Cradle of Ascendant (3)
Lennok confirmed only a few more pieces of information in the man’s memory and stood up.
I don’t forget to put my hand on the forehead of the man who was sitting in a daze and stop breathing.
Considering that he was a troublesome opponent, it was a neat death, but time was not easy enough to pay attention to such a place for a long time.
A reason to meet the Ascendant. The story of the tool for answering he presents was interesting, but I had to put my thoughts aside for a while.
It must be really not long before the gateway is fully opened.
We must move before others discover Lennok and Ibelin.
At the same time as Lennok stopped the man’s breath, the shape of the scale on which the two stood faded and the labyrinth appeared as it was.
In the blurring area, Lennok felt someone’s gaze, but instead of looking at it, he got up and touched his left eye.
“Whoa….”
“Are you done?”
Evelyn, who was standing next to him, approached Lennok and asked.
“Who is that woman?”
Instead of answering, Evelyn raised her finger and pointed at the wall inside the gate.
A new type of droopy warrior. Three arrows were stuck in his chest, revealing the cause of death.
Lennok looked at it, grasped the situation, and nodded.
“You’ve been waiting without touching the realm.”
“In case you don’t know. Couldn’t you have just intervened first?”
“No, your judgment is correct. He was a tougher opponent than I thought. If I used my hands more hastily, the work would have been more difficult.”
“It’s all because you were watching this guy’s realm as it is.”
Evelyn sighed and patted Lennok on the shoulder.
Lennok was pushed there, staggering as he was, scratching his cheek.
“that…. I have nothing to say. However, this guy has succeeded in directly implementing the new possibilities of the magnetic realm with only artifacts and a few geas. I couldn’t have moved on without checking it.”
An artifact that borrows and uses someone else’s realm. And the efforts he had made to make the most perfect use of the artifact left a considerable impression on Lennok.
While killing him, Lennok concluded the possibility, but perhaps the path he chose was a new possibility to rise higher without completing the hierarchy.
Lennok, holding a complexly spinning crystal ball in the arms of the man who had stopped breathing, stood up.
Other than that, I looked for moderately usable items, but I couldn’t find anything special.
Did the man also have a premonition that he might die in this labyrinth and stole valuables in advance? As of now, it was unknown.
Evelyn watched from behind Lennok’s back and shook her head slightly.
“So far, I’ve only been lucky. I know your inquiring mind is quite high, but… … . If you don’t want to die, you’d better restrain yourself a little.”
“….”
“Can you guarantee that in a life-and-death battle, a moment of curiosity won’t ruin your work?”
Lennok couldn’t answer Ibelin’s words and kept his mouth shut.
Even Lennok knew that there were moments when he could not control his craving for magic
even though he had overcome almost all battles with victories and without any waste or emotional consumption .
But how can I explain to Evelyn that I can’t let go of any possibility in order to reach the end one day?
Evelyn looked at Lennok’s expression and started walking while laughing as if she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Because we’re moving in groups like this to make up for that.”
“Eveline….”
“So, even if that happens in this labyrinth, I will help you.”
Saying that, Lennok silently stared at Evelyn’s back as she walked ahead.
It’s been a while since I’ve known her, but Evelyn hasn’t changed.
The same appearance actually made Lennok change his attitude toward her little by little.
“Let’s move quickly. It really feels like not long now.”
“…okay. I have to go.”
Before I knew it, the gateway behind Lennok and Ibelin was shaking faintly.
The outcome of the melee that started with the key in the circular room is about to be decided.
‘Even so, the time required at the gateway is too short.’
It took less than 20 minutes to deal with the Treasure Hunter that Lennok and Evelyn encountered as soon as they passed the gate.
I thought that the people I met inside the gateway would fight for over an hour, and went into battle, but the speed at which the labyrinth entrants were eliminated was quite fast.
‘Is it because the balance of power is relatively biased? If not… … .’
“Evan?”
At Evelyn’s words, Lennok eventually stopped thinking and started walking briskly.
The entrance to the deeper part of the labyrinth through the empty lot beyond the gateway.
The two people who passed through the arched front door opened their mouths slightly as they saw the scene unfolding in front of them.
“This….”
“It’s starting to look a bit like a labyrinth now.”
The structure is very different from the long corridors that were immersed in darkness.
It wasn’t enough that the width of the road was widened, but it was a deep section with more winding and forked roads.
Even all visible roads are moving, changing, changing directions and remaking roads in real time.
Koo-goo-goo-goo-goo-goo!!!
A major structural reorganization that occurred periodically outside the Labyrinth.
The phenomenon was constantly reproduced inside the labyrinth, constantly changing the internal structure and path.
“Now I understand why the explorers who died inside the labyrinth didn’t have a map inside….”
Lennok murmured while flipping through the explorers’ notebooks he had acquired in the labyrinth.
“It was like they wouldn’t allow themselves to make maps at all.”
“It looks like the first gateway, but it seems that it is made so that it cannot be passed without trial and error….”
Evelyn patted her palms as if realizing something after saying that.
“Could it be that going through trial and error like that was what Jindun intended?”
“….”
“According to Evan, you mean that the gateway to the labyrinth or the intention itself expressed by the maze is closely related to the image of Jindun.”
“I don’t think it’s possible. but….”
Even in the midst of this, she is pretty quick to figure out the nature of the labyrinth as she is Evelyn, who calls her class Evan out of concern for any possible situation.
However, Lennok thought that even entering the labyrinth would be difficult if Jindun really intended to focus on going through trial and error itself.
However, if it was relatively easy to enter the labyrinth instead, wouldn’t there be another reason for that?
But instead of confiding his thoughts to Evelyn, Lennok pulled out his telescope.
There is no point in trying to find answers to unanswered questions here.
The only thing that matters is to move forward as fast as you can by stepping one step ahead of others.
“Are you going to use it after all?”
“Like you said, you will have to go through trial and error to find your way in the labyrinth where magic detection doesn’t work well. I can only hope that it will be of help to the next gateway.”
I put my left eye on the lens of the telescope and activate the magic eye again.
Immediately after that, the scenery in one corner of the labyrinth was distorted faintly, and someone’s figure was revealed again.
The appearance of a young man who has grown older and matured after passing by a blonde boy.
The face, which was somewhat innocent, has become calmer, making it difficult to read the emotions easily.
The young man glanced back at Lennok, as if he knew he was watching, and started walking toward one side of the labyrinth.
“…let’s go.”
Lennok silently raised his eyes to the telescope and started walking after the young man.
It is not immediately clear why this is possible in this labyrinth or what the young man in Lennok’s eyes means.
I just accepted that it was not strange no matter what happened within the Ascendant’s ideological realm.
We are accustomed to not being able to get clear answers to our questions.
The answer that Lennok wanted always came at an unexpected moment and in a different form than expected.
Lennok knew that the important thing was to figure out what could be done and set a direction, not to obsess over the immediate question.
If you walk without being shaken, you will eventually be able to check whether your answer is right or wrong.
I hope that the time that Lennok has passed has not been shaken like that, and I just move forward.
Eveline was staring at Lennok’s back with a slightly subdued gaze.
* * *
[…] … ]
“Why?”
[At this rate, the plan would be a little off….]
“A plan?”
[I’ll explain later. For now, the first step is to pass through the labyrinth.]
The hairball that had spoken the doctor’s voice floated up and followed Maiya.
Maiya looked at the hairball with a disapproving expression, then quickly stood up.
It’s been two days since they easily passed the first gate and entered the maze that became more and more complicated.
Although she often ran into a dead end, Maya was surprisingly able to find her way without getting lost.
[It smells. Go the other way.]
“Okay.”
The existence of this hairball that was spitting out hair by Maya’s side was helping her not to walk the same path twice in the labyrinth.
“I didn’t know that such an old-fashioned way would work in the Hanghasa Labyrinth. If I had known it would be like this, I would have tried the labyrinth at least once in the past.”
[Considering why Jindun built this labyrinth, it’s only natural.]
The hairball replied in a calm tone.
[The pattern of the labyrinth itself diversifies beyond the 11-dimensional function and is so complex that even my computing device cannot predict the pattern, but it does not hinder the attempt to find the way.] “It has a different meaning
. For what?”
[Because that is the way Zaegis Ethernor has lived.]
“….”
[This magnificent labyrinth is the boundary of thought that reproduces the time he has lived and the scene of images accumulated due to it. It seems to contain the heart of a transcendent who lived in an era so cataclysmic that it was difficult to predict the future, but never stopped looking back on the past.] Maya’s eyebrows twitched at a much more serious answer than she thought
.
“Doctor, I didn’t know you respected Jindun so much. Isn’t the crystallization of the old-fashionedness that you hate is something like Zaigis Ethernore?”
Even inside Pandaemonium, the doctor is one of the strange species that occupies a somewhat special position along with the spider.
There are not many people who like the direction of research that has abandoned its unique extreme way of thinking and ethical consciousness.
However, a typical sociopath who makes Ark shut his mouth with thoughts and perspectives that are different from other powerful superhumans, and with undeniable results.
It is different from a very high evaluation for the words that came out of his mouth, who acknowledges and accepts his immediate superiority and inferiority, but never looks up at his opponent.
[You are seriously mistaken about something. They deserve respect just for being qualified to challenge the ascension. It truly means that we are ready to give answers that transcend this world’s timeline… … It takes a lot of determination to hold a position that encompasses both the past and the future.]
“…You just talk like you know a lot about Ascension.”
[Was it an uncomfortable conversation? Considering Makina’s Gate of Ascension, it makes sense. Wasn’t the reason why you came all the way here to rectify that grandiose failure?]
“….”
After confirming that Maya’s expression had hardened, the hairball naturally turned the topic.
[The history of Zaigis Ethernore until he became an ascendant is relatively well preserved, and based on that, we can roughly guess what kind of life he lived. And the more you know about the ascendant, the more you realize.]
“What?”
[What it means to be qualified to challenge fate.]
“….”
[There are now less than 10 people who have the qualifications left in this world. Aren’t you curious what the Transcendentalist who has lived for 100 years would have made?]
The hairball floating behind Maiya’s back spoke in a low, soft tone.
[All answers are waiting in front of me. All we have to do is cross the labyrinth that doesn’t reject anyone who approaches.] * *
*
A black flash cuts through the dark maze.
bang!
With a quiet explosion, the stone statue blocking the hallway split apart and the stone lions shattered.
“It seems the trap is getting more intense as time goes on.”
Evelyn grumbled as she turned her shoulders, but Lennok shook his head even after hearing her.
“There is no escape. Eventually, you will have to deal with these obstacles in some way.”
“The guys who came in in groups would definitely be at a disadvantage. Should we consider it lucky that Lapis shared Joe in advance?”
Saying that, Evelyn turned her gaze towards the countless spear blades protruding from the wall.
Not only the place where the two are standing, but every corner of the road they have passed is crushed and ruined.
A structure in which a wall or floor rises and the ceiling collapses.
The labyrinth itself structurally continues to narrow the space, making it impossible for several people to move together.
If they succeeded in maintaining the number of people by entering the depths of the labyrinth, each individual would be an excellent player, but that is why they are subject to stronger space restrictions.
Even if you can withstand this level of trap and space reduction, you will eventually have to divide the number of people and reduce the number of people as you go deeper.
“The number of people following behind has increased. After trial and error, it seems that forces have emerged.”
Evelyn, who was concentrating with her ears pressed to the floor, spoke.
Inside the labyrinth filled with the ascendant’s magical power, the sense of magical power does not work well, but the vibrations that spread out as the superhumans use their power nevertheless resonate through the labyrinth.
While Lennok was leading the way, Evelyn was using her sharp senses unique to archers to check the number of people following from behind.
“are you okay. It seems that we have arrived close to the second gateway.”
“That is fortunate.”
“and…. Perhaps the third will be the final gateway.”
Lennok’s eyes narrowed calmly as he peered through the telescope.
The illusion that broke through the first barrier and became a young man had changed into a mature man before he knew it.
Considering the speed at which time passes for a man who appears to be an illusion, he must have already become an old man by the time he approaches the third gate.
If this illusion shows one person’s time intact, the next gateway is likely to be the last.
In other words, Jindun Zaigis Ethernore designed this labyrinth based on breaking through three gates.
Nine times, which means ninth level, and not ten times, which means true ascension, are three times.
WORLD 3.0. third world.
Three gateways created by Jindun’s Hanghasama Labyrinth.
Would I be mistaken if I thought that the number had a meaning that Lennok knew?
“…It can’t be.”
“Half what?”
“Arrived. Get ready.”
Saying that, Lennok moved to the middle of the maze that stretched out at three crossroads.
At that moment, the gigantic appearance of the universe turned upside down as if space were changing.
A small door rises so far high in the vast void that one might mistake it for realizing the night sky as it is, glowing faintly.
A doorknob floating at the end of the sky and the ground where Lennok and Evelyn are located.
And even the appearance of countless stones floating in between them.
A variety of blocks are floating in the air, ranging from the width that one person can barely step on to the vast size of a floating island in Lapis.
Hanghasa Labyrinth. It was the beginning of the second gateway.
Genius Wizard Who Eats Medicine Chapter 358
