Chapter 126
Translator: penny
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Collision: Celestia (2)
—Celestia Secret Society.
The seven members with access to the Magic Library gathered periodically in the library for regular meetings.
It was to confirm the society's direction and future plans, and to share information gathered from their respective forces.
And now, in the Fantasy Repository Celestia, the meeting was taking place a bit earlier than usual.
Despite there being quite some time left until the regular meeting, the reason all members had gathered was singular.
An emergency meeting convened under the leadership of Doctor Begerton Antares—
In other words, a hastily called meeting to address an urgent matter.
“So, Doctor. What’s the reason for calling this meeting?”
Including me seated at the head of the table, eight people in total were gathered around the massive table.
From there, Crayton looked at the Doctor with an intrigued expression.
Normally, Crayton would be holding a grimoire and drinking, but since he’d been summoned to the meeting, he appeared relatively sober as he stared at the Doctor.
“The guy who was holed up in a corner of the library watching others until yesterday has gathered us all like this, so it must be something pretty important.”
“Of course. Do you think I’d summon you all here for no reason? Naturally, it’s an important matter.”
“So, what is it?”
Receiving Crayton’s gaze, the Doctor adjusted his monocle with a finger.
Click—.
Sweeping the table with a smile, the Doctor soon wiped away his grin and spoke with a serious expression.
“It’s to propose a special plan related to the Great One.”
The words flowing from the Doctor’s mouth.
They were none other than about the Descent Ritual.
Gulp—.
Some members tensed upon hearing about the Descent Ritual and looked at the Doctor.
“Descent Ritual…….”
“Seeing you bring it up separately, Doctor, it doesn’t seem like you’re planning to do it in the Alperatz Marquisate like last time.”
Words spilled from the members’ mouths.
As it was a top priority for the Celestia Secret Society, all the members listened intently with serious faces.
Watching their reactions quietly, the Doctor soon turned to me with a courteous demeanor and posed a question.
“Great One, this may be somewhat rude, but… may I continue speaking?”
I looked at the Doctor.
Doctor Begerton Antares was an extremely capable individual.
Unless it was utterly absurd, I had no intention of stopping him midway.
“I’ll hear it.”
“Thank you, then—.”
With permission granted, the Doctor’s gaze shifted back to the members.
Heh heh heh—.
After a light laugh spread through the room.
The Doctor began getting to the main point while looking at the assembled members.
“The Erbar Alliance… in other words, the northern barbarians, are apparently about to conduct the ‘Star-Catching Ritual’ soon.”
“…Star-Catching Ritual?”
“That’s… a ritual name I’ve never heard before.”
—Star-Catching Ritual.
An unfamiliar term emerged from the Doctor’s mouth.
Toward the members voicing their doubts, the Doctor’s patient explanation continued.
“Explaining that will take some time. Before delving into the Star-Catching Ritual, there’s a concept you need to understand first.”
“You mean…….”
“The great laws drifting in the outer world… Do you know of those entities that have existed since before the world’s birth, beyond the grasp of mere human cognition?”
Swish—.
The Doctor’s gaze flicked toward me briefly.
“They’re incomparable to the outer world monsters handled by warlocks. The monsters they deal with are nothing but parasites scavenging the scraps left by those great laws.
“…….”
“Pilgrim Bartov called such laws the ‘Inscrutable Unknown.’ Even warlocks find it impossible to persuade those beyond comprehension using human language or conduct meaningful transactions with them.”
Inscrutable Unknown—.
That’s how the Doctor described the dangerous entities in the outer world.
Suddenly, a conversation with the white-haired girl from my dream flashed through my mind.
The mysterious girl whose name I didn’t know.
She had told me she needed magic to kill a god.
“…….”
There was only one reason for needing such magic.
An existence rivaling a god—
It meant there were beings so powerful that they required great magic, existing somewhere in the world.
And among them, some would likely view my descent unfavorably.
“…Inscrutable Unknown, huh.”
Entities I might one day confront.
Surely, some among them would try to hinder me.
In the end, direct clashes with these transcendent beings were inevitable.
“And the ‘Star-Catching Ritual’ to be held in the north this time is a ritual entangled with one such absurd entity.”
Enemies I would face someday.
My gaze, listening to tales of them, met the serious eyes of the monocle-wearing Doctor.
“Whether they take in a part of that dangerous entity or merely receive its power is unknown.”
Through the monocle, the Doctor’s hazy eyes looked at me.
“However, should the Star-Catching Ritual succeed, it’s certain it will have a massive impact across the entire continent.”
Interest. Ecstasy. Longing.
I met eyes filled with myriad emotions.
Soon, after continuing his lengthy explanation, the Doctor stated his conclusion.
“So, to prepare for contingencies, I wish to conduct the Great One’s Descent Ritual nearby.”
What the Doctor intended.
A plan he attempted to propose even while apologizing for its rudeness toward me.
It was to perform the ritual summoning me beyond the Empire’s northern border.
Toward the northern barbarians attempting dealings with an absurd entity, it was like setting a counterfire from our side.
“If Elixir is used, the vessel’s stability itself will greatly increase compared to before. However, if the ritual fails, the aftermath from the enhanced stability will sweep through the surroundings.”
“…An interesting proposition.”
“Whichever the outcome, it will produce results more absurd than what happened in the Holy City. So, Great One, may I request your permission for this?”
Success. Or failure.
No matter the result, the Doctor calculated he would surely gain something.
Only then understanding the ‘somewhat rude matter’ he’d mentioned, I let out a hollow laugh and responded.
“Using the Descent Ritual’s aftermath to thwart the barbarians’ plans—.”
“If my words prove rude, I shall humbly beg the Great One’s mercy.”
“No, it’s fine. Granted.”
I accepted the Doctor’s proposal to counter the Star-Catching Ritual with the Descent Ritual.
Frankly, aside from its audacity, there was no real reason to refuse.
Heh heh heh—.
With my permission, the Doctor finally unleashed his signature eerie laugh as he turned to the members.
“With the Great One’s approval secured, now we can discuss plans to torment the Erbar Alliance.”
Thud—.
The Doctor slammed his palm on the table.
He announced to the members the most unprecedented operation in the Secret Society’s history.
The members gasped in shock upon hearing the operation’s specifics.
“So, you’re telling us to charge right into the heart of the Erbar Alliance?”
“The site preparing for the ritual—won’t the Great Chieftain be there too? This seems like an incredibly dangerous operation.”
“Success or failure, it’ll definitely draw the Erbar Alliance’s attention…….”
Words poured from the members’ mouths.
Of course, the Doctor wasn’t fazed by their reactions at all.
His chest was already brimming with grand ambition.
“Well, I’m not saying to force a fight with the Great Chieftain. The goal of this operation is simply to delay the ‘Star-Catching Ritual’ as much as possible.”
The Doctor’s clear voice echoed through the library.
The Secret Society’s first emergency meeting.
His eyes, having summoned the seven members, gleamed with sharp madness.
“Everyone, are you prepared to fight the barbarians?”
A declaration of war toward the Erbar Alliance.
Following that one phrase were silent cries of agreement.
* * * * * *
A small desk in one corner of Celestia.
There, a black-haired elf with pointed ears distinctive was handling a magic tool.
Clink, clink—.
Once a member of the Seven Pillars, the exile of the Great Forest, Acheronar.
Today, too, she was inspecting and improving parts of the magic mecha.
“…….”
As she assembled the intricate parts, the contents of the emergency meeting from earlier replayed endlessly in Acheronar’s mind.
With most members mobilized at Doctor Begerton Antares’s summons request for this operation.
Thus, Acheronar, one of the Secret Society’s top forces, had also committed to the Doctor’s plan.
However, the sole reason she remained deep in thought was one.
“…Partlinger.”
—The Erbar Alliance’s Great Chieftain, Partlinger.
It was concern over facing the north’s greatest warrior.
“Even among Barkat’s warriors, he was particularly anomalous. As special as he was, he was equally dangerous.”
If it were Acheronar from back when she possessed the Mobility Fortress, who knows what battle she might have waged against Partlinger.
But the current Acheronar had lost most of the foundation built over a century.
A prepared mage is unimaginably powerful, but paradoxically, unpreparedness weakens them just as much.
The Doctor surely didn’t expect the current Acheronar to halt the entire alliance alone.
“So, he plans to have the library’s master step in for the fight…….”
However, if the library’s master—Johan—took direct action, the story would change.
The strength of Johan that Acheronar had witnessed that day was beyond belief.
An existence on a different level from mortal-fated mages.
That was the only way she could describe Johan.
“…….”
Such contemplations on the Doctor’s new plan lasted only a moment for Acheronar.
Swish—.
Soon, in the corner of Acheronar’s vision, the head of the monocle-wearing Doctor popped out.
“How about adding a self-destruct function to the magic mecha?”
“Eek……!”
Startled, Acheronar hurriedly stepped back.
He wore the same grotesque smile as during the meeting.
A human who gave an unsettling feeling no matter how many times they met.
“Ah, of course, I’m not joking. A self-destruct function is absolutely necessary.”
Doctor Begerton Antares.
He reiterated to Acheronar about adding a self-destruct to Sirius.
Frowning at his demeanor, Acheronar spoke.
“Popping out like that—what are you on about?”
“Because there’s a high chance Sirius will be destroyed in this operation.”
“…….”
“To protect the magic mecha’s secrets, it’d be best to implement security measures accordingly.”
Sirius’s potential destruction.
Hearing this, Acheronar openly showed her displeasure.
What artisan would be pleased to hear their painstakingly crafted doll might be ruined?
Especially since it involved handling such a delicate doll roughly, her discomfort was natural.
“…The Blue Tower mages and the puppet-controlling knights have agreed? Fine.”
But at this point, with the Doctor saying this much, it meant the parties involved had already consented.
Acheronar objecting now wouldn’t change anything.
Better to heed the Doctor’s advice and add the self-destruct.
Thud—.
Acheronar, with a complicated expression, set down the part in her hand on the table.
“Ah, and I have a gift for you.”
But the Doctor’s words didn’t end there.
Flinch—.
At his mention of a gift, Acheronar’s eyes filled with question.
“A gift…?”
“Yes, a gift. It’s magic too difficult for others to handle, so it’s valuable only to someone like you.”
Swish—.
The Doctor extended a book toward Acheronar.
A grimoire wrapped in an ornate cover.
Taking it, Acheronar looked at him with a bewildered face.
“This is…….”
“Teleportation magic from the Third Repository. I paid the contribution points myself to check it out.”
Third Repository’s teleportation magic.
That’s how the Doctor described the grimoire Acheronar held.
He had taken out the grimoire with his own contribution and gifted it to her separately.
Her eyes, full of questions, fixed on the researcher before her.
A gaze demanding more detailed explanation.
“It’s not the type to spam recklessly, but having a spare life never hurts.”
“…….”
“If the Descent Ritual goes wrong, we could all die, after all.”
That concluded the Doctor’s words.
Heh heh heh—.
As when he first appeared, he departed with his eerie laugh.
Acheronar’s gaze quietly followed his retreating back.
“…What a strange man.”
Squeeze—.
Acheronar gripped the grimoire.
It seemed best to check its contents once the work was done.