Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Trajectory: Celestia (3)
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The Empire's northwestern border region.
From the Erbar Federation all the way to the Holy City of Parthia, the Empire's border, which bordered numerous nations, was extraordinarily long.
Because of this, the Empire operated large-scale border patrol units that routinely inspected the border's condition.
Lian was one of the rookie knights assigned to such a border patrol unit.
Still unable to fully shed his squire ways since his recent knighting.
Thanks to that, he hadn't yet earned the full trust of his patrol squad members.
Such a knight was Lian.
“Sir Lian, you need to pull yourself together…!”
“Ah, ahh…!”
And now, Knight Lian was facing an unbelievable sight.
In a location not far from the sector Lian was patrolling.
There, something enveloped in black light was advancing toward the border.
A black flash.
Lian's eyes, witnessing an incomprehensible phenomenon, continued to stare at the advancing human silhouette.
Crackle, crackle—.
With every step the human form wrapped in lightning took forward, black bolts spread around it.
Moreover, everything caught in the splashing black lightning was melting away.
Crunch—!
As a massive boulder shattered upon contact with the blinding flash, a voice filled with astonishment rang out from behind Lian.
“That huge Whale Rock… it exploded the moment it touched that monster…!”
“W-What the hell is that…!”
“Sir Lian! We need to move right now!”
The patrol squad led by Lian erupted into chaos the instant the house-sized rock exploded.
Including Lian, all the soldiers under his command were witnessing something utterly unprecedented for the first time in their lives.
Crackle—.
The lightning scattering around the black silhouette carved vivid scars into the surroundings.
No one present believed they could stop it.
Only the primal instinct for survival, screaming to escape it, rang in their minds.
A calamity beyond human resistance approaching in human form.
Witnessing this, Lian's hands began to tremble violently.
Why was such a vicious, destructive being moving within the Empire's territory?
Lian couldn't even guess the reason.
“Ah—.”
He merely gritted his teeth at the astonished voices erupting beside him, suppressing his fear.
Even without confirmation from those around him, everyone there recognized its danger.
The path the black form advanced along.
Everything beneath it burned black and crumbled, the scene vividly reflected in Lian's eyes.
“Sir Lian! You need to give orders right now!”
“Y-Yeah… got it…!”
Hearing his subordinate's voice in his ear, Lian finally snapped to his senses and looked around.
His squad members awaited his command.
Hoo—.
A sigh laced with fear escaped Lian's lips.
There was no more time to hesitate.
To survive, they had to flee this place immediately.
“Everyone! Evacuate this area right now…!”
“…….”
“Abandon all supplies! We need to get out of its range as fast as possible!”
Lian ordered his men to retreat while gripping the reins of his mount.
He had become a knight to fight the Empire's enemies.
But he hadn't been knighted to battle such a monstrous abomination.
From the start, it wasn't even clear if that thing qualified as an 'enemy of the Empire.'
In this situation, Lian had only one choice.
Flee this place immediately.
Having made his decision, Lian kicked the flank of his horse.
Neigh—.
With a cry, Lian's horse bolted forward.
“Huff, huff…!”
Even as he fled the approaching calamity that sowed terror, Lian's eyes didn't stop watching the lightning-wreathed form.
Rumble—.
The human silhouette advanced, unleashing ferocious lightning.
The direction it headed appeared in Lian's vision.
—The Holy City, Parthia.
The monster's form, bound for the great god's resting place, etched itself clearly into Lian's mind.
* * * * * *
Phantasm Library Celestia.
After returning to the silent library devoid of anyone else, I sat at my empty desk and sank into contemplation for a long while.
A brief moment of lucid dreaming.
It was to organize the conversation with the girl I'd met in the snow-white forest.
“…….”
Tap, tap—.
My fingers lightly drummed the empty desk.
A dull thud echoed from the antique desk.
Desk and chair. And up to the bookshelves.
The library's furnishings sequentially entered my view.
“Phantasm Library. Magic tomes. And… the library's wizard.”
The keywords I'd confirmed through the dream conversation slipped from my lips.
I slowly mulled them over once more, taking in the furnishings around me one by one.
Some of the library's furniture existed independently of my preferences or will.
The library's grand exterior was the same.
From the spiral staircase encircling the library to the beautiful garden at the topmost floor.
Countless elements of the library had existed in their current state before I arrived.
At least outside the few areas I'd modified, it was fair to say I had no hand in the library's design.
“Who the hell designed this library anyway?”
Several possibilities flashed through my mind.
“Why a library form in the first place?”
The accumulating possibilities tangled repeatedly in my head.
There was too much information to process.
I needed to organize the thoughts piling up in my mind.
I reached out into empty air and lightly swung my hand.
Swish—.
A sheet of paper flew onto my desk.
I snatched it midair and spread it out on the table.
Then I picked up a pen and began sorting my tangled thoughts like unraveling thread.
“That girl is definitely connected to this library.”
The identity of the girl I'd met in the dream was undoubtedly linked to the magic tomes or Celestia.
Otherwise, obtaining the magic tome I'd authored would be impossible.
Scribble—.
My hand drew lines on the paper and wrote the next part.
“And it's certain she needs me.”
It was also clear that she needed me.
Of course, not just her, but the library itself as well.
Phantasm Library Celestia needed me.
Was it an obsession with me?
Or an obsession with the 'role' I performed?
I couldn't yet determine which was correct.
Perhaps both were.
The girl's words about the library's rules resurfaced in my mind.
“The magics existing in the library are assigned certain roles—.”
Scribble, scribble—.
As I recorded the third piece of information, my gaze turned to the dense bookshelves surrounding me.
—Phantasm Library Celestia is alive.
This had already been confirmed once through Kreighton's experiment.
The magic tomes I'd authored weren't mere books containing spells or information.
Every magic tome here harbored its own mysteries.
Especially since the girl in the dream had told me the magic tomes were grieving.
“Creating magic tomes, nurturing another will, gathering those created tomes… what then?”
Creating magic tomes was my role.
And the girl in the dream craved the ones I made.
However, what value did those created tomes hold—.
I hadn't grasped a proper clue yet.
Scribble, scribble—.
As I held the pen and jotted down several hypotheses on the paper.
Flash!
Suddenly, a faint light flickered before my eyes.
“…….”
I watched the shimmering glow.
If human hands shaped radiance, would it look like this?
The small light coalesced into a light source, solidifying into the silhouette of a book.
As I silently stared at the emerging silhouette, it soon lost its glow and fell downward.
Thud—.
I gazed at the book that dropped with a heavy sound.
The book before me bore a familiar title.
“…Descent of the Thunder God.”
I gave a wry smile at the familiar magic tome.
A volume stored in the Fourth Archive—
The vanished magic tome had returned to the library.
Bitterness spread in my mouth.
* * * * * *
The White Church's Holy City, Parthia.
At the outer walls of the massive citadel concentrating the Church's every technique and resource, numerous priests were currently bustling about.
The reason those monitoring Parthia's outskirts had begun moving urgently was one—
Beyond the thick walls, far in the distance.
From there, something unidentified wrapped in crimson-black lightning approached.
Thud thud thud—.
Urgent footsteps echoed atop the walls.
The walls plunged into chaos as priests shouted their own tales.
“What are you doing! Start praying immediately!”
“Even for you, Your Excellency, entering without permission is…!”
“Demons! The Empire bastards have finally summoned hell's demons! To topple the Holy City, they've revealed their true colors at last!”
Countless voices echoed atop the Holy City's walls.
Priests who had come for support climbed the walls to watch the approaching threat to the Holy City.
Demons. Fiends. Demon King.
And harbingers of doom—
They gave it different names, all while wary of the hellish lightning moving in the distance.
The devout prayed, while paladins faithful to their duties tried to restore order amid the chaos.
“It seems… its advance speed has picked up from before.”
“So it appears.”
Boom! Rumble—!
The pitch-black monster causing this scene pulverized everything beneath it as it advanced.
A human form advancing while cloaked in contradictory light.
Even with half its body already crumbled, it pressed on undiminished, devastating the path.
Crackle—.
Trees burned, earth melted.
Amid shards of exploded rock flying everywhere, delirious prayers from a cardinal atop the wall resounded.
“Ahh, great Guide. Have mercy on us, save us from the approaching tribulation, and smite the wicked things threatening the mortal world with Your light—.”
“Has the Saintess given no orders yet?”
“We've been sending reports continuously, but aside from instructions to wait in place…”
The paladin listening to the cardinal's prayer grimaced.
No matter how you looked at it, the situation was a complete mess.
The priests he'd brought to do something were only stirring up more chaos.
Perhaps the barriers consecrated at the gates were far more reliable than the holy barriers these people were forming.
- …….
Rumble—.
From where the distant monster stood, the air began to vibrate with sound.
Spreading thunder.
Hearing it, the paladin raised a hand to cover his ear.
Grind—.
The monster reaching out entered the gritted-teeth paladin's view.
“Damn it…”
“Uwaaaah—!”
Boom—!
A black flash shot straight out, promptly shattering part of the holy barrier.
Crack, craaaack—.
Cracks spread across a portion of the holy barrier inscribed on the outer walls.
Moreover, the flash didn't stop there, melting part of Parthia's outer walls as well.
Sizzle—.
Thick smoke billowed from the harshly gouged wall.
The searing heat from the heated walls vividly reached everyone guarding the outer defenses.
“All ballistae mounted on the walls are ready!”
Of course, the Holy City's defensive forces, including the paladin, had no intention of just watching the scene unfold.
Creak—.
The consecrated, spear-loaded ballistae moved, aiming at the monster approaching Parthia.
Just as the Holy City's ballistae locked onto the approaching monster.
The moment the paladin atop the wall was about to order fire.
“Monstrous mana. Trying to contain mana unfit for that body—already more than half has crumbled.”
As the paladin opened his mouth to issue the command.
At the familiar voice resounding across the walls, the priests waiting there turned their gazes in one direction.
“S-Sir Leon…!”
“The Sword Saint himself is stepping in!”
Sword Saint, Leon Byrunt.
The living saint lauded as Parthia's guardian, one of the continent's supreme known as the Seven Pillars.
At the appearance of the living saint, all fell silent at once.
Step, step—.
The youth in black armor strode atop the walls with an impassive face.
At Leon's waist hung a scabbard etched with intricate engravings.
“Even left alone, it'll self-destruct. But better I handle it before casualties mount.”
“…….”
“Everyone, fall back. I'll resolve this myself from here.”
Shing—.
From Sword Saint Leon's scabbard emerged a ornate sword adorned with multicolored fragments.
One of the divine artifacts stored in Holy City Parthia.
The Demon-Slaying Holy Sword—Paradisus.
Drawing the holy sword, Leon raised it upright before him.
“—[Holy Sword] activation.”
Leon's eyes gleamed with pure white light.
Flash—!
In the next instant, the Sword Saint, enveloped in dazzling radiance, unleashed holy power.