Chapter 592 – The Stolen World (7)
—
– Miro
At the moment Elena’s eyes flared up a bright blue, the cloak of ‘Dominion’ began to flutter.
It was a truly hair-raising moment!
— Raaah!
The first strike was Elena unleashing a wave of golden energy.
As the unseen force rushed forward at breakneck speed to smack Dominion, the hood he wore fluttered once more!
“Ah?”
He got hit head-on by the power of Justice and yet didn’t have a single hair out of place? It was as if he completely transformed into a translucent illusion!
Is that his inheritance?
“Calm down! This is all a misunderstanding!”
Dominion hastily tried to explain himself, but Elena ignored him, pouring out her strength repeatedly, forcing him to flee in a panic.
Even while deflecting the force of Justice with his fluttering robe, Dominion never stopped defending himself.
“If you have any sense, think! Do you truly believe I assaulted Miro?”
“Shut up!”
“This is humanity’s last hope, so please refrain from excessive force. I don’t know what your definition of justice is, but surely it’s not this kind…”
Oh, that guy is just the worst!
In the middle of a furious fight, he suddenly starts justifying his actions?
It’s a classic tactic of someone who knows the nature of Justice! By proclaiming his innocence, he could actually weaken Justice itself!
Just then, Elena abruptly scooped me up and took off at a tremendous speed!
As she skirted around the isolation area where Ye Ji’s capsule was, Elena set me down.
I could no longer feel the power of Justice coming from her.
“Miro, you’re cunning.”
“Cunning?”
“You said you were going to strip me, but your clothes are perfectly fine. It’s odd to think your opponent would suddenly lose control of themselves in a place like this.”
Ugh!
Why does Elena have to be so perceptive at times like this?
“Next time, try to deceive me better.”
“Huh?”
“Like, take off your shirt completely, or pretend you got hurt and were assaulted.”
“…”
I’m not saying to tell lies, just do it in a way that isn’t so obvious!
Eek, Elena has changed quite a bit!
“Ugh….”
“Elena?”
Instead of answering, Elena knelt down, weakly groaning. Hearing the voice of the ark without the protection of Justice, it seemed she found it hard to endure; not even 10 seconds!
She gasped for breath and whispered, “Justice was weaker than usual. Aside from your tricks, the opponent might have won if this had turned into a ground battle…”
“Elena!”
“Run. Run for about 30 seconds and then call Kain.”
With that, Elena curled up, and began muttering strange words.
“It’s cramped and suffocating. Why am I trapped in a place like this? No one understands this suffering—”
What a sinister thought! Her morose voice and atmosphere spread like an epidemic, making me feel like I was going to catch it too!
Before I got swept away, I quickly counted seconds to engage my escape.
1, 2, 3 … 30!
— Click!
As the second hand ticked, Kain made his entrance!
I hurriedly passed the situation along, but before I could finish explaining, Kain summoned the holy sun, soaring into the air while carrying me with one hand.
“Eek!”
“Let’s go quickly. There’s no way one combatant would be the only one in a place like this.”
With one hand holding me, he frantically waved his other hand in the air!
“Are you writing something in the Status Window?”
“I need to inform everyone outside. We’re currently having a battle on the ark.”
“W-Where are we going now?”
“We need to find Eunsol first. Next is Jinchul and Seungyub.”
Got it! We’re going to locate Eunsol to secure the flute and then use that power to protect Jinchul and Seungyub while doing something!
Kain really understands my thoughts like no one else!
— Whoooosh!
The air rattling violently revealed just how enormous the ark truly was!
At that moment, a voice rang from the white ceiling of the ark.
“Stop! You have been chosen to protect the ark. Why engage in acts of such violence?”
“Shut up! You kidnapped us and now you want to lecture me—”
“You are saved. A life after the apocalypse is guaranteed; hence, there is no reason to stand on the opposing side. Turn back to the right path, and I will not hold your current actions against you.”
“Don’t lie! You’re just trying to brainwash me with the voice of the ark—”
“Miro, you don’t need to respond to every single thing. Keep your eyes forward.”
Looking ahead at Kain’s words, I noticed that the corridor was literally packed.
“Huh?”
“The ark’s passengers are blocking the door.”
“The door?”
“Beyond that door are our comrades.”
“…”
We can’t seize the ark using just the power of the time-dilation device. We need to wake up our comrades, including Lee Eunsol, Cha Jinchul, and Park Seungyub.
Especially, we need Seungyub right now as he can recreate Fortuna’s power for a one-time use!
And yet, the entrance to the sleeping area of our comrades is currently being blocked by other passengers.
“….”
All their expressions look dazed; they seem to have fallen under the ark’s voice’s spell.
Trying to persuade them to move will be futile, and using my ‘voice’ wouldn’t have much impact either.
What if Kain could use his grimoire?
A regular person could clear out a few easily, but given the context of the “Voice of the Ark” vs. the power of the grimoire, winning isn’t a guarantee.
So, there’s only one way to strip away that ‘human shield.’
“…”
A massive force thrummed through the extended fingertips of Kain!
“Do not cross the line. Even in war, there are principles.”
“If you’re going to preach principles, then don’t use innocent people as shields!”
“I did not set it up. The survival instincts of the ark are wary of your recklessness; this is the will of the collective.”
Whether it’s the ark’s instincts or whatever! You set up hostages in my path and then try to play the saint!
“Kain! Just burn them all! Stop wasting time—”
— Flash!
— Crackle!
A bizarre clash of powers.
An unrecognizable translucent barrier appeared to block Kain’s laser.
However, the trajectory of the laser was never directed at the hostages!
In a moment of panic, Kain muttered, “So it really was a bluff.”
“Huh?”
“The hostage situation was a way to intimidate us. They wouldn’t genuinely want the respondents to die in massive numbers.”
Suddenly, Kain looked at me with clear eyes.
“Miro.”
“Yeah?”
“Blocking our way with hostages meant nothing to me from the start.”
Upon hearing his words and seeing his shoulder shrugging move, it suddenly clicked.
Oh! I forgot about the “Teleportation Tattoo” that Kain rarely uses!
“The laser was just a test to gauge their response. Just hang tight, and….”
Just before he teleported to the location where our comrades were, Kain whispered to me.
“That last remark didn’t sound like something you’d say. Always be aware of the other you.”
*
After Kain’s bluff was called out, the mysterious opponent stopped using the passengers as hostages.
Though saving the others became a swift task, the issue of taking over the ark was only about to begin.
— Thrum th rum th rum…!
Fierce vibrations echoed from all directions!
A moment after staggering under the tremors, Jinchul lifted me up.
“Uugh! What is this?!”
Bouncing around, Seungyub called out, “Do you feel that? Something massive is approaching!”
“Are we in for a fight? Sis—!”
“Don’t call me! Kain, I need you to hold me up!”
Amidst all this, Eunsol was still puffing air into the flute with her arms flailing around, yet honestly, it didn’t make a sound.
But seeing Jinchul and Seungyub still intact indicates that the flute of salvation truly is a bizarre entity.
“Ugh! Is it finally stopping?”
“It isn’t stopping; it seems to have arrived!”
Unfortunately, Seungyub’s words rang true!
The tremors we were feeling were accompanied by a grotesque figure that instantly darkened the brightly lit ark!
Although Seungyub’s face paled, he grit his teeth and pushed forward.
And—
Finally, someone appeared.
Out of nowhere, a being clad in a suit.
But this one was absurdly gigantic, with his clothing writhing continuously.
It looked as if something beneath the clothing was desperately trying to break free!
“Difficult to understand, isn’t it?”
It was the very voice we just heard echoing from the ceiling!
So they came out in person after failing to use hostages, huh?
Who is this guy? Certainly not Dominion.
Could it be another Silent One?
“Is it understandable for the unchosen to flail about like mudfish? Yet you have already qualified to be the residents of the new land but choose to act violently?”
“I told you, we have no plans to head to any new land!”
“And if not, what do you suggest?”
“What do you—”
“Stop shouting and listen. It seems you do not know what lies ahead.”
As Eunsol continually played the flute, she frowned and paused.
“What do you mean, ‘not knowing’? I was suddenly kidnapped by some strange voice from the sky!”
“Kidnapping is mislabeling; it’s salvation.”
Kain, supporting Eunsol, spoke solemnly.
“It’s not salvation; it’s a trap.”
“A trap?”
“More like a meaningless cycle of escape over and over again.”
The figure shook its grotesquely twisted face side to side as it murmured to Kain.
“You seem to know quite a bit about the ark; it truly piques my curiosity. Why have you come to that conclusion?”
“…”
A strange delay.
The figure might think Kain is simply in deep thought, but I could vaguely sense it.
Kain was currently communicating with the outside Kain through the Status Window!
“You’re trying to persuade us.”
“The ark needs you. You are chosen as humanity’s guardians. Let me ask you again, why do you believe the ark is a trap?”
“First, running away to the ark doesn’t erase the apocalyptic source. If opportunities aren’t limitless, there has to be a limit at some point.”
“That’s not entirely incorrect. What’s the second reason?”
Kain’s expression was nearing genuine curiosity.
“I don’t get it.”
“Huh?”
“How was the ark created by the Administration Bureau when it’s almost god-like?”
“…”
“How can they create something divine when I possess a similar power that can gather people’s souls? I obtained that power from the hotel, yet I can’t create something like the ark.”
Kain’s second question hung in the air.
It’s impossible for the ark to possess what the holy sun can’t achieve.
How could the Administration Bureau create such a divine being?
And—
The figure that was writhing reached out an arm or a ‘mass’ upward.
“I truly hope this serves as enough of an answer to your question.”
— Tiiing!
The resonating clear sound filled my ears.
A massive glass tremored, producing the sound!
We’d heard this sound several times from Room 207.
“The technology that underlies the ark has long been forgotten. We ourselves merely repeat the processes without fully understanding. However, there lies a great treasure that constitutes the fundamental principles of that technology.”
— Saaah!
The annoyingly bright light dimmed, revealing one of the ark’s secrets.
“It is the mirror unearthed beneath the Iberian Peninsula by the primordial humans—”
“Yaldabaoth’s Mirror!”
“How did you know?”
An extraordinarily massive mirror stretched across the entire ceiling of the ark!
*
“`
– User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
– Date: Day 224
– Current Location: Northern Territory, Australia
– Sage’s Advice: 3
“`
– Han Kain
While ceaselessly communicating with some version of myself, stunning information came through.
“Ah…!”
“What? What is it?”
I mumbled vacantly as I stared at the urging old man.
“There’s a mirror in the ark.”
“What?”
“They say it’s much larger than the one Aedia made on the moon.”
“We know roughly what a mirror is, but how does it create the ark?”
“…”
The sacred sun and the mirror.
I connected the two and started to vaguely grasp the identity of the ark.
I also began to understand why the ark can achieve what the holy sun cannot.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.