Chapter 977: Archive of Darkness (5)
Thinking back, the very existence of Nox Biblio was a space that directly negated the concepts of spellcraft Lennok had learned.
A sub-dimension was a power that Lennok, who had mastered both spatial magic and Manipulation Spellcraft, could barely create even with the aid of a summon.
Yet, this space was constructed on an overwhelming scale to serve as mere archives, collecting and preserving forbidden arts from the Old World—a peculiar and eccentric act.
Its transcendence, seemingly defying the laws of this world, allowed a large-scale sub-dimension to be molded, constructed, and manifested regardless of location or environment.
The incongruity of the Archive of Darkness, possessing such immense power, existing without being bound by any profit-loss relationship, was something Lennok had already perceived.
It was proof that the existence of Nox Biblio was based on a transcendent concept, so much so that a Level 8 black wizard, Tillian, was content with the position of archivist.
Not a Level 9 Ascendant challenging ascension, nor a harbinger of the end swimming beyond the Outer Sea.
A Transcendent who successfully challenged and achieved ascension in the Second World.
The Spirit Summoner he had encountered in his memories had, in the end, succeeded in ascending and imprinting his existence upon the Third World.
“The person I saw you as was a madman who started wars for his ascension, colliding two continents and committing massacres.”
Lennok’s eyes, fixed on the casually laughing skeleton, sank deep.
“Your method of challenging ascension by ‘pulling down’ the Third World was an unprecedented idea, never before seen in any world.”
[…….]
“Why are you, such a being, content to merely act as the master of an archive?”
Across all three worlds, the Spirit Summoner possessed greater spirituality than anyone else.
The Lich, Naoise Penn, did not treat ascension as a mere feat of crossing into the Third World.
He remained utterly true to his essence as a Spirit Summoner, summoning the Third World, which did not yet exist, into being.
Even the Pontiff spared no praise for his idea of ‘pulling down’ the world, rather than transcending it.
Though in that process, to enhance the power of his Spirit Summoning, he had waged war across two continents and committed countless massacres.
Lennok, too, had to admit that the idea itself was truly astonishing.
A profound reversal, completely unlike other Transcendants, summoning a non-existent future into reality.
A Transcendent who crossed worlds not by ascending (昇天), but by Trampling Heaven (踏天).
Therefore, while he recognized and trembled at the feat achieved by Naoise Penn, it was also true that he remained wary.
It would not be strange for a Transcendent who had successfully ascended to be planning something unimaginable somewhere in the Third World.
But to think that such a great Spirit Summoner was residing in this sub-dimension, engrossed in collecting forbidden arts.
Moreover, beyond merely managing the archive, he was personally translating spellcraft from the Old World and the current world with his own hands.
Upon seeing Naoise Penn, Lennok realized this fact and could not resist asking directly then and there.
[You seem to be mistaken about something.]
However, Naoise Penn merely chuckled at Lennok’s question.
He showed no particular emotion or reaction.
A detached demeanor, as if no trace of the tyrannical Spirit Summoner Lennok remembered remained.
[I don’t know who you are. Nor do I precisely know what kind of being you are.]
“……”
[I merely recognize the fact that my old self encountered you in some memory.]
Naoise Penn, shrugging his skeletal shoulders, spoke.
[We cannot say we know each other based on such a minor connection. Defining oneself through the medium of memory is not my way.]
Naoise Penn was a Transcendent who had succeeded in ascension, but he was not like the Pontiff, who confined his existence within memories.
Thus, even if he recognized what had happened within the Pontiff’s regenerated memories, he did not consider it to be himself.
[Our meeting is merely a drawing on a sand beach. When the sky descends and the waves crash, it will vanish like foam, leaving no trace.]
The Lich’s eyes, fixed on Lennok, glinted darkly.
[Do you still not understand that there’s no reason to cling to such a coincidental meeting?]
“Then what are you doing here?”
Lennok asked with a stiff expression.
“Is translating Old World spellcraft and disseminating it in this world the answer you chose?”
Olivera had said that the existence of Nox Biblio was a miracle born from the ideology of the archive’s master.
That the Transcendent maintaining the archive desired the transmission and dissemination of knowledge.
Didn’t that mean Naoise Penn himself maintained this archive for the sake of sharing knowledge?
[I am waiting.]
“……What?”
As Lennok flinched at the familiar-sounding answer, Naoise Penn tilted his head.
[I knew before I even succeeded in ascension that there would be no fourth world.]
“……”
[And I understood that success would not be possible in the same manner as before.]
From the Lich’s mouth, his jaw clattering as dark eyes glowed, a low rumble emerged.
[Because I knew it wouldn’t end with a single ascension, I was able to trample upon and leap beyond the world I was born in.]
He understood that the third world would be the last even before crossing worlds?
That must have been possible thanks to the transcendent spirituality Naoise Penn was born with.
The answer only a Lich could reach, one who gained the talent to awaken the senses of the soul instead of losing the senses of the flesh.
[But because of that, my Trampling Heaven (踏天) was also incomplete. This is the price.]
“The price?”
The Lich’s voice seemed to contain a bitter smile.
[A being who succeeds in ascension must pay a price for the answer they chose. It is the cost of bringing oneself into existence in the next world, where one did not originally belong.]
“……”
Lennok knew what Naoise Penn was referring to.
Both the Pontiff and the Director were paying a huge price just by existing in this world.
Lennok vaguely understood that even monsters like them felt a significant burden in paying that price.
That was why the Pontiff hid his existence within memories, and the Director only moved under strict plans, wasn’t it?
There was a price and a destiny based on one’s origin, and they remained in this world because there was something they wished to achieve, even if it meant rejecting that origin.
If so—
“The very existence of Nox Biblio is related to your origin, then.”
[…….]
Lennok’s eyes gleamed as he watched the silent Lich.
“Is this archive itself the ‘price’ you pay to exist in this world?”
[Hmm, you’re not someone who enjoys skeletal quizzes for long, are you….]
The Lich, tilting his head with a troubled expression, said.
[Aren’t you too excessively astute? I don’t wish to speak long with those who answer quickly.]
“……”
[You knew how I succeeded in ascension. Then you should understand my words.]
As Lennok remained silent at the preposterous reply, Naoise Penn tapped the pen in his hand and asked.
[To pull down a world and trample upon it to leap beyond, just how much spiritual weight would be needed?]
“Spiritual… weight?”
[I am seeking the answer to that question in this archive. No, to be precise, I should say I have already found it.]
The Lich, smiling, raised his hand.
[That’s why I can tell you the answer while facing you like this, isn’t it?]
Whoosh!!
At that moment, the darkness surrounding the archive deepened further, and Lennok’s form slowly began to sink.
A movement as if forcibly expelling Lennok’s presence from within this archive.
Was Naoise Penn’s sub-dimension manipulation ability so excellent that it could banish Lennok, who possessed Targeted Resistance, from the archive?
“……No, that’s not it.”
He wasn’t forcibly banishing Lennok alone from the Archive of Darkness.
He was moving the entire Archive of Darkness away from Lennok, leaving Lennok alone behind.
Just as he didn’t cross the world but pulled it down.
An answer and meaning, contrary to existing notions, lay dormant within this archive.
Realizing this, Lennok murmured.
“You created this archive not for the transmission and dissemination of knowledge, but for the acquisition and absorption of it.”
[…….]
“You said you were waiting for the conclusion, but you intend for it to come to you yourself.”
Lennok said, watching the Lich slowly turn his back.
“You haven’t given up on reaching the next stage yet.”
[Heh heh……]
At that moment, the presence of Naoise Penn, who had turned his back, twisted eerily.
Behind the shabby skeleton, immense darkness erupted, coiling around his body and exploding.
KWA-AAAAAH!!!
The very image of the tyrannical and overbearing Spirit Summoner Lennok had seen in his memories.
The Lich, with his hands clasped behind his back, looked down from above at Lennok’s form sinking into the darkness.
[Indeed, it seems I can no longer enjoy quizzes with you.]
“……”
[Even if we have no destiny, there will surely be a next time.]
Lennok tried to reply, but the archive’s darkness swiftly moved away from him.
[Then, please be sure to observe the return deadline.]
Simultaneously with the Spirit Summoner’s low message, Lennok’s body was instantly pushed out, as if flung onto the cliff.
Pa-aaang!!!
“……!!”
The black oil that had stained the cliff was nowhere to be seen, only piles of white bones scattered by the wind.
Lennok, who had been staring blankly up at the cliff, only collected himself when he belatedly saw the grimoire in his hand.
Olivera’s telepathic message echoed behind Lennok.
[You’re late.]
“……Olivera.”
Turning around with the grimoire in hand, Lennok’s mouth closed as he faced the scene behind him.
WHIIIIRRRR……!!
The dungeon, which had stretched continuously through the cave, was split in half and pulverized, a horrific sight as if its insides had been turned out.
At the end of the ruins, where the terrain had been altered as if swept by a bombing, Olivera stood with her arms crossed, looking at him.
She wore a splendid robe, just as when they first met, and a transparent veil obscured her face.
Except for the slightly dimmed glow of her Mystic Eye peeking through the veil, she showed no discernible injuries.
[It seems you properly rented the Celestial Spellcraft.]
Olivera’s eyes gleamed as she saw the grimoire in Lennok’s hand.
[That’s good. I recall seeing that grimoire in the archive once before.]
“……”
Lennok, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Olivera, asked.
“I didn’t realize that having something to discuss with Tillian meant this.”
[That’s none of your concern.]
Olivera scoffed.
[In any case, Shandorei won’t make an issue of this. Isn’t that enough?]
“……”
Olivera was inherently proud, but she was also a spellcaster who handled her power with caution.
Regardless of her exceptional talent and capabilities, it was no exaggeration to say that she rarely took the lead in wielding spellcraft.
Lennok had only fought a past version of Olivera in the restricted zone and had never directly clashed with her in the present.
Could there have been such a significant conflict at this point that she had to confront Shandorei Tillian?
[Let’s go back. I haven’t moved my body in a while, so I’m weary……]
Olivera slowly massaged her neck with a languid gesture and turned away.
Was she planning to return directly to Vulcan without further encounters with Tillian?
It seemed she had made up her mind to end things this way from the moment she arrived at this dungeon.
“How do you plan to use the Celestial Spellcraft?”
[I will summon Claris Richellen and have her teach the Celestial Spellcraft.]
Olivera replied as she walked through the devastated plateau.
[Claris is a being born with excellent spellcraft aptitude, possessing a vessel relatively unbound by magical lineages. To adjust the veil and find a path to the Outer Tribulation City, it would be more efficient for a Long-lived Being to oversee the process.]
“……”
[Ah, of course, that will be after I’ve had some rest. I personally helped you with this, so I will not tolerate any objections.]
Lennok felt Olivera’s gaze sharpen through the veil.
[If you agree, let’s go back to Vulcan and fetch Claris.]
Olivera said so and walked on without hesitation.
[If that Long-lived Being I know is still around, she’s certainly wasting time on some trivial pastime.]
“Your evaluation of Claris Richellen is oddly low……”
As someone well-acquainted with Aris, Lennok found it quite awkward to hear such words about her teacher, Claris.
He considered telling her about his meeting with Naoise Penn, but Lennok ultimately closed his mouth and shook his head.
While he understood that the archive’s existence was Naoise Penn’s ‘price,’ there were still too many unresolved mysteries regarding the archive.
Most importantly, he would eventually have to visit the archive at least once more to return the grimoire.
Lennok forcibly shook off his thoughts and followed Olivera.
“I have her contact information. If she’s still in Vulcan, I can reach her.”
VULCAN’s central district, bustling street.
A Pilates studio bathed in bright sunlight through transparent front windows.
Lennok, who had come to find Claris, felt a sense of uncanny familiarity and silently looked up.
“Alright, narrow your elbows and extend your wrists.”
“Understood!”
“In that state, bring your shoulders forward and take a deep breath!!”
“Huuu-aaaah……!!”
The studio, which had always been quiet when he visited, was now packed with dozens of students.
Students uniformly throwing punches, following the instructor’s booming voice.
But even more surprising was that all the students filling the studio were high-level wizards.
“Is this Lansia-nim’s martial arts training hall?”
Standing next to Lennok, observing the studio, were rows of wizards.
All were official wizards of Magic Towers, wearing archaic robes and bearing the symbols of their respective towers.
“They say there’s no better place for personalized instruction on the Alternative Incantation technique that Cheonbeon demonstrated during his fight with Adamant Thunder.”
“The word has already spread among other Magic Towers. There are more than just one or two towers planning business trips to Vulcan.”
Adamant Thunder. Cheonbeon. Alternative Incantation using physical techniques.
Various stories he had half-forgotten since Lapis’s matter had concluded now registered clearly.
Stories he had never expected to hear in the studio he frequented.
How was Lansia benefiting from the surge in wizard martial arts training due to the duel between Adamant Thunder and Cheonbeon?
While Lennok remained silent, the students chatted as they walked through the studio corridor.
“They say she’s a martial artist, but how does she teach wizards like us so well?”
“Apparently, Lansia-nim once taught a student who was extremely weak physically.”
“……!”
Lennok’s fingers, which had been crossed, twitched for a moment.
“She said that student was the weakest she had ever seen, and her teaching skills improved while guiding that person.”
“Compared to that person, teaching martial arts to wizards like us must be ridiculously easy.”
“……”
Having heard enough, Lennok could no longer bear it and walked into the studio.
It seemed he had a lot to discuss with Lansia and Claris.