As the final word...
"Open"
...left Ian Prince's lips, the invisible key he had been turning with his right hand seemed to slide perfectly into an unseen lock.
In that instant, the entire plaza, no, the entire city of R'lyeh, shuddered violently.
The enormous magic array covering the ground, already unimaginably vast, suddenly erupted with a brilliance so intense no one could look at it directly.
The light wasn't a single color, but a constantly shifting blend of bizarre hues, twisting together into something chaotic and blasphemously beautiful.
And beneath that beauty lurked a power terrifying enough to freeze the soul.
Every symbol, every engraved line, and every rune carved into the array flared to life, pulsing wildly as if flooded with violent energy.
The three-dimensional runes Ian had embedded fused seamlessly into the formation, becoming vital nodes through which its power flowed.
The magic array was no longer a flat design; it had come alive, transforming into a three-dimensional structure of rotating, shifting energy.
'Rumble!'
Centered on the enormous star-shaped symbol at its heart, space itself began twisting more violently than ever before.
Light stretched into spirals, and the air screamed under unbearable strain. The outlines of the living buildings surrounding the plaza grew blurred and grotesque beneath the blazing light and warped space.
Then, an overwhelming force burst from the center of the array. It wasn't merely physical attraction; it was as if existence itself were being dragged toward it, as though space-time coordinates were being seized, anchored, and forcibly pulled into place.
"Here I come!"
Ian Prince was the first to be caught. Yet the domain surrounding him, so absolute against every other threat, offered almost no resistance to this power born from the magic array itself.
His expression remained calm, though deep within his eyes flickered the faintest trace of excitement, as if he had finally finished what he started.
His figure blurred within the dazzling light, becoming transparent like a reflection on water shattered by ripples.
In an instant, Ian vanished completely into the heart of the radiant chaos, swallowed by the invisible gate and carried away to some unknown dimension... or perhaps another point in time.
But the magic array didn't stop once he disappeared. Quite the opposite, with the "key" gone, the array lost its guiding focus, and its power surged wildly out of control.
'Whoosh!'
The formation blazed like an unrestrained sun, pouring torrents of energy and warped space-time in every direction. The terrifying pull only grew stronger, expanding indiscriminately across the entire plaza.
"This is bad!"
The instant Ian disappeared, Saruman realized what was happening, too late. The fallen stone pillar where he and Kag had been hiding groaned under the strain of spatial distortion, cracks spreading rapidly across its surface.
It felt as though they had been thrown into a giant washing machine, countless invisible hands tearing at them from every direction.
"Damn it! I knew we'd get caught in this!"
Saruman desperately tried to cast spells to stabilize space and resist the pull, but against the aftershocks of a legendary magic array out of control, his magic was like a firefly before the full moon. Every spell collapsed before it could take shape.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Kag roared as he drove his greatsword into the stone floor to anchor himself.
The blade barely sank half a foot before an even greater force ripped both sword and wielder free.
"Saruman!!"
Kag managed only a single shout before he, and Lina strapped to his back, were swept into the air like leaves caught in a hurricane, dragged helplessly toward the center of the array where the light blazed brightest, and space twisted most violently.
"No!!"
Saruman fared no better. The last thing he saw was the green buildings stretching into impossible shapes, and the strange, overwhelming light that filled his vision, threatening to melt away his very soul.
Then Saruman felt himself thrown into a tunnel of pure chaotic energy. Time and space had no meaning there.
Countless bizarre, incomprehensible fragments of scenery flashed past his eyes, accompanied by deafening roars and whispers that tore at his mind.
Pain ripped through his body as if every particle of his existence were being broken down, and his consciousness rapidly faded under the unbearable strain.
Just before blacking out completely, one final thought crossed his mind: 'What exactly had that legendary boy activated? And where are we being taken?'
Were they following Ian Prince to his intended destination, the ultimate battlefield where Cthulhu awaited? Or had the runaway magic array flung them into some unknown rift in space-time, toward a fate even more unpredictable than R'lyeh itself?
No one knew. The light swallowed everything, and the irresistible pull carried everyone away.
The only thing left in the plaza was the enormous magic array, still flashing wildly as its energy grew increasingly unstable, as though it could collapse and explode at any moment.
Around it stood the animated buildings, now utterly silent, as if every trace of life had been drained from them. Even R'lyeh's furious whispers fell into a brief, bewildered silence after the sudden upheaval.
Saruman, Kag, and Lina, three adventurers who had only been struggling to survive, were swept against their will into a space-time storm created by a fifteen-year-old legend, a storm far beyond anything they could comprehend.
From that moment on, their destinies strayed from their original paths forever, plunging into an unfathomable abyss.
Of course... perhaps that accident had always been inevitable.
At least, that was how the elderly Saruman saw it.
The faint blue memories ended abruptly the instant Ian Prince disappeared into the blazing magic array and Saruman's group was dragged in by the uncontrollable force. It was as though someone had severed the memory with a single stroke of a blade. The visions vanished.
A thousand years later, the underground chamber was once again filled with oppressive silence and the dim glow of magical runes.
The mad whispers of R'lyeh, the shriek of torn space, and the roar of exploding energy all faded away, leaving behind only a chilling emptiness.
"Huh? That's it?"
The black-robed man had been completely absorbed in the memory, eagerly waiting to see what became of his teacher and the others after they were pulled into the array.
Had they followed Ian to Cthulhu?
What became of them in the end?
How had his teacher survived such an impossible situation and eventually become the person sitting before him today?
The sudden end of the memory caught him completely off guard. He turned sharply toward the elderly Saruman seated quietly on the stone chair. Even beneath his hood, his twisted face was filled with shock and confusion.
"Master? Why... why did the memory stop? What happened after they were pulled in?"
His voice was urgent. It felt as though he had been reading the climax of an epic story, only for someone to slam the book shut right before the final chapter.
"What happened..."
The blind Saruman quietly "looked" ahead, his empty eye sockets seeming to still reflect the brilliant, chaotic light of the magic array.
His deeply wrinkled face showed no intention of continuing the memory. Instead, it bore an even heavier expression than before, one of overwhelming solemnity and barely concealed exhaustion.
"We can't watch what comes after," the old wizard said, his voice unusually hoarse, as though merely speaking required tremendous effort. "At least... not directly."
"Why?" the black-robed man asked. "Because it consumes too much magic? Or..."
"Because of what's in there." Saruman cut him off immediately, his tone absolute, carrying a warning that allowed no argument.
"Beyond that gate... where the magic array connects... what exists there possesses a level of corruption and madness whose very nature surpasses R'lyeh City itself. Merely seeing the images... or receiving the information contained within those memories... is enough to irreversibly transform the viewer's body and mind."
He paused, as though recalling an experience too terrifying to put into words, and his voice dropped even lower.
"It isn't life. It is one form of existence completely overwhelming... and replacing... another. The things inside... one glance, and your very definition of life becomes twisted. Hear even a single sound, and the foundation of your sanity collapses.
"Back then, I was nothing more than an unwilling bystander who was dragged in. I only brushed against the very edge of it... and that tiny trace alone cost me more than you could possibly imagine."
The black-robed man trembled. He suddenly remembered his master's sightless eyes and the strange aura surrounding him, an aura born of the same corruption as his own, yet far deeper and far more restrained.
Could it be that his master's blindness, and the subtle changes hidden within him, weren't simply the result of studying forbidden knowledge?
Had they come from confronting the terrifying entity Ian had called... 'Cthulhu'?
"Master... back then... did you really face that evil being?" His voice shook, not only from fear of the unknown, but from horror at what his teacher must have endured.
"Face it?" A bitter, almost self-mocking smile tugged at Saruman's lips. "No, child. Not even close. Ian Prince was the one who intended to confront it... and destroy it. Kag, Lina, and I... we were nothing more than accidental participants in an event far beyond our comprehension. Spectators."
He paused. "No... perhaps we weren't even spectators. We were only dust swept up by the storm."
His words were heavy with weariness. Even now, as a Legendary wizard whose strength was beyond measure, merely recalling what he had experienced on the edge of that ultimate horror laid bare the insignificance and terror carved into his soul.
Yes, Saruman was a Legendary. At least, in the present age, he was.
"But Master..." the black-robed man persisted. "What happened afterward? How did you... I mean, you, Kag, and Lina... in the end..."
He still refused to give up. He wanted the whole truth.
He wanted to know how his teacher had survived that nightmare, and why he had become the lonely guardian of this place. It concerned not only his own mission, but the fate of the man he respected more than anyone.
Saruman remained silent for a long time, only the faint sound of their breathing echoing through the underground chamber. Finally, he spoke, his voice strangely calm as though describing someone else's life.
"Every answer. Every detail. What happened beyond that light, what we experienced, what we saw, how we finally escaped R'lyeh, what became of Kag and Lina... It's all here."
He lightly tapped his temple, then turned slightly, his empty eye sockets fixed on the black-robed man.
His tone remained calm, but every word carried tremendous weight.
"When you've completed your mission... you can search my mind yourself. Use the method you know best. Take whatever information you need. Perhaps... that, too, is part of your mission."
Those words pierced straight through the barrier the black-robed man had spent so long trying to avoid.
His mission. Of course he knew what it was.
As one of the Department of Mysteries' most secretive and indispensable Cleaners, his duty was to ensure that the entrance beneath the African Ministry of Magic, the ruins connected to R'lyeh, remained absolutely secure.
He was to eliminate anyone who came into contact with the ruins and fell to their corruption, prevent the corruption from spreading, and protect a secret that could overturn the entire world.
And "eliminate" naturally included dealing with those who had already been corrupted beyond salvation, those who could become new sources of corruption, and those who might one day threaten the seal itself.
Which meant it included the man sitting before him, the one who had been both master and father, the blind Legendary whose strength was unfathomable, the man whose life had become inseparably entwined with R'lyeh's corruption.
Saruman.
"Master..."
The black-robed man had deliberately buried that thought while watching the memories unfold. He hadn't wanted to think about it. But now, Saruman himself had laid that cruel duty before him with unmistakable clarity.
His body began trembling uncontrollably. Beneath his hood, his twisted face contorted in agony, his slit pupils shaking violently.
Reason screamed that this was necessary, that it was the only way to guarantee the seal's safety and prevent an even greater disaster. And his master was encouraging him to do it.
He knew it was the right thing. Yet emotion, everything born from years of guidance, trust, and the complicated affection he felt for this lonely, powerful old man, rose like a tidal wave, battering the walls of his reason.
"Master... I..." His voice was dry as sandpaper, choked with pain and hesitation.
"Do what you must, child." Saruman's voice remained as peaceful as ever, with even a hint of relief. "This is my own choice. And... it's part of the plan. Don't worry. This isn't merely an ending. It may also be... the step required to break this seemingly inescapable loop."
There was something profoundly meaningful hidden within those words, as though death itself were not the end, but a move planned long ago. All these years, perhaps Saruman had been quietly weaving a strategy capable of breaking the cycle of fate.
And now, he believed the time had finally come to set that plan in motion.
(End Of This Chapter)
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