Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Omniscient (4)
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‘Come here.’
It was an unfamiliar voice.
Jamie was underwater, yet strangely, he could breathe.
The water stretched endlessly upward, with no visible end.
Yet it wasn’t dark.
They said the deep sea was an abyss of total darkness where not even a speck of light could enter, but light seemed to filter in from somewhere here.
He couldn’t tell where that somewhere was.
‘Come here.’
The voice echoed again.
Jamie swam slowly.
He surrendered his body to the languid sensation of moving forward.
Come to think of it, there wasn’t a single fish here. Not even the most common aquatic plants were in sight.
It was an empty place.
Jamie knew a place similar to this.
It was a darkness devoid of light or water, where nothing was visible.
A hellish place where he couldn’t move his hands, feet, or even eyelids.
There, Jamie—or rather, Diablo—had spent an unimaginable span of time in solitude.
Compared to that, this place was paradise. At least there was light, and his limbs could move.
‘I want to see you.’
The voice drew closer.
Jamie stopped swimming.
‘Why did you stop?’
He looked up at the sky.
The end was still nowhere in sight, but this wasn’t a space of binding darkness.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
‘Come here.’
The voice repeated.
Jamie spread his palm wide and said,
“Stop whining. You’re annoying.”
He clenched his fist.
Light burst from within it, devouring the water-filled space.
Jamie stared at the dark ceiling with his eyes open.
“A dream?”
The sensations were too vivid for a mere dream.
He sat up on the bed.
Creating light in the dark room to illuminate his surroundings, he couldn’t help but frown at the sight.
The floor was soaked with water.
“...So it wasn’t a dream?”
To be precise, someone had intervened in his dream.
“What the hell are you?”
Some bastard had barged into his dream out of nowhere and messed up reality.
The only beings that typically invaded dreams were dream demons from the demon realm.
Dream demons slipped into humans’ dreams while they slept and sucked out their vital essence.
Jamie had experienced it a few times in his previous life.
Back then, he’d left those dream demons in a limbo between life and death.
But the one that had entered his dream just now wasn’t a dream demon. It didn’t use their methods, and there was no unpleasant feeling either.
Then he spotted something in the corner.
“...A crown?”
The crown blurred and vanished into the water.
“The Omniscient Crown?”
Jamie frowned.
A week had passed since his return from the capital, Fivre.
Having been appointed as a Master, Jamie easily took the vacant position of 3rd Elder.
No one objected; it was the expected outcome.
If anything, his title as the youngest only added to his nicknames.
1st Elder Ophen Jinzer had gone into seclusion.
He was shouldering part of the crimes of the former 3rd Elder, Serpent Gerol. No one knew when he’d return, so the remaining elders divided his duties.
Ophen had practically been the head of the mage society, so his workload was immense. As the chief administrator of the Central Mage Tower too, the elders were a bit troubled.
“No matter how you look at it, he was a monster of a man.”
5th Elder Luke clicked his tongue as he reviewed Ophen’s task list.
“Despite that foul personality, no one had a greater sense of responsibility.”
4th Elder Raymond had known Ophen for a long time and understood him well.
They’d parted ways due to differing ideals, but he acknowledged Ophen’s greatness.
2nd Elder Linmel Marquis felt the same.
“We’re all going to be busy. Especially those who’ve been slacking off—they’ll have to learn to work now.”
Linmel glanced at Siegfried and Simon.
Siegfried had a severe wandering streak, spending more time outside the mage society than in it.
He didn’t fully grasp how the organization operated. Though he’d recently started proper duties in the Central Mage Tower, he was still very green.
Simon cared little beyond his own magical growth. But with the 1st Elder position temporarily vacant, he had to share the load to some extent.
“Jay... no, we should call you 3rd Elder now, right?”
Linmel smiled at Jamie, who sat right beside him.
Jamie’s presence felt so out of place in the elders’ meeting room that it caused cognitive dissonance.
It was rare for someone so young to hold an elder position.
When Siegfried earned the title of youngest elder, he’d been in his mid-twenties.
Jamie, however, was merely eight.
It would’ve been weirder if it didn’t feel off.
In truth, the elders unaccustomed to Jamie found the space awkward.
Jamie spoke.
“Call me whatever’s comfortable.”
“Still, we’re equals now, so we should maintain some decorum. 3rd Elder, you’ll need to learn your duties as an elder going forward.”
“Understood.”
“The mage society isn’t like an ordinary city. You know that, 3rd Elder, so I won’t lecture at length. Just act with responsibility from now on.”
Linmel said this while glancing again at Siegfried and Simon.
Simon kept his indifferent expression, while Siegfried cleared his throat unnecessarily and looked away.
“Looks like we’ve covered the main points.”
Luke stood up with his characteristic grin.
“Got something to say?”
As Adelhardt looked up at him, Luke nodded.
“When does the 3rd Elder plan to use the Omniscient Crown?”
At that question, all the elders turned to Jamie in unison.
The Omniscient Crown.
A week into his return to the mage society, Jamie hadn’t yet requested it.
They could understand the first day, but by the second, they’d expected it—and now they were puzzled.
Despite the collective gaze, Jamie remained composed as he replied.
“I was just about to request it.”
“Was there a reason you held off until now?”
“Yeah, sort of.”
Jamie recalled the dreams he’d had over the past week.
The thing appeared relentlessly every time he slept, urging him to come here and spouting cryptic words.
Each time, Jamie had forced himself awake.
Something felt off.
Forgetting the flooded room every morning was secondary; it was downright insolent.
Who was it to keep ordering him around?
Jamie wanted to wear the Omniscient Crown more than anyone. The simple reason he’d held out for a week was this:
‘Insolent bastard. Squirm a little.’
For some reason, the Omniscient Crown wanted him.
The desperate one was at a disadvantage, so Jamie was simply enjoying it.
And from yesterday, the dreams had changed slightly.
-Please... I beg you.
The pushy tone had turned to pleading.
Jamie nearly laughed, but kept a straight face before the elders.
“If you wish, you can use the Omniscient Crown right away.”
The archmages among the elders looked at Jamie with eager eyes.
They said every mage who used the Omniscient Crown showed unique reactions.
Because everyone sought something different.
Conversely, it was a chance for those who’d used it to share new knowledge.
Archmages were rare, so activations of the crown were infrequent.
It was natural for the elders to watch Jamie expectantly.
“Please prepare it.”
The voice that had waited desperately for him.
Truth be told, he wasn’t entirely sure it was the Omniscient Crown.
He’d only inferred it from seeing the crown in the corner that first night.
A crown couldn’t be alive, after all.
But this was the mage society, and the Omniscient Crown was Seldam Kingdom’s greatest treasure.
Named Omniscient for supposedly holding all knowledge.
Whether it truly was omniscient was unknown, but judging by the archmages’ reactions, it was no ordinary item.
He’d even considered it might have constructed an artificial ego through magic.
‘I’ll know when I see it.’
Guided by the archmage elders, Jamie headed to where the Omniscient Crown was kept.
The Omniscient Crown was stored on the lowest floor of the Central Mage Tower.
To reach it, one needed the exclusive elevator permitted only to archmages.
The elevator plunged downward swiftly.
Connecting the tower’s highest and lowest floors in one go, it had to be fast.
“Nervous?”
Jamie shook his head at Linmel’s question.
“Eh, not really.”
“Young master... I mean, 3rd Elder, show some anticipation. Act your age a bit. Got it?”
“Only the 7th Elder treats me like a kid.”
“Someone has to. Everyone else will treat you like an adult.”
“Hahaha. You two get along well.”
Luke burst into his hearty laugh upon hearing Jamie and Siegfried’s exchange.
The elevator soon reached the bottom floor.
A red light flashed above as the doors parted to the sides. A chilling dampness flooded in.
Linmel took the lead.
Jamie followed, surveying his surroundings.
There wasn’t much to see—just a narrow corridor of uniform navy tones stretching ahead.
Then, a single door appeared.
Linmel placed his hand on it, and mana flowed out, seeping into the door.
Green lines traced complex patterns from his hand, spreading across the entire surface.
Psssh—
With a hissing sound, another wave of chilling dampness rushed in.
Jamie’s eyes widened slightly at the sight inside.
It was an enormous space, tangled with artifacts embodying the essence of magical engineering.
At the center stood a massive, transparent cylindrical glass tube.
Filled with blue liquid, it contained a single crown.
That was it.
“Only you can enter from here.”
“Be careful, young master.”
“No need to be scared... wait, you’re not the type anyway, right? Uhahaha!”
Amid their cheers, Jamie stepped inside slowly. The door sealed shut, leaving him alone in the vast space.
A spine-chilling cold and immense mana permeated the air.
He approached the glass tube.
The mana density grew thicker on his skin the closer he got.
Standing before it, Jamie placed his hand on the faintly frosted glass.
The voice rang out.
It was the same one from his dreams.
A circular opening formed where his hand touched.
No water spilled out.
Jamie hadn’t dodged, expecting as much.
Stepping inside, he felt the water’s friction—just like in the dream.
He could breathe, too.
Looking up, he saw the crown descending slowly toward him.
Why had it waited so desperately for him?
Instead of asking, Jamie grasped the crown as it lowered right above him.
He placed it on his head.
The surroundings began to shift.
The intricate space vanished as if by magic, revealing a vast plain.
Someone stood there.
A man with blue skin, bearing strange tattoos on his face, neck, and chest.
Wearing the crown, he smiled at Jamie.
“Pleased to meet you. I am the Omniscient Crown.”
At that moment, unfamiliar memories flooded into Jamie’s mind through the crown.
These were utterly different from those of previous archmages who’d used it.
Memories permitted solely to Jamie by the Omniscient Crown.
As they settled in his mind, Jamie realized who the man before him was.
“The first king, Gav Ilidan.”
Ten thousand years ago, the founder of a new civilization on this land.
Its ruler and king.
The one who laid the foundation for the present era.
And the original owner of the Omniscient Crown.
“I’ve been waiting for you, who shares the highest synchronization with me.”
Gav Ilidan extended his hand toward Jamie.