in Paradise Lost.”
“……”
“Did the conclusion of Paradise Lost make you stronger, or did it shake you? It might not matter either way.”
The lich, turning the pages of the old book, chuckled and spoke slowly.
“You are not one to seek answers from others. You are one who finds meaning in the process of seeking and learning for yourself. Haven’t you already reached a conclusion?”
“I’m not sure who’s the one that doesn’t need questions.”
“But for that very reason, I cannot deny that whenever you do ask something, it carries a certain weight. Yes, have you come about the matter of the Snake Guarding the Well?”
“Before I hear about that, let me ask one thing first.”
Lennok said.
“This meeting. It’s because of the banquet being held in the Central region, isn’t it?”
[…….]
At that moment, the white knight, who had been sitting motionlessly at one side of the table, reacted for the first time.
The pure white helmet, which had been still as if it had no interest in Lennok, creaked as it turned to the side.
Looking at the two silent Transcendent beings, Lennok spoke.
“I heard that the Grand Generals of the Imperial Palace and the Ascendants of the Old World are scheduled to gather in the Central region. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Ascendants from the Old and Current Worlds have met here at this time.”
“……”
“Do you intend to intervene?”
“I see now why the necromancer said you are not one to seek answers.”
At that moment, Dadam, who had been silent, opened her mouth, her voice devoid of emotion.
“You already have the answer. You merely seek to confirm and reaffirm it time and again through others. Is this moment any different?”
“……”
“Let’s speak of the matter concerning the Snake Guarding the Well.”
Dadam slowly turned her gaze to Lennok and spoke with her characteristically dry eyes.
“It is true that a great conflict of unknown origin occurred in the southern Great Forest. A massive battle is presumed to have taken place, and as a result, Pyeonram seems to have suffered a grave blow.”
“Was an Ascendant murdered by someone? What happened?”
“……”
Dadam simply stared at Lennok instead of answering.
It wasn’t that there was any special meaning; it was a strange feeling, as if she didn’t know how to react.
It was only then that Lennok, realizing he wasn’t exactly in a position to talk after killing Jinwa, fell silent. The lich spoke.
“As you, who experienced the events of Paradise Lost, would know, if an Ascendant had been killed in the Great Forest, the southern continent would not be this quiet. We cannot yet be certain about that part.”
“…I see.”
“However, it is a fact that her consciousness was damaged to a level equivalent to death. Those who grasped the situation a step too late headed for the Great Forest, but it seems they couldn’t find Pyeonram.”
Naoise Penn said, turning a page of the old book.
“Currently, the guardian of the Great Forest has vanished and her whereabouts are unknown. It’s a situation where we can’t even confirm if she is actually dead.”
“So it’s certain her consciousness was greatly damaged, but it’s unknown if she’s actually dead…”
Lennok fell into thought.
“We must find the mastermind. If someone has subdued an Ascendant and obtained their true body, disaster will spread across the four continents.”
“……”
It was unknown who the opponent who fought Padma Kiesa was, but it was self-evident that their purpose was exceedingly impure.
A 9-level sorcerer who has lived for over hundreds of years. And a Transcendent who has accumulated karma while shouldering the mission of guarding the well for a long time.
If her body were to be used or offered for personal purposes, it was difficult to even imagine what might happen.
“While it’s not yet clear who fought the snake, it’s not as if we have no idea of their identity.”
The lich said calmly, turning a page.
“In my world, Ascendants mad with conflict would sometimes defeat the vanquished and take their bodies. Do you understand what I mean?”
Naoise Penn was a necromancer who had successfully become an Answerer in the Second World and reached the Third.
It wasn’t difficult to grasp why he would go out of his way to use an example from the Old World to explain divine blood at this point.
“You mean that the one who clashed with Pyeonram in the Great Forest might be one of the Ascendants from the Old World.”
“There are a few who have been wandering outside the continent that has become a hell, biding their time.”
The lich said.
“Now that the path to the Central region has opened and the Ascendants have begun to move, who can defy the great flow? Do you believe such things are happening only in the Great Forest?”
“……”
“Old friends and rivals are moving to claim a place in the finale… If you plan to attend the banquet, you should be careful.”
A great conflict in the Great Forest. Pyeonram’s disappearance and the movements of the Old World’s Ascendants.
It wasn’t the harvest he had expected, but in the end, he had obtained far more dangerous information than he’d anticipated.
A method made possible because Lennok’s status had surpassed the level of being comparable to Ascendants, reaching a point where he could directly contact and meet them alone.
Borrowing the perception of great beings who directly interfere with causality, he reached a dangerous secret he could never have known otherwise.
However, the problem was that it was impossible to know how much consideration to give this newly acquired information.
He intended to prioritize reaching Level 9, but it was difficult to guess how far Pyeonram’s problem was entangled.
“…Mr. Van.”
At that moment, Lapis, who had been sitting between the two Ascendants, spoke for the first time.
Placing a hand gently on the table, she rose from her seat and took a step.
Even with her eyes closed, Lapis approached Lennok naturally, without losing her direction or balance.
“……”
For a moment, Lennok couldn’t respond to her words and just looked down at Lapis silently.
It was because he realized she was a little taller than he remembered.
Even though he tried not to think about it, the moment he became aware of that fact, memories of the past naturally came to mind.
Passing the two Ascendants who were watching with a strangely intrigued look, Lapis opened her mouth.
“I have something to tell you.”
“……”
“It will only take a moment, so could you come this way?”
“…Alright.”
He walked through the garden, passing the motionless white knight, the expressionless Dadam, and the Answerer reading his book.
A vast garden of countless chrysanthemums, shining white under the blue moonlight.
How long did they walk down the seemingly endless path? At some point, Lapis stopped, and Lennok, from behind her, raised his gaze.
“Having experienced Paradise Lost, I think I know where this place is.”
Lennok looked up at the blue moon in the night sky and spoke.
“A garden of the blue moon that illuminates the dark sky. Was this what you thought of as the [Eyes of Blue]?”
“……”
A blue moon that illuminates the night sky. Countless chrysanthemums blooming on the ground.
The mission of the Lighthouse Keeper to observe the Outer Sea until death, and the countless Watchers who joined that mission and perished.
If it was a space filled with such strong symbols and metaphors, understanding its essence was not that difficult.
This was the Domain that Lapis Falcia had completed as a Lighthouse Keeper, a space that held her heart.
The two Ascendants of the Old and Current Worlds had been holding their meeting within the Lighthouse Keeper’s Domain.
“It’s been quite a while since we talked in person.”
Lennok said quietly.
“Entering your mental domain without permission was-”
At that moment, as Lapis turned around, Lennok stopped speaking.
Lapis, standing in the middle of the beautiful flowerbed, was gradually becoming transparent from her feet up.
“Mr. Evan.”
Lapis, whose form was slowly fading in the center of the garden, said calmly.
“Soon the phase of the moon will change, my domain will close, and this place will vanish. Before that, I’ll tell you what I’ve seen first.”
“……”
“There is one way to confirm Pyeonram’s life or death.”
As if there wasn’t even time to reflect on what happened when they parted in Vulcan.
Without any particular greeting or response, Lapis explained in a calm tone.
“I know that you obtained a fragment of the World Tree through the events of Paradise Lost. It can be the key.”
“…A key? What do you mean?”
“Because it is a matter related to you, Mr. Evan, I cannot see it clearly… but soon, it seems a moon will descend near Vulcan.”
Lapis raised her gaze.
“It seems something related to Divinity is going to happen, and you will be able to obtain what you desire there.”
“……”
Lapis’s message, which seemed to know that Lennok had obtained a fragment of the World Tree, even though she couldn’t have seen the events of Paradise Lost directly.
Her attitude, mentioning a strangely specific event—that a moon would descend near Vulcan—while it felt somewhat vague.
It was as if she was not in this moment, but was peeking into fragments of a distant future and relaying them to Lennok.
“You… are not looking at me and having this conversation right now.”
Realizing this, Lennok walked towards Lapis and said.
“Even at this very moment, you are using your authority to constantly observe facets of the future.”
“……”
“Did you raise the authority of Heavenly Sight at the cost of your vision? How long have you maintained that state?”
Lennok asked.
“Is Grisha still by your side? Where are the twins, and what are they doing?”
“The authority of Heavenly Sight is not to predict, but to observe… What I see is not an actual existing future, but something closer to a conclusion reached by combining the causality that exists in the present moment.”
Lapis replied quietly.
“You, Mr. Evan, have a goal you wish to achieve. You can obtain it by confirming Pyeonram’s life or death. It merely shows me the observed data based on these two facts…”
“…Lapis.”
Lapis’s explanation that Lennok’s prioritized goal and the confirmation of Pyeonram’s status were linked.
Did confirming Pyeonram’s status ultimately have something to do with Lennok reaching Level 9?
She shouldn’t have been able to directly read Lennok’s future using the authority of Heavenly Sight, but if she had nevertheless vaguely traced that boundary and found a meaningful clue for Lennok.
It was impossible to guess how much time it must have taken for Lapis, who had inherited the power of the Lighthouse Keeper, to wield that authority so freely.
“I’ve become able to do many things, but what I can see directly is still only a very small part.”
Lapis said with her eyes closed.
“But, nevertheless, thanks to you opening the way, Mr. Evan, many things have changed. Others are also fulfilling their roles in their respective positions.”
“……”
“The birth and death of an Ascendant are like two sides of the same coin, so we intend to kill an Ascendant sealed in the Demonic Realm to bring a new Ascendant to this land.”
Lapis slowly turned towards Lennok and said softly.
“The conquest of the Second Gate will be the branching point, and if we succeed, you, Mr. Evan, might be able to take that causality for yourself.”
Paaaah…!!!
White flower petals scattered and soared up into the dark night sky.
The gust of petals soon filled the space between Lennok and Lapis, making them seem unattainably distant.
Lapis, her whole body turned faint, turned and disappeared as if sending her will on a gust of wind.
“Many things have happened, but my thoughts still haven’t changed.”
“……”
“If, someone must provide one answer in this world…”
After saying that, Lapis silently turned her gaze and slightly opened her eyes.
With unfocused, blurry eyes, Lapis took in Lennok’s form and then bowed her head slightly.
“Please, I sincerely hope you achieve what you desire.”
Fwoosh!!!
The image of Lapis, swept up in a wind of flowers, disappeared, and even the blue moon in the night sky lost its light.
As the master of the Domain departed first, her domain that had appeared in the skies of Vulcan also began to slowly vanish.
Just as Lennok silently looked at the spot where Lapis had left and raised his gaze, a soft voice came from behind.
“It seems there are complicated circumstances. I suppose I shouldn’t ask questions?”
“……”
Somehow, the skeleton with empty, glowing eyes was standing behind Lennok.
The Answerer, closing the old book he held in one hand, spoke leisurely.
“Since the Lighthouse Keeper has left first, we can’t talk for long either. I came to let you know that our meeting is over.”
“For someone just saying that, you seem to have been standing there for quite a while.”
“Heh heh… Don’t worry, I didn’t rudely eavesdrop on your conversation.”
The lich gave a dry cough and made a motion of laughing, his skull rattling.
“Even without that, I already know that a moon will soon descend near this city. She spoke of Divinity, didn’t she?”
“……”
“What the Lighthouse Keeper sees is unclear in many aspects and difficult to explain. Like a lighthouse illuminating the night sea, it sometimes illuminates not the truth, but only a facet of it.”
“You speak as if you know Lapis well.”
“I am rather respectful of the fact that the child is trying to sacrifice herself to uphold her beliefs.”
“……”
“I know that you intend to become an Ascendant.”
The Answerer’s question cut straight to the core, his gloomy eye-lights flashing.
As Lennok stared at the lich silently without answering, it took a step.
“Even without reading your mind, I can see that you’ve reached a conclusion. The Lighthouse Keeper must have dimly sensed it as well and told you the method she saw.”
“Do you think Lapis told me a method I need?”
“If she mentioned Divinity to you, I can roughly guess what that child saw.”
Amidst the distant flower-scented wind, the scenery of the Domain vanished, and the lich’s form grew faint.
But the Answerer paid no heed to his own form fading into the darkness and raised his gaze.
“If Divinity already resides within the body of a mere human, which aspect of you do you think she was referring to?”
“…That’s.”
If Divinity did exist within Lennok, and if Lapis had read and mentioned it, how would that be possible?
Due to Targeted Resistance, Lapis should not have been able to read Lennok’s fate or future in the first place.
And that is precisely why, the moment Lennok heard the Answerer’s words, he was able to understand the reason.
Lapis had not pierced through the Targeted Resistance to read Lennok’s fate or future.
It was simply that what Lapis saw was the Targeted Resistance that Lennok possessed itself—
“I believe you’ve already understood what I’m trying to say.”
The lich’s gleam shone strangely as it looked at Lennok.
“It seems the secret to your most dangerous talent lies there.”