Chapter 125: Chapter 125

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: The Collapsing Sky

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――――――!

The goddess's lightning, so potent it swallowed even sound, swept through everything.

Amidst the storm of searing blue energy.

Vineesha, weak against lightning, inadvertently screamed and collapsed to the floor.

We suffered no particular damage from the storm.

That's because the one in the sky took the full brunt of it for us.

[You're insane.]

Barkavaran gaped, seeing what outrageous thing I had done.

He still didn't know much about me.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a colossal bone hand burst through the smoke in the sky.

It was a bone hand of immense size, larger even than the Jerion Academy building.

Crrrack!

Simultaneously, a single eye attached to the bone hand slowly opened wide.

A shiver went through me!

As our eyes met, goosebumps erupted all over my body.

It was just one hand, after all.

Yet, the presence emanating from that single hand was impossibly vast.

A being like a disaster, which humans dared not confront.

The Aberrant.

Along with the Fiend, I once again realized how dangerous the Aberrant of the Otherworld truly was.

But even that was merely a part of the Aberrant.

Its true form was so overwhelming that the Otherworld itself could barely contain it.

However, just as the Fiend couldn't leave its Demonic Palace, the Aberrant likewise couldn't leave the Otherworld.

The way for them to escape was to create a medium that connected them to reality.

For the Fiend, it was Iris; for the Aberrant, it was Mushika and Grantony.

From the wide-open eye, a chilling, sharp fury was distinctly palpable.

Lightning had suddenly struck its own courtyard.

Naturally, it would want to seize and kill the one who dropped the lightning.

So I raised the Thunder Caller towards the sky.

"You came?"

Light began to gather once more in the Thunder Caller held in my hand.

"Then take another hit."

It's a shame to give just one of anything.

Come again, Thunder Caller.

Hearing my call, the goddess's lightning pierced the sky and struck down once more.

The Aberrant's bone arm, engulfed in the lightning storm, glowed white-hot.

The Aberrant raged even more furiously, pouring out its wrath.

It took two direct hits from the Thunder Caller and was still perfectly fine.

It truly was a monster unlike any other.

[I knew it from the moment you asked for the Thunder Caller, but you're truly out of your mind!]

"Why wouldn't I use it if I can spam it without taking damage?"

[I told you last time what would happen if you used it 108 times.]

"There's still a long way to go."

I have to use it as much as I can, until I can't anymore.

Thud!

Just then, Sharin arrived before me, bringing Grantony.

Thanks to defensive magic, she seemed unharmed.

However, Grantony's condition was strange.

Where his inner light should have shone, there was no vitality or glow whatsoever.

"Hanon, this."

Sharin frowned.

She, too, had noticed his unusual state.

"Vineesha."

I quickly called Vineesha.

Vineesha, who was weak against lightning, trembled slightly as she examined Grantony.

Soon after, Vineesha's eyes narrowed slightly.

Vineesha was both a Soul Weaver and a Soul Mage.

She was a unique individual who had mastered both disciplines simultaneously.

That's why Jerion Academy had invited her as an associate professor, believing her unique talents could foster the students' development.

In the realm of souls, Vineesha was a specialist.

"My Lord, the soul that should be inside him isn't there?"

She, of all people, said there was no soul.

Where had Grantony's soul gone?

That, of course, had been decided from the very beginning.

'To find Mushika from the Aberrant, he had to enter the Aberrant's spiritual realm.'

He had willingly entered a dangerous place to find his first love.

Vineesha, who had examined Grantony, stared at him with a dazed expression.

Her face showed she was troubled by something.

"First, let's get out of here immediately."

There was no time to worry about that now.

The Aberrant, having shaken off the lightning, began to move its hand to pursue us.

If anyone were to be caught directly by that, they would lose their life.

That, at least, had to be avoided at all costs.

"Sharin!"

"Yes, I'm ready."

Sharin deployed her magic the moment I called.

At that moment, our bodies lifted into the air and accelerated.

"It's slower than usual."

Sharin showed her displeasure.

"It's because the Otherworld has different magical principles!"

Magic is an act of deceiving the world.

Since Sharin had primarily used magic in the real world, not the Otherworld, her output wasn't as expected.

That's why I brought Vineesha.

Vineesha's magic could be used even in the Otherworld.

'It's coming.'

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

At that moment, within the depths of the forest.

The spirits that had been hiding themselves until now began to rise.

Spirits rose from the trees.

Eerie rattling-

An eerie rattling sound came from somewhere, and the spirits' eyes fixed on us.

Souls that had lost their will and were mere husks, controlled by the Aberrant.

They appeared, blocking our path.

They rushed at us, dark and liquid-like in form.

I had no intention of getting held up here.

"Vineesha."

"Ah!"

Vineesha, who had been staring blankly at Grantony, snapped out of it and moved her hand.

At that moment, the demon waiting behind her swung its arm.

The demon's arm swung like a praying mantis's foreleg.

At that, the spirits blocking our path were torn to shreds and shattered.

Meanwhile, the Aberrant approached us at an even faster speed.

Without hesitation, I activated the Thunder Caller one more time.

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

The Aberrant's arm, struck once again by the Thunder Caller, vibrated violently.

"Is it okay to overuse that?"

As Sharin asked worriedly, I gripped my ring.

"My life is on the line, so I have to use it for now. But it's probably nearing its limit."

The Thunder Caller couldn't be summoned infinitely either.

From my experience using it, five times a day was the maximum.

That meant I had two uses left.

"So, let's put as much distance as possible between us during this opening."

"I'll accelerate. I'm getting used to it."

Was she already adapting to the Otherworld?

As expected, a talent that only appeared once in a millennium was truly extraordinary.

"Eve."

I then quickly called for Eve.

Eve was still holding my hand tightly, her eyes closed.

"We need a lighthouse to guide Grantony back."

The path for a soul that enters the spiritual realm is like a vast, open sea.

And on a vast sea, a ship cannot find its way without the light of a lighthouse.

Originally, this role belonged to Lucas.

His Flame of Valor could perfectly serve as a lighthouse for Grantony.

Lucas wasn't here.

So I called Eve.

"Understood."

Eve, somehow regaining her composure amidst the fear, drew her sword.

Then, fierce blue flames erupted from her sword.

It was clearly a fierce flame, one that Grantony's soul would be able to see.

However, more important than this was his own will to return.

'Grantony.'

Grantony had entered the Otherworld, even staking his own life.

There was no way he would just quickly return without achieving his objective.

There was only one way to bring Grantony back.

He had to meet his first love, Mushika, in person and realize for himself that he couldn't save her.

'In the original scenario, the Aberrant would be blinded by the Flame of Valor, creating a brief opening.'

And in that opening, Grantony would meet Mushika.

Grantony would undoubtedly struggle desperately to bring Mushika back.

Yet, despite his efforts, he wouldn't be able to bring Mushika back.

Instead, Mushika would persuade Grantony.

She would tell Grantony it was alright, and to forget about her now.

Unable to resist Mushika's plea in the end, Grantony would follow her words.

And he would return to his body, guided by the Flame of Valor.

Thus, Grantony would leave the Otherworld.

And he would face a lonely end, longing for Mushika for the rest of his days.

'Only one person could persuade Grantony: Mushika.'

And to meet Mushika, the Flame of Valor was needed.

This was an issue that even Eve's unyielding Azure Flame couldn't substitute.

We couldn't leave the Otherworld until Grantony returned.

If we did that, the connection between Grantony's body and soul would be severed, and it would be over for him.

So all we could do was hope Grantony would safely return, avoiding the Aberrant.

'If I had intended to just wait like that...'

'...I wouldn't have come in at all.'

"Vineesha."

I called out to the trump card I had brought to save Grantony.

Vineesha, who had been continuously staring at Grantony, turned to look at me.

Vineesha's eyes were clearly wavering, a stark contrast to before.

It was an emotional tremor that began after she saw Grantony.

Vineesha had certainly lost her memories, her memory core destroyed as a price for being manipulated by the Aberrant.

However, that was merely the memory of the brain.

The memory of the soul was a different story.

Memories are imprinted on the soul.

This was proven through Saint Narea of Acrede, one of the six reincarnators mentioned earlier.

The memories contained within Vineesha's brain had certainly been completely destroyed by the Aberrant.

However, the memories imprinted on her soul were not destroyed.

She had merely pushed those horrific memories of that day deep into her soul, choosing to ignore them.

Those memories clearly remained within Vineesha's soul.

In reality, Vineesha hadn't remembered Grantony at all.

So she had casually turned away the man who came looking for her.

However, the Otherworld was different.

Because it was the world where the power of the soul's essence was strongest.

'Lucas had never brought Vineesha to the Otherworld before.'

Vineesha's role was merely to help Lucas enter the Otherworld.

There was no particular reason for her to follow him into the Otherworld.

To Lucas, Vineesha was a criminal.

To Vineesha, Lucas was someone who interfered with her work.

My situation was vastly different from Lucas's.

I had built a relationship with her to obtain the Veil Bandage and the pendant.

Vineesha had directly entered the Otherworld to help me.

That's why now.

Finally, the memories imprinted on her soul were beginning to awaken upon seeing Grantony.

"You have lost memories. And those memories might be horrific."

The horrific memory of killing her junior and her master with her own hands.

I intended to revive such memories for Vineesha.

I couldn't guarantee whether those memories would be beneficial to Vineesha.

For her, the memories of that day were likely the most agonizing.

However, to save Grantony, Vineesha's memories were necessary.

Vineesha had directly offered Mushika to the Aberrant.

And the Aberrant had intervened in reality through Vineesha.

This meant that Vineesha and Mushika were connected, unbeknownst to themselves.

Vineesha could summon Mushika.

And Mushika could summon Grantony.

For this to work, Vineesha had to recall the events of that day.

Only then could she trace back in the same way and revive Mushika.

I didn't know what outcome this situation would bring.

Because this world was new to me too.

But that's how it usually is.

Life is always about firsts.

It's okay to make mistakes.

If I make a mistake, I'll just fix it.

That's why I was here, in this place, today.

"My Lord."

At that moment, Vineesha called out to me again.

Instead of a dazed expression, she wore a faint smile.

"It's alright. I don't know what I experienced, but if My Lord is with me, I can move forward."

Vineesha also knew she had a gap in her memories.

But she had held back, not knowing what might happen if she opened that void of memories.

However, she said she would face those memories because I was there.

It had only been a week, at most.

I still didn't know how significant I had become to her.

Nevertheless, she trusted me.

I resolved to live up to that trust.

"Open the pendant."

Vineesha opened the pendant hanging around her neck.

And inside, there was a single photograph.

Vineesha saw herself with three other people in the photograph.

And then, for the first time, Vineesha's eyes slowly began to widen.

It was a completely different reaction than before.

Fragments of memory, triggered by the pendant, surged up within her soul.

"Ah."

A breathless gasp escaped Vineesha.

[Hey, look at that.]

At that moment, Barkavaran's voice reached my ears.

The moment I hastily lifted my head, I gaped.

The sky.

The sky was collapsing.

The Aberrant, that madman, had brought down the sky of the Otherworld.

CRRRRRAAAASSSHHH!

Watching the sky pour down like a waterfall, I reflexively shielded Grantony.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves!"

As I shouted this, we were swept away and vanished amidst the collapsing sky.