Chapter 980: Celestial Spellcraft: Miniature Garden (3)
Whooooosh!!
The form of a long-necked divine beast, scattering pure white feathers.
A streamlined Long-lived Being, clad in pure white armor, silently gazes down at the ground with transparent, blue eyes.
Its entire body is a soft curve, elegantly swimming above the clouds, swaying its fins.
Its colossal size filled the entire research wing located in the basement of the Cartel’s headquarters, with room to spare.
“I’ve seen that form once before, in the Consciousness Space.”
Lennok crossed his arms, gazing at Claris Richellen, who had manifested in her true form.
“For some reason, it seems much… larger than last time.”
“Pardon me.”
When Claris first visited Lennok’s Magic Tower with the elixir.
Lennok had drawn her into the Consciousness Space then, inadvertently witnessing her true form.
The appearance of the Long-lived Being, shrouded in mystical clouds and feathers, as it manifested in the Consciousness Space then, wasn’t significantly different from its current form.
However, its sheer size felt far greater than what he had encountered in the Consciousness Space.
Was the form that appeared in the Consciousness Space merely a voluntarily reduced size, and was its true form always this colossal?
Crunch…!!
As the alloy containers crushed beneath Claris’s massive body let out silent screams.
Olivera looked up at the pure white Long-lived Being and spoke with a sneer.
[Even for a Long-lived Being, you possess an overwhelmingly colossal form, yet you lie without batting an eye.]
“…”
[I purposefully emptied this research wing to allow your needlessly heavy and oversized body to rest, yet, true to a venerable divine beast, you are utterly shameless.]
“Maize.”
Claris sighed and said.
“It’s useless to try and anger me on purpose. My Organs of Immortality don’t activate with such stimuli.”
[…]
“Even without resorting to that, there’s no problem understanding the grimoire. I’ve briefly scanned it, and the entire grimoire has already been completely translated.”
Claris slowly moved her massive body, sliding forward as if floating, then shook her head, and with that motion, the grimoire floated into the air.
Claris, who manipulated and opened the Celestial Spellcraft grimoire without directly touching it, spoke with a seemingly wondrous expression.
“Not only is it translated, but difficult expressions and words even have helpful footnotes. As it is, there shouldn’t be much trouble teaching the Miniature Garden spellcraft to both of you.”
“Footnotes?”
“Yes. Each footnote has a simple question along with the name ‘Skull Quiz’…”
“…”
“It’s a method that guides the reader to understand the answer through indirect metaphors and questions, rather than direct explanations.”
A light of undeniable admiration swirled in the divine beast’s profound eyes as she looked down at the grimoire.
“The person who translated this grimoire perfectly understands the essence of Celestial Spellcraft. The translation and footnotes reveal that the Miniature Garden spellcraft itself is a kind of ultimate secret of indirect [Adjustment].”
“So the spellcraft itself is specialized in indirect adjustment rather than direct manipulation of phenomena?”
A power that, rather than directly producing results like prophecy, precognition, astrology, or tarot, glimpses results and expresses them indirectly.
Lennok, understanding Claris’s explanation, immediately asked.
“Then how can Celestial Spellcraft be used to find the way to Kundara?”
“That’s because the veil surrounding the central city is a Star-Patterned Ritual Garment created using the shadow cast on the far side of the stars.”
“…The far side of the stars?”
“As long as sunlight illuminates this star, a shadow is bound to fall on its far side. The veil is a boundary created by borrowing that semi-permanent concept to encircle the central city.”
Just as Lennok questioned her, surprised by the utterly unexpected explanation, Claris drew upon her mana and replied.
“Therefore, to head towards the Outer Tribulation City hidden beyond the veil, one must, quite literally, momentarily twist the star’s revolution.”
“…”
“But actually changing the period of revolution is impossible even for a Transcendent, which is why a workaround like the Miniature Garden is necessary.”
Above Claris’s outstretched hands, the Celestial Spellcraft grimoire slowly floated up.
As Claris closed her eyes and concentrated, the wide-open pages of the grimoire began to turn at an incredible speed.
An intense light surging from within the pages instantly enveloped the control room, flashing brightly.
Gooooh…!
As Lennok and Olivera watched, Claris unhesitatingly extended her will-thought towards the celestial sphere.
She began to seize and shift the movements of the stars appearing in the celestial sphere’s sky, changing their positions.
It wasn’t actually changing the constellations in the night sky, but rather indirectly substituting that action by manipulating the Miniature Garden’s celestial sphere.
Crack, crack!!
Each time a constellation was moved, intense static erupted, distorting the celestial sphere’s appearance, and the grimoire shuddered violently.
“The more the Miniature Garden’s celestial sphere’s position deviates from reality, the harder it becomes to maintain the spellcraft normally.”
Claris explained, observing the phenomenon.
“That’s why a very powerful price is needed to maintain Celestial Spellcraft normally.”
“Price?”
[The causality that can suppress the Miniature Garden’s distortion and forcibly make it persist in this reality.]
Olivera said.
[Didn’t you possess a causality of such significance?]
“…”
Instead of refuting Olivera’s words, Claris’s reaction was to silently gaze at Lennok.
Only then did Lennok realize what the two desired, and he unhesitatingly extended his hand.
Splat!!
Armas von Anathema’s right arm, which was hanging from the research wing’s ceiling.
The moment he caught the blood dripping from its cross-section and carefully sprinkled it onto the grimoire’s page.
The celestial sphere, which had been violently shaking with static, instantly began to stabilize.
Wooooosh!!!
Olivera, who had been watching from the side, nodded.
[Success. But for now, we’ve only suppressed the backlash by using Anathema’s causality as a price.]
“Yes. To interfere with the veil, we’ll probably need one more item.”
[Kundara is hidden behind the veil that protects the central city, and we must create a gap in that veil.]
Olivera said so and took a step.
[To create a gap in the veil, we must artificially damage the veil by twisting the star’s period of revolution.]
“I understand the method itself: indirectly twisting the period of revolution by manipulating the Miniature Garden’s celestial sphere.”
Lennok replied.
“Then why do we need other preparations? Couldn’t we just deploy the Miniature Garden near the veil and temporarily change the celestial sphere’s period of revolution?”
The veil is a Star-Patterned Ritual Garment created using the shadow cast by the star as a medium.
As long as day and night exist on this star, the veil’s existence is a semi-permanent boundary that will never disappear.
Therefore, to create a gap in the veil, it’s the star’s orbital period, not its rotational period, that must be twisted.
However, since actually twisting the orbital period is impossible, they intend to borrow the power of Celestial Spellcraft: Miniature Garden, which indirectly manipulates the celestial sphere.
In a spellcraft sense, it’s possible because the Miniature Garden effectively possesses the same power as manipulating the night sky.
Now, all that’s needed is to bring this celestial sphere near the central veil, deceive and twist the veil, and open a path.
[Before we discuss that, there are three problems.]
But Olivera shook her head even after hearing his words and said.
[First, any gap in the veil will be extremely fleeting. Therefore, we must know the path and direction to Kundara before opening the veil.]
“…”
[Second. Simply deploying the Miniature Garden near the veil is not enough to deceive it. To indirectly manipulate the star’s shadow, a commensurate medium is required.]
“A medium, you say…”
[And finally. Celestial Spellcraft is one of the Old World spells that the Order Alliance is frantically searching for.]
Olivera’s crossed-arm gaze emitted a chilling light.
[As you know, the Alliance tends to be extremely obsessive about certain spellcrafts or spells. If they were to discover the existence of Celestial Spellcraft, it wouldn’t be strange for the Alliance to intervene immediately.]
“…”
[In the worst case, if the Alliance Leader intervenes directly, then all plans discussed so far would have to be scrapped, and we would have to proceed in a completely different manner.]
Does this mean the Order Alliance might move to recover Chicheon’s Celestial Spellcraft?
The Alliance’s grand cause: to connect all spells existing in this world and form a single answer.
Considering that, it’s not strange for the Order Alliance to covet Celestial Spellcraft, but then why couldn’t they rent it from Nox Biblio?
The discrepancy between the existence of Nox Biblio and the power of the Order Alliance.
While Lennok felt a sense of unease about that fact and remained silent, Claris, with a composed expression, retracted the celestial sphere and said.
“In the case of the first problem, I can help you.”
She nodded, collecting the Celestial Spellcraft and naturally closing the grimoire’s pages.
“If I, who remembers Kundara’s location, teach you how to manipulate the Miniature Garden’s celestial sphere, you will naturally understand the path.”
“So, the second issue is what’s truly problematic right now.”
Lennok fell into thought.
“But… yes. I understand that we need to synchronize the Miniature Garden’s celestial sphere with the actual star’s orbital period.”
“…”
“To deceive the veil using the Miniature Garden constructed with Celestial Spellcraft, and to produce results similar to twisting the actual orbital period, ultimately—”
Lennok, having muttered that far, immediately realized the answer and fell silent.
The Miniature Garden constructed with Celestial Spellcraft.
The act of synchronizing and deceiving the veil so that the changes in the celestial sphere within the Miniature Garden appear as if they occurred in reality.
Because Lennok could also guess what preparation was needed to momentarily break down the boundary between the model and reality.
“Surely, to deceive the veil… we have to install a real piece of the veil inside the Miniature Garden?”
[Exactly.]
Olivera nodded, her arms still crossed.
[By placing a fragment of the veil inside the Miniature Garden, we can trick the veil into believing that what happens within the garden is real.]
“…”
[Of course, that alone won’t mislead the entire veil. But our goal isn’t to break through the veil and head to Ars Nova.]
“Creating a gap in the veil and finding Kundara’s hidden location should be enough…”
Only then did Lennok understand why Olivera had tried to rent Celestial Spellcraft from Nox Biblio.
The Celestial Spellcraft stored in the Archive of Darkness wasn’t about manipulating the actual sky, but rather creating a Miniature Garden to wield the symbols of the night sky.
If a catalyst linked to reality is inserted into the Miniature Garden and synchronized, similar outcomes can be temporarily projected onto reality.
To temporarily create a gap in the almost inviolable veil, and to find the way to Kundara through the experience of Claris, a Long-lived Being.
“So, we need to acquire a fragment of the veil that can fit into the Miniature Garden, and then head to Kundara while avoiding the Order Alliance’s eyes.”
[It’s precisely to discuss that matter that I summoned you and this Long-lived Being.]
Olivera said so and leaned her head back.
[As mentioned, the veil isn’t an ordinary spellcraft, but a conceptual barrier existing through the shadow of the stars… something managed directly by a high-ranking Long-lived Being who has lived for hundreds of years.]
“…”
[Breaking the veil to acquire a fragment is impossible in the first place, and it’s uncertain if it would function as a complete catalyst within the Miniature Garden.]
It was impossible for Olivera not to have considered these problems from the moment she entered Nox Biblio and rented the Celestial Spellcraft: Miniature Garden.
On the contrary, the fact that she’s explaining this now suggests that, given her nature, she already possesses a solution or method.
While there were many interesting points regarding the veil’s origin and the method of operating Celestial Spellcraft, the most important part lay elsewhere.
[To be frank, I thought you might not be able to retrieve the Celestial Spellcraft from the Archive of Darkness.]
“…”
[Even if you managed to rent the spellcraft, I expected a considerable amount of time would be spent deciphering it. But thanks to you finishing the grimoire’s translation inside the archive, we’ve saved time.]
Olivera slowly waved her hand.
[All that remains is to acquire a fragment of the veil and synchronize it with the Miniature Garden, as I explained to you.]
“So, because the intermediate process finished faster than expected, you’re not yet prepared for acquiring the veil fragment?”
The fact that Olivera had anticipated needing time for the interpretation of Celestial Spellcraft: Miniature Garden.
And the fact that Lennok had significantly cut down time through his translation were both positive signs for the plan.
However, because what Lennok accomplished far exceeded Olivera’s expectations, the plan to acquire the veil fragment itself wasn’t yet ready.
“But if there were no method, you wouldn’t have even brought it up to me.”
“Yes. I also have a guess as to what Olivera is thinking.”
Claris tilted her neck slightly and said.
“Perhaps there’s a method at the first gateway.”
“The first gateway?”
“It’s one of the very few passages that can lead into the veil surrounding the central city.”
Claris explained.
The colossal divine beast bent its neck and looked down at Lennok with blue eyes.
“Since the gateway forcibly splits the veil, holding a fissure open, you should be able to obtain a fragment of the veil from deep within the gateway.”
“…”
Lennok also knew well about the first gateway.
The outermost point of the veil, the first passage leading into its interior.
One of the critically important strategic points, so much so that wars were fought over its ownership even on the Central Front.
[Originally, after the Blaiver Magic Tower Lord who guarded the first gateway stepped down, after several battles for control, the Order Alliance currently occupies that position.]
Olivera continued, explaining.
[The Alliance’s Conjunction Spell Master has inherited the role of gateway administrator and is guarding that position.]
“…Conjunction Spell Master, then surely.”
Indeed, he had heard that name once before.
As Lennok instinctively reacted to that fact, Olivera spoke with an intrigued expression.
[It seems you know about that person too. Well, the Alliance’s Grand Spell Masters are all such famous eccentrics, so it’s not strange.]
“…”
[He is a monster considered one of the Alliance’s most powerful forces. He revealed his true worth during the war with the cult. And above all…]
Lennok felt as if Olivera’s eyes, looking at him from beyond her veil, subtly curved.
[He is also someone who, like Cheonbeon and yourself, killed an Apostle and received the epithet Apostle-Slayer. You might even find him quite welcoming.]