Chapter 923
I Won’t Leave
In conclusion, the outcome was good.
With Grunewald’s full support, the Spirit Tower’s relocation encountered no difficulties.
Under the guidance and command of the mentors, the students orderly packed their most precious belongings. However, documents, specimens, and large undead or stitched corpses had to be left behind. Ongoing experiments were forced to be suspended, and half-finished undead and stitched corpses were completely destroyed to prevent them from going out of control.
The Spirit Tower’s power supply was cut off, floor by floor, and the lights gradually extinguished—much like how one would turn off all the power in their home, lock the windows, and shut off the pipe valves before embarking on a long journey.
“Number One” through “Number Three” in the pipes also stopped flowing, all laboratory instruments were shut down, and the doors were sealed and locked from the outside.
One by one, half-formed undead and unused corpse materials were pushed into the emerald-green pool, gradually dissolving amidst hissing sounds of corrosion.
At this moment, Grunewald had already returned to the top floor to pack his own belongings, and the students were chatting as they packed their luggage.
Eivass had wanted to find his acquaintances, but Vice Principal Adolf kept following Eivass, talking non-stop.
“Did you go find Master Amber later?” Adolf asked curiously.
“I’ve already returned,” Eivass sighed. “It was yesterday—when Star Antinomy had an incident, we were having a celebration banquet.”
“Did you sleep? How about resting for a bit? After the students finish packing, which I estimate will be in four or five hours… that’s enough time for a nap.”
“I rested for about half an hour, which is enough,” Eivass politely declined. “But I’m a bit thirsty… is there anything to drink somewhere?” He was also somewhat fatigued, not physically, but mentally.
“…There really is,” Adolf pondered for a moment and led Eivass to a higher floor.
It was a now-empty bar, but judging by the dust, it had been used frequently, with many people having sat here as recently as last night. On the tables, there were still some half-finished glasses of wine that had not been cleared away.
Adolf skillfully retrieved some concentrated fruit juice, preserved with the Preservation Technique for who knows how long, from behind the counter.
Without asking Eivass what he wanted to drink, he proceeded to make two glasses of iced orange juice—he even froze the ice cubes on the spot.
“Tell me more, and I’ll treat you to some juice. I don’t know if His Majesty the Pope has any dietary restrictions, so I won’t be pouring any wine for you…” Adolf pushed one of the glasses of juice towards Eivass. “Was that really a relic from the Amber Era?”
“It really was… the taste is quite good,” Eivass nodded. After finishing the perfectly chilled orange juice, he introduced Cardinal Galatea, who had been silent beside him, to Adolf. “This is Cardinal Galatea—she accompanied me into that ruin.”
Ever since Eivass had spoken those words to Cardinal Galatea, she had become like a burnt-out CPU, suddenly falling silent and remaining so until now. Even when facing the Old Lich, she hadn’t uttered a word… and the Old Lich seemed to not see her, completely ignoring her.
Fortunately, the auto-follow seemed to still be active; at least she could keep up with Eivass without falling behind.
“Candlemaster be with us—it’s an honor to meet you, Most Holy Cardinal Galatea!” Adolf bowed respectfully to Cardinal Galatea. Seeing no reaction, he shook his head and turned to Eivass, “What did Master Albrecht Dürer want to obtain from it?”
That was Master Amber’s true name.
Eivass replied, “A piece of Light Amber—Master Amber said, ‘I must obtain a piece of Light Amber at all costs.’ He didn’t touch anything else for it.”
“Light Amber… so this thing truly exists,” Adolf exclaimed. “As expected, archaeology yields good things.”
“What is it used for, then?” Eivass couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s a key to opening ‘World Dungeons.’ You can think of it as… being able to ‘replicate’ a person who has perished without a trace, or preserve something that has been destroyed from an earlier timeline. I suspect—this is just a guess—that the Master might want to replicate someone. After all, he went to great lengths to develop the art of resurrection, there must be a motive, right?” Adolf said with a smile.
After all, he shared the same inheritance as Master Amber—Adolf knew how to use Light Amber.
He added, “Well… please forgive me for using the word ‘replicate,’ because I don’t think it’s true resurrection, at most it’s creating an exact replica of someone.”
When Eivass first heard the word “Dungeon,” he was startled—he thought they were going to play a dungeon crawl. But halfway through, he understood that this was a “dungeon” in the true sense of the word—like a transcript or an imprint of a book.
Literally speaking, if there’s a “copy,” there should be an “original.” And a copy is a replication of the original.
“…You mean, pulling a replica of something or someone directly from olden times?” Eivass was astonished by this. “The Preservation Technique can even do such things?”
“That’s the only completely preserved ancient spell!” Adolf said with considerable pride. “In ancient times, Casters of the Sky-Piercing Tower could even reach the Dream Realm and become gods through these miraculous spells! By the way, what era was the ruin you went to from? Was it a known period?”
“It was the Sky-Piercing Tower,” Eivass replied. “The only ruin of the Sky-Piercing Tower.”
“—Oh, heavens!” Adolf’s eyes widened immediately, and his words caught in his throat.
“Oh, if only I had known earlier… I would have definitely gone with you! Damn it… how could it be such a coincidence…” His body leaned forward, his eyes burning with intense desire, even dispelling some of the dim yellow in his eyes.
He rubbed his hands together like a fly, impatiently and even solicitously saying, “Quick, tell me about it… No, Your Great Holiness the Pope, please let me listen to your secrets—what would you like to drink? Before I became a Necromancer, I was a bartender.”
“Just orange juice,” Eivass ordered first, then proceeded to recount the experience of their archaeological adventure in detail to Adolf.
This middle-aged Necromancer was quite cooperative. His expression became colorful as Eivass narrated, filled with exaggerated emotions, providing strong emotional value to the storyteller.
It was only when he heard that the Sky-Piercing Tower had collapsed under the attack of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy that his expression instantly became one of disbelief.
That frozen expression lasted for a long time before he gradually fell silent.
The feeling was akin to a fervent believer on a pilgrimage discovering that their sacred site had been demolished and replaced by a commercial district.
After the anger came silence.
“…Ah,” Adolf sighed and slumped back in his chair. “I knew it, how could it be… such a coincidence. Indeed, I’ve never been able to catch up with anything new and exciting in my life. But it’s fine… alas…”
“Do you like the Sky-Piercing Tower very much?” Cardinal Galatea suddenly asked softly, breaking her long silence.
It was to the extent that Eivass would have called it a medical miracle in the past—but Adolf didn’t seem to notice anything, only nodding seriously. “I think it’s so romantic, it’s the most romantic event in human history… no, in the history of intelligent life.”
“…Romantic?” As a contractor of the Twin mirrors, Cardinal Galatea had clearly never heard anyone describe the Sky-Piercing Tower with such a word.
For her, it was merely her “mission,” her “work.” And after Galatea was reborn as a construct, it became a painful past she could never touch. It was like the apprehension people felt towards that device when they were at the Sky-Piercing Tower. That was Cardinal Galatea’s understanding of humanity.
Her eyes widened in disbelief that an intelligent being who had never encountered the Sky-Piercing Tower would worship it with such fanaticism. “Which part are you referring to?”
“—All of it,” Adolf’s decadent words were filled with emotion at this moment. “People gathered together, contributing their own light and heat for the miracle of reaching the sky… Indeed, this is the true meaning of ‘Power.’ If ‘Wisdom’ and ‘Power’ could merge perfectly, all miracles could surely be achieved…”
“…Miracle, hmm?” Cardinal Galatea suddenly looked at Eivass, something coming to mind.
—If the fire isn’t hot enough, then burn me first.
Eivass’s words echoed in her mind.
Her job had been to bring about the miracle of the Sky-Piercing Tower—it wasn’t her cause, nor was it a miracle she had created. The past “Galatea” was merely a tiny part of this great creation. It had been her everything, and she had lost everything, as well as the meaning and value of her own existence. Now that she was alive, what was the point? Her only value was to demonstrate that “that era truly existed.”
—Just a specimen.
Remains “preserved” to this day.
Her time had long since stopped.
And now…
…Perhaps she too had a chance to become part of the miracle of the new era.
As if her stagnant time began to flow again, she no longer needed to be silent and cold like a doll. It was as if the “scaled” Galatea of the past had come back to life—
“Twilight and beauty are the same,” Eivass chuckled. “That is the miracle of the Sacred Number summing to eleven, and you are on the right path.”
“Path—where is there a ‘right’ path? And if we follow your logic, it also includes devotion and transcendence,” Adolf smiled and drew parallels. “I recall Your Majesty the Pope, you seem to be on this path as well?”
“Yes,” Eivass nodded and said earnestly, “I call it the ‘Road of Miracles.’ When the sum of Sacred Numbers is ten, two paths enter inert cycles and fall into the void; when the sum of Sacred Numbers reaches eleven, one gains the power to create miracles.”
“How wonderful… miracles…” Adolf sighed and slumped completely into his chair. “Will I still have a chance to witness miracles?”
“You will,” Eivass comforted him. “There’s plenty of time.”
“…Perhaps not much longer,” Adolf shook his head slightly. “My time is almost up. I’m afraid I won’t even see the defeat of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy…”
Hearing this, Eivass’s eyes widened slightly. He realized something. “Aren’t you planning to retire and travel?”
“In a different way, it’s the same. It’s just a matter of where I’ll be buried. I don’t want to be with these noisy children; it would make me forget my desire for peaceful sleep, and I’d probably always be restless… Now it’s perfect, it’s rare to have some quiet here.” The Vice Principal smiled, clearly having no intention of moving. “You guys go, I’ll watch the house.
Someone has to guard the door, right? Otherwise, if those demons come in and mess everything up, it wouldn’t be good.
As long as it’s just me left—perfect, I also want to be the real Tower Master for a few more days.”
“…You originally wanted to go to the Sky-Piercing Tower ruin?” Eivass guessed Adolf’s intention. “You wanted to die there?”
“Yes,” Adolf nodded. “For a moment just now, I thought that… dying amidst collapsing splendor, buried by collapsing time, how romantic. But I had originally planned to stay here, so it doesn’t matter.
Ah, it actually wavered my original intention… is this the remnant of a miracle? Just a name, and it can rekindle a little of the solidified interest I had…
…Speaking of which, Your Majesty the Pope. Do you know, my childhood dream… was that after I died, a strongman would throw my corpse into the center of the sun. I was even beaten by my parents for such a ‘dream’ back then…” Adolf waved his hand, not continuing. He was just a little wistful, but smiled gently. “I’m very happy that I could hear such a story in the end. When you defeat the Fallen Heavenly Envoy and reclaim the Spirit Tower… Your Majesty the Pope, please remember to come back.
—At that time, I have a small gift for you.”
(End of this chapter)
