Chapter 454
Chapter 454
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 454
>Chapter Title: What? Isn't That Crazy Talk?
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An empty stone chamber.
The Fourth Elder took in the two mages standing before him.
They weren't human.
Spirits?
'...No, not mere spirits.'
The presence emanating from these two old mages felt familiar.
Why was that?
It was precisely because of them that he had come to the Sanctuary in person, deeming puppets insufficient.
What made them so special?
Simple.
'...A Mystery.'
Something enigmatic that the Sanctuary harbored.
Yet this was unexpected.
He had sensed their gaze, so he assumed they possessed at least a faint will.
Something like a type of spirit, perhaps.
But to think...
'They were human.'
Of course, spirits weren't bound by form. Especially those that had become a 'Mystery.'
Still, the Fourth Elder could tell at a glance that the essence of these two Mysteries was a 'human soul'—or more precisely, human souls that had become Mysteries. No one else might notice, but he could.
But... what?
- Truly...
- ...such fine flesh.
The Fourth Elder frowned slightly as he stared at the two Mysteries.
Bodies without form... if one had to describe it, a soul state. Naturally, they had no need to consume anything.
Yet they spoke of flesh...
"Heh, you dare covet this body's vessel?"
The Fourth Elder let out a derisive laugh.
Anyone else would be one thing, but his own body?
[After a long... wait...]
[...hand it over... nicely.]
A chilling voice echoed. The greed glinting in their hazy eyes was spine-tingling.
Even the boldest would falter under that gaze, but the Fourth Elder found it amusing.
'Creatures that can't even properly grasp their reason, daring to...'
In any case, their persistence was admirable.
According to what was inscribed in this chamber, they possessed tenacity rivaling even Salvatium.
The master of Reverse Heaven, and their hatred and obsession toward it... truly...
But.
"It won't go as you wish."
Eradicating Reverse Heaven?
By whose authority?
Leaving aside whether their prepared method would even work, he couldn't just stand by.
And above all...
'...Human souls that became Mysteries. Is there a more valuable material?'
The Fourth Elder briefly checked the situation via the psychic threads connecting him to the Ninth and Eleventh Elders.
Neither was in a pleasant spot.
But that didn't mean he could easily yield the path.
"Come, then. Give it a try."
As the Fourth Elder spread his hand, the two Mysteries vanished smoothly.
A puzzling situation.
But soon, he realized why the two Mysteries had vanished and what their intent was.
Step, step...
Beyond the chamber door.
Hermits swarming in.
The Fourth Elder curled his lips in a sinister grin.
"Pointless... struggling..."
"...Give up."
The Hermits, their eyes unfocused, spoke the same words in unison.
At the same time...
Woooong—
Strange glows rising from all directions.
"Heh, heh heh."
The Fourth Elder sensed at once, upon seeing the eerie glows, that he had fallen into a trap rendering him helpless.
His body, shining with blue stains.
As one who handled souls, he could recognize it.
This was...
'...A trace.'
So, what kind of trace?
Hermit.
Traces left from slaying Hermits until now.
If one had to name it, fragments of the Hermits' souls.
Thud—!
The Fourth Elder groaned as his body suddenly grew heavy. The fragments of the Hermits' souls were crushing his flesh.
And simultaneously...
"Hand it over."
"That vessel."
The Hermits approached, their words in sync.
This...
...wasn't normal.
No, it was utterly impossible.
......Mass mental domination.
To dominate the minds of living beings to this extent?
Impossible.
From one to two, two to three... the difficulty multiplied with each addition. Even for the Sanctuary's Mystery, dozens of Hermits?
Creatures that couldn't even maintain proper reason?
"No way, heh heh."
The Fourth Elder let out a hollow laugh.
He realized.
......Humanity.
A concept he had erased from his mind long ago.
The duties of a human.
As if such a thing existed in the world.
Merely a social contract.
But in this moment... the Fourth Elder thought of the two Mysteries who founded the Sanctuary.
'Mages, who truly abandoned their humanity?'
The number of Hermits surrounding the Fourth Elder now was abnormal. They filled the chamber and extended to the end of the corridor beyond.
Many among them weren't among the living.
'...Souls.'
And what souls?
Simple.
The souls of past Hermits.
All those who died in the Sanctuary were bound to its core.
Who could imagine!
Such atrocities occurring in the Sanctuary's heart, where mages' minds converged!
'It must be... a fragment of Reverse Heaven. That power.'
The Fourth Elder rallied his increasingly heavy body.
Kill them, and the soul fragments accumulate, intensifying the suppression. Spare them, and they'll close in to end him.
Unable to act either way, the Fourth Elder exhaled and devised a plan.
'I must...'
......obtain the fragment.
* * *
They're swarming. Swarming. Swarming.
In the darkness.
The Ninth Elder's clones teemed like swarms of ants.
And at the center.
Aster struck down the incoming Ninth Elder clones, breathing heavily.
Crunch, crack!
One per strike.
As their numbers grew, each one's durability dropped.
Yet his ragged breathing was literal. Despite the reduced durability, their numbers were overwhelming.
That wasn't the only annoyance.
"Become fertilizer for Non-Circle."
Voices crying out as one. It was wretched.
Every time he forgot, that low voice droned on, and when hundreds overlapped, it became grotesquely immense.
'If only I could just... sweep them all away.'
Sadly, he couldn't.
'It's a tightrope.'
The greater the Ninth Elder's intervention, the weaker the darkness's constraints became.
Meaning, if the clones grew stronger or their numbers increased further here, even high-grade magic could be used...
'...No room to breathe.'
The Ninth Elder knew it too.
Where this precarious balance lay.
In the end, the battle that had begun with them ready to devour each other each instant devolved into a stagnant war of attrition.
The problem was...
'...what he's buying time for.'
Two possibilities, by his guess.
'Hoping I'll tire?'
Unlikely.
He could go all day.
The Ninth Elder knew that too.
So, what the Ninth Elder awaited was probably... yes, that.
'The fifth, black magic circle.'
Or perhaps...
'...Demeia's death? Or the Judge of Jamal's?'
One of the two.
Or maybe both.
After all, the Ninth Elder was essentially facing three grand mages at once right now.
But wait.
Think about it.
Boom, crunch!
Kwaaaang—!
Aster exploded a Collision Formula to repel the Ninth Elder's clones, then paused in thought.
The Ninth Elder was clearly stalling.
What did that mean?
'Time was on his side.'
In other words, Demeia and the Judge of Jamal were in dire straits.
If even one were faring well, the Ninth Elder would have tried to end this quickly.
Consider it.
One escapes the illusion? Victory would tilt sharply then.
But conversely...
'...If one dies in the illusion?'
The Ninth Elder would gain more freedom.
What did that imply?
'I need to end this fast.'
But how?
Mana utilization via circles was impossible due to the darkness. The amount of magic power he could handle at once was limited.
With total output capped, he could just take longer to prepare...
"Become a stepping stone for Non-Circle... kuhk."
"Become a stepping stone for Non-Circle."
Aster frowned as he repelled the approaching Ninth Elder clones.
As seen, no openings given.
In this situation...
'They say a drizzle soaks your clothes.'
Slowly dying while stuck, unable to act.
Just wait?
No.
But is there a way?
'None.'
What was needed now?
A change of thinking.
...Let's see.
'What's everywhere?'
Black magic power.
Mana was distributed, but in minuscule amounts. Why? The darkness and black magic power had usurped mana’s place.
So, couldn't he think like this?
......Right now, at least.
'Black magic power is mana.'
What? Isn't that crazy?
No.
Why?
This barrier operated under laws different from the outside.
Mana was scarce and magic power hard to wield due to some law of this barrier... well, he couldn't grasp the complex details.
Anyway, here's the thing.
'In this space, what is black magic power?'
Mana.
Then?
Couldn't he manipulate black magic power with his circle?
......Slim chance, but worth trying.
Naturally, his current circles couldn't handle black magic power.
Why?
'Like attracts like.'
Having embraced magic power, it drew similar mana. To draw black magic power, he needed to embrace black magic power.
The issue was whether he could embrace black magic power...
"...Hmm."
Aster closed his eyes. He raised a force field into a hemispherical dome and sat in place.
Clones approached and pounded the force field, but he ignored them. He wouldn't need much time anyway.
What Aster needed now was just a few seconds.
A few seconds of focus.
Even without reaching transcendence, his experience, knowledge, and insights far surpassed ordinary mages.
Amid that—
'Here goes.'
Aster breathed. He cleared the magic power that had been ceaselessly swirling to repel black magic power, fully opening his core.
Inhale: black magic power entered.
Exhale: black magic power exited.
Cough—!
Defenselessly... no, deliberately drawing in black magic power, his body soon began crumbling from within.
Crimson-black blood trickled from his mouth...
Aster thought.
'Wouldn't it work?'
Not even curse power, but black magic power. Fundamentally alien to his own. Accepting such into his body?
Normally insane.
But this barrier was a world with different laws from outside.
This world's black magic power was the Ninth Elder's, while also substituting for outside mana.
Thus.
'It'll work.'
Aster was certain.
Simultaneously...
Kik, kiki-kik—!
He fully opened one circle, accepting black magic power into it.
The core, made of pure magic power, stained black. Murky, murkier.
With that, Aster's body gradually crumbled.
'More, a bit more...'
The circle embracing black magic power creaked.
Urk.
Blood surged up.
His mind flickered out for a moment. Amid excruciating pain that twisted even screams into vapor...
Crack—!
The force field shattered, clones swarmed.
"Foolish thing. Hastening your death—!"
With a thunderous cry, the Ninth Elder's clones lunged. As they overwhelmed Aster's body.
Zzzzt, zzzzt—!
A low tearing sound rang in his ears.
The sound of a circle cracking.
But why?
'...It worked.'
A smile crept across Aster's lips.
Kuuooo—!
The darkness filling all directions swirled right after.