Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: New Star: Lua Polaris (4)
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Alandorf was a mage who had researched the human mind and soul for an exceedingly long time.
What were souls made of?
What protected the depths of a person's subconscious?
Vice Chairman Alandorf had confronted countless mysteries of the soul over the years and understood that the world at the base of each person's consciousness was unique.
Because of this, he could not comprehend the scene laid out before his eyes.
What existed beneath a person's consciousness should only ever be a part of themselves.
In other words—
No other person with their own self-awareness should be living beneath someone's subconscious.
"Who gave you permission to touch my pieces?"
And now, the young man before Alandorf's eyes was undoubtedly a being with self-awareness.
Beneath his flowing black hair.
Sharp obsidian eyes gazed at Alandorf.
That was no mere fragment of Lua Polaris.
It was a pseudo-lifeform, complete in and of itself.
An independent entity regarded Alandorf with a cold smile.
"Ah...."
Something was wrong.
Alandorf understood this from the eyes of the young man staring at him.
This was no realm of deep subconscious at the base of a person's mind.
It wasn't even a space prepared for the immature mage named Lua Polaris.
It was merely a place created to sustain a single pseudo-lifeform.
A world constructed by a being that had already concluded everything once, to maintain its continuity.
—Consciousness Space.
Alandorf Petreaus's eyes beheld the independent world constructed before him.
He had been drawn into a sort of consciousness space triggered by the activation of his magic.
"I'm curious what confidence led you to lay hands on my pieces."
"......"
And the master of that space was now pressuring Alandorf as he gazed at him.
An oppressive weight transmitted over, as if his breath were being choked off.
Kuuuuung—.
A presence so overwhelming that merely facing it crushed his entire body.
As his heart plummeted, Alandorf's mind raced busily.
'Something has gone terribly wrong. I must escape this place immediately.'
He had to escape this place right now—
Having reached that conclusion, Alandorf urgently drew up his mana.
There was no time for hesitation.
The prepared ritual activated, beginning preparations to pull his submerged consciousness back to the surface.
"Bind. Pull."
Alandorf's mana resonated, activating the completed ritual.
Right after he desperately cast the spell to retrieve his soul.
Pajik—!
Sparks flew before Alandorf's eyes.
"Who permitted you to leave this place?"
"Kuhk...!"
—It had failed.
Alandorf's eyes filled with horror as he realized the fact.
The threads of mana holding Alandorf's soul snapped.
At the same time, Alandorf, who had been trying to retrieve his soul, screamed and staggered.
Kuluk—.
Alandorf's spirit body began to shake from the impact.
Toward such an Alandorf, the ancient mage who had been watching him spoke once more.
"I forbid you from leaving this place without my permission."
"Huhk, huuuhk...!"
"You barge into my library without permission, and now you think you can just leave as you please?"
Alandorf, staggering, glared at the young man before him.
The young man's eyes still shone with cold indifference upon Alandorf.
Alandorf looked at the young man.
He looked at the massive library behind the young man.
And he looked at the trail of light extending from the lofty ceiling.
'What in the world am I seeing?'
His bloodshot eyes fixed on the unidentified entity that had halted his magic.
A vivid trajectory extending vertically from the sky.
A colossal magic, activated without any prelude, pierced through the entire space as its driving force.
Uuuuuung—.
Mana resonating and spreading.
Mana concentrating endlessly dismantled and devoured Alandorf's magic.
'My magic... is being dismantled...?'
An overwhelmingly majestic presence unlike anything he had ever witnessed existed there.
Something far too grand to be called mere magic.
It writhed at the young man's gesture, dominating the entire space.
"Ah, aaa...!"
In that scene, Alandorf realized he could do nothing more.
Alandorf Petreaus was a man who knew his place.
At the very least, he could grasp the gulf between himself and the entity before him.
A prepared mage was always granted overwhelming advantages.
For a mage like Alandorf, that power could rival an army.
Then what if a great mage whose talent reached the heavens entered a domain prepared over an entire lifetime?
"Aa, aaaaaa...!"
The answer to that stood right before Alandorf's eyes.
Alandorf beheld something of unfathomable depth.
What words could express that awe?
The sight of the young man seated within the grand library defied any grandiose description.
—Omnipotence.
The tower of unfulfilled wishes piled up by a great mage over a lifetime.
An absolute domain forged from one human's entire existence.
A being reigning like a god within its domain was there.
"I... this foolish mage... has dared to commit a grave rudeness...!"
"......"
"Alandorf... Petreaus... apologizes to the great one... for touching your servant...!"
From the moment he confronted that entity, Alandorf realized what he had done.
He had provoked a being he should never have touched.
And in doing so, he had willfully stepped into that entity's domain.
He had to apologize somehow.
Having judged quickly, Alandorf prostrated himself before it.
No—he tried to prostrate himself—
If his spirit body had legs, that is.
"I'll help you show some proper manners."
"Kaaaaak...!"
Kwajik—!
Alandorf's legs snapped in impossible directions.
Kung!
Having lost his legs, Alandorf gritted his teeth and collapsed to the floor.
Vivid pain transmitted from his spirit body trapped in the consciousness space.
"Kuuk... S-sorry...!"
Kaddddduk—.
Alandorf, gnashing his teeth, barely regained his balance and kowtowed on the floor.
Everything had gone wrong from the start.
To survive, he had to bow somehow.
What stood before him was a monster that had accumulated rank beyond human lifespan.
Defying the flow against a calamity-like existence was folly.
"Now you look properly polite."
"Huu, uuk...."
Suppressing a ragged groan, Alandorf bowed his head toward the entity before him.
He barely stifled the pain.
And conveyed words of apology to the monster before his eyes.
"P-please... forgive this rudeness...!"
"......"
"Our research society... has no desire... to antagonize you...!"
Alandorf's mouth poured out his true feelings.
His scream-like apology echoed through the grand library.
Then, the young man looking down at Alandorf quietly raised one hand.
Swipe.
The young man who had raised his hand gazed at Alandorf and spoke.
"Raise your head, mage."
"Please, mercy... Kuhk...?!"
As Alandorf lifted his head, he saw the young man's thumb folded.
Kwajik—!
At the same moment, Alandorf's left arm twisted in the opposite direction.
"One. Do not enter my library without permission."
"Huu, uuuk...!"
Alandorf, enduring the pain, nodded vigorously.
Vivid agony coursed through his arm.
A sensation as if something sharp tore through his flesh.
He clenched his teeth, barely suppressing the pain wracking his body.
"Two. Do not touch my pieces without permission."
Kwajik—!
With a clear tearing of flesh, this time Alandorf's right arm twisted backward.
Kaddddduk.
Blood vessels bulged in the eyes of Alandorf, who gnashed his teeth.
"Kuuuk... Kaaaaak...!"
"......"
"I-I understand... so please, mercy...!"
Even so, Alandorf tried not to glare at the monster before him.
He understood that provoking it now would lead to more than mere pain.
Pshk—.
The young man watching him chuckled.
The young man gazing at Alandorf soon folded his third finger.
"Three. Never interfere with my affairs again."
"......"
"These are all the warnings I have for you."
Huuuk, huuuk—.
Alandorf, steadying his ragged breaths, lowered his head.
Unless he had gone mad, he would never touch such a mage again.
He was even curious about the identity of that reckless mage under the protection of such a monster.
"......"
It was only for a moment that Alandorf, suppressing his pain, lay flat on the floor.
Soon after, the young man looking down at him clenched his fist with the folded fingers.
"Still, you must pay the price for carelessly stepping into this place."
"......Yes?"
"I'll send you back after you pay that price."
Alandorf's eyes beheld the massive shadow looming over him.
After a few seconds of incomprehensible sensation.
Alandorf Petreaus realized his spirit body was collapsing.
"N-no... what is this...!"
"Isn't this a cheap price for trying to ruin one person?"
"Kaaaaaaaak—!"
Soul Annihilation.
As he felt the approaching collapse, fragments of his soul were vividly torn away.
* * * * * *
"Kuhk! Haa, ha... Kuluk...!"
When Vice Chairman Alandorf regained consciousness.
He had to quickly retrieve the soul fragments he had scattered to control the doll.
The backlash from his soul being shredded upon entering the unidentified library had struck.
Kuluk!
Coughing up blood, Alandorf looked around.
"......"
Lua Polaris, mage of the Blue Tower.
The mage caught in Alandorf's spell lay unconscious.
However, the aftermath of her magic remained, having frozen nearly half of Alandorf's body.
Kuuuk—.
Letting out ragged breaths, Alandorf soon grasped the situation and shouted loudly toward the outside.
"William!"
"Yes, Master. Have you finished your business?"
At Alandorf's call, the old butler waiting in the corridor entered.
Kkiiik—.
Right after the old butler opened the door and entered.
What flowed from Alandorf's mouth was an urgent command.
"Summon the servants immediately and escort our guest politely to her room!"
"......Yes, Master."
"She is a most valuable guest—ensure nothing harmful befalls her!"
Commands spilled from the staggering Alandorf's mouth.
The warning from the great mage residing in the library echoed vividly in Alandorf's mind.
Even after awakening from that brief dream, Alandorf felt he would never forget today's memory.
Undoubtedly, it had been a nightmare.