Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: S2. Resentment Grazing the Stars -2
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There was no proper furniture in the hideout. The only amenity for a comfortable life was a single worn-out mattress to lie on. The rest of the space was neatly organized with items necessary for work and survival.
A week's worth of food, mostly canned goods. Two pistols and five bullets. A large city map hanging on the wall. A necklace etched with strange symbols. And all sorts of suspicious books and documents.
"It really feels like a base set up just for investigations. I didn't expect there to be not even a single chair."
"That just means they were focused on the mission."
Tara glanced around before spotting the pistols and picking one up. She seemed very interested in the killing power of that small weapon.
"This is the thing that punched through Bennett's shoulder earlier, right?"
"........."
"Niore, there's a whiteboard here. It's smaller than the one you were carrying, but..."
Bennett picked up the whiteboard from the hideout and handed it to Niore. The moment she took it with both hands, she started scribbling something furiously.
"No need for apologies. Don't waste the ink."
[...Okay.]
She stopped at Bennett's words.
Bennett lightly tapped the outer wall to make a sound, drawing everyone's attention. Then he summarized the situation. Two pairs of eyes turned toward him.
"First, finish investigating the hideout. We might find more information on the Silver Twilight Order. After that, we'll discuss our next steps and move out."
[Got it, Bennett. I'll do my best. I'll be helpful this time.]
"Doesn't seem like there's anything special... Can I take this gun?"
"The one lacking lethality is Niore..."
Bennett recalled Niore's earlier state and was about to give her the pistol. But then he remembered the ominous spell she had used against the fanatics. The massive pillar covered in thousands of mouths.
He furrowed his brow and addressed Niore.
"Niore. I think you need to explain this."
[.........]
"It looked like the same kind of spell the fanatics used. The costs were all extreme. I need to know how you learned it and what it consumed."
[Isaac gave it to me.]
"...Abraham's daughter?"
Niore pulled a grimoire from her bosom. Just looking at its cover made it clear it was no ordinary item. It felt ominous and unsettling.
[It's hard to understand the contents, and it takes time, but it's a beneficial book that grants a lot of wisdom.]
"It doesn't look beneficial at all. To me, it's an artifact no different from a cursed sword. One that harms the user. It's better not to use it..."
Niore hugged the grimoire to her chest and shook her head vigorously, like a child refusing to give up a favorite toy. Then she desperately made excuses.
[It will be helpful!]
"Like a cursed sword, evil artifacts eventually lead their users to ruin. You're helpful enough without it. I'll seal it, so hand it over quietly."
"......Ugh, uwu."
Niore shook her head wildly and looked up at Bennett with teary eyes. She wanted to make up for her mistake. If she had dealt with the fanatic in one go, maybe it wouldn't have been too late.
Just as Bennett judged the grimoire had mind-control properties and was about to take it by force, Tara interrupted while loading bullets into the pistol with a click-clack.
"Why not just let her keep it, Bennett?"
"What?"
"We need power, don't we? The Silver Twilight Order is still out there, and there are plenty of them to kill. We need magic capable of mass destruction."
"Does that mean we just leave it as is? Abnormally powerful strength always comes with a──"
Click. The sound of the mechanism engaging and the bullet chambering cut Bennett off. Tara, who had been talking while looking at the pistol, raised her head and met Bennett's gaze.
"It's not a price you have to pay, right?"
"........."
[I've made up my mind. It's my decision, Bennett. I don't want any regrets.]
Bennett realized he wasn't in a position to criticize Niore himself. As Tara said, it had nothing to do with him. Having a comrade desperate enough to take risks was actually a gain.
Still, it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Bennett backed off. The three investigated the hideout's items in silence. The Silver Twilight Order's necklace seemed usable for disguising identities. They might even infiltrate their building with it.
From the suspicious books and documents, they gauged the Silver Twilight Order's scale. Even counting only official members, there were around a hundred. Including unofficial ones, it would double or triple.
A full-frontal battle offered no chance of victory. Numbers were violence, especially against those who unleashed bizarre spells at the cost of their lives. Fighting head-on would end in attrition and death.
They also uncovered the Silver Twilight Order's goal. A major discovery.
Among the documents, which seemed stolen by an infiltrator, were internal secrets of the order. Wrapped in layers of blasphemous god-names and twisted metaphors, but Niore could interpret them.
With a somewhat dazed expression, she wrote down the text.
[They're trying to summon a god.]
"...A god? Like the Goddess?"
[I don't know. But it's definitely something enormous... and incredibly powerful. It's called the Vice-King, the second highest in this universe, wielding authority over time and space.]
"So the fanatics' spells borrow power from that... entity."
[It's approaching this place from a distant universe. Normally, lowly creatures like us couldn't summon it, but since it's getting closer, the Silver Twilight Order believes it's possible and is trying to call forth at least a part of it.]
Summoning.
Niore's explanation was somewhat detached and entranced, not intuitive, so Bennett quickly organized it in his mind and laid it out verbally.
1. The evil god called the Vice-King possesses power over time and space. Thus, the Silver Twilight Order, who borrow strength from their worshipped deity, manipulate time and space.
2. Summoning magic becomes easier and less mana-intensive the closer the distance and the more precisely the target's location is known. Conveniently, the evil god is moving toward this world. The success rate of summoning it will rise over time.
What came to mind upon hearing that was Abraham's research. He had spoken of a massive energy undetectable by human eyes crossing the universe. If that energy mass was the Vice-King, it all fit.
Abraham had already foreseen what would happen if it were summoned. The death of all things. The planet would shatter and vanish entirely. This was the Silver Twilight Order's grand suicide ritual.
Then why had the Silver Twilight Order interfered with Abraham's research?
In a tale of such massive scale as an evil god's descent, what role could an old man's small study play? Why sabotage the research, kill the old man, and erase the entire mansion?
Bennett, who had learned magic broadly if shallowly, knew a bit about summoning spells. Reversing a summoning spell created a banishment spell. Like two sides of a coin, summoning and banishment were inseparable.
If it could be summoned, it could be sent back.
The α value.
The calculated acceleration of the approaching energy mass. And Abraham's mountain of cosmic observation data. With those...
They could pinpoint where in the universe the Vice-King was passing through──its position. Then, banishment could be cast. It would require immense power to banish a divine being, but...
The presence or absence of the α value would divide possibility from impossibility.
Perhaps Abraham's research could save humanity.
"...Abraham's research wasn't in vain. It was a threat to them."
[Then we need to hurry to the forbidden archive, get the α value, and save the world...]
"Hold on. There's risk. Having coordinates makes summoning easier too."
Conversely, if the α value fell into the Silver Twilight Order's hands, they could summon the evil god far too easily. It was a double-edged sword.
Tara's stance was clear.
"If it's something to screw over the Silver Twilight Order, I'm all for it. If it's what they killed Abraham to achieve, I'll smash it along with their thick skulls myself."
Niore didn't hesitate either.
[If it's summoned, the devoured souls will suffer eternally. In endlessly stretched time. Turning the whole world into hell──we have to stop it.]
But Bennett hesitated.
"........."
Bennett had to think again. Was there a reason? The group's goal──no, his goal──was obtaining the glowing irregular tetrahedron. Even if this world was swallowed by the evil god and turned to cosmic dust, it wouldn't matter.
Even if Abraham's research vanished without a trace, with no one left to remember it. It wouldn't matter.
His only purpose was saving his sister, so ignoring it might even be better. Yet something prickled at him like a thorn in his heart.
Bennett racked his brain desperately and came up with a reason.
"...We can use it as a bargaining chip."
"Bargaining?"
"Yeah. The glowing irregular tetrahedron is likely with the Silver Twilight Order now. We could trade the α value for it..."
"You're still the same, Bennett."
Bennett averted his gaze and changed the subject.
"We agree up to securing the research data. Our next destination is the forbidden archive in Miskatonic University's library."
The plan was set.
Day 6. The clock tattoo on his wrist was approaching zero.
The group all agreed there was no time. Even if time ran out midway and they had to return, they judged they needed to secure Abraham's research as soon as possible.
However, after consecutive battles and tension, the group was heavily depleted.
[Even if we leave right now...]
"Let's rest for 1 hour."
"3 hours."
Tara and Niore voiced complaints and impatience at Bennett's declaration.
"Isn't that too long? 2 hours."
[Shouldn't we go quickly, quickly? 1 hour should be enough...]
"3 hours. No objections, so just close your eyes and rest."
Bennett crossed his arms, leaned against the wall, and shut his eyes. Adequate rest wasn't optional but essential, and since they'd pulled an all-nighter, 3 hours was a tight schedule.
Tara grumbled but closed her eyes. Not even a few minutes later, she fell asleep. Occasionally chewing on the hair in her mouth, she seemed to be dreaming of a cheerful family meal.
Niore glanced around cautiously, unable to sleep, and opened the grimoire. If this book full of spells borrowing the evil god's power had a banishment spell, she could find it, save the world, and give meaning to Abraham's death...
Reading the grimoire made her brain itch. There were surely no pain receptors in the brain, yet it felt like ants crawling in the deepest part. An unreachable itch tormented her.
She endured. When it got too bad, she banged her forehead against the wall or yanked her hair. That was how she read the grimoire. She had to be helpful. Because of her, Bennett had even been shot. She could make up for it. She had to...
And Bennett did not dream.
In a blank white space devoid of anything, Bennett opened his eyes.
Before him stood a girl with distinctive purple eyes tinged pink. Her blonde hair tied in twin tails swayed gently. The girl wore an extremely anxious and urgent expression.
It was hazy. Was this a dream?
"Hey, Bennett. I have a favor to ask. It's important...!"
How important could it be?
"Saving one person."
That wasn't important.
"It is. Think about your future too──it'll matter. The trials are getting way harder, and next time, they might throw you into something worse than Cthulhu."
I don't understand.
"I'll explain the details outside... Just remember this. Banish the Vice-King, and everything will work out. Got it?"
The girl vanished after spouting strange words. Bennett, in a liminal state between reality and illusion, looked around. Then he faded away like a snuffed candle.