Chapter 302
Chapter 302
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 302
Chapter Title: Secrets of the Abyss (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Armin, who was watching the door, urged her.
“There's no time. If you're going to do something, do it now.”
Amy grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.
There was no other way. But she couldn't just go down to the first stage without doing anything.
‘If it’s Shirone… Shirone can do it.’
Amy opened the last page and moved her pen.
Shirone.
This was the best she could do.
If she couldn't find a way to save him, the least she could do was change the flow of his consciousness.
At that moment, Reina shouted from the living room.
“Amy!”
Amy put down her pen and ran to the living room with Armin.
A figure wearing armor that blended the properties of living creatures and metal was rushing toward Shirone.
“Zion!”
Fire blazed in Amy's eyes.
Arius, the only way to escape this place, was nowhere to be seen, but she was actually glad. The person she wanted to beat up the most right now was Zion.
Reina pulled Shirone away by a hair's breadth, and Zion's blade split the sofa.
Amy enhanced a Fireball with all her surging rage and threw it. A flame twice its usual size flew at Zion and exploded at close range.
Sent flying by the explosion, Zion slammed his back against the wall. But just before impact, tentacles grabbed the wall, minimizing the damage.
As Reina moved away with Shirone, Armin and Amy simultaneously blocked the path.
“A diversionary tactic, I see.”
Armin's Spirit Zone, when fully expanded, was more than enough to cover the entire cabin.
He might not be able to detect an assassin's Equalizing, but he wasn't so unskilled as to miss Zion's presence.
‘So he was hiding in the first stage. Does that mean Arius has already gone down?’
Just as Armin's group had to stay in the second stage to save the real Shirone, Arius also needed time to extract Ataraxia. That's why he had sent Zion to buy time.
“So you're determined to take it, no matter what?”
As Armin stepped back toward Shirone, Reina, understanding immediately, stepped forward.
Flicker Magic and other weak spells alone couldn't damage the Adamantine Armament.
“Amy, you know what to do, right?”
“Yes.”
The two recalled their battle in the food pantry and moved apart.
Their plan was to exploit Zion's weakness—his inability to handle blind spots skillfully.
“Hmph! I won't fall for that twice.”
Zion shot tentacles out to both sides, preventing them from splitting up. Then, using the tension from the tentacles embedded in the wall, he lunged at Reina.
In the brief moment she was rolling on the floor, Reina fired her bow.
The arrow struck the armor, sending Zion's body flying into the air.
Amy swung her target-type Spirit Zone and unleashed a barrage of Fire Strikes.
Each time a spear of flame grazed him, the organic material of the Armand armor crisped and burned.
“Insolent wench!”
Zion spun acrobatically in mid-air, kicked off the wall, and flew at her.
As the eight tentacles embedded in the wall transferred their power in unison, he achieved gale-like speed.
Amy saw only an afterimage as she twisted her body away.
Zion crashed to the floor with a thud, pivoted on his knee, and swung his blade.
A silver flash passed, slicing off the collar of Amy's shirt and exposing her collarbone and upper chest.
On her milky, translucent skin, a red line of blood slowly appeared. Had the cut been any deeper, it would have severed her carotid artery.
“You bastard…”
“Haha! You look just like a tavern whore!”
Blood seeping from Amy's wound trickled down into her cleavage.
The contrast of white and red fueled Zion's madness.
Just as he licked his lips and took a charging stance, Shirone glared at Zion and grimaced.
“Krrruuugh!”
Darkness gathered in the space between Zion and Amy, and a sleek, smooth-bodied shadow shot up.
Egoist - Manifestation of Killing Intent.
Its chin was as sharp as an awl, and its razor-sharp hair was swept back, falling in a large arc down to its waist.
Its two long, ape-like arms were perfect swords, and its digitigrade knees stored immense kinetic energy.
Even the soles of its feet were crescent-shaped, like skate blades.
“Shyiiiooooooo!”
At the chillingly sharp, demonic shriek, Zion's face paled, and he backed away.
The Manifestation of Killing Intent compressed its digitigrade legs and then sprang forward, vanishing without even an afterimage.
That meant it hadn't charged straight ahead.
But unable to even guess its trajectory, Zion's eyes remained fixed.
-Warning. Moving object recognition failed. Nervous system paralyzed. Switching to automatic defense mode.
The warning message was delivered at the speed of thought as Zion's cloak wrapped around its master. Simultaneously, tentacles shot out in all directions, counterattacking the unseen entity.
But the Egoist's Manifestation of Killing Intent dodged even that, crossing its hands to strike Zion.
As the bladed shadow passed at supersonic speed, the surface of the cloak rapidly hardened, leaving a distinct X-shaped scar.
*Boom!* The sonic boom erupted a moment later.
“Krrrugh!”
Sent flying by the shockwave, Zion rolled across the floor as the cloak unfurled.
Stopping his roll by stabbing the blades of his gauntlets into the floor, Zion looked up at the standing Egoist.
-Moving object detected. Nervous system relaxed. Automatic defense mode disengaged.
The Armand immediately assumed a combat stance, but Zion had already lost the will to fight.
Why should he risk his life for a mere 4 billion?
In any case, he had bought the time Arius had asked for.
Reading its user's emotions, the Armand activated its mobility-specialized system, and Zion moved like the wind, disappearing from the group's sight.
Amy and Reina gave up the chase and checked on Shirone.
His figure was now so transparent that objects could be seen through him.
“Shirone! What's happening?”
Armin explained.
“He used his last bit of strength to manifest the Egoist. He can't move anymore.”
“Ah, Mr. Armin, you should run.”
“No. We can't get out either if we don't catch Arius. Show us the way down. If Ataraxia is plundered, it will bring a great disaster.”
Armin laid Shirone on the floor. The avatar's outline began to glow brightly, and the floor melted like chocolate, flowing downward.
“Is Shirone… dying?”
“No. He's descending. Shirone himself is also the entrance to the first stage.”
Amy crawled toward the floor that was caving in in the shape of a person. She shouted at Shirone, who had already descended more than five meters.
“Shirone! I'll save you! I swear I'll save you!”
The darkness of the underground encroached upon Shirone's surface like a liquid.
It might have been her imagination, but Amy clearly saw a faint smile appear on Shirone's lips.
And finally, the entire second stage was sucked into the hole.
* * *
Shirone's Mind, Stage 1. Womb Psychology.
It was the end of the abyss.
Amy, who had fallen down along with the scenery, looked around.
It was a horizontal plane, empty but not dark.
From somewhere, the *thump, thump* of a heartbeat could be heard. It felt as if she were submerged in water.
“This sound…?”
Armin appeared from the darkness.
“It's the sound Shirone heard when he was in the womb. This place is called the Womb Psychology, and it contains the records from conception to birth. In other words, it's where instinct is formed.”
“So Ataraxia was in the final stage after all.”
At Reina's words, Armin gave a hollow smile.
Their journey had been a frantic rush based on a vague possibility. But to think an archangel's ability was truly imprinted in the realm of instinct...
‘How on earth did they do it? Could it be… possession?’
Even so, it was too dangerous.
Possession could grant stronger mental probing abilities than a Dive, but the Egoist's backlash would be immense. Attempting to possess a healthy Shirone would carry a high risk of annihilation, even for an archangel.
‘Then again, I can't be certain. If it's an archangel…’
Armin thought the chances were 50/50.
No, to be honest, he could declare with certainty that it was impossible for any being to enter another's mental world and overwhelm their avatar.
But because the subject was an archangel, there was room for variables.
A being that far transcended human abilities.
Thinking about what he had experienced when he went to Heaven still made him shudder.
“Let's go for now. Arius's work must have progressed quite a bit.”
Reina said, looking around.
“But… which way do we go?”
“We just walk. This isn't a space. Mages call it a 'spot.' Since there's no direction, it doesn't matter which way we go. To add to that, a mage's Spirit Zone is also a phenomenon that occurs from concentrating the mind into the first stage.”
Amy nodded at this new information.
The first stage was a repository that compressed higher-level concepts.
Since it wasn't a space, its volume was infinite.
The thought occurred to her that infinity might not be the vast something one usually imagines, but simply a single point.
Following Armin's words, they walked forward aimlessly. No matter how they walked, nothing changed, so it felt like they were walking in place.
When an object appeared 50 meters ahead, a sense of distance was created, and the scenery of the first stage changed.
It was a lush garden filled with the refreshing sound of birdsong, with pure white statues placed randomly about.
Since all Amy had seen in Heaven was the Great World Exhibition filled with strange mechanical devices, she didn't recognize them, but Armin knew at a glance that they were sculptures of angels.
‘Traces of Ikael.’
Armin's group entered a temple built beyond a fountain. The chill from the marble floor felt refreshing.
An eight-meter-tall statue of an angel came into view, and in front of it, Arius and Zion were waiting.
Arius realized who the masked man was.
He had never seen his face, but among Scale Mages, one who dealt with time and was blind could only be one person.
“Hmm, this is unexpected. My apologies for not recognizing someone of your caliber. But I must say, I'm a bit put off. To be honest, I never imagined *your side* would be the first to break the 'pact.'”
Armin ignored him and examined the statue first.
The archangel had her hands gathered to her chest and was smiling. Her wings wrapped around her body, and a halo floated above her head without any support.
‘So this is the physical manifestation of Ataraxia…’
Turning his head to Arius, Armin said sternly.
“The terms of the pact are still valid. I have come as a single mage to punish a grave robber. This has nothing to do with my organization.”
Arius feigned nonchalance and picked at his ear.
“Is that so? As far as I know, your world isn't run so freely. In any case, aren't you something of a matriarch in the mage society?”
“So? Are you saying you won't give up on your plundering? You won't be able to escape anyway.”
Arius pretended to blow away nonexistent earwax.
“Is there a need to escape? I'll say it again: you have no authority to arrest me. No, forget it. This isn't the time to argue about such things.”
Pointing to the statue, Arius introduced it as if it were his own.
“What do you think? The Archangel of Amplification, Ikael. This is Ataraxia, the Super-Magical Amplification Formation, known to be the most powerful of her abilities. I had imagined it, but who knew it would be this beautiful?”
“Do you think we'll let you take it without a fight?”
Zion lifted his chin and said.
“Of course we're taking it. Do you know how much this thing is worth? From now on, I am the master of Ataraxia.”
“You bastard! A person like you doesn't deserve to live!”
Amy's eyes blazed as she charged.
At that moment, her vision distorted, and she felt the distance between them growing.
When she came to her senses, Armin was standing beside her.
It was Flicker Magic.
“What are you doing? We have to catch Arius quickly.”
Armin launched a Wind Cutter.
The shuriken-shaped wind shattered mid-air with a *clang*. From the point of impact, thin lines of electricity spread out in a grid-like pattern.
“It's a psionic barrier. Divers call it 'Cat's Cradle.' It's a barrier woven from strands of Shirone's consciousness.”
Arius clapped with a delighted expression.
“As expected of one so knowledgeable. The 'Eternal Sage' is not just an empty title. Correct. While you were all following along as slowly as turtles, I had a little fun with Shirone's mind.”