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Chapter 152 - Perfect Sanctuary
🕑 Added 2020-10-15 14:37:12 +0000 UTC"Are you sure we can trust her with our lives?" Tokomaha asks me while looking at the big screen. It shows a cutout view of the Venus Fleet before us, but many more ships surround us on all sides now. "We should go out there just to be safe."
She's referring to the fact that it might seem foolish to rely on Sintress's declaration that she would take care of everything and not take precautions in the case that she fails. After all, she's dealing with inhibition field missiles.
"Well, the missiles will take a while to get here." I reply with a shrug. The engagement range of the Venus Fleet is around ten thousand kilometers. Although the rest of their technology is highly advanced, and they use the same high-speed engines as the Queen Pelomyx, their missiles still use the tried and true combustion principle. We'll have a few minutes to react if they pass through Sintress's perfect sanctuary.
"Permission to come aboard, captain." Suddenly, a familiar voice asks from behind me, and I spin my head around in surprise. It's Sigurd, accompanied by Arcelia Crux. The bard is wearing his usual clothes, complete with the feathered hat he sported when I first met him. Like her mother, Sintress, the Saint of Luminosity is clad in a simple white robe.
"Sigurd!" Rolan is the first to call out to him, sounding glad to see him again. It hasn't been that long since they parted ways, but nobody could have expected that they would reunite in the middle of space. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw the moon fall, and the exotic young lady stop it." With a wink directed at Tokomaha beside me, the bard replies. At this point, I know that he's not seriously flirting with any of my girls. He at least has the decency not to target those who are already in a relationship.
I shoot the little goddess a glance either way, but for a very different reason. She's the tactical officer who should be keeping the interior of the ship safe from intruders. At the very least, her job is to notify me that somebody has boarded us. But judging by her reaction, she wasn't aware of it either.
"And I heard through the grapevine that Runa has been abducted by Shelnir." In a more serious tone, Sigurd then continues. By that, he most likely means that Sintress learned about it and told him. Both he and Arcelia are her children, and they appear to have since remained in contact with each other after their unexpected reunion at the siege of Erbilan.
"Where was Sintress all this time? I remember her saying that she would go to the Moon and check on Juzual. After that, I didn't hear from her again." I inquire with my arms crossed. I'm sure she could have done something about the moonfall and the solar storm with that perfect sanctuary of hers. If it really is as perfect as she and Exla claim it to be, that is.
"We have to leave this for another time." Senka announces a split second before an alarm sound goes off.
"Nuclear launch detected." A robotic female voice announces in an unfittingly calm tone. Now is the moment of truth; is Sintress truly capable of stopping inhibition field missiles with something from the Imagination Engine?
"Watch her." Arcelia declares when she sees my doubtful expression. At this point, I've given up trying to control myself when not in front of enemies. It's alright if my friends and allies can tell what I'm thinking by looking at my face. I have nothing more to hide at this point, except for my actual face.
"How long until impact?" But I still don't intend to rely on a power I don't know blindly. I hope Sintress succeeds, but in case she doesn't, we need to be ready.
"Two minutes and thirty-five seconds." Hestia responds in a severe tone. She's the sensors operator, but until not too long ago, she didn't even know the concept of timekeeping. With Exla around, a load was taken off my shoulders when it came to teaching everybody about the Imagination Engine. They have all come a long way since first learning about it.
"I hope she won't wait until the last moment." Muttering to myself, I stare at the screen, which shows countless little blinking lights. They're the heat signatures of the missiles heading for the Queen Pelomyx. Every single one of those could destroy the entire ship, but we have nearly a million bearing down on us. It's absolute overkill for a single vessel, but Alverost wanted to make sure nothing threatened the Imagination Engine on the Sun.
Suddenly, the screen lights up to blinding levels. Exla quickly applies darkening filters over the camera, but all it does is turn the white into a dark gray. There are no signs of shapes, only pure light. The cloud girl spins the camera around, but the same appears to be happening all around us.
More than ten seconds pass before the light dies down. Hestia quickly types something on her console, then looks at it with disbelief before repeating the process.
"What is it?" I ask her, and she leans back on her seat.
"The enemy fleet has disappeared." She only says, seemingly drained of all her energy. "There is nothing else left out there."
"Except for this." Exla adds and brings up her small screen to the big one. It shows a blonde girl in a simple white robe standing on top of an unarmed shuttle with her arms outstretched. She lowers them moments later, then turns around to look almost directly at the camera.
My mind is filled with questions and theories on how she accomplished this. The enemy was scattered across the same range as my gravity field could cover in the solar storm. And the nearly one million missiles were coming in staggered at different distances. It looked like they all detonated at the exact same time, so it wasn't a chain reaction.
I watch as Sintress walks to an open airlock on top of her shuttle and then disappears inside. Even though she could easily fly in space on her own, she's still using technology as a crutch. Maybe she doesn't want to lose touch with reality entirely. Then again, that perfect sanctuary of hers is far out of touch with reality.
Could it be matter to energy conversion? That was Juzual's domain, but Exla explained that none of the Old Humans had figured it out. The Witch of the End was considered an outsider among them because it appeared as if she couldn't create anything despite having access to the Imagination Engine. At this point, I feel like creation is nothing special when one considers all the possible applications of the technology.
In either case, I'm glad she's on our side. Fighting the straightforward power types such as Zylos, Serent, and Oinos was relatively easy. But when the opponent's imagination becomes too abstract, it's impossible to formulate a countermeasure in time. Same with Exla, who has the broadest imagination and can easily change her strategy on a whim.
"While we wait for Sintress to come aboard, explain things to me." I turn to Sigurd and Arcelia, who shift their gazes to me. At least I assume the latter is doing that as her eyes are always closed.
"I was in the Empire of Terminus, spreading the word of our lady and savior, Chaos." With a flourish and a bow, the bard replies in what would have come across as sarcasm if not for how serious he makes it sound. I've become a goddess, huh? "Lady Crux did the same in the Cathedral of Light in Kongenssoevn."
As a saint and one of the very people capable of light magic, Arcelia has as much real influence as a ruler of a sovereign nation. In fact, the king of Lares seeks counsel with her on a regular basis. Therefore, it has been relatively easy for her to spread the truth about the Old Humans there.
On the other hand, since the empire's state religion is essentially Zenlithism, taking the approach tantamount to heresy over there isn't the best. It's much easier to spread the idea to the common folk by using the network of bards. It will take much longer than a paradigm shift within the church, but without Zenlith or the other Old Humans meddling, time is what we have.
"So neither of you know what Sintress was doing since she said she would check on Juzual on the Moon, hm?" I tilt my head with a disapproving frown. I'll have to ask the girl in person then.
"She told us that she inspected the rift in reality." But to my surprise, Sigurd explains with a thoughtful expression. It's rare for his constant frivolous smile to disappear completely, and rarer still for him to make a grim face. This appears to be a serious topic.
He's talking about the rift that the Imagination Engine opened. It's what allowed the Outer One to send Mataku into this dimension many millennia ago. And about twenty years ago, the Primordial Crawling Chaos that gave birth to my mother was brought here the same way.
"At first, she thought that it might be best if she stayed there as a guardian so that nothing could ever pass through again." Arcelia continues to relate what Sintress was doing for the past few months. That implies the Lady of Brilliance was willing to dedicate her life to keeping this dimension safe from the Outer One. It would have been tantamount to self-sacrifice. "However, she said she could feel an unnatural pull from the rift within a moon. It would have overpowered her mind and drawn her inside if she had not run away."
Even the Old Human with the most serene mind is affected by the madness of the abyss. Her perfect sanctuary comes from her will, but if that's eroded by the Outer One's emanations, it will start to show cracks. That must mean nothing in this dimension can keep it out - except for its kin.
"She returned after the moon fell, inquired her sources among the demons, and learned that you were heading for the sun." The bard takes over the explanation. In other words, Sintress only came right at this time by chance. If she hadn't, I'm not sure the Queen Pelomyx would have survived the onslaught of nuclear inhibition field missiles.
"Sintress has docked in the hangar." Exla announces, interrupting our conversation. It's going to be a minute or two before she reaches the command center then.
"Run another scan at maximum range. Make sure the coast is clear. Exla and Tahiri, get back to working on that engine. We need to move." To get things rolling as soon as possible, I give out the orders. "Tokomaha, this time, do your job as the tactical officer."
The little goddess tilts her head questioningly. I guess she was only playing along earlier and doesn't understand what her job description is. It's a cute reaction, so I'll forgive her. Still, everybody needs to do their part for this to be a success. There's no time to explain every single thing, so I'll make it short.
"Disperse your clones across the ship. Search for intruders at all times and report to me when you find something." Of course, that's not the full extent of her job, but for now, that's all that matters. I doubt that Areteniha will send infiltrators; she would have done it long ago if she could. And Shelnir evidently wants us to reach the Rhodos station to repeat the situation with Luna after I broke her last prediction.
Sintress coming and destroying the Venus Fleet must be within her calculations still.
"I see." With this simple answer, she walks toward the door right when it opens to reveal Sintress. She's going barefoot on the cold metal floor, not at all inconvenienced by the lack of shoes. When I see her stand right in front of Tokomaha, I realize that the two are quite close in height and build.
But that also shows me that they couldn't be more different from each other. The caramel-skinned little goddess and the angelic white Old Human are like complete opposites of each other not only in looks but also attitude. The latter steps aside to let the former pass, who nods in passing without paying much attention to her. The only thing they truly have in common is the sheer scope of their imagination.
"Welcome on board." I stand up and greet the Old Human who looks like a young girl. Even though I have pressing questions for her, I don't forget my manners this time.
"Thank you, Chaos." With a graceful bow and a radiant smile, Sintress expresses her gratitude. She truly is a good girl at heart, not just in appearances.
"Now, please explain how you did that. Those missiles were equipped with inhibition field generators." Getting the pleasantries out of the way, I jump to the main point. If this is something I can learn, we won't have to fear anything from Areteniha until we take care of her on the Rhodos station.
"I tried to leave that gift to humanity, but the others of my age corrupted it." Shaking her head slowly, Sintress begins to explain. "Those who have learned the light barrier through magic will never be able to achieve the perfect sanctuary."
Coming from anybody else, I would have thought it an excuse. However, I instinctively understand that this girl tells no lies. It must be true that holding preconceived notions about that inviolable barrier makes it impossible to learn how it truly works.
"Try me." But I don't give up that easily. I've overcome so many walls in this life due to either my human ingenuity or my mental capabilities as a Crawling Chaos. After all, I learned all the things I'm now capable of despite holding the preconceptions I brought from my previous life.
"Solid light." Finally, Sintress gives in and speaks two simple words. I have no idea what that means, but Exla and Senka simultaneously jump up from their seats.
"You were able to achieve that?!" The cloud girl grabs the blonde's shoulders and looms over her with widened eyes. On the other hand, the living doll is holding her temples as if this revelation causes her a headache.
"What is solid light?" I inquire when I see their overblown reactions. The combination of those words doesn't make much sense to me, but if taken at face value, it would mean... literally solid light. And that can't be right.
"It is just that. Slowing photons down until they act like a solid." To my surprise, Senka is the one that explains. She then turns to Sintress with a doubtful expression. "But that requires the right medium. Light moving through a vacuum is literally the furthest from that."
"This is getting into science territory that I won't ever understand." I raise a hand to preempt an answer from the Lady of Brilliance. "Just give me an explanation of what the end result should look like."
"I see. Yes, to put it bluntly, it is a wall of solid light, which lingers in physical form even after you stop making it." Opening her palm, Sintress creates an immensely bright sphere on top of it. But when I put darkening filters over my eyes, I find that it's actually a flat panel shaped like a hexagon. A much less luminous version of many such panels arranged into a sphere is what I get from the light barrier spell.
"In other words, it's a kind of physical manifestation, which is how you could use it to block the missiles even though they carry inhibition field generators." Tilting my head as Sintress lowers her hand, I find that the hexagonal panel remains in place for a while before fading away after a few seconds. "Wouldn't this be considered energy to matter conversion?"
"No, because photons don't have energy or mass." Exla takes off the nuclear blast shades she created from her cloud hair and clarifies. "They're supposed to exist only in motion, so-"
"That doesn't make much sense to me, but let's not get too scientific." Waving off the cloud girl's explanation, I turn to Sintress. "What makes you think that those who learned it through magic will never be able to achieve this?"
"Because what you learn through magic is not light." She responds by raising her other hand and creating a football-sized light barrier bubble. It's one of the three spells I learned from the sacred texts of the Lady of Brilliance that Arcelia gave me in Hovsgaerden so long ago. "This is nothing more than a cheap imitation meant to emulate the perfect sanctuary through other means."
That cheap imitation saved many people over time, but I guess if it had been the original, I could have done much more. The far less luminous sphere made of hexagonal panels also lingers for a time, much like the solid light. But I know from experience that it's far from perfect since it couldn't stop Zylos going supernova.
"What is this, then?" I point at the bubbles shield just as it disappears.
"Solid air. Very like Zenlith to overwrite my gift to new humanity with his own domain." Lowering her hand, Sintress speaks with a sad expression on her face. She and Zenlith were in a relationship that ran deeper than that between friends a long time ago until they disagreed on the treatment of the living beings of this world.
"It's quite sturdy and isolates against heat well. But it is easily broken down beyond a certain temperature." Exla adds while creating her own light barrier. "And most of all, Zenlith could negate it whenever he wanted to."
"So, how does hard light work?" This is the only question that matters. If it's anything like how I learned gravity magic that allowed me to suck up an area of twenty thousand kilometers of the solar storm, I should be able to master it in an hour or two.
"Imagination." Sintress replies with a sigh. I figured that this would be the answer. "There is a reason why light, dark, and gravity are considered the rare affinities. They are the most difficult to grasp."
When I think about it, I encountered the dark element less than any of the others. For being so widespread, especially among demons and corrupted beings, it's rarely used. On the other side, only one new human is currently capable of gravity manipulation, and I learned that one pretty quickly.
"Is it dangerous if it goes haywire?" Crossing my arms, I inquire of Sintress.
"It is safe. Ultimately, it is nothing more than light." She answers with a shake of her head, causing her shoulder-length blonde hair to sway gently. Even with closed eyes, her expression is relatively easy to read; there's more to this. "But I heard that your spirit spear is incredibly powerful. Maybe there is an angle to teach you from."
I remember Exla telling me that the spirit spear is a weaponized application of the perfect sanctuary. That means it's solid light turned into the shape of a spear, launched at high speed with incredible penetrative power. Of course, that implies one knows how the perfect sanctuary works already, which I don't. Maybe overlapping many spears could emulate the barrier, though.
"I better do it in the training room, after all." With a wry smile, I look around the command center. If I try it with spirit spears and they fly off somehow, this place would get some unnecessary breathing holes. Then I turn to Sintress and bow as if greeting a teacher. "Would you please join me?"
"With pleasure." The blonde girl nods with a gentle smile. She's incredibly charming despite or because of her simple clothes and lack of makeup. The closed eyes create an air of serenity that surrounds her like a tangible aura. Even without a glowing halo or a shiny outfit, she is shining more brilliantly than Areteniha's overblown self-presentation ever could.
"The scans reveal nothing within our range." Suddenly, Hestia's voice pulls me out of my reverie, and I blink my eyes a few times before turning to her. "If something is approaching, it will have to be from very far away."
"It doesn't give us that long anyway, so keep an eye on the sensors." Exla asserts with a frown. The radar range can accurately reach around a hundred thousand kilometers beyond which cosmic background radiation interference is too strong to spot small blips. At that point, visual confirmation of engine burn is far more accurate but quite hard to notice against the starry backdrop.
The Venus Fleet is as fast as the Queen Pelomyx should be, so they'll reach us in less than two minutes even if we detect them at the very edge of our sensors. Then again, as long as we have Sintress here, the Venus Fleet no longer poses a threat.
"In either case, stay on the engines. That's our top priority." I declare with a glance at Senka, who already went back to typing away on her console. I have no doubts that if it's a software issue, Exla and she will find it. I'll leave the circuits and hardware to Tahiri and Kleihn. And if everything fails, I can take everybody inside me and travel through space as a living ark. It just makes life harder for everybody else.
"What should we do?" Uten and Saten ask with their heads tilted in opposite directions. Asoko is standing behind them with her arms crossed, waiting for an answer as well.
"What do you mean? Of course, you're coming with me to learn this." I state with my eyebrows drawn together in a skeptical frown. Since learning about the Imagination Engine, my growth has far outpaced theirs, not only in mass but also in ways to utilize my abilities. This is an opportunity to at least get them up to speed a little. After all, I'd feel safer if they could defend themselves and those around them as well as I can.
"Chaos-sama, a meal has been prepared. Would it not be better to take a rest after everything that has happened and partake in dinner?" Rewera steps forward from her position in the background and stops me. The prospect of a meal does appeal to me, and I glance at the others in the room. Surely, they're hungry too.
"Yeah, let's do that." Korenga stands up from her chair with an enthusiastic grin. Kerry is hanging onto her shoulders and squeals in excitement at the sudden bumpy ride.
"That will have to wait." But Tokomaha suddenly enters from the doorway, flanked by two of her clones. "We have intruders on board."
