Chapter 209: The truth of heaven (3)

“It seems there’s no one here.”

“That’s better. Whether it’s a mara or an angel, to be honest, I’m not confident I can fight them.”

Canis tilted his head. He hadn’t expected to hear something so weak from Harvest, who had inherited Arcane’s memories.

“You’re different from my master.”

“Personality isn’t defined by memories alone. I was designed to protect you. To put it bluntly, without Ikael’s help, we won’t be able to complete the mission.”

In the end, that was the reality.

The key to returning to their world was in Shirone’s hands.

It hurt Canis’s pride not to be the protagonist, but he wasn’t foolish enough to ruin teamwork over it.

“Even so, if we don’t deactivate the meca system, there won’t be any chance at all. Let’s check the place first.”

Canis began to move while observing his surroundings. Suddenly, he felt something strange and approached the wall.

The panels, aligned at regular intervals, resembled books placed in a library.

When he ran his hand over one, he felt a faint vibration.

When he pressed it slightly, a click was heard.

Fearing he had triggered an alarm, he quickly stepped back. With a hum, the panel projected outward.

Canis grabbed it and pulled it out completely. It was connected to a rectangular electronic plate, transparent like glass.

He held it vertically, then horizontally.

When he touched the panel with his thumb, letters made of light appeared on the surface.

‘I see the library of the angels.’

Recalling the enormous number of panels embedded in Ingris, Canis understood.

Ingris was a space filled with knowledge.

When he touched a blinking arrow, the page changed. Fascinated, he kept advancing, and the text continued endlessly.

It was an information system of density incomparable to any book.

Since he couldn’t read the characters, his gaze naturally shifted to the numbers written below the panel.

The first thing that came to mind was the note his master had left.

Ingris

113-325-4739-49359-234

That was the only record Arcane had left. It was probably a serial number to identify the panel’s location.

Canis was certain his master had been in Ingris. And that he had discovered something there, likely the method to enhance dark magic.

Canis looked at the characters on the panel. He had no idea how to pronounce them.

“Harvest, do you know what language this is?”

“No. It’s my first time seeing it. I think we would need Arin.”

At that moment, the characters began to break apart, and the language they used appeared on the panel.

“Automatic translation? That can’t be…”

Ingris was not a place made for Canis.

Therefore, it was logical to assume that the panels contained all the languages that existed in the world.

It was a terrifying concentration of information.

Canis looked again at the translated text.

The content was about dreams.

As he flipped through it, he began to read aloud.

“…Drimo is a world that can be accessed through dreams. The method consists of finding the dreamer, Rober, within the dream. Since he is located far from the main events, concentration is needed to find him. He is usually cooking in a house or taking care of his children. Only Rober has color, so he is not difficult to distinguish.”

He moved to the next page.

“When you find him, give him money and tell him you have come to look for work. Then he will offer you various jobs that can be performed within the dream. If you refuse three times, he will send you to Drimo. If you find a job you like, you can enjoy the dream as long as you want, but upon waking, no memory will remain.”

Canis pursed his lips and looked at Harvest.

When he shrugged, Canis focused back on the panel.

“The world of Drimo has no time, so there are many objects that ignore the law of causality. To bring an object into the real world, five conditions must be met. First, help the owner of the object and receive it as a reward. Second, go to the office and report the theft of the object…”

“You shouldn’t do that. It is forbidden by the laws.”

Canis’s voice stopped abruptly.

As he slowly turned his head, he saw a small woman with a peculiar appearance standing at the first corner of Ingris.

Her skin was a light violet tone, her eyes were sharp and elongated, her curly hair was a light green and abundant, and above her head floated a reddish triangle.

She was a one-horned mara.

The tension skyrocketed in Canis and Harvest, who stared at her without moving an inch.

“I ask you, please place that back carefully. Even for an archangel, consulting Ingris without the administrator’s permission is forbidden.”

Without taking his eyes off her, Canis returned the panel to its place.

The panel was absorbed as if pulled in, becoming indistinguishable from the others.

“Sorry. It’s my first time here.”

Deciding to buy time, Canis began by apologizing.

“I figured as much. A believer would not violate the laws. In any case, it’s been a while since heretics entered.”

Canis noticed that her lip movements matched her pronunciation.

They were not speaking through telepathy.

“How do you know our language?”

“Hehe, I’m a collector of languages. Besides, as the administrator of Ingris, how could I not be able to communicate? In fact, if we count, quite a few have already come. People who use the same language as you.”

The first person that came to his mind was Akein. Then he remembered the group of unlockers that, according to what was said, had been sent by Chief Kergo.

“Do you know someone named Kadum?”

The administrator showed a look of recognition and exclaimed.

“Ah! That was you? Of course I know. About 200 years ago, according to your time, some heretics came. They wanted me to increase the lifespan of someone named Kadum by 300 years.”

Hearing that, Canis confirmed it.

Ingris was, without a doubt, a place where the lifespan of humans was controlled.

But how?

It was not something that could be explained simply by an accumulation of information beyond imagination.

“Is that possible? How can you change a person’s life?”

“Ah, this question is asked of me very often. I don’t know how you get here without knowing that.”

The administrator walked with her hands behind her back, like a teacher.

Her eyes, as she looked at the panels, were full of affection.

“How can lifespan be changed? Well, because this place is connected to the Akashic Records.”

Canis also knew about the Akashic Records. It was a term he had seen many times while studying mythology.

A supernatural information entity that contained all the records of the universe.

The fact that the same term was used in heaven meant that myths were real.

Even so, it was not an easy theory to accept.

“It’s impossible. What you’re saying is a lie.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because a record that contains the entire world cannot exist from the beginning. How would you verify that it truly contains everything? In the end, that means it’s exaggerated to some extent.”

“Hmm, you really are human. Well, with your level of thinking, that also makes sense.”

Canis felt slightly irritated.

“So, are you saying that’s not the case?”

“The Akashic Records are not something so grand or pompous. This world itself is simply the Akashic Records.”

“Explain yourself better.”

The administrator, as if she had just had a good idea, made her eyes shine.

“You’re human too, so I’ll use an example in the style of the mechanics. Multiply 2 by 3 and then add 1. What do you get?”

“Obviously 7.”

“Exactly. That’s the way humans think. Humans need to find the problem in order to obtain the answer. They are beings who need to know the formula to reach the result.”

“And what about it? Are you saying you’re different?”

“Of course we are different. Then I’ll give you a problem in the style of heaven. I just obtained the answer 7. Now try to guess what formula I used to reach that 7.”

Canis fell silent. It was impossible to know. There were infinite ways to arrive at 7.

“Do you understand now? The Akashic Records are simply the answer. This time I’ll use an expression from the norin. You can use any way to describe it, but would you be able to perfectly explain what Ingris is?”

Language cannot fully convey its original meaning. But now Canis understood what the Akashic Records were.

“Ingris.”

The administrator nodded, satisfied.

“Exactly. Ingris is Ingris. Before you arrived, Ingris already existed. But for you, this place did not exist anywhere. Why do you think that is?”

“Because I didn’t know its name.”

It was a serious situation. Canis understood why Ra needed names to manipulate lifespan.

The name. That was everything.

“Now we understand each other. For a stone or the wind, the world does not exist. It is an absolute void. Even if it actually exists that way. It’s because they don’t have the ability to give it meaning. When the name ‘universe’ is given to the universe, that is when the universe begins to exist.”

Heaven does not seek answers.

Because answers either do not exist or are everything. Instead, they distorted truth by altering the formula that led to the answer.

It didn’t matter if the answer 7 became 8 or 9.

Any result would be the entirety of the world, and for that very reason, it would be perfect.

“Humans always search for a single truth, like idiots. What single truth? It doesn’t exist. No matter how the world changes, that is all there is.”

The administrator pointed at the panels.

“Ingris is connected to the Akashic Records through the meca system. We distort the formulas and change the truth. This is what we call hacking. Changing a human’s lifespan is something that can be done in an instant.”

Canis felt a chill. The technology capable of destroying truth through the power of the meca was at a level humanity could never reach without a complete paradigm shift.

The administrator snapped her fingers to get his attention.

“Let’s stop the explanations. If you came to make a deal, let’s go over there. You can change lifespan at the central control device.”

The administrator, with a suggestive look, pointed at the mechanical apparatus in the center of the crossing.

Canis remembered the black market dealers he had seen in Radum. Suddenly, the situation felt unreal.

The mara belonged to heaven, and he was a heretic. So why wasn’t she trying to harm him?

“A deal? You know what’s happening outside, don’t you?”

“Huh? What’s happening outside? Did something happen in heaven?”

“You don’t know?”

“Of course not. I’m the administrator of Ingris. Just processing the information here is enough. I haven’t gone outside in tens of thousands of years.”

Canis sensed she was telling the truth. Except for the part about simply being too busy to care.

She was isolated in that place.

And thinking about it, it had to be that way.

If an administrator with access to the Akashic Records had contact with information from the outside world, there was no telling what kind of disaster could occur.

‘No wonder it seemed strange that only a first-level mara was in charge. Well, for me, that’s better.’

In any case, confrontation with the administrator was inevitable. Unless he simply made the deal and left, there was no way she would allow him to deactivate Zebul’s security system.

“What kind of deal?”

“Ah, come on. You already know. Lifespan. I can increase anyone’s.”

“And what do I have to pay?”

The administrator slightly separated her thumb and index finger and winked.

“Very cheap. Just one word.”

“One word? You want me to pay with a word?”

“As I said before, I’m a mara who collects languages. Thanks to that, I’m intelligent. That’s why I’m the administrator of Ingris. It doesn’t matter what word it is. You just have to sell me a word you know.”

“If I sell a word then I’ll stop knowing it, right?”

“Exactly. You will never be able to know it again in your entire life. It will be erased from the Akashic Records. But it doesn’t matter, right? Missing one word doesn’t change anything.”

Just as the administrator said, the world was full of words one knows but never uses.

If even insults worked, what would change by losing one?

But precisely because the price was so cheap, Canis began to feel uneasy.