Chapter 129
Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Collision: Celestia (5)
Piiiieee—.
A discordant noise rang in his ears.
The unrelenting heat and the endless screams of the dying.
As he reflected on them, Great Chieftain Partlinger thought to himself.
Somehow, everything had gone terribly wrong.
“…….”
The sticky blood and the senses scattering in disarray.
The ceaseless history of strife was all too familiar to Partlinger.
He had been born a warrior.
His entire life had been filled with blood and screams, and everyone respected his journey and wished to follow him.
He was a warrior.
Born and raised in the Barkat Mountains, he was a warrior who had poured his blood and sweat onto the bosom of Mother Earth.
While the empire’s farmers tilled their fields, Partlinger hunted beasts. While the empire’s knights trained on horseback, he had to pray that his last remaining goat would not die.
“Hoo…….”
Rough breaths escaped his lips, and memories of hardship and sacrifice flickered through his mind.
—The world is unfair.
It was a thought he had harbored since the young warrior first gripped an axe.
The world, as seen through Partlinger’s eyes, was profoundly unjust.
While northern warriors risked their lives hunting, the empire’s nobles fattened themselves on livestock.
All sorts of grains ripened in the empire’s lands, and the milk of countless beasts enriched the empire’s people.
It was not fair.
What made the empire’s humans so superior that they sought to hoard it all in their greed?
Even the pigs they raised were not that gluttonous.
—We must take it all.
It was the ambition Partlinger had cherished since first invoking the name of the league.
The northern warriors were exceedingly brave.
So much so that even the continent’s lords trembled at the mere mention of the league.
What did such warriors lack that they could not even partake in the pleasures enjoyed by those imperial dogs?
Thus, Partlinger revived the name of the league.
Under the banner of great warriors, he wanted them to seize what their valor deserved.
Those ancient ambitions were Great Chieftain Partlinger’s life.
And everything that made the warrior Partlinger who he was.
“…….”
Great Chieftain of the Erbar League, reigning over all tribal leaders.
Warrior among warriors, idolized by every fighter.
Hero of Barkat, carving stars upon his own back.
Piiiieee—.
Along with the shining names that had guided him for so long, Partlinger’s consciousness floated up as if awakening from a terrible nightmare.
“Ha…….”
His misaligned senses returned one by one.
The feverish heat cooled in the northern chill.
Drip, drip—.
Sticky blood dripped from the hand gripping the axe.
Blood flowing from metal shards embedded in his arm mixed with the savages’ blood coating the axe.
The owners of the blood droplets on the axe lay silently around Partlinger.
“Vicious bastards. Never dreamed they’d resort to such underhanded tricks.”
A hollow laugh burst from Great Chieftain Partlinger’s lips.
Countless warriors and shamans lay scattered around him.
It wasn’t hard to understand why they were in such a state.
It was all his doing.
In a ploy by the imperial scum, Partlinger’s own hand had slaughtered his nearby subordinates.
“Truly…….”
Old memories flashed through his mind.
Before Partlinger revived the league’s name in these lands.
The landscape of the snow-capped mountains, rife with fratricidal strife as commonplace as daily life.
“Truly… what a barbaric sight.”
Grip—.
The great chieftain’s steps advanced, clutching the bloodied axe.
Crunch, crunch—.
As he tread upon the snow-covered ground, he came face-to-face with a familiar old woman’s visage before the altar.
An exceedingly familiar face.
For it was the face Partlinger had known since childhood.
“Korkia—.”
Arch-Shaman Korkia.
Even when Partlinger was a brash boy, she had appeared as an old woman.
No one knew how many years she had lived.
But in the end, it was Partlinger himself who put the final mark on her life.
“Gr… eat… Chieftain…….”
“…….”
Swoosh—.
The old woman’s eyes, wet with a crimson groan, looked up at him.
Perhaps her frail breaths were on the verge of stopping, for Korkia spoke in a voice heavy with strain.
“Seize… the star…….”
“Korkia. Even at the end, those are your words.”
The dying Korkia’s final words were for him, the great chieftain.
No tears came.
Partlinger simply etched the shaman’s dying advice into his memory.
“Subjugate the empire… instill fear of the league… across the entire continent…….”
Thud—.
Korkia’s hand fell limply to the ground.
She could not withstand the aftermath of the wound Partlinger had inflicted.
The great chieftain’s eyes took in the death of his subordinate.
Swoosh—.
He drew a flask from his belt.
“…….”
Glug, glug—.
Partlinger poured liquor over the dead woman’s head.
Then, he emptied the rest into his own mouth.
Gulp, gulp—.
The cold liquor ignited the heat in his throat.
“Hmm… The booze tastes worse than usual today.”
He tossed the empty flask to the ground.
And advanced toward the ritual’s conclusion, the star-seizing ceremony Korkia had spoken of.
Why was this ritual called the Star-Seizing Ceremony?
Partlinger had once asked Korkia about it.
She had told him then.
—“Because it truly captures the star.”
Seize the star—.
Korkia had said it clearly.
He had once wondered how one could capture a star from the night sky, but now he simply trusted her words.
She had never been wrong, not once.
Just as she had kept her promise to see the ritual through to the end.
“…….”
Sizzle—.
Great Chieftain Partlinger’s gaze turned to where the altar had stood.
Shattered rock fragments.
In the place where the altar had been moments ago, only a massive crater remained in its stead.
The star had fallen.
The giant’s star, blessing the birth of a great warrior.
“Korkia… You promised you’d let me seize a star someday.”
Sizzle, sizzzzle—.
In the center of that crater lay an axe glowing red-hot.
A massive axe, crudely forged from enormous metal, its haft made of metal as well.
—Meteor Iron.
The enormous axe, carved from a fallen star, was cooling rapidly in the northern chill.
“As expected, you never broke a promise to me until the very end—.”
Partlinger’s steps carried him toward the axe before him.
The fragment of a star embodying a god lay within reach.
The legendary weapon said to grant the power to rend the continent when gripped by its rightful master.
He had heard from elders ad nauseam that it was not for just anyone.
Yet Partlinger did not hesitate to grasp it.
For he never doubted that he was the greatest warrior.
“…….”
Grip—.
Partlinger’s thick hand seized the massive axe.
Sizzle—.
Scorching heat spread through his palm.
Yet he ignored the searing pain and clutched the axe tight.
He had endured countless years of hardship.
Now, it was time for the league’s name to echo across the continent.
“Grrgh……!”
With bloodshot eyes, a face twisted in agony, he wrenched the heavy axe free.
Rumble—.
A tremendous vibration poured immense power from the meteor iron axe into him.
At the same time, he felt a mighty presence settle in his chest.
Arrogance gleamed in the warrior’s eyes.
Flickering light awakened the boiling battle-lust within.
“Huu… Hraaaaaah—!”
With a thunderous roar, the savage warrior raised the thick axe high.
The moment the weighty meteor iron settled in the warrior’s hand.
Crack. Craaack—.
Beyond the dark sky, space began to shatter.
“…….”
Lines began to warp.
The dimensional plane began to fracture.
From beyond the crumbling space, alien eyes gazed down upon the great warrior.
Eerie light fixed upon him.
* * * * * *
Kwaaaang—!
Dazzling starlight spilled from the screen before the Doctor’s eyes.
A shockwave shaking the earth.
Even from several peaks away, the absurd aftermath of the meteor reached the Doctor.
Boom, ruuumble—.
As the mountain range began to quake, the charging savages faltered.
The warriors raiding the descent ritual site could not withstand the avalanching snow and were swept away.
Watching the warriors swept off, the Doctor soon adjusted his monocle and spoke.
“It seems the ritual has failed.”
Tsk—.
The Doctor smacked his lips in disappointment.
Perhaps because it was unclear which ritual he meant.
Acheronar immediately directed a question at him.
“So, which ritual failed……?”
“Well, obviously the one we were conducting. It looks like theirs already succeeded.”
Thus, the Doctor calmly stated that the descent ritual had failed.
At such an attitude from the Doctor, Acheronar wore a look of exasperation.
It was the Doctor who had confidently planned to thwart the star-seizing ritual, even sacrificing Sirius to push the operation through.
Yet after failing, he wore that nonchalant expression.
To Acheronar, it was utterly incomprehensible.
“Doctor… I think you owe us an explanation for this mess.”
A voice laced with dissatisfaction flowed from Acheronar’s lips.
Click—.
However, the Doctor responded to her with his usual brazen demeanor.
“Acheronar, prepare the teleportation spell as we discussed beforehand. The ritual failed, so we need to escape immediately.”
Moreover, he glanced at his surrounding comrades and urged a swift retreat.
Ha—.
Letting out a short sigh, Acheronar pressed her temple with her finger.
Then, she demanded an explanation from the Doctor once more.
“Didn’t you say we had to stop the star-seizing ritual at all costs? And now that it failed, we should just run?”
“Not failed on our end, but delayed. In that sense, dragging it out this long means we’ve executed the plan brilliantly.”
But from the Doctor’s mouth came words even more incomprehensible.
Acheronar’s cold gaze pierced the Doctor.
“Wouldn’t it be better to observe the great chieftain’s situation a bit longer?”
“We’ll all die if we do.”
“……What?”
Panic colored Acheronar’s face.
Heh heh heh—.
The Doctor, emitting a bizarre laugh, raised a finger toward the sky.
“Dead by allies or enemies, it’s all the same in the end. But I’d like to live a bit longer.”
A full moon swallowed by thick darkness in the sky.
Beneath it, countless eyes now stared down at the ground.
It was a scene they had encountered several times before.
“Acheronar. This place is no longer the domain of humans.”
“…….”
“With the ritual’s failure, even I can’t control it anymore. If you don’t want to be crushed by the great one’s power, we leave now.”
Right after the Doctor’s urgent words ended.
Kwaaaang—!
A pillar of light wreathed in darkness pierced the soul-transplant device where the descent ritual had failed.
Radiant darkness.
As the contradictory sight rippled in their vision.
The Doctor turned his back to the pulsating pillar of light.
“…….”
The air grew heavy in an instant, pressing down on the ground.
A fragment of a transcendent being.
The surrounding laws twisted in response to the incomprehensible truth.
Whoooong—.
The viscous atmosphere began to slowly choke the Doctor’s breath.
Essential life functions crumbled, forgetting their roles.
“Doctor, don’t tell me these are…….”
“…….”
Unfamiliar gazes fixing on the ground.
Every gaze felt like it pierced their skin straight to the soul.
This place is no longer the domain of humans—.
Just as the Doctor’s words proved true, innumerable darknesses began spreading from sky and earth.
“It seems this area is being eroded by the outer world.”
“…….”
“Acheronar, there’s no more time. With the descent ritual already a failure, even ‘that thing’ wearing the great one’s guise won’t protect us.”
Grind—.
Acheronar raised her hand, her face tense from the eerie gazes.
No more words were needed to convince her.
The ‘eyes’ emerging from the torn space already spread the terror of death.
‘Just receiving their gaze does this much; I can’t even imagine facing them directly.’
The outer world’s gazes watched this place.
Transcendent beings that crushed mortals with mere sight existed beyond.
Beings one must not meet or confront.
Everyone present felt it in their bones.
“……[Magic Corridor] activate.”
Mana spread around Acheronar as she clapped her palms together.
A forbidden space spell stored in the Third Archive.
—Wide-area teleportation magic, Shrink Ground.
Mana extended from Acheronar’s hand, setting a narrow boundary centered on her.
Unlike Johan, who had once relocated an entire research institute, the spatial boundary around her was exceedingly confined.
“Leintas! Miss Priella! We’re retreating—get back here now!”
“…….”
Hearing the Doctor’s shout, Leintas and Priella shoved the savages aside and swiftly crossed the boundary.
Keeein—!
Immediately after, space sealed shut, revealing a clean cut.
The planar rift expanded.
From Acheronar’s lips came the declaration ending the operation.
“—Sever and reconnect.”
Ziiiiiing—.
The moment the sharp sound of warping space rang out.
An alien landscape greeted them.
* * * * * *
For a certain magician who never dreamed, there was one time when dreams were permitted.
A world filled entirely with pristine white.
Sky and earth, trees and grass.
Even the animals dashing through the forest—all dyed pure white.
In that landscape, I gazed at the girl sitting before my eyes.
“I’m glad you’re back, Johan.”
Noise obscured the girl’s eyes, so I still couldn’t meet her gaze.
Yet I could clearly sense she was smiling.
A radiant smile.
Wearing it on her lips, the girl pointed to the book on her lap and spoke.
“Surely, this child is happy too.”
“…….”
My eyes turned to the girl’s lap.
A grimoire of familiar form lay there.
—Divine Dragon Sea Realm.
A Fourth Archive autonomous combat support spell designed for maritime use.
The origin of Peria Alperatz’s “Tyrant Dragon,” and a spell not checked out from the library in ages.
“…….”
I stared at the grimoire on the girl’s lap.
As I observed the familiar grimoire for a moment.
Swoosh—.
Having grasped the ritual’s outcome, I gave a wry smile.
“It seems the ritual failed.”
The descent ritual had failed.
That was my conclusion.