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Chapter 383
The terrorist group affiliated with the Revenants was subdued by lissa, who had brought troops to encircle the area, and was subsequently imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the Cascadia territory.
Although the opponents were Sword Master–class or even Archmage–class individuals, they were unable to exert much of their power since I was personally suppressing their use of strength.
And now—
I was alone with the Emperor.
“Speak comfortably. This eting is rely for to share a personal rapport with you, young lord. And you are a being worthy of such treatnt.”
“If you put it that way, I won’t refuse.”
After quietly savoring his coffee, he finally spoke after so deliberation.
“Leon Cascadia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You are… in the position of the Guardian of Bata.”
“It is more honor than I deserve.”
At my calm reply, he shook his head.
“That is not how I see it. One who rely possesses great power becos a destroyer. But one who is worthy—becos a true guardian.”
Putting weight into his words, he declared.
“You truly possess the qualifications of a guardian. There are many who wield great power, but among them, I have never seen anyone who has achieved what you have.”
Co to think of it, there really had been quite a few incidents along the way.
“Therefore, I intend to bestow upon Leon Cascadia a Title of the Star.”
“A… Title of the Star?”
Of course I knew what that ant.
A Title of the Star signified a being respected across the entire continent, transcending national boundaries. Its weight was imnse.
Sword Saint Osberg.
Spear Saint.
Demon Saint.
There were many who bore such star-granted titles.
The Title of the Star.
It was a symbol—one that even kings of nations were obliged to respect.
Naturally, no single kingdom or empire could arbitrarily decide such a thing.
No matter how powerful an empire might be, attempting to force it would only invite resistance.
Even the King of Bata had no authority to propose it.
It was an unspoken continental rule—one upheld by collective reverence.
“I still possess the authority to make such a proposal.”
“Hm… I’m not particularly interested.”
Those who bore a Title of the Star received reverence and respect—but also shouldered imnse responsibility.
True, accepting it wouldn’t be difficult for .
I was confident in any field.
And if that happened, elevating Cascadia from the 13 Great Houses to the 14th wouldn’t be impossible.
But—
It didn’t appeal to .
Joking aside about a fourteenth house, if Cascadia grew that large, the only one who’d suffer would be lissa.
“Rather than that, Your Majesty. What do you intend to do with the Revenants?”
“Ordinarily, after consulting with the Bata royal family, they would be transferred to Boscal. There, they would inevitably be executed.”
“Execution…”
“Pity is a luxury. Innocent lives slain by their hands—and by the previous Emperor—have piled up into mountains of corpses.”
“Mountains of corpses…”
“Have you heard the rumors of the crying child from the western continent?”
Ah. I had heard sothing like that.
A rumor where, on certain nights, the sound of a child wailing could be heard—and by morning, the lake would be stained red like blood.
It was dismissed as a story adults told to scare children… but perhaps it wasn’t just a rumor?
“They bathed in the blood of children not even ten years old to attain immortality. This is the natural outco.”
“…Damn.”
For an Emperor like Credos—who, despite appearances, loved children—it was no wonder he was furious.
“Regardless, I would appreciate it if you would withdraw the matter of the Title of the Star.”
“At the very least, I will make the proposal.”
No, seriously—this man.
“Young lord. You are worthy of such treatnt. Even if all others say otherwise, I will push you forward.”
It felt like we weren’t quite communicating, but the Emperor clearly held in high regard.
* * *
Now, lissa, Luna, and I were staring at a faintly glowing crimson bundle of thread atop the central table.
“This is thread periodically produced by a Phoenix Silkworm. If you weave cloth from it, you get sothing extraordinary—or so Master Verus said.”
Verus, a skilled dwarf craftsman in Cascadia and currently the chief overseer of its mines, was trustworthy.
“A very rare lifeform. The Phoenix Silkworm gets its na from its extraordinarily long lifespan.”
“Huh? Long-lived?”
“To be precise, its lifespan is at most one month. However, before dying, it wraps itself in thread and forms a cocoon.”
And within that cocoon—
It is reborn.
Just like a phoenix.
“That’s why it’s called a Phoenix Silkworm. After one rebirth, it consus its own threads—but if you provide alternative nutrients instead, it discards the thread.”
“So this much in a month?”
“The cocoon is usually quite large. This is only a portion that was processed first and sent ahead.”
The Boscal Empire had claid it was a gift.
They did ntion that delivery would be delayed since the silkworm was in the middle of preparing for rebirth.
“It resembles the Heavenly Silkworm silk of the Eastern Continent.”
Heavenly Silkworm Silk… I had heard of it—silk from mountain silkworm moths.
But when such a creature reached the level of a spiritual beast, its silk surpassed ordinary material entirely.
“However… in this maiden’s eyes, this seems even superior to Heavenly Silkworm Silk.”
Hwa Ryeong and Cheon Ryeong, both from the Sichuan Clan of the Eastern Continent, examined the thread in awe.
“Congratulations, young lord. You’ve obtained an extraordinary gift.”
“Our congratulations.”
“But handling such a high-grade material requires advanced techniques…”
That was the problem.
Rare materials were difficult to process.
The one who solved it was—of all people—the succubus Marian.
“Uh… I think we can handle that.”
“You can?”
She nodded casually.
“Yes. Long ago, near the underground city where we lived, Phoenix Silkworms would sotis appear, leave their cocoons behind, and disappear. Our ancestors researched how to process the threads.”
As expected of succubi—artisans capable of crafting artifacts with delicate precision.
“Judging by the quality and size, this is high-grade material. Just a rough estimate, but… it might be enough to make clothing for four people.”
Succubi.
They were more capable than I thought.
“However, there’s soone who’s better at making clothes than we are.”
At Marian’s words, I tilted my head.
“Who?”
“Lispa Elde.”
Remiel?
The forr Archangel who governed lodies—she had that kind of skill?
Co to think of it, Lispa Elde hadn’t visited Cascadia much lately.
“When you were away from the territory, she visited once. She looked around our workshop and said she was bored—then knitted a pair of fur gloves.”
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I glanced at Luna to confirm whether this was true.
She turned her head away and clicked her tongue.
“How would I know.”
“Well… no idea if she had that skill back when she was an Archangel.”
“She’ll co the mont you call her. She used to drop by constantly just to see you.”
“Right! I’m very talented!”
We flinched and turned.
There—perched casually on the open window, waving—was the forr Archangel.
Lispa Elde Remielia.
“….”
We were montarily speechless.
The first to react was Luna, who sohow produced a sign reading [NO ENTRY FOR THIEF PIGEONS].
“Get out. Now.”
“Eek! You crazy bitch!”
Lispa nearly fell out the window as Luna’s grip pinned her in place.
“You’ve gotten even stronger—just brute force!”
“Unlike you, I’ll keep getting stronger.”
“Leon! Help !”
When I just watched silently, she shouted.
“Hey! You muscle-brained gorilla! Let go! I even brought a gift for the baby in your belly!!”
Luna froze.
“…Why would you bring that?”
“Why not? It’s Leon’s child. I don’t care about you, but Leon’s child is another matter.”
Her focus had completely excluded Luna—zeroing in solely on my child.
The mindset of a forr Archangel was… difficult to understand.
Recovering her balance, Lispa hopped inside and glanced at the Phoenix Silkworm thread.
“Hm… decent quality.”
“What’s the gift?”
I asked.
She grinned and pulled out a small candle-like object from her pouch.
“A candle?”
“Surely not… Marine True-White Wax?”
“Oh? Sharp eyes.”
Marine True-White Wax?
“Simply lighting it enriches the air with holy energy. Placing it near the sick is said to greatly accelerate recovery.”
As Cheon Ryeong explained, I reached out and activated the Heart of the Machine God.
Information flooded in.
“Ah. This thod… it must’ve been difficult to make. Where did you get it?”
“I looted Michael’s temple.”
…This lunatic.
Surely not the actual heavenly temple—probably one dedicated to Archangel Michael on the mortal plane.
Honestly, given Lispa’s worldview, I should’ve expected this.
“You didn’t… kill anyone for it, did you?”
“No. It was from the underground of an abandoned temple with no visitors.”
Well then… I suppose.
I smiled faintly.
“The baby’s half angel, half human. Holy energy should be especially effective.”
For a normal child it’d already be potent—this was practically a supre treasure.
“Thank you, Lispa.”
“Anyti. Phoenix Silkworms too—just say the word. For you, I’d make anything.”
Her affection was… a bit overwhelming.
I stood up.
“I should rest. Everyone did well. The Emperor’s gone, so let’s take it easy for a while.”
“Good idea. I’ve barely noticed food going down my throat lately.”
As the exhausted lissa stood, others followed.
Grivy tugged Luna’s arm and dragged her off sowhere.
I made my way to the moonlit garden behind the manor.
There, ryl was waiting.
“You’re here.”
“What’s that?”
I pointed to the small orb in her hand.
“The core of a transcendent being. A material Galan received from Nyarlathotep. Sothing impossible to obtain normally. Unfortunately, the mont we recovered it, the transcendent’s body crumbled to dust.”
“Well. At least we got this.”
She stepped closer, her expression rigid.
An odd, complicated emotion flickered across her face.
“What is it?” I asked.
“This… it’s searching for you.”
“…What?”
“From the mont I held it, it keeps repeating the sa thing. Find Leon Cascadia. Deliver this to him. Over and over…”
Searching for ?
I took the core.
The world seed to shift.
—Find Kuralion’s Staff. Implant this core there, and I will reveal a fragnt of the truth you seek.
The voice stopped there.
But I couldn’t ignore it.
Cold—yet unmistakably familiar.
It was my voice.
[Voice match rate: 99.98%.
Conclusion: This is effectively your own voice.
Warning: A concealed Authority has been detected within the core.
Analysis suggests a similar Authority to the one granted to Isna Mielephon.]
Authority…
Coincidentally, I already possessed Kuralion’s Staff.
I imdiately retrieved the Void Enchanter taken from the cultists and released its seal.
Without hesitation, I pressed the core against it.
An artifact from beyond dinsions.
It could’ve been a trap of an Outer God—or Nyarlathotep.
But my instincts scread that I had to do this.
ryl rushed in too late to stop .
The Void Enchanter reacted violently, engulfed the core, and resonated with my entire body.
And then—
The world froze.
Completely.
And there, I saw him.
A Leon Cascadia with a similar build to mine—but exuding cold, darkness, and death.
Leon Cascadia of the Closed World.
“The only way to pass my will to you—the one carrying the final chance—was to embed it within my Authority and inject it directly through the Void Enchanter. Seems you found it.”
“Yeah. Took it off so cultists by coincidence.”
The idea that even the Red Moon’s core was used like this was unsettling.
“The Red Moon didn’t know?”
“It isn’t omniscient. Just a powerful monster.”
True.
If it were truly omnipotent, it wouldn’t have been sealed by Sullivan and at the boundary of dinsions.
I felt a realization solidify.
“You planned this?”
“It was the only way.”
“Closing the world with your own hands?”
“To kill Yog, preparation was necessary. If repetition was no longer possible, then everything had to end by your hand.”
At the ntion of Yog, space cracked violently—but neither of us reacted.
Yog…
“You already know what you want to ask,”
He said.
“But the choice is yours.”
So—he would answer.
I asked the one thing the Librarian always denied.
“Labyrinthos.”
[Warning. Insufficient authority. Warning—]
The system text cut off abruptly.
“Have you ever seen the Red Moon inside the Labyrinthos? That eye-like, nauseating thing.”
“Hm. It claims it hasn’t.”
“Good. In every attempt except this one, the Labyrinthos never once manifested Yog’s Red Moon.”
“…What?”
“That’s why we failed. Just being within Yog’s influence drives all existence mad. No being can defeat Yog directly.”
Then what did that have to do with the Labyrinthos’s Red Moon?
Seeing my confusion, he continued.
“Over countless cycles, slowly… only you—who’ve grown accustod to Yog’s presence—possess immunity to its existence. Consider yourself lucky. The first ti, all I had was a sword.”
…This bastard.
He spoke as if the world had repeated dozens of tis.
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