Chapter 367: The Awakener (1)
“Aargh!!”
He sprinted, letting out a desperate scream. Mana surged wildly throughout his body, adding power to every step.
Jawoon, accelerating at tremendous speed, instantly began to catch up to Lennok.
Lennok was ahead, Jawoon was closing in, and Maiya was sprinting from furthest behind.
However, Lennok, closest to the gate, was incredibly slow, while Maiya was the fastest.
In that fleeting moment between catching up to Lennok and being caught by Maiya…
‘…Wait a minute.’
A question popped into Jawoon’s mind.
‘Then, where did that giant arrow he was riding go?’
[Run!!]
Whoooosh!!
No answer was needed.
Because a giant, armored spear shaft, plunging down from the sky, slammed right onto Maiya’s head just as she started catching up to Jawoon.
Its weight was such that it was hard to imagine it was a mere elongated arrow.
Maiya, who had tried to parry it lightly with one arm, was driven straight into the ground beneath the bridge, letting out a thunderous roar.
Kwaaang!!
“Ugh…!!”
The bridge’s support structure buckled inward as Maiya, pinned under the armored spear shaft, gritted her teeth.
It couldn’t have been a miracle that a spear shaft, simply thrown into the air, happened to fall on Maiya.
She, too, realized that all of this was the wizard’s careful arrangement.
“Evan…!!”
Maiya, raising her wobbly body, looked up at Lennok with chilling eyes.
She was already not in prime condition, having been through successive battles and the backlash of forcefully shaking off Ballak.
Her exhausted body, having consumed mana without proper rest in the labyrinth.
Even her diminished skill and condition after stepping down from her enforcer position.
But Maiya, casting aside all excuses that held her back, also rose to her feet.
It wasn’t too late yet.
The faint light seeping through the barely open crack in the gate did not yet belong to Lennok.
“Damn it…!”
Lennok, glancing back and realizing Jawoon hadn’t been hit and Maiya was back on her feet, faintly clicked his tongue.
He had hoped to take down Jawoon as well in one go, but he had to be content with just momentarily tying down Maiya, who had the best mobility here.
His chronic lack of mobility. And now, very little mana left.
With the gate open dozens of meters ahead, Lennok had only one option.
Lennok turned his head straight and began to run towards the gate.
Whoooosh!!
Bracing for the side effects of mana addiction, he enhanced his entire body with mana.
Ignoring the burning pain on the top of his feet, he bent his knees.
His sprinting speed began to increase further, but still, being caught by Jawoon was unavoidable.
Due to his naturally poor physical stats, the efficiency of mana-enhanced physical strengthening didn’t come easily.
‘30 meters to the gate…!’
Could he maintain his current lead and reach the gate first?
No matter how he thought about it, perhaps Evelyn would have been more suited for this kind of task than Lennok.
Even as he gasped and sprinted, various thoughts flashed through his mind, but his legs didn’t stop.
“Evaaaan!!”
Jawoon incessantly calling Lennok’s name right behind him, and Maiya sprinting with a chilling expression further back.
Stopping here didn’t just mean falling behind in the race.
To give meaning to all the time he had struggled to reach the end of this labyrinth.
To seize the opportunity Evelyn had yielded to him at the very end.
Lennok gritted his teeth and ran.
“Haaah, haaah…!!”
His whole body was burning hot, and his chest felt tight, as if being strangled.
He gasped, struggling to breathe properly, and raindrops of sweat constantly blurred his vision.
Every time he pushed himself to the extreme of such harsh pain, he recalled the moment he first opened his eyes in the factory.
That precarious day when no future or possibility could be confirmed or guaranteed.
That moment when he stole a car and escaped the factory without knowing anything.
That moment and now were no different.
Lennok was always ready to risk everything and answer the call to grasp a better future.
It didn’t matter if what awaited beyond this door wasn’t an Ascendant who knew all the answers.
He knew that maintaining such an attitude towards life was more important than a thousand talents and ten thousand fortuitous encounters.
He only hoped to find an answer before all this time of yearning and desire came to an end.
Just before his thoughts faded and he lost consciousness. But his body kept moving.
He could run further.
In front of the pure white gate connecting heaven and earth, three figures ran at different speeds.
The three figures, with vastly different reasons, processes, and outcomes, disappeared into the gate almost simultaneously.
Clunk!!
Immediately after, the faintly open gate closed, remaining motionless as if time had stopped.
Evelyn watched the entire process from behind and nodded.
“That’s enough.”
She knew she wouldn’t meet the Ascendant herself, but she felt relieved.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to meet Jindun. She had heard that he would pose questions and bestow gifts upon whoever awakened him beyond The Cradle.
Even without such material rewards, encountering a Transcendent beyond the mortal realm would have been a valuable experience for her.
But the reason Evelyn, knowing all this, swapped places with Maiya in Lennok’s stead at the last moment was because…
…she vaguely sensed how much Lennok wished to meet Jindun, how much he yearned for answers beyond that point.
Perhaps it was right to yield the opportunity to Lennok, who stood at that crossroads, rather than to her, who had already reached a certain conclusion and strayed from her path.
She had made a surprisingly selfless choice, yet it even brought her a sense of relief.
[Foolish woman.]
At Evelyn’s feet, a panting furball spoke to her.
It trembled as if on the verge of death, drawing upon its last strength to relay its master’s message.
[To throw away the chance to meet an Ascendant… Do you know what that means?]
“Well… I don’t really know.”
Evelyn chuckled at the Doctor’s words.
“Things like that, we usually ask our Lighthouse Keeper.”
[…]
“You’ve been talking incessantly to Evan, and now you suddenly seem interested in me?”
[I cannot deny it.]
The Doctor readily agreed to her sharp retort.
[It’s hard to believe that someone of your caliber would give up seeking answers now. Yet, you yielded the opportunity to grasp those fragments… I am curious about your motive. Will you tell me?]
“Interesting. You’re curious about that even when you’re on the verge of death?”
[This life is not mine anyway. I am merely observing everything in the labyrinth through an Eye of Life identical to my own…]
The furball, gurgling blood, said while trembling.
[It’s a pity I cannot be there until the end, but Maiya will finish the job without error. She, who holds no greed or desire for this task, will be able to stand before Jindun. That is sufficient.]
Evelyn’s eyes grew cold upon hearing those words.
“Right. Human sacrifice, you said. You mean you’ve been observing all these moments by using others as sacrifices.”
[…]
“I heard there’s one particular individual in Pandemonium who especially favors this kind of forbidden magic. That would be the one called the Doctor, wouldn’t it?”
Having worked as an Agent for a long time, she had consistently urged the upper echelons of the City Council to gather information on Pandemonium.
By mobilizing the mega-city’s intelligence network to consistently verify the identities of Pandemonium members active across the continent, Evelyn had managed to uncover the Doctor’s true identity.
[Indeed… you are sharp. A talent far too valuable to be bound under the Lighthouse. Don’t you think so too?]
“What exactly do you want, going to such lengths? Are you coveting Jindun’s treasures now?”
Even as Evelyn spoke, she knew it was unlikely they were driven by mere material greed.
Most of Pandemonium’s operations revolved solely around remnants of what they called Old World artifacts or technology.
Most of them had little to do with material value or money.
Could it be that among Jindun’s possessions, there were items from the Old World?
Even considering the unique environment of the labyrinth, the Pandemonium members acting so aggressively was certainly a rare occurrence in her long experience.
[Well, it’s not strictly for that reason. I also have a rather deep interest in the way Ascendants exist.]
“…”
[Advancing through this labyrinth is a process of acquiring the legitimate causality to meet him… It could be called an expedition for those who cannot meet him otherwise.]
“…What in the world are you babbling about?”
[Well, what could it be?]
Instead of answering Evelyn’s question, the Doctor let out a low chuckle.
[I’d like to talk more, but my end is near… Let’s pick up where we left off next time.]
The furball’s twitching visibly decreased, and the flowing blood began to grow cold.
[That is, if you manage to escape this labyrinth safely.]
It took a deep breath, then stopped moving.
Evelyn looked at the furball with an expressionless gaze before turning around.
Dozens of superhumans glared at Evelyn with fierce expressions.
High-level Archmage abilities users including Ballak. Thoroughly trained high-ranking superhumans.
There were many reasons why she was receiving the hostility of all those who had overcome countless difficulties to reach this point.
The constant sniping attempts in the snowy mountains, the race towards the third gate where she toyed with them.
The anger of those who had been reduced to mere spectators, unable to intervene anywhere, was now fully directed at Evelyn.
“Hoo…”
Evelyn, letting out a slight sigh, reached for the giant greatbow placed next to her.
The giant greatbow that had just launched Lennok and Evelyn. It was an object created by combining her longbow and Lennok’s bike parts.
After neatly detaching her longbow, she kicked the remaining bike parts, sending them falling below the bridge.
Kwoong!!
The bike’s exterior had already been altered, but its internal parts and system were known to be Van’s property.
To eliminate any chance of someone discovering Van’s dual identity, this was unavoidable.
Click!
Evelyn, with her longbow slung over her shoulder, stood blocking the middle of the bridge and cracked her neck.
Ballak, the gravity-manipulating superhuman, who had been idly watching her, let out a hollow laugh.
“She’s out of her mind. Surely, she doesn’t intend to block the gate alone?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Evelyn fiddled with the arrows at her waist. Naturally, the smile vanished from Ballak’s face.
Sighing deeply, he conjured waves of gravity in his hand and spoke.
“Listen… To be honest, I don’t want to be at odds with an Agent. I know very well that an archer like you can be incredibly troublesome if you set your mind to it.”
“So?”
“So, I’d appreciate it if you’d move aside. I also need to confirm whether my associate has safely passed through the gate, don’t I?”
Ballak slowly walked forward, muttering.
“And I’d like to find out if I can enter inside too.”
Since three people had already entered the gate, the chance to confirm Jindun’s survival and converse with him was gone.
However, if they could enter The Cradle even belatedly, they might obtain ownerless artifacts or fortuitous encounters within it.
Everyone gathered in this labyrinth was desperate enough to risk their lives for such a sliver of hope.
Evelyn chuckled upon hearing his words, which bordered on a threat.
“Sure. Try if you can.”
“Thanks…”
Pwing!!
A jet-black flash embedded itself in the forehead of the attendant standing right next to Ballak.
Its speed was so immense that it was barely visible to the eye.
Ballak, seeing the arrow shaft buried in the head of the attendant who collapsed with eyes rolled back, laughed.
“Don’t do this. It’s not very amusing. If you keep acting this way, I’ll have no choice but to… crush you to death, you know?”
Evelyn also laughed.
“I’m sorry, but this is an important moment for my partner too. I can’t let you interfere.”
“…”
Screech!!
Evelyn, feeling the arrows at her waist and counting the remaining ones, slowly drew her bowstring.
“Come on. I’ll play with you until that door opens again.”
“…”
“Aris, what’s wrong?”
“No, nothing at all.”
A vast library filled with ancient tomes.
Aris, sitting in a spot where sunlight streamed through the window frames, turned her head at the voice calling her.
“You remember you have to attend the Therama Society in half a day, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’ll go ahead, so make sure you’re prepared. Many people are curious about the papers you’ve continuously presented in Vulcan.”
“…”
Aris secretly frowned at the words of the Elder of the Magic Tower, who spoke as if discussing a pleasant party.
Although she had initiated the conversation for her own purposes, she was starting to feel that attending and showing her face at the society gatherings was becoming pointless.
Instead, she tried to focus on the powerful sense of déjà vu that had just flowed into her Mind Imprint.
“Lennok…”
Someone’s name, faintly uttered.
It wasn’t simply because she wanted to see him, or missed him.
It was because the presence of someone who had clearly existed just moments ago had suddenly grown faint.
The answer Aris had chosen was not a simple turning point that only perfected herself.
It was a scene that could only be truly completed with the presence and will of someone else, not just herself.
That was why Aris could clearly perceive Lennok’s ambiguous state, one that was close to absence.
Lennok’s situation was utterly ambiguous: alive, yet his existence could not be confirmed.
“…”
She, who had been looking out the window with a complex expression, silently lowered her gaze to the book in her hand.
It was foolish to dwell too long on things beyond one’s reach.
Wasn’t that why she had returned this far, to create a way to reach the person she couldn’t?
What she had to do now was set.
An afternoon in the dusty library.
Only the sound of turning pages echoed for a long time.