Ch.72Celestine Incident – Ship No. 3 (2)

And I got thoroughly beaten.

Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein, who had rolled on the ground several times, couldn’t understand what had happened to her.

Actually, she didn’t want to understand. She couldn’t believe the reality that she, of Adelbein bloodline, was rolling like a dog.

[“Did you think you could pierce my scales with just a fake constellation? How truly foolish.”]

“T-this is humiliation.”

It wasn’t this humiliating even when she lost to that sparrow named Rustila.

Well, back then she hadn’t used her constellation.

She believed that by deploying an artificial star, she could defeat even an avatar.

[“Let me give you some advice.”]

Meirem approached, flicking its tongue.

[“All beings should always remain humble. Pride only brings trouble. Like now.”]

“Shut up.”

Zernya stood up, spitting out sour-salty blood as she readjusted her grip on her sword.

“What are you saying, you foreign god lackey?”

The blade filled with Aether glowed with blue light. Zernya’s body moved forward like a surging wave.

[“How foolish.”]

Meirem swung its tail, striking Zernya’s body. She flew in an abnormal trajectory and became embedded in the wall. An unsightly groan echoed through the cavity.

[“From the moment you entered my domain, you were as good as finished.”]

A high-pitched ringing sound. Zernya barely managed to lift her head. Meirem was saying something.

– Fool.

– You are not a chosen one.

– Know your place.

‘No.’

Everyone in the world had said in unison that she was a genius. That despite her bad luck, she was chosen. That her level of talent was different. That her potential couldn’t be contained even in the entire galaxy.

That’s why she had adapted to and survived the artificial constellation.

[“In any field, in any place, the world is full of talents. Isn’t that right, young lady?”]

“You’re a monster, how dare you lecture me.”

[“Well, I understand. Mortals don’t change easily. Usually, when they have an experience that might change them, the tuition fee is…”]

Riiip.

Meirem opened its mouth.

[“…paid with death.”]

Hehehehe.

A pair of sharp, gold-plated fangs slowly approached.

Fear enveloped her body.

If she stayed like this, she would die.

“Ugh, urgh!”

She needed to get up, but her body wouldn’t listen. Her arms were starting to sting, and her abdomen felt numb.

In front of the giant snake with its mouth wide open, Zernya’s fake constellation couldn’t protect her mental state. Because what is created lacks a ‘soul.’

‘Ah.’

Exposed in her right mind, Zernya’s expression became distant.

‘I, I don’t want to die.’

In that moment, her life flashed before her eyes.

The faces of her family praising her talent. The atmosphere in the laboratory after successfully implanting the artificial constellation. The face of a slow-witted teacher confused by difficult questions. A test paper with a perfect score. The memory of thoroughly crushing classmates who had acted up after school in a memorable empty lot.

And, Eidel.

Eidel?

‘Why am I thinking of him?’

“Be humble.” The avatar’s words suddenly came to mind.

She didn’t know why she remembered that. In fact, she didn’t want to know.

Right now, she just wanted to live.

But the reality before her was bitter. She wanted to escape from reality. Zernya squeezed her eyes shut.

So she didn’t see it.

The sight of the golden-toothed snake that was about to devour her having its neck cut off and falling to the horizon.

“…Huh?”

When she gently opened her eyes.

A caliper was stuck in front of the avatar.

***

When we arrived, Ship 3 was just under attack.

Steel vipers were biting students indiscriminately. The venom connected to the avatar’s core was slowly spreading through the victims’ bodies.

“We need to find and kill the avatar as quickly as possible. Only then can we neutralize the effects of the poison.”

We moved according to Instructor Isaac’s words.

“Everyone will divide forces from the 1st to 9th floors to defeat the monster. I will head to the top floor with Kibel and Eidel.”

“Why are we going to the top floor?”

“Because I sense strong madness from above.”

However, the 10th floor itself was quiet with nothing there.

“Something’s strange.”

“Are we really in the right place?”

Isaac and Kibel swallowed nervously. Meanwhile, I was carefully examining the buttons and found a clue.

“Instructor, look at this.”

“This is… a pattern of a snake biting its own tail.”

“It’s called an ouroboros. It symbolizes infinite circulation and completeness.”

I organized my thoughts based on the pattern drawn on the first floor.

Beep.

“We’ll start with the 1st floor.”

Using the 1st floor as a starting point, I pressed the 4th floor.

“What’s next?”

“2nd floor. Then 8th, 5th, 7th.”

Finally, when I pressed the 3rd, 6th, and 9th floors…

[— The sound of something opening was heard.]

“So you’re trying to find a secret passage. What’s the principle?”

I explained kindly to Kibel’s question.

“1-4-2-8-5-7. This is the recurring sequence when 1/7 is expressed as an infinite decimal. When represented on a circle, it becomes the ‘hexad’ model used in numerology. It symbolizes infinite circulation.”

“Ah, um…”

“And 3-6-9. Similarly, when placed on a circle, it forms an equilateral triangle. Isn’t an equilateral triangle a figure that represents completeness?”

“So?”

“Now we’re done. We just need to press the 10th floor.”

I was about to reach for the 10th floor button but flinched. I sensed an eerie killing intent from the button.

Instead of touching it with my hand, I took out my caliper.

“That’s!”

“It’s a gift from my girlfriend.”

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is surprised.]

Crack!

I smashed the 10th floor button with the tool.

“What are you doing!”

“There was a very faint energy of a foreign god. If I had just pressed it, something terrible might have happened.”

“We knew that too. I mean! But did you have to break the button!”

Kibel and Isaac sighed simultaneously. They began whispering something to each other. Meanwhile, the elevator indicated an ominous floor number.

[11th Floor]

The doors opened. What appeared was a damp space with a few lights.

There was a snake with golden teeth and a silver-haired girl collapsed helplessly in front of it.

The silver-haired girl turned out to be Zernya.

Damn, she’ll be eaten at this rate.

She might become a villain in the future, but it pricks my conscience to let her die when she hasn’t done anything wrong yet.

After finishing his conversation with Kibel, Isaac carefully examined beyond the elevator and said:

“It’s deploying a <Space of Void>. I can tell from the elevator structure.”

“Space of Void?”

“It’s an enclosed space used by some avatars. None of us should step out there. Even if we kill the avatar, we might never escape from beyond that point.”

“So you’re saying we need to kill it from a distance?”

Isaac nodded.

“Eidel, I’ll infuse your weapon with star power (星力), try throwing it.”

“Understood.”

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ sees through ‘Isaac Clarke’s’ intentions and smiles slightly.]

I also know what Isaac is thinking.

I’m just playing along even though I know.

“Hup!”

I threw the caliper filled with Omega-class star power with all my might. Once the direction is set, the rest is easy. The caliper began pursuing the avatar’s core, guided by starlight.

Slash!

The caliper, combined with Isaac’s star power and the mental damage of the foreign god, severed Meirem’s neck in one go.

[— You have defeated the avatar <Golden Fang> ‘Meirem’.]

[— You have acquired 90,000 Pron!]

[— You have acquired an additional 10,000 Pron as cooperation points!]

So the core was in the neck after all.

[— The effects of <Space of Void> and <Arsenic Venom> have disappeared.]

That’s a relief. We weren’t too late.

I immediately approached Zernya.

[Zernya von Adelbein: 480/1000]

[Psychological state: She fears death. She is experiencing confusion in her values.]

480. Only 20 left until 500.

She almost ended up like Seti.

“Are you okay?”

“You…”

After picking up my caliper, I examined Zernya’s condition. There was a bite mark on her right arm.

“Did you get bitten?”

“None of your business.”

Zernya slowly stood up.

She struggled to find her balance. She had lost her sense of equilibrium due to her severely depleted mental strength.

“Need help?”

“I don’t need it.”

Zernya brushed my hand away and staggered as she walked.

At her expected response, I shrugged and scanned the ground. A white scarf had fallen.

“Hey, you dropped your scarf.”

“Ah.”

Zernya’s expression was bewildered as she turned around. For a brief moment, I could see the artificial star scar on her neck.

Actually, it was more of a scar-like pattern than a star mark.

That was a complex for Zernya, who pursued perfection, and the reason she wore a scarf all year round.

“Give it back! Ah!”

Zernya, who had rushed over, tripped and fell. And it happened to be right in front of me.

Drained of strength, she grabbed onto me as a pillar and went limp.

As a result, she naturally ended up clinging to me as support.

Zernya’s shoulders trembled slightly. After struggling for a while, she seemed to run out of energy and spoke while going limp.

“…You saw it.”

I silently wrapped the scarf around Zernya, who was hanging her head.

“Let’s go back.”

Zernya accepted my support with her head bowed. Just then, Isaac and Kibel were coming this way.

Isaac saw Zernya leaning on me and began to joke.

“Eidel, have you already switched women?”

“Don’t say weird things, Instructor.”

“You’re such a lucky guy.”

Unlike Isaac, Kibel was stiffly frozen. He indifferently turned his eyes away as soon as he saw me.

“Your friend seems to be struggling. Why don’t you carry her?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable in that suit? The job’s done, so you can be in comfortable clothes.”

I nodded and removed all my upper clothing except for a cotton T-shirt.

“W-what are you doing!”

While Zernya was flustered, I quickly lifted her onto my back.

“Let go! I said let go!”

Zernya struggled like a live fish before going limp.

“This is humiliating. This is… humiliating.”

Her eyes, reflected in the elevator mirror, were moist. Her face was half-buried in my shoulder.

“You’re light. About 43kg? ARGH!”

Zernya bit my shoulder.

***

After taking the elevator down, we assessed the situation.

“There are many injured, but no fatalities.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“Yes, it is.”

Eidel and Kibel glanced at me and cleared their throats.

“Kibel, Enabet. Take these two down with you. I’ll clean up here and meet you in the lobby. The rest of the team should continue searching for Ship 4.”

“Yes!”

“I’m not too worried with Naiere there, but you never know with people.”

Isaac sighed. I boarded the orbital elevator with Zernya under the escort of the inspectors. She was still on my back.

After a long silence, Zernya spoke.

“You got lucky.”

“What?”

“If it weren’t for this attack during the practical exam, I would have crushed you.”

“Zernya.”

I sighed.

“You almost died, and you’re still saying things like that?”

“Class rank is important. Don’t you know this exam determines our semester ranking?”

“What’s so great about rankings?”

“What?”

“Why are you so obsessed with being number one?”

Zernya bit my shoulder three times in succession. This is really going to kill me. I wonder if I’ll get bruises.

“You can say that because you’re number one now.”

“Fine, I was wrong.”

In the end, I raised both hands and feet in surrender. Instead of arguing with her, I added just one more thing.

***

“You worked hard.”

It was something she had never heard anywhere else.

Everyone had told her she was the best, that she was number one—result-oriented praise—but this was the first time someone had praised her for the process.

Zernya felt complicated emotions. Her heart began to race unexpectedly.

– You must be humble.

The avatar’s words came to mind again.

What is humility?

It was a subject she had never thought about.

Zernya had never bowed down or given in. Whenever she fought with others, she always believed she was right and they were wrong.

Because she believed that the victor was justice.

– Fine, I was wrong.

That’s why Zernya couldn’t understand Eidel’s apology.

Why admit fault and give in?

It was irritating.

She wanted to argue, but she didn’t have the strength.

Biting Eidel’s shoulder with her upper teeth was the only rebellion she could manage. Zernya had a habit of biting or tearing at things when she was annoyed.

“Ugh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Her heart hurt. There must still be some poison left.

“We should go to the hospital just in case. If we go to where my parents work, you can get treated for a low price.”

Prick, prick, prick. It felt like being stabbed with needles.

As Zernya was gritting her teeth, the orbital elevator arrived at the lobby.

And then.

“…Eidel?”

The voice of that annoying girl was heard.