Chapter 396






In an instant, the sun rose from the darkness.

The speed of the spell’s manifestation was so rapid that it seemed like the process was entirely skipped. To those gathered here, the appearance of the sun felt like a phenomenon that happened without any premonition.

The shimmering sun was massive and brilliant.

It was brighter than the combined light of the circuits crafted by dozens of high-ranking mages present. As the sun pulsated with fierce light, Rania lightly waved her arm. Following the trajectory drawn by the human fingertips, the sun slowly moved.

The sun is falling.

Where the falling sun was headed, there was a barrier surrounding Artiya. The barrier, made of murky sludge, met the sun, which symbolized purification and divinity.

*

There are mainly two ways to dismantle a barrier.

One is analyzing the barrier’s circuits and finding its weaknesses, a method considered the orthodox approach. It’s complicated, but it can solve the issue neatly.

The second method is simple to state.

To smash the barrier itself with overwhelming power, whether through a spell or physical attack. It’s easy to say, but this is, in fact, almost impossible.

A barrier is a top-tier defensive spell composed of hundreds of layered spells, and it becomes more unyielding if not followed by a specific procedure. Especially if the caster of the barrier is a Great Mage, it would require power beyond common sense to suppress it.

And then.

“…Widen the distance.”

There was one present who met that condition.

“I’ll be swept away.”

The mages observed. They saw an existence that had reached beyond common sense.

To face a disaster, they witnessed a being that stepped into the realm of calamity. The mages retreated, slowly widening the distance from the barrier.

Fwoooosh!

The sun began to emit tremendous heat, melting the barrier. With a sizzles, the sound of it burning, the murky sludge surrounding the barrier began to boil and evaporate.

“It works!”

The mages cheered at the fact the barrier was beginning to crumble, but Rania herself found the speed unsatisfactory.

“…”

Without a word, Rania extended her finger towards the sky.

Then, with a swift motion.

The moment she waved her finger, light flickered briefly from her forearm concealed by her robe. The release of a stockpiled spell; the incantation was complete.

The supreme spell, Judgment.

Boom!

A sharp noise pierced the eardrums.

A blue lightning bolt struck down from the sky at an angle, penetrating the sun and crashing into the barrier. For a moment, a current flowed along the surface of the barrier before the penetrated sun flickered violently.

Kabaam!

With a deafening roar, the sun exploded.

The compressed heat engulfed the barrier, and together with the remaining lightning on the surface of the barrier, it triggered a series of large and small explosions.

Psssh!

As the barrier lost its form and crumbled, she entered the interior of Artiya.

2.

“Speaking of which, Goddess.”

Two days in the Phantom Territory.

Bellnoa, vigilant and breaking his sleep into minutes, brought up a topic to wake himself up.

“That shadow we encountered in the canyon, isn’t it the same one we met in the Royal Capital four years ago?”

An alien form. A strange laughter.

Recalling that, Bellnoa posed the question, and the Goddess nodded lightly.

[That’s correct. It’s the same existence.]

“Didn’t it perish back then?”

Bellnoa racked his memory as he spoke.

“I’m pretty sure it was struck by some mystical sword held by Lac.”

[It would be nice if that were the case, but probably not.]

The Goddess shook her head.

[Centuries ago, in the era of my second contractor, that shadow met its end. It fell to the blade of the strongest swordsman of that time.]

“The strongest swordsman?”

[Ganikalt van Galatrick.]

Bellnoa fell silent.

He had managed to grasp nearly everything about events from centuries ago. While the Goddess hadn’t revealed every detail, even fragmented information allowed him to piece together a rough picture.

‘It’s likely talking about Death’s Blade.’

Bellnoa had come to realize to some extent that the current disaster was indeed the work of a corrupted party of heroes.

[He was an extraordinary child. Even had he been born in the primordial era prior to that, he would have qualified as a hero. Even my first contractor was wary of him.]

In any case, as she mumbled, she continued her speech.

[The shadow was torn apart by the sword wielded by that child. Its soul, its very existence.]

“But…”

[But, it survived. The reason remains unknown.]

The Goddess sighed heavily.

[All I remember is that the shadow was cursed from the heavens. Having lost its name and existence.]

The nameless one, the First Light.

[One who loses their original name and existence cannot tread upon this land. They must vanish, as one cannot define themselves when lost. Yet, it still lives and interferes with the world. How?]

The Goddess posed a question to herself.

[In my speculation.]

She answered that inquiry herself.

[It likely placed the foundation of its existence in a place where the stars cannot interfere.]

“The place where the stars cannot intervene?”

[Yes. The inability of the stars to intervene means it is free from providence. Thus… ]

The Goddess turned her gaze.

Her eyes locked onto a distant location, deeper than this place, the Phantom Territory.

[The being you call the Demon Lord must have bound its existence to that false god.]

“Is that even possible?”

At that question, the Goddess smiled bitterly.

Naturally, it was something impossible.

An impossible feat, but the Goddess knew that it was an aberration to begin with. A being that had created a god through a human body and knowledge. An existence that had shaken the rules etched into this world thousands of years ago.

What do you call such a being that brings variables to the world? The Goddess knew that name.

In the era she lived as a deity thousands of years ago, such beings were referred to as ‘this.’ They were pursued by the gods with all their might the moment they were detected.

A Guide. Or, a Pioneer.

They were chosen as guides not for the right to touch providence, but because they sought to disturb providence. The Goddess herself didn’t fully understand that existence.

[Even I don’t know the details.]

The Lord of Shadow Dragons let out a long breath.

[I merely speculate.]

With a dubious gaze directed at her from Bellnoa, she chuckled softly.

[Being a god doesn’t mean one is omniscient and omnipotent. Thus, all gods are imperfect. So… ]

That’s why those called Guides emerge.

The rest of her thoughts remained unvoiced.

She could never allow her first contractor to reveal any information about the Guides.

‘What a foolish child.’

A child who became a Guide due to a desire for revolution.

However, in the end, the child chose to uphold the rules rather than the revolution. They desired to remain in this world as a being that was not human, but divine.

That is why the child fears the variables.

The birth of a being like themselves.

Obsessively afraid of someone attempting to stage a revolution against the rules they had inscribed upon the world.

[So, have you finally woken up?]

“I knew you were trying to wake me up with that talk.”

[While I’m not omniscient, I’m omnipotent enough to perceive my contractor’s innermost thoughts.]

The Goddess smiled as she rested her head on Bellnoa’s shoulder. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and let out a short yawn.

“I’m hungry.”

[Is that so.]

“I’ve been chewing on this jerky for two days, and it’s getting to me.”

Bellnoa opened his pouch and pulled out a piece of jerky.

Dried, shriveled jerky. With the texture of leather now, he sighed. Chewing on such jerky, he couldn’t help but miss the dessert he shared with Chloe.

Back then, he complained about it being too sweet… but now, that sweet and fluffy texture kept dancing in his mind.

“…”

Bellnoa glanced at the Goddess resting on his shoulder.

“Goddess.”

[What is it?]

“Will I ever get my dessert back?”

It was said in jest.

However, the Goddess shuddered greatly.

It was a very suspicious sight.

[W-Wha… what does that mean?]

The startled Goddess pulled her head away from Bellnoa’s shoulder and stepped back. Her eyes opened wider than ever, and with a more serious voice than ever, she spoke.

[That cannot be allowed.]

“Excuse me?”

[Taking back what you gave is a great sin. Absolutely not.]

Bellnoa narrowed his eyes.

The robe that the Goddess was wearing on her shoulders was one that Bellnoa had offered to her because he felt burdened having her display her figure.

From the robe’s pocket, something resembling a stick of candy poked out slightly. The robe pocket also had a round indentation for some reason.

“That robe pocket…”

[No!]

“…”

[… …]

The gazes exchanged for a moment.

The Goddess sighed, pulling out a candy hidden in her robe pocket. It was a piece of candy she had saved for later.

[Just a bite, just one bite…]

“…Just eat it.”

3.

Rania entered the interior of Artiya.

A city filled with crumbled ashes.

The city, which had become a ruin a hundred years ago, was covered in soot. The ashes she walked on now were not only those of crumbled buildings but also those of scorched humans.

Crunch.

Walking on the ashes, Rania moved forward.

Toward the place where mana surged strongly. After a while, she arrived at what appeared to be a square. There, the traces of battle lingered, with marks of both time long past and the present intertwined.

“…”

Rania lifted her head.

Her gaze fell upon Kelharlem, with his head drooping. Leaning against the wall, Kelharlem was alive but dying, with wounds grave enough to soon claim his life if no action was taken.

“Indeed, you chose this route.”

At the resonating voice, Rania shifted her gaze.

Someone was sitting on the ruins of a collapsed building.

“Well, this is the more rational choice. It makes more sense to save someone who might not even be present on the battlefield or lacks experience. Isn’t that right?”

A being shrouded in flowing shadows.

“I thought I was going to die of boredom waiting. If you’d arrived just a little later, I would have wiped everything out… Just barely made it here.”

However, the figure revealed by the flowing shadows took the shape of a human. A voice laced with laughter echoed.

“Long time no see, Ashen Mage.”

The First Light, the one who lost their name.

With his chin resting on his hand, the light bore platinum-colored hair. A young man with short platinum hair. Rania squinted her eyes as she spoke.

“Is that your true form?”

“True form? Not at all. I’m not even that guy, Skebal. I don’t have a true form, you see. This is just one of the bodies I’ve carried over countless centuries.”

He couldn’t even recall how many kings had come and gone, but this must be one of their childhood forms. As he muttered, the light shrugged his shoulders.

“Not a true form, but I do have what you could call my original body. You know about it, right? It’s probably at the center of Arcadia.”

The roots of darkness.

A place that cannot be erased, no matter what actions take place.

“…”

With her brows narrowed, Rania released her hand with a pop, ready to charge at any moment, eliciting a grin from the light.

“Don’t be so wary, Ashen Mage. If I intended to fight you from the start…”

The light stretched out both arms.

The tips of his fingers pointed at Kelharlem.

“I wouldn’t have saved that one. I did think about killing him, but then it occurred to me that he’s my kin, someone called a Light, so it would be a waste.”

The light shrugged.

“Originally, what I intended was to have you choose whom to abandon. The chosen one must survive, to make the abandoned one more miserable, right? That’s why I kept him alive.”

Rania scowled.

“Are you done talking?”

“Not yet! This is just the beginning.”

The light spread his arms wide.

“I called you here to give my junior some advice.”

…Junior?

What kind of nonsense is that? Rania narrowed her eyes, and the light answered as if it were a matter of course.

“I’m your senior, and you’re my junior. As a mage…”

And he added on.

“Also, as a Guide.”

“… What?”

“You had a hunch, didn’t you? That I’m also like you, a Guide. That’s why I created a deity.”

The light let out a laugh.

“How much do you know about Guides, Ashen Mage?”

Shadows oozed from his grinning mouth.

“That lizard never acknowledged it until the end, but I too am a Guide. A Guide who succeeded in bending the unyielding providence unchanged for thousands of years. And that’s…”

The light pointed at Rania.

“Isn’t that what you desire, Ashen?”

“…”

Rania remained silent, and the light continued to chatter.

“I saw what you were plotting. You were orchestrating something intriguing where the lizard’s gaze wouldn’t reach. And, coincidentally…”

The light snapped his fingers.

The immense mana wave felt in Artiya converged into a single point. Thus, a gigantic circuit emerged behind the light. A circuit made of ancient language.

“That, I’ve already attempted.”

A gigantic circuit reaching up to the heavens.

Due to the interferences from high-ranking mages, it hadn’t been fully completed, but it bore a shape resembling a clock’s hands, making a creak sound as it revolved slowly, and the light laughed.

“Junior, don’t you need my knowledge?”

The first light and Guide, having lived for centuries, extended a hand toward the current Guide.

“I’m requesting a deal.”