༺ The Slanted Ceiling and the Mountain of Laughing Corpses – 2 ༻
It was a simple conclusion. They were the first to reach the abyss, and what lay before us was untampered evidence.
In other words, Sanctum was responsible for the death of the Grand Master, the Taoist of Mother Earth.
The historical records of the Military State and the legends of the undying were misguided. Tyr’s narrative was closest to the truth.
Time was the greatest source of distortion of history after all. Or perhaps Sanctum had skewed every piece of history the State referenced.
Carrying an air of hollowness mingled with suppressed fury, reminiscent of a dormant volcano, the Earth Sage took a few steps before halting suddenly—a figure stood in her way. She regarded the latter with a gentle smile.
“I had my suspicions from our first meeting. That transient presence of yours… the smell of those who live detached from the earth. It is a signature of people who justify every sin simply because they can see the future.”
Obstructing the Earth Sage was none other than the regressor, a gleam of blue and red in her eyes. The Earth Sage’s lips curved warmly.
“After all you have come to know, you would still stop me, young man?”
The regressor appeared unusually tense, facing the Earth Sage with resolute determination. She swallowed before asking something.
“…I have one question.”
“What might that be?”
“If you take her ‘relic’ from this place and go to the surface…”
The regressor pointed to the woman atop the mountain of corpses, specifically at the dark staff carefully held in her palms.
“What’s the first thing you’ll do?”
The Earth Sage didn’t inquire about the nature of the staff, nor how the regressor recognized it. She simply nodded, taking it in stride.
“Is it not obvious?”
The Earth Sage’s smile deepened, answering as though indicating an open truth.
“I seek to make Sanctum answer for their sins.”
Within the realm of religion, Sanctum was the paramount power in the world, a faction possessing countless esoteric secrets. Yet the Earth Sage calmly declared war against them.
The regressor tried to argue.
“But it’s a past event.”
“It is a matter of the present.”
“Many will die.”
“Not as many as they have slain.”
“You’ll also die in the end.”
“I fear not.”
The regressor knew her words weren’t enough to persuade the other. She tried a different approach.
“Even if your actions lead to greater tragedy?”
The Earth Sage snorted. The regressor’s question seemed to only steel her resolve rather than spark introspection.
“…Always about the grand future. You speak as if you have lived it firsthand. Odd, given a man cannot become a saintess. Hearsay, I suppose.”
The Earth Sage finished her words in a mutter, not digging for details. She was unfazed by the mention of a “greater tragedy.”
The regressor pressed on desperately.
“In a few short years, an entity that poses a threat to the world will rise.”
“Is that right?”
“Even if Sanctum falls, even if the age of the Gaian Order and vampires dawns, he will emerge. No, he will appear sooner and stronger.”
“So it seems.”
The Earth Sage was indifferent. Growing urgent, the regressor revealed a truth she had long kept hidden, fearing the anxiety it might bring to the others.
“He is the King of Sins, the punisher who harnesses the power of the Divine to judge the sins of mankind. Even the saintesses of Sanctum, the Mage King of the Mage Federation, and the Sword Saint who guards the Empire are powerless before him. I’m talking about a powerful being that all of humanity combined can’t defeat.”
“Divine? Now that is a name Sanctum would relish.”
“He emerges from the accumulated malevolence of the world. You’re famously respected by the people as the Earth Sage. If you deal a blow to Sanctum by yourself and perish heroically, that alone will ignite the flames of war. Everything will descend into turmoil, breeding sins. Agents of mayhem will crawl out of the chaos. And in the middle of it all…”
The King of Sins would manifest, embodying the entirety of humanity’s despair and wickedness.
The regressor tried to speak of the impending catastrophic future, but…
“So what?”
“…Huh?”
Caught off guard by the blunt query, the regressor could only manage a dumb sound.
The Earth Sage repeated herself with a face of unwavering clarity,
“I said, so what?”
Blood squelched as she stepped on a corpse. The body, having undergone something akin to coagulation and sedimentation over a millennium, bore her weight firmly, like packed earth.
“If they chose persecution as a means to prevent tragedy, they must have believed themselves capable of enduring any backlash. But if they lack the strength to suppress survival instinct and confront the looming calamity, they should not have acted in the first place. For we clearly were not part of their envisioned future.”
Regardless, the Earth Sage would never have stumbled. She was the Unyielding, the one who advanced without falling. And no one could make her stop.
“That’s not what I’m talking about! Instead of fighting each other, we need to unite and get through this danger…!”
“Since they sent their champion to stop me, I take it they are confident.”
“No! I don’t intend to stop you! If you promise not to use the Jizan, the Earth Blade’s power, I’m willing to yield it…!”
Immediately, fury twisted the Earth Sage’s face.
“Yield it?!“
The veins on her neck throbbed visibly. Her fists tightened, the sound resembling stone breaking. She swiped at the air, her five bracelets clanging harshly, and cried out with vehemence.
“That is ours! Our land, our final resting place! What right does a mere champion of Sanctum claim to the Grand Master’s relic?!”
Her bellow echoed, creating a thunderous vibration that resonated between the mountain of corpses and the sloping Tantalus. The force of her voice was such that it caused the bodies on the ground to tremble.
“Do not presume authority just because the future is yours! Even if your people took it in a timeline without me! That does not grant you any entitlement!”
The Earth Sage clenched her hand with a crunch. Her muscles bulged, and her five bracelets fused seamlessly around her right arm.
Gathering her strength and focus, she bore into the regressor with a ferocious glare.
“Draw your blade, Champion! I will go forth! I will take up her relic, buried in this ancient tomb, and confront Sanctum’s sins! I stand as Mother Earth’s disciple and voice the anguish of those perishing in her name! If you seek to silence my challenge, end me and consign me to the abyss!”
The regressor’s persuasion had failed. In this lifetime, too, she couldn’t deter the Earth Sage. Yet the sense of defeat was all too familiar now. She bit her lip and lowered her gaze.
But then our eyes met.
｢What if someone else had tried? Yeah. Could he have changed something?｣
Hardly. I was only a listener of the heart’s wishes. How could I possibly stand against the tempest that was the Earth Sage?
Plus, even I didn’t know. I was aware of her deep frustrations and desires, but never did I expect such raw hatred to come out of there. I was a mind reader, not a prophet, after all.
The regressor sighed, her voice heavy with weariness.
“The future… has never been mine. It was always my enemy. One that finds the most unexpected ways to ruin me.”
She raised her arm to grab her sword, the ever-present Sky Blade, Chun-aeng. She had saved the power of its compressed dimension for this very day. She gripped it, unleashing its pulsing energy.
“Let me set one thing straight. I’m no champion of Sanctum. I’ve never uttered a prayer or felt a god’s grace in my life. If there was anything between us, it would involve fights and curses.”
｢The first time, I was relieved to be alive again. The next time, I was joyful about obtaining an amazing ability. By the third, I felt elated, thinking I’d become someone special. But this specialness is a curse, not a blessing. A burden too heavy for someone as… ordinary as I am…｣
After a brief moment of self-mockery, the regressor raised her sword again. The vast abyss responded with a tremor.
Winds surged between the slanted ceiling and the mass of corpses. The abyss seemed to have reclaimed its link to the skies, calling forth the gusts.
The winds howled mournfully, spiraling through the corpses. Eventually, their lamentations converged, absorbed into the regressor’s blade.
With a roar, the regressor charged her blade with immense power.
“Dammit! But I still gotta stop the world from ending!”
She kicked off the corpse-laden floor. The Earth Sage slowly drew her right foot back, the ground behind her hardening to give her steady support.
The invisible blade clashed against the five bracelets.
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