Elias spoke through the communication device.
— "Marcus! Stop! Do not make random deals with supernatural creatures without the recommendation and approval of the higher-ups! That is protocol!"
Marcus immediately replied.
— "Shut up, Elias. Do you really want to risk it? Do you really want to spend a billion years inside here? No. Even a billion years is small compared to what the writings say... Do you really want to risk spending that much time here?"
Elias hesitated before responding.
— "It might be a trick... I don’t know what special condition you have that you’re trying to give, but it could be trying to manipulate us into giving it away..."
— "And what if it’s not? I know better than anyone else what is true and what is false. Even if it can’t truly trap us here for quadrillions of years... even a thousand is enough to make me go insane. Do you think you’d be able to forgive yourself if you stopped me from trying to save us, only for a thousand years to pass and we still never find this man again?"
Elias went silent immediately.
Indeed, he did not want to be responsible for causing his team to become trapped here for countless years.
Seeing the two glare at each other, Moon already figured out that they were arguing.
Even if he wasn’t actually a supernatural entity, he knew enough about A.E.G.I.S. protocol to understand that they were never supposed to make deals with supernatural entities without permission or approval from the A.E.G.I.S. higher-ups.
The fact that Marcus was breaking this protocol so easily meant that he truly was desperate, or perhaps he really was just reckless and rash.
Moon’s lips twitched before he finally spoke.
"I don’t really have any particular interest in your so-called ’special condition.’ Although it is true that your [Augury] is interesting, I have no particular need for it."
’Well... more like I don’t fucking know how I’d even be able to use or take it...’
Moon lampooned himself internally.
"How about another deal instead?"
Marcus looked at him.
’Did he just say my Augury was interesting...? What exactly does he mean by that?’
After a brief pause, he asked,
"Another deal...?"
Moon nodded.
"Yes. In exchange for helping you escape this place... you will owe me a favor. I will not explain what I will use this favor for. However, I have a feeling that I will eventually need it."
Marcus did not think any further about it and agreed immediately.
"I, Marcus, swear on my true name to abide by this deal."
Moon’s eyes widened slightly.
He had actually agreed.
Seeing Marcus accept the deal, Moon could not help but excitedly recite the "true name transaction" that he had only ever seen in books.
"I, Moon, swear on my true name to abide by this deal."
A strange sensation suddenly filled Moon’s body.
’One of the benefits of not lying about your name is that you can make true name transactions... Hehe...’
There was a bit of genuine delight in Moon’s heart at that moment.
The strange sensation spreading through his body, the fact that something he had only ever read about in the [Arcana] wiki had suddenly become real... It was almost overwhelming.
His fantasies were actually coming true.
Yet Moon quickly adjusted himself, suppressing his excitement before it became too obvious.
He couldn’t forget... Right now, he was supposed to be a supernatural entity.
Moon confidently said.
That’s right, Moon had a certain theory towards this place and had already somewhat figured out another way to escape.
He had read enough books about [Arcana], and was quite adept at thinking, thus although he panicked initially, he was always one who was quick to adjust.
He had thought of several things to back up his absurd theory of escape.
One. He was an anomaly.
According to the writings on the wall, everyone who entered this place was always with a companion.
He, however, entered this place alone.
Another rule that he had broken would be the fact that "it was impossible to meet other people within the staircase once you have separated from the companions you had entered with."
Since he had no companions in the first place, and since he had entered this place and after a few minutes already met other people, that meant that Moon truly was an anomaly that did not follow the rules of this place.
Two. This place was constantly changing and isolating people.
Since separating meant never seeing each other again, that meant that this place was constantly trying to isolate people from each other... but it did not isolate the "writings" on the walls.
Communication was possible...
That was strange.
If this place was truly capable of separating people from each other, then why would it allow the people trapped inside to communicate through the walls?
The writings say that these things had clearly been left behind by countless different people.
Some had even written about their own experiences, their interests, their histories, and various other things so that the people who came after them could learn from them.
That meant the staircase was capable of separating people while still deliberately allowing their words to remain connected?
In other words... This staircase was capable of thinking!
It wasn’t simply a supernatural space that operated according to a series of meaningless rules.
It was a living existence.
It could separate people, it could allow them to communicate, and it could change the conditions within the place while still maintaining its own rules.
And if that was true, then there was another possibility.
Perhaps the staircase itself was capable of recognizing what was inside it.
Third. Only humans were trapped here.
According to the writings on the wall, there were no indications that supernatural creatures were also being trapped here.
That meant that the staircase never allowed entry for supernatural beings in the first place... or that supernatural beings were exempt.
In fact, that owl who tried to enter this "staircase" most likely just encountered a normal staircase and wasn’t actually within this Neverending Staircase.
Moon theorized that F-299, the Purple Owl, was an opportunist who knew it could escape from A.E.G.I.S. by trapping this Response Unit in the Neverending Staircase while it stayed in the normal world...
Moon, however, was bordering between human and "supernatural" due to the Ring of Sacrilege.
And that was where things became interesting.
If the staircase was truly a living existence capable of thinking and determining how it treated the people inside...
Then what would it do with someone who was neither completely human nor completely supernatural?
Perhaps it simply didn’t know.
Fourth. The staircase was trying to make Moon exit.
As for the reason why?
But these anomalies seemed to have been multiplied by the Neverending Staircase...
For example, out of all the people that Moon could have met, he had immediately encountered a Response Unit, people who were specifically trained to escape supernatural places.
Another was that when Elias asked about whether or not they’d be able to find F-299, the writings on the wall immediately appeared.
Why was that?
How come, out of all the writings that could have appeared in front of them, what appeared was a complete set of writings with rules, experiences, and a summarization about what this place was?
It even kept emphasizing that they would escape...
In fact, there was one thing that bothered Moon the most.
The signature at the end of the writing on the wall.
If one looked closely enough...
It actually spelled out "Leave."
Through these theories, Moon had come up with one thing...
This place disliked supernatural creatures and only wanted to have humans inside it.
But due to the fact that Moon bordered between human and supernatural, the staircase could not decide what he was.
It did not mind him being there, but it also badly wanted him to leave.
According to the numerous things that Moon had read about [Arcana], he knew that each supernatural space operated with different personalities, different rules, and different mechanics, but there was always a way to escape no matter how absurd the solution seemed.
And since this place wanted Moon to leave so badly...
That meant it would most likely take every opportunity to do so.
However, it still needed to follow its own rules.
That was why Moon had asked Marcus for a precise location.
He had never considered this possibility before because he had never had a destination in mind.
The addresses written on the first steps had always seemed like one of the staircase’s many strange rules. There was no point in searching for one when he had no idea where he wanted to go.
But now, he had a destination.
And if the staircase truly wanted him to leave, perhaps all it needed was to know where to send him.
Marcus paused for a bit at the question before saying:
"A.E.G.I.S. International Headquarters, 17 Meridian Avenue, Geneva, Switzerland."
Moon nodded as he suddenly started going up the stairs.
The rest of the team, a bit elated, followed a bit cautiously.
Step... step...
Pause.
Moon stopped after one staircase, above the next one was a door.
[A.E.G.I.S. INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
17 MERIDIAN AVENUE
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND]
Moon stared at the address written on the first step of the staircase.
Indeed, he wasn’t wrong about his theory...
The Neverending Staircase truly didn’t want him inside this place.
It had simply needed a precise location about where to throw him out.