Chapter 622 – The Oldest Wish (3)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 233
Current Location: Searching…
Advisor’s Advice: 3
—
Han Kain
The sound of a ‘click’ jolted me back to consciousness.
Everything around me felt like a still frame, a stifling space where everything had come to a halt.
It was likely a sealing zone created by a living camera—an image of the world, if I had to guess.
— Zziiing!
When my awareness flickered back again, I found myself staring at the face of the Maze.
*
“What, the camera broke?”
“Yeah, it did! This camera could only move one person at a time, so it’s super annoying, you know?”
“Got it.”
“So, I was taking pictures one by one, when suddenly it started making weird sounds!”
We were in a place that looked like a luxurious mansion.
Hearing the excited voice of the Maze, I looked over to Ari, who shrugged and replied.
“I overused it and ran out of power. It’ll probably take a few months before we can use it again.”
“We only took seven pictures!”
“It’s not an ordinary camera; it’s a sealing tool. We just used it like a transportation device. Seven times is a lot!”
Turns out, this is the first time using the camera like this.
In the past, we never took more than two or three consecutive shots.
“What about the people outside?”
“What about them? The ones who came in have to deal with it.”
“Yikes!”
“Well, ‘we’ are all here.”
The lunar surface is not a place you can survive for even a moment without extreme combat power.
Thus, not everyone from the hotel party could come.
Songee and the old man couldn’t handle the rigorous battles due to their abilities, and my brother Sanghyun couldn’t come because of the intricate Atlas System.
There was much debate on whether to bring Eunsol with her protective gear, as many believed the ‘Flute of Rest’ would be exceedingly useful on the Moon, and there was also high expectation of the ‘Hand of Greed’ after its usefulness was proven many times in reality.
So, in came Eunsol dressed in her protective suit.
Excluding the Maze, who was already on the Moon, the hotel party reached the Moon through the camera—me, Kim Ahri, Park Seungyub, Elena, Lee Eunsol, and Cha Jinchul, a total of six.
The living camera took seven pictures, which means only one person outside the hotel party came in.
“At first, I didn’t think there was a limit on the number of times, so I started with the people I knew.”
“So, we were first!”
“I could tell the camera was about to break down, so I pondered who to shoot last…”
“Pondered?”
“… When that old man appeared, everyone else took a step back.”
That would be the final member of our lunar campaign.
Not part of the hotel party, but upon his appearance, everyone else instinctively stepped back to make room for him.
The old man—the former Wisdom, nodded his head and said,
“So, you mean I’m the only one who got in, huh? Understood.”
Today was the first time my teammates saw the former Wisdom in human form, excluding me.
“Such an impressive presence.”
“Me?”
“They all stepped back the moment you showed up.”
“It’s the power of age and experience. The alliance members know each other.”
“I thought you were retreating after unleashing that absurd attack earlier.”
“That was a significant sacrifice. Now, I have no more Arks left.”
“Is it okay for you to be in such a dangerous place?”
“No Ark, but I still have two legacies and two tools left.”
For a moment, everyone was at a loss for words.
It was like comforting a billionaire who lost 10 billion but still had 3.2 billion left.
“Seems like quite a lot.”
“A wealthy family lasts three years even if they go bankrupt, you know.”
“…”
“It’s a shame Ryan couldn’t come. But well, considering all three Noble Guardians burst, there probably wasn’t much he could do even if he came.”
I shook my head and gestured to the Maze.
Then, the Maze fidgeted nervously with her pocket watch.
— Clang!
Immediately, a familiar face appeared before me—Aidia.
“Ugh…!”
Seungyub tensed up the moment she showed up.
Through records left by my past self, I knew the Moon’s Holy Mother was about to appear.
Also, everyone knew that this Aidia was essentially a different person from the one on Room 207.
However, knowing it in my head and seeing it in front of me were two different things.
Aidia’s expressions were twisted in turmoil—she was definitely not in her right state.
Eunsol sister tried to cautiously use the ‘Flute of Rest’ to restore her…
“Don’t use the Flute.”
“Why?”
“She will lose her memories in the recovery process.”
“… Got it.”
Once she fully recovers, the chances of her listening to us diminish significantly.
Right now is the perfect state.
She can understand us, but her mind is half-broken, so she follows our words without resistance.
“Holy Mother, do you recognize me?”
“… Saint.”
“You know that as long as the Moon exists, you will ultimately fall into eternal hell.”
Look at those terrified eyes of the Holy Mother.
Just as the status window described!
“I want to bring down the Moon and save everyone. For that, I need the crown. Please guide me to the crown.”
“… Crown?”
The Holy Mother looked as if she couldn’t comprehend.
She seemed not to be hiding anything, but she just didn’t seem to understand the word “crown.”
“The name may differ. The prince seeks the tool that controls the Moon.”
“… I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Her eyes were getting clearer, still not understanding my words.
The former Wisdom, observing silently, interjected quietly.
“It seems the ‘crown’ you speak of is something entirely different in the Holy Mother’s mind.”
“….”
“Looks like you don’t quite understand what a crown is either? The Holy Mother seems to be in the same boat.”
According to the records left by my past self, the crown is an arrangement for controlling a second-level spirit conglomerate.
The problem is there is no information on what exactly the crown is.
Is it a tool, an ability, something with a shape, or something formless? No clue!
“Have you used advice?”
“Several times already. Got no response.”
“Wisdom can’t create something from nothing. It only has the power to draw significant conclusions from small existing premises.”
“….”
“There’s not even a scrap of information that hints at the identity of the crown from what you’ve understood. That’s why you can’t ask it through advice.”
Eunsol sister, who had been listening, interjected softly.
“Holy Mother, what do you think is the most mysterious place? The one that you don’t know well!”
“… The most mysterious place I can think of?”
“Yes.”
“The sanctuary where the prince resides.”
The sanctuary where the prince resides!
Upon hearing that, it struck me like a bolt of lightning.
Nodding as I looked around at everyone, the Maze muttered anxiously.
“The Moon is unusually calm. Kain may have forgotten, but just before time rewound, it was rampaging like a demon!”
The reason the Moon is quiet now.
“The Moon is still sealed, unlike before. Plus, the Bureau and the plunderers are keeping it in check.”
“Even so, isn’t it too quiet?”
Seungyub nodded, agreeing with the Maze.
“It stands to reason that the Moon still has some moves left, even though its limbs are bound. We should depart immediately. As everyone knows, time is on the Moon’s side.”
The Holy Mother steadied herself and walked over to the mansion’s entrance, stopping at the door.
She paused for a moment as if recalling something and then opened the door.
— Creak!
*
— Clang! Clang!
On the other side of the door was a bizarre room, filled with unending clattering sounds. A transparent display board lined the walls.
“What is this place?”
“… A place I create when I want to go somewhere.”
A space where the Holy Mother could go anywhere she liked!
It was a simple yet unbelievably powerful concept.
According to the status window’s record, the interior of the Moon is an unidentified place where dreams and reality intertwine.
For me, even just getting to work at the lab was quite a tricky task!
Having lived for an incredibly long time within the Moon, the Holy Mother must have been able to create this omnipotent-key-like space.
Suddenly, the Holy Mother manipulating the controls came to a halt.
“Why are you stopping?”
Ari asked her, receiving the Holy Mother’s reply.
“… Strange characters.”
As I approached, I could see the words on the control panel.
1. Moon Church
2. Plains of Sinners
3. The Deepest Sea
4. Sanctuary
Ari kept throwing out questions.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You made the place, didn’t you?”
“I intended to go to the Sanctuary.”
“Why are there three other things above the Sanctuary?”
“There weren’t originally.”
“Then, can’t you just recreate this elevator to go directly to the Sanctuary?”
“I’ll try to recreate it once more.”
If it wasn’t originally there, that means it appeared just now.
In the path prepared by the Holy Mother—our best guide—three obstacles suddenly emerged in the middle.
Who could pull off such a stunt?
Of course, it’s the Moon.
“Stop.”
“Don’t waste time.”
I held Ari back.
At almost the same time, the former Wisdom told the Holy Mother to stop.
As I glanced towards him, the old man shook his head and gave a brief explanation.
“No use recreating the elevator. The Moon will just place more obstacles.”
“So what?”
“Let’s move. Starting with the Moon Church?”
The Holy Mother pushed the start button silently. Soon, with a ‘Creak! Clang!’ noise, the elevator began to move.
…
A vague thought.
At this point, I doubt the Moon will suddenly create something unimaginable.
If it had that kind of power, it would have used it long ago.
The remaining three obstacles are already familiar to us.
In the past, when invited formally by the Moon, they were not particularly dangerous, but now, as intruders, we must fight for our lives against them.
Ari mumbled with a sullen face.
“I know who one of the obstacles is.”
With those words, Ari raised her hand and pointed at the Holy Mother.
Aidia tilted her head in confusion, but the other teammates sighed upon hearing Ari’s statement.
That’s right.
Separate from the summoned Holy Mother, there’s a Holy Mother of this time frame!
“… How about just killing her?”
If we kill the summoned Holy Mother, the one belonging to this timeline would also die.
“What if this elevator disappears? We’d have no way to get to the Sanctuary.”
“Oh boy…”
The former Wisdom seemed to sense the situation and murmured.
“It seems we’ll have to confront the Holy Mother. Not the one in front of us, but the other Holy Mother? And ironically, the mid-stop is called ‘Moon Church.’”
For someone having no idea about the time-traveling elevator, it was surprisingly astute.
“What about the other two? Any guesses?”
This time, I replied.
“… I wrote it down in the status window.”
“What did you write?”
“There are countless souls turned into evil spirits amidst infinite agony. It warns against carelessly entering the open area…”
“Oddly enough, one of the intermediate stops is named ‘Plains.’”
The Moon Church where the Holy Mother awaits.
The Plains of Sinners filled with countless evil spirits.
“Then what’s ‘The Deepest Sea’?”
“….”
Not a clue.
However, I had confidence that whatever waits in the Deepest Sea is something we know very well.
— Clank!
“We’ve arrived.”
—
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