Chapter 450
Chapter 450
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 450
>Chapter Title: Two Become One
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The momentary bewilderment from the Fire Mark's resonance passed quickly.
Aster sorted out the situation.
For now...
'This is an illusion.'
He didn't know the mechanism.
The wind tickling his hair, the scent of earth brushing his nose.
Every detail felt utterly real.
An illusion so perfect even a grand archmage's senses couldn't pierce it? Hard to believe, but it was undeniable fact.
If so, the key question was...
'...how to escape it.'
No idea.
He'd never encountered an illusion this intricate.
Usually, smashing it with everything he had would do the trick, but...
'...that doesn't work either.'
Just in case, Aster tried summoning mana, but his core remained inert.
Even attempting transcendence...
*Boing—*
His mind bounced back.
When the body's weak, the mind suffers—and this time, it was the mind's turn to struggle.
And honestly, even if he knew how, he had no intention of breaking out right away.
Why?
Simple reason.
Reverse Heaven.
Its fragment was here.
*Wooong—!*
Putting aside his thoughts from the Fire Mark's resonance, Aster looked at the two mages standing before him.
For starters, judging by the resonance alone, the fragment was definitely with these two mages.
But was such a thing even possible?
'An illusion making Reverse Heaven react?'
Doubts proliferated in his mind. Unexplainable elements abounded. Still, Aster set all questions aside and posed his own.
As politely as possible.
"Who might you be?"
The two old mages narrowed their eyes slightly at Aster's cheeky demeanor. Not out of displeasure at his rudeness. They simply didn't know how to describe themselves.
After some deliberation, one old mage spoke.
"We are... hmm, wanderers without a fixed abode."
"May we ask who you are?"
Aster stared blankly at the two old mages. Then he blinked. He, too, had no idea how to introduce himself.
"I am..."
As Aster trailed off awkwardly, the mage who had asked opened his mouth.
So... let's call him Moonlord. His head was gleaming with light, after all.
"Seems we're both in a bind, so let's skip that. But I do have a question..."
"Ask away."
Aster replied curtly to Moonlord's question. Moonlord gazed at him and asked.
"By chance, are you the master of this mountain?"
"...Master? Where is this place?"
"Isn't it the Sesuteraiyon Mountains?"
"Sesuteraiyon?"
Aster glanced around at the question. He hadn't noticed until now, but it did look familiar.
The towering peaks, and below, the sea of clouds stretching out.
"It seems you're not the master here. Correct?"
Aster nodded readily to Moonlord's question.
"Spot on."
"Planning to claim ownership from now on, perhaps?"
"That... no."
The retort 'What if I did?' nearly escaped, but Aster shook his head under Moonlord's sharply glinting gaze.
'This is manners.'
Anyway.
Now he had a question of his own.
"What are you doing here?"
"......"
Moonlord looked around like a builder surveying the ground, then glanced at Aster. No answer.
Instead, the other one replied... Sunlord. Because of the bountiful beard.
"We're building a temple."
"A temple?"
"Indeed."
"A temple..."
Aster tilted his head.
A temple was a 'house for the gods.'
Not a familiar term.
Gods were beings worshipped only in myths and legends.
There were still those who called themselves priests and served gods, but religion was acknowledged merely as a branch of culture and tradition, not as religion proper.
And now, they planned to build a temple?
Sunlord chuckled at Aster's puzzled expression.
"Ah, don't misunderstand. We're not talking about serving a real 'god.' Just... well, something like a temple."
Still cryptic.
If it's a temple, say temple—what's 'something like'?
And...
'...what misunderstanding?'
Aster's gaze grew more inscrutable. Sunlord burst into laughter again at that look—this time a hearty guffaw unlike before.
"Haha, that look. I get it. Mages believing in gods is rare. But we don't believe in gods. If anything..."
"Hey. Enough chit-chat. Come help with the work."
"Hm? Haha, right. Work. Gotta work."
Sunlord grinned sheepishly at Moonlord's urging. He started walking toward Moonlord, who was some distance away, but after a few steps, turned back to Aster.
"If you're... bored, care to join? You seem like a mage yourself—should be interesting."
"......"
Aster watched Sunlord for a moment.
Far off, Moonlord stared back with a grumpy expression. But honestly, it didn't suit Moonlord. Top bald, bottom bushy.
...Sunlord was the opposite.
'Decalcomania.'
Two become one.
No, that wasn't the point right now.
Aster surveyed his surroundings quietly, then looked up at the sky.
'It is an illusion...'
What was the scheme here?
In the normal flow, those two old codgers should have charged by now.
Reverse Heaven.
The 9th Elder.
Who was orchestrating this illusion?
He'd thought the 9th Elder at first, but now he couldn't tell.
In that case...
'Shall I follow?'
Aster watched Sunlord walk away, then stepped forward.
Sunlord and Moonlord.
'Two become one.'
...Decalcomania.
Nice ring to it.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that moment.
The 9th Elder watched Aster's situation with a stern expression.
He checked again and again.
'The recall succeeded.'
That much was certain.
But what disconcerted the 9th Elder was something else.
'Why?'
He had lost control of the recall.
The plan was for those two elders to tear the Tower Lord to shreds.
Directly manipulating figures within the recall was taxing even for the 9th Elder. But it was to minimize variables...
Yet.
*Rustle, rustle, scrabble...*
'What... is this?'
The 9th Elder stared at something wriggling in the darkness.
Something crawling through the shadows with a scratchy sound, like a many-legged insect scuttling about.
It was...
'...letters?'
Yes, unmistakable.
They were letters.
The black letters crawled through the darkness like it was their home, pressuring the 9th Elder.
What bizarre sight was this...
'...Sanctuary's defense system?'
No, not that.
This wasn't magic.
Nor the shamans' spells from the great plains, nor spirit callers' spirit arts. Not some tribal folk magic from some remote continent either.
Rather... mystery.
Yes, that was it.
This darkness devoured all mana-based energies, rendering no power usable within.
The recall would have shattered outright, not functioned like this.
...Unless it was mystery.
If so.
The first suspect was Demeia, patriarch of the Dinai Family.
Why?
'Grimoire.'
That was the most renowned mystery in the world.
But it wasn't Demeia.
The 9th Elder had manipulated the mind of the old mage confronting the Hermits. Technically not true mind control since it was a recalled figure, but... anyway, he'd intervened to accelerate events.
The result?
[Haha, this is... To think our ancestors committed such absurdity. But fear not. I shall aid you... aid you... a... a... a...]
The old mage trailed off.
His eyes soon turned bloodshot—
[Urk, urgh...!]
As the old mage staggered, mana surged outward, killing intent spilling everywhere.
The old mage's realm was beyond what the Hermits could handle, yet Demeia watched calmly.
'...Not Demeia.'
If these letters were her doing, she couldn't have interfered with the Tower Lord like that.
And the Judge of Jamal...
'...Same story.'
He'd tested interference even during the Judge's intrusion, but the letters stayed dormant. As if it wasn't their concern.
So, one of two.
'Either the Tower Lord is the cause... or the recalled memory is.'
Not the 'mystery' lurking in Sanctuary's depths. That 'mystery' couldn't escape the inner sanctum.
Anyway.
'I need to investigate.'
The 9th Elder's eyes darkened deeply.
* * *
Aster followed the two mages, Sunlord and Moonlord, darting about the mountains.
Unable to use magic, but considerate Sunlord gladly levitated Aster with flight magic.
Truth be told, less for Aster's sake and more to alleviate his own boredom.
"Haha, having a chat buddy feels great. That guy's no fun to talk to."
"Ah, yes."
"So, where were we?"
"Um..."
"Ah, right. Just before we met this fellow."
"Yes."
Aster listened to Sunlord with indifferent eyes.
'Circumstantially, both clearly have Reverse Heaven fragments...'
But their identities remained unknown.
Even if the Endurers guarded the fragments, recalling the Urbona Family... or Otto's case, they could end up in other hands.
Above all.
Even if just an illusion involving Reverse Heaven fragments, not a word could be taken lightly.
"So, you see..."
Sunlord's tale continued.
His mouth never stopped even as they flitted about analyzing strata, and by the end, Aster understood what 'temple' they aimed to build.
In other words...
'Sanctuary.'
That's what these two sought to create.
Pioneers who pioneered new realms of magic in place of gods.
...A temple honoring great archmages.
Any other mage's heart would swell to bursting.
How could it not?
Even if a mere illusion glimpsed through Salvatium's elder's trick, the birth of Sanctuary unfolded before him.
But Aster observed with emotionless eyes.
And endlessly questioned himself.
'Building Sanctuary?'
How, exactly?
'Who knows.'
No clue on the method.
Evidently, both Sunlord and Moonlord mastered 'ancient magic'... which followed a different trajectory from modern magic he knew.
And with Reverse Heaven fragments... the power to defy providence, what couldn't they do?
Truthfully, it didn't matter.
Sanctuary gets built, after all.
But more importantly...
'...why?'
Yes, 'why.'
What reason did these two have for this pointless endeavor?
That was it.
To honor a great archmage?
'Then what's in it for them?'