Chapter 748: Low Altitude Flight (16)

Lennok then infused magic into the ring again, summoning a pale, ghostly figure just as before.

Perhaps due to the memory of exploding once, the ghost now stood quietly before Lennok.

Sabrinah tilted her head, looking troubled.

“But if it just stays like this, we can’t find out anything. It doesn’t have any distinguishing features or anything…”

“I was about to say something about that earlier.”

Hylaea glanced at Lennok and spoke.

“Considering the meaning of the mirror earlier, doesn’t that ghost look a little like Victor?”

“…This?”

A pale spiritual entity with no distinct features or appearance. Had she used her duality talent to peer into the ghost’s true nature?

But Hylaea opened her mouth again before that thought could be voiced.

“No, not its nature or aura. I mean its build.”

Hylaea glanced back at Lennok and said.

“At first, I thought our eye levels were the same, but looking at it continuously, its build and height seem roughly similar.”

“…”

Sabrinah narrowed her eyes, stared at Lennok, then tilted her head.

“Height, maybe, but I can’t tell its build at all because of the robe.”

“It’s just a guess based on your usual movements and gait, so I’m not entirely sure.”

As Hylaea spoke uncertainly, Sabrinah gazed intently at Lennok.

“…”

“Victor, would you mind taking off your robe?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Lennok immediately cut off Sabrinah’s silly remark and turned his gaze away.

Indeed, Lennok also thought that what she said about the height and build wasn’t wrong.

It was an overly simple approach, which was why he hadn’t considered it, but if he had to find a distinguishing feature for this ghost, perhaps that was it.

If this ghost mimicked Lennok’s build exactly, what would be the reason?

And why could it only roughly mimic his appearance without imitating any other features?

Having thought that far, Lennok realized the answer and immediately took off the ring, throwing it to Sabrinah.

“Sabrinah. Try using the ring.”

“Huh? Huh?”

“It seems the ring’s ability isn’t fully manifesting, probably due to my personal history.”

Lennok said.

“There’s a possibility it might be different for someone else. We should test it.”

“Ugh, that sounds incredibly ominous… Shouldn’t I hear about your ‘personal history’ first?!”

“Victor, if that’s the ring’s power, it could bind itself to another wearer. Are you sure?”

Despite Hylaea’s words, Lennok nodded readily.

“There’s a way, then.”

“…”

An answer that sounded strangely ominous.

“…I really don’t know. It’s not my fault!”

The moment Sabrinah reluctantly slipped the ring onto her finger, the gem glowed, and the ghost’s form appeared.

Fwoosh!

But the ghost that appeared before them was not the pale, featureless form from before.

It had the exact same height and build as Sabrinah, who wore the ring. It was a human figure so strikingly similar, one might wonder if it was her.

But its appearance and aura were as different as heaven and earth from the spellcaster standing before them.

[…]

It was another version of her, staring silently at Sabrinah with gloomy, hopeless eyes.

Bloody and scarred all over, with disheveled clothes and heavy shackles binding her limbs.

The moment she confirmed the name tag [Death Row Inmate] hanging around its neck.

“…!!”

Sabrinah snatched the ring off her finger.

Clink!

Immediately after the jeweled ring fell and rolled on the floor, Lennok lightly caught and retrieved it with magic threads.

“…”

Sabrinah stood in silence, her mouth shut.

The back of her clenched hand had turned stark white, so much so that no veins were visible.

“Ah, seriously…”

Sabrinah cursed roughly, then sighed deeply and ran her hand through her hair.

Having barely regained her composure, she glanced back at Lennok and said.

“It truly is the Guide’s Ghost. Judging by how malicious its very name sounds, I’m sure of it.”

“It wasn’t just an item that summons a ghost and shows it to the user.”

Only then did Lennok realize the ring’s ability, and he scrutinized it as he spoke.

“Is it an item that projects memories of one’s past self in the form of a ghost?”

Lennok understood why Sabrinah reacted that way the moment he heard those words.

The image of her being dragged away, her body restrained like a prisoner or a slave. Even the ‘Death Row Inmate’ sign and her hopeless eyes.

It was the unpleasantness of having her most agonizing memory forcibly shoved before her eyes.

What did it mean that the Guide’s Ghost transformed into a past version of the wearer, one that the wearer specifically didn’t want to remember?

That contradictory and malicious ability was indeed a sinister mark befitting the status of the Hundred Demons’ Night Parade.

Through it, Sabrinah confirmed that this ring was the Guide’s remains itself.

“Hylaea. Do you want to try it?”

“…I don’t know.”

Hylaea said with a stiff expression.

“I don’t particularly want to see myself from when I was insane.”

“…”

As with most Pandemonium members, there were plenty of them with extraordinary pasts.

Instead of urging her further, Lennok put on the ring, and a featureless ghost appeared, just as before.

“But it is strange. According to the ring’s ability, Victor, your past should be…”

Sabrinah, who had been panting and calming her breath, glanced at Lennok.

Hylaea also watched Lennok intently, looking intrigued.

“…”

It wasn’t strange for others to have various thoughts upon seeing Lennok’s ghost.

Did he have no past he wished to forget, or did no past exist for him at all?

Or was it that the Guide’s power simply wasn’t permitted to peer into his inner being in the first place?

If so, then surely something overwhelming, unapproachable by ordinary laws, must flow through his blood.

It was likely no coincidence that Agneta’s casual remark about the Ascendant, made before she fled, kept replaying in his mind.

“I told you that you don’t need to know.”

Thinking that unnecessary rumors might spread if he didn’t, Lennok cut off the conversation.

Since he couldn’t explain his talents or resistance ability, adding any more words would only sound like an excuse.

Sabrinah also clicked her tongue as if she hadn’t expected anything, and turned to leave.

“Alright, fine. This is enough, right? Honestly, I’ve helped as much as I can.”

“…”

Lennok knew that Sabrinah had willingly become the test subject for the ring, so he didn’t argue.

While Sabrinah retrieved the chest, Hylaea began clearing the traces left in the hangar.

“Agneta’s not here. Can you store the chest?”

“Its function disappears after the chest is opened. It only works again after you put items back in and lock it, so it’s fine.”

“Sabrinah.”

Hylaea called out to her with a serious expression.

“Be careful. You know without me saying it, but Jinwa is already…”

“It’s not something I can do anything about.”

Sabrinah gave a bitter smile.

“Still, Victor helped me finish the minimum preventative measures. I’ll just have to endure with this somehow.”

“…”

The blow that would be dealt to Sabrinah, a fellow spellcaster, now that Jinwa’s corruption was drawing near.

Hylaea, too, must have instinctively sensed it to some extent.

But even knowing that fact, Lennok didn’t offer Sabrinah any words of comfort or concern.

Just as she said, it wasn’t something anyone could do anything about.

All events unfolding under the corruption and neglect of a great Ascendant were like unavoidable natural disasters for mortals.

Only those who had resolved themselves like Ascendants could avoid or endure such fated disasters.

Hylaea, having tidied up the surroundings, left first. Sabrinah, with a complicated expression, fiddled with the chest before turning her gaze.

“I’m going back to the envoy to prepare for departure. What about you?”

“I intend to investigate the ring’s ability further.”

Lennok replied.

“Since I’ve obtained the item, I should reserve judgment on its value until I determine its usefulness.”

“…Right. I don’t know what your past was like, but if it’s truly close to ‘that,’ then I probably don’t need to worry.”

Sabrinah said that and quietly turned her back.

“Well, it’s not like we’re on terms to exchange pleasantries anymore… but there might not be a next time. For me, not you.”

“…”

Sabrinah, with her back to the silent Lennok, stepped out of the hangar and looked up.

“Still, I have to believe. The Director said he would. That’s why I joined Pandemonium.”

Sabrinah’s monologue felt somewhat vague.

Lennok instinctively countered her words.

“Do you believe the Director will save this world?”

“Hmm… no.”

Sabrinah smiled.

“I don’t know the Director well either, but he’s not the kind of person who would readily accept salvation from just anyone.”

“…”

“If he’s that kind of person, wouldn’t he also not grant salvation so easily to others?”

She said, looking at the distant horizon stretching across the undeveloped district.

“However, I believe that the Director must be searching for something far more important than salvation itself. That’s all I believe in.”

“…I see.”

“Why, does it sound too absurd? Too optimistic?”

“No.”

Lennok smiled.

“I was just a little surprised that you seem to understand him better than I thought.”

“…”

Perhaps she hadn’t expected such an answer from Victor.

Leaving Sabrinah, who looked slightly surprised and turned to him, Lennok walked ahead of her.

“Still, I understand why this sand-like organization still persists. Hope that exists in such a way must also have value…”

“…Victor?”

His direct encounter with the Director was only a fleeting moment, during the very end of the Hanghasa Labyrinth.

But Lennok felt he somewhat understood what the Director was thinking, and what he hoped for when orchestrating all these plans.

Was it because Lennok had seen memories related to the Director from beyond the Ascension Gate, or was it—

“…”

Did he, too, start by desperately enduring each day, pushed and chased as if by force?

Did they also think like Lennok, and harbor the same feelings, when they were there?

But instead of pondering that fact for long, Lennok shook his head and drew upon his magic.

Either way, what needed to be done wouldn’t change. The answer Lennok sought wouldn’t change either.

Fear transcending curiosity. Earnestness suppressing fear.

Composing the complex emotions swirling within him, Lennok used Flash to vanish from Sabrinah’s sight.

On the outskirts of the undeveloped district. From a place beyond Sabrinah’s sight, he silently watched her.

Only after seeing the spellcaster look around, then give a bitter smile and head back to Vulcan, did Lennok turn away.

[Phew.]

Only then did Davi peek her head out from Lennok’s embrace, as if finally able to breathe.

[Hoo-hah, hoo-hah.]

“Yeah, breathe.”

This cyber-spirit, oddly growing more human-like, now found it more comfortable to breathe outside Lennok’s arms than within them.

Davi, pouting and shaking her head, questioned Lennok as if she had been waiting.

[Hooah… So what’s the way to utilize the ring’s ability?]

“Is that why you came out right away?”

Lennok chuckled and toyed with the ring.

“It’s nothing much. It’s just that if I adjust my resistance ability, I think I can use the ring’s power in a pretty interesting way.”

[An interesting way?]

“It was said to transform into the past self you most wish to forget, right?”

Lennok said that, and began slightly adjusting his resistance ability towards the ring.

“But what if I only leave one past form that it can transform into?”

Targeted Resistance was a talent Lennok had possessed since the moment he awoke in this world, but he could voluntarily control its degree.

It had been impossible before, but after transcending Hierarchy and reaching Level 8, Lennok had become able to regulate his own talents to some extent.

Though he hadn’t explained it to Sabrinah and Hylaea, there wasn’t entirely no way for Lennok to use the ring’s ability on himself.

“If I leave only a specific memory, thereby limiting the choices the Guide’s Ghost can transform into…”

The moment he fiddled with the Guide’s Ring, adjusted his resistance, and fragmented the memory that the ring could perceive.

Flash!

The ghost’s form completely changed before Lennok’s eyes and faced him.

An impression with a slightly different aura than Lennok’s or Van’s identities.

Wearing a lab coat, the figure gazed intently, an unmistakable intelligence emanating from it.

Davi immediately recognized the face and looked up at Lennok, her mouth agape.

[Master, this is…]

Lennok smiled, looking at the ghost standing before him.

“I can use the ring’s ability in a completely different way than what we’ve discussed so far.”

An assistant professor in the Department of Elemental Studies at Rebatenon Magic University, and a spirit-mage affiliated with Aris Richellen’s laboratory.

A prominent researcher who caused a stir in academia by presenting a paper on anti-gravity engines at an expo.

Lennok’s second created identity, Evan Vylun, stood before him.