Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Omens (2)
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Where there is light, shadows follow.
The stronger the light shines, the darker the shadow it casts. That's the natural order of things, an undeniable truth. Yet there's one existence unbound by that truth.
The stars.
People called them stars.
Stars are beautiful. They shine brilliantly. As beings free from the natural order, they were also known by another name: gods.
"Isn't it ridiculous?"
Someone dares to mock those gods.
"You lot preach above all else that one must not defy the natural order, yet you yourselves stand outside it. The stars you worship are contradictory beings."
The natural order imposed by the stars.
The unbreakable rule.
"Can we truly call a flawed, contradictory existence a god? I don't think so."
The woman known as the apostate, who defied and trampled that rule, smiled.
"Moreover."
Filth that was once human bowed their heads toward her. The apostate walked over their heads. And at the end of her path, it awaited.
"With things like this existing, can we really believe the stars are pure?"
The apostate seized it.
Dragged from the mist, it was human—at least under the assumption that something spewing black smoke from its eyes and mouth could be called human.
"It must have been a precious child to you."
The apostate grabbed its hair and thrust it toward the man kneeling before her. His face twisted. Flames ignited in his eyes.
"A child beloved by the stars."
A dry crackle, a crumbling rasp.
"Sadly, the end is always like this."
The apostate smiled before the man's eyes.
As if in adoration, as if driven mad by love.
"Now that you've seen it, you understand."
She tilted her head.
Tilting her head and body, she grasped the man's chin. Gazing at the flames burning beyond his pupils, she whispered.
"Since you understand, you must share my thoughts. Shall I guess what they are?"
Madness meets madness.
The mad recognize their own kind.
"That the stars should not exist. That they must be dragged down and cast into the muck. That their infinite beauty and brilliance must be stripped away, reduced to something utterly meaningless. That it must be done."
A sticky, drawn-out voice.
"That's what you think."
The woman, who had lived centuries in madness, smiled at the birth of a new lunatic. Encountering one of her own, she burst into ecstatic laughter.
"Just like me."
At her whisper, the man screamed.
He erupted in rage, spewing his emotions. The apostate merely laughed. With a smile on her lips, she said.
"Yes. You're just like me, child."
The man would never forget those words.
He remembered the cursed tongue that seeped into his ears.
Even now, a hundred years later.
"......"
The madman, Kelrhalhm, opened his eyes.
Gazing out the window, he saw the vista of Aphria. Though small in scale, the scenery evoked memories of the academic city of Artia, which he had once overseen.
A place reminiscent of the academic city Artia.
A gathering of children blessed by the stars.
And a girl resembling Celestia.
All of it felt like a revelation to Kelrhalhm. He touched the nape of his neck. A faint clink of chains echoed. Listening to the sound only he could hear... Kelrhalhm simply waited.
For the impending finale.
2.
"Just as it came to Artia in the past."
"Shadows will come here too."
"You must not approach them."
I mulled over those three lines.
Kelrhalhm had fallen silent since then. Over the past few days, I'd visited him repeatedly, asked again, threatened, even challenged him to another duel—tried everything. But he remained mute.
"There's nothing more I can say."
He couldn't speak even if he wanted to.
It was just like Cardi. I doubted I'd learn anything more.
'This nonsense won't last forever.'
By the third day of my antics, weird rumors had even started circulating among the students.
-Look, the professor's at it again...!
-He's been grabbing him by the collar and shaking him since earlier. Sounded like threats just now...
-I think I heard 'duel' too. No way he's challenging him again...
...The rumors were packed with misinformation, but I had no time to worry about that. Anyway, I'd stopped my antics and spent more time thinking alone.
"Shadows are coming."
Shadows are coming to Aphria.
"And I must not approach them."
I rubbed my chin.
As far as I knew, shadows were the antithesis of stars. And there was only one being that pointed to.
'The Demon King.'
A being who had lost the right to kingship, reduced to mere 'demon'. Cardi had called it a shadow.
'Shadows are coming to Aphria.'
In other words, the Demon King would appear in Aphria. But that interpretation left too many loose ends.
"If he meant the Demon King was coming, he'd have said so."
He wouldn't have borrowed the word 'shadow'.
The shadow Kelrhalhm spoke of felt less like a specific entity and more like a phenomenon.
'It came to Artia too, right?'
I recalled what I knew about Artia. Not much. Kelrhalhm never spoke of his own past.
The academic city, Artia.
Reduced to ashes overnight by the apostate.
'That's why Kelrhalhm hates the apostate.'
Did that mean the apostate was coming to Aphria?
"That can't be."
I frowned.
A few months ago, I'd repelled the apostate who entered the City of Night. In the process, she'd said she could no longer set foot in the capital.
'As if chased away by something.'
She'd called it her last chance.
I'd clearly seen a strand of light pulled from her heart by the scales. It was a form of restraint.
'I suspected it, but that confirmed it.'
The calamities excluding Skeval.
In other words, the former heroes couldn't enter the capital. Bound by some restraint. So they were off the list of suspects.
From the start, beings with names like theirs were excluded from the dragon's lineup.
"Phenomenon."
The shadow Kelrhalhm described was a phenomenon.
Not an entity with a clear name, but something that could only be called a shadow. What exactly was this phenomenon? No matter how I thought about it, no answer came.
'What is it that I must not approach?'
I couldn't know.
"Hmm..."
I let out a groan but shook my head. Pondering wouldn't yield answers.
"Just as it came to Artia in the past."
In the end, I could only hope that line held the clue.
'Kalt's probably compiled it well.'
Since Kelrhalhm revealed his purpose in visiting Aphria, Kalt had been gathering every scrap of info on him. I planned to borrow those materials.
-Kalt.
I inscribed words on the letter newly exchanged with Kalt.
Soon, Kalt replied.
-Yes, Senior.
-Can I see the materials you've compiled on Kelrhalhm? Something's bothering me.
-I'll prepare them. The usual spot in about an hour?
-Yeah. Let's do that.
-I had something to ask you too, perfect timing. See you in an hour.
Something to ask?
I tilted my head.
"Guess I'll find out when I get there."
3.
"Ah, you're here, Senior?"
Kalt waved as he spotted Lania through the trees. She plopped down on the stump opposite him.
"Hoo..."
Then she let out a sigh right away.
Up close, her expression didn't look great. She seemed lost in thought.
'Still sulking over the duel?'
She had strong pride, after all.
With that in mind, Kalt spoke first.
"I've compiled what you asked for. Scraped every classified document on Kelrhalhm, so probably nothing missed."
"Thanks. So, what did you want to ask?"
Lania took the documents and asked back.
Kalt hesitated a moment before speaking.
"Well, it's about..."
"What is it? Spit it out."
"I have some questions about magic artifacts. Senior, can a magic artifact just vanish overnight?"
"...Vanish?"
"Yes, vanish."
Kalt nodded.
"A few days ago, one of my subordinates picked up a magic artifact from the underground waterway. No idea what it did. So I was gonna ask you, kept it tucked in this coat pocket while I went on patrol."
Kalt flapped the hem of his coat.
It had an expansion spell.
"And then, in that short time, it disappeared."
"...Disappeared?"
"Yes. No trace. Thought maybe the expansion spell on the coat glitched, but no. Everything else is fine."
Lania rubbed her chin.
Kalt sighed and continued. Truth be told, it had rattled him too.
"I wanted to bring the real thing to ask about it, but the artifact's gone."
"...Magic artifacts don't just vanish. So what did it look like?"
"Ah, about this."
Kalt drew a circle in the air with his finger.
"Know anything like this? Round crystal orb, about this size."
"Crystal orbs aren't exactly rare. Most basic magic artifact shape. Be more specific."
"It was black. Pitch black. And empty inside, like it was meant to hold something..."
"...Pitch black?"
Lania's eyes narrowed.
"Yes, black. This size..."
"Hold on."
She cut Kalt off. In a suddenly serious tone, Lania pointed at his coat.
"Take that off and give it here."
"The coat?"
"Yeah. Hurry."
Kalt handed over his coat.
Lania brought the hem, where the expansion circuits were etched, to her chest. As Kalt opened his mouth to ask what she was doing—
Szzzt!
A spark flew between the coat's hem and Lania's chest. Followed by a sizzling burn.
"Fuck..."
Lania pressed her chest hard and bowed her head. Blood trickled from her mouth.
Kalt's eyes widened.
"S-Senior, you okay?"
"Let me see."
Pushing away Kalt's panicked hand, Lania spat out blood. A dark red glob landed in the grass. She wiped her mouth with her palm and muttered.
"So that's what he meant by 'don't approach'..."
In her hand was a black crystal orb.
Just like the one Kalt had seen before. But unlike then, it now glowed brightly.
'As if activated.'
Reacting to something nearby, drawing it in. Lania set the orb on the ground and pressed her chest with her palm.
"Hah, huff..."
Her breathing was ragged.
After struggling to steady it, she slowly spoke.
"Listen carefully. Looks like things got complicated. Right now..."
That was as far as she got.
A heavy thrum from the orb. Lania's pupils shook violently. Clutching her chest, she collapsed to the ground.
"Guh, guhk!"
"Senior!"
She vomited blood.
Kalt hurriedly reached for the artifact. The moment he drew his dagger to smash it—
"Smash that and we're fucked. Don't break it..."
In a halting voice, Lania said.
"Just wait a bit. It'll be over soon..."
Her voice didn't last.
The fading words cut off completely.
"Senior! Senior!"
Kalt grabbed Lania's shoulders and shook her.
Lania showed no sign of opening her eyes.