Chương 165: The Sanctuary in the Sky (14)

Simon Magnos flew on rotten wings to witness the death of Uyo. Shabram had already given him a detailed report of what happened to the region on the Zodiac Parade's first day, but to see it with his own eyes was another matter entirely. A fiery ravine of boiling water and melting lava now split the continent from the green jungles of Uyo, the flood washing away tons of mud, carcasses, broken cliffs, and the ruins of border cities swept away by the chaos.

Violent quakes continued to strike the area, splitting the land open, and causing terrified birds to fly away in swarms. Border towns were little more than smoking ruins buried under falling trees or crumbling holes dragged into the earth's bowels by the disaster. The forest fires could be seen for miles.

"This is horrifying…" Alcyone muttered behind him. Since she couldn't fly, Simon had kindly given her a ride on his dracozombie so she could see for herself what kind of disaster they would be dealing with.

"It looks like the end of the world…"

"Because it is," Simon said as he looked up to the sight of Abraxas and its fiery tail dominating the sky. The Second Doom had come at last. The rampant devastation was somehow the least terrifying thing about Uyo right now, for Simon's Dark Visionary senses had picked up on something far more ominous: a veil of near-imperceptible demonic miasma blanketing most of the jungle. It reminded him of the poisonous mist which had overtaken the Darkwood, but more diffused.

It looks like an Abyssal Domain with open borders, Simon thought as he studied the phenomenon. No barrier kept innocents trapped inside the hellscape, but the evil inside was free to spread across vast distances. Has the Fiend grown so strong that it can project its domain across an entire region, even if in a diffused state? It was probably a similar effect to what was happening with his own Dungeon.

He had to temporarily cancel it at Lady Junon's demand due to its expanding influence threatening to reach other islands and destabilize the barrier keeping the archipelago hidden from view. Simon was dying to investigate further, but his gut told him approaching the region any closer would end badly. Shabram's report from his Darkwood cultist reign indicated imperial airships sent to relieve the area had been assaulted by flocks of monsters and wyverns, probably under the unleashed archfiend's control.

It was a fight he would rather avoid. Dealing with one comet-empowered Zodiac Fiend would be enough for a reign, especially since he had no idea where the Archer was placed in his siblings' hierarchy of power. Simon glanced at Vayan and Eole, who had insisted on flying with them to the region. The grim look on his lover's face told Simon everything he needed to know, and he could almost taste the sorrow radiating from Vayan.

"We'll make sure this doesn't happen to the Sanctuary," he reassured them. Eole bit her lip.

"But it will happen to Telluria and so many other places."

"Probably not to Telluria," Simon replied evasively. His siblings had probably moved the Two-Tailed Fish to the Goetia Research Facility, so the region might avoid the worst of the chaos.

"My visions didn't reach far beyond this point. All I remember are imperial airships fighting monsters across Uyo's skies."

"I've seen enough," Alcyone replied behind him.

"I'll go after the other crystals as soon as we kill Nodens, while we still have a world left to save." Simon nodded and had his dracozombie fly back to the Sanctuary, ascending past the clouds with his allies and then crossing the invisible barrier. Lady Junon could influence the islands' flight path, but keeping them in one place for a prolonged period of time demanded effort from her part. Only one month left, Simon thought with a scowl. Will it be enough?

It was during the autumn that Simon realized some of his predictions had been far too optimistic. While the Champions had all made lightning-fast progress up to level thirty or so after each individually slaying his dracozombie and other Forbidden Keep demons, it soon slowed down to a crawl. Tybalt in particular struggled terribly after reaching level fifty. Simon wondered what caused these issues until the truth hit him in the face. He had an exp-boosting Perk, and they didn't.

Simon had grown so used to progressing with a fifty-percent increase that his frame of reference was entirely skewed, though they found ways to partly correct that issue. While the Champions weren't willing to accept the Brand of Sloth, one of Eole's new Performances, Miracle of Learning, boosted the experience rate of anyone listening to it by twenty percent until the song ran its course. Simon recorded it on music boxes to ensure their recruits would spend every session listening to its tune.

Thankfully, Alcyone's superior Adventurer exp-boosting Perk—of which Simon's stolen Freelancer one was but a pale imitation—allowed her to extend the effect to five people that formed a 'party' with her. Her mentorship helped the Champions pick up the pace. Shabram had also avoided Louis' purge so far, probably because she was half the reason he got so far already thanks to her priceless information gathering. She continued to provide Simon with reports on the situation on the ground, which kept getting worse.

Norbelle and Mastemo had broken away from the empire by causing a revolt in Valendre while Louis invaded Cocagne to complete the imperial conquest of the continent; all while Valne had become little more than an airship-shelled wasteland where soldiers, warbeasts, and automatons fought each other in a grueling battle. Vouivre herself had gone missing after the empire bombarded Scaland, and was possibly dead. The flames of war had engulfed everything.

Simon had hoped that sharing the truth about the threat of the Zodiac Parade would have led to a slightly better outcome. Instead, it had only made things so much worse. His happiness had come at the expense of everyone else's. I was wrong, Simon thought grimly. In the end, no one stepped up. His group flew back to Boreas, where they found Lady Junon in deep meditation with Voltobauta under the manatree's shade. The dryad looked up to them and tensed like a bowstring.

"From the look on your faces, I assume it is as we feared," she lamented, cradling her arms.

"I can hear the earth screaming from here…"

"What little I saw reminded me of the First Doom," Vayan admitted.

"Maybe even worse. So many will die…"

"We'll go with the bomb plan," Alcyone decided.

"If Nodens' return will cause as much damage to your home as what's going on in Uyo, then we have to take him out as fast as we can."

"At least we will have an expert opinion soon," Voltobauta mused as he raised his hand.

"Are you ready, Milady?"

"Yes." Lady Junon closed her eyes and joined her hands.

"I should be able to stabilize the shade this time."

"Then come forth, Robin Waybright, first of all Merchants." Voltobauta dramatically waved his hand at an empty spot.

"I bid thee to answer our call and questions." No sooner did he utter those words that a shade of mana arose to greet them; the translucent, ethereal ghost of a handsome man in the prime of his age, wearing the very same Merchant outfit Simon once put on in Magvolia.

"I hear you, Necromancer," the figure said in an archaic version of the elven tongue, a foxy grin stretching on his pale face. Simon immediately recognized the voice from his old Merchant vision.

"What do you wish to know?"

"It is him…" Vayan muttered in recognition, as if greeting an old friend.

"You did it."

"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Waybright," Eole introduced them with a respectful bow.

"We are here to finish what you started, and defeat Nodens the Wicked." The ghost continued to smile without a word.

"Hey?" Alcyone scratched the back of her head.

"Can he hear us?"

"He can hear me," Voltobauta replied with a smile of pure amusement. Simon suspected he kept that tidbit to himself to see his friend embarrass herself.

"I told you, a ghost is not the original soul, but an echo of it. An unliving remembrance." Simon nodded in understanding. Voltobauta's Necromancer Perks let him compel any shade he knew the true name of to appear before him and answer his questions. Obviously, the very first person they tried to consult on how to deal with Nodens was one of the Heroes who defeated him in the first place, and Simon knew better than to recommend contacting Elios.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Unfortunately, since Lady Junon was cut off from the greater Worldsoul, Waybright's memories were more difficult to access. It had taken her and Voltobauta months to successfully call his shade, but better late than never. Still, the sight of the ghost filled Simon with bitterness.

He had asked Voltobauta to try and summon his mother's shade outside the barrier earlier so he could at least see her again—which the Necromancer agreed to do in exchange for a future favor—but repeatedly failed.

"Your father must have fed her soul to that vile jester of his," Voltobauta had guessed with a contrite expression.

"He usually did that to his foes to prevent posthumous leaks. I am well and truly sorry, but she is beyond my reach." It hadn't been enough for Balzam to murder Simon's mother, but he had to deny her an afterlife on top of it. Simon was almost tempted to find a way to revive his father just so he could kill him again. Voltobauta cleared his throat.

"What can you tell us about the one they call Nodens the Painbringer?"

"Nodens was a sadistic archfiend born of the Goatfish constellation who terrorized these lands in centuries past," the shade answered. The gravity in his voice sounded sincere enough, perhaps as an echo of the original's feelings.

"He slew me under the stars that empowered him with a Nova spell when we tried to stop him from casting a foul ritual."" Nova is a Tier VII spell," Simon said. He had seen Frea cast it against him in Magvolia.

"He can use archmage-level magic."

"What are his battle tactics and weaknesses?" Voltobauta interrogated the ghost.

"Nodens is a master of sorcery, adept at dispelling the buffs of others and inflicting cruel ailments upon them," the shade answered.

"Poison, petrify, vile curses, stasis, slow, silence… he knows them all. Those he cannot cripple, Nodens annihilates with high-tier spells. My contracted eidolon, Xenophon, had great success engaging him in close combat, to the point he had to throw him off the island to stall his defeat." Not so different from how he acted when possessing Casval, Simon thought as he compared Robin's description to his memory of fighting Nodens' previous host.

He still favored long-range spells in spite of gaining a dragon's strength.

"So he fights like a typical spellcaster," Alcyone noted. No doubt she was already considering various battle tactics.

"What ritual was he trying to complete?" Voltobauta repeated her question, and Waybright's answer sent chills down Simon's spine.

"Nodens intended to cast down these islands onto the Worldtree, in a final attempt to end the Zodiac War in the demons' favor and avenge his fallen master, Helel, the Maiden of Control."

"Destroy the Worldtree?" Vayan recoiled in horror.

"Is that even possible?"

"It could work," Simon admitted, his jaw clenching.

"The manaliths keeping the islands afloat detonate on impact. A chunk as large as Boreas or Zephyr could wipe out all of Illusea. The death toll would be immense."

"The Worldtree is also at the center of the wheel of reincarnation," Voltobauta muttered to himself. The usually carefree pirate king sounded rattled to his core.

"Its destruction would cripple it and leave souls stranded where they died… the land would shrivel away and ghosts would roam its barren plains. Truly a dreadful future."

"Nodens and his brethren sought to rule a godless pandemonium engulfed in fear and misery, where men are slaves and food," Waybright warned them.

"He must never be allowed to complete his ritual."

"And we won't let him," Alcyone insisted, clenching her fist.

"Let's grill him about every detail of his final fight and prepare for it."

"Wait." Simon cleared his throat and faced Voltobauta.

"Could you ask him what he knew of my ancestor Elios Magnos? I have the feeling this may be relevant, since he was the Librarian who helped seal Nodens."

"Is that so?" Voltobauta squinted slightly at him, but questioned the ghost nonetheless.

"What do you know of Elios Magnos?"

"Elios was my friend, the most knowledgeable of us Noble Heroes… though perhaps not the wisest," Waybright's shade replied.

"He, the Oracle and I were the last of the original generation. I purchased years of youth from the immortal elves to extend my own life, and he was granted a Destined Death by the Oracle of Illusea, to ensure he could chronicle our deeds and inspire our successors."

"A Destined Death?" Simon repeated. The term was unfamiliar to him.

"I've heard of it," Alcyone said.

"A Destined Death is a rare and powerful blessing of the Oracle. She peers into a person's future with their consent and asks fate to set the date of their death in stone. On one hand, they're guaranteed to die on that day no matter what they do; on the other hand, nothing can kill them beforehand."

"The death of our friends weighed heavily on Elios' mind, for his third eye let him observe a future he could not change for anything," Waybright's shade said.

"I pity him, for he and the Oracle will have buried us all. My last thought was for him to find happiness with his wife in what little time he had left." He at least found a way to cheat his destiny, though I'm not sure it made him happy, Simon thought. Was that why he rebelled? Because he was sick of being a piece on a board destined to die once he had outlived his usefulness? Simon had no answer to that question, and neither did Waybright. The final month passed in a blur.

Simon lost count of the drills and rehearsals, of the nights he spent crafting bombs to blow up Nodens with. Everyone had thrown themselves into their training, Eole most of all, to the point they probably spent more time practicing Performances than doing any kind of couple activities. Watching a prelude of the disaster that awaited her home had solidified her resolve.

They had continued to interrogate Waybright's ghost until they knew every minute detail of his last battle with Nodens, taking notes of the demon's abilities and moves. The first Merchant had also provided some hints on the true nature of libromancy.

"Elios used to tell me that true grimoires have souls, and that he could bring them into the world," Waybright had said when questioned on the subject.

"That is the art of libromancy: to grasp the essence of a book and give it shape." What soul could lurk inside this thing? Simon pondered as he checked the Scream of the Soul for the hundredth time. He could tell the answer was within his grasp and yet a detail still escaped him. Are there other ghosts who could answer that question? Perhaps I should ask Voltobauta to help me summon the first Mage's ghost or something… Waybright's ghost could give us so many lost names...

"Your Majesty." Belzemine's voice drew him out of his thoughts, and he looked up from the book to see his elf friend standing near the bedroom's threshold.

"It is late, so I… I am going to sleep." She had stopped asking for permission to sleep last week.

"Yes, that's wise," Simon replied.

"We need to be in our best shape for tomorrow." Belzemine gulped.

"Eole is… outside," she said, holding her hands.

"She looks… unwell. I fear she will not sleep without Your Majesty's help."

"I'll talk to her." Tomorrow's battle probably weighed heavily on her mind.

"Thanks for informing me." Belzemine hadn't yet fully remembered how to smile, but sometimes her lips would purse just a little bit. Those moments were fleeting like the wind, yet always wonderful to behold. Leaving the book aside, Simon walked out of his home to Eole on the roof, staring at the starry sky with a moody scowl. Her hands gripped her baby stone's smooth surface.

"You know, this stone was a gift from Carbuncle," she said when she heard Simon flying and sitting next to her.

"He told me that the moonlight might show me a bright future when it reflects on it."

"And did it work?" Simon asked.

"I hope it did."

"The stone didn't show me anything," Eole admitted with a scoff as she turned the stone.

"But it didn't stop me from imagining things. Like the two of us raising a child here, maybe two, and growing old together in peace." She set the stone aside.

"It was a beautiful dream."

"But it's not one you aspire to anymore," Simon guessed.

"Not after what you saw in Uyo."

"I can't avert my eyes from this disaster, Simon." Eole stared at the horizon and the pale, blue Watermoon in the sky.

"I didn't appreciate what I had here when I first left. A safe home is a priceless luxury. My ancestors found refuge from the Doom by flying here, yet so many people won't have this chance even if we defeat Nodens–"" When we defeat Nodens," Simon insisted." When we defeat Nodens," Eole corrected herself with a thin smile. His confidence had touched her.

"I cannot simply forget about what I saw, Simon."

"Me neither," Simon admitted with a sigh.

"I tried though."

"Yes. Yes, I know you did." Eole gave him a look of sympathy.

"What happened in Uyo… is it exactly how you saw it? In your visions?"

"It's somehow even worse." Simon shook his head.

"It would have been less devastating if I had stayed. I truly thought someone would step up."

"No one expects the Overlord to save the world… but you chose to come save us." Eole rested her head on his shoulder.

"I know it's selfish for me to say this, but… in spite of everything that happened, I'm glad we ran away together."

"Same." As horrible as it sounded, this year may very well have been the happiest in his life. It had brought him back from the brink after that disastrous reign in Telluria.

"I suppose staying wouldn't have helped much either. Nodens would have escaped to find your home undefended, and then completed his ritual to lay waste to the rest of the world." Waybright's ghost had disabused him of the notion that the Sanctuary was an isolated paradise unconnected from the rest of the world. Its fate would determine that of the whole world. There was little point in avoiding a costly war on the surface, only to look up and watch islands falling down from the sky.

"After getting to know everyone here, I'm more determined than ever to protect you," Simon said.

"You don't deserve what's going to hit us tomorrow."

"Neither do so many below," Eole replied, her hands taking his own.

"We're returning to the surface after we win." It wasn't even a question. They had both reached the same conclusion. They couldn't just look the other way.

"Belzemine wanted to reconnect with Frea," Simon said.

"We could meet with the White Unicorn and coordinate to defeat the remaining archfiends. It will be a start."

"Do you think they'll accept you as we did?"

"No," Simon admitted.

"But they might listen if Alcyone vouches for us."

"She will. She wears her heart on her sleeve." Eole smiled warmly.

"A bit like you." Simon chuckled back as he stroked her cheek.

"You give me too much credit, Eole."

"And you don't give yourself enough." Eole stared into his eyes.

"Did you see it happen? Us?"

"No," Simon confessed.

"Then it's the first time you will hear these words from me. They will be all the more precious for it." Eole took his cheeks into her hands.

"No matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to know this." She pressed her forehead against him for all of her heart and strength.

"I love you, Simon." Her words were warm, sincere, and they stung him like a scorpion's tail, as the truth of their situation suddenly dawned on Simon and filled his heart with sorrow.

"What?" Eole asked upon seeing his scowl.

"I… I just fear that someday–" He felt icy fingers on his throat.

"Someday you will forget those words… and I won't." Eole remained silent a moment, before letting out a chuckle.

"Then you'll just have to remind me." She said those words so naturally, as if it were such a simple and obvious solution, that Simon allowed himself to believe in them, just this once.

"Yes, I will have to do it." Simon leaned forward to kiss her.

"Perhaps with a song?"

"Somehow… I don't think you'll need one," she replied as her lips moved against his own.

"I would rather dance with you." And so they did.