Chapter 490: Enforcers?

Caelus chuckled before following her inside.

Shortly afterward, the ship departed, and the beautiful lake gradually disappeared behind the surrounding trees.

Bertram guided them through a transit gate beyond his territory.

The moment they emerged on the other side, an extraordinary sight greeted them.

Vast planets filled the surrounding space, while numerous ships traveled along established routes toward the distant Northern Star Region.

Caelus stood near the glass, observing the scenery with interest.

A pale, desolate planet slowly passed beneath their ship.

Its surface was covered in enormous cracks, while thick layers of dust filled the edges of several immense, dried-up basins.

However, just as he was about to look elsewhere, something peculiar happened.

A section of the planet suddenly shifted.

More precisely, an enormous square portion of its surface slid sideways, while everything surrounding it remained perfectly still.

’Huh?’

Caelus frowned.

For an instant, the planet appeared as though someone had cut a piece out of its surface and moved it out of place.

But before he could examine the phenomenon more closely, the displaced section abruptly returned to its original position.

Almost simultaneously, the stars above the planet began breaking apart into scattered strips of light.

"What was that?" Sylvia asked, having witnessed the same phenomenon.

Bertram’s hands froze above the controls.

"I... don’t know."

Before anyone could say another word, another distortion swept through the ship.

This time, even the interior was affected.

The table in front of them suddenly appeared in two different locations at once, as though two identical objects were occupying the same space.

Fortunately, the strange phenomenon lasted only an instant before everything returned to normal.

"What the hell is happening?" Freya exclaimed, immediately rising from her seat. "Is someone attacking us?"

Himmel also grew alert and moved toward the doorway.

At that moment, the space along their route suddenly flashed with a brilliant white light.

"Calm down, everyone."

Caelus raised his hand.

"Don’t panic. We’ll be fine. Just stay together until we figure out what’s causing this."

Although his voice remained calm, he was already growing suspicious.

These distortions were far too peculiar to be ordinary spatial fluctuations.

He immediately extended his consciousness beyond the ship, searching for the source of the disturbance.

Bertram did the same while bringing the vessel to a complete stop.

It didn’t take long for them to discover something approaching from behind the pale planet.

Four enormous objects were moving toward their position.

And their appearances were unlike anything Caelus had encountered before.

Each resembled a gigantic clock surrounded by several rotating metallic rings.

Two elongated hands moved across their flat surfaces, which were covered in unfamiliar symbols that Caelus couldn’t recognize.

However, their strange appearance wasn’t the most disturbing part.

It was the way their bodies seemed to constantly break apart and rearrange themselves.

One of the metallic rings would suddenly vanish from one side, only to reappear on the opposite side a moment later.

Meanwhile, the face of another clock stretched unnaturally thin before abruptly returning to its original shape.

It was almost as though the objects weren’t entirely bound by the normal laws of space.

’Just what are those things?’

Caelus narrowed his eyes.

But before he could investigate further, the Axiom Origin within his body suddenly stirred.

He felt its internal structure shift slightly, followed by an unfamiliar piece of information appearing directly within his consciousness.

[Akashic Records’ Enforcers.]

"Enforcers?"

Caelus was momentarily surprised.

Sylvia, who had been observing the approaching objects, immediately turned toward him.

"You know what those things are?"

"The Akashic Records’ Enforcers," Caelus replied. "That’s what the Axiom Origin’s information just told me."

Hearing this, Sylvia frowned.

"The Akashic Records?"

"Yeah."

Caelus fixed his gaze on the nearest clock, which had begun turning toward their ship.

’Why would the Akashic Records send its enforcers here?’

And more importantly, why did they seem so hostile?

It made absolutely no sense.

Just a few days ago, the Akashic Records had rewarded him.

Yet now, four of its enforcers were approaching them, radiating enough killing intent to make their intentions obvious.

’Don’t tell me they’re here for me?’

Caelus couldn’t dismiss the possibility.

Just then, Bertram rose from his seat and opened the ship’s door.

"Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll deal with them."

Caelus immediately turned toward him.

"Be careful, Bertram. There’s something strange about those things."

"I can see that, Brother Caelus."

Bertram smiled reassuringly.

"But you don’t need to worry too much. Their auras are rather weak. I doubt they’ll give me much trouble."

Caelus wasn’t entirely convinced.

Those bizarre distortions alone were enough to make him wary, and he had a feeling these constructs weren’t as simple as their apparent strength suggested.

However, Bertram was considerably more powerful than him and had already examined their auras himself.

There was no point in arguing.

"All right. Do as you wish, but don’t let them surround you."

"Of course!"

With that, Bertram flew out of the ship and approached the nearest construct.

He came to a stop a short distance from the enormous clock and examined it with a confident expression.

"That’s close enough."

As though responding to his warning, the clock’s two hands suddenly began spinning at an astonishing speed.

Bertram narrowed his eyes.

Without another word, he thrust his palm forward, releasing an immense wave of force directly toward the construct.

The attack struck the clock’s surface with a brilliant flash.

However, instead of crushing its enormous body, the force abruptly rebounded and scattered into the surrounding space.

Bertram’s expression changed.

The construct hadn’t moved an inch.

Bertram stared at the enormous clock, his expression gradually turning serious.

He had held back earlier to avoid damaging his ship, but even so, that attack should have been more than enough to send the construct flying.

Yet there wasn’t even a scratch on its surface.

"Fine. Let’s try that again."

Without wasting another moment, Bertram flew closer and drove his fist directly into one of the outer rings.

BOOM!

A tremendous shockwave spread through the surrounding space as his fist collided with the metallic surface.

However, much to his surprise, his arm came to an abrupt halt.

The enormous ring continued rotating beneath his knuckles as though nothing had happened.

Not even the slightest dent had appeared.

’What the hell?’

Inside the ship, Caelus leaned closer to the glass, his eyes narrowing.

He had clearly sensed the strength behind that punch. It was far greater than the power radiating from the construct itself.

Under normal circumstances, something with such a weak aura shouldn’t have been able to withstand Bertram’s attack.

And yet, there it was, completely unharmed.

Bertram wasn’t willing to give up so easily.

He spread his fingers, releasing an immense amount of energy that enveloped the entire clock in a brilliant radiance.

The light rapidly condensed around its enormous body before collapsing inward with tremendous force.

BOOM!

A blinding explosion swallowed the construct.