Ch. 124 - The Stella Knights (3)

Chapter 124: The Stella Knights (3)

Dark Mage Azmik and Kalaban.

After their mission failure, they had no choice but to cancel their vacation and return.

It was a tearful situation for Azmik.

She was trying to get additional leave, and now even her existing vacation was cut short…

But what could she do?

They had even let those Stella's students slip away.

“Hahaha.”

“For the Dark Mages, it's a disgrace, a disgrace!”

“What? Letting those brats run away?”

“Hahaha! Even passing by goblins will laugh at you!”

"..."

Normally, they wouldn't make a sound, but today they were unusually noisy.

However, Azmik endured it.

Killing those bastards could wait.

"Azmik Kostalin."

"Yes."

At the voice that reached her, Azmik raised her head.

Before her, a man known as the 'Dark Knight' was sitting on a high throne.

'The Ruins of the Valkamak Royal Family.'

It was once a descendant family of one of the twelve disciples of the Progenitor Mage.

Valkamak was a kingdom that had flourished, but it was destroyed overnight.

The mastermind who made it so that life could not exist after destroying it was right in front of her, 'Dark King.'

"Recently, there was an unfortunate incident."

"I'm sorry. I'll go back right now and cut that throat."

"No, it's unnecessary."

As Dark King interrupted her words, Azmic lowered her head again.

“I believe I told you not to touch the students of Stella.”

“… A mission had come in."

"I know. It was a mission from the Moon Shadow Church."

However, the Dark King seemed to be even more displeased with that, and continued.

"Then, are you a hunting dog for the Moon Shadow Church?"

Those words made Azmik, who was already holding back her inner anger, even more furious, so she clicked her tongue.

"... No! I'm not one of those hounds!"

"Oh, I see. But you sure did take their words very well."

"Hmm..."

She couldn’t retort, so Azmik bit her lips roughly and lowered her head.

"But it's alright."

"... Yes?"

"Thanks to this incident, we've figured out how Moon Shadow Church’s leader, that arrogant little man, operates."

"What does that mean..."

Azmik didn’t seem to understand, but Dark King didn't explain any further.

The Cult Leader of Moon Shadow Church dared to attack the Dark Mage King’s son...

Just as not all humans share the same beliefs despite being human, the same held true for dark mages.

They had a common goal which revolved around tainting this world as the 'underworld,' but even within their ranks, subtle power struggles ensued.

At the center of it all was a boy named 'Ma Yu-Seong.'

A mysterious child with the abilities of both the real world and the underworld.

Without a doubt, this boy would become a bridge connecting the hidden world and the human realm.

However, for some reason, Moon Shadow Church didn't want that.

'I found out an interesting fact...'

The Dark King grinned mischievously.

“You two can leave now and summon someone immediately.”

Azmik and Kalaban left, and two mages in black robes rushed over and bowed their heads.

"Yes! What kind of personnel should we prepare?"

"You, lift your head."

Following Dark King’s command, the mage in the black robe raised her head.

Gender had little significance among dark mages, but this mage was biologically female, and she appeared to have undergone dark magic transformation at a relatively young age.

As such, she retained a youthful appearance.

Furthermore, Anela was a considerably high-ranking dark mage, with the ability to control her mana.

She was the perfect fit for this ‘plan.’

"What's your name?"

"It's Anella!"

"Alright, Anella. You're just what we need."

"Yes?"

"Prepare to infiltrate Stella Academy."

"... Yes?"

What did she just hear?

Anella was a Class 5 mage and a Level 6 Danger dark mage, and she was taken aback by the utterly unexpected request, but Dark King was sincere.

"Right now, immediately."

——-

As Eisel walked alongside Arien, she occasionally stole glances at him. His unnaturally pale skin and shadowed eyes gave him an almost corpse-like appearance, but she knew he was still alive.

Despite having neatly groomed short hair that fell just below his shoulders, he didn't seem to care much about his appearance.

However, Eisel couldn't help but wonder how he ended up with such an imposing demeanor.

‘Stella Grand Knight Commander…’

Back when the Morph Family was considered one of the world's top prestigious families, Eisel’s father, Isaac Morph, had occasionally talked about him.

‘He’s more human than anyone.’

'More human? Does that mean he’s compassionate?’

‘Daughter, why do you think humans have progressed this far?’

Even the dwarves possessed their exceptional forgery skills, the elves had their mastery of magic along with long lifespans; there were powerful beings of the elemental races, and even dragons with their formidable attributes – not to mention angels and demons.

However, humans didn’t have any of the advantages.

Despite possessing nothing, humans could dominate the world.

'Well...'

The answer was simple.

It was because they had a belief to keep moving towards their goals.

Other races had only one destination in mind and moved towards it.

Dwarves were satisfied with crafting beautiful artifacts and excellent equipment, while elves and angels wished to enjoy leisure every day due to their long lifespans, and the supernatural beings desired nothing more than to live together with their kind in enclosed spaces.

Humans were different.

'More. For higher places, humans constantly strived.'

Humans were someone determined to get something if they desired it. Even if it belonged to someone, they would still strive to conquer it.

'That's what being human is all about.'

'Ah...'

After hearing the story, Eisel realized something.

'That means....'

'Arien is more human than anyone else.’

Father warned her.

'Beware of humans.'

'Beware of human-like humans.'

And cutting to the present, she finally faced the human named Arien.

‘… I don't know.'

Even now, she had limited understanding of her father's words.

'I should be cautious.'

Eisel walked with light steps.

It was very peaceful and quiet, so it didn't feel dangerous.

Furthermore, despite her father's warning, Arien’s accomplishments and reputation couldn’t be ignored.

The position of Stella’s top knight was by no means an easy position to attain.

Excluding the Class 9 mages known as the Great Mages, they likely had the most formidable combat prowess.

In fact, during the long-forgotten event of the 'Grand Fortress Tragedy,' he reportedly slaughtered all the dark mages and took the general's life before returning unscathed; his legend remains immortal to this day.

Hence the question: why was the Grand Knight Commander interested in Baek Yu-Seol?

He was not the kind of person who would show concern for the fleeting life of a mere student.

Or perhaps, it might not be Baek Yu-Seol but the 'Mana Leakage Disorder' itself attracting his interest?

A fair number of mages were intrigued by it, as a body incapable of retaining mana defied the laws of nature.

The facts were found by Eisel during her research at the library.

If Arien’s goal was not to revive Baek Yu-Seol but to conduct experiments to uncover the secret of Mana Leakage Disorder...

‘Well, of course that would never happen…’

Despite deeming it unlikely, Eisel reluctantly spoke up, "Um, Knight Commander."

Arien didn't respond, but Eisel persisted, "Why do you take an interest in the fleeting life of a mere student...?"

"... No, um, well... If you're interested in Mana Leakage Disorder..."

"Is it your nature to let curiosity slip your tongue?"

Eisel’s shoulders slumped as Arien dismissed her with a bored voice. It seemed he had no intention of providing an answer.

"I am considering that child as a candidate for the next Knight Commander."

"... What?"

Hearing an answer she hadn't even considered, Eisel experienced a momentary brain freeze.

‘The Grand Knight Commander's next candidate...?’

Did she mishear?

"We finally have a candidate worth considering, and if we can save him, we should."

She hadn't misheard.

Arien was genuinely considering Baek Yu-Seol as one of the candidates for the position of Stella's Knight Commander.

To the extent that he was even trying to change the nearly incurable terminal condition...

The position of Knight Commander was one of the few titles that could be given the epithet of 'Idol of all the world's mages' and 'World's greatest knight.'

The fact that someone in such a position was paying attention to the Baek Yu-Seol didn't feel real at all.

After all, who else could fit the name 'knight' if not Baek Yu-Seol?

Unlike the present-day mages who merely imitated knights of old, Baek Yu-Seol was the only true knight in the world, who wielded a sword.

Furthermore, his talent shone like the sun even among the world's greatest geniuses gathered in Stella.

Thus, the attention of the world’s greatest knight Arien was not unwarranted.

"Attention! Knight Commander Arien is entering!"

Following him for a while, they arrived at the rare 'Stella Orion Magic Tower.'

The Orion Magic Tower was a place where only Stella's elite knights and researchers could enter; an area off-limits to ordinary students.

There were even rumors that Orion was the source of Stella's magnificent yet secretive technological prowess.

Eisel didn’t expect to come here and stared in awe.

"Follow me."

"Oh, okay."

Following Arien into the Orion Tower, Eisel took an elevator to the top floor.

But for some reason, the elevator kept ascending even beyond the rooftop of the tower.

And then, suddenly...

Thud!

The elevator came to a halt with a heavy sound, and the doors opened.

"Wow."

A colossal 'library' appeared.

Every corner of this vast space appeared like a massive cave filled with books. It dwarfed the Stella Library by an incomparable margin.

However, even before she could utter words of admiration, a sense of unease crept over her.

"Is it okay to show a place like this to an ordinary student like me...?"

Oddly, Arien seemed to be amused by her words, and smiled.

“What kind of information do you think this library holds?"

"Um... just, various things...?"

"Right. It contains information from this world, really all sorts of things."

When Arien replied, Eisel felt her cheeks burn, and feared that the word 'various' sounded cheap.

"But in the end, it's doesn’t contain 'all information.'"

"Huh?"

"How much do you know about the 'Star Archive'?"

The Star Archive.

It was a kind of legendary entity passed down as tradition in the magical society. It was believed to contain all of this world's history, mysteries, truths, knowledge, information, and secrets.

Its information was said to be so comprehensive that it recorded every detail down to the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second of what happened where.

But that was, literally, a legend.

To claim it contains all of the world's information was undoubtedly fiction.

"This place is a recreation inspired by the Star Archive. But it's absurdly inadequate, to the point where there's no need to compare its performance."

Eisel couldn't fathom the purpose of this conversation. "Why are you telling me this?"

"The Mana Leakage Disorder exists 'beyond our knowledge.' It's an 'unexplained, supernatural phenomenon' that cannot be described by magic."

To explain something beyond the knowledge of humans, one must rely on something beyond that category.

But it was such a preposterous statement.

To claim that they could cure a mere incurable disease like Mana Leakage Delay by feeding it as a 'legend'... Eisel couldn't respond.

She found the situation too unbelievable for even the Arien she knew as Grand Knight Commander.

Arien seemed to anticipate her reaction and continued, "We've already found it. No, it's been with us for more than a thousand years."

"That... that can't be..."

It was just too hard to believe.

The legendary Star Archive, which was believed to store all the knowledge.

It was not a myth but a reality.

Even if it was coming from the mouth of Stella's top knight, it was still difficult to accept.

However, no matter how Eisel perceived it, he spoke nothing but the truth.

"The true name of the Star Archive is the 'Constellation Project.'"

Arien turned to Eisel and continued somewhat gravely.

"Only the descendants of the twelve disciples of the Progenitor Mage can access it."

"Ah..."

The twelve disciples of the Progenitor Mage.

And if you were their descendants...

It was only then that Eisel could understand the reason behind Stella's Grand Knight Commander asking for her assistance.

The Morph family was also one of the descendants of the twelve disciples.

Given that one of the twelve disciples' descendants was struggling to save Baek Yu-Seol, it was only natural to assume that Arien would try to utilize her.

After all, they could make use of the Constellation Project, an extremely valuable repository of information.

"That place contains all the truths of this world. But, after witnessing 'the truth' by reading the Constellation Project, the twelve disciples sealed it so it would never be disclosed to the world again. Only their descendants can access it."

"... Why is that?"

"I don't know."

Arien seemed rather disinterested in the 'truth' contained within the Star Archive.

"To me, that doesn't matter much. You should focus on the fact that you can read at least some information from there."

From his expression, it was evident that Grand Knight Commander Arien genuinely wanted her to read the Star Archive.

He was willing to do anything to achieve his goal and save a single student.

"... Yes, I'll give it a try."

"Good. We'll start right away. Prepare yourself mentally."

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