[700] Where Ra Is (2)
Unable to track Ra Enemi directly, Woorin traced the movements of all humanity except Ra Enemi.
"History Search isn't anything fancy. It just searches my memories and sorts them into categories."
Still, because those memories covered all of humanity, it was remarkable.
Most people can only pass down fragments of their lives, but Teraje's memory transmission leaked no information at all.
"In short, none of the humans in my memories ever actually met the real Ra Enemi. So the only places left are locations I haven't experienced myself—the world's three great labyrinths. If he's not in any of those, he's not on this planet."
Shirone nodded.
'Regions where people go in often but almost never come out. Which means…'
Even if someone did meet the true Ra Enemi, the chance of escape was vanishingly small.
"I said I'd vote for you if you risked your life, but honestly you're behind the others in progress."
If someone was an Ivory Tower candidate, their speed of judgment should be comparable; what separated them now was disposition.
"Nane has already chosen one of the three labyrinths and gone in—alone. Jinseongeum has powerful soldiers from the Jincheon Empire—her personal guard, the Sambo (Three Steps). They're authorized to come within three steps of her; their skill is top-tier. And Shirone, you have… the Knights of Maha and the King of Goblins."
Kido cleared his throat awkwardly and Woorin flashed a wry smile.
"I know Rian and Kido are strong, but this time the competition won't be easy either. You'll have to step it up."
"It's fine. There are three labyrinths. I don't think those two will find what even you couldn't, Woorin."
Woorin's reasoning made sense.
"Ra Enemi is in one of these three: Jessica, Andre, or Paitaros. So you still have a chance, Shirone. Do you have a map?"
Rian handed over a world map and Woorin spread it on the table.
"Do you know the difference between a maze and a labyrinth?"
"Uh… a maze is made of paths, and a labyrinth is more like a space, right?"
"Close. More precisely: a maze has exits; a labyrinth doesn't. It wasn't created just to confuse people."
Woorin pointed to the Molten Kingdom, which borders Kashan to the south.
"First, Jessica."
Fitting for the largest empire, Kashan's southern border met three kingdoms: Zaive, Molten, and Bornai.
"Jessica's named for its first discoverer. It's in a forest eighty-seven kilometers from Molten's royal palace, adjacent to the inland sea. You'll probably find it right away. It's huge."
"How huge?"
"Literally enormous. Jessica is also called the Giants' Ruins. It's believed to be the work of giants who lived here before humanity. No one's fully explored how vast the underground spaces under the pyramids are, but archaeologists estimate it could rival a small kingdom."
"Hm. Finding it will be a problem, and getting out will be too."
"Among the three it's still the popular one. They call it a labyrinth because it can't be conquered, but you don't have to go that deep to find valuable relics, and sometimes ancient weapons show up."
Among those talking with Woorin, no one was unaware that the giants had come from heaven.
"Next, Andre. It's in the Akad Desert."
Teraje indicated the desert southeast of Kashan's territory.
"The Akad Desert is the largest in the world. The southern part belongs to the Paras Kingdom, but Andre is in the northern desert, within Kashan's lands."
Tormia wasn't that large a country, so it felt strange to be discussing one of the three great labyrinths located elsewhere.
"Andre's common name is the Prison of Space-Time. As far as I know, it's the most unique of the three and the hardest to escape from."
"Why is it called the Prison of Space-Time?"
"Because the flow of space-time there is utterly different from reality. The survival rate is one in a thousand. Some records say it's stuck three thousand years in the past; others claim there's a primitive age from ten thousand years ago. There are even accounts of people visiting future worlds."
"So every time you go in you encounter different space-times? That's rough. It leaves survival up to luck."
"Not exactly."
"Huh?"
Woorin looked up with a playful smile.
"Actually, it's a famous tourist spot. Thousands still visit every year."
"What… do you mean?"
"A long time ago someone isolated Andre's space-time individually. Even if you go into Andre now, you no longer experience the scrambled space-time. Instead, nineteen thousand circular steel gates were installed there, densely packed. Each one is an entrance to a different world."
"Nineteen thousand separate worlds?"
"Yes. Each seals a world of a different time and space. Tourists can't open those steel gates, and besides, no one wants to. Since the gates were installed, no one has returned. So no one knows how those worlds developed. Some may already be dead."
"So that's why it's called a prison."
"It's a kind of penitentiary. Time and space that broke the rules and ran wild were locked up in cells."
At that point one question sprang up.
"Who the hell did something that huge?"
"No one knows. It's been erased from every record."
Shirone's face hardened.
"McClain Goffin."
"Right. If a name can't be found in any history, it means it's been erased. Got it? Andre is Goffin's relic."
Shirone swallowed.
"Ra probably isn't here either, I guess."
He wanted to believe that.
"Haha. Maybe—but Anke Ra isn't an ordinary creature either."
Woorin's smile vanished as she looked at the map again and pointed to the Paras Kingdom on the southwest edge of Akad.
"Lastly, Paitaros, commonly called the Hole of Corruption."
Kido stuck out his tongue and curled it upward.
"Just the name makes me not want to go."
"If Andre's oddity is spatial-temporal, Paitaros's is more… systemic. All the world's corrupting forces gather here. Like water flowing downhill, Paitaros is the lowland for corruption."
Rian said it bluntly.
"Dangerous."
"It's not a place for Ivory Tower candidates, but those of low virtue go mad the moment they enter. Countless incorporeal beings born from the foul energy threaten explorers. Demon ranks there range from at least B up to Triple S."
From what they learned at school, demons are born from the projected collective consciousness of ancient peoples—a convergence of filthy desire, pleasure, and taboo.
Now that Shirone had realized Bakji, another fact came into view.
"Demons are the masters of the otherworld, right?"
"Right. The real and unreal were born like twins, separated by a thin veil and influencing each other indirectly. Sometimes that veil tears, or human collective consciousness grows so strong it spills into reality."
"Just hearing about it gives me the creeps."
Kido's practical assessment.
"Anyway, Ra Enemi will be in one of these three labyrinths. To summarize: Jessica is as vast as a kingdom; Andre contains countless worlds; Paitaros is literally a demon paradise. Choose one."
Woorin smiled like a merchant hawking a bargain.
Shirone stared at her hollow-eyed, but it was time to decide.
"Then pick. The Giants' Ruins, the Prison of Space-Time, or the Hole of Corruption. Which one?"
After a silence, Kido spoke.
"To be honest, can I say this? I just want to go home."
He had never missed his dead sister so much.
"Where we go is important, but shouldn't we also think about where Ra Enemi would hide?"
Rian struck a rare, accurate point.
"Oh, right. Hmm."
Shirone studied the map again.
"The Giants' Ruins tie to Anke Ra, and the Prison of Space-Time is the optimal hiding place."
Kido added, "But wouldn't Paitaros suit Ra? In Radum he moved forces of the otherworld, right?"
In the end, it wouldn't be strange no matter where he was.
"What about the other competitors? Do we know where they went?"
"They haven't decided for sure either. But judging by position, Jinseongeum will probably head into Jessica."
"The Giants' Ruins, then."
"Jinseongeum is an unlocker. Her magic controls space via etheric waves. A wide radius doesn't matter to her."
"She's playing to her strengths."
If Ra Enemi's location couldn't be guessed, that was sound strategy.
'That leaves Andre and Paitaros. Which will Nane choose?'
He wanted to avoid competing with Nane over one labyrinth in a three-way contest.
"Shirone, don't overthink it. This isn't a contest of tricks. Everyone fights with their strong suit. Nane and Jinseongeum have reached great heights, but you have senses that transcend humans."
"Sibulsangpokmae."
"Right. A sense gets stronger the more you train it, but equipping one in the first place is another matter. You can't give ears to someone born without them. But you're different."
Woorin raised both index fingers in parallel.
"They say creatures perceive the world with a total of eleven senses. Humans have only five, but the theory treats all angelic abilities as senses beyond human understanding. That's why humans can't grasp them."
Even Arius hadn't perfectly understood Ataraxia.
"The Valhalla Action the archmages are using to pay their debt is also an extreme manifestation of sipokgam."
"Valhalla Action?"
Thinking about it, the core principle resembled Sibulsangpokmae.
"Someone might use sight to paint, someone else to hunt—the same sense develops in wildly different directions depending on training. So adding another sense is a massive advantage."
Shirone felt a little more confident.
"You were probably born with an angel's sense to begin with."
'Ikael…'
Thinking of her made his chest ache.
"Usually it ends there, but you opened the seventh sense, Bakji. You've already awakened the ultimate sense called Gunggam. Even Anke Ra doesn't possess that sense."
'Goffin.'
Shirone pressed his lips together.
He had no say in it, but perhaps the two who designed him had given him something grander.
"I don't know how far you can open your senses, but training the ones you already have should be enough to compete with the other Ivory Tower candidates."
Opening senses is on a different level from learning new magic.
'Just realizing Bakji was already—'
By beginning to perceive incorporeal concepts like mind and focus as if they were material, Shirone's mental power had surged.
It had been confirmed that the accumulated time for Ataraxia had completely vanished while fighting the Lord of Fear, Igor.
'This is only the beginning. I can grow stronger.'
As certainty finally filled Shirone's gaze, Woorin smiled and asked, "So, what's your choice?"
Shirone looked down at the map again without hesitation.
"Here."
Rian and Kido followed his gaze.
The Prison of Space-Time, imbued with Goffin's breath.
-Where you seek, I shall be.
"Ra Enemi is here."
The labyrinth: Andre.