Five Stars In The Doomsday

Pjonir

I'm planning to say goodbye to Lord Zhao today to begin my journey to search for ancient artifacts with Lobelt. Hopefully that old man won't be surprised and cry in front of me.

"This fast?" he asked.

I nodded and looked at his slightly surprised face. In the glimpse of his eyes, I could see that Mr. Zhao actually seemed to know that this separation would happen. What a clairvoyant old man.

"I see," he said casually while holding his chin.

"You must have been waiting for this day, Mr. Zhao," I said with a chuckle.

"You can think of it that way. Ah come with me Walye, of course with Lord Tiger also."

Lobelt instantly turned to me in a daze. I didn't give any reaction because Mr. Zhao had also immediately recognized me as an Eloka clan when we first met.

We followed Mr. Zhao into his store quietly. I saw that some of the goods were covered with white cloth. Why didn't Mr. Zhao seem to open his store this morning?

It can't be because he predicted I want say goodbye, right?

I saw Mr. Zhao walk to the back of the store. Lobelt and I glanced at each other and we went in after the old man.

The globe standing next to the plush soft sofa distracted me. It seemed to be the most comfortable place in the room. With Mr. Zhao's signature books and handicrafts, I could see that the man was quite positively productive. The old man smiled at me and Lobelt, beckoning us to come closer to him who was looking for something amongst the stacks of thick-bound, artistic books. It wasn't long before Mr. Zhao showed us something he had picked up. A small journal-like notebook with a glossy black cover that was untitled as silent.

The papers are made of worn parchment and the edges have gold-colored stripes that blend in nicely.

I asked Mr. Zhao what kind of book it was, and he gave a brief explanation. Pjonir the earth records, he said.

Pjonir was one of the ancient artifacts that was thought to have perished. If my memory serves me correctly, Pjonir was indeed a book containing records of all ancient artifacts. It was indeed a book. But because it was also an artifact, the notebook could not be read by anyone except its owner and maker, a spirit dubbed as Vidar, a uniquely capable god.

It is said that Vidar locked away all of his powers by writing every name of the previous ancient artifacts. Even in the case of this Pjonir artifact, some people believe that this is the last artifact created on Iorla.

"Is this real? How do you have it?"

"It's quite easy," he says.

Mr. Zhao also explained that he was the successor to the keeper of Pjonir. Over the centuries Pjonir had been guarded and passed on by several people from different backgrounds and generations. There was no explanation who first gave the book to him, as if the previous keeper had explicitly chosen to keep it. After all, Pjonir could not be used by anyone either, containing nothing but a collection of blank parchments with distinctive golden lines on the edges of the cover. Several guardians of the book tried to write something and to no avail, the parchment paper could neither be crossed out nor torn. It cannot be wet, nor can it be burned. It was like a cursed book that no one knew what use it would have, no one could destroy it.

"Don't you feel odd all this time Mr. Zhao?" I asked.

The man shook his head. "I'm just keeping it safe, dusting off any dust that might have stuck to it. There's nothing special about that book you call an ancient artifact. The previous keeper was a Duke from the kingdom of Arhen named Hanzai Palaskiv. I met him when I was an envoy to Ghuan Yu's court, back then I met him with Queen Ursea. Duke Hanzai is a neutral, virtuous person, silent in all the polemics between his country and ours. Even though he is on Arhen's side, he still considers the side of how Ghuan Yu's political cycle works which is indeed unable to accept his kingdom's decision."

I was silent as I listened to him.

He continues, "when our visit was over, he suddenly handed me this book and inserted a note explaining that it was Pjonir. He wrote it in detail, weaving a neat wasilah so that I could understand how important but useless the book was in the hands of its keeper."

"I still don't understand, Old Man," Lobelt said this time. I could sense that he shared my curiosity.

"Sure, my Lord."

"Why did Duke Hanzai at that time choose you? Weren't you also just an advisor when you met him?"

"Ah.. you're asking about an important part that I was going to explain. You could say that it was just an intuition at first. When you officially become Pjonir's keeper, you will feel that it is time for the book to pass from you. I don't know why... when we first met, you gave me a look of amazement at how unique you are. At first I ignored it. Maybe I was just amazed at how gallant and courteous a man of your stature would be traveling alone in a strange place. However, the more time passed and I let it go, suddenly Pjonir's book showed anomalies that had never happened before."

"Anomaly?" I asked.

"It shook, and came out from where I hid it so forcefully that I thought it was a haunted object. It opened by itself and a person's name came out on the middle page of that book."

I paused, still trying to imagine the horror scene of what Mr. Zhao was saying right now. Just imagine that the strange book that was passed down to you suddenly flew out and caused trouble in your own private room. What was just a blank book without a single scribble suddenly appears with the name of a stranger whose origins you don't know.

"The short article mentioned your name," he continued.

"My name?" I’m shocked.

Thinking of the various possibilities of the absurdity of my name appearing on that book was one of the most impossible things for me to imagine. I was neither a hero nor a saint, nor from a noble family and was merely a descendant of a small clan hiding in the dead sea. Why did Pjonir choose me? Does this have something to do with Yase's previous vision? No, I couldn't conclude it so quickly and I also couldn't deny it until I knew more clearly what kind of artifact Pjonir really was.

I also brought Pjonir along with me. Lobelt and I had now left Ghuan Yu City and bought a pair of horses at the animal auction center right at the end of the Oz riverbank. We exited the large wall that was the boundary of Ghuan Yu's capital. For now, our destination was the tomb of the Seven Continent Gods, Jotuldom.

Jotuldom is an ancient tomb that is both a sacred and forbidden place where is said hidden in the neutral region of Salatzeim on the continent of Oltard. This tomb is holds the remains of the first four princes and princesses who ruled Iorla as . Unfortunately, only two of their names are known famously until now by people of this world. They are Kiebe the black dragon and the fire phoenix Orlana.

"Should we go there, sir?" asked Lobelt suddenly.

I nodded without replying.

It was only natural that Lobelt would ask, we were returning to a war-torn continent, a continent that was our home and hell. I didn't force Lobelt to accompany me, our agreement was limited to searching for artifacts on Ern's continent. However, Lobelt confidently want to follow me anywhere from now on. I also didn't expect him to be my pawn at this time. Lobelt could have killed me when I was not in good condition. For that reason, I deliberately installed mana locks around my body from now on. This mana lock is the mana circulation that I expel through sweat little by little. No one will notice it except a spirit with a high level.

"May I know why we have to go to Jotuldom? I mean... Sir, isn't the tomb sacred and forbidden? No one is allowed to enter it."

I sighed as I slowed my horse, "Have you been there?"

Lobelt shook his head, not a surprising answer.

"I've been there. And what you said is true, no one in this world is allowed to enter that tomb. Jotuldom is a tomb that is impossible to enter because the requirements are beyond reason and the sacrifice is not worth it if you are just looking for a fortune."

Lobelt aligned his horse, which he named Aurora, next to mine. He watched me closely and seemed to be thinking.

"Then how to enter Jotuldom? You said the requirements are quite unreasonable right?" He aksed.

"Actually not entering, rather my aides and I at that time wanted to seek our fortune there. You know, Eloka clan that thirsts for true knowledge and truth? The six of us went to that tomb at that time included my sister named Sola. When we tried to break the seal of the tomb we were unsuccessful."

"So?" asked Lobelt curiously.

"As the legend and everyone says, the tomb cannot be entered by just anyone. But, here's the interesting part. We've accidentally found a clue on how to enter the old tomb. But only I realized the meaning of the clue."

Lobelt made an increasingly confused face.

He seemed to be thinking as he pulled on the rope to keep his horse stable near me.

I knew that my explanation wasn't detailed enough for him to understand it. However, every word that comes out of my mouth is like a sword to me right now. The second I fall into the comfort of the conversational atmosphere, I'll die by my own words.

I recalled how a human trader had schemed when I visited their world a hundred years ago with Tanja and Akash. That merchant tried to rob us of all our hard-earned gold scales with his foul words. Like an unreal magic, he could manipulate us easily with his disgustingly sweet mouth. Ah, just thinking about it makes me want to turn back time and eat that human's head alive.

Although I did eat it for real.

Lobelt suddenly asked again, "Is the requirement some kind of sacrifice?"

I didn't answer.

"It can't be, can it?" he asked again for confirmation.

I smiled at his current stupid expression.

Lobelt yelled at me and swore at me with a variety of curses that satisfied me. He babbled like a cranky, whiny child.

An hour ago he was so serious in front of me that I tried to slit his throat right on his veins. We have arrived inside Jotuldom, an underground castle that is nothing less than a sacred and cursed place in the entire seven continents of Iorla. The requirement to enter Jotuldom was the sacrificial blood of an entrusted person, and I used Lobelt as the person I trusted to fulfill that requirement at that time.

Sacrifice itself requires only a few drops of the blood of the one trusted, and not a bucket of blood and the corpse of the one betrayed. That was the key that no one knew about except me. I solved the puzzle of the clues we found and I deliberately did not tell anyone.

At that time, I, Sola, Akash, Belta, and Tanja tried to find where the door of the tomb was, but we couldn't find it because there were so many illusion doors that almost counted a thousand of them.