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Chapter 362
The special space R'lyeh always requires a master.
It wasn’t sothing that selected a master through reason, but a system that operated according to its own structure.
To a space that always desired a master, what kind of being that master was did not matter.
Once soone beca its master, they could never relinquish control until death.
The problem lay in the trendous power possessed by this special space called R'lyeh.
They say that power cos with responsibility.
As a result, if soone diocre beca R'lyeh’s master, they would be unable to withstand the power R'lyeh emitted.
Simply put, ordinary people could not handle R'lyeh’s power.
However—
Shockingly, the current R'lyeh fully recognized Leon Cascadia as its rightful master, even becoming wholly bound to him.
The people trapped within the blue sphere and drained of strength by Dagon were unconscious.
The only ones able to remain awake were Princess Baltosma and the Archangel Uriel.
Leaving the weeping princess behind, Leon slowly approached and checked on the unconscious girl lying on the ground.
She was weakened, but her life was not in danger.
Truthfully, while Rebecca mattered too, what weighed on his mind even more was the R'lyeh that had just beco bound to him.
‘Librarian.’
With just his will, he summoned the Librarian, and text surfaced before him.
[Confird.]
‘Investigate R'lyeh. Also… can it be relocated sowhere else?’
[R'lyeh is currently fully bound to you. Changing its location is not difficult.]
‘Then lift it above sea level for now.’
He intended to change this entire ocean-like environnt as well.
[Initiating arbitrary modification sequence. Do you grant permission?]
‘Can you do it?’
[I, too, am bound to you. I can deliver your will on your behalf.]
Leon felt sothing strange at that explanation, but soon gave his approval.
‘Do it.’
He then turned toward Uriel, who was watching in confusion.
“Why?”
— It is impossible. A re mortal controlling R'lyeh… such a thing cannot be.
“But I'm doing it.”
— That is exactly why it is impossible. It is akin to a wingless human spreading wings and taking flight.
“But it’s happening anyway.”
— …
Uriel looked utterly dumbfounded, eventually giving up trying to understand.
— The recorded information must be corrected. Moreover, your existence must be clearly identified as sothing other than human—an irregular.
Leon rely shrugged as if telling him to do whatever he wanted and ignored him, approaching the princess.
Princess Baltosma wept endlessly, refusing to let go of her brother.
It seed the two had been very close.
On the outside she had acted prickly, but just like Leon, her brother had clearly been soone who put her safety above all else.
“Your Highness, we’ll be leaving this place soon. I’m sorry about your brother.”
She was crying for many reasons, but the largest was likely this: her brother had turned himself into a monster, sacrificing his body without hesitation in order to free her from the sphere.
[R'lyeh’s location lock released. Beginning interference with the material plane. Manifesting R'lyeh in the material plane. Fixing base form.]
R'lyeh had been hiding its form deep in the ocean, but the Librarian began rewriting it entirely.
For now, Leon couldn’t offer any real comfort to the princess, so he simply waited silently for her sobs to fade.
At that mont, Archangel Uriel unfurled his wings as if preparing to ascend, but Leon blocked him.
“Where do you think you’re going? I ca here because I have questions for you.”
— Wait.
He fully extended his wings and activated his halo.
— Brave soul, though your spirit has departed your body, I offer my respects for the miracle you have shown.
A short sentence.
Emotionless.
Genderless.
Uriel extended his hand, enveloping the corpse with angelic power.
“W–wait! Where are you taking my brother?!”
The frightened princess cried out, and Uriel answered.
— I have witnessed the miracle wrought by a re created being—a mortal. In the past, I would not have cared, but now I can allow myself at least this degree of leniency. I shall wrap your brother’s body in blessing, and send his soul to rest within God’s embrace.
A devout follower would have wept in joy hearing such words.
Since that was all Uriel could do, Leon saw no reason to stop him.
The princess stared at him in dazed confusion.
At last, noticing his wings and halo, she cautiously asked.
“Who… are you?”
— I am an archangel—Uriel, the one who bears and proclaims divine knowledge.
Unlike Gabriel, who simply conveyed divine will, Uriel held knowledge and spread what he was permitted.
Thus, he knew much that Gabriel did not.
“I need to ask you sothing.”
— I already know what it is you wish to ask. However, that knowledge is not permitted to you, mortal.
Leon narrowed his eyes.
“That’s not for you to decide.”
— No. It is for God to decide.
“Well, for whatever reason, your God changed His mind. Luna is pregnant—with my child. I think I have the right to know what’s going on.”
Leon didn’t back down.
Uriel quietly closed his eyes.
Then, as if hearing sothing puzzling, he raised his head.
— If that is His will… then I shall convey it.
He spoke to soone unseen, then faced Leon.
— Mortal. The life within her is sothing that was never ant to exist. An archangel cannot, by nature, bear offspring.
“I know. But she still conceived.”
— If the child ca into being regardless, then there must be a reason.
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“A reason?”
— If the existence of that child will bring about so enormous consequence in the future—
CRACK!!!
A fissure split open in the air beside Uriel.
Leon understood instinctively.
A child that should never have been possible—born between a half-divine being like Luna and a once-human like Leon—ant that the world intended to place an unbearable burden upon that child.
Leon’s voice chilled.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but let’s get one thing straight.”
His face turned terrifying.
“Like it or not, don’t cross the line. I’m not so devout believer. If you’re scheming sothing with my kid, stop now.”
— Mind your blasphemy. I cannot judge God’s intent recklessly. But if I reason through the current situation, there is no other possibility.
“Will the baby be born healthy?”
— Raphael’s child will be born whole. Blessed by God, the child and Raphael will suffer no harm from this. In fact, because the child will be born blessed, many aspects of this world will favor them.
“Don’t go stamping so divine stigma on them for no reason. That’s not funny.”
— That is not for us to decide.
Uriel said the child would grow for ten months like a human infant and be born normally.
There would be no harm to the child or Luna.
That was all Leon needed to know.
Uriel slowly spread his wings and ascended, dissolving into light.
Just before he vanished—
— Mortal.
“…”
— Soone near you bears a twisted burden of fate. They tried to defy destiny, and because of that, the ti of their ruin draws near.
“Say it in plain words. Stop circling around it.”
— You will understand when the ti cos. I judge that urging you to choose for the sake of the world is right. But if you do not wish to regret your decision, choose however you like—even if it sets us at odds.
The choice is yours.
Uriel continued.
— Mortal, R'lyeh’s existence may stir greed in every living being of the material plane. Do not forget that.
“This belongs to now. I’ll do whatever I want with it. And I don’t take kindly to people touching what’s mine.”
Uriel fell silent, then—like Gabriel before—vanished in a burst of light.
Freed from R'lyeh’s power, nothing remained to bind him here.
“Ah. You could’ve at least left a contact number.”
Naturally, an archangel wouldn’t carry sothing like a communication crystal.
Leon looked toward the place where he’d vanished and sighed.
“The archangels may share their stance, but they’re not all acting the sa anymore.”
* * *
The mariti city of Ryubel was a place frequented by rchants from both the Western and Central continents.
That day, too, countless rchant ships docked and departed, bustling with activity.
rchants unloading goods for trade, others buying in bulk to redistribute across the continent—the marketplace swirled with tens of thousands of people.
Then—
A rchant watching the sea let out a dazed sound.
“Huh? Huhh?? What is that?”
He was pointing at the sky above the empty sea.
Others glanced at him with annoyance, but only for a mont.
Before long, everyone halted in shock and stared skyward.
“W–what is that?!”
“Call the city guard! What’s happening?!”
Their panic was justified.
The clear sky above the sea was splitting open.
The sky parted silently, ominously, as if the end of the world was beginning.
Ryubel’s guards and mages rushed to the scene, but none understood what they were seeing.
“No mana response at all. How is that possible…?”
“In all recorded cases, nothing like this has ever happened.”
Fear and confusion thickened the air.
The widening fissure suddenly stopped—then shattered like glass, silently.
From the broken void erged a colossal floating island.
Massive enough to dwarf Ryubel itself.
Everyone—rchants, bards, rcenaries—gasped and fell speechless.
The island drifted slowly, covering Ryubel in shadow.
“W–what is that island?!”
“It’s heading east!”
Even at its slow pace, all who watched realized the truth instinctively.
This was an ancient relic.
An undiscovered natural wonder.
Which ant—
Unimaginable treasures or knowledge could be hidden there.
And indeed, in the past, ancient ruins had revealed extraordinary artifacts and rare natural essences.
A floating island also held imnse strategic value.
Then another incident occurred.
A rchant spotted sothing falling from the sky and hurried toward it—only to freeze.
It was a giant crystal.
Normally valuable enough, but inside the crystal was a far greater problem.
A natural liquid.
An elixir, a life-giving essence, the kind that money alone could never buy.
An ultra-rare liquid ford by centuries of condensed mana.
Word spread fast.
Even though only one crystal fell, people reached a single conclusion.
The island is overflowing with priceless treasures!
As the island drifted across the continent, nations prepared expeditions—eager to claim its secrets.
anwhile, atop the island, Leon mindlessly adjusted its systems, looking exhausted.
“Ugh. ssed up again. Why is controlling this thing so hard? Maybe I should just increase speed.”
[Attempting major adjustnts without full control is dangerous. Monts ago, debris fell due to excessive acceleration. If you cannot control it fully, disasters may occur beneath the island.]
“Fine. No accidents… I get it. Just… shut up for a minute.”
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