Chapter 742: The Land of Guidance
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 742: The Land of Guidance
“So that’s how they’re tracking my soul? Quite direct.”
Muen let out a cold sneer and lightly raised his hand. His palm passed straight through the chain as if he were a ghost in a story, feeling no physical substance.
Yet, one end was tethered to his soul, while the other stretched away into the unknown.
Aside from that, Muen no longer felt the sensation of his soul being physically dragged. A single chain likely lacked the power to forcibly pull him, but as a tether to track his movements, it was more than enough.
“But now that I know the method, it’s easy.”
Muen drew Elizabeth.
“Can you do it?” he asked softly.
Buzz, buzz.
Elizabeth vibrated slightly, seemingly expressing her displeasure at Muen asking such an "insulting" question.
With a casual flick of his wrist, the pure white blade—shimmering with holy radiance—easily severed the chain.
It made sense. After all, her previous incarnation was the Church’s Holy Sword, forged by the hands of the oldest and strongest Old Loli in the world. How could she possibly fail at such a trivial task?
It was only because of her unique trait—where her power scaled with her master’s—that she had been unable to play an effective role against the Grand Duke of Divine Will earlier.
If Muen possessed the same realm of power as that Old Loli, he would have hacked the Grand Duke of Divine Will and the Eternal Cycle into pieces long ago.
“Sorry. I’m the weak one here.”
After offering a brief, apologetic comfort to the sword, Muen put Elizabeth away and continued to fiddle with the Star Ring on his wrist.
“But then again, what exactly is this ‘Eternal Cycle’?”
Perhaps because it was merely a "branch," many of its functions seemed currently unusable. However, whether it was the endless chains manifested by the complete Eternal Cycle—which had terrified the Demon Grand Dukes and forced the Life Church to retreat—or this branch’s ability to let him see his own soul, it all bordered on the incomprehensible.
It was an Ancient Artifact.
By logic, it should have its own set of "rules."
Just as Single’s Resentment made one lose all presence as long as they held the umbrella handle, and True Love’s Heart allowed one to imprison a target as long as they felt love for them...
What was the rule of the Eternal Cycle?
Soul stripping? Soul imprisonment?
“No, it must be something even more terrifying.”
Muen recalled the chains that had nearly blotted out half the sky—dense, overwhelming, as if the entire Abyss and the entire Demon Race were bound by them.
It was no wonder the modern magical world couldn't even replicate Ancient Artifacts. Such horrifying things truly defied common sense and understanding; they were fundamentally different from the magical knowledge Muen had studied.
“The Black Book definitely won’t tell me the details of Ancient Artifacts. These things are still so mysterious; they must involve some secret from that era a thousand years ago.”
Muen sighed.
History.
Scripts.
Magic.
Artifacts.
Thinking carefully, the current lack of knowledge regarding these things couldn't be entirely blamed on the fact that "civilization was nearly destroyed by that crisis."
Perhaps it was a premonition, or maybe just a baseless hunch, but Muen faintly felt as if an invisible hand were deliberately cordoning off everything related to that era.
The Old Loli, the Pope of the Life Church, Divine Will... even the Black Book. These figures who had survived from that era, or who held its legacy, all seemed to be hiding something.
Hiding what...?
“Better not overthink it.”
Muen quickly reined in his wandering thoughts.
If it was some terrifying secret that brought ruin the moment it was discovered, then reckless speculation was no different from seeking death.
In a world where the Evil Gods' favorite games were "Humanity Match-3" and "Guess Who I Am," curiosity really could kill the cat.
“The most urgent issue right now is escaping, recovering from my injuries, and then... rescuing An from that old bastard Divine Will’s clutches.”
He couldn't let An wait too long. Even if she really was related to the Demon King from a thousand years ago, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the old bastard Divine Will might do something to her.
He had to be fast.
The surrounding light dimmed as Muen found it difficult to even maintain an Illumination Spell. Everything was swallowed by darkness, and his azure eyes regained their deep, focused glow.
The tracking chain was severed, so Zagu, who had been tailing him, shouldn't be a threat for the time being. He wouldn't catch up that quickly.
Therefore, what remained was...
“An wouldn't have given this to me if this was all it could do.”
Muen stared at the tiny chain on his wrist. After manipulating the Star Ring for a moment, he thrust his arm straight forward. Facing the fork in the road where he didn't know which way to go, he shouted in a low voice:
“Come on! Show me the way forward!!”
Clatter!
As if he had just hit the right switch, or perhaps moved by Muen’s determination, the tiny chain on his wrist suddenly vibrated violently. Even the blood-red runes upon it became clear.
The chain detached from his wrist and was caught in Muen’s palm. It suddenly snapped taut, and then...
It went limp and dangled downward.
“Huh?”
That’s it?
I haven't even started yet!
Muen, who had been full of expectation, was nearly given a heart attack by this sudden anticlimax.
No way. I pumped myself up and made it all hot-blooded, can't you give me some face, Chain-chan?
Even if you want to slack off, at least point out a direction first...
Wait, hold on.
Muen looked closely at the dangling chain and keenly noticed something off.
Chain-chan didn't seem to be slacking. It had pointed out a direction, but that direction was...
Muen took two steps forward and stared expressionlessly at the bottomless abyss beneath his feet.
Mist swirled, and the cliff was deep beyond measure. Only the whistling of a cold wind from some unknown source echoed like the wailing of ghosts.
He kicked a pebble down. It took a long time before Muen heard the faint, nearly imperceptible sound of it hitting the bottom.
“You’ve got to be kidding me...”
Muen’s eye twitched.
It wasn't just a heart attack now; his whole body felt like it was seizing up.
Chain-chan, the path on the left is so wide, you didn't pick it. The path on the right is also wide, you didn't pick it. You just had to pick "down"?
Do you like it "down there" that much? How lewd... can we pick another way? I'll go down—I mean, I'll make it up to you later...
“This is bad...”
Muen clutched his head, his forehead already beaded with cold sweat. He gave a bitter smile.
“Is my mental energy so depleted that my head is filling with lewd trash?”
He had to rest as soon as possible, but... now was not the time.
“I hope I can last until I reach the bottom.”
It would be too pathetic if he managed to dodge Zagu’s relentless pursuit only to be flattened into a meat patty by Mother Earth’s gravity.
Oh, right—a double-layered meat patty.
Muen shifted Ariel higher on his back. Without much hesitation, he began to climb down the nearly vertical cliff face.
Though the future was uncertain, at a time like this, he could only trust in An’s guidance.
*
“The chain... is broken?”
In a vast underground space, before a wide obsidian throne, the Grand Duke of Divine Will sensed something. His brow twitched slightly, revealing a look of disbelief.
“How? With only Muen Campbell’s strength, how could he sever a chain connected to his soul? He shouldn't have even been able to detect it...”
“Because he is my Young Master. He always does the unexpected, doesn't he?”
A proud, affectionate smile played on An’s lips. It was as if Muen performing the impossible made her happier and prouder than if she had done it herself.
“Was it you?”
The Grand Duke of Divine Will looked at An and asked.
The sounds of steel being forged and hammered—clinking and clanging like musical instruments—still drifted from the far reaches of the underground space. Before him, another throne had risen at some unknown point.
That throne was not made of obsidian, but cast from even colder magic-conducting materials. Yet it stood as tall as the obsidian throne, and the magical patterns carved into it were faintly similar to those on the high platform from before. It was majestic and solemn, yet it exuded a touch of the bizarre.
An sat upon the cold throne, her back straight, yet she was unable to move.
“Was it you? Did you give Muen Campbell the method to escape the lock?” Divine Will’s tone was kind, appearing as though he had no intention of interrogating her.
Yet these peaceful words carried a strange power that compelled an answer.
“Who knows...”
An’s eyes flickered. “And if I did?”
“To think you had the strength to secretly warn Muen Campbell about the Eternal Cycle at such a critical moment. You truly continue to exceed my expe—hm? Wait.”
Divine Will’s clouded eyes suddenly narrowed.
“No.”
“Are you starting to feel afraid? If so, I suggest you—”
“No. You are lying to me.”
After only a brief moment of doubt, Divine Will’s tone became certain.
“You are definitely lying. At that time, you had no way to inform Muen Campbell about the Eternal Cycle, nor did you have the strength to leave any tricks on that branch.”
“...Who told you I didn't? That’s just your guess,” An said expressionlessly.
“No, it is not a guess, but a deduction. The logic is simple: if you had that kind of strength left... why didn't you just break the lock for him directly?”
Since An had already seized a portion of the Eternal Cycle’s authority, she naturally would have had the power to directly remove the lock and erase the mark Divine Will had placed on Muen Campbell.
But she hadn't.
It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't.
The situation then had been too urgent; it hadn't left her any room to do so.
If she truly could have done it, there would have been no need to go through such a convoluted process of leaving hidden information on the Star Ring branch.
What if Muen Campbell hadn't found a way to access that information?
What if Muen Campbell had encountered the Demon pursuers and died in battle before obtaining it?
One only had to think for a moment to realize that this little maid—whose love for her Young Master was beyond words, even bordering on blind devotion—would never have taken such a risk.
Lying... was just a spur-of-the-moment attempt to muddy the waters and influence his judgment.
“However, since it wasn't you... how did Muen Campbell do it? Without the help of the Star Ring, he shouldn't have even been able to discover the chain on himself.”
Divine Will frowned slightly and began to sense the last location where Muen’s soul signature had vanished...
That was...
“Was it you?”
Divine Will’s pupils shrank. He spun around abruptly.
Though the question was the same, the person Divine Will was addressing was different.
No—to Divine Will, the subject of his question was the same, just "not quite the same" for the moment.
“Was it you who guided that human, Muen Campbell, to that place? Why?”
That place... was somewhere a mere human should never set foot in, let alone touch.
All was silent.
Upon the obsidian throne, a ruler dressed in iridescent robes sat with their chin resting on a hand. Their hollow, deep eyes seemed to stare eternally into the distance.
But the ruler would not answer Divine Will’s question. Because...
It was merely a pale skeleton.