Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Astral’s Hair (2)
The ‘Screaming Valley’ I visited again after a long time was still as eerie as ever. It was dawn, but thanks to the unusually bright moon, moving around wasn't difficult.
“Hm.”
Suddenly, I felt an intense gaze.
Feeling as though something was staring fixedly at me, I looked around.
But all I could see was the dense forest and moonlight piercing down to the earth through the thick branches.
“Black Moon?”
Come to think of it, there was an urban legend called ‘Black Moon’ that was similar to ‘Screaming Valley.’ The gaze silently watching students in the forest also appeared in that story.
“A boss monster? I wonder what it'll drop.”
The first thing that came to mind was the reward. For gamers, the most important thing was the reward. Whether mental or material, there had to be a reward for us to act.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't believe the urban legend was actually real. Just looking at ‘Screaming Valley,’ it was merely the sound of wind blowing through the cliffs.
‘Though 301 was different.’
Among the urban legends, ‘301—Laboratory’ had genuinely surprised me. Who would've guessed Astral would be there?
Lost in such idle thoughts as I walked, I eventually arrived at the cabin. I slowly stepped inside.
“...Looking at it times like this.”
It was surprisingly useful.
Unlike its shabby exterior, the cabin's interior gleamed brightly. Various pieces of furniture created through Canis Ulbushis's crystal magic filled the place.
Sitting on a hard chair, I organized the bag Winter Seraphist had given me. Since I had no intention of staying long, the luggage I'd brought was minimal.
“Hup.”
After taking a short break and drinking a glass of water, I immediately got back to my feet.
Letting out an old-man-like grunt, I left the cabin.
In a maze-like forest where finding one's way was difficult, the cabin's location was extremely important. Using it as my starting point, I slowly moved forward.
—Chirrr.
When passing through the valley, the moonlight was bright enough that the place didn't feel particularly dark.
But the path I was taking now was different.
It gradually became darker and darker, like entering a cave riddled with holes, with only thin shafts of moonlight filtering through the gaps.
As I listened to the sounds of insects amid all that, I suddenly stopped.
“......”
After quietly surveying my surroundings, I rapidly tapped my chest twice and moved.
Launching myself from the ground with explosive force, I felt lightning wrap around my body as I raised my fist, ready to bring it down.
“Wuaaah!”
And then I saw Aro beneath the base of a tree, eyes tightly shut and both arms desperately stretched forward.
In her white fox form, she let out a bizarre scream upon seeing me appear so suddenly.
“Good grief.”
I let out a small sigh and dismissed my Lightning Armor.
I'd told her not to follow me, yet this little troublemaker had stubbornly followed anyway.
As she cautiously peeked at me through half-open eyes, gauging my reaction, I vigorously kneaded her ears.
“Gyek! Waaaah!”
Aro let out a shrill scream as I roughly handled her sensitive ears.
Only after tormenting her for quite a while did I finally lift her up.
“...You're not angry?”
“To be honest, I thought this might happen.”
Seeing that I wasn't saying much, Aro asked cautiously.
I had already expected something like this.
The look in her eyes back then hadn't been normal.
That was why I had worried and told her not to come. I had no intention of stopping her from willingly accepting the risk herself.
“You'll find out eventually anyway.”
“...Find out what?”
“What fear really is.”
The meaningful words I spoke caused Aro's expression to stiffen.
That feeling from when I first met Astral.
What kind of reaction would Aro show?
Now that we had come this far, I was genuinely curious.
Before long, we arrived at the door leading into the laboratory.
“Impressive. This is magitech of an incredible level.”
The moment she saw the entrance, Aro let out a sigh of admiration. Her eyes gleamed as she examined the intricate magic engraved upon it.
Just as I had done before, I drew blood from my hand and scattered it over the magic circle.
The moment I told Aro to hold on tightly, we fell downward.
“Hyaaaah!”
Aro screamed as we suddenly plummeted.
I had told her to hold on tight, but she put in so much force that her claws popped out.
Roughly estimating the timing, I extended my right hand.
The Astral Gauntlet let out a shriek as it scraped against the wall.
“We've arrived.”
After landing safely on the ground, I brushed off the gauntlet once and started walking.
“Th-that... are you okay?”
Only then did Aro come to her senses and hurriedly examine my neck.
There were scratches left by Aro's sharp claws.
As she looked at the wounds, she fidgeted anxiously.
I remained still since I didn't think much of it.
“Just a moment.”
Looking at me, Aro rummaged through the bag Winter Seraphist had packed for us.
Then she took out some ointment and carefully applied it to my wounds.
“You really are giving me the disease and then the cure.”
“...You know a proverb from the Far East.”
“Isn't this exactly when you're supposed to use it?”
“...That's right.”
Aro looked dejected.
Even so, she didn't stop applying the ointment.
“Where is this place?”
Having finished applying the medicine, Aro gradually began talking again.
I thought for a moment.
How much should I tell her?
“An illegal laboratory.”
“An illegal laboratory?”
I told her the most basic part.
Aro tilted her head.
An illegal laboratory inside an academy managed by the Imperial House, no less.
I had found it absurd at first too.
Aro looked around.
Using the Holy Scripture as a light source, she carefully inspected the building's interior.
“You're right. It's not a modern architectural style. Even so, it doesn't seem like a facility from before the academy was founded.”
“I don't think so. There's a good chance it predates the academy.”
I disagreed with Aro's guess.
I didn't know the details either, but I did know that the gold coins discovered here were extremely old.
“The gold coins found here follow a very ancient design.”
“Huh? Really? Then there might be more, right?”
I nodded at Aro's excited response.
Did foxes have a talent for finding money?
Still, having two people was better than one.
“Just a moment.”
Having said that much, Aro pulled out a Talisman from somewhere on her person.
She had no pockets and wasn't wearing any clothes, so where exactly had she taken it from?
A soft light emanated from the Talisman Aro had produced, brightly illuminating the surroundings.
I put away the Holy Scripture.
“This is a little strange.”
Aro said that while searching through the bleak surroundings.
I nodded as well.
She was feeling the same eerie chill that I had sensed when I first arrived here.
“These are research materials?”
After searching through the kitchen and bedroom, Aro arrived at the room containing the research documents and practically lunged at them in excitement.
Whether they were called shamans or mages, their thirst for knowledge was all the same.
Aro hurriedly examined the research materials scattered around the room.
“These bastards.”
The excitement in Aro's voice suddenly vanished, replaced by a cold tone.
I slowly approached her.
All of the research materials were written in an ancient language, making them impossible for me to understand.
“You can read the ancient language?”
“No. But I know what this magic circle means.”
At my question, Aro shook her head.
Instead, she pointed at a strange and complicated magic circle.
Only fragments of the enormous magic circle remained.
“See this curve here?”
“...They're all curves.”
“No. I mean the eighth curve you can see diagonally from the upper-left side.”
“...Yes. I can see it.”
Aro extended a claw from the tip of her blunt toe and pointed at a specific section.
Finding a particular curve in a place filled entirely with curves was an extremely difficult task.
“This curve shouldn't originally be here.”
“Huh?”
“To put it simply, a sword has a hilt, a guard, and then a blade above that, right? But this is like the hilt itself becoming the blade. Then there's a guard on the blade, and another blade above that.”
It was an extremely fitting analogy.
I understood what she was trying to say, but I had no idea what it actually meant.
“This thing has no rear support. It's a magic circle that sacrifices stability to an extreme degree in exchange for tremendous power.”
Aro had inferred that much from only a fragment.
Only then did I recall the laboratory from the game.
“Come to think of it, I heard this laboratory was built to extract the power of a certain enormous being.”
“...So that's why. Extracting its power is already an unjust act, but this magic doesn't even consider the target's safety.”
A chill ran down my spine after hearing that.
This was a rather serious problem.
I could now guess why Astral became a boss.
“I've got a bad feeling about this.”
Aro's instincts were frighteningly sharp.
I couldn't bring myself to tell her that we might end up fighting that overwhelming being.
“From here on, we're going to meet that enormous being.”
“Hm?”
Instead, I simply said we were going to where Astral was.
Aro tilted her head at my words, but upon seeing my serious expression, she fell silent.
“Alright. Let's go.”
There was firm determination in her voice.
I placed Aro back on my neck and left the room.
We arrived at another room containing research materials.
It was the room overlooking the space where Astral had been imprisoned.
As she saw the completely shattered glass, Aro's expression hardened.
“......”
Looking at the faint light rising from below the window, Aro swallowed dryly.
“A presence of this magnitude... The people who operated this laboratory were definitely insane.”
Aro voiced the same impression I had.
Astral hadn't even revealed herself, yet the faint light alone was overwhelmingly oppressive.
We slowly approached the broken window.
Looking down, we saw a gigantic woman bound by enormous chains.
“Astral.”
If there was anyone comparable to her, it would be Bereninche Duhein in her Final Boss Mode, or the mastermind behind Magus.
At the sight of the woman with black-and-white hair, even I swallowed dryly.
Was it because I had seen her several times already?
The shock brought on by fear was somewhat lessened.
I'd still need treatment from Winter Seraphist afterward, but I wasn't thrown into the same state of panic as during our first meeting.
“Ugh... Ah.”
But Aro wasn't the same.
I could feel the violent trembling coming from around my neck.
I hurriedly checked on her.
Her eyes were half rolled back as she convulsed.
“Breathe. Take slow breaths.”
I quickly set Aro down and spoke to her.
I tried to calm the gasping Aro.
Her bloodshot eyes were wide as she clenched her teeth.
Golden Divine Power and white magic power were billowing from her body.
“Hurk!”
When the Divine Power surged far more strongly than the magic power, Aro's trembling suddenly stopped.
Thinking she might have died, I hurriedly placed a hand against her neck.
A heartbeat much faster than a human's pulsed beneath my fingertips.
“Senior Aro.”
“Bleegh!”
I carefully called out to the suddenly awakened Aro, but she abruptly doubled over and began vomiting.
Instead of the contents of her stomach, a Fox Bead shining with brilliant colors popped out of her mouth.
Worried it might be damaged, I quickly caught it.
“Are you conscious now?”
“Y-Yeah. Ah. Ah. Conscious.”
Aro answered incoherently to my worried question.
I was just as flustered, wondering if she was about to stop breathing altogether.
I had considered taking her out of here, but she suddenly regained her composure.
And then she performed the bizarre act of spitting out her Fox Bead.
“Take slow breaths and tell me what happened.”
It was a harsh request, but I asked it anyway.
Aro repeatedly swallowed the saliva that kept pooling in her mouth before finally speaking.
“...Silent Bell.”
“Huh?”
“After I spat out the Fox Bead, I heard the sound of the Silent Bell.”
The words coming from Aro's mouth were somewhat absurd.
Then I recalled one important fact.
Aro and Winter Seraphist had their souls connected to one another.
Perhaps the Silent Bell that Anaye had given to Winter wasn't merely a decent Holy Relic.