Chapter 62

Chapter 62. The Celestial Vault

Only then could I identify it.

The true nature of the longsword in my hand.

[Normal: Broken Knight's Sword]

[Description: Cosmic junk.]

"......"

Tch.

I tossed the sword to the ground.

It was deflating, but at the same time, a thick smile spread across my lips.

'So the Observation Talent alone can break through the barrier the Astral Sovereign set up.'

In other words, no object in my presence can hide its information from me.

Well, of course.

I was a monster who'd poured 100 million Soul Points into character creation from the start.

I hadn't only raised Talents related to combat and Magic.

Observation, inquiry, intuition, insight.

Every last petty Talent for seeing the unseen had been maxed to its limit.

"Now we're talking."

When I raised my head, the noise on everything within my field of vision began to peel away in a chain reaction.

Hissssss.

At last, every secret the Astral Sovereign of the Void had so carefully concealed within the Celestial Vault was laid bare.

I waded through the colossal mountain of refuse, moving at a measured pace.

Information windows materialized before my eyes without pause.

[Rare: Corroded Orc Helm]

[Epic: Mana-depleted Staff]

[Normal: Rusty Scrap Metal]

There was far more junk than I'd expected.

The Astral Sovereign of the Void claimed to have traveled the entire universe collecting things, but its standards were truly baffling.

It was like a magpie's nest -- if it sparkled or looked unusual, it got scooped up and stashed.

But.

Among it all, there were certainly treasures dazzling enough to make my eyes go wide.

"......"

I stopped.

Beneath a collapsed heap of scrap metal, a bracelet was radiating an ethereal glow.

[Mythic: Archmage's Mana Core]

[Effect: Mana regeneration speed +300%. Mana consumption on spell cast -30%.]

Mythic Grade.

Items that even the most seasoned veterans couldn't obtain in a lifetime were just lying around.

That wasn't all.

Venturing deeper, Ancient Grade armor and weapons appeared with some regularity.

And then.

"Holy hell......"

A curse slipped out before I could stop it.

There weren't many, but equipment of the 'Origin' Grade actually existed here.

Armaments on the same tier as my Authority, Living Primordial Fire -- equipment that touched the domain of gods.

Among those, the one that seized my gaze most was a longsword emanating a darkness as deep as pitch.

[Origin: Sword That Devoured the Origin]

[Effect: On hit, the struck area permanently enters an unrecoverable 'Void' state. When Void stacks twelve times, the target's Caliber is forcibly reduced by one tier.]

Unbelievable.

A sword that inflicts permanent unrecoverable damage and shaves away Caliber.

Equipment grades come in many varieties and branches.

But before the Regression, when I'd led humanity's final strike force to the farthest reaches of the Tower, the highest grade among the equipment we obtained had been merely 'Radiant Ancient.'

Granted, I'd always had poor luck with equipment, but even accounting for that, the scale of this vault defied imagination.

I turned my head.

It wasn't only armaments.

"Runes......!"

Like the Berl Rune I'd obtained in Episode 3, High Runes sat in jewel cases, scattered about.

Jod, Cham, Sur.

Runes whose names alone were enough to make my heart race.

Deeper still, I found bookshelves.

Stacks of parchment caked in white dust.

I picked one up, and a leather cover embossed with a grotesque tentacle motif was revealed.

[Necronomicon]

[Grade: Origin]

[Description: A grimoire containing forgotten knowledge of madness from an unknown universe. Devours the reader's sanity in exchange for granting forbidden dark magic.]

For a Mage like me, this was among the most coveted items imaginable.

If I absorbed this knowledge, the trajectory of my Magic would transcend dimensions entirely.

Beside it sat unhatched eggs.

Cradles of monsters that would shake the Tower's ecosystem the moment they broke free from their shells.

And that wasn't the end of it.

Blessed Enhancement Stones for strengthening equipment, Blessed Fusion Stones for granting special options to gear -- they were strewn everywhere.

"Whew."

I let out a low whistle.

I had to choose.

Just one.

Out of this staggering mountain of treasure, I could take away only a single item.

The Sword That Devoured the Origin?

The Necronomicon?

Or a Mythic egg?

Any of them would make me stronger.

But.

'No.'

I shook my head.

Instinct warned me.

These were undeniably remarkable items, but none of them was the single piece of truly irreplaceable value worthy of the name 'Celestial Vault.'

I scoured the Celestial Vault without rest.

I sprinted around, tearing through piles of refuse.

I pushed my Observation Talent to its absolute limit, tracing invisible waves of Mana.

How much time passed?

In the most remote corner of the vast storehouse.

Far removed from the dazzling gold, silver, and armaments -- on a very modest wooden table.

I stopped.

And.

'Found it.'

The single most valuable object in this Celestial Vault.

It wasn't equipment.

It wasn't a rune, a grimoire, or an egg.

It was a single sheet of paper.

A yellowed, tattered scrap of parchment with frayed edges.

At a glance, it looked truly unremarkable -- like a piece of old refuse that would crumble in a breeze.

But.

I was certain.

Because the information flooding in through my eyes proved it beyond doubt.

This was the reason the Astral Sovereign of the Void had created this Celestial Vault.

The fundamental purpose for which this storehouse existed.

'This is it.'

I seized the paper with trembling hands.

There was nothing more to see.

Without an instant's hesitation, I turned around.

Leaving behind the other brilliant cosmic treasures, I walked toward the Celestial Vault's exit.

***

CREEEAK.

The Celestial Vault's doors opened once more.

The Astral Sovereign of the Void looked down at me as I emerged, the blinding light at my back.

【......Oh?】

Two eyes glinting within the darkness narrowed with what seemed like interest.

【Faster than I expected.】

The voice was composed.

No -- perhaps laced with mockery would be more accurate.

【So then, what have you selected from among the Celestial Vault's innumerable treasures?】

The Astral Sovereign's gaze shifted to my hands.

Its eyes held no expectation.

It surely believed a mortal's eyes could never pierce the security -- the noise -- it had placed.

Its expression was one of conviction that I'd walked out clutching whatever random rock or scrap of metal I'd stumbled upon.

I calmly extended my hand.

I waved the single item I'd chosen in front of its eyes.

Flutter.

A sheet of aged parchment, swaying in the breeze.

A scrap of paper, yellowed and torn, that looked as though it would crumble at any moment.

Silence.

The air froze in an instant.

Behind me, Park Jihun's jaw dropped open.

Park Hayan's eyes went round with disbelief.

The Astral Sovereign of the Void was no different.

【KAHAHAHAHAHAHA!】

An explosion of laughter erupted.

The Astral Sovereign's phantom heaved and shuddered as it poured out mockery.

【Foolish beyond measure!】

It looked down at me with contempt.

【In a place brimming with Origin-grade armaments, where Mythic eggs draw breath and runes inscribed with the universe's truths lie scattered!】

Thick disdain dripped from the Astral Sovereign's voice.

【You picked up that worthless scrap of refuse?! For a brief moment I placed some hope in that number you produced -- the one that exceeded your pitiful limits -- and now I feel like a fool! Truly wretched judgment!】

Scorn.

Derision.

But I twisted the corner of my mouth upward.

"Refuse, you say?"

I gave the aged paper in my hand another light wave.

"Do you really think so?"

My voice was sunken beyond measure.

An attitude so unhurried it bordered on indolent.

The Astral Sovereign's laughter cut short.

Its two eyes narrowed by a fraction.

【What gives you the audacity to bluff like that? Do you think some grand spell is written on that scrap of paper?】

"I can learn magic on my own, thanks."

I held the paper up straight.

There, inscribed -- a single pattern of just two characters.

To ordinary human eyes, it would have looked like nothing more than a stain or a geometric design.

But my 'Observation' had deciphered the pattern's true meaning.

'A name.'

It was a name.

And not just any name.

"Lord of the Void, 'Adun.'"

【......!】

RUMMMBLE--!

The Astral Sovereign's phantom, which had blanketed the sky, shuddered as if struck by lightning.

The two enormous eyes gleaming within the darkness expanded until they looked as though they'd split apart.

"So you hid your name tag in a pile of junk."

I smiled coldly and flicked the paper.

"Quite the precious possession, isn't it?"

Adun.

The Watcher of the Void -- and its true essence, its True Name.

Even Mayon, a mere Aberration, loses its power and submits the moment its name is spoken.

How much more so for an Astral Sovereign that presides over the laws of the universe?

Their true names are the ultimate taboo -- something that must never, until the day the universe perishes, be revealed to another.

No being in existence knows their names.

No one but themselves.

A name that no other must ever utter -- an absolute binding.

And it had disguised and hidden that name among the refuse in the Celestial Vault's most remote corner.

Because it was certain no one would ever find it.

Because it was arrogant enough to believe no one could ever perceive the truth.

"Didn't think I could see it?"

I slid the paper into my Inventory.

"You thought mixing it in with the garbage would serve as camouflage? The one with wretched judgment isn't me -- it's you, Adun."

【.......】

The phantom stopped heaving.

It went still in an instant.

As though every emotion had been stripped away.

No -- that was most likely Adun's true nature.

A being of an Astral Sovereign's Caliber would never truly be driven by emotion in the first place.

【......Impressive.】

Adun's voice was serene.

But the gravity contained within that serenity was different from before.

Awe and acknowledgment.

【You have passed every one of my tests flawlessly.】

Adun conceded its own defeat.

Because I was the human who had set aside the Celestial Vault's countless treasures and unearthed the sole key that could control it.

【Very well.】

Adun nodded slowly.

【You who have proven your own worth.】

Its eyes fixed on me.

【When you have need of me, call my name.】

A covenant of the Astral Sovereign.

An absolute contract, etched into my soul as the laws of the universe rippled.

I gazed at Adun in silence.

Then.

【On the day you speak my name. Once, and only once.】

It whispered as it slowly dispersed into the empty air.

【I shall descend in my true body and fulfill your every wish.】