Quit The Hero Party

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EP.525 Natural Disaster, Yormun (6)

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swish, swish

Gestures crossed each other.

whoosh The overflowing circuits and constellations tangled together. The starry patterns, spread like a net, and the brilliantly shining circuits became indistinguishable. With every clash against Yormun’s constellation, Raniel’s circuit was becoming more akin to the stars.

While carving the circuit, Raniel suddenly realized.

The essence of the constellations in that night sky was akin to the circuit.

Having become a Guide, Raniel was peering beyond the rules that surrounded the world. As she looked at the rules and the constellations that formed them, things began to appear in her view that were different from the usual. What she had taken for granted thus far suddenly felt anything but.

She pondered. The essence of spells and circuits.

Spells arise from circuits.

Circuits are like requests for a trade to the stars. However, the stars merely act as a bridge to facilitate the trade; magic can be wielded without going through the stars. Isn’t that what she was doing right now?

‘So then, what does a Mage touch?’

The rules themselves. The fundamental rules that keep the world turning. Mages had been interfering, even if just a little, with the rules that maintain the balance of the world.

Offering a price through the circuits.

Gaining rights commensurate with the price paid.

Using that right to alter the rules.

Of course, most magic does not deeply interfere with the rules. Just because one layers a circuit over the rules, doesn’t mean it becomes the rule. A Mage’s circuit disappears over time; it’s merely an act that will be swept away by the winds.

‘But…’

Raniel focused ahead.

There, not a circuit layered over the rules, nor a circuit that would be swept away with time… existed a circuit that had become the rules themselves. The one constellation that Yormun and Gletus had inscribed in the sky in the primordial age.

That, in a sense, was a circuit.

A circuit that would become immortal unless intervened by someone.

In the end, that was the realm she needed to reach.

With her bloodshot eyes, Raniel gazed at the circuit. That one step of distance between Yormun and her was where the answer lay.

drip, drip

Blood dropped. Her head felt hot.

In this moment, Raniel felt a strange sensation. Every sense was heightened to its limit. It felt as if time was flowing infinitely slowly. Countless circuits assembled and disassembled in her mind repeatedly.

thump, thump

Like that day when she had sacrificed half her lifespan.

Like that day when she sought answers to survive.

thud, thud Her heart pounded, her breathing was ragged, heat surged, and a boom echoed in her ears… Amidst all those sensations, Raniel immersed herself in the constellation held by Yormun. The flames contained in her bluish eyes flickered.

And then.

The constellation in Yormun’s grasp glimmered.

Yormun frowned.

With the count hidden by Kyle revealed and the arrangement of constellations thrown into disarray, he felt uneasy. All due to the one human standing right in front of him.

flash

Spells collided and negated each other.

bang Amid the surging heat and dazzling flashes, Raniel reached out. Yormun swung to deflect her with the hand that carved the constellation, but Raniel did not get pushed back far.

One step.

swish (one step forward)

In barely that much space, before she even exhaled once, she followed after him again. With each repetition of this process, her circuit grew more elaborate, and the crimson lightning she had wrapped around her hand became denser.

She was growing.

zap She was trying to catch up to him.

It wasn’t that Yormun hadn’t anticipated a situation like this. That’s why he aimed to conceal his tactics and trample her without revealing the constellations. But, no matter how much he tried…

‘This is… too fast.’

Yormun’s pupils narrowed.

Fast. Too fast. The growth of the Guide at such a moment was abnormal; it had crossed the line. Even he and Gletus hadn’t grown at such a pace before.

The Raniel he had encountered in the city of the ancient dragons hadn’t fully awakened as a Guide. That’s why he was confident he could trample her.

But at this moment, Raniel was… on the verge of completion. Gazing at her circuits, resembling constellations, Yormun groaned. The pressure intensifying was burrowing into Yormun’s skin.

One step.

Just that single step remained.

‘At this rate…’

She would catch up.

Yormun clenched his teeth. The ease had vanished long ago. Now, he had to make a choice. Should he unleash his full power and end it with Raniel or slowly whittle her down to death?

Yormun instinctively felt it.

If he displayed his full power to Raniel once more, at that moment, she would complete her transformation. The instant he brought forth his full power, he must truly put an end to it. Otherwise, the human before his eyes would stand on the same level as him.

‘But even so…’

He couldn’t end it like this.

He had to take a gamble. Ultimately, Yormun made a decision. He stomped down with the foot he had raised. In an instant, the constellations flickered violently. The constellations rearranged around Yormun’s grasp.

The world shook.

The flickering flames of the spell and flashes fell into stillness in an instant. In the stillness of time, starlight surged. The moment the constellations converged in Yormun’s grasp shaped into form.

Finally, she smiled.

Raniel did not step back. She took another step forward toward the flowing starlight. With her eyes wide open, she looked at the constellation Yormun held in his hand.

Here comes. The heavenly decree.

The single rule, the Heavenly Principle (天理).

Toward the surging heavenly decree, Raniel extended her hand. The human reached for the shining star, wanting to seize it for herself.

In the moment she faced the Heavenly Principle, Raniel felt an incomprehensibly vast wall. It was different from facing Yeocheon; this was not something beyond understanding… merely a wall built from circuits through magic.

The constellations were inscribed with numerous circuits.

The spell language created by Yormun during the primordial age densely inscribed within the constellation. The circuits interlocked to form a singular circuit.

flash

The moment Yormun grasped the shining constellation, it took shape. The constellation transformed into a column of light akin to a tree stretching toward the sky. At a glance, it looked like a spear or like it was capturing thunder crashing from the heavens.

It was surging toward her.

The spear point of the constellation Yormun held swept everything it touched into the flow. As if waves were crashing, the scenery touched by the spear tip was mixed. Raniel’s circuits were no different.

crash…

The reverse lightning that wrapped around Raniel was swept away in the flow. The circuits she had laid out disappeared past the starlight like being engulfed by waves. If the Yeocheon struck against the flow, the Heavenly Principle was like a wave sweeping everything away.

It was swept away. Crushed by the incoming wave.

Before the incoming spear of Yormun, Raniel squinted her eyes. The spear aimed for her heart. Clenching her teeth, she reached out her hand.

crack, crack, crack

Before the crimson lightning that shot up from her grasp could be swept away in the flow, she twisted the trajectory of the spear. Though she couldn’t completely counter the Heavenly Principle, Raniel succeeded in changing its path.

However, it was also a failure.

thud

Though the trajectory twisted, the constellation Yormun held pierced through Raniel’s side. In that instant, the flow compressed within the constellation burst forth. The violent current swept through both Raniel’s body and soul.

whoosh

A hole pierced through her side where the constellation had penetrated. The constellation dug into her flesh as if it were roots taking hold of the ground. The irresistible flow generated by the constellation swept through Raniel’s soul and body.

crackle…

Cracks raced across Raniel’s body.

As the reverse lightning that erupted from her body resisted the flow, it too began to wane. The moment that crimson lightning ceased to erupt, Yormun was sure of his victory.

This would be the end.

Once swept away by the Heavenly Principle, there was no turning back.

However, Yormun felt an oddity.

There was no effect from the Heavenly Principle. The vast flow should have shattered Raniel’s body and furthermore shaken the entire city.

But everything around was strangely quiet. The spear that had pierced Raniel’s side was unable to advance any further. It was as if she had absorbed all of that flow within her body.

hack, cough…

In that moment, Raniel slowly raised her head as she coughed up blood.

“Ah.”

She groaned.

Raniel van Trias groaned and smiled.

With a thump, she grasped the constellation that had pierced her side with her raised hand. Though her bare hand grasped a massive flow, it did not shatter. Yormun attempted to pull the spear of the constellation away… but it wouldn’t budge.

Toward Yormun, who looked bewildered.

Raniel slowly lifted her gaze.

“So this is what it was?”

Yormun locked eyes with Raniel.

In that moment, Yormun saw it. The flames flickering in Raniel’s blue eyes gradually formed a ring. It resembled the dragon-eye he possessed.

The flames intertwined and spun around her.

The swirling flames formed a single ring.

return, a cyan-white ring.

Yormun had seen that bizarre gaze before. It belonged to a distorted deity standing before him in a time frame he had never experienced. The Goddess of Ashes had those eyes.

Yet, it was slightly different.

The moment he observed those strange eyes, Yormun realized it. He let out a hollow laugh. He understood what Raniel had just done.

“She’s not in her right mind.”

That girl had deliberately taken the hit.

In her desire to understand the Heavenly Principle and indulge in it, she had offered her own body. A gamble risking her life, and as a result, she had touched upon her essence.

crackle…

The crimson lightning that surged above her body restored all the cracks that had appeared. It began to push back the Heavenly Principle that had been sweeping over her soul and flesh. Just as that lightning tried to consume the constellation, Yormun exerted strength into his arm. With a thud, he pulled away the constellation and stepped back.

thump

Blood fell. The splattered blood evaporated upon contact with the rising lightning. Yormun glared at Raniel, keeping his distance. Her soul and body, swept by the constellation, were quickly regaining their form.

“…phew.”

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Raniel slowly exhaled.

Just as Kyle achieved completion as a knight after witnessing Ganikalt wield the Sword of Yeocheon, Raniel too completed her transformation as a Mage upon encountering the Heavenly Principle.

By being pierced by the Heavenly Principle, she had come to understand it.

In the moment her soul was swept away and death surged forward, she had grasped the answer. With that grasp, she filled the one missing piece that had been absent until now. The erupting crimson lightning took on an entirely different form than before.

“…”

Yormun silently glared at Raniel.

The gamble had failed. He no longer restricted the Heavenly Principle but allowed it to flow freely. The immense constellation spread out, crumbling the temple.

It was no longer meaningful to hide anything.

Yormun gazed at the Guide standing before him.

A Mage who bore the cyan-white ring in her eyes, one who had reached the same level as him. Now, there was nothing left between the two.

Raniel reached out her hand.

In that moment, Yormun saw it. A new constellation appeared, one that hadn’t manifested in thousands of years.

The human, reaching for the stars, finally obtained her own constellation.