Chapter 116
Chapter 116. Chain of Truth
There was a chain that soared up to the sky.
At the very bottom of the chain that had risen all the way to the end of the clouds, it was embedded into the top of the ivory tower of the chairman.
In front of it stood three archmages wearing brown robes.
The sages of the Council of Sages looked at one another with tense expressions as they waited for the chairman, Yumankai.
“Where is the cracked section?”
“Chain No. A330.”
“That’s relatively low. 3,300 meters, is it? That’s a relief. Aside from it being a little cold and the oxygen being thin, we won’t need additional survival magic.”
Each link of the chain was calculated to be exactly 10 meters.
“What about the repair materials?”
“We have enough ‘Material of Myriad Phenomena.’”
“The chain climber?”
“It is functional.”
“No, no, no. I’m still worried. If we fail this time, it’s over.”
“Chew some gum or something.”
“Can we really trust that higher species? Is it a reliable species? Does it have the ability to fend off dragons? And what if it betrays us, or the chain breaks during the fight?”
One particularly nervous sage bit the nail of his right hand. At that moment, Yumankai appeared and said leisurely,
“Robertson, do not worry. I have spoken with him. He also expressed concern regarding the phenomenon of ‘Outer God’ appearing elsewhere. Furthermore, he has no reason to betray us.”
To betray them, there would have to be some kind of benefit.
But there was none.
All it would do was turn the Island of the Brown Sage into his enemy, with no real gain.
“No matter how much fire the dragons breathe, the chain will not break. The Chain of Truth is bound to the durability of the Sky Island.”
“So if the chain is destroyed, the Sky Island will be destroyed as well.”
“That’s why we’re working so hard to make sure it doesn’t come to that, aren’t we?”
After reassuring the unusually nervous sage, Yumankai looked up above her head.
That enormous Chain of Truth was completely invisible from outside the island.
At that moment, Yul appeared.
“He’s here.”
“Welcome, Yul. But what exactly is that?”
“A weapon.”
Yul was holding a long spear several times taller than himself. It looked to be roughly five meters long.
The original Krelsite spear had been somewhat thicker, but the newly crafted one resembled a sleek lance.
“A weapon made from that ominous metal.”
“It’s fairly useful. Works well even against magical creatures.”
“There have been claims that prolonged use could harm the user as well.”
“Hmm.”
“Well, it’s not really my place to interfere. Did Javarel make that?”
“That’s right. I guided Javarel to the Island of the Brown Sage, so we had a bit of an acquaintance.”
“I see. But will you remain in human form?”
“If necessary, I can just use the Polymorph skill.”
Yul whistled as he looked at the chain that soared to the end of the sky.
“It’s really huge. And you’re saying it can’t be seen from outside?”
“Compared to the island, it’s not that big.”
If the Island of the Brown Sage were compared to a human head, the thickness of the chain would be no more than the size of a strand of hair.
“So this is basically a bald island with a single strand of hair.”
“That’s an amusing analogy. You may be the only one who has ever evaluated the legacy of an archmage who reached truth in that way.”
“A relic from 300 years ago?”
“The Archmage of Truth created that chain, and then vanished without a trace after being engulfed in a cluster of light.”
“…Vanished in a cluster of light?”
“Yes. After using his final masterpiece, he disappeared completely from this world.”
Yul wondered if the man might not have died.
‘Was it recorded in the Humanity Disc?’
It was possible. Yul was still somewhat doubtful, but Lucian believed without question in the existence of the Humanity Disc.
‘I should remember this.’
He could share it with Lucian later.
“So what do we do now?”
“We will activate the chain climber.”
Yul looked toward the very bottom of the chain and noticed a massive hexagonal platform surrounding it like a ring.
“The chain is tilted.”
“We use the chain as the central axis and ascend through magic. Aben, activate it.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
A moment later, Yul felt the chain climber start with a heavy clunk.
It ascended like an elevator, but at a slight diagonal, and the principle behind it was completely different.
It moved so slowly that it nearly made him yawn. Yul set his spear down. The climber was wide enough that there was still plenty of space even after placing it there.
“Do we really have to go up like this? Why not just fly?”
“Without the chain climber, we cannot fix the coordinates of the Chain of Truth. If you fly, at some point you will drift far away from it.”
“Hm.”
So this was that “specific method.”
“What we ask of you, Lord Yul, is to guard the surroundings while we sages carry out the repairs.”
“Got it. Can I move some distance away from here?”
“As long as the chain climber is functioning, you may move a little distance away.”
As the climber ascended, the altitude gradually increased. Yul folded his arms and observed the surroundings.
‘If this isn’t the orbital elevator you see in science fiction, then what is it?’
A colossal chain said to reach all the way to the thermosphere.
“But why are the dragons attacking? Where do they come from?”
“They are likely dragons that protect the Sky Island. And in a certain sense, the Chain of Truth is treated as part of the Sky Island.”
“…How is that possible?”
Do the dragons recognize the chain itself as part of the island?
“We don’t know either. But it must be some method that the Archmage of Truth devised at the very end of his research.”
“Can you reach the Sky Island?”
“Yes. Would you like to go?”
“Not right now, but I’d like to visit someday.”
“Unfortunately, it is impossible to go deep inside. Even we are forbidden from entering.”
“Why?”
“The Sky Island up there is called Dragon Land. It’s a primitive island where numerous dragons live. And time there is completely scrambled.”
“…What do you mean, time is scrambled?”
“It is exactly as it sounds. The chronological order is a tangled mess, making it extremely dangerous. Once, a sage went to Dragon Land to investigate. He emerged from Dragon Land about a day later, but the middle-aged man had become an old man.”
“Does time flow differently inside?”
“Yes. Sometimes an old man enters and comes out as a child.”
“…!?”
This seemed to go far beyond simply saying that time flowed faster.
“It seems there are entrances and exits tied to specific points in time, but most sages who tried to figure out the rules either died or disappeared. Perhaps they are still alive somewhere in Dragon Land—or perhaps they were thrown far into the future.”
“Hm.”
A Dragon Land where the order of time is scrambled, and the past and future are mixed together…
“If it weren’t for that, the sages would have explored that Sky Island long ago.”
“Are the other Sky Islands similar?”
“We don’t know. We don’t even know where the other Sky Islands are.”
I heard something interesting. It seems this world still holds plenty of secrets.
The chain climber, which had been ascending slowly, soon came to a halt at a cracked section of the chain.
Yul used his divinity to peer closely into the cracked chain and saw something inside that looked like massive bubbles.
The Chain of Truth was minutely filled with bubbles that seemed to be a jumble of space and time.
This was how the sages were performing maintenance on the chain.
“We’ll finish the repairs by injecting the ‘Material of Myriad Phenomena.’ And a dragon might appear soon.”
No sooner had the words been spoken than a shadow appeared in the clouds directly above.
“It’s a dragon!”
Yul immediately polymorphed and hovered in midair.
‘Two of them?’
Four legs. Wings attached to their backs. Manifestly alien creatures appeared through the clouds.
They seemed to have appeared targeting the chain climber, but as soon as Yul transformed and revealed himself, their attention turned to him.
The two dragons flew through the air and then hovered.
‘Breath—!’
A tremendous surge of magic erupted from the lungs of the black dragon and the azure dragon. It was not combined like a spell, but rather resembled a completed form like a mantra.
Its power was on an entirely different level from something a crocodile might spit out.
As jet-black smoke infused with the power of desolation spewed forth, Yul immediately dodged away. Even if he blocked it, his outer hide would be completely corroded.
Filling the space he had just vacated was the azure dragon’s lightning.
With a flash like a lightning strike, unavoidable electricity surged through his entire body.
‘Ugh!’
He had known the Breath was fired with a time difference, but he hadn’t expected it to possess the nature of lightning.
However, Yul’s tough body could endure to some extent even in a state scorched by the electricity, and it began to recover at a frantic pace with the skill ‘Regeneration.’
At that moment, the black dragon rushed in like a bullet and lunged with its fangs.
Chomp!
Watching it bite through empty air, Yul pulled out the UV heat ray gun.
Since they were this close, there was no way he would miss.
As the thermal gun fired at low output and emitted light, the entire area of the black dragon's head instantly came within range.
Zzzzzzzzzing.
The beam fired. Thinking he had dealt with the black dragon, Yul was startled to see it move away perfectly fine.
‘Magic is being blocked starting from its scales.’
Dragon scales. They weren’t merely armor—there seemed to be anti-magic power within them.
Perhaps it wasn't completely without impact, as the black dragon had shut its eyes tightly while tears of blood streamed from them.
But its flight wasn’t clumsy. It seemed to be compensating for its vision with something else.
In the meantime, the azure dragon roared and shot toward Yul in a lightning-fast body slam.
Before he could even react, they tangled together and spun through the air.
The azure dragon tried to bite into Yul’s skin with its teeth, but Yul blocked it with telekinesis.
At the same time, he controlled his spear from the climber far in the distance.
‘I’ll pierce its neck like this.’
The spear streaked through the air like a flash and pierced the azure dragon’s shoulder.
He had originally aimed for its neck, but the black dragon suddenly appeared and swatted the spear, twisting its trajectory.
The azure dragon stopped its close-quarters assault and pulled away, releasing Yul from its sharp claws. Its scales had been torn off, and blood flowed.
-That actually hurts. You guys fight pretty well.
The two dragons showed no particular reaction to the magic signal Yul sent.
They seemed to use their own communication system, as there were signs of them talking to each other.
Then they naturally split apart. The azure dragon abandoned Yul and headed for the climber, while the black dragon blocked Yul’s path.
At some point, the black dragon’s eyes had regenerated—there were no more tears of blood, and it looked perfectly fine.
-Trying to ignore me and pass by…?
Yul felt his eyes, which had been itching, snap open.
-Where do you think you’re going!
Magic began to be composed within Yul's lungs. It was identical to the Breath of the dragons he had seen moments ago.
「Eye of Replication」
An ability that copies a ‘magic structure’ once it has been seen.
It was the second Demon Eye possessed by the Deep King Tribe.
A vivid blue bolt tore through the air and struck the azure dragon with a violent electric shock.
The azure dragon dropped as if falling from the sky, then spun once and immediately regained its composure.
Did it have resistance to that as well?
But something strange happened next.
The attacks of the azure dragon and the black dragon suddenly stopped.
They hovered in the air, staring at Yul as if they could not understand what they had just seen.
They glanced once at the chain climber, then glanced again at Yul, spread their wings wide, ascended, and disappeared above the clouds.
-What? They’re just leaving?
It couldn’t be that shocking simply because he used Breath… so what was it?
Yul looked toward the sages in the distance who were waving their hands.
“We’ve finished the repairs!”