Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55. A Message from the Past (3)
The group carefully climbed up the stairs attached to the wall. As Rakshar said, lava was flowing like river water below the stairs the group was stepping on.
"The earth's pulse of the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range was still active."
Perlman felt dizzy. Because if it were lava and underground activity of this level, he might have to move the main branch of the Iron Bank in the worst-case scenario.
"As expected."
I spoke while looking forward.
"It is a story too natural, but this place was not made naturally."
It was as I said. Because as soon as the stairs in the passage ended, a circular space that looked as if it were made of marble appeared.
"This is..."
As the group climbed the stairs and stepped into the circular space, the sight that had been hidden from view began to be visible.
"I am seeing many strange sights today."
Even Perlman was busy watching the sight before him while adjusting his glasses. The massive very first vault that could not be captured in one glance even if one looked up. However, what was currently visible to their eyes was a massive pillar of fire rising to the ceiling of that vault. I also lost my words before that overwhelming sight and just stared.
...? However, I felt some strange sensation while looking at that pillar of fire. This was a feeling similar to when I saw the blue jewel embedded in Tarania's right eye. It could not be, but I was feeling a 'gaze' as if someone were watching me from the pillar of fire. I focused and looked inside the pillar of fire without realizing it. Then, something soon entered my sight.
"Oh my god..."
A pair of massive eyes of an indiscernible size were looking down at me. And feeling that gaze was not my misunderstanding. The thing the group had thought was a massive pillar of fire until now 'opened its eyes'.
-You have finally come. Qualified one.
At the same time as it 'opened its eyes', it spread its 'wings'. As it spread its wings, the very first vault, which boasted a massive space, was filled without any gap.
"Uuuuugh!"
The group was instantly overwhelmed by the existence spreading its massive wings before their eyes. Finally, the pillar of fire that spread its massive wings fully revealed its appearance and welcomed the group.
-State your name.
"What is that..."
No matter how much it was the very first vault, no one had expected that such a massive thing would be sleeping. Even Perlman, who had the nickname that gold flowed instead of blood, could not fully accept the sight he was currently witnessing. What was before their eyes was.
A Divine Beast appearing only in legends. It was a Phoenix. The sun, the source of all life. An existence said to have been created by the goddesses from the remaining parts of the sun. The existence of a Phoenix was a proof of divinity called a goddess, signified the source of life called the sun, and was an existence in fantasy composed of formless flame.
However, now. The Phoenix, a Divine Beast signifying divinity, life, immortality, and purification. That existence was now spreading its wings before the group.
-State your name, mortal!
At the Phoenix's shout, everyone in the group grabbed their ears and fell down, without knowing who was first.
"Uuuugh..."
At least I barely managed to regain my composure and was standing while staggering. I gathered my spirit and shouted toward the great existence before my eyes while gritting my teeth.
"I am Blanc Cadmus! I am the last remaining Cadmus and the owner of the vault where you reside!"
I felt as if my eyes would burn away. No, I thought they might have already burned away. Because what entered my sight was only the glowing crimson flame.
-Blanc Cadmus!
Hearing my name, the Phoenix lifted its head and let out a great shout.
"Aaaaaagh!"
"Aaaaaagh!"
Hearing the Phoenix's shout, the group fell to the floor and squirmed. Because the pressure and presence the Phoenix gave off made them feel as if their souls were being burned just by looking and feeling it. On top of that, hearing the sharp and glowing shout that seemed to pierce the soul, they could not endure it.
Dammit! Even I finally knelt on one knee at the presence that pressured my soul. The Phoenix before my eyes was a massive world itself that could not be measured by the common sense of this world, which could not be gauged by the level of mortals. At least I was enduring because I had refined my mental world and created my own order that did not succumb to the Phoenix's momentum and spread it around.
-Blanc Cadmus! The Linked One of the Promise! The key to starting my new fate!
The Phoenix filled the space where the group was with divine flame while flapping its wings as if happy, or perhaps sad.
-I have been waiting!
The Phoenix again calmly folded its wings and looked at me.
-Look into my eyes! Blanc Cadmus!
I did not even have the strength to lift my head, but at the Phoenix's shout, I lifted my head without realizing it and made eye contact with the existence before me. And the moment I made eye contact with the Phoenix's glowing eyes, the scenery around me turned black.
***
What was visible to my eyes was only a black space. I tried to quickly draw the sword at my waist as I saw the suddenly changed surrounding scenery, but the sword was nowhere to be seen. As the sword was not caught, I began to grasp the situation by quickly looking around with a frustrated heart. It was not a space with nothing. A scratching sound was heard.
As I turned my head toward that place, a beam of light that was surely not visible until just now was seen. A single beam of light alone shining in the black space. Under that light, a person wearing black clothes that pilgrims would wear and with a hood pulled down to the end of his head was sitting at an old desk and scratching something down. The black space was only filled with the sound of him scratching on paper.
I approached the person sitting at the desk while not letting down my tension. And finally, having approached the person sitting at the desk, I was feeling some unknown sense of incongruity while looking at his back. I could not clearly discern his form, but instead, I felt a familiar sensation from his back. It was a feeling as if I had seen it somewhere before.
The man who had been continuously writing something at the desk felt my presence and stopped his action. Then, he asked.
"Is the person behind me Blanc Scar?"
...! The man wearing the hood asked without even turning back. Although I could not clearly discern it as his form and voice were blurred, I knew him.
"Lord Ulrich!"
I was a man among men, but at this moment, I could not hide the surging emotion. Because he was an existence like a star that led me not only in this life but also in the previous life. I had finally found the star that lit my path even in the darkness called the Void and the storm called regression.
"Blanc Scar..."
The man wearing the black hood stopped his action upon hearing my shout.
"Our regression was not a complete failure."
A small smile was formed on the man's lips. I could still not perfectly discern his form and voice as they were blurred, but I could clearly tell. The person before me was Ulrich Tiedemann. The head of the Illusion School in my previous life and the master of the Tower of Mirage in the Red Desert. One of the three regressors and the person who was supposed to be the main pillar of the regression plan. The person I had searched for so much.
"Lord Ulrich!"
I tried to approach him while shedding thick tears from my eyes. However, the closer I got to him, the more Ulrich's appearance flickered and blurred. Ulrich spoke to me while still neither standing up nor turning back.
"Blanc Scar. The me you see before you is an illusion. I have hidden my memory inside the eyes of the Phoenix that will exist forever."
Ulrich's appearance was becoming blurred. I focused on listening to the words Ulrich was saying while even forgetting to breathe, fearing that he might disappear.
"I am not the complete Ulrich. However, I possess enough memory to recognize Blanc Scar."
And I could tell. Although I could not see Ulrich's front, I could tell that he was smiling now.
"Receive it."
He lifted the paper he was writing on and flew it toward me.
"Hoping our regression is not a complete failure, I have prepared arrangements for you since 190 years ago. I hope they will be of strength to you."
I caught the paper that was naturally sucked into my hand. As soon as I caught that paper, Ulrich's appearance blurred rapidly.
"Lord Ulrich!"
The black space was collapsing. However, Ulrich was still smiling.
"Didn't I say?"
The man wearing the black hood turned around toward me.
"That you can do it."
With those words as the end, the black space completely collapsed.
"You have worked hard, Blanc Scar."
***
Having returned to the reality world, I noticed that the paper Ulrich had sent was held in my hand. Ulrich was the head of the Illusion School. He skillfully twisted illusion and reality, making what he made in illusion have a substance in reality. Thus, he delivered his message into my hand.
-Blanc Cadmus!
A massive sound falling from above. I opened my eyes wide as if having come to my senses at the Phoenix's call. All the situations were not yet over.
-The one who was sleeping inside my eyes has confirmed your existence! You are a person enveloped in a giant fate and a person who must twist the flow!
The Phoenix lifted its head and stretched its neck to bring its face right before me.
-I am an existence that lives eternal life.
Then, it slowly examined my eyes. A pair of massive flames was slowly picking me apart.
-The time has come for me to end the life I spent together with the one who was sleeping in my eyes and start a new life again to continue my eternal life.
The Phoenix lifted its head and looked at the ceiling of the vault. It was a feeling as if it were chasing the invisible sun.
-You shall start my new life together!
"What does that...?"
I asked back while looking at the Phoenix who was saying words I could not understand. However, the Phoenix did not even care about my words and again spread its wings wide.
-Let that be the will of the one who lives in illusion!
At the same time as finishing those words, the Phoenix let out a massive shout. That sound rang through not only the group here but the entire Neyanpalgar Mountain Range. It was a massive sound, but the group did not feel the giant pressure from before and did not roll on the ground. Rather, an unknown elation was felt from deep within the body.
...! I felt my body being purified every time the shout the Phoenix let out passed through my body. My body was becoming strong and healthy. The Phoenix, who let out a massive shout that swept through the entire mountain range, was soon enveloped in a giant light throughout its body. The group could not dare to look at the Phoenix's shining brilliance with both eyes and ended up turning their heads.
However, I could see at that moment. The Phoenix's body, which was like a massive pillar of fire, was slowly fading away and turning into a grey color. It was a feeling as if it had let out all the life force it possessed. A brilliant light filled the very first vault.
"I-is it over?"
As the light that filled the vault disappeared, the group lifted their heads and looked at the place where the Phoenix was.
"It's gone?"
The Phoenix, which was like a massive pillar of fire, had disappeared somewhere, and only grey ash was full in its place. I put the paper Ulrich had delivered in the illusion carefully into my arms and walked to the place where the Phoenix had been. Then, I rummaged through the grey ash.
"Baron."
"Do not come."
I gestured to stop Simon, who was trying to run over. I was searching for something while carefully rummaging through the ash the Phoenix had made, even rejecting my knights.
-You shall start my new life together!
I could not perfectly understand the Phoenix's words, but there was still something felt.
"I found it."
While rummaging through the piled-up heap of ash, I found and pulled out something that gave off a warm feeling.
"It's an egg."
It was a pink egg. THUMP, THUMP. It was an egg a bit larger than a chicken egg. It was a size that could sufficiently fit in the palm. The Phoenix's egg, which gave a warm feeling just by holding it, was announcing that it was a living existence through a strong pulse. I carefully picked up the pink egg. Then, under the Phoenix's egg, a bright red feather that was hidden in the heap of ash was seen.
"Is it a Phoenix's feather?"
It was a feather whose extraordinary nature could be felt just by looking. It was an intense color that gave the feeling that it was as if it were burning. Confident that the feather would also have a use somewhere, I picked up the feather along with the egg and carefully stepped back from the spot.
"My knights, come up here and look for other things."
While Hansen, Simon, and Rakshar came up and rummaged through the grey ash by my order, I sat on the stairs and was blankly cradling the Phoenix's egg with both hands. Perlman, who had quietly approached where I was sitting, sat carefully by my side and looked at the pink egg in my hand. It was an egg that gave a warm feeling just by looking.
"Baron, is that by any chance a Phoenix's egg?"
Whether I was exhausted or relieved, I answered Perlman's words with an indiscernible expression.
"This is a star."
"What?"
Perlman was flustered at my answer, but I continued my words without caring about it.
"My star sent this to me, telling me not to lose my way even in the rough storm ahead."
Perlman did not know what I meant by those words, but...
"I see."
He quietly agreed to not break my sentiment. And he stayed by my side for a long time until I regained my spirit and stood up.
-You have worked hard, Blanc Scar.
The mage of the Illusion School, who had been trapped in the past 190 years ago, did not give up. He created a message that jumped through time through the very first account. And that message was safely delivered to Blanc, another regressor. Thus, the mage who returned to stand against the Void overcame time. I sat on the stairs for a long time, remembering the back of Ulrich as he faded away.