◈ Episode 340. A Worldline Without You (3)
Trembling black pupils.
The man mutters as if he cannot believe his eyes.
“……How can you spout such nonsense?”
Do you think I’m merely spouting nonsense? Do not ignore the [Natural Enemy Relationship].
As I have said time and again.
A drastic increase in combat power in Arcana means a great deal!
An increase in combat power means exactly this—all stats related to combat rise. It is only natural that this includes vitality and regenerative power. Furthermore, [The First World Tree’s Blessing] also began to apply to my mangled flesh.
Granfell of the past, riddled with the wounds of ‘that day,’ was reviving.
To sum all of that up in a single phrase.
In the end.
Granfell had not drowned in his overwhelming pride.
I looked at the man before me.
The black pupils shook even more violently.
Because he is my natural enemy.
And as a natural enemy.
Having hunted countless prey, I could tell.
He is utterly terrified.
As if to prove my guess, a message surfaced.[□□□ Claudi is afflicted with ‘terror’.][Warning: Understanding is too low.]
Does this mean my understanding of the past is still insufficient?
I could not know the man’s exact name.
But it did not matter.
Because the man was no longer a Claudi, no longer blood kin.
That meant the shackles of Granfell, who so terribly loved his blood kin, had been broken.
At this point, I could be certain.‘This hunt will not fail.’And at the same time, a question arose.
If I succeed in hunting that wretch.
How will the present change?
They do not call it the butterfly effect for nothing.
Was I not someone who had already experienced that so-called butterfly effect firsthand? I had felt, several times over, how a trivial delusion, a single slip of the tongue, could truly become legend.‘Who knows.’And so, if I overturn the past by one hundred and eighty degrees.
Predicting how reality will be overturned is surely impossible.
But there is one unchanging truth.
That before Pride, something like the butterfly effect is utterly trivial.
I moved my feet, leaving Claudi, the demon paralyzed with terror, behind.
Toward the loyal vassal who had just drawn his final breath.
Who until his final moment had thought only of his lord’s safety.
“I have known thy pride.”
I closed his unseeing eyes and spoke.
“I shall inherit that sublime pride.”
The sword he had gripped tightly even as he drew his final breath.
And the crossbow fallen to the floor—I took each in hand.
Because this was the past, there was no Gwicheol at my waist.
Using weapons incomparably shabby next to Gwicheol was the best I could do.
But it was enough.
“……Absurd.”
For hunting prey stricken with terror.
Clack—clack—clack—This time, I approached the prey.
Unlike cornered prey, the hunter’s mouth does not flap idly. Moreover, our prideful Lord Granfell does not waste a single motion. A mere prey is not worth wasting precious time akin to afternoon tea.
That was the reason I was certain the hunt would succeed.
But.
Truly.
Damn it all.
Ever since entering the curse.
The system message had been flickering incessantly.
That message finally caused a catastrophe.[Warning: Understanding is too low.][The past is unstable.][The past is unstable.][The past is unstable.]…….
Damn.
The sensation of the past trying to push me out grew ever stronger.
The noise flickering in my vision swelled until it threatened to completely engulf my sight.
As if to declare that no further interference would be permitted.
Finally, a message surfaced.[The curse, ‘Understanding of Darkness,’ is dispelled.]
Soon, a not-unfamiliar sensation crept over me…….
The Tower Master’s office.
I came to my senses.
I realized I had done something truly insane.‘It wasn’t a matter of appropriate level.’This curse.
It is far more dangerous than I thought.
A belated sigh of relief escaped me.
If Baal’s sword had touched me then……‘Just as I interfered with Granfell’s past.’It meant there was more than enough possibility that Baal could have interfered with me in reality and erased my very existence, did it not……? In my heart, I wanted to whoop and holler about having survived.
As if this habitual big mouth of mine could ever do such a thing.
“Both of those fellows are pulling the same trick.”
Both fellows?
Naturally, it refers to Baal and the demon of House Claudi that I missed in the curse. Whichever of the two I encounter later…… I suspect I will truly have to finish things for good then.
Especially.‘The nameless Claudi, that one.’Although I was ejected from the curse.
I daresay I have more than broken even.
Why, regarding Granfell’s past that I did not know.
I have still learned quite a lot by now, have I not?
Especially regarding the full account of that day.
And yet……[Understanding of Darkness (Curse): Drastically increases compatible mana affinity. However, one must face the past that is the source of the compatible mana.
- Current compatible mana affinity: 10%]
Only a mere ten percent……!
Truly, no matter how much I peel, there is no end.
You are an onion of a man, Granfell.
Now that I have felt the danger of the curse firsthand. How could I welcome the news that I must enter the curse again, and Granfell’s past at that? But this damn mouth of mine chatters on, independent of my feelings.
“If you thought I had fled for good, you are mistaken.”
That I can enter again.
Means I can hunt again.
You seem ready to leap right back into the curse this very instant.‘What can I do, this too is my fate.’In that sense…….
I find myself unexpectedly grateful for my personality that values procedure.
The contradiction of being unable to abide a demon living.
Yet also being unable to tolerate procedure and schedule being disrupted because of a mere demon.
Thanks to that contradiction, anyway.
I was able to live and catch my breath like a proper human.
As I am now.
Thump.
Even in that chaos, my schedule surfaced reflexively.
I grabbed the documents atop the desk and immediately left the office. My steps headed toward Topaz Hall of the Magic Tower, where the vanguard selection interview would take place.
Clack—And so, as I climbed the Tower’s stairs…….
“……Huh?”
Suddenly, I sensed a presence in the corridor I was passing through.
“Commander……?”
My position at the Magic Tower is Chief.
Chief Lee Hoyeol, Chief Lee, Chief, and even sir.
There were roughly four such titles for me.‘To be called Commander means they are outsiders.’
Thanks to that, I knew who it was without having to turn my stiff neck.
At present, the only outsiders at the Magic Tower were them.
“You’ve improved so much I barely recognize you, Wolf.”
The Shadow Mercenary Corps, recuperating in the Healing Division’s private chamber.
By the way.
Even if his condition improved, has it not improved too much?‘No, rather than improved, is he not overdoing it terribly……?’Why the sudden full-body armament?!
However, it seemed I was not the only one harboring doubts.
Before long, more presences were felt behind Wolf.
“No, I mean……!”
“Haahm. Can’t you explain a little more simply?”
“At least you were quiet while you were collapsed…….”
“Hey, old man, don’t overdo it and just stay in the baaaaack?!”
While chatting amongst themselves.
The Shadow Mercenary Corps members recognized me and jumped in shock.
Among them, I saw Lockheed particularly startled.
I soon learned the reason.
Because Wolf asked politely:
“Have you fully returned now, Commander?”……
Fully returned?
Entering the curse had briefly swept me up in a tempest of emotion, but it is not as though I ran away from the Tower like some truant youth. Just as I was wondering what he was talking about.
I sensed something alien.‘……Come to think of it?’
The Magic Tower was far too silent.
Looking back, while climbing the Tower’s stairs with clacking steps. The only ones I encountered were the Shadow Mercenary Corps. The Tower, which should have been busier than usual due to the vanguard selection interview, was instead completely empty.
I flinched and checked my smartphone, appalled…….
What the hell, what did I do that six days have already passed?!
*『The lesson of the Dragon-Demon Great War, which left uncontrollable devastation, was clear. Even the Magic Tower could not stand against the immortal existence, the dragon…….』
Life is truly without equal in its spite.
The Elder Mage.
Yugwid gave a bitter smile.
“It feels like only yesterday that the ill fate of the Dragon-Demon Great War set foot in the Crystal Hall. To think I prattled on about chasing truth in the far distance when I could not predict the future an inch before me. I realize anew how arrogant the Tower was, Tower Master.”
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The gentle giant, Yugwid.
Swoosh—The Gaia Golem she manifested advanced, parting the Pacific with its two legs. Upon Yugwid’s shoulder, a cat, the Tower Master, perched and kept his balance.
When the Tower Master did not answer, Yugwid asked again.
“Will you truly be alright, Tower Master?”
Yugwid alone knew.
The Tower Master was absolutely not a lazy being.
Moreover, he was one who would never forget his duty and shove it onto another. Yes, there was a reason the current Tower Master yawned excessively and collapsed to sleep without warning.
The Tower Master finally answered.
“It was worth enduring after all, Yugwid.”
He had no attachment to life.
He simply wished to see.
Jessie, you having grown into a proper mage.
So he had been greedy.
Unintentionally burdening Chief Lee Hoyeol and little Chief Marcello.
Yugwid, even at the cost of burdening you.
“Would not the previous Tower Masters be envious?”
But the Tower Master realized.
That the terminal life given to him was not granted to watch Jessie grow. A Tower Master’s life must be devoted solely to the Magic Tower.
The Tower Master raised his tail straight.
“Cremation by Dragon Breath—there could be no grander funeral.”
Human life is not eternal.
Regardless of physical injury.
The day merely comes when one’s allotted lifespan ends and one closes one’s eyes.
Swish—Yugwid raised her hand and stroked the Tower Master’s back.
“Impertinent, Yugwid.”
“You have truly worked hard all this time.”
“Look here, Yugwid. You hold not the slightest expectation for me. Indeed, the present Magic Tower facing a dragon that even the Magic Tower of the past could not withstand. Even I in this state may not have the means to stop it.”
The Tower Master looked down upon the Zero Mountain Range.
Apprentice and skilled mages mingled among adventurers, gazing at the sky. Shifting his gaze, he looked upon Chief Marcello and the senior mages floating beside the golem.
Senior of the Enchantment Division, Kiko Armin spoke.
“The shining wings of the dragon……. Those are the White Outer Wings. I am certain they are the White Outer Wings that only Chief Lee Hoyeol freely wielded at the Magic Tower!”
Bangrit and Benshi muttered.
“……Why does the dragon possess the magical implement that Chief Lee Hoyeol lent? Senior Bangrit, do you know?”
“Chief Lee is both a Chief of the Magic Tower and revered by the dragons as the Black Darkness Dragon. There must certainly be circumstances beyond our knowledge.”
“Oh dear.”
All hands had deployed outside the Tower.
All mages of the Magic Tower except Chief Lee Hoyeol had deployed. To think a single person’s absence could be so vast. Even as the Tower Master thought this anew, Kiko continued.
“As some of you know, the White Outer Wings clearly divide in power depending on the user. If one possesses sufficient ability to draw out their full performance, one can unleash a hundred spells at once……!”
What Kiko feared was precisely that.
“I dare not imagine. According to the Dragon-Demon Great War, dragons devoured hundreds of spells with a single breath. If a hundred breaths were unleashed at once through the White Outer Wings……!”
The Tower Master asked himself.
Could the Magic Tower block that attack?
The answer to that question was not one he could dare give.
Elder Dragon, Yunaxus.
It all depended on the difficulty level assigned to that dragon.
And soon.
Yunaxus halted its flight.
Toward the Magic Tower, toward the Holy War Allied Forces, toward the world, it roared.
As if declaring itself the King of All Things.
It unleashed Dragon Fear.
“……!!!”
Everyone realized.[The King of All Things roars.][Countless status abnormalities occur.][Vitality and mana regeneration decrease drastically.][Combat power decreases drastically.]…….
The day when dozens of dragons cried out for the Black Darkness Dragon.
The fact that what they exhaled was not Dragon Fear.
That day, the reason humanity could survive.
Was solely due to one person.
Lee Hoyeol, it was thanks to him.
“……How could we possibly face something like that?”
The reality without him.
Racing toward destruction.
Was no different from the continent of Arcana.
Before long, Yunaxus’s White Outer Wings emitted light.
Crimson flames flickered from the wings.
Dragon Breath poured down toward the world.
A despairing message flickered before the players’ eyes.[Warning: The moment you touch the Breath, you die instantly.]
“D-d-dodge, everyone!!!”
It was then.
Boing!
A single cat soared into the sky.
The cat received the Breath with its small body.
That was the prelude announcing the Second Dragon-Demon Great War.
And at the same time.
Later.
“Goodness, it seems our bodies being in tatters applies to us both equally. Dragon?”
It was the beginning of a legend that would be recorded as a clash of evenly matched rivals.