Chapter 69
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Echoes of Another World
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The portal opened above the sacred mountains of the East, the Eternal Mountain Range.
The Eternal Mountain Range.
A vast range that encircles the East, separating the northern and central parts of the Empire and extending down to the elven Idea Peninsula.
[By focusing the Thunderous Fragrance Soul Resonance Formation, I've peeled back the veils of the Branded Ones' minds and peered into their souls. They call each other 'Players'.]
Pursued by the Southern Army, a long battlefront had formed, and the ridge was a sea of fire.
In the mountains, the Central Army had established a position with 200,000 troops, heavy artillery, and magic.
It had been a long time since the Central Army had driven out the eastern natives who lived in the mountains, practically violating them in the process.
[Players?]
A squadron of griffins soared swiftly through the sky above the ridge.
[Your Excellency, what a strange name. It's not like this is some gambling den.]
These were the words of Dorandis Slade, a famous battlemage from the South and a member of the Sharrilion Corps.
“The Sword Saint called me a 'pile of data.' I had no idea what kind of slang it was.”
Was that all?
He used even cruder language, flustered that I was still alive.
Tarsiyo said.
“According to my father's records, the Branded Ones... the 'Players'... are otherworldly beings blessed by the outer cosmos. They came to this world through a contract with the Abyss.”
“Otherworldly beings? Otherworldly? A different world?”
“Yes. They say 'Players' gamble their lives for a wish. There are 666 of them in total. Among them, five beings were granted strength beyond imagination. They're called 'Elite Players'.”
It was also said that 'Elite Players' are assigned classes according to their respective talents.
Swordsmanship, Elite Knight.
Magic, Elite Sorcerer.
Assassination, Elite Assassin.
Archery, Elite Archer.
All-purpose, Elite Hunter.
I couldn't accept Tarsiyo's words. It felt like a language where only the sounds were the same, but the meanings were completely different.
'Otherworldly, Player, outer cosmos...?'
A father who knew all about such mad delusions.
What kind of father was he?
Julius Page, seeming to grasp the general meaning, replied in a troubled voice.
[So the legends were true. It was said that when the world's destruction begins, 666 messengers of the Abyss would descend upon this land to receive the universe's blessing and usher in an age of chaos...]
[Now I understand. I heard the words 'Elite Sorcerer' many times in the minds of the Branded Ones, but until now, I thought it just meant an elite mage. It might be referring to an Elite Player.]
[This is bad news. If the legends are true, the ultimate goal of these otherworldly beings is the destruction of the world. If an 'Elite Sorcerer' found the key to the scenario there, they must be deeply involved in this ruin.]
From atop the griffin's back, I gazed at the overlapping mountain peaks, wreathed in black smoke and flames.
'Gambling?'
Formations of light and shimmering heat were tangled chaotically on both sides of the mountain range, spewing shouts and screams.
The formations of light were the infantry's melee.
The ranks of shimmering heat were the steam and bloody mist from the crossing volleys of the musketeer corps.
Setsunen and Tarsiyo hoped that none of the unbranded would die.
Of course, it was an unrealistic daydream.
On the battlefield, not killing was nothing more than a sliver of luxury.
'All this tragedy... was it all for the sake of their own wishes?'
My head, the inside of my head, itched.
I felt an urge to crack open my skull with my fingers and scratch the inside.
[Kaisen, break through the enemy lines and capture Duke Scion. That man, who stood at the center of the religious revolution's vortex, has a high probability of being an 'Elite Player'.]
I couldn't bring myself to answer.
If the 'Elite Player' here was the Elite Sorcerer, then Luxeria Ludwick was a more likely candidate than Duke Scion...
“Thirty seconds to the target coordinates!”
The moment the griffin rider shouted, a mountain peak suddenly came to life and rose.
“This is insane!”
To be precise, it wasn't a mountain.
It was a colossal life form whose frame was made of rock... a golem, a high-level summon controlled by mages.
But its scale was far beyond the normal range. In size alone, it might have rivaled Mauna Loa.
[A golem constructed with 7-star magic... This is an emergency. Sir Hero, the direct route is too dangerous!]
“As His Excellency Julius says! I'll turn the griffin!”
“No, stay the course.”
*Vwom...* Kaisen straightened up, reaching his arm behind his back.
The Supreme Holy Sword Scherpang responds to its proxy's call with a dazzling radiance.
The moment he gripped the hilt, light began to ripple across the massive blade in a wave-like pattern.
“I'll handle it.”
Echoes of Another World,
The True Face of the Religious Revolution (4)
The principles upon which the Supreme Holy Sword Scherpang's Desperate Wish was designed remain unclear even now.
There was only one certainty.
That the technique, created and passed down by the hero who quelled the Age of Turmoil, Rista Alter Scherpang, could cleave even dimensions.
—Desperate Wish, Time-Space Flash.
The tip of the sword drew a long arc.
A crack formed in the entirety of the dimension along the path of the blade. The crack spread like a spiderweb before shattering in an instant.
The forcibly torn rift in the dimension sucks in everything that exists upon it, until providence hastily closes the gap.
*K-k-k-k-k... Shaaaaatter!*
Everything in the path of the slash—a mountain peak and the golem's upper and lower body—was severed.
[Whoa, what kind of nonsense is this...]
Its mana core shattered, the golem's body broke apart into countless piles of stone, collapsing in a landslide.
This wasn't mere power. It was absolute power.
Perhaps as a backlash for using a power close to transcendence without actually reaching it, every muscle fiber used to swing the sword was engulfed in a tearing agony.
“Kaisen, does it hurt a lot?”
Amidst the pain that drove all the air from my lungs, I clutched my right wrist and gasped for breath.
Those gasps were sorrowful.
This immense pain... Senior, how many times did you inflict this upon your dying body in those final moments...?
“Huh?”
The pain and the flashback were a fatal combination.
I thought we were passing straight through the dust cloud from the golem's collapse.
Somehow, the golem, whose mana core should have been severed, reached out and seized the griffin's leg.
“W-we're falling! U-uaaaagh!”
The griffin's leg was crushed.
As the immense pain made its wingbeats erratic and its flight path distorted, I hurriedly pulled Tarsiyo into an embrace.
As the griffin plummeted toward the mountain range, the horizon spun wildly before vanishing into white.
The eternal snow rose like a tidal wave.
Shattered fragments of beast and human bone flew in all directions.
*Eeeeeeee...* In the ear-splitting ringing, the world's sounds vanished, and just as pain was about to dominate my entire body,
...*Vwoooooom!*
The Shield of Solang, strapped to my left arm, emitted a holy light.
Its power, which converts all impact into the blade's attack power, transformed the force of the fall that was about to swallow the proxy.
A semi-circular barrier spread out before the shield, and the power it absorbed transferred to the blade, causing the Sword of Solang to shine brilliantly within its sheath.
“Ugh...”
Despite that, a dull ache raged in the shoulder that had taken the brunt of the fall's impact.
And yet, and yet.
My heart ached more than my body.
'Seira...'
Because the memory of a fallen comrade from days past came to mind... I staggered and barely managed to get up.
“Tarsiyo... are you okay? Tarsiyo... where are you...”
I unleashed the raging power from the Sword of Solang, blowing away the dust storm from the crash landing.
Beyond that hazy world, Tarsiyo was kneeling before the rider, most of whose body had been left somewhere else.
Watching Tarsiyo, genuinely mourning as she closed the dead man's eyes, I felt my identity as a fake being starkly highlighted.
'Someone who can laugh and cry for others... perhaps that's the difference...'
The dazzling scene looked just like a world of first snow, where no one had yet set foot.
I didn't want to defile it.
I didn't dare defile it.
Just as I found myself unable to step forward, Setsunen's voice resonated in my mind.
[Kaisen, are you all right? Report your current situation.]
“I can move. The griffin and its rider were killed, but...”
[I will send a new air transport unit as soon as the force field stabilizes. Wait in a safe location.]
“No, I'll proceed along the ridge.”
That day, the battle in the Eternal Mountain Range was a journey aimed at an ancient ruin.
A ruin of the [Ones Who Came], from the ancient era—the age before the calendar—who were said to have driven out the darkness from this land and brought forth light.
Structures jutted out like reefs throughout the mountain range, all said to be remnants of ancient ruins.
Perhaps it was called the Eternal Mountain Range because the traces of an ancient age remained forever within the eternal snow.
[I've obtained new information. The Branded Ones are saying that a control room is located beneath the mountain range. The Elite Sorcerer is already there.]
[A control room? What does it control, Your Excellency?]
[It is said that the [Ones Who Came] created the sun and moon in this world of darkness, ushering in an age of light. Perhaps it's related to that?]
Julius Page's insight was astonishing.
He played the role of weaving Setsunen's complex information into a single, coherent thread. Was that wisdom something he shared with Roveris...?
Julius possessed Roveris's wisdom, and Kaisen possessed Roveris's sword. For this reason, they felt a sense of sorrow when they looked at each other and could not grow close.
“He's right. The official name of this control room is 'Vete Rondel.' In the language of creation, it means 'Second Beacon.' It's said to be able to control the movements of the sun and moon.”
Tarsiyo said. Her words were bewildering, but not entirely incomprehensible.
Hadn't Halvaron said that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a miracle?
That was why the demi-humans who worshipped technology revered the [Ones Who Came]. Their civilization was said to be a light of enlightenment thousands of years ahead of its time.
[But... they wouldn't have made such an important facility operable by just anyone.]
Right, that couldn't be.
But Setsunen had clearly said she overheard them talking about finding the 'key to the scenario'.
“If that's the key that leads to ruin... but what in the world is it?”
The main army must have already known the urgency of the situation.
Frantic tremors, aiming to exploit that urgency, echoed endlessly amidst the roar of cannons and gunfire.
[The enemy is massing at a certain point! It looks like a passage leading underground! They've already built trenches and a fortress!]
[We've discovered a strange entrance, Your Excellency!]
[It's going to be a fierce battleground. All units, prepare for combat! Commence the operation!]
Was it because we were isolated from the main army?
The whole chaotic battle felt like a distant dream. The Supreme Holy Swords were weeping sorrowfully at the stench of blood.
It was then that Tarsiyo suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Come on, Kaisen. We need to take a shortcut.”
“A shortcut?”
“There are several buildings and facilities beneath the mountain range. They're all connected by passages.”
“Will it be that easy? How do you know the way?”
“It's easy if you're with me.”
The moment Tarsiyo placed her hand on the remains of an ancient facility, a kaleidoscopic light spread out along its cracks.
[●◎, ♣▨◀...]
Incomprehensible and illegible characters spread through the air, and then, with a dull vibration, the ground began to open to both sides.
[Language synchronization. CTT-01, highest-grade authority confirmed. Access granted.]
What in the world is going on...
The facility, which extended deep below via a ramp, shone with a light beyond human perception.
From within that light, a steel mass enveloped in an orange glow appeared.
[Welcome. I am Eldia Vete (02), Kaduel.]
It was the voice of an intelligent male.
The metal is speaking? Is it a magic tool? No, I don't sense any tremors of mana.
Even more bewildering was its name.
“Kaduel...?”
Wasn't that the name of one of the five ancient AuthenticWarriors? Seira had told me, so I still remembered it clearly.
- You know? They say Eldia means 'firewood'.
Firewood, the Warriors of Firewood...
“It's been a while, Kaduel.”
It was a bizarre sight.
Tarsiyo was greeting that strange metal object with a natural smile, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
[It is my utmost honor to see you again, Little Master. Regrettably, the invasion from the outer cosmos has begun in earnest.]
“I know. What about Eos? She's already inside, right?”
[Yes. My systems were reactivated by Emergency Operation Protocol 046-BB2, initiated by CTT-02.]
“We have to stop her.”
[That is why I exist. Please come this way. I shall guide you.]
Unaware of the truth, I followed blankly behind them before finally managing to speak.
“What is all this? Tarsiyo, what's your identity? And what's this hunk of scrap metal calling itself Kaduel?”
At that, the machine floating in the air flew before my eyes.
[My name was bestowed directly by Lord Karenden. It means 'Light of Sagacity.' If there was a human with the name Kaduel, they must have been an imitator of my name.]
Karenden?
The Black Sun, Karenden?
Karenden, one of the [Ones Who Came], one of the three sun gods?
“And 'Little Master' means...?”
[This being is the lifeform born from the genetic union of Lord Karenden and Lady Maxencia. Hence, she is the Little Master.]