Chapter 126 - Demonic Realm (2)

"..."

The moment I looked into Lefanta Aegim’s eyes, I was briefly at a loss for words.

'What is with those eyes?'

I had met all sorts of people by now. Someone whose sword was colder than a snowfield. Someone whose heart was chillier than silver. But I had never seen a gaze like the one this man possessed.

A blank sheet of white paper.

His eyes went beyond holding no emotion—no memories had seeped into them at all. There wasn’t even a trace of emotion, let alone a fragment.

"Uh..."

[Sparkle is moved to reunite with an old acquaintance after so very long!]

While I hesitated over how to respond, the holy sword reacted first.

[However, Sparkle still cannot understand why its former master betrayed it. It wonders whether it ought to be consumed by anger before feeling overwhelmed with joy!]

"... You have an unusual sword."

Lefanta Aegim looked down at my waist. There, the holy sword was trembling as it vehemently expressed its feelings. A hint of curiosity showed in his otherwise expressionless gaze.

"A demonic sword? Or an ego sword? ... Here, you would do well to conceal any unusual items as much as possible, stranger. There are many hyenas who prey on the skills and equipment of beginners who have just entered the fiftieth floor."

'Huh?'

I was puzzled.

Something was strange. Lefanta Aegim spoke as though he were seeing the [Goddess of Protection] for the first time. If this young man really was the Heaven-Slaying Star, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize this holy sword for what it was.

"Excuse me, don’t you recognize this sword?"

I unfastened the holy sword at my waist and showed it to him. When I drew the hilt out a little, bright light flowed from the blade like a sheen.

"Hmm."

And yet.

Even when confronted with the holy sword’s light, the sign of the constellation he had once wielded like an extension of himself... Lefanta Aegim furrowed his brow as though he knew nothing about it.

"I don’t recognize it."

His statuesque face tilted to one side.

"It seems to be an item with some connection to me, but I do not remember it. ... No, it would be more accurate to say you would be wise not to expect me to remember past connections."

"Pardon?"

Then Lefanta Aegim said something I had not expected.

"I have amnesia, stranger. I remember nothing from more than a week ago."

His expression was calm.

3

"It is dangerous to keep talking in a wasteland like this. Follow me. I know a relatively safe bar."

With that, Lefanta Aegim led the way. Since this was my first time setting foot on the fiftieth floor, I quietly followed his lead.

"Hey..."

"Look over there. It’s the Heaven-Slaying Star."

On the way to the bar, I encountered several hunters. Every one of them was probably a hunter renowned for their prowess in another world. Yet even they flinched at the sight of the Heaven-Slaying Star, their shoulders trembling as they stepped back.

"What kind of shit is that lunatic about to pull now...?"

"Will the spiders in the magic towers keep quiet today?"

"Shh. You’re better off staying away from him..."

It wasn’t only the hunters whispering.

[The ‘Lonely Seeker’ takes an interest in an unfamiliar being.]

[The ‘Eye Dwelling in the Labyrinth’ expresses wariness toward the Heaven-Slaying Star’s companion.]

[‘The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains’ recognizes you.]

[The ‘Lotus Reflected on the Water’ observes you.]

Countless constellations.

Until now, the constellations I had encountered had been limited. None had tried to contact me unless they ruled a floor. But did this, too, change starting on the fiftieth floor? Constellations I had never even heard of revealed their presence in droves.

"... Annoying."

Lefanta Aegim muttered coldly, apparently sensing the constellations’ messages as well.

"All of you, get lost. If any constellation stays to bother me, I will start hunting down and killing its apostles today. If you want a war, keep hanging around. This is your last warning."

The moment he muttered those words, the constellations’ messages abruptly stopped. The air constricting us grew noticeably lighter.

"Noisier than usual. Hah..."

Lefanta Aegim let out a small sigh and looked at me.

"Some of them seem interested in you. Stranger, have you done something to the constellations?"

"Uh. I did kill an apostle of [The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains] once."

"... An apostle of Mahos?"

His tone changed. He took an old notebook from inside his clothes and read something, then arched his eyebrows in surprise.

"You are more capable than you look. Every one of Mahos’s apostles possesses exceptional combat prowess. They also have troublesome blessings protecting them. It cannot have been an easy opponent... How did you kill it?"

"I have something to tell you about that, too."

We entered a bar.

The place Lefanta Aegim had described as a ‘relatively safe bar’ was, strictly speaking, an open-air bar. It had no walls. Only tables and a bar counter stood outdoors. It was wide open on all sides, yet, absurdly, a lone door stood there.

"... This is a safe bar?"

"There are no walls obstructing your view."

Lefanta Aegim matter-of-factly listed its advantages.

"You can retreat whenever you are ambushed. There is also no danger of getting trapped if someone attacks the entire building. The drawback is that it makes you easier to snipe. Barkeep, my usual."

"Hey. You do know I had to start running this place outdoors after you got the building blown up, right...?"

The bald bartender muttered curses. Lefanta Aegim calmly sat at a table.

"I apologize. I do not remember."

"Hey, young man. I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t get mixed up with that lunatic. There are over six hundred hunters in this area alone itching to kill him. Unless you’re looking to commit suicide, stay away."

Lefanta Aegim took out his notebook again.

"To be precise, there are 1,127. Only three hunters can actually threaten me. One of those disappeared 154 years ago and has not been heard from since. Strictly speaking, the stranger would be safer with me than without me."

"Lunatic..."

The bald bartender looked thoroughly disgusted.

Apparently, the Heaven-Slaying Star was famous on the fiftieth floor for being a nutcase.

"So, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"... Your amnesia makes this a little awkward for me."

I slowly recounted what I had experienced.

The Aegim Empire he had founded had nearly fallen. The cause was none other than his sealing of the [Goddess of Protection], which had given the [Demon King of Autumn Rain] room to grow.

His actions had destroyed [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] and endangered [Tales of Sormwin Academy] as well...

I told him everything.

"..."

Lefanta Aegim listened closely while drinking an unidentified red beverage. His expression never changed throughout my account. He only took out his notebook from time to time to check something.

"... I see."

He nodded.

"I have heard your account. And after verifying it against my journal, I judge most of what you have said to be true."

"Your journal?"

"A storehouse for my memories."

Lefanta Aegim showed me the notebook.

Its pages were densely packed with writing.

"It may look like an ordinary notebook, but it is a sacred relic of a constellation called the [Great Puppy]. It has infinite pages and a convenient search function. I record what I do every day in here. Thanks to it, I can avoid losing my life even though I have amnesia."

"..."

"As you said."

Lefanta Aegim spoke bluntly.

"Apparently, I founded a nation called the Aegim Empire in the past."

As though he were talking about someone else.

"There, I sealed the constellation [Goddess of Protection], who had accompanied me throughout my life. The world you called [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] resembles the world recorded on page 236. I killed the [Yellow Dragon Dwelling in the Great Lake] there. The world called [Tales of Sormwin Academy] resembles the place recorded on page 3,215."

"..."

"You said a fragment of the goddess... the Sword of Prayer was passed down as a family heirloom? Indeed. I once slept with a young woman in that world. The woman you met, Raviel Ivansia, is most likely a distant descendant of that woman and me. You said she has silver hair like mine... so it is probably certain. A curious connection."

Something.

"You might have a skill such as [Unearth Dark History] or [Historian] that allowed you to read my past."

Something was wrong.

"But I have no past left to read. Nor is it possible that you stole this sacred relic and read it. It is written in a code only I can decipher. Therefore, stranger, I accept that all your testimony is true."

I had come to hold the man before me accountable for his sins.

To tell him, without hesitation, that innocent people had suffered because of his paltry convictions. That countless people had been sacrificed.

But what was this?

"So."

How was I supposed to hold him accountable for sins he couldn’t even remember?

"What reward do you want from me?"

Anger began to fill my heart.

"What reward?"

"A reward for pointing out my mistakes."

"... Do you even know what you did wrong?"

"Of course."

The Heaven-Slaying Star spoke.

"I made two mistakes in total. First, I failed to consider the possibility of a new constellation being born in a world whose constellation had vanished. Second, I underestimated the fact that a dead constellation can curse its world."

I...

"Is that all?"

"It was intentional that a constellation’s death would allow constellations from other worlds to invade. No matter how many worlds a constellation rules, killing it will ultimately put an end to that. Thus, there is no problem as far as reducing the number of constellations is concerned. Therefore, my mistakes are limited to the two I mentioned."

Having finished speaking, the Heaven-Slaying Star took out a pen and scribbled something in his notebook.

"Recorded. The same errors will not occur in the future. I mentioned a reward to express my gratitude for this advice."

Advice.

Gratitude, he said.

"The ordinary people who lived in the martial world died after turning into living corpses."

A twitch.

The holy sword at my waist, which had been quietly listening to our conversation, trembled once.

The anger rising from my heart colored my voice.

"Among them was an old man who didn’t want to burden anyone even as he was dying, so he took out a boat and drowned himself. There was a child from the Beggars’ Sect who struggled to live until the very end while looking after other children his age."

"..."

"Every single one of them died a horrific death. Let me ask you something, Heaven-Slaying Star. What do you think about that?"

"Nothing."

Lefanta Aegim spoke.

"As I said, failing to account for what happens after a constellation’s death was undoubtedly my error. But mistakes are inevitable. As I said, rewarding you for correcting that mistake is all I can do."

"Ha."

The red aura enveloping my body grew a little darker.

"Then if I ask you to let me kill you here as my reward, will you do it?"

"That is a reward I cannot provide."

The silver-haired man shook his head.

"I have a duty to eradicate all constellations. Until that duty is fulfilled, I must continue to function."

His words sounded more like those of a machine. Sparkle shuddered.

I...

"What an impressive duty. Why did you take it upon yourself?"

"I cannot answer."

"Now that’s an answer I expected. Why? Because you’re afraid I won’t understand your noble duty?"

"I cannot answer that either."

"Ah, right."

I glared coldly at the Heaven-Slaying Star.

"Then can you at least answer this? If you have to eradicate constellations, why are you using one’s sacred relic? That seems inconsistent."

"That is a question I can answer. I intend to destroy it after eradicating all constellations."

"But the Demon King of Autumn Rain’s case has taught you that new constellations can emerge even after you kill them. What will you do about that?"

"I have an idea regarding that issue."

"What is it?"

"I cannot say."

The Heaven-Slaying Star looked into his journal.

"This conversation is dragging on. Let us return to the matter at hand."

"This is the matter at hand for me."

"Not for me. State your reward."

A reward.

"As I said earlier, I cannot die for you. My duty is not yet complete, so that cannot constitute a reward."

He seemed to be reading the words written on the journal’s first page.

"Nor can I stop. If I abandon my duty, I am nothing anymore."

The first page, which he had written before losing all his memories.

"So state another reward. I will grant it."

"..."

Right.

There probably weren’t that many things in the world that could be settled through conversation.

I reached for my dagger, then stopped midway. Instead, I took out the handkerchief neatly folded inside my clothes. I briefly buried my nose in it, breathing in Raviel’s blue scent.

Mm.

"... Very well."

My anger subsided.

I set my mind furiously to work. How could I [hunt] the hunter before me—a hunter incomparably stronger than I was?

My mind soon arrived at an answer.

"Then please do me one favor."

It was simple.

After all, this wasn’t my first time hunting a hunter stronger than me.

"What is it?"

"Protect me [no matter what happens while I am on the fiftieth floor]."

I put away the handkerchief.

"I’m not simply asking you to keep me alive. Protect my body and mind from any harm as well. And of course, no tricks like forcibly removing me from the fiftieth floor."

"... You are asking me to be your bodyguard?"

"Something like that."

The Heaven-Slaying Star fell into thought.

He picked up his fountain pen and tapped it against the table.

"I do not understand what you are thinking. Based on your account so far, you are an exceedingly righteous person. Not only righteous, but possessed of strength and intelligence. Your proposal does not fit your character."

"Aha, are you saying you can’t do me that favor?"

I sneered.

"You can’t die, you can’t abandon your duty, and now you can’t even protect me on the fiftieth floor? You’re really something. Then what reward can you possibly give me?"

"... I am merely concerned that your proposal conceals a trap."

"So what if it does? You seem confident in your abilities. Find your own way through it."

"..."

Lefanta Aegim gazed intently down at his journal.

"Very well."

His fountain pen moved, gliding across the journal as his hand committed the words to its pages.

"I will record your proposal on page one. Until my existence ends, your proposal will become part of the logic governing my thoughts and actions, driving me."

Okay.

He’d taken the bait.

'Mr. Sword Emperor.'

I turned to my attendant spirit.

"Huh?"

'You said you destroyed one of those magic towers 150 years ago.'

The scenery that had caught my eye as soon as I landed here.

Pointing at the spires soaring into the gray sky, my attendant spirit had said:

["They originally had six towers, you know?"]

["But I destroyed one of them."]

["If they find out I’ve come back as a ghost, they’ll probably go berserk."]

My attendant spirit nodded.

"Sure did. I’ve done plenty of things I’m proud of in my life, but that ranks among the top six."

'What did you say when you destroyed it? Do you remember?'

"Oh, of course! I remember every single word."

He grinned.

"Hello, dumbasses! You need to air the place out once in a while. Staying holed up in your rooms all day like you do is no good for you. All right, I’m feeling generous! Today, I’ll remodel the place for free! Har har."

As my attendant spirit reminisced about his past glory, he suddenly tilted his head.

"But why? What are you planning?"

I turned my gaze toward the spires.

Staring straight at them.

Steadily.

"Huh? Hey? Zombie?"

My attendant spirit spoke beside me.

"I told you not to look at those! They’ll detect you if you stare for more than twenty-three seconds, remember? At your current level and strength, there’s no way you can handle them. Or, what? Are you trying to ask them to get rid of the Heaven-Slaying Star? Forget it. They won’t go after someone as powerful as him either. Both sides would lose out."

I kept looking at the distant spires.

"Uh? Huh? Hey, Kim Zombie! I said look away, right now!"

But it was already too late.

「Ah, ah. Mic check. Mic che-e-ck. Who are you, and why are you staring at us?」

A voice transmission rang inside my head.

Just as my attendant spirit had warned, the spires had detected my presence.

「You look like a brat who’s still a rookie. We’ll let you off since this is your first offense. If you want to live comfortably around here, don’t stare at this place. You might wind up dead.」

The voice was full of boredom. Whoever it was sounded like a civil servant making no effort to hide how little they wanted to work.

「Oh, you’re with that constellation-obsessed nutjob? Heh heh. Tough luck. Can we help you with anything? We could send you an instant escape scroll right now in exchange for a thirty-year contract of servitude.」

"Hello."

I opened my mouth.

"Dumbasses."

「Huh? Has this fucking bastard lost his mind? How dare you—」

"You need to air the place out once in a while. Staying holed up in your rooms all day like you do is no good for you."

「...」

"All right, I’m feeling generous. Today, I’ll remodel the place for free. Har har."

Silence.

Utter stillness settled over us.

"Holy shit."

My attendant spirit could only mutter blankly.

"This crazy fucking lunatic..."

It happened at that moment.

SCREEEEEECH!

A tearing noise erupted from all five spires at once. It was as if the nails of five fingers had scraped across the sky.

CRASH!

Startled, the bald bartender dropped a glass. The hunters passing through the street clamped their hands over their ears.

"Wh-what?"

"What’s happening...?"

And then.

"SWOOOOORD EMPEROOOOOR!"

A colossal voice reverberated through the gray sky.

"You’ve returned, Sword Emperor! We knew you would come back someday! Even when every constellation told us you were dead, we alone, we alone never doubted that you were a bastard who wouldn’t stay dead even if you died! Is it possession? Reincarnation? Never mind! It doesn’t matter!"

Every hunter stared up at the sky, dumbfounded.

"We’ll kill you! We will kill you, if no one else! We’ll tear your soul to shreds, scatter it throughout all creation, and shit all over it! Kill him! Kill him! Kill that bastard right now! On the name and history of the magic towers, chase him all the way to hell!"

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of shadows rose from the spires.

All of them rode broomsticks, forming ranks in the sky.

"Now, then."

I turned to the Heaven-Slaying Star.

The silver-haired man looked at me with an expressionless face.

"You promised, didn’t you?"

"..."

"Protect me."

A meteor shower poured down from the sky.