Chapter 459
Chapter 459
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 459
>Chapter Title: Not Easy
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After the conversation ended.
Aster waited for Jamal's Arbiter to open his eyes, lost in thought.
‘Something’s off.’
Demeia knows about Reverse Heaven.
Yet, she shared information about its fragments without any hesitation.
Why?
If she knows what Reverse Heaven is and is aware of the fragments’ existence, shouldn’t she be trying to seize them?
Isn’t that too cynical a view?
‘Well…’
For Aster, it was unavoidable.
The world he had seen, heard, and experienced was generally like that.
What moves people isn’t good or evil, right or wrong, but gains and losses—what they stand to gain and what they might lose.
So, let’s think about it.
‘What does Demeia gain in this situation?’
He had no idea.
If he were Demeia, he might have targeted Reverse Heaven. He would have stolen it and gone searching for the fragments.
But Demeia showed no such signs, not even a hint of emotion.
It left a nagging doubt.
A deep, nagging doubt…
‘…Nothing to be done about it.’
Aster decided to set aside his suspicions about Demeia for now.
It wasn’t a problem that thinking alone would solve, nor one he could avoid even if he suspected ulterior motives.
Since the goal was a fragment of Reverse Heaven, he had no choice but to press forward.
At least it was a relief that he wasn’t alone.
‘…Jamal’s Arbiter.’
He had the ally sent by his academy president senior.
As the old saying goes, if one hand isn’t enough, use two to slap. No matter how formidable Demeia was, she couldn’t handle a pummeling.
That aside.
Aster stared intently at Jamal’s Arbiter, who had his eyes closed and was performing a breathing technique.
‘Is that guy really okay?’
The breathing technique was dragging on.
A creeping unease rose within him.
What if he’d been badly broken inside the illusory barrier?
What if his injuries were severe?
For Aster, who had already pegged Demeia as an enemy, this was a serious issue. He might end up facing her alone.
But fortunately.
It didn’t take long for Jamal’s Arbiter to open his eyes.
“……”
Jamal’s Arbiter finished his breathing technique with a deep exhale and lifted his eyelids.
And so, for a moment.
As Jamal’s Arbiter blankly stared into space, Aster peeked into his view.
“Are you… alright?”
“I am fine.”
“What about internal injuries…?”
“The turmoil in my mind was greater than any injuries. But even that is now clear and serene.”
“That’s… really a relief.”
“……”
Jamal’s Arbiter stared piercingly at Aster.
It’s not easy to find the eyes of someone approaching with goodwill suspicious, yet how could they be so suspicious?
“You see this Aholl as little more than a dog or a horse.”
“Pardon? What do you…?”
Aster jumped in shock at the unfounded misunderstanding, but Jamal’s Arbiter gave no chance for excuses.
He merely left a warning.
[Your old ties have spared you.]
What did that mean?
It meant he was letting it slide due to his connection with President Shwarts and that request.
At those words, Aster blinked.
‘Maybe…’
2 vs 1.
‘The 1 might not even be Demeia.’
There were far too many enemies.
Far, far too many.
* * *
In any case, once Jamal’s Arbiter awoke, the three of them moved forward as if by prior agreement.
Naturally, Demeia took the lead.
“This way.”
Demeia guided them based on the memories from the illusion, and the path itself wasn’t complicated.
The Sanctuary’s structure was simple to begin with.
While Demeia led the way, Aster was asking Jamal’s Arbiter about the ‘illusion.’
For reference, he had overheard the conversation with Demeia even during the breathing technique.
Anyway, what was the ‘illusion’ he saw?
“…It was a most unpleasant tragedy.”
In terms of timeline…
‘…After the time period Demeia saw?’
In other words, after the Hermits of Demeia’s era failed, and a considerable amount of time had passed.
Around the time the Sanctuary’s ugly secret was completely forgotten.
…One Hermit uncovered the secret.
“The Hermit who revealed the secret spread it far and wide. He said it must be set right. Though merely an illusion, he possessed a truly radiant soul.”
Why was that soul so radiant?
It was nothing else.
“He did not step forward for himself. He pitied the souls bound to the Sanctuary’s core and acted. Such souls are rare. Yet…”
The end was not good.
No, it was miserable.
“It was rash.”
Unlike the Hermits of Demeia’s era, who had discovered the transcendent artifact called ‘Reverse Heaven’ in the Sanctuary’s core, this Hermit knew nothing.
He simply rallied the Hermits with pure intentions and took action.
But what awaited them was…
- Ah, aah…
- Go back…
“The preceding Hermits.”
“……”
“Even as the dead, their egos remained. They shed tears. They knew what the Hermits before them had set out to do. But against their will, they could not control their actions.”
The dead attacked the Hermits.
The Hermits resisted.
In the midst of it all, Jamal’s Arbiter, who had witnessed everything, softly recited the memory.
“It was a tragedy in the truest sense.”
A battle no one desired.
Those to be saved had to kill their would-be saviors, and the saviors had to kill those they sought to save.
A horrific scene unimaginable without seeing it firsthand.
Perhaps that’s why.
“…This is all this body witnessed.”
Jamal’s Arbiter ended his words there.
He said nothing of what became of the Hermits’ attempt afterward.
But Aster didn’t ask.
The conclusion was obvious.
…It was then that a voice whispered in Aster’s ear.
[I know not what Reverse Heaven is, but if you intend to retrieve its fragment, steel yourself. What I saw is not all there is to the Sanctuary. And…]
Jamal’s Arbiter glanced at Aster. His gaze swept over Aster’s chest area, and soon his mouth opened.
[Especially without a fully intact body.]
“……”
Aster fell silent.
Because it was true.
…How much time passed like that?
“We’re here.”
Demeia stopped walking.
They had arrived.
At the place hiding the fragment of Reverse Heaven.
* * *
The spot where Demeia stopped was before an old door.
‘The fragment is hidden here?’
Just in case, he focused on the Fire Mark, but there was no resonance.
Of course, that wasn’t strange.
The Fire Mark didn’t always detect fragments.
Back in Rapiter, he hadn’t sensed it until Senior Teheman, the library head, opened the passage.
So, the Fire Mark’s silence wasn’t odd. However, what kept Aster from stepping forward readily was something else.
‘I just can’t tell.’
What were Demeia’s true intentions?
Pure goodwill?
As comrades sharing common enemies in Salvatium and the Sanctuary’s mystery?
‘But even if Salvatium’s out, can the Sun Lord and Moon Lord really be called Demeia’s enemies?’
Only Hermits’ souls were bound.
The special magic circle granted upon becoming a Hermit contained binding spells.
Meaning Demeia had no direct tie to the Sun Lord and Moon Lord.
‘No, actually, all the other observers are the same at this point.’
Sure, there was the public enemy Salvatium now, and the black magic circle’s activation would light fires under their own feet, so they stepped up—but things were different now.
‘It’s gotten too big.’
The Sanctuary’s mystery?
The Hermits’ souls?
If one had ambitions, they might dive in to take down Salvatium and snag the Reverse Heaven fragment for a two-birds-one-stone—but who knows.
Best to steer clear of such matters.
The reason the others couldn’t was…
‘…They can’t activate the warp gate.’
What? Couldn’t they just walk down the mountain?
The barrier made it impossible.
When they didn’t know about the Reverse Heaven fragment in the Sanctuary, they might’ve thought they could manage somehow, but with a fragment involved, that barrier was surely no ordinary one.
So, in short…
‘They just need a Hermit who can operate the warp gate.’
Anyway, the point is.
…A sense of camaraderie.
The situation was too ambiguous to foster that.
Frankly, one could swallow the Reverse Heaven fragment alone, grab any convenient Hermit to activate the warp gate, and who would be the wiser?
Of course, Shine would say…
- You wicked bastard, didn’t I tell you not everyone in the world is like you!
…But even there, Aster had a point.
‘Not easy.’
Trusting goodwill.
For some, it’s as natural as breathing, but for others, it’s impossible even in death.
What? Couldn’t Demeia be cooperating out of pity for the Hermits in the illusion, like Jamal’s Arbiter?
‘Well… could be.’
But still.
‘Not easy.’
So, what to do?
Aster stood frozen, deep in thought. It was then that Jamal’s Arbiter’s voice reached his ear.
[Do as you will.]
[It’s suspicious, right?]
[……]
Jamal’s Arbiter didn’t respond. As if to say all choices were Aster’s own.
As he pondered.
…The change happened right then.
Boom—!
A massive shock shook the Sanctuary.
“……!”
Aster instinctively flared his energy and scanned the surroundings. Goosebumps prickled his forearms.
How to describe it?
…Chilling.
An overwhelming presence.
“Not human.”
Not human?
Aster frowned at Jamal’s Arbiter’s words.
If not human…
A being flashed in his mind.
The Sun Lord and Moon Lord.
As Aster grasped that far, Demeia’s voice rang in his ears.
“I won’t force you to trust. But you must know time is short.”
“……Tch.”
It was exactly as she said.
He didn’t know what was happening below, but as Demeia said, time wasn’t on their side.
Jamal’s Arbiter’s voice followed.
[Your enemy is my enemy.]
In other words, trust me.
Aster nodded at that.
[Yes, then…]
He stepped forward and gripped the doorknob. With a creak, he opened the door.
The scene was ordinary.
Just… an abandoned warehouse.
Amid layers of thick dust, worn-out junk lay scattered beneath it.
At the sight, Aster narrowed his eyes.
But then.
Wooong—!
The resonating Fire Mark.
Light burst from the rundown warehouse right then.
Fwaaah—!
The light exploded instantly, engulfing everything. And when it faded…
“He’s gone.”
Jamal’s Arbiter calmly took in the spot where Aster had stood. He turned to Demeia soon after.
“Master of Dinai, let us talk now. What you desire, what you hide. And…”
A brilliant yellow aura swirled around Jamal’s Arbiter. It was sand from a desert gleaming like gold.
From within that sand…
“You’ll need to explain this situation as well.”
Glowing yellow eyes shone.