As the man lowered himself, an armchair materialized from thin air, supporting him. The boy slowly opened his mouth in front of the man, who sat naturally with his legs crossed.
“I need to confirm if the 6th Apostle is truly dead.”
“That’s correct. He vanished not long ago.”
“I see…”
The boy acknowledged with a stiff tone.
The man looked at the boy and asked,
“Even within the Order, only a select few, including the Oracle, know about this. How did you find out?”
“……”
“Ah, don’t give me any of that nonsense about close bonds between Apostles. You know better than anyone that we don’t have that kind of thing, right?”
Bound only by the doctrine of Guido, the Apostles, who were considered the ultimate power, had the worst kind of relationship and intimacy.
Originally, the Apostles were incarnations of different Outer Gods [powerful, often malevolent deities from beyond the known universe].
It was no different from gathering believers who served different gods into one order.
They only maintained the facade of an organization out of loyalty to the Order’s leader, who was the owner of the Order and the propagator of its doctrine.
Without a strong center, many of them wanted to fight each other to prove their superiority, let alone unite.
Even at the man’s sharp words, the boy answered calmly.
“I saw it from the outside.”
“……You saw it?”
At the belated question, the boy slowly closed his eyes.
“Very rarely, when I come to my senses, I remember what I was looking at.”
“……”
“I’m wandering in an endless sea. A dark sea so vast and immense that nothing is reflected in it… Every moment is unbearably painful, but there are very brief moments when I feel uncontrollably comfortable and joyful.”
The boy spoke quietly.
“I’m wandering forever, chasing that one moment. Forever…”
“Hoo…”
The man, with a tired expression, swept back his hair and slowly took off his glasses.
From the moment the thick lenses were completely out of his sight, the direction the man was looking at began to split as if space itself was being torn apart.
Crack, crack…!!
The boy’s body, touched by that gaze, shattered like glass, his insides breaking apart.
It was pain that no human could endure, yet the man spoke to the boy, who didn’t even utter a single groan.
“Hughes… Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know what the Outer Gods are?”
“……”
“Let’s not waste time unnecessarily. What do you want to say?”
It wasn’t uncommon for an Apostle at the end of madness to glimpse the memories of an Outer God.
What the man wanted to know wasn’t how far the boy had glimpsed the Outer God’s memories.
Why did this genius, who had regained his senses after almost decades, call him?
Even now, there were countless believers across the continent who needed his help at the Order’s branches.
The leader of the Order, who had to control all this chaos and lead the believers to paradise, was in a situation where he couldn’t even be called sane.
Besides dealing with a completely insane Apostle, he had so much more to do.
The boy said,
“Just before the 6th Apostle died, when he was talking to a magician named Victor, there was a reaction from him.”
“……A reaction?”
“It was an inspiration so strong that it brought my consciousness back from wandering in the sea. It would be wise to look into that person.”
“……”
At the completely unexpected words, the 2nd Apostle sank into thought with a cold expression.
Could it be a coincidence that the reaction of the one and only being they served together appeared at that moment, and that another Apostle observed it?
After a long silence, the man slowly nodded.
“……Okay. It’s much more unusual than I expected. Is there anything you want?”
The boy that the 2nd Apostle remembered was a very unique person among the Apostles within the Order.
Even when he was sane, he was a person with a complex nature who wouldn’t move easily for just one reason.
It was valuable information, but there was no way he would have shaken off his madness and stood up just for this.
The boy also answered in a quiet tone.
“I want to meet the same end as the 6th Apostle. Can you prepare a suitable stage for me?”
“……What?”
“The fact that the 6th Apostle, who knew him the longest, vanished must mean that there was a direct will [a divine or higher power’s intention] involved.”
“……”
“If he has decided to empty the seat of an Apostle who has run out of use, then I want to be the next one.”
The boy’s eyelids trembled as he closed his eyes.
“Honestly, right now… it’s not easy to even have this conversation. I don’t even know if I’m speaking properly.”
“You’re just saying you want to commit suicide in a roundabout way.”
The man let out a cold sigh.
“The 6th Apostle’s case was a very special situation, and you should also know that the Oracle had a strong will.”
“……”
When do Apostles die and vanish? Where does the power of the Outer God that was given to them go after they die like that?
How is the qualification to inherit the vacant seat created again?
All those answers, ironically, were given not to the Apostles themselves, but to the Order’s leader and the Oracle.
“You and he, who were isolated from the Order, are different. He was someone who deserved a peaceful death.”
“I see… I understand.”
The boy readily agreed.
The man looked down at the boy, then stood up from his seat and chuckled.
“Still, I understand your intention. I will report to him about what you want.”
“……”
“Judging by the way things are going, it seems like a suitable position might open up.”
“Where?”
“The great city of Balkan.”
The 2nd Apostle’s gaze, as he adjusted his glasses, was endlessly cold.
“The head of the northeastern branch was also dispatched there and martyred. I need to check what’s happening in Balkan right now.”
* * *
Click, click.
Lavatenon University. Aris Ritchellen’s laboratory.
In the quiet laboratory room, only the sound of the cyber spirit [a digital entity with advanced intelligence] clicking on the keyboard echoed.
Davy, who was sitting coiled on top of the laptop and typing incessantly, grumbled.
[Master, is this the content you’re writing right now?]
“What do you mean?”
[Even I can’t understand what you’re talking about while I’m writing it down.]
Davy said that and jumped onto Lenok’s head, who was reading a book.
[If I’m like this, other dull organic beings won’t be able to understand what you’re saying at all.]
“I deliberately made the phrases difficult to understand. It’s rather fortunate that you don’t understand it well.”
[What does that mean?]
Lenok put down the book he was holding and answered.
“Wouldn’t it mean that the words are so twisted that even the cyber spirit’s logic circuits can’t properly interpret them?”
At those words, Davy bit Lenok’s hair and pulled it wildly.
[I don’t have logic circuits. I only have superior intelligence that transcends organic beings!]
“……You’re joking, right?”
Sometimes, Lenok was worried that if he disappeared and only Davy was left in this world, an even worse dystopia might unfold.
Davy nodded, grumbling.
[Enjoying black humor is a characteristic of high-level intelligence. Master needs to hone his sense of humor more!]
“That’s not black humor, it’s just dark.”
Lenok chuckled and shook his head.
“Anyway, I’ve written properly about the practicality of the entropy energy theory, so it’s fine. This part is just going to be in the appendix anyway.”
[It’s a bad habit of humans to focus on dessert when they haven’t even written the main course yet.]
Lenok grabbed Davy’s cheeks and stretched them out before answering.
“I’ve already decided on the theory and content to write in the main text, so I’m just focusing on the original intention of this paper.”
[Original intention?]
“A message.”
Lenok said.
“For the people who, after reading this paper from beginning to end, will be able to understand what I was thinking when I wrote it.”
It sounded grand, but as long as there was still some time left before the expo, it was just a pointless idea.
Lenok put down the book and stretched, getting up from his chair.
“The Dean told me to come see him before the expo. I should go now. I heard that there’s a need for a candidate review within the school…”
[It seems like the noble families’ children protested, saying that proper procedures should be followed since you’re representing Lavatenon University.]
“How do you know that?”
At Lenok’s question, Davy tilted his head as if it was strange.
[Well… because I hacked it?]
“……”
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Davy, but sometimes he couldn’t deny the fact that he thought this audacious cyber spirit’s abilities needed rules to match them.
While he was pondering whether to teach Davy the “act first, report later” manual, his cell phone started ringing in the lab locker.
Lenok frowned slightly.
“Did I put my cell phone in my coat… Davy, who is it?”
Davy said without even looking at the cell phone.
[It’s the Lighthouse Keeper.]
“……What?”
Lenok got up from his seat and quickly rummaged through the coat in the locker, picking up his cell phone.
[……Evan, is that you?]
Lapis’s voice, faintly heard from beyond the communication network.
It was somewhat subdued, unlike usual.
[It’s been a while. Regarding what we talked about before, can we talk for a bit? It’s important.]
Lenok naturally blocked the surroundings with noise magic and subtly turned his gaze.
“It’s been a while. I received the message you sent me last time.”
[I’m glad it was helpful. Have you heard about what happened in the jungle?]
Lenok hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
There was no need to pretend not to know about the Well of the Compendium [a place of knowledge and power] and listen to an explanation of something he already knew.
“It seems like there was quite a big conflict.”
[I see… You’ve already heard about the situation.]
Lenok asked again.
“If it’s a problem involving Ascendants [beings of immense power], it must be related to the Lighthouse’s goals, so why didn’t the Eyes of Azure [a group associated with the Lighthouse] get involved in this?”
Of course, since Lenok participated in the jungle incident under Victor’s identity, he would have to make an excuse and get out of it if Lapis asked for help.
But not asking Lapis about this would be strange.
Since she had sent a message and held back on explaining, Lenok also needed to show a corresponding reaction.
[Because there was nothing to gain.]
“Nothing to gain?”
[Evan, you haven’t had many chances to deal with Pandemonium [a powerful criminal organization], so you might not know, but there’s already a saying going around the continent.]
After a moment of silence, Lapis continued.
[Don’t interfere with what the one who walks backward does…….]
“……”
[It’s more of a skeptical piece of advice, saying that you’re just meddling in something that’s already been decided.]
The one who walks backward. It was just a metaphorical analogy, but Lenok immediately understood what it meant.
He clearly remembered that Ermong, who had collapsed with him at the end of the labyrinth, had muttered something similar.
It was probably referring to the head of the Devil’s Den [another name for Pandemonium], and someone who had succeeded in glimpsing its essence was picking up on the words.
[I didn’t get directly involved in this, but I felt deeply what those words meant.]
“What do you mean?”
[The great commotion that happened in the jungle started and ended in the hands of the head, and I watched the ending with him.]
“……”
[Whether it was by his own will or not, at least for now, I couldn’t face him head-on.]
The young Lighthouse Keeper didn’t properly explain what had happened, but Lenok understood what Lapis was saying.
The moment Gye Baek used himself as a bullet and rushed towards the end of the Outer Sea [a mysterious and dangerous realm].
The head was also moving somewhere in this world, and in the process, he must have crossed paths with the Lighthouse.
Was the reason why Lapis’s tone seemed somewhat subdued also because of the head’s presence?
It wouldn’t be strange if Lapis, who had faced him directly, had a strange feeling that she couldn’t describe.
Lenok also had to think similarly at the moment when he suddenly encountered the head at the end of the labyrinth.
The leader of the huge criminal organization called Pandemonium.
He was clearly living and breathing in the same world, yet he was a mysterious person whose existence could not even be confirmed.
No one knew his name, identity, face, or even what kind of life he had lived.
At least Ermong, the ancient black magician who competed with Lenok in the labyrinth, seemed to have an idea of his identity, but there was no chance to question him about it.
‘The last geas [a magical compulsion] that I put into Gye Baek’s body was also the head’s….’
At least it was clear that he had been alive since the days when the central city was still standing and had been spreading his influence throughout the world.
Even the great event where two Ascendants clashed and one jumped out of the world was just part of the head’s plan to reap the seeds he had sown.
Lenok was clearly aware of this, so he was refraining from finding out more about the head.
It was too risky to approach the head rashly at this point, when he had not yet deeply penetrated Pandemonium.
“Hoo……”
Letting out a low breath and leaning back in his chair, the old chair in the lab made a noise.
Lenok quietly opened his mouth, letting the noise echoing in the quiet lab pass by lightly.
“I understand that you’re in a position to catch up with Pandemonium. If you haven’t wavered, that should be enough, right?”
[……Of course, it should be.]
It sounded like Lapis was smiling wryly over the communication network.
The Eyes of Azure was an organization created from the beginning to prevent the opening of the sky and find a better alternative.
It was undeniable that they lacked the technology and talent compared to the Devil’s Den, as they had started as a latecomer.
At least they were gathering power and fame by attracting talented people from all over the continent around the Lighthouse and trying to advance to the central front.
Lapis also got straight to the point without delay.
[There’s something I want to show you, Evan.]
At those words, which had calmed down, Lenok immediately answered.
The place written in the message he had received from the well. It was a unique place name, so it remained in Lenok’s memory.
“The Valley of the Shattered?”
[……Yes, to be precise, it’s about the deepest part of the eastern Trama mountain range where the valley is located.]
Lenok tilted his head slightly at those words and asked.
“Didn’t you say that you were making progress by breaking through the bridgehead to the central front?”
The Lighthouse Keeper that Lenok knew was not one to make empty promises.
If she said that she was making progress in a message, it meant that the operation was practically about to end successfully.
Naturally, he thought that she had called Lenok to discuss what to do next, but this was a bit unexpected.
But Lapis immediately denied Lenok’s thoughts.
[No, we succeeded in securing a path to the central front. When I sent the message, the operation was practically over.]
“……What?”
[The reason I contacted you today, Evan, is because…….]
After saying that, Lapis was silent for a long time.
After a long silence, Lapis’s voice was heard again over the phone, as if she had made up her mind.
[Because we have recovered my grandmother’s authority and are ready to show you the path that the Eyes of Azure will ultimately take.]