373 Counter

As soon as I heard the final answer that I was waiting for, my body switched to the ultimate focus mode. The mass of energy still continued to grow in the far-off corner of the room, making me wary of the golem in front of me. No matter what it said, it admitted to attempts of reviving its master, so how much could I trust its words stating it wouldn't make a move against me?

"Just like I answered your question, I hope you won't forget about my small request."

With those words, the golem raised its hand and pointed at the mana construct that I was soo worried about.

"I will use all my remaining energy to create a seed, from which my master's mind will be regrown. But to finalize this process, I need you to provide me with a suitable body, capable of sustaining my master mental power. Can I count you with that? In exchange, I will make sure this dimension will collapse so that you can do whatever you wanted all those people for."

Fuck! How did it know I had my eyes set of poaching locals into my own stronghold? Did this dimension operate in a similar manner to my own? Or did it somehow breach my mental defences without me noticing for the sake of reading my mind?

In an instant, all those questions spurged in my mind, causing an even greater rise of adrenaline in my veins, as if my body started preparing for the worst. Fight or run, that's what my instinct was telling me to do right now. With the power of this strange entity way greater than what I could measure, only the escape remained as the viable option… But this thing didn't make a move on me, even despite my fragile mental state right now! Either it was playing some sort of a long game final meaning of which I was unable to see, or there was a slight chance that what it just told me, was actually a truth!

"And how would you like me to procure said body? Kill some innocent and talented guy and bring him to this dimension?"

While I knew that this way of asking was provocative, I was rather certain that as long as I would be on guard, I would be able to escape anything that this personality was preparing with that mana.

"Oh, don't act all innocent right now… But if you are against harming someone who doesn't deserve death, just hold yourself a bit when you will be facing one of your strong enemies to make sure his or her body will remain in a good condition. You could use this deal to bring hell to those who crossed your bottom line or something…"

As the golem spoke those words, the mana it was gathering on the other end of the room finally started taking shape. Just like it previously mentioned, it all condensed into a small droplet, slightly resembling a seed, just like the one I found previously in the princess body.

"But didn't you say that this dimension is going to collapse? How I'm supposed to bring the body here… if there won't be here anymore?"

"Just like I said, I will create the mind seed with all the power I have left. Meaning, this entire dimension will turn into that thing, locked right where the entrance to the dimension will be. Just keep in mind that if the body you will bring will be too weak… I don't want to threaten you, but just like it will happen if this seed will be left alone for too long, all the energy used to compress the magical consciousness would be freed. I don't think I need to explain how it would end."

With the golem raising its hand at the nearby hole in the wall, I could only imagine the results of energy eruption on a scale even greater than the one I caused. With all the energy of this dimension compressed into a single entity, I think it could be safely compared to a mediocre nuke!

"Okay then. Is there anything you would want to inform me about before I leave then?"

Even though most of my question finally found their answers, I couldn't help but think that there was something that I was missing. Just like an itchy place that my fingers could never reach, I had this prevailing thought that I was forgetting about something insanely important!

"No. While my knowledge isn't limited to what I told you already, trying to force it on you right now, would only limit your own ability to look for it yourself. After all, most of it are just conjectures put forward by my master, who never found any way to either prove or negate them. If I were to tell you about those guesses, you would be biased towards the answer you could otherwise discover yourself. You can consider it as my insurance as well - as long as you will manage to provide a proper body for my master's mind seed, you could get all the answers from him personally!"

With the mana construct finally forming into its final shape, I saw a counter appearing around it, just like in those fancy futuristic games. 

"You have exactly two hours to leave this dimension. Anyone left in it will be turned into pure energy that will supply the collapse of the dimension. In a few moments, I will force everyone out of their trance, so that you could lead them outside. Just keep in mind that this is the final counter."

With the golem's hand pointed at the tearlike mana construct in the corner, I couldn't help but follow where it was pointing, to see the numbers on the clock already decrease.