Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 120
>Chapter Title: Around This Time Next Year?
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The greatest virtue of the Indurans is patience.
Library Director Teheman suppressed his surging rage with his characteristic forbearance.
"You... are you serious?"
"I am serious."
"If you're jesting, you'll face not just expulsion, but my wrath as well."
"Why would I joke over a hot meal?"
"......"
Tap, tap.
Lost in thought, perhaps? Teheman drummed his bony fingers on the armrest.
It wasn't long before he spoke.
"Then you must know what that means. Eradicating grimoires..."
"Means making enemies of every grimoire noble house. Something like that, right? Oh, I misspoke."
"......Go on. I'll give you a chance to take it back."
Teheman's eyes gleamed sharply.
Though the aura was piercing, Aster lounged back on the sofa, utterly relaxed.
"There's a cheat gambler at the table where I'm sitting. I get it. If you hate cheaters, don't play."
"......"
"So, everything's fine. Cheat away, lose a limb if you get caught. Whatever. They're the ones wagering their own limbs."
His eyes flashed with madness right then.
"The problem is, that table happens to be the one I'm at."
"......"
"If they cheated fair and square, man to man, that'd be one thing... But rich bastards using grimoires? Magic swords? That's crossing the line."
Yeah, that was the issue.
What? Grimoires grant the pinnacle of all laws?
Bullshit. If that's the case, why bother learning magic? Why sweat through training? Just grab a grimoire and you're done.
Of course, he knew grimoires weren't absolute.
'But so what? The wielder has to be competent. Still... this ain't right.'
Even the greatest genius couldn't surpass trash who wielded grimoires.
In gambling terms, the winner was decided before the game began. No, not just the winner?
'They even rewrite the rules to suit themselves.'
That was Aster's first thought upon hearing about the "powers of grimoires" from Teheman.
'How is that gambling? It's robbery.'
"So, what you're saying is..."
"We flip the whole table. Destroy all the grimoires, magic swords—no, all transcendent artifacts. ...Something like that."
"......Hah."
Teheman let out a faint sigh despite himself.
'I thought it was just idle talk... He means it?'
In truth, it was idle talk. Just laced with sincerity.
Teheman swallowed a groan at that raw conviction.
'......What to do?'
The Indurans' trial.
In truth, it wasn't a "trial" with clear passing criteria.
The result depended solely on what the current Induran saw, heard, and felt.
It was merely confirmation. They couldn't hand fragments guarded by Indurans for millennia to some street thug.
Yet.
'Isn't this too dangerous?'
—Eradicate all transcendent artifacts.
Even the Lord of Against Heaven couldn't guarantee that. No, it was nearly impossible.
No one could stand against the entire continent.
But.
"......"
Teheman eyed the lounging Aster.
A world of darkness. The letters swirling around Aster writhed sluggishly.
He knew it was dangerous...
Why, then?
'......I'm curious.'
He didn't truly believe Aster could eradicate transcendent artifacts.
But...
The Lord of this era's Against Heaven.
What path would this young boy tread? What world would this perilous figure shape?
That was all he wondered.
As Teheman's thoughts reached that point, Aster's voice pierced his ear.
"Are you asleep?"
"......"
A single phrase that chilled his grand musings.
"......Sigh."
Teheman let out a deep sigh.
"Oh, you're awake."
He wasn't asking if he was really sleeping with eyes open. It was a demand to answer quickly since he wasn't asleep.
At that cheeky demeanor, Teheman suddenly recalled his prior conversation with Shwarts.
—Be careful. That guy's a madman.
—Hah, would he be as bad as you were when you were young?
—......Apologize. If you consider me a friend, apologize now.
'......Sorry. I thought the shit-smeared dog was scolding the frostbitten one.'
In reality, Shwarts was the frostbitten one.
"Around this time next year?"
"......No."
Teheman replied in a subdued voice.
"Follow me. I'll give you the fragment of Against Heaven."
* * *
The library director led him to the upper floors of Rapiter.
"Infuse mana into the entry permit."
Zuzz—
He handed over the permit after infusing it with mana, and the director used it to open the door.
"Keep the permit away from your body as much as possible. Rapiter's defenses will activate."
"Defenses...?"
"Induran magic. Feel free to test it. If you have no regrets about life."
"......"
A chilling remark.
'......Good thing I didn't try to loot it.'
The director's presence in the office had been anything but ordinary.
Not raiding Rapiter and instead coaxing the headmaster for the permit had been the right call.
Yet, a sudden doubt arose.
"Director, didn't you say earlier?"
"Say what?"
"That... Rapiter was built for me. I clearly heard that."
"......Not for 'you,' but for the 'Lord of Against Heaven.' And more precisely, not 'for' but merely a 'place of waiting.'"
"......Ah, yes."
A rigid man.
He drew the line sharply.
In truth, Aster's planned buildup was this:
1. Rapiter was built for me.
2. What was built for me is mine.
3. Therefore, Rapiter is mine.
Of course, there was a logical flaw between 1 and 2.
But from time immemorial, weren't logical flaws filled with sophistry, paradoxes, force, and nonsense?
Yet the director's guard was more solid than expected.
'He won't even give me a chance to argue.'
Somehow, after their office exchange, the defenses felt tighter.
Anyway, enough joking.
"We're here."
The director halted before a massive bookshelf on Rapiter's upper floor.
A secret passage? Puzzled, he scanned around, but nothing stood out.
Using such a bookshelf for a secret passage was traditional enough that a quick glance usually revealed clues.
Maybe the fragment was hidden among the books?
As he pondered, the director spoke.
"A passage concealed by successive Indurans. It looks simple, but it's secured by thirty-eight layered spells. The way in is..."
Clunk, clack, clack.
The director pulled out thirty-eight books in sequence.
Aster watched intently at first, then looked away. It was too complex, and even memorizing it was pointless.
'You have to adjust the mana pattern for each one.'
Even knowing the order, mismatched mana patterns meant no entry.
With all steps complete.
Groooan— groan......
The massive bookshelf parted left and right, revealing the passage.
The director stepped aside and turned to him.
"Go on. The fragment of Against Heaven lies below."
"......"
He already knew, without being told.
Wooong— woong.
The Fire Mark, silent for so long, began to resonate.
Like reuniting with a long-lost mate, an aching, poignant hum.
'Below...'
......The fragment of Against Heaven.
He savored the resonance briefly, then stepped into the dim passage.
* * *
The spiral stairs twisted endlessly downward.
"......"
In utter darkness, Aster groped the walls, descending step by step.
A simple light spell yielded nothing; the passage's gloom persisted.
It wasn't ordinary darkness.
Hiss, hiss.
Faint breathing.
Step, step.
Only dry footfalls echoed in the dark as Aster pondered silently.
'The fragment of Against Heaven...'
Originally, what he'd hoped for in Rapiter was just a small clue.
A mere fragment of a lead.
In that sense, meeting Library Director Teheman had been unexpected fortune.
'Got valuable intel.'
Against Heaven (逆天), the power defying the natural order. He'd learned its nature, the fragments, and the Indurans guarding them.
Without Teheman, would he have obtained this?
'Probably.'
But how long would it have taken? Years at best. Decades if luck soured—a grueling ordeal.
Yet lingering questions remained.
The second Fire Mark.
What was its purpose?
Even now, only the first Fire Mark asserted its presence.
'Finally got it, and it's useless.'
Recalling the ordeal catching Destrow, it was truly regrettable.
And that wasn't all.
'I don't even know how to use it. Or what powers it has.'
It appeared at key moments, lending strength. But always one-sided.
And those powers...
'Not particularly specialized.'
First, regression, rewinding time. Then, altering his constitution, vastly enhancing physical talent.
It directly intervened building his mana body, restrained Destrow's power while purging malice and projecting his past life's strength.
What mishmash...
'Aside from defying the natural order, no consistent effect.'
The closest similarity...
"Time?"
No, not "similar"—the most striking ability.
Regression and past life projection.
Time-related effects, only twice.
But such doubts were minor.
Wooong— woong—
Feeling the vibration in his chest, Aster murmured low.
"What's your goal, anyway?"
At first, he'd seen it as a convenient artifact. No, beyond convenient—a transcendent boon.
But reflecting on Against Heaven's responses, it wasn't so simple.
'It feels like it has a purpose.'
Rewound time, altered constitution. Up to there, not suspicious. But...
Destrow.
Against Heaven had led him to that monstrosity.
"Wanting to repair your incomplete shell? Reclaim your fragments? Is that it?"
As always, Against Heaven didn't answer.
Just...
Wooong— woong—
At the passage's end, it wailed at the fragment's closer presence.
"Yeah, wasn't expecting one. Anyway..."
He paused to feel the hum, then surveyed the space.
Pitch-black chamber. At its center, the fragment of Against Heaven floated, emitting faint light.
Zing— zing—
Sensing its main body? The page-like fragment hummed.
He strode to the fragment inscribed with Against Heaven's bizarre script.
"But this time, you won't just take it and ghost, right? Like with the second Fire Mark."
Wooong— woong—
Tch, better me suffering than dying.
Ignoring the silent Against Heaven, Aster reached for the fragment.
"I don't know your purpose, but fine."
Decullan and Pahren, the tower and the library, and if possible, eradicating transcendent artifacts.
To achieve his goals, Against Heaven's power wasn't optional—it was essential.
So...
"Let's get along for now."
Symbiosis with Against Heaven might be alliance or uneasy truce with a foe.
But for now, unknowable.
"Give me something useful this time. Huh? Don't vanish clean like the second Fire Mark."
With that, Aster seized the fragment.
......And right after.
"Hah......"
Aster got what he wished for.