Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: The Star Descended to Earth
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[Approved. Beginning summoning.]
After that concise response, the pillar flashed once with light before falling silent.
Even that reply had only been heard by Arsen, so to those waiting around him, it just looked like he touched it, muttered something, and the light flickered before going out.
“Um, Sir Arsen?”
“Did something go wrong, by any chance?”
Anxiety and fear were etched on the faces of those surrounding Arsen.
After that long, arduous journey to reach this place, how could they endure the despair if things didn’t go as planned?
This was still just the story of Arsen’s followers. For the Starburmi mages, summoning the library was a long-cherished wish spanning decades.
If this failed, their despair would be beyond words.
Arsen calmly shook his head to reassure them.
“It worked. It’s coming down.”
“Finally...”
“Ooh!”
As everyone exclaimed in admiration, Arsen looked up at the sky.
It was about time for night to fall, but the sun hadn’t set yet.
Since they were at the peak of the world’s highest mountain, the surrounding terrain was too low to block the sun.
‘It’s really coming down? I don’t see anything star-like.’
If it was a satellite, it would probably shine like a star, but Arsen wasn’t the only one thinking that while gazing at the sky.
All dozens of people present were staring up at the heavens.
And shortly after,
“Hey, up there...!”
Someone pointed up at the sky.
It was utterly pointless. No one here wasn’t already looking up.
“It’s appearing!”
Arsen realized how simplistic his imagination had been, thinking the library would descend from above.
As described by the communicator moments ago, the library was being ‘summoned.’ Light began flowing from the empty night sky, soon outlining a white skeleton that filled with substance.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a massive structure floated serenely in the sky.
“Ooh, that’s it...!”
Latis Elder shed tears of emotion.
It wasn’t just joy; the tears contained all the hardships and sorrows of the past.
The other mages around him turned their heads demurely, perhaps to preserve the leader’s dignity.
“It’s tremendous... no, I don’t even know what to say...”
Eloise muttered blankly, as if it didn’t feel real even seeing it.
The library’s grandeur was immense.
Its overall shape resembled a massive crystal hundreds of meters long laid on its side, with an exterior as smooth as marble, seamless joints invisible, evoking images of a lord’s manor or castle lord’s residence.
A soft glow emanated from the building’s outer walls, reflecting internal light and illuminating the night sky.
[No wonder they kept it secret, maintaining something that size permanently afloat with spatial transfer functions... Any government would’ve been torn apart if word got out about that kind of spending.]
Bakran remarked as if scolding it.
[But thanks to them making that, you get to benefit too, right?]
[Well... yeah.]
At that moment, a voice began emanating from the library, interrupting their chatter.
It wasn’t the ancient language only Arsen could hear, but a voice everyone could understand.
-Welcome. This is the emergency support satellite. Multiple non-human lifeforms detected besides those wishing to board. Do you wish to allow accompanying boarding?-
“Yes, we do.”
Soon after, one side of the crystal split open as if inviting them up, forming stairs.
Latis cautiously asked Arsen.
“Should we all... go up?”
“That would be best. It’s too cold here anyway.”
There was no proper way to measure it, but to Arsen’s eyes, this mountain made Everest look ridiculous in height. And as high places tend to be, the temperature was low.
They couldn’t use warming spells either, as everyone’s mana was depleted, so regular soldiers and mages had to endure the cold wrapped in magic beast hides, blowing on their chapped hands.
With Arsen in the lead, they filed into the library.
* * *
“Whoa! It’s warm inside!”
Arsen and Eloise took the front, and Bazkal, following behind, whistled.
Contrary to his words, the internal air wasn’t exactly warm. It was more like mild autumn weather, slightly cool, but to bodies coming from the biting cold outside, it felt like a spring breeze.
“Eek!”
A sudden thud and scream made them turn; sure enough, Marun had fallen off Jin, rolling on the floor.
He’d been looking around left and right when his head hit a protruding obstacle above.
Seeing that, the tension and excitement melted away, and everyone burst into laughter.
After laughing heartily, Arsen wiped the corner of his eye and dismounted the black lion.
“Everyone, dismount your mounts. Sir Marun has given a hands-on lesson; we can’t ignore it.”
Designed for ordinary people, the space had too many obstacles threatening the heads of knights riding Jin.
They had the Jin and riding beasts stay lined up near the entrance, then created a spot right beside for the injured to rest.
The able-bodied then began exploring the interior.
The first section of the library they encountered matched its name perfectly.
Metal chips like small devices formed shelves, and pressing them displayed lines of text.
It was essentially a preserved electronic library from a second-age civilization.
“Ooh.”
“No way!”
“All of this...?”
The mages pressed the abundant materials everywhere, exclaiming in awe.
Claims that it was incomparable to books excavated from ruins, that processes were explained step-by-step from the beginning—gasps and shocks continued nonstop.
After giving them about a minute, Arsen clapped his hands.
“Alright, let’s move on. Touring comes first.”
From outside, the crystal was clearly over hundreds of meters. This library section could accommodate dozens, but considering the floors above and below, there was much more to see.
Reading and categorizing materials could wait.
“Ah...”
“Hey, Sir Arsen said to wrap it up.”
“Got it.”
The mages swallowed their regrets and obediently followed Arsen. Now that the library was finally found, his words carried that much authority.
Passing the electronic library, the next section looked at first glance like a storage room.
From machine tools resembling workbenches to massive test tubes, cryogenically stored unknown solutions, even bizarre metal tubes like torture devices.
[Bakran?]
[I don’t know what’s what.]
Even without specifics, Bakran cut off neatly, as if knowing the question.
[But that thing on the right? Looks like what you’re after. Kinda like something from a movie... maybe I’m wrong, so check it. There’s a description chip right next to it.]
As he said, each item had a chip nearby explaining its purpose and usage.
What Bakran pointed to was the halved cylinder that looked like a torture device.
Approaching and pressing the chip brought up a holographic explanation.
“...I see.”
“Sen?”
As Arsen stared blankly, Eloise asked what was wrong.
He answered her question with a smile.
“Found it.”
“Huh?”
“This is what we’ve been looking for.”
He already knew a device to modify human genes existed.
They’d suffered because of it in the desert ruins before, and in the underworld, someone abusing it had forced them to confront the mighty Olmurs.
Here it was now—the source device.
“Do you know how to use it?”
“Yeah. It explains exactly where and how to modify... A bit more reading, and I’ll be sure.”
Ultimately, non-mage Arsen couldn’t grasp the details, so Eloise took over analyzing the usage.
Having acquired much ancient magical knowledge via Bakran, no one was more qualified.
Other devices had plenty of useful items too.
Especially the life restoration device, which per the description could revive anything short of a truly dead soul—an incredible recovery aid.
Eloise jumped for joy, saying even a brain-dead lord could be saved with it.
For now, those unable to walk properly due to severed legs would benefit first.
Exploration continued afterward.
Passing one staircase led to a lounge area, and there was a data room storing all sorts of info as videos.
Some were classifiable as pornography, embarrassing everyone.
“What the hell is this doing here?”
“Humans, huh.”
Ahem, everyone awkwardly skipped past with sheepish faces.
After touring around, they finally reached the library’s central control room.
The control room evoked a spaceship bridge, strangely designed so all directions were visible, as if the other rooms had turned transparent.
“Eek.”
“It won’t fall, right?”
Marun and Bazkal, like fool brothers, peered below anxiously, stamping their feet.
Shaking his head at them, Arsen sat in the luxurious chair at the control room’s center.
Anyone could tell this seat controlled the library.
Indeed, as soon as he sat, a voice spoke.
-Welcome. The satellite is currently making ground contact under emergency rescue protocols. Will you operate manually?-
“Manually.”
-Command approved.-
Arsen closed his eyes in the chair. It just felt like the thing to do.
Soon, he sensed himself floating in the sky.
“Ooh...”
The bizarre sensation of moving two bodies at once drew an involuntary gasp from Arsen.
He was himself and the library, the ancients’ artificial satellite, simultaneously.
An impossible, grotesque field of view unfolded for a normal human.
Front, back, left, right, up, down—all directions at once was dizzying.
But as if the device aided adaptation, Arsen quickly adjusted, grasping the surroundings and controlling the library.
‘Let’s see.’
Just thinking he wanted to made the ground-extended stairs fold away.
Willing a slight ascent moved it up; sideways thought shifted it sideways.
Amazingly, testing all directions—forward, back, left, right, up, down—transmitted no inertia inside the library.
Arsen couldn’t even guess the principle.
After several simple maneuvers, confident in full control, Arsen called Latis.
“Latis Elder.”
“Yes, Sir Arsen.”
“Contact those who went down to the ground first. We need to pick them up.”
“...Understood!”
* * *
The group of elderly and infirm who’d split off climbing the mountain hid in a small cave at its base.
About twenty in number.
“Think the ones who went up can pull it off?”
“We can only hope.”
Leading them were two Starburmi elders, Tia and Arman.
They’d used combat golems to slay the magic beasts occupying the cave and built a small fortress.
A fortress to fight if their position leaked and the kingdom’s army attacked.
Someone argued that if exposed, they were dead anyway, so why bother—but to the old elders, that was nonsense.
They’d survived by desperately struggling even in crises of death.
Humans must thrash for life until death is certain.
“It’s night. Shouldn’t we tell everyone to sleep early?”
“We’re not moving till tomorrow evening anyway, so it’s fine.”
“And after tomorrow evening?”
“After tomorrow evening...”
Arman Elder’s question left Tia Elder unable to continue, shaking his head.
If no contact from those above after a day, only one reason.
Lost the communication orb, or wiped out.
Either way, no hope.
“Enough nonsense. Go to sleep.”
“I’m old, sleep doesn’t come easy...”
Chatting thus, the elders startled at the communication orb’s vibration, quickly unpacking.
Naturally, it was the one pre-arranged with Latis.
Tia activated it hastily.
“Latis Elder? How’d it go?”
[Ah, Elder Tia. Everything worked out. Everything... really, it’s all done now.]
Latis’s replying voice carried tears. The stoic Latis crying—the two elders exchanged shocked glances.
Briefly, Tia hardened his face and asked.
“Is Elder Uman safe?”
[He’s already dead.]
“Good.”
Before parting, they’d agreed: if Latis was coerced into using the orb, he’d claim Elder Uman lived.
Saying he was dead meant this conversation was fully Latis’s will.
[Where are you?]
“Mountain base... so, remember the stream where we last got water? Right next to it.”
[Come to the highest point in the stream now. We’ll pick you up.]
“Understood. But what exactly do you mean by ‘worked out’? Is it what I think?”
[Seeing it yourself will be more moving than my explanation.]
The orb went dark, and the two elders roused those settling to sleep, urging them to pack and come out.
Soon, they left the cave and climbed the stream.
Conveniently near the highest peak, it didn’t take long.
“Huff, huff...”
“Getting old, knees are the problem.”
Short on Jin and riding beasts, some walked—including the two elders.
Aged and stamina-fallen, but they’d prioritized children and disabled, leaving no spares.
“So, when’s Latis Elder coming?”
“He said soon...”
Muttering thus, they soon understood his words. On the dark hill lit only by a few magic lights, a star was descending.
The glowing library coming from the black sky was like a gods’ palace.
Mages waiting below cheered.
“That’s it...!”
“It’s really here!”
“The star has come down!”
Warm light soothing weary hearts. Tears flowed down the two old men’s faces in that glow.
Wiping tears tracing wrinkles, Arman Elder clasped hands in prayer.
“Come, oh star, come to me...”
After decades, an answer to their unfulfilled prayer.
Their god had descended to the world.