Into the Cosmos (Star Rail SI, Chaos Gacha) (Patreon)

Chapter 13: The City of Preservation

“Ha-haha… I have no idea what you’re talking about, my new friends,” Sampo said, putting on a confused expression as he scratched the back of his head.

It didn’t work.

All of us just stared at him deadpan, he clearly knew more than he was letting on.

Deciding to move things along, I took the lead since it was still cold as hell and the faster we got to the city the better.

“Whatever. Just know that we’ll be keeping an eye on you,” I said with a shrug, earning small nods from March and Dan Heng before I turned back to him.

“Anyway, my name is Caelus. This is March 7th, Virgo, and Dan Heng. We’re visitors from beyond this world. Would you mind telling us where the nearest settlement is?” I asked calmly, crossing my arms as I introduced the group.

Sampo, who had probably already guessed as much from our appearance, still acted surprised as he gasped dramatically.

“From out of this world, you say!? I knew you didn’t look familiar! Of course, my new friends, your good friend Sampo Koski will tell you everything about our beloved Belobog, the last bastion of humanity!”

As he launched into an exaggerated explanation, complete with over-the-top gestures, we resumed walking through the snow in the direction of the city.

A moment later, I received a notification and ignored what Sampo was saying to see what I got.

[Feat Achieved! Meet Sampo Koski.]

[+1 Silver Random Ticket.]

Nice.

Let’s roll.

[Rolling…]

[Rasaka’s Venom]

|Rare Item|

Solo Leveling — A pouch containing the refined venom of Rasaka, ingesting it completely grants you increased physical resistance in exchange for weakening your muscles. With poison resistance, you can resist the latter part.

“Hm.”

Thinking it over for a moment, I quickly realized that thanks to Blessing of Hestia, especially now that it had been boosted, I didn’t really have to worry about the downsides.

With a shrug, I reached into my jacket to mask the action as the pouch appeared in my hand.

Then I casually opened it—

—and downed it in one gulp.

…Ignoring the absolutely awful taste.

Almost immediately, I felt a change.

My skin felt… tougher.

Stronger.

“…Caelus?”

March’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see everyone staring at me, the conversation having come to a complete halt.

“What did you just swallow?” she asked slowly.

“Poison from a giant snake,” I replied without really thinking about it.

…

I froze as I realized my mistake.

I watched as their eyes widened in horror.

“WHY THE HELL DID YOU JUST EAT THAT, YOU DUMMY!?” March shouted, instantly rushing over and grabbing my shirt.

She started shaking me violently.

“Spit it out! Spit it out right now!”

“Master, should I shove my hand down your throat to forcefully induce vomiting?” Virgo asked from behind her, her tone calm, but her eyes filled with concern.

Dan Heng stood frozen in place, clearly questioning all of my life decisions.

Sampo, on the other hand, looked thoroughly entertained, even letting out a small chuckle as he watched the chaos unfold.

“E-Easy… I’m going to throw up,” I muttered, already feeling a bit nauseous from the shaking as I gently grabbed March’s hands.

“I-I’m fine, March. Virgo, I’m okay. I promise,” I said, trying to calm them down.

March slowly stopped shaking me, though her expression was still panicked.

“Remember… I’ve got a pretty strong constitution. A little poison like that won’t do anything to me,” I reassured them with a small smile.

Unfortunately, that was when we heard heavy footsteps up ahead. Turning, we saw a couple of armored men holding weapons, Silvermane Guards from their armor, while Sampo nervously retreated behind us.

“Who are they?” March asked in confusion, throwing me a look that said we weren’t done with our earlier chat.

“Uh… you remember the Silvermane Guards I mentioned? That’s them. Help me, old friends! I don’t want to get caught!” Sampo pleaded from behind us, using us as a meat shield.

“It’s the suspect, and his accomplices! Arrest them!” one of the guards shouted, raising his weapon.

“Seems we have no choice but to defend ourselves,” Dan Heng said, pulling out his spear and taking a defensive stance.

“It’s now or never. Over to you, dear friends!” Sampo called out, before running off with his tail between his legs.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re— Ugh, I knew we couldn’t trust that guy!” March snapped, pulling out her bow.

“They don’t look too strong. We can just knock them out and hope there’s someone reasonable among them to clear this up,” I said, gripping my bat.

“Virgo, stand down for now. I have a feeling we should keep your abilities hidden,” I added, turning to her.

Virgo nodded. “As you command, Caelus-sama.”

A second later she disappeared into motes of golden light, startling the guards.

“Get them!” they shouted, charging at us.

It only took a few moments to deal with them. They were just regular guards after all.

But as I fought, a realization hit me.

My physical abilities had increased massively since the Space Station and I knew the perk responsible.

True Hero.

Not only did it enhance Light and Holy-based abilities, even if I didn’t have any yet, but it also boosted my physical strength. And since Aeons could be considered gods—and Nanook had gazed at me—

My abilities as a Pathstrider of Destruction were far stronger than normal.

I knew without a doubt that if it weren’t for my newly acquired Pacifism trait…

I would’ve ended up killing the guards.

Instead, they just lay unconscious with nothing more than a few bruises.

Unfortunately, our troubles didn’t end there.

More footsteps approached.

Reinforcements.

Leading them was a tall blonde man clad in white and blue armor with a huge case acting as a shield.

“I, Gepard Landau, Captain of the Silvermane Guards, order you to relinquish your futile resistance,” he declared firmly.

“Grr… that Sampo really screwed us over. You were right not to trust him, Caelus. Just wait until I get my hands on him…” March muttered angrily.

Seeing the blonde man, and hearing his tone, I couldn’t help but frown slightly in annoyance and a bit of anger.

‘I know I might sound like a hypocrite when I just said we should try to resolve this peacefully, but I just remembered something crucial about this blonde bastard,’ I thought as I narrowed my eyes and gripped my bat tighter.

‘Thanks to this bastard, his hot older sister Serval didn’t get to join the Astral Express, even though she really wanted to, because he guilt-tripped her. There’s also his attitude, which is grating on my nerves, treating us like nobodies and immediately assuming we’re criminals,’ I continued, a smirk forming on my face.

‘I guess I’ll just have to take some of my frustrations out on him a bit,’ I thought with a slight chuckle, earning curious looks from March and Dan Heng.

“Suspects! Relinquish your resistance!” one of Gepard’s men shouted, pointing his weapon at us.

Unluckily for them, March had a short temper, made worse by Sampo’s shenanigans.

“Ugh, so I’m a criminal, huh?” March snapped as she pulled her bow back again. “Forget Sampo, wait until I get my hands on YOU!”

“Let’s kick their ass, March!” I added, fully on board and channeling massive amounts of Destruction energy into my bat.

“Umm, March, Caelus… maybe we shouldn’t antagonize—” Dan Heng tried to reason with us, but we ignored him and charged forward.

“…Never mind.”

Seeing our charge, Gepard frowned and brought up his shield for defense, intending to block.

“That’s not going to work on us!” I exclaimed, swinging my bat with all my strength.

The impact caught him off guard, knocking the shield straight out of his hand.

At the same time, March quickly made short work of the guards, leaving Gepard as the only one still standing.

Following through, I drove a kick into his stomach, sending him flying back several meters before he crashed into the snow.

Moving in sync, March and I closed in, surrounding him.

I pointed my glowing bat at his throat.

March aimed her bow at his face, arrow drawn.

“Surrender,” I said coldly.

“Feel ready to talk like civilized people now instead of immediately labeling us criminals?” March added with a smug tone.

After sharing a quick look with March at a job well done, we turned our attention back to Gepard, who now looked at us warily, his earlier arrogance completely gone.

Now, were March and I probably bullying Gepard a bit, even though he was just doing his job as the Captain of the Silvermane Guards? Probably.

Didn’t mean the man didn’t deserve a bit of humble pie for attacking us out of nowhere. If the IPC—which might already be here—or any other galactic organization received the same treatment, I knew that most times out of ten, they wouldn’t have been as kind as us.

Most would just kill them and be done with it if they were feeling generous. Or, if it was one of the shadier organizations, they’d use it as an excuse to enslave the planet, or worse, wipe everyone out.

So, going by those standards, we were being pretty nice in comparison.

At least, that was my story, and I was sticking to it.

As I justified my actions in my head, Gepard did the wise thing and let out a sigh before cooperating.

“Fine. What are your demands?”

Dan Heng took that opportunity to step in, likely worried that March and I would make things worse which was fair I guess.

“We are not your enemies, Captain Gepard. We are travelers belonging to the Astral Express…” Dan Heng began explaining, shooting the both of us a look that clearly told us to put our weapons away.

March and I shared a glance before nodding and stepping back, our weapons disappearing into our inventory as we let Dan Heng handle the negotiations. I gave her a discreet high five.

“Nicely done, partner,” I whispered, covering my mouth.

“Hihihi, it was only expected that we would win~,” March whispered back, copying me as we shared a grin.

With Dan Heng’s negotiation skills—and a bit of help from March’s camera showing pictures of the planet—we managed to convince Gepard that we weren’t from Jarilo-VI, but from beyond the sky.

Thankfully, Gepard was smart enough to recognize the truth in our words. After healing the guards we had knocked unconscious, thanks to the minor healing I had as a Pathstrider, we were finally allowed to proceed toward Belobog, escorted by the guards.

They would take us to see the Supreme Guardian, who would decide our fate. We agreed, even though I already knew it was pointless, Cocolia had long since gone insane due to the Stellaron’s corruption.

Before long, we reached our destination.

“Welcome to Belobog, the City of Preservation,” Gepard announced proudly, standing tall as we overlooked the massive city from atop a cliff.

“Impressive,” I let out with a whistle. “At the very least, we won’t be freezing our butts off in the snow,” I added, placing my hands on my hips.

“Thank goodness~ I could really go for something warm right now. I can’t wait to try the local food,” March said as she stood beside me, looking just as relieved.

“I’ll make sure to point you in the right direction, if everything goes smoothly,” Gepard said with a small smile, looking much more relaxed now. “Now please follow me, the path down can be a bit treacherous if you’re not used to it.”

Following behind him, it took us about half an hour before we finally entered the city proper, and immediately felt better for it thanks to the warmth.

“It really does feel warmer~,” March said as she skipped to my side, looking much happier than earlier.

“…That’s because you’re in Belobog, the last bastion of humanity,” Gepard replied, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Last bastion?” March tilted her head cutely in confusion.

Her question made Gepard fall silent for a moment. He closed his eyes, as if recalling something from the past.

“Seven hundred years ago, monsters from beyond the sky set the world ablaze. The land was reduced to scorched earth, with raging infernos and towering plumes of smoke stretching beyond the horizon.”

“In the midst of the conflict, the Eternal Freeze descended without warning. Sweeping winds brought blizzards that buried the invading Legion. Belobog was all that remained.”

“The steadfast Architects built this city. Under the protection of Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, Belobog remains forever warm in the face of unrelenting cold,” Gepard finished, sounding as though he were reciting a historical record.

With that history lesson over, we continued toward the city as my head swiveled in every direction like a kid in a candy store.

‘This is so cool. I’m actually walking through a city on a completely alien planet~’ I thought giddily, a huge smile spreading across my face.

March, walking beside me, quickly noticed and nudged my side. “Why the big grin on your face?”

Turning to her, my smile didn’t fade in the slightest.

“It just hit me that this is the first city I’ve explored since waking up, at least that I remember. It’s… kind of surreal,” I said softly, my gaze drifting toward a massive blue crystal-like structure in the center of a plaza.

March blinked before her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! That’s right. With everything that’s happened, I totally forgot this is your first expedition~ Hihihi, so how is it?”

“It’s… everything I could’ve hoped for, and more,” I replied, earning a warm smile from her.

Before we could continue, Gepard—who had been speaking with Dan Heng—interrupted us.

“We’re here. This is Qlipoth Fort, the heart of Belobog and the headquarters of the Architects. This fortress also serves as the residence of the Supreme Guardian,” Gepard explained as we stopped at a set of stairs leading up to an imposing building.

“The Supreme Guardian?” March asked, her tone curious but slightly wary.

Not taking offense, Gepard continued, “The leader of Belobog, elected and appointed by the Architects. The Supreme Guardians have watched over this city for generations, protecting its people from harm.”

“The current guardian is Madam Cocolia Rand. All major strategic decisions are issued by her.”

“Whoa… she sounds like a big deal,” March said, blinking.

“I will now bring you to see Madam Cocolia. Please have your words prepared. Her time is valuable, so she prefers concise communication,” Gepard added.

“Uhh… we’re seeing her right now? Can I at least find a place to freshen up first?” March asked nervously, fussing with her clothes.

“You look fine, March,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder, calming her slightly.

With nothing more to say, Gepard led the way. We followed in silence before entering a large, office-like chamber.

My gaze immediately landed on a beautiful silver-haired girl in a white and blue outfit, currently in discussion with Cocolia.

‘Ugh… am I really going to have to sit through the sexual tension between Bronya and Seele again? Once was enough, damn it. I remember getting so annoyed at the two, that I just rushed the second half of the story due to feeling like a third wheel.’