Novel Full Chapter 1500. Extinction (10)
Chapter 1500. Extinction (10)
‘The Sage’s Stone?’
“...”
“...”
‘Is that bastard drunk?’
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‘Has he just gone insane after being stuck here for too long?’
“...”
‘Or did he get dementia from all the damn stress?’
A word so damn out of left field slipped out that I was starting to worry about Commander Jin’s mental health.
‘Come on, damn it... what on god's green earth do you mean by Sage’s Stone?’
With no explanation whatsoever, he blurted out Sage’s Stone, and I had no idea what that meant. It wasn’t like he had no idea that the Sage’s Stone wasn’t even real. Literally, the Sage’s Stone was nothing more than a heavily exaggerated rumor. It was an object that didn’t actually exist.
Some old texts called it a stone that could create miracles, while others claimed it was a material used to make an elixir capable of reviving the dead. In the Magic Tower, however, there were rumors that it was a gem with infinite mana, and elsewhere it was said to be a gift from the gods.
A wish-granting stone that brought immortality; an item that bestowed transcendent power. All sorts of stories floated around it, but most of them were unrealistic nonsense.
Even in this land crawling with all kinds of supernatural abilities, the Sage’s Stone remained a vague item.
‘Hell, at this point, they'll call anything they see a Sage’s Stone.’
Was it not the easiest word to use for a scam on the continent? Even at this very moment, there were probably con artists running wild, swindling people with talk of the Sage’s Stone. They'd approach terminally ill patients and sell them an ordinary rock, stating that it was a Sage's Stone. They would even sell them to nobles desperate for eternal youth.
There had even been black mage frauds who claimed to be the owners of the Sage’s Stone while raising corpses with necromancy as proof.
The ignorant believed in the Sage’s Stone like it was some miracle cure, and even those who considered themselves educated would lose their minds whenever the topic came up. As a once-promising alchemist in the early days on the continent, I had spread rumors about the Sage’s Stone to attract investments and attend various symposiums.
Honestly, it wasn’t that I had never seriously thought about the Sage’s Stone, but as I learned more about alchemy and the continent, I couldn’t help but grow skeptical of it.
'How the hell are you supposed to create something that’s not even real?'‘Damn it, even if you somehow made something like that, it’s not like anyone will stamp it with a certification mark saying it’s the real Sage’s Stone.’
Sure, calling it limitless was a bit iffy, but if the Sage’s Stone was supposed to be a stone with mana that was close to limitless, then perhaps it could be made. If the key ingredient in a potion that could save someone with fatal wounds was called the Sage’s Stone, then perhaps something similar could be made.
If the Sage’s Stone meant something that made one younger, then it could be made, too.
However, none of those could truly be called the Sage’s Stone.
The Sage’s Stone had never existed in the first place—no, it had never existed anywhere on the continent at any point in history. That was why, at some point, I had completely lost interest in it and scaled back every related venture.
Of course, Commander Jin was from the Republic, where alchemy was fairly advanced, so he definitely knew all that too.
On top of that, he was a brilliant mage and the type to have a lot of useless trivia rattling around in his head, so there was no way he didn’t know the Sage’s Stone was a total lie.
If I had casually brought it up first, he would have run his mouth about scams and con jobs, along with whatever other nonsense.
‘But he said it first...’
Was he bragging that he had made it, or was he saying he needed it for something? Damn it. Thinking there would be some kind of added explanation, I focused on my ears.
Swoosh!
Just then, an arrow flew into the crow’s throat just as it was about to start clacking its beak again.
Thunk!
Before it could even scream, I saw a hole in the purple-eyed crow’s neck...
Flap, flap.
“Caw!”
“Caaaaaaaw!”
“Caw!”
“Caaaaw!”
The other crows nearby scattered in all directions.
‘Ha, damn it. Come on.’
“...”
“...”
‘Commander Jin, you bastard...’
Of course, a shadow loomed over us.
‘These guys are insanely quick on the uptake...’
It looked like we couldn’t avoid the eyes of the Sniper, after all.
“Honey, come here for a second and take a look at this crow. Do you see anything strange with it?” Yu Ran asked.
“Not really anything...” Cheon Kwan-Wi answered.
“Do not brush it off. Look closely, honey,” she said.
“...”
It seemed like Commander Jin had taken some kind of measure before the connection was cut, but the fact that I had no way to contact him was really irritating. He had basically dropped a huge piece of bait and exited the stage, leaving me hanging.
‘No, damn it, if you were going to link up to communicate, you could’ve just used something like a bee. Instead, you just had to show off and call in a crow. Now, look at this mess.’
If he needed a bird, weren’t there more ordinary ones he could have chosen? Why the hell had he picked something as eye-catching as a purple-eyed crow? It wasn’t like crows were the only birds that fed on corpses.
I was busy cursing Commander Jin under my breath when it happened.
“A patient?” Cheon Kwan-Wi quietly looked down at Mikael and me.
“Excuse me, but perhaps...”
“This isn’t a situation where we can listen to everyone’s personal circumstances. He does look like he’s in pain, but I can’t allocate any manpower to him. There are others in more urgent need,” Cheon Kwan-Wi interrupted.
“...”
“Endure a little longer. That’s all I can say for now,” he said.
“He’s in a lot of pain...” Mikael mumbled.
“We’re not far from Castle Rock,” he said.
After giving Mikael a short word of encouragement, he tried to look cool, but the sight of him personally walking over to pick up the crow that had been shot down made him look like a married man running an errand on an online marketplace app for his wife.
Since he needed to check for mana traces, he couldn’t exactly order someone else to do it, so he had to come himself. Sure enough, his gaze slowly settled on the crow near us.
Naturally, he probably wouldn’t find anything. Cheon Kwan-Wi had grown considerably by now, but it would still be difficult for him to detect any traces left behind by Commander Jin.
“I don’t sense anything, honey,” Cheon Kwan-Wi said.
“Hmm... that’s strange. I was sure something felt a little off. Its eyes... the way it kept clacking its beak so unnaturally. Is it one of the pigeons that Dominions commands? Have you heard of a woman capable of summoning a familiar?
"Or maybe someone else among the pigeons? Isn’t it strange that there are crows in this mist to begin with? If you head the other way, there should be corpses scattered around. So why are they here instead?” Yu Ran questioned.
“You seem a bit on edge. Perhaps you should go inside and rest...” he suggested.
“...”
“...”
“Are you saying what I’m seeing is wrong? Honey?” she questioned.
“That’s not what I meant... Not exactly... I’ll take a closer look, honey,” he said, denying it.
‘Not like he’s going to find anything anyway...’
Just as I was thinking that way, the limp crow jerked upright and clacked its beak.
Clack! Clack-clack! Clack!
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“See? I told you something's off. Have you ever seen a bird with an arrow sticking out of its neck move like that, honey?” she questioned.
Crack!
“Have you been slacking off on your studies lately? I know you specialize in your field, but you’re still a mage. You should at least be able to detect a mana signature. You’re supposed to be one of the Empire’s finest mages, and you couldn’t even spot a cheap trick from the Pigeons?” she complained.
Crunch! Crack!
“...”
“...”
“Hey, you there!” Yu Ran called out.
“Yes, Miss Yu Ran?”
“Report to Countess Castlerock and tell her to consider increasing our marching speed. No, tell her we need to enter Castle Rock as fast as possible, no exceptions. Even if it means pushing the troops hard. Make sure she understands what I mean. Drop anything that slows us down and move,” she ordered.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And kill every crow nearby. No, kill any wild animal. Don’t let so much as a single ant slip into the mist,” she added.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You know what you’re supposed to do, right? Honey?” she asked.
“...”
‘Cheon Kwan-Wis pride just took a serious hit.’
More than Yu Ran’s scolding, it seemed like failing to see through that spell had wounded him.
“I’ll go check the surroundings, honey,” she said.
“...”
“Sorry for being harsh. You know how I feel,” she apologized.
Yu Ran had to be worried about him, too. After lightly kissing his cheek, she immediately left. It was obvious why. She was probably heading out to wipe out every crow in the area. Commander Jin had just triggered a sudden crow massacre, but at least his message had come through loud and clear.
‘First life Lee Ki-Young.’
That was what he said. Of course, I understood immediately what he was trying to convey. The masked scum was making a Sage’s Stone. Well, it was not exactly a Sages Stone. As I said before, that thing did not exist. He was probably making something vaguely similar. Commander Jin probably called it "Sage’s Stone" for convenience's sake. Calling it "wish stone" or "Sage’s Stone" did not really matter.
What mattered was that he was doing something rather interesting in order to create an unidentified object.
‘This bastard... he’s just using people without second thoughts, isn’t he?’
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“...”
‘Yeah, I’ve thought about it before, too.’
I vaguely remembered seeing Jung Ha-Yan compress people into small spheres once. At the time, I briefly pondered whether one could create something resembling a Sage's Stone by continuously compressing mana. Of course, it was a ridiculous idea.
Just crushing and compressing the pure source of life would not magically turn it into anything meaningful. It would require countless processes, and turning that into an actual energy source would be another matter entirely.
‘It’s impossible.’
Or was it really? If one were to make use of every human on the continent, would it really be impossible to create something akin to a Sage’s Stone?
Instead of humans, what if one were to make use of gods? Would you call the result something undefined? At the very least, that was not something First Life Lee Ki-Young was capable of doing.
‘That bastard wasn’t an alchemist.’
Even if he really was trying to make such a thing, he would have had to study, but the chances of it being a proper product were slim. At his core, he was a black mage. At best, he would use it as some kind of sacrificial offering.
“It’s Castle Rock, Mr. Lee Ki-Young. We can see Castle Rock now,” Mikael said.
“...”
“Just a little further...” he added.
‘To hell with Castle Rock. Like that matters right now.’
Obviously, First Life Ki-Young was already aware of regression at this point in time. I had no idea whether this was before or after Lee Ji-Hye's death, but he knew that we were here.
‘This crow...’
It was probably not from Commander Jin.
As I looked at the crow that Yu Ran had crushed, I suddenly had an idea.
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“...”
Whether it was to bait me or to gauge my reaction, I had no idea, but it was definitely a message sent directly to me. All that talk about making a Sage’s Stone could just be nonsense meant to feel me out.
‘You...’
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“...”
‘You want to play, is that it?’