Ch.284Icarus’s Wings (4)

The exhaled breath turned into a white mist.

The frozen ancient castle was chilly.

Najin moved toward the castle gate. With each step, frost crunched beneath his feet. The entire world was dyed pure white.

“……”

Najin silently looked around.

The area swept by Merlin’s magic was completely frozen white. Whales were suspended in the air, frozen mid-column of water, and waves were preserved in the exact shape they had been cresting.

Beyond them, the battlefield of stars was visible.

Stars could be seen fighting and clashing outside the frozen sea. Their movements appeared excessively slow to Najin’s eyes. This wasn’t because Najin was special. They were actually moving slowly.

-This is the center of the stage.

Najin looked down at his feet. He was standing at the entrance of an ancient castle built upon the most massive whale, the mother of all frozen whales.

-This place is the sanctuary of the Star of Heaven, the center of the stage that the Star of Heaven has created. It means the flow of time is different here.

Indeed, it was just as Merlin had said.

Najin turned his gaze forward again. He walked toward the tightly closed castle gate. The castle was enormous. Its size reminded him of the imperial palace in the Empire’s capital.

Crunch, crunch.

For a while, only the sound of footsteps on snow echoed. Just as Merlin had named her magic, only silence (寂寞) filled the air. That silence was broken when Najin pushed open the castle gate.

Groooooan……

With a heavy sound, the iron gate opened. What entered Najin’s sight was a vast garden. Najin fell silent as he surveyed the garden.

“……”

It was filled with corpses. The garden was decorated with preserved bodies that had stabbed each other with spears and swords. After briefly observing their faces contorted with rage, Najin hastened his steps.

Ahead, the towering ancient castle.

Najin walked toward where Icarus would be. He didn’t run, leap, or jump over.

‘It’s like when I conquered La Mancha before.’

The situation was similar to that time. He had to follow a set procedure to enter. Najin walked along the straight path that seemed to invite him forward.

Tap.

The moment he crossed the garden and entered the castle, the scenery began to change. The frozen world disappeared completely, replaced by green meadows stretching to the horizon.

Flower petals scattered in the breeze with a rustle.

In the center of the field where warm winds blew.

Someone was standing there.

2.

The scenery had transformed. The moment he sensed this, Najin’s pupils narrowed. Rather than feeling like a star’s stage, it felt exactly like when he had entered a star’s grave.

-Icarus is a Forgotten Star.

And, Merlin continued.

-The most unusual Forgotten Star. Because despite forgetting himself, he didn’t fall.

This was different from falling into corruption and becoming a Reversed Star. The only fate given to a Forgotten Star (忘星) who had forgotten themselves was to fall. To end up like the dead who only covet stars—indeed, the Forgotten Stars Najin had seen were no different from the dead.

Bull Horned Star, Krinbel was an example.

Despite being a noble knight, Krinbel merely rampaged like a beast. He couldn’t use the powers that came from his lifetime achievements, nor could he use transcendent powers like stages.

‘But……’

The Star of Heaven, Icarus was using them.

He was naturally using both the stage that only transcendents could create and the powers derived from the stories contained in his star.

-The true form of the Star of Heaven is a dead person, but.

Merlin pointed at the ground beneath Najin’s feet.

-All of the Star of Heaven’s memories and mental images are preserved right here where you’re standing.

Preserved—that was the expression Merlin used.

-What current transcendents call the “Star of Heaven” isn’t Icarus himself. This ancient castle, the castle carried by the largest whale, is itself the Star of Heaven.

‘This castle itself is the Star of Heaven?’

-Yes. More precisely, this ancient castle serves as a repository for the Star of Heaven’s memories.

Merlin explained.

The Star of Heaven separated his memories from his body that was becoming a corpse and locked them in this castle. So that even if he forgot himself, this story would remain intact.

That was the true identity of the castle where Najin stood.

-Normally, this would be absolutely impossible. Creating a repository to store the memories of a being as powerful as a constellation is nearly impossible.

‘But……’

-Yes, everyone thought it impossible, but there was a legendary inventor by Icarus’s side who made it possible.

Najin asked who that was.

Merlin answered briefly:

-The inventor who challenged masterpieces, Daedalus.

It was a name Najin had heard before.

Like the masterpieces created in the primordial era, he researched methods of imbuing mystery into matter… and eventually succeeded in his attempt, a legendary inventor.

-This castle is a masterpiece created by Daedalus.

Masterpiece, Merlin called it that.

-A castle that holds memories, and now a prison that confines Icarus—the labyrinth.

The Great Labyrinth, Labyrinth.

That was the name given to this ancient castle.

“……”

Najin silently shifted his gaze. His eyes turned toward a boy standing in the field. He felt he could understand the identity of the boy standing there now.

‘Then that boy is.’

-Yes.

Merlin nodded.

-That must be Icarus. More precisely, Icarus’s memory contained in this castle, Icarus’s past.

She sighed.

-Using that past Icarus as a clue, we need to break through the Great Labyrinth from now on. Only then can we reach the top floor of the castle where Icarus’s true form is.

Now it was just a matter of following the strategy they had discussed beforehand. But for some reason, Najin felt there might be another way.

-Hmm?

With a tap, Najin approached the boy standing in the field. Merlin blinked.

-What are you going to do by approaching him?

You won’t be able to make contact anyway.

That’s what Merlin said. It made sense. What was there now was just a recreation of Icarus’s past, merely a memory preserved in this castle.

While one could see with their eyes and hear with their ears, touching a preserved object would be impossible.

‘It should be impossible, but……’

For some reason, Najin thought he “could reach him.” The moment Najin approached Icarus, light leaked from the La Mancha flag tied to Najin’s shoulder.

The sacred relic left by La Mancha.

The sacred relic left by the knight who turned reality into a dream and, in his final moment, turned dreams into reality, glowed softly. The knight who always played “the role most needed in the story” no matter what stage came, smiled.

「Life is a stage! A spectacular play.」

「What role will I play this time? Hero? Champion? Prince? But the best is still a knight. A knight full of honor, pride, and romance!」

Najin felt as if he heard such a voice. And he also felt someone’s hand pushing his back.

「Let’s go, Sancho!」

「An exciting adventure awaits us.」

The moment he took a step forward, pushed from behind.

Light enveloped Najin.

When the enveloping light subsided, Najin realized his clothes had changed. Not the attire of a free knight, but the worn and shabby clothes of an inventor.

“So you were here again, Icarus.”

His mouth moved naturally. With an expression mixed with a sigh, as if he couldn’t help it, Najin looked at the boy. Icarus turned his head and looked at Najin.

They were not an exhibited object and a spectator.

Najin was standing in the same place as Icarus. Najin realized he had ascended to the stage as an actor, not as a spectator outside the stage. Then what role had been given to him?

“Ah, Daedalus!”

The moment he heard Icarus’s words, he knew.

Daedalus.

The designer of the Great Labyrinth.

That was the name of the role Najin had been assigned on this stage.

3.

The moment Najin naturally acquired his role, Merlin’s eyes, who was watching Najin, widened.

-No, what is this……?

This was different from La Mancha. La Mancha was possible because of the special nature of being “a star’s grave with the form of a stage,” but where Najin was standing now was not a star’s grave.

So how on earth?

It was an unexpected situation, but Merlin soon made a judgment. That it wasn’t a bad situation. Rather, it was good if anything.

-This is an unexpected situation, but not bad. It’s become simpler.

‘Simpler?’

-Breaking through this labyrinth. You just need to follow the Icarus in front of you.

From the moment Najin stepped onto the stage as an actor, there was no need to grope around wondering where to go. He just needed to follow the given story.

After a brief exchange of glances with Merlin who nodded.

Immediately after, Najin focused on his role. Information about the character Daedalus and the boy Icarus naturally flowed into his mind.

‘It’s the same as with La Mancha.’

Najin organized the incoming information.

Daedalus was a childhood friend who grew up in the same neighborhood as Icarus, and was Icarus’s helper.

“Daedalus, I’m going to fly in the sky.”

“That again.”

And he was also the only person who listened to Icarus’s always far-fetched stories.

So who was Icarus?

Najin couldn’t answer that question right away.

“Look at that star shining high in the sky. It’s the star of the great hero King Arthur. Thirteen years before we were born, King Arthur saved the world. Then he became a star in the night sky!”

Like most boys, Icarus was the type of person full of dreams and childlike wonder.

“The star that shines in the highest place.”

A boy who heard stories of heroes and dreamed of becoming one.

Icarus was born around the time when Arthur had just become a legend, and the whole world was filled with stories of Arthur. In such a time, Icarus dreamed.

“I’ll fly to the sky and reach that star.”

A dream of reaching the stars, of reaching Arthur who shines in the highest place.

It wasn’t a particularly special dream.

It was a dream that all children of Icarus’s age would have imagined at least once, and a dream they would naturally give up as they grew older. After all, dreaming impossible dreams was the privilege of children.

However, there were a few differences.

“You want to fly? In the sky.”

By Icarus’s side was Daedalus, a genius who would later be called a legendary inventor, and.

“You still haven’t changed your mind?”

“Of course. I’m going to the sky, Daedalus.”

The fact that Icarus, who had turned seventeen after ten years, was still dreaming, and.

“I know you’ve received dozens of invitations from magic towers, but you’re ignoring them all to go on an adventure?”

“Ah, as if I’d live a boring life researching magic trapped in a tower without a single window. Even if I fall, I will challenge the high sky!”

The fact that Icarus himself had tremendous talent. Icarus, who had the potential to become a great magician if he worked hard, did not give up his childhood dream.

Talent, connection, and persistence.

When these three elements interlocked, Icarus’s dream did not remain just a dream. Icarus began developing magic to fulfill his dream.

“That’s not how you do it.”

“Like this?”

“No, sigh, put it down. I’ll do it.”

Daedalus, who couldn’t bear to watch his old friend, also joined in that foolish endeavor.

“If you help me, I’ll give you the honor of being the second person to fly in the sky. Ah, of course, the first is mine. I can’t give that up even to you, Daedalus.”

“I’m not interested. So what are you going to do with this?”

“What else?”

Icarus pointed to the sky.

“I’m going to fly in the sky.”

Three years later.

By the time the two became adults, they unveiled an invention to the world.

And the world was turned upside down.