Chapter 21
That presence had been sending me message after message.
But I couldn’t see it clearly.
It was blurry, like wearing glasses with an absurdly strong prescription.
“Did I… die again?”
A laugh echoed, and the vague outline moved.
[No. I simply moved you somewhere safe for a moment. I’ll return you soon.]
The silhouette slowly began to sharpen, as if the focus were adjusting.
It was a man—tall, broad-shouldered.
I couldn’t see his face properly, but he seemed young. His voice and the atmosphere around him suggested that much.
After waiting a moment, the image became clearer.
I could see the frame of his glasses.
Behind them, his eyes emerged.
He wore a pale gray suit.
He reminded me of a phantom thief from an old comic.
I liked phantom thieves, so I approved.
Wasn’t it a profession that stole the possessions of greedy men at the pinnacle of wealth in an extremely unequal society, bringing them immense sorrow?
I looked back out the window.
We were still running along the seaside.
I wanted to remain like this, but since things had finally quieted down, I should整理 the situation.
There were no rampaging mad birds or insane eyes here, so I could concentrate.
In the novel, it never explained what Irix did after going to the Order.
It didn’t even describe the process of getting there.
It only said that he disappeared the day the Order seized the train and arrested the cultists.
Irix went with Telecus voluntarily that day.
It wasn’t written outright, but it had to be true.
Otherwise, what happened next couldn’t be explained.
If you have to pile on reasons and excuses, then it isn’t truth.
Truth is simply truth—it doesn’t need explanation.
If it happens, then it happens. That’s all.
First of all, Telecus appeared immediately, which meant he had likely already known where Irix was and had been waiting.
Was Telecus simply that well-informed?
No way.
It was because Duke Berkardt, Irix’s father, had been feeding him information.
Why did the Duke choose him?
Because Telecus was exactly the kind of man who would never doubt his own good fortune.
From this, I could guess that the Duke had intended to send Irix into the Order.
There must have been the Duke’s spies inside the Order as well, watching over Irix.
But the reason was unknown.
Nothing was ever revealed.
Before boarding this train, Irix must have received orders from his father:
Meet Telecus, whom he had already arranged, and go to the Order.
But in truth, it wasn’t only the Duke who wanted to send Irix there.
Irix himself also wanted to send Irix into the Order.
How do I know?
Just looking at him, you can tell.
He isn’t the type of child who simply obeys his father.
If he hadn’t wanted something, he would have ignored his father’s words, taken another train, or delayed the schedule.
So what did Irix want?
The answer lies in what he gained inside the Order.
The Order was a place where that one thing existed in abundance.
Like bread in a bakery, like meat in a butcher shop—
The Order had it.
That thing was…
Gods.
Every time Irix fought those who opposed him, gods were always summoned.
An apostle like Telecus wielded divine power through blessings.
But Irix was different.
He called gods forth and used their power freely.
Many gods were summoned to him.
Sometimes, Irix even absorbed their power directly.
How was that possible?
That was the true function of Aether.
If a god stole your Aether, even your body would be taken, and the god would descend through you.
But conversely—
With that same Aether, you could dominate a god.
Irix used that power effortlessly, controlling gods.
Did he learn how inside the Order?
But he stayed there for only two months.
It didn’t seem possible to learn so much in such a short time.
A more convincing theory was that he already knew how—
He simply needed a proper training ground and proper materials.
And there was no better place than the Order for testing such power.
I looked at the man.
While I had been lost in thought, he waited patiently for me to speak.
This man had said Irix should not be sent to school.
And this man also knew the story of this world.
The story in which Irix destroys everything.
“I have something to ask.”
[Yes. Go ahead.]
“In the original story… Irix goes to the Order, and Telecus—the one who takes him—dies.”
And Maymon as well.
[Yes, that’s correct.]
“Do you know how Telecus died?”
The man stared at me briefly.
[I do.]
How could he possibly know?
His identity became even more intriguing.
Was he a reader like me?
No, impossible.
I was the only one who had shown Room 301 that novel.
No other adult would have voluntarily spent time deciphering it.
And what I was asking now wasn’t even written in the text.
Which meant…
This man knew things that weren’t written.
How?
“Tell me how he dies.”
[Why do you want to know?]
“Because even after Telecus dies, Peregion continues to appear.”
If my guess was correct, Peregion was the first god Irix ever obtained.
Compared to the gods he later gained, Peregion wasn’t particularly powerful, so it wasn’t used often.
But what mattered was—
Peregion was the first.
To know how he obtained Peregion was to know when Irix learned to handle Aether, and how far he had progressed.
The eyes behind the glasses turned toward me.
They weren’t clear enough for me to read his thoughts.
[See it for yourself.]
…Huh?
A strange sound began ringing in my ears.
Scratch, scratch—
Like someone writing with a pencil.
The surroundings darkened, then brightened again.
Not fully bright.
More like dusk, just after sunset.
I looked around.
I had been inside the train.
But now I was in another unfamiliar place.
A space surrounded by black walls.
A drawing covered the floor.
Triangle, circle, triangle—
Normally, something like this was a summoning circle.
But what kind of sacrifice had been offered?
Blood pooled everywhere.
And in the center of that blood-soaked floor—
Irix and Telecus stood.
The moment I saw them, I understood.
The man was truly showing me directly.
Recreating the past before my eyes.
Silently, I watched.
Now I would finally know what had happened.
‘Lord Peregion is coming!’
Telecus shouted excitedly.
No, he was always excited.
This was his normal state.
Candle flames burned upright in the stillness.
Between the swaying light, a massive black hole opened.
From within it, something squirmed outward—
A lump covered in countless gleaming eyeballs.
It was Peregion.
They were summoning Peregion, trying to make him descend into Irix.
Did Irix agree?
Or did he suggest it first?
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like Irix proposed it.
Irix was calm.
Telecus was tense.
I studied Irix’s face closely.
Hidden in shadow, I couldn’t see his expression clearly—
But I could tell he was full of anticipation.
What are you thinking, Irix?
That face feels unfamiliar.
Telecus kept rambling.
‘At last, you have arrived!’
The black, wavering god floated in the air.
Soon its form took shape.
Head… shoulders…
Arms. Legs.
A giant.
‘A being of immense power. Noble iron, god of battle, the hammer that protects those who charge forward…’
Telecus spoke with reverence and awe.
‘Lord Peregion.’
Irix lifted his head to face the darkness.
Peregion leaned down toward him.
Its round head drew closer.
‘If you’re so great… why have I never heard your name before?’
Telecus answered hurriedly.
‘Because you were forgotten. Forgotten, and recorded in the Book of Solei. And that page became destiny, appearing before me!’
‘Ah. I know. The Book of Solei. A conceptual book that records forgotten gods.’
Even Irix’s voice felt strange.
Was he always like this?
No.
He could be cold and irritated at times, but he wasn’t like iron—
Not this alien.
His eyes were different too.
They weren’t the green-gray eyes I knew.
They flickered red, like a sunset.
Irix stared at the black god and said:
‘Peregion.’
The god’s body didn’t move at all.
‘A forgotten god.’
The giant’s face turned toward Irix.
Irix smiled.
‘You came to descend into me, didn’t you? Then come. Enter.’
Irix opened his arms and stepped closer.
But the god only stared.
It didn’t move.
‘Why aren’t you doing it? Is something displeasing?’
Peregion remained still.
Like a starving creature rushing toward food—
Only to realize something forbidden was mixed inside.
…Why is it acting like that?
