Chapter 87
Chapter 87
11. A War Without Faith - 7 (Aftermath)
The [Record Analyzer] looked like a microscope blown up several dozen times in size.
Dozens of lenses arranged in layers were fixed on the altar at the center, and above them, sunlight flashed through the wide-open ceiling. On the altar sat a device capable of securing objects in place.
"⋯⋯Hm."
Charge level good. Equipment good. The relic built by the Holy God in its prime was fully prepared to exercise its authority, but⋯⋯ there was just one problem. The "something" I wanted to analyze wasn't an object.
Formless information—how should I register a name for it? I rubbed my chin as I mulled it over.
There was no microphone on this altar. Should I just shout the three characters of Cheongdongbaek out loud over it? Or write Cheongdongbaek on a piece of paper and hold it out?
In the first place, I wondered if it was even possible to learn something from a name. If I were looking for a person in a city, a name would be a huge help, but this was, to put it another way⋯⋯ wasn't it like trying to determine my height and weight based on the three characters of Noah Won?
"⋯⋯If it doesn't work with a name, I'll have to use it for something else."
Rustle—!
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: It'll work, it'll work. Well, looks like you're trying to plug in a higher-ranked hunter's name and run it?]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?!"
By spinal reflex, I grabbed my shield first and looked around. Threat? None. Surroundings? Nothing⋯⋯ no, the floor. There was something there.
Slither—
The sound of a tongue flicking. A small, thin thread snake, barely visible to the eye, was poking its head out from a gap in the block tiles. Even its scale color matched the tiles.
It was a fragile life form I could kill with a finger, yet beyond those millet-sized eyes sat an unshakable presence. The message from Serpent-Subduing Young Lord pierced into my mind.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: You saw this? As expected of a promising junior, your observation skills are quite⋯⋯ no, not just quite. You found it even through my concealment. Your eyes are really good.]
What the hell. Why is this bastard here?
I suppressed the curse that nearly burst out from sheer surprise and carefully observed the thread snake's movements. At this point, even if Serpent-Subduing Young Lord caused a scene, I didn't think there was any worry of Andersen's victory collapsing. Still, there was no harm in being cautious.
"⋯⋯Why are you here? You were clearly banished by the Holy God during the conclave, along with Mr. Wol and Mr. Ju."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Mr. Moon⋯⋯ hmm, right. I did step back for a bit. But reconnecting isn't exactly difficult. And⋯⋯ thanks to you all tolerating that primitive Savidero, the impact on me was minimal. As expected, groveling flat on the ground is the way to go.]
"I asked why you're here."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Your attitude's quite different, isn't it? Back then you also had a "let's fight if you want to fight" vibe, but you seemed to show me a bit more respect than now⋯⋯ Is that any way for someone in debt to act?]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Setting aside the suspiciousness, he had a point. If Serpent-Subduing Young Lord had sided with Bento as well, it would have been a far more troublesome battle. Even if I didn't drop my guard, I should at least show proper courtesy. Without taking my eyes off him, I gave a short bow.
"I apologize. I was just so startled."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: A quick apology, nice.]
Somehow, it wasn't that Serpent-Subduing Young Lord was pleased to receive my apology. He flicked his tongue as if the very judgment that I had apologized quickly was what delighted him.
And then he immediately dangled a carrot.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Relax your guard. I'll teach you how to call a name. That should be worth loosening your shoulders, right?]
"Huh?"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: You're trying to find out about a name with that machine. And seeing as you're calling Moon Shadow "Mr. Moon" to skirt around his name⋯⋯ you know there's something to names, but you don't know about 『Word Command (言令)』, it seems.]
"Ah, yes, well, I don't know what that is since it's the first time I'm hearing it, so I don't know, but⋯⋯"
My words were getting tangled. I couldn't grasp the flow of suddenly jumping from an apology to a transfer of knowledge. Serpent-Subduing Young Lord kept hopping to topics outside the range of what I was imagining, which was bewildering.
And since ancient times, the most dangerous person is the one who says "I'll give you candy, so follow me." As if it weren't obvious from the snake in his name, he couldn't have been more suspicious.
The thread snake flicked its tongue as if exasperated.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Hey, I'm offering to give you something and you're still suspicious?]
But the exasperated one here was me.
"From what I can vaguely tell, you seem to have a fairly cautious personality yourself. Someone I thought had clearly left shows up at an important location, and I can't read their intentions—isn't suspicion the natural response? And as the old saying goes, nothing's scarier than a freebie."
Like the con artist who approached my group back in my idol days, claiming he could promote us without spending money. It was obviously shady at a glance, so Minsik and I yelled not to do it, but the CEO pushed the deal through anyway.
And then we ended up having to put on some animal mascot heads and do a performance at a children's park.
Faced with that justified suspicion, Serpent-Subduing Young Lord chose a frontal approach to the point of ignorance.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: I'm looking for a Starfall Site. To be precise, I'm tracking how Starfall Sites are created. So what I want is knowledge, not this planet's power. Satisfied?]
"Huh?"
He just laid his cards on the table. He said it in a remarkably nonchalant tone.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: You said you're suspicious because you don't know what I'm scheming?]
"No, I mean. I'd appreciate a turn signal in this conversation. Not just blurting things out like this."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Waste time like that and you'll get hit by a nuke. Why would I not grovel flat from the start?]
⋯⋯A nuke, huh.
That wasn't a word the System's translator had processed. Which meant it was the nuke I knew. Serpent-Subduing Young Lord must have been a hunter born in a world with fairly advanced science and technology, too.
While I was inferring information from that subtext, the thread snake wriggled out from the tiles and chattered away, tapping my foot with its tail.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Want me to be even more candid? I saw everything through that primitive Savidero's eyes. Your actions were practically those of a savior. For a saintly type like you, once you're saddled with debt and your conscience is poked, anything comes out. So I laid it all out in advance.]
"I'm not that much of a saint. I only stepped in because it was a mutually beneficial situation. I don't move on goodwill or promises alone."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Let's see whose words are right, yours or mine. And if you're a guy who likes deals as much as you say, there's no particular reason to refuse, is there?]
"⋯⋯I'll at least hear you out."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Listen carefully. If you've got talent, you'll hear it and grasp it right away.]
It was a fortuitous encounter being practically force-fed to me.
Honestly, I was floundering without a clue. He was a type I'd never encountered in my life. It didn't seem like he was without ulterior motives, but in another sense, he was utterly transparent. Was everything he said true?
No, let's set aside what I can't figure out by agonizing over it. Let me just estimate whether I can control this situation. This thread snake, presumably controlled by Serpent-Subduing Young Lord, was⋯⋯ utterly fragile.
One stomp and it would die instantly. So excluding the threat wasn't difficult.
Which meant listening was the better option.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Skills, you see. They have the property of gathering small things to become something great. Actually, everything in the world is like that. Because a skill is a fragment of the world. The only difference is how many fragments and in what form they've gathered.]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Right.
Just as small fires merge to become a great blaze, Hyejin's 『Azure Flame』 devoured the goat's flames and advanced to the next stage.
The 『Azure Wind Wanderer』 bestowed by Sky Roamer grew by devouring the clouds and rain of each world.
The plant bastards also grew massive by sucking up nutrients, and they fused with fragments of the world.
In other words, it was Unification⋯⋯
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: And a name is what gathers small things together and calls them broadly. Personality, appearance, ability—all of it compressed down hard into just a few characters. Now, let's think about it. If that's the case, then someone's name is also——]
A lightning-like realization flashed through my mind. I blurted out the answer at the same time as Serpent-Subduing Young Lord. A name is—
"A 『Skill』."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: —couldn't it become a 『Skill』?]
Yes. If a collection of skills was a skill, then someone who held countless skills within them could also be called a skill⋯⋯ that was the feeling I got.
Now I understood why higher-ranked hunters' names had to be spoken with care. Speaking their names aloud, even if it had no actual effect, was similar to activating a skill⋯⋯
In other words, it was no different from performing a summoning ritual in and of itself.
The snake hissed.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: So what you need to practice is a sense. The sense to distinguish between a skill name and the skill activation itself. You should have at least one 『Skill』 you picked up somewhere—feel it carefully.]
Understood. I looked down at my hand and repeated the skill's activation word over and over. Since I wanted to hide my cards from Serpent-Subduing Young Lord as much as possible, I cast Azure Wind Wanderer, whose outwardly visible performance was the most innocuous compared to my other skills.
It wouldn't be easy to trace its origin from the skill name, so he wouldn't be able to guess the connection to Sky Roamer. It seemed just right.
"⋯⋯『Azure Wind Wanderer』. 『Azure Wind Wanderer』. Azure Wind Wanderer. Azure Wind Wanderer."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Oh?]
"Azure Wind Wanderer."
There. I spoke the words, but no wind blew.
After a few tries, I roughly got the feel of it. It was the difference between breathing power into language or not. I understood why Serpent-Subduing Young Lord had explained it as 『Word Command (言令)』. If I applied this the same way to a higher-ranked hunter's name—
Strip the power from the words.
"Master Binder, you son of a bitch. Moon Shadow, you son of a bitch⋯⋯ did it work?"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Oh, oh. Fast. Want to try calling my name as a test? You can add "son of a bitch" too if you want.]
"Serpent-Subduing Young Lord."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Now try calling it with power.]
"⋯⋯『Glass Sword Lord (琉璃劍公)』."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: You suspicious little shit⋯⋯ well, whatever. Did you get a message from that side?]
Ding!
[Glass Sword Lord: Noah Won?]
It worked. I'd perfectly grasped how to do it.
I rolled my tongue as I replied to the bewildered Glass Sword Lord's chat that I'd explain later. Just now, when I'd called Glass Sword Lord "properly," about ten percent of my Magic Power had drained out in a rush. I'd also felt a faint sense of connection to him.
If I'd called with more power, it seemed I could have connected as intimately as back when we'd been linked through the Tutorial's Hidden Piece. The state where I could freely receive bestowed gifts.
Of course, back then it wouldn't have ended at ten percent of my Magic Power⋯⋯
In other words, if I'd fallen for Serpent-Subduing Young Lord's bait and called his name with all my strength, he could have reached his hand into this planet to that extent.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: I didn't have that much ill intent. You're misunderstanding. Obviously a connection strong enough to flip the planet over just from you calling is impossible⋯⋯ I just figured, if I could fill up a bit of power from that, I'd go find the Holy God and briefly ask how I ended up falling here.]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Should I apologize?]
"Forget it."
I really couldn't let my guard down.
Anyway. I'd learned how to call names. The utility itself seemed good, but⋯⋯ now, without beating around the bush with "Mr. Wol" and such, I could casually cuss out higher-ranked hunters too. I quite liked that.
Then now, using this to work the [Record Analyzer]⋯⋯ no.
"Hold on."
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Hm?]
"If I call a name without power, the Record Analyzer won't activate. But if I call a name with power, there's a risk of connecting to that being. So in the end, isn't it useless?"
I didn't know what kind of bastard 『Cheongdongbaek』 was, but the probability he was stronger than me was extremely high—and the probability he was friendly toward me was extremely low. Since he was the one who'd shackled the growth of Earth's hunters.
It was as clear as day that drawing the attention of such a bastard would make my life as a hunter miserable.
Then this was useful enough to keep, but too awkward to use.
As I blinked down at the thread snake, Serpent-Subduing Young Lord waved the snake's head this way and that and said nonchalantly.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: You just need good control, right? I don't know which name you were trying to investigate, but put in only a minuscule amount of power, so little that the name won't notice. Well, then the results will obviously be tiny too.]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: Or⋯⋯ you could borrow the power of the generous senior right next to you, call the name, and have a barrier set up so it doesn't draw attention. That would work, wouldn't it? Of course, there'd be a small usage fee⋯⋯]
This bastard.
So it all circled back to an ulterior motive after all⋯⋯!
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: It's a joke. When you help someone, you have to help them all the way to properly take credit later. Make yourself comfortable.]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: I'm saying I'll help for free?]
So he said.
Slither, slither——
The sound of snakes hissing and crawling reached my ears. Thread snakes rose from all over the space, drawing a circle, chanting a strange incantation as they formed a barrier.
I suppressed the near-paranoid suspicion that Serpent-Subduing Young Lord might ambush me from behind at any moment and prepared to activate the [Record Analyzer]. I placed my hand on the stone slab the lenses were aimed at and, as I'd just learned, put power into the name.
"『Cheongdongbaek』—— vomit out everything you know about this being."
That moment.
There was a quiet stillness, and then⋯⋯
Grind, grind——!
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
I heard a sound that shouldn't have been happening. No matter how I listened, it wasn't the sound of normal operation⋯⋯ it was the noise of something breaking and twisting, whether parts or something else.
Wondering if I'd finally been tricked, I looked at Serpent-Subduing Young Lord's thread snake, but he looked bewildered too. The thread snake's eyes went wide—I don't know how a snake can do that—and it stared up at the Record Analyzer.
Grind, grind, grind, grind——!!
The Record Analyzer's lenses spun at high speed as if overloaded. It looked as though every component was being forcibly overclocked to carry out a command it couldn't handle.
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: I used this artifact once indirectly back in the time of the previous Saintess, or maybe the one before her. As expected of a device built when the Holy God was in good shape, it did operate, if barely, even with a B-rank hunter's name plugged in.]
"⋯⋯Was it like this back then too?"
[Serpent-Subduing Young Lord: No, there was a bit of smoke, but—it wasn't a reaction where the whole machine seemed to scream like this. ⋯⋯What kind of 『name』 did you put in? No, it's better not to hear. Pretend I didn't hear it. I've blocked the signal being emitted, so don't worry.]
"⋯⋯⋯⋯"
Being cut off so abruptly by the Serpent-Subduing Young Lord made the chill twice as bad.
I waited tensely for the machine to stop operating. The Record Analyzer let out grinding noises several times as if dying, and then soon⋯⋯ it bloomed a cluster of light above the stone slab.
It was an ominously blue color.
Flash—!
When my finger touched the cluster of light, the light scattered into particles and was sucked into my body. I'd expected to receive some kind of information about 『Cheongdongbaek』, but it—
└ A02LL57F0e2 '2'52E3 (-)
(Reappraisal required due to an error of unknown cause)
"⋯⋯⋯⋯Huh?"
It settled into my body as a bizarre skill the System couldn't recognize.
Just like my 『Download -2』.
Screech— thud.
Along with the [Record Analyzer]'s final death rattle as it completely stopped operating, I stood frozen in place, dumbfounded.
"No, this is⋯⋯"
A skill closer to some kind of lump⋯⋯ no effect when used, and I didn't even know how to use it in the first place. And skill decomposition or dismantling didn't work on it either, so there was no way to discard it.
That was my final harvest from the war of faith.
And so another journey came to an end.
Breaking the [Record Analyzer]⋯⋯ could be overlooked. Andersen also said not to worry, that the organization would run just fine without it.
Andersen and Sohye's world began full-scale exchange. They planned to promote gradual integration by dispatching priests and hunters to work in each other's worlds, like an exchange student program.
There had been twists and turns, but the original goal of stabilizing the D-rank support base had been achieved. Now things would run fine without me, so I could advance in rank without burden.
Coincidentally, around then, a message came from Sergios.
[Silver-Traced Spear: Come.]
[Silver-Traced Spear: Come and fulfill your promise.]
The time had come to carry out the ritual of 『Battle-Demon Ascension (鬪鬼昇格)』, the promise I'd made long ago with that spear-wielding bastard.