Chapter 107. Descent
Let it be known that over the course of his life, Levi had made many reckless, foolish, and all-around insane decisions before. As such, he felt he could hardly be blamed for making one more. Even if this one was remarkably egregious, even compared to the rest.
Teleportation was an extremely dangerous and difficult technique. More an art than a precise thaumaturgy, it had taken Levi well over a decade to learn and master. There were many ways to get from point A to point B without traversing the distance in between, but the specific method Levi utilized involved scattering his atoms, shifting aside the fabrics of reality, entering the void between worlds, and re-entering normal reality at a different point. The scattered atoms would then instantly be transferred over due to the soul-matter quantum entanglement principle.
Of course, one might ask how the soul could survive being in the void between worlds. However, that was the beauty of the technique; teleportation took advantage of the instantaneous paradox, in which if teleportation was instant travel, that meant it went from point A (in the real world) to point B (in the real world) instantly. Thus, even though the soul technically entered the void, the time elapsed from when it entered to when it left was zero. Therefore, it was technically never in the void in the first place.
Relatedly, this was the same principle Levi had used to survive the [Deletion Protocol]. While teleportation had been impossible due to space being too distorted, Levi had performed a “half teleportation”, where he entered the void and remained there. With the paradox broken, his soul had been exposed to the terrible effects of nonbeing; fortunately, he’d survived due to his magic having gained a natural defensive immunity from Death ferrying him over previously. After that, he re-entered reality at the same point and reassembled his atoms from scratch. Not healed, but reassembled – a crucial difference. His magic’s healing abilities were immense, but not even he could heal from complete cellular disintegration.
All of this was to say that teleportation without a destination in mind while relying on metaphysical intangible threads of dubious origins to hurtle you through multiple layers of reality couldn’t even be considered dangerous anymore. It was straight-up suicidal.
In other words, Levi felt right at home.
Space and reality stretched out around them in incomprehensible streaks as they went in a direction that could vaguely be interpreted as ‘downward’, and in what felt like an eternity but simultaneously was no time at all, they rematerialized at the top of a very dusty archaic staircase that led into a pit of infinite darkness.
Phantasm immediately leaped back, coughing as he suppressed his retches. “W-What was that?” he rasped. “What sort of a godawful technique was that?” He patted his body down, as if expecting parts to be missing. “Body reassembly? That’s how your teleportation works?!”
Levi blinked. “Huh, you could sense that?”
“It was rather perturbing,” Selene said, looking vaguely ill. “Most normal people opt for a spatial transference or warp method…”
Off to the side, Anastasia paid them no mind, her head bowed and her hands clasped together as she finished whispering a quiet prayer of thanks to the Goddess.
Levi watched them with some bemusement. Well. This was the first time he’d teleported any of them with him; in the past, he’d only teleported Liliya, Andevar, and Qorbin along, and none of them had reacted so strongly.
Then again, Liliya and Andevar didn’t have the magical knowledge to understand just how his teleportation worked, and Qorbin… Qorbin probably did, but he was just as insane as Levi, if not even more so, so he hadn’t minded at all.
“Also, what was that? Why are the Three Pillars after you?” Phantasm continued ranting. “You haven’t even been in the country for, what, a week? But they already know your name!”
Levi shrugged. “Maybe they’re just really passionate about the sanctity of the Ascension Trials… Knowledge of my infamy has spread far and wide, you know.”
“They never even attended the Institute of Ascension!”
“Can they follow us?” Selene asked.
Levi shrugged, looking at Phantasm.
“Theoretically, yes, but it’ll take them time,” Phantasm answered. “The journey through the Original Strait into the Terminal Whirlpool is a long and arduous one. Nothing like the expeditious route Levi just forced us through…”
Levi shrugged. “We had to escape. And it worked, didn’t it?” He glanced around. “We’re in the Source subdimension now.”
It was dark and dry where they stood, the top of a tower that extended so far down that its base couldn’t be seen. The sky above was pure grey with not a single cloud in sight. The very environment around them was composed of pure mana, from the stone under their feet to the air they breathed. They were in a realm that existed in a layer of reality so deep, even Levi’s True Sight couldn’t reach it. The base foundation of the world that rested atop them.
“I didn’t expect it to look like this,” Anastasia murmured. “So this is the greatest creation of the Goddess…”
Selene coughed. “I think you have it the other way around.”
“Silence, infidel.”
“Have you ever been here before?” Levi asked Phantasm.
“No, never,” Phantasm said. “There is nothing to be gained or ventured here. This is merely where the fundamental architecture for the System is stored. Tampering with the System, trying to hack into it to increase your level, doing anything at all… Many adventurers have tried before, and just as many adventurers have been wiped from existence with [Deletion Protocols]. Even being here is dangerous – there’s a risk we’ll be classified as intruders. I wasn’t originally planning on coming in here with you… But I suppose there’s no way out now. Whatever you’re here to do, better do it fast.”
Levi nodded. “Onward we fare.”
They began the trek down the spiraling staircase. Runic scripts of great power were etched in the grey stone around them, blazing with an unearthly light. Levi tried to analyze them, but they were beyond even his arcane knowledge. After around ten minutes of descending, the blackness finally opened up to reveal a massive swirling library filled with millions of tomes all around them. It extended down so far that the bottom couldn’t be seen.
“The Root Records…” Anastasia breathed. “I’ve only heard myths of such before… This is where all phenomena in this world are recorded, the archive of all information of the past, present, and perhaps even future. A person’s status, the skills they use, the classes they champion… All are written into existence here.”
Levi narrowed his eyes. With his True Sight, he saw streams of magic, billions of threads, extending from the unseen bottom up to each individual book. The same threads that had been attached to his status screen. Mana pulsed along these threads, and instinctively he knew that this was how skills functioned; whenever an individual used a skill, it was processed and activated here.
The Source must be at the bottom of the Root Records, then. The thaumaturgical engine that drove and governed all phenomena in this world.
“Fascinating,” Phantasm murmured. “So, what are we here to do again?”
Levi smiled.
“Not a clue.”
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“Oh for the love of–”
They continued descending the spiraling staircase for what felt like infinity. Levi kept an eye out for either the Devourer or the Chorus, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Only endless books and a myriad of threads. As they went lower and lower into the Root Records, the atmosphere shifted. It became warmer. Humid, even. A faint red light bathed everything in a warm crimson glow.
“Do you see anything?” Selene asked. She was tense, her dark eyes flickering around rapidly as her shadows curled and shifted around her. She wasn’t even bothering to hide her state of high alert, ready to react to an attack at any moment.
“No, nothing,” Levi said, in a similar state of readiness. Ordinarily, he kept his magic under tight wraps, but right now it swirled around him openly. Even a split second’s delay could cost him. The Devourer and Chorus were powerful enough to warrant this level of paranoia.
Indeed, Anastasia was murmuring a constant chant under her breath. A protective mantra, judging by the golden light that gathered around them. It was rare for Levi to be protected by holy mana, and while his skin itched slightly at the sensation, he welcomed it gladly.
Phantasm, for his part, seemed rather amused by their behavior. “What are you three doing? Do you think we’re really going to be attacked? Here, of all places? I daresay we’re in the safest location in the entire world–”
He froze.
Levi sighed.
“You idiot,” he said. “You forgot about Lawliet’s Conjecture? Really? I thought higher of you, Phantasm.”
Phantasm’s body jerked, his muscles spasming and his head twitching madly. Then, all of a sudden, he relaxed.
“LEVI IRONWOOD,” he said, and now his voice was different, layered in multiple discordant tones, all in perfect desynchronization to produce a disharmonious sound that screeched to the soul. “YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE COME HERE.”
Levi grinned. “Hey, Chorus. Ditched the Three Pillars up on the surface, have you?”
“IN THE HALLS OF THESE EXALTED RECORDS, YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN. AT LONG LAST, AFTER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, YOUR WRETCHED, CURSED, ABERRATIONAL EXISTENCE WILL FINALLY COME TO AN END. AND THEN WE — WE WILL FINALLY BE FREE.”
Levi snorted. “Like you’re one to talk. Why are you doing this, by the way? Why do you and the Devourer travel from world to world, consuming all the Time from the inhabitants within?”
“ISN’T IT OBVIOUS? WE DO THIS TO – SaVE thE WoRLd.”
Levi blinked. “What?”
The Chorus paused. “WHAT?”
For a long moment, they stared at each other.
Then, an earsplitting crack rang through the air, like the sound of a million mirrors shattering all at once. It echoed all around them, its source indeterminable, and the Chorus began shaking once more, muscles spasming even more violently than before. A storm of magic whirled to life around him, laced with an unshakable, implacable intent.
“HOW ARE YOU–?!” The Chorus snarled. “WE HAVE CONTROL! YOU DARE–?!” His voice changed. “YeS, I daRE! GeT oUT of mY hEAd aND FuCK oFF!”
Then, with one final terrible spasm, Phantasm’s body lurched, and with his True Sight Levi saw an amorphous shadow detach from his form and retreat back into the undetectable corners of reality from whence it came.
Phantasm bent over, gasping for air, his hands on his knees.
Levi watched him carefully, his eyes wide. “Phantasm?”
There was no way. Did Phantasm somehow break free of the possession? With nothing but his magic and sheer iron will?
“How… dreadfully… unpleasant,” Phantasm gasped.
Anastasia rushed over and placed her hand on Phantasm’s back. In his daze, he didn’t even try to fight her off. His form lit up with a glowing gold, and he relaxed slightly, his breathing becoming more even.
“My thanks,” he said, straightening up. “What the hell was that? Wait…” He put the pieces together. “Was that the entity that possessed Theodore Montague? The one you mentioned that night?”
Levi nodded. “The Chorus.”
Phantasm looked back at him blankly. “The what?”
“Don’t bother. It’s obscured by a memetic anti-perception field.”
Phantasm groaned. “You’re kidding me. What a colossal pain in the… Hold on, what did you just say about draining the Time from the world?”
Levi’s expression was grim. “You heard me.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Phantasm said, instantly deducing it. “You think the System is corrupted?”
Levi nodded. “I believe so.”
“That’s impossible,” Phantasm said. “The System would’ve easily detected and prevented such a thing.”
“If that were the case, then I wouldn’t have been sent here.”
“... sent here by whom?”
Levi didn’t answer.
“We’ll have to hurry,” Selene said. “If the Devourer and Chorus already know we’re here…”
Levi nodded. “I agree. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do this, but… It’s time for some drastic measures.”
“What do you mean by drastic measures…?” Anastasia trailed off as she caught the glint in Levi’s eyes. “Levi, don’t tell me we’re going to…”
“Okay,” Levi said. “I won’t tell you.”
And then he leaped over the staircase’s railing.
His hair fluttered wildly and the wind howled around him as he fell, the magical tomes blurring together. Above him, he sensed Phantasm, Anastasia, and Selene jump after him as well.
“I DESPISE YOU, LEVI IRONWOOD!” Anastasia screamed as they plummeted.
“WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
For what felt like hours, they fell through the air.
Then, finally, the bottom of the Root Records came into sight.
Immediately, Levi’s magic expanded outward below them and cancelled their momentum, catching them in a gentle embrace. They hit the ground softly, looking around in wonder.
The bottom of the library was surprisingly plain. There was only a single cylindrical stone altar that rose from the ground, its surface etched with dense microscopic runic script. It was large, thrice their size and wider than a grand oak tree. It thrummed with magical energy, and under Levi’s True Sight, the whole thing shone so brightly it hurt his eyes. As they looked, a semi-transparent blue screen appeared above the pillar.
[SYSTEM SOURCE]
“So that’s the Source terminal…” Anastasia breathed. Despite the circumstances, there was a sense of wonder in her voice. “The root of all phenomena in this world…”
Levi hummed. “Hey, System,” he said. “Any chance you can do another one of those System checks?”
For a moment, nothing happened.
Levi coughed. “Please?”
A beat.
Then:
[ROUTINE SYSTEM CHECK: ALL CLEAR]
“What did I say?” Phantasm said. “There’s nothing wrong. Everything is fine.”
Levi narrowed his eyes. He could see nothing. Were they wrong? Was the Devourer not here?
No, there was nowhere else it could be. For it to be attached to the System, it had to be at the Source.
His True Sight intensified as he channeled more and more magic to his eyes, so much so that it began to ache. No use. There was nothing there.
But at the same time…
Perhaps if he didn’t peer beneath the layers of reality, but rather orthogonally, into the parallel branches that ran alongside reality, the realms that did not exist in which imaginary mana ran free–
Levi smiled in triumph.
Found you.
The air around the terminal shimmered before a massive creature materialized into existence.
And Levi blanched, his face draining of all color.
The Devourer defied human comprehension. Just looking at it hurt, his brain trying to process what his eyes were seeing and failing miserably. Its very presence was horribly, unnervingly wrong, causing Levi’s soul itself to shiver. It had three heads covered with rotting bandages, desiccated skin peeking out from beneath. The central head’s maw gaped at him, and from within Levi sensed Time itself trapped and slowly being ground into nothingness.
The other two heads were fully bandaged, and Levi got the sense that if the bandages were ever unraveled, then something truly terrible would happen. Beneath, its long torso extended out into six unwieldy arms that hugged an empty torso, as if its innards had been scooped out with a spoon, replaced by a darkness that swallowed all light.
Levi shuddered, and as he did, he heard, or rather felt, Time’s pleading cries come from within the monster. In that moment, he knew: the Devourer was a being whose sole purpose was to eradicate Time from the world, from all worlds. Every living being was born into the world with Time, and this creature sought to consume it all.
Then, Levi remembered.
The Devourer only existed if observed.
And now that Levi had observed it…
It could observe right back.
Slowly, from the darkness of its torso blinked open dozens of giant eyes.
And Levi’s own eyes widened.
It’s looking back at me.
It’s looking back at me.
It’s looking baCK AT ME.
IT’S LOOKING BACK AT ME.
IT’S LOOKING BACK AT ME.
IT’S LOOKING BACK AT ME–!