Chapter 91. The Purge of Elpellan (1)
While crossing the corridor leading to the vast secret workshop seen in the Puppeteer’s memory, neither the monsters of the Demonic Realm obstructed their path, nor did the corridor collapse entirely from a trap. It was so peaceful that it almost felt eerie.
Of course, for Khan, who had no choice but to be mindful of his meager stamina stats, the lack of minor mobs was good news. However, considering the nature of the Demonic Realm, it wasn’t entirely a cause for celebration.
After all, the amount of power held by the ‘core of the Demonic Realm’ was finite. This meant that the majority of the power the Demonic Realm possessed was concentrated in the boss.
“There it is.”
Kal Elson announced their arrival at the destination. Having experienced activities in the Great Demonic Realm for a while, he seemed to realize that this peace was not a good sign. His tensely rigid tone proved it.
[How much more can we use the power of the relic?]
[We still have some leeway! Until I die, that is!]
Such hopelessly optimistic words. Pashantu seemed overly excited, like someone who had no understanding of the level of danger embodied by the being they were about to face.
‘No, perhaps it was instinctual.’
Considering they were a crazy race that loved nothing more than dangerous battlefields and life-risking combat, it wasn’t impossible that sensing their own death could actually excite them.
In any case, this was fortunate from Khan’s perspective. There would be no dulling of movements or giving up in the face of the fear of death. If anything, there was concern that he might fight too hard and meet a meaningless end.
To speak frankly, all the aforementioned concerns applied specifically to Khan. A modern corporate worker fed up with mundane life, merely clad in the shell of a barbarian warrior.
That was the essence of Khan, his true identity. Hence why he showed discomfort when someone praised him. He knew better than anyone that he wasn’t that remarkable.
A executioner, an ogre slayer, a warrior chosen by the gods… No matter how grand the names attached to him were-.
‘Damn it.’
He grabbed the axe and magic sword that had fully become part of him. He straightened his back and relaxed his shoulders just enough not to droop. Doing so completed the image of a barbarian warrior possessed of superhuman strength, fearless in any battle. With his usual demeanor, he stepped into the battlefield.
Khan first checked the condition of the battlefield where the fight would take place.
It was identical to the workshop he had glimpsed in the Puppeteer’s memory. The walls were lined with unidentifiable experimental equipment and solutions, and inside, a large magical circle surrounded the empty red cylinder that had once held the entity known as ‘Alpha.’
“Who are you?”
At that moment, Kal Elson stepped forward.
“Where did the duke and his chief mage go, leaving behind someone we’ve never seen….”
Khan turned his head to look in the same direction as Kal Elson.
There was no one there.
“Hahaha─!! To battle!”
“This guy doesn’t answer but spouts nonsense…”
Pashantu, surrounded by the power of the relic, charged towards the direction Kal Elson was looking at. Kal Elson, as if he hadn’t seen the sight, continued his conversation, radiating explosive murderous intent.
Khan quietly observed the two companions, then turned his head slightly and remarked,
“What a nasty prank.”
“Nasty prank, you say… Does this all feel like merely a prank to you? Well, maybe it does. After all, you’re the one who broke the illusion with your own strength, even if the method was far from wise. You certainly have the capacity to consider it trivial.”
Suddenly, a middle-aged man who had not been visible from not too far away smirked. However, his eyes did not move at all.
“Frankly, I’m a bit surprised. I never thought you’d make it this far. And without losing a single person at that. To be honest, I had thought of the people of this era as no better than degenerated monkeys… But it seems not all of you are like that.”
“This era?”
“Oh, curious, are you?”
The middle-aged man spread his arms wide in an exaggerated gesture and spoke.
“Where have all the kids who should be here gone, and why is someone so out of place here instead? What my identity is. Why I speak as if I’m a ‘person from the past’…”
“I’m not curious. You’re probably just some cryogenically frozen person from the past anyway.”
“Cryogenically frozen? That’s an amusing term. No, it’s actually quite accurate.”
What? Khan’s expression soured.
The middle-aged man, however, seemed delighted and rambled on even more. “Indeed. If there is a person who has maintained the connection between soul and body, completely frozen for long periods, enduring hundreds, thousands of years, then the term ‘cryogenically frozen person’ isn’t incorrect. You’re quite witty, despite appearances. I can’t tell from your face whose lineage you belong to… But you seem to have a decent physique. Who were your ancestors?”
“…”
“Not sure? Well, that’s understandable. It seems like people of this era have lost much. It’s not surprising not to know where one’s bloodline began. I understand.”
Despite Khan’s silent and peculiar gaze, the middle-aged man kept babbling happily. Most of his talk was about how much the humans of this era had regressed and how disappointed he was in them.
“Can you even imagine? They proudly use something that should be called trash and refer to themselves as ‘mages’! They even thought they could control me to become ruler of the continent… Such a foolish choice.”
The middle-aged man snorted in derision.
“They carved spells into my body to dominate my mind, and even tried to take over my body completely in an emergency. Such a ridiculous farce! Trying to steal the spirit and body of a Grand Magus with that filthy spellcraft? Hah.”
Grand Magus. The word was too significant for Khan to just let it pass by without comment.
“You’re a Grand Magus? And from the past?”
“Oh. Showing interest for the first time, I see.”
The middle-aged man seemed to enjoy Khan’s reaction, pointing with his fingertip towards the air where he had made a punching gesture, indicating Pashantu and Kal Elson, who were still arguing.
“Indeed. Who else but a Grand Magus who has reached the ultimate realm could show such natural illusions? Of course, it would break easily if interfered with from outside, but it’s enough to buy us some time for a conversation.”
“…You wanted to have a conversation with me?”
“I suppose you could say that. Moreover, you must have many questions you want to ask me? This might be your only chance to find out what you want to know.”
Even under the stern gaze of the imposing barbarian, the middle-aged man remained at ease.
After a long standoff in silence, Khan pondered for a moment before nodding.
“Ah! I knew you’d be willing to listen. You seemed quite sharp…”
“First, satisfy my curiosity. After that, I will honestly answer any questions you have.”
“Hmm. Shall we?”
The attitude of someone who believes they are overwhelmingly powerful, implying it wouldn’t matter what Khan asked.
‘Yes, that makes sense. Calling himself a Grand Magus and all.’
It was proof that he was confident he could get Khan to talk even if Khan decided to close off after his questions were answered.
“Did the Duke and the mage who was with him die?”
“Well. The body died, but the soul lives on. Would you consider that dead? I’ll leave that to your interpretation.”
“Do you know how they woke you up and how they came to possess that method?”
“Of course!”
The middle-aged man started his explanation with eager determination, as if he had been waiting for that question alone.
“I uncovered the mysteries of the soul long ago. In my estimation, this knowledge belonged either to a grand magus who had transcended realms… or perhaps, it was the grand wisdom left behind by a transcendent being. Naturally, it was a treasure of ancient times, a discovery that would be recorded in the annals of continental history. Through the enlightenment gained from this, I ascended to the realm of Grand Magus. However, it wasn’t long before I hit a wall… Do you know why?”
“I’m not sure.”
“No matter how desperately I struggled! I couldn’t reach the transcendent realm. It was as if a thick, solid wall was blocking my path…. I believed the cause was related to the ‘soul.’ Those great transcendents must have possessed immense souls, but mine was lacking. Coincidentally, the minions of the gods began to pursue me, branding me a heretic for learning forbidden knowledge…. And then, it dawned upon me!”
At the same time as preparing a vessel for transcendence, I sought a way to escape the gaze of those cunning gods!
“Retaining just enough of my self to maintain a soul, I induced a catatonic state in both soul and body. Trusting my overly curious juniors, I left behind the ritual for resurrection along with various deceptive pieces of knowledge. The method of extracting only the soul from a living person and the process of burning that soul as fuel to convert it into power… And also, melting together souls from different bodies in a furnace, to unify them as one.”
But, he admitted candidly, that was his mistake.
“It was a grave miscalculation. I never imagined that subsequent generations would fall so far behind. That they couldn’t even properly utilize such a simple magic… Moreover, while I slumbered, my self gradually blurred away.”
“You seem quite intact for such an ordeal.”
“On the surface, perhaps. But it’s different inside. Above all, those fools performed the ritual in an incomplete state, causing me to awaken far from the level I had envisioned. The issue there was manifold. The erosion of my self over time, the spiritual mass falling short of the targeted quantity, the ritual realized in an incomplete form…. Can you imagine the despair of one who awakens to face imminent extinction, after enduring an eternity?”
Khan refrained from answering. He never intended to be reborn, and he had no desire to empathize with the crazed mage before him.
It seemed the middle-aged man hadn’t expected an answer to his question from the start, as he gave a wry smile and continued.
“It was truly terrible. I wanted to burn everything in this world, tear apart those responsible for my plight, and subject everything related to them to eternal torture. But then…. There was light. No, it wasn’t just any light. It was the truth of the world concealed by those malevolent gods, the ultimate truth.”
“The Void.”
“…Yes, it does have that name.”
“You’ve embraced the Void.”
How, exactly? The answer to the question Khan kept to himself was immediately provided by the middle-aged man.
“Yes. I witnessed the Void, and I embraced it. No…! It saw me and chose me, so I merely accepted my rightful place as a seeker of the true path─! Thus! Haha…. Thus. I came to realize the true nature of the wall that had hindered me.”
This was no longer the ecstasy of a mage in pursuit of knowledge. It was merely the blind devotion of a zealot consumed by madness.
“It was this world. This false world that obstructs the truth, cloaking it in a great curtain of darkness to prevent the arrival of the true light! Can you fathom? The dreadful and horrendous truth that this Midland we inhabit is nothing but a giant cage?”
The word ‘false world’ struck Khan, making his eyebrows tdark mage.
He was, after all, the only being aware that this world was a game world.
And the shocking revelations didn’t end there.
“As evidence, I’ve glimpsed beyond the veil of darkness. Haha…! Aren’t you curious about what exists outside this world?”
“What was there?”
Khan asked calmly, concealing his impatience, and the middle-aged man, completely shedding his manic smile, answered.
“Nothing.”
“…!”
Khan’s eyes widened in astonishment at the beyond-imagination response. And then—
“Neither the heavens where gods dwell nor the hells where demons lurk, but only the Void…. Do you understand what that means? That gods and demons are, in the end, pathetic beings trapped within this vast cage. Then what about the transcendents? In a world where the path to transcendence does not exist, how can beings who’ve achieved transcendence exist…!”
In front of that breathtaking truth, the archmage, reborn as a follower of the Void across ages, gloomily added.
“From this moment, I will strive to uncover that answer. By dyeing this world in the Void. And you?”
The truth of this world, the secrets hidden by gods and transcendents—
“Don’t you want to know?”