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Chapter 197

And overlooking the entire observatory was the summit of the mountain, which a girl with braided hair, Lea, was currently struggling to climb toward.

“Huff ... huff... ugh...”

As a student of Babel, she too could easily climb a mountain of this height. However, she was gasping for breath at the moment because the environment of the artificial mountain had been tailored to enhance astronomical observation efficiency, thus making the climb dozens of times more difficult.

“This is... so... exhausting... ugh...”

The oxygen concentration was set so low that it felt like the atmosphere was sucking the oxygen out of her, and when she tried to use magic, the abnormal mana density crushed her entire body. It was a hellish environment that made Lea, who was experiencing it for the first time, dizzy.

In contrast, Se-Hoon just casually followed behind her, looking at her pitiful sight.

“Didn’t you say there was no need to worry because you come here often?”

“I didn’t... know this place... would be like this... ugh...”

Barely managing to reply, Lea gasped for breath with her hands on her knees. At the sight, Se-Hoon glanced toward the neatly managed hiking trail near the observatory.

Hm. I guess only the hiking trail isn’t affected.

If she had always taken the hiking trail, then it was understandable why she was unaccustomed to the environment.

Shaking his head, Se-Hoon approached her, worried that she might collapse at any second.

“Need some help?”

“I’m... fine... ugh.... Go away...” Lea wheezed, weakly waving her hand to refuse.

Her oddly blunt demeanor made him chuckle.

“What? Still sulking?”

“Go ahead... first...”

“Geez. All I said was skill issue...”

“You...! Ugh! Cough!”

Failing to lash out at Se-Hoon, Lea ended up coughing hard. Still, her thoroughly upset demeanor made Se-Hoon smile wryly.

“Alright. I’ll climb up first, then.”

Pat- Pat-

Patting Lea lightly on the back, Se-Hoon walked past and reached the summit first, taking in the surrounding scenery upon arrival. Here, he could see the towering white Tower of Heroes extending into the clouds and the brightly lit sprawling city surrounding it. Then, once he got his fill of the view, he raised his eyes to the cloudless sky.

It’s pretty clear.

The Milky Way densely packed the dark night sky, with even some of its smallest stars shining brightly, seeming close enough to touch. Normally, observing such celestial bodies near a large city like Babel would be challenging, but the unique environment of the artificial mountain allowed for the simultaneous viewing of the city and the night sky from the summit.

The constellations are clear... and the atmosphere is good.

He carefully observed the night sky, taking it all in. In the meantime, Lea had finally recovered from her fatigue and had walked up behind him.

“Didn’t I tell you to just go on ahead?”

Smiling at her curt question, Se-Hoon innocently asked, “What did I do?”

“You manipulated my blood flow when you patted my back... never mind.”

Lea sighed deeply, brushing her disheveled bangs back.

“So, is this place good enough?”

“It seems pretty good to me.”

“Alright. I’ll start preparing then.”

Receiving confirmation, Lea began taking out the materials she had brought in her void pocket and quickly set up. Assembling a foldable table in no time, Lea placed a sphere on it and got ready to activate it.

At the sight of her skillful preparations, despite just one practice round, Se-Hoon also started preparing and took out the material he had brought.

Woong-

Under the night sky, the Nimbus Steel glowed softly. To most, it would have looked the same as usual; however, to Se-Hoon, who had examined it in advance, it was noticeably different.

It’s slightly lighter than before. I guess the flying ability was activated.

Containing the essence of the sky, the power of the Nimbus Steel amplified the more its surrounding environment resembled the sky.

Taking caution to avoid losing it accidentally, Se-Hoon gripped it tightly and waited for the preparations to be completed.

“Begin Observation.”

When they were, the sphere was immediately activated, emitting golden waves.

Wooong-

The waves headed high into the sky, and soon afterward, dozens, then hundreds, of golden dots dotted the sphere. As the dots densely filled in the empty areas, the sphere began to resemble a golden orb. At first glance, the dots seemed randomly assembled, but upon closer inspection, familiar patterns could be found.

“Constellations...”

The sphere perfectly reflected the night sky and its stars, creating miniature replicas of the celestial bodies visible from Earth. The sight of it, which resembled the armillary sphere used for celestial observations, drew in Lea.

I thought it was just a structural copy...

Even Lea, who had been researching the sphere for years, didn\'t know about the feature. Yet.... Lea glanced at Se-Hoon, wondering how he came up with the idea.

How does he know?

The blueprints didn\'t record the sphere\'s actual usage, and it likely only existed in the creator\'s mind. So then, how? Mulling over it, Lea soon came to an answer.

Skill...

Even though the idea of Se-Hoon outperforming her in every field of study was frustrating, the scene before her eyes forced her to accept it. Making a complex expression, Lea fell into thought, only snapping out of it at Se-Hoon’s voice.

“What are you doing? Hurry up, move on to the next step.”

“Ah, alright.”

Confirming the perfect replication of the celestial forms, Lea infused the sphere with her mana.

“Celestial Synchronization.”

Shhhrk-

At her murmur, the five rings within the sphere began rotating, and the golden lights mimicking the celestial bodies moved accordingly. A second later, a golden sphere started to form in the center of the rings.

“Now!”

Finding the moment, Se-Hoon swiftly inserted the Nimbus Steel into the empty center of the sphere.

Woong!

The golden sphere forming in the center was then absorbed into the Nimbus Steel, and the surface of the ingot, previously a mix of white and sky blue, began to darken. It was as if the day was turning into the night.

Lea watched the scene in amazement.

“It actually worked...”

By using the sphere to synchronize with the celestial forms and then combining it with the Nimbus Steel, which contained the essence of the sky, Se-Hoon was able to infuse the ingot of Nimbus Steel with the pure darkness mana of the night sky.

Marveling at the seemingly intended usage, Lea started deeply at the process. Meanwhile, Se-Hoon had finished inspecting the sphere.

“There shouldn\'t be any problems for now, but try not to be too complacent. If the synchronization rate gets too high, the Nimbus Steel might suddenly turn into gas and scatter.”

“Oh, okay.”

“At this pace... it should be done in about thirty minutes. Let\'s sit and wait.”

For the process, it was important to let the darkness mana infuse naturally into the ingot.

Having prepared, Lea set down the folding chairs she had brought, and the two of them gazed at the sphere and the night view beyond side by side.

“...”

“...”

The mountaintop was serene, with only the occasional sound of the wind. Turning his head to look at Lea, Se-Hoon pondered what to say at the sight of her still slightly sulking.

“I\'ve been wanting to ask you something,” he said after a moment.

“What is it?”

“What were your parents like?”

Not expecting to face such a question here, Lea looked at him in surprise. Then, upon realizing he meant no harm, she looked away.

“...Do you want to know about their personal lives? Or their research?”

“The latter.”

“Well, in that case...”

Sorting her thoughts, she began her story.

“My dad originally specialized in Celestial Magic, but I heard he transferred to the Department of Enchantments after attending one of my grandmother\'s lectures.”

“Celestial Magic, huh...?”

Celestial Magic was a realm of magic that used the stars of the universe as the pillars of synesthetic mindscapes. It was easy to start learning, but since it became increasingly difficult and less efficient the deeper one delved, it was less popular.

“Well, they say he transferred, but he never gave up on Celestial Magic. Rather, he chose to learn about enchantments to help him master Celestial Magic—”

“Because Celestial Magic can’t be handled with just your body, he needed suitable tools, right?”

“Yeah, that\'s it! Exactly.”

Se-Hoon’s accurate guess, which Lea had heard countless times as a child, hit Lea with a rush of nostalgia.

“My dad’s body was more fragile than others’. So, he delved into finding the right tools, particularly enchantments, which didn\'t rely much on physical strength.”

“Why was he fragile?”

Lea nodded at Se-Hoon\'s question.

“My grandmother was contaminated by demonic aura when she was pregnant with my dad. Although she was purified quickly, he was born frail and had many chronic illnesses.”

“Hmm...”

Listening to Lea talk about her father, Dane Claudel, Se-Hoon naturally looked at the sphere in front of them.

Woong-

The sphere appeared exaggerated in design, yet it was ideally designed for its user, using the minimum amount of mana and leveraging ambient mana through the user\'s computation.

I thought he relied on his intellect out of confidence, but it was more of a compromise.

Still, considering the sphere\'s performance, it was evident that Dane Claudel had an exceptional innate talent that allowed him to attempt substituting physical power with mental prowess.

Not noticing Se-Hoon falling into thought, Lea, who had gotten invested in her storytelling, continued her story.

“Anyway, since he was so interested in Celestial Magic, he created a ton of related tools. One day, he even converted the entire attic into an observatory...”

For a while, Lea reminisced about watching the night sky with her father from the converted attic, sitting on his lap as he read astronomy books to her.

She also talked about how he braided her hair every morning and gave her star-shaped hairpins as birthday presents, sharing various other happy and nostalgic stories about her father as well.

He must have been particularly important to her.

It was clear how significant her father was to Lea. Staying silent, Se-Hoon just continued to listen.

“And then, one day, while taking his supplements, my mom...”

At the mention of her mom, Lea abruptly stopped, her eyes welling with tears. With the memories taking a darker turn, the atmosphere grew heavy.

She forced herself to continue the story.

“My mom, Reyna Claudel... Puppeteer specialized in Biological Enchantments.”

Though enchantments typically involved inanimate objects like equipment, they could also be applied to living beings. However, that branch of enchantment was far more complex and challenging. And yet, Lea\'s mother was an expert in it.

“Her main research was about Soul Fixation—anchoring a soul to a single location to escape the body\'s constraints. It was considered purely theoretical at the time, but...”

After killing her husband, Dane Claudel, and disappearing, Reyna completed the Soul Fixation technique and reappeared as Puppeteer of the Ten Evils.

Processing Lea’s story, Se-Hoon thought of something that he had to ask.

“...You said Puppeteer killed your father.”

“...Yes.”

“Does that mean... you witnessed it yourself?”

At his question, Lea stared silently ahead, her cloudy green eyes reflecting the brightly lit city and the starry night sky. After a long silence, Lea opened her mouth.

“I woke up early that morning, feeling scared for some reason. So I went to my parents\' room, hoping to sleep with them.”

In the dark hallway, the young Lea clutched her pillow as she walked to her parents\' tightly closed door.

Squish.

And upon feeling something cold and sticky under her foot, she looked down to see blood seeping out from under the door.

“A smart person would have run to the Heroes Association and reported it right away, but I was too naive at the time.... Worried something had happened to my parents, I rushed to open the door. That was when I saw.”

The bedroom was a blood-soaked mess. Standing at the foot of the bed, her mother, Reyna, was covered in blood. Her mother had been staring down at her father laying limp on the bed. Gazing at the nightmarish scene, Lea had frozen in the doorway.

Then, sensing Lea’s presence, Reyna snapped out of her daze and slowly turned her head to look at Lea. Watching Renya approaching step by step, Lea had collapsed onto the bloodied floor, her legs giving way.

Terrified, Lea trembled and covered her face with her hands upon seeing Reyna reaching out to her.

“It wasn\'t enough...”

However, after muttering those words, Reyna pulled back and passed by Lea without further action.

“My mom disappeared that night, and a few years later, she reappeared as the infamous Puppeteer. That\'s all there is to it.”

“...”

“It\'s a pretty brutal story, but now that I’m thinking about it, it\'s not that interesting of a story. Still, there\'s one thing I don\'t understand.”

Frowning in thought, Lea revisited the past for an answer.

“She ignored me completely back then.... Why is she trying to take me now?”

“That\'s probably because...”

In the end, Se-Hoon shut his mouth. He had a theory about it, but it was too harsh to say aloud.

“Anyway... that\'s enough of these old stories. Have you heard enough to satisfy yourself?” Lea interjected, sensing his hesitation.

“...Yes, that should be enough.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Let’s talk about it again after we capture Puppeteer and interrogate her.”

Softly smiling, Lea ended the conversation.

At that moment, the sphere in front of them also began to change once more.

Woong!

The Nimbus Steel had turned completely black, and small white dots were starting to appear on its surface. The celestial forms replicated by the sphere now seemed to be being reflected in the Nimbus Steel as well.

“Wow, look at that!”

“It’s not done yet.”

They quickly stood up and approached the sphere.

As the celestial shapes on the Nimbus Steel became clearer, a faint vibration spread. Then, the instant it felt like a fragment of the night sky had been created within the sphere, the Nimbus Steel disappeared.

Not missing that moment, Se-Hoon, cladding his left hand with Midnight Abyss, swiftly pulled out the Nimbus Steel.

Woong!

Compared to before, the Nimbus Steel was now much lighter and barely retained its metallic form.

“Wow...”

Mesmerized by its fragile yet beautiful form, Lea suddenly asked, “So what are you going to forge with this?”

From how the Nimbus Steel looked like it could collapse at any moment, she couldn’t help but wonder if it really could be reforged into a device capable of subduing Single Numbers.

Examining the Nimbus Steel, Se-Hoon eventually replied, “It\'s difficult to say in its current state. We need to process it one more time.”

“Process it again?”

“Yes. It needs some kind of pillar to stabilize it.”

Confused, Lea felt the need to ask more.

“So, where do we get this pillar?”

“Well, I need to get in touch with someone first...”

Wondering how long it would take that person to contact him, Se-Hoon suddenly felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Immediately checking it, he saw a call from an unfamiliar number.

But despite the unfamiliarity, Se-Hoon\'s eyes gleamed. Picking up, he answered with a relaxed tone.

“Hello.”

—This is Benjamin, the chief secretary of the UD Group.

At the calm, emotionless voice from the other side, Se-Hoon\'s lips curled into a smile.

—The President requests your presence.

His long-awaited call had finally arrived.