Chapter 537 (1) - The Academys Weapon Replicator |
Frondier ran for a long time.
He realized the cave was deeper than he thought. He had already come so deep that the entrance was no longer visible. The light from outside didn't reach this far, but torches were installed at regular intervals along the cave walls. Hector and the escort knights must have set them up.
“I encountered Elodie near the entrance of the cave, and Revet and Hector were collapsed beside her.”
Considering the situation, it was natural to assume that Elodie had knocked out Revet and Hector, who had come to meet Frondier.
In other words, Elodie hadn’t seen the inside of the cave.
“Elodie didn’t stop me because she saw what was inside the cave. But she still judged that I was in danger.”
There was only one way to know what was inside the cave without actually seeing it.
“Did she hear some information from one of the Five Gods?”
Rudra was the most likely candidate. He was the one who said he was closest to Elodie. Of course, he couldn’t be sure, but whoever it was, it was a good thing. Elodie believed what she had heard.
Frondier felt something guiding him here.
As Pascal, the former Imperial Knight, had said, a certain wind was blowing towards him. Whether it was fate, as people often called it, or some kind of trial had befallen Frondier, who didn't believe in fate.
In other words, even before Elodie stopped him, Frondier knew he was heading somewhere he shouldn’t be.
Even though he knew that, he couldn't stop. Azier's death had broken the brakes. He had to fix this situation somehow, had to turn it back.
How long had he been running?
Trickle.
Frondier slowed down at the unfamiliar sound.
“The sound of water?”
He could hear water flowing from somewhere. Although he couldn’t see it, the water seemed to be flowing through a narrow water vein.
Drip, drop.
He could hear the sound of water drops falling even inside the cave where Frondier was walking.
As he went further, the cave widened, and Frondier could see the source of the running water.
“……A spring.”
Water flowed from a point lower than where he was standing. As if all the springs flowing in the cave were gathering here, the water flowed in one direction.
Frondier naturally followed the direction the water flowed. The spring gradually deepened to the point where it could be called a river, and the path Frondier was walking on gradually widened, making it easier to walk. In other words, the entire cave was getting bigger.
“There are traces of maintenance. It’s almost gone because so much time has passed.”
The path he was walking on, and the river as well, showed signs of human passage.
Thud.
As he was walking while looking around, something on the floor caught his foot. Frondier looked down.
“……Bone.”
There was a bone lying in front of his feet. Frondier didn't know what kind of animal it belonged to, as he lacked the knowledge.
But he had a hunch.
Frondier created a Wisp and sent it ahead, scanning the ground from under his feet.
“A skull.”
And he soon discovered a human skull.
He hoped it wouldn’t be, but whenever he did, it was always the other way around.
Frondier frowned at this tiresome rule.
“This isn’t just one or two people. What happened here?”
It’s hard to tell how many died from bones alone. Even if several are found, it’s impossible to know whether they belonged to one person or several.
But skulls are different. Frondier had already seen more skulls than he could count on his fingers, and the number was increasing as he went in the direction he was headed. Now he could see them even in the sparsely hung torchlight. The only consolation was that there was no smell.
Thump.
At that moment, Frondier flinched and blinked his eyes at the strange sensation.
It was his sixth sense at work. But it was different than usual.
His sixth sense, which detects the supernatural, had detected something in this place.
And his sixth sense was also pointing in the direction Frondier was headed, beyond that point.
Thump, thump.
Everything Frondier possessed was leading him in the same direction. Feeling a strange discomfort, Frondier moved on.
And he entered the cave, which suddenly widened.
“……What is this?”
There was a pillar inside.
The river that was flowing beside Frondier circled the pillar, and there was no other way for it to flow, as if this was the final destination.
Frondier looked at the pillar. His sixth sense was directed towards this pillar.
He reached out his hand slightly, and he could understand more clearly what his sixth sense was conveying.
“Something, is being sucked into this pillar.”
What was this pillar? What was it sucking in?
His sixth sense detected it, but it couldn’t be perceived by sight or any other senses.
Frondier, as a test, fired Eclexis at the pillar.
“Huh.”
His Eclexis disappeared. No, it was sucked in.
This pillar was absorbing Eclexis. It was so gradual that even Frondier’s sixth sense couldn’t detect it until he got this close, but it was clear.
“What is this pillar?”
[That’s not a pillar.]
A voice answered Frondier’s murmur.
For a moment, he thought Elodie had arrived.
But it was a man’s voice.
And it was a voice Frondier knew.
[It’s been a while, Frondier. Is this the second time we’ve met face-to-face?]
When he saw the face, Frondier’s eyes were filled with murderous intent.
“You. What are you doing here?”
Frondier took a fighting stance towards the man standing behind him.
Black angel wings, a sacred yet disrespectful sight.
Satan.
He was standing in front of Frondier.
“Did someone summon you here like back at the Imperial Palace? No, that can’t be.”
[Don’t be so tense.]
Satan cut off Frondier’s thoughts and spoke. His tone was lighter than when they first met. It was as if he was talking to a friend. It made Frondier even more uncomfortable.
[It’s because of this place that we can meet.]
“This place?”
[Yes. What you just called a ‘pillar’.]
Satan pointed a finger at the pillar Frondier was looking at.
[That’s not a pillar, it’s a tree.]
A tree?
At that, Frondier examined the pillar again.
Without branches or roots, it simply stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the cave.
But if he looked closely, the texture of the pillar wasn’t simply smooth, it had a unique texture.
Then, could this really be a tree?
[It’s called Yggdrasil.]
“What?”
Yggdrasil. The world tree that appears in Norse mythology.
The nine worlds of Norse mythology are all said to hang from Yggdrasil like fruit. And through Yggdrasil, one can travel between these nine worlds.
[Yggdrasil exists in all worlds in a form similar to this.]
According to Satan, it seemed that Yggdrasil wasn't limited to Norse mythology.
[So, in this space, we can meet and talk even if we are in different worlds. Even though we can’t physically touch.]
Shhhk!
As soon as Satan finished speaking, Frondier fired Obsidian, piercing Satan’s body.
But Obsidian returned to its place without any effect, and Satan stood there unharmed.
“……I see.”
[Haha. I like that habit of yours of confirming things for yourself. Or did you just want to attack me?]
Of course, it was both.
[It’s a good thing. I don’t think I would be able to talk to you like this otherwise.]
That was true.
Frondier would try to kill Satan the moment he saw him.
“Talk. You want to talk to me?”
[Of course. You need it too, don’t you?]
Satan held out his hands and shrugged.
[You want to save Azier, don’t you?]
“……How do you know that?”
It was Palma’s side that opened the gate from the demon realm. There was no way Satan could observe the continent of Falind, especially the Empire.
But Satan just smiled.
[That’s not important. What’s important to you now is the method.]
As Satan said that, someone else appeared from behind the pillar.
[Was this your plan, Satan?]
It wasn’t just one person.
Three women appeared side by side from behind the pillar.
They were all unfamiliar faces to Frondier, but Satan greeted them with a welcoming face.
[Oh, the Moirai. I’m surprised to see all three of you here.]
Satan put on an act. The three women frowned at him.
The Moirai, the three goddesses of fate.
They glanced at Frondier, but soon turned back to Satan.
The woman on the left spoke.
[Sending this foolish one here, to remove the eyesore of both demons and gods. Is this the agreement you proposed?]
[As gods, surely you can handle one Frondier, can’t you?]
Satan said so and winked at Frondier, as if he was doing him a huge favor.
The woman in the middle spoke.
[Then, was Thanatos’ failure to kill Azier also part of your expectations?]
[That was a fifty-fifty. Whether he killed him or failed, it didn’t matter. Frondier’s path is set.]
Satan said nonchalantly in front of Frondier.
Frondier’s eyes blazed with anger.
“……Satan, did you order Azier’s death?”
[Frondier, that’s not important, is it?]
Satan shook his head. As if it was no big deal.
[The method, the method. I’m telling you how to save Azier from now on.]
If Azier came back to life, there would be no problem. Satan was saying it in that sense.
Satan looked at the three women.
[Therefore, I will now tell Frondier the method. Please grant me permission.]
The woman on the right spoke.
[……Hmph. Do you need our permission?]
[Of course, I do.]
Satan nodded with a deep smile.
He spoke to Frondier.
[Frondier, Azier’s soul is heading to Tartarus now.]
“Tartarus?”
The hell of Greek mythology. When gods who committed great sins or humans who rebelled died, they flowed into this place.
[It’s Thanatos’ ability. His Eclexis. The target’s soul and body are forcibly separated and sent to Tartarus. An ability befitting Thanatos, the god of death.]
When Frondier saw Azier, he certainly looked dead, even though he couldn’t touch him. Was it because his soul had left his body?
Satan continued.
[In fact, from that point on, he's as good as dead. That’s what the ability is for. But as you know, Eclexis doesn't have the ability to give ‘death’ itself. No matter how close Thanatos is to it.]
That was right. Frondier knew that too.
That’s why, when he saw Azier’s body, he realized that Thanatos had tried to kill Azier through battle.
He had come all the way here because he knew that his Eclexis wasn't pure death.
[Once Azier’s soul reaches Tartarus, it’s over. You have to finish this before then.]
“What should I do?”