Sword of Malta – The Awakening of the Starship Malta (59)

59. Battle of the Black Hole: The Fortress of Pangea

The Malta slipped into the throat of the black hole’s corridor.

In a realm of darkness where even light cannot escape, spacetime buckled and flattened like sheets of paper, over and over. Countless miniature universes swirled, passing through the hull of the Malta and through the very bodies of the children. As myriad galaxies brushed past, each was becoming its own small cosmos.

Suddenly, gravity surged like a tidal wave. The Malta, gliding atop the gravitational swell, groaned and lurched violently, its silver shields erupting in blue sparks. Inside the ship, the phantom thrum of war drums beat against their ears.

“Prepare for landing! Brace for impact!”

Sansuna’s voice thundered across the bridge.

“Landing…? We’re passing through a black hole right now!”

Maru whispered, careful not to let Sansuna hear.

“Where on earth are we supposed to land? Does the black hole drive people mad?”

Beyond the observation dome, a colossal structure began to emerge from the swirling abyss. It was neither rock nor planet. It was the Altima Mine—its thousands of iron-chained pillars anchoring it to a jagged precipice within the black hole. It evoked the image of Prometheus from ancient myth, or a Titan whose liver was eternally torn by eagles. At first glance, the mine seemed a part of the black hole itself, but in truth, it was a gargantuan fortress.

“This is the Cosmic Cliff… the sword, the Memory of Stars, fell here as well,”

Suri murmured, his heart heavy.

“I wonder how Emperor Nova would feel seeing this? His own mother was exiled to this cosmic prison…”

“We are landing on the only static zone the black hole couldn’t destroy—the fortress left by Pangea,”

Sansuna declared firmly.

“…Gargantua… it’s real. This isn’t a movie. This is the truth,”

Sabi whispered, her chest tightening with awe.

The Pangea civilization had foreseen their own ruin. Thus, they constructed this fortress using Altima metal—an unstable substance capable of infinite transformation and merging with consciousness, yet controllable through possession magic.

They chose their site well: the Bottleneck, a stable singularity at the edge of the universe. Though the Bottleneck was a forbidden realm, constantly shaken by gravitational waves that deterred any outside civilization, it was the perfect sanctuary.

It was more than a refuge; it was an archive and a temporal ark, designed to preserve all the knowledge, technology, and data of the sword known as the Memory of Stars.

However, the Altima metal eventually slipped beyond their control. The moment the two powers—Emperor Nova and the Oracle—clashed over the Altima, the substance reacted explosively.

As the suppressed energy deep within the veins reached critical mass, spacetime tore asunder. The gravitational field drifted off its normal tracks. Escaping spacetime, the Altima energy pushed the curvature of space to its extreme, spiraling even light into a twisted helix.

Space contracted into a single point.

In an instant, a supermassive black hole was born.

The event horizon took shape.

Fortunately, the fortress did not entirely collapse. It remained anchored within the stable region inside the event horizon, the boundary between the interior and exterior of the black hole. In reality, there was no way to escape.

Emperor Nova used prisoners to control the Altima metal. Their labor wasn’t just the physical act of mining; the Emperor was secretly experimenting with possession magic to harness the metal’s protean power. Though he had publicly renounced magic and even exiled the magic tribes, he was clandestinely researching it within the Altima Mine. Anyone who discovered or spoke of this secret was banished here. Not only the Emperor but the Oracle as well began projecting possession magic onto the prisoners, turning their existence into a horrific Requiem.

As the Malta entered the safe zone at the end of the corridor, it decelerated sharply. Tidal forces shook the hull violently, but the shields absorbed the vibrations. With a heavy metallic clank, the ship settled onto the mine’s landing platform. As the outer hatch hissed open, a strange wind—neither hot nor cold—rushed in.

“Look… the bird… the bird…”

Sabi stammered, lost for words.

At the center of the mine, the Altima veins pulsed like living arteries, heaving with alternating flashes of red and blue light. And there was a bird pecking at those veins.

It was Kalifrax. Spreading wings woven from flame, it circled above the Altima veins. With every beat of its wings, red fire and blue plasma spilled forth, its feathers evaporating into the void as they burned.

Its beak was long and sharp as a blade; the moment it touched a vein, the entire mine let out a mournful howl. Its eyes were hollow, like looking into the black hole itself. Though it had the form of a bird, the red and blue energy drawn from the veins flowed through its capillaries. Kalifrax was a phoenix born from the very heart of the black hole.

“…This is where our fathers are, right? Isn’t it?”

Sabi asked, her voice trembling with fear.

“It’s… more incredible than I imagined. I can’t even fathom the scale of it. Look, it’s endless,”

Suri said, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the mine.

“…But I wonder if the food here is any good?”

Maru muttered, licking his lips.

“Is there a cafeteria? A ‘Menu of the Day’? Ugh, I’m so hungry I’m losing it. I’d do something truly devilish right now for a meal.”

From the shadows, figures began to emerge one by one. They were shrouded in black hoods from head to toe, their faces hidden. In truth, there were no faces beneath the hoods—only an empty void. Everyone gasped when the faceless ones reached out their hands. Glowing patterns were etched onto the backs and palms of their hands. Names, ages, and the summary of an entire lifetime were carved there like brief records. They were living epitaphs.

“…My daughter, Stella. She’s doing well, isn’t she?”

[To be continued…]

Starting November 2023, The Korea Daily is excited to publish the fantasy novel series “Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years” on our website. This new captivating series follows a trio of young adventurers on their quest to uncover the mysteries of ancient civilizations, including the Maya and Inca. In an exciting development, Netflix is currently adapting the novel’s storyline into a film.

The ‘Sword of Malta – Lightning in 72 Years’ is the latest novel authored by Jeeyoon Ha, who created the “Pangaea series.” Ha’s debut novel, “The Pangaea: Finding Xibalba,” was selected by the Korea Creative Content Agency in 2022 as part of their initiative to support the global export of fantasy literature.

*Mark Oh translated the Korean novel into English.