Chapter 239 – Floor 42: Part 6

  The Demon-Blooded Mercy, now towering and immensely powerful, emerged from the ruins with an intimidating and menacing presence. Her once-smoldering aura had intensified, pushing back the dust and smoke like an invisible force field, allowing an unobstructed view of her full form.

  Her body radiated an intense heat, blazing brighter and more fearsome than before. The blood essence of Blaze that she consumed had infused her with more power and mana. Her eyes glowed with a fierce, burning light, and the veins of molten energy that traced patterns across her skin grew brighter.

  Mathew felt the Aether swirling around her, drawn to her in some mysterious manner that he didn’t understand. It seemed to be fueling her transformation, likely a gift from her Discipline granted to her by Mischievous Depravity.

  The Buzz was like a hammer striking his head in a rhythmic pattern. It had gone beyond warning him of danger; it now seemed to be announcing his impending doom. Each time it pulsed, his vision would darken slightly at the edges, and his hands would shake.

  It was clear that mercy surpassed him, not just physically but in the amount of mana she had under her control. He wasn’t sure how many Levels separated them; the Buzz wasn’t that definitive, but he knew that the gap between them was insurmountable.

  Whether it was their Disciplines, their Blessings, or their Levels, she had him beat.

  The clash within the construction site had been short and intense. He had thrown everything he had at her, and she had shrugged it off. The Words of Power had minimal effect, even chaining them together in clever ways that his Mentor had taught him.

  Worse, The Celestial Magical Spell, ‘A Starless Night,’ hadn’t done a thing to Mercy. She had laughed and enjoyed it when the sun was snuffed out and that chilling cold had swept over them. When she consumed the shadows he had summoned, he knew that there was no hope that Celestial Spell would be effective against her.

  He had been forced to flee on top of the Wyvern before she killed him, and only the Wrathful Blade had kept her claws from digging the heart out of his chest. His hand gripping the sword tightened as he felt the weight of the weapon become nearly unbearable.

  Mercy looked up at him with a smile that stretched across her demonic face. Her lips curled too wide; her eyes held a wild, unsettling light. Her laughter started as a low chuckle that rumbled in her chest before it broke free in an uncontrolled burst.

  It was high-pitched and unhinged, and it sent a shiver down Mathew’s spine and set his nerves on edge.

  “Mathew, come down and let’s end this! If you don’t, who knows what I might do? I know this isn’t your home, but you must feel some connection to this city! I wouldn’t want you to regret not protecting it while you had a chance.” Mercy taunted.

  Mathew took a deep breath to calm himself before slowly reaching down to grab the hilt of The Wrathful Blade with both hands. As he did so, he recalled everything his Mentor had taught him. The Celestial had lectured him multiple times for his ‘Human way of thinking.’

  The Celestial Language wasn’t just Words of Power that acted like magical spells or Blessings from the Tower of Avarice. It was the means through which the Celestials interacted with the Song of Creation, the guiding force behind the formation of their universe.

  Lunara kept trying to drill that into his head, that pointing a finger at a candle and saying ‘burn’ wasn’t just about guiding mana to create a fire; you were using your Will to commune with the universe and convey your desires.

  He needed to be less rigid and less reliant on the specific Words of Power provided by the Tower.

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  “Adequate.” Lunara stated, her voice flat. Mathew searched for a hint of approval or praise, but it was absent. The Celestials kept their emotions buried, and even after living here for so long, they were still alien to him.

  She stood next to him on the cliff’s edge; her white hair still had a faint shimmer of light despite the fact that they stood in complete darkness. The vast, dark sky stretched endlessly above them, a void that was suffocating in its emptiness.

  It was the result of ‘A Starless Night,’ the Celestial magic had turned the entire world pitch black and removed every point of light from the sky. Lunara’s black eyes swept across the landscape below them; the chill from the spell was already covering the ground in a layer of frost.

  There was no breeze, no whisper of life in the darkness the spell had created. The only thing that broke the silence was the sound of his breathing.

  “But you are still unable to progress. Your Human way of thinking is holding you back.” Lunara remarked, and Mathew sighed in frustration.

  “You keep saying that, but I don’t understand how I’m being inflexible. I said the words and directed the energy for the spell just as I was taught.” Mathew countered.

  “You were not taught this spell, Student. It was imparted upon you by the Tower. It is partially to blame for your inflexibility.” Lunara raised her right arm and made a ‘swiping’ motion towards the void-like sky. The darkness evaporated like mist when the sun rises.

  In a moment, the pair were standing on the cliffside under the bright afternoon sun once again. There was no trace of the magic Mathew had used. Even the ground had thawed, and life returned to the world around them.

  Mathew didn’t question how Lunara was able to do that so easily. Everything the Celestial did was effortless when it came to the Language.

  “You’ve said that before when we were practicing with the simple Words, but I didn’t think that there was any other way to use the Celestial Magic Spell.” Mathew stated while trying to understand what was expected of him.

  “There isn’t.” Lunara replied, only furthering Mathew’s confusion. Her lips tugged upwards slightly, a faint curve that to any other human aside from Mathew would have been imperceptible. But Mathew had been studying under her long enough to know that this was practically a laugh by Celestial standards.

  A sigh escaped him, something he found himself doing more often during his studies here. Folding his arms, he looked at her with a composed but almost challenging look.

  “Please, Mentor, share with me your great insight into the Celestial Language so that I may earn your approval. If that’s even possible.” Mathew said the last part softly, but he knew she heard him. The corner of her mouth rose a fraction higher, but still only barely there.

  “What you call a ‘Celestial Magic Spell’ is a memory. One that belongs to the universe itself, translated, or perhaps it would be better to say ‘described’ through our language. ‘A Starless Night’ is a curious phrase, a strange concept. A night without stars in the sky. But the ‘Spell’ invokes such a different reaction from the universe when it is used.” Lunara explained.

  “It’s more like the stars are devoured by darkness. It’s more menacing than a starless sky at night.” Mathew observed, thinking about the way the spell’s magic progressed.

  “Indeed. I have seen many nights where there are no stars above me, but none bring such a feeling of loneliness and despair. I have never experienced such a thing, but the Universe has. That is what your ‘Spell’ invokes.”

  “So the Celestial Magic Spells are pulling memories of things that have happened in the universe? If that’s true, why did you say that I’m still being inflexible?” Mathew asked.

  “You are relying on outside forces to impart those memories. That memory was taken by the Tower and given to you. If you truly wish to master our language, you must find them yourself.”

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  Mathew tuned out Mercy’s taunts and focused on his ‘connection’ with the universe. It was indefinable and ephemeral, unlike his link with the Tower or Unyielding Declaration.

  Those connections were strong, like steel wires wrapping around his spirit and tying him to outside force. He felt like he could close his eyes, grab onto that thread with his hand and find his way to either without too much trouble.

  But his link with the universe was tenuous, formed from his use of the Celestial Language to touch the Song of Creation. There was nothing to follow, no path to take. There was no evidence at all that a link existed, aside from the fact that he could speak the Celestial Language.

  It had taken intense concentration and uncountable amounts of time to practice with Lunara in order to find it. In fact, the reason he had stayed on the Celestial World for so long was due to finding that connection.

  But it was necessary because, in the end, he had found memories.

  Gripping the sword with both hands, Mathew slowly raised it above his head. In his mind, he recalled the images that he had discovered through the new link. Most had been blurry and undefined. It had been like trying to remember a dream. But one in particular had stood out.

  When the sword had reached the zenith of its arc, Mathew paused. Drawing in another deep breath, he slowly exhaled.

  “A Shattered Sky.”