CH 228

Far beneath the ground of Floating Garden of Spirits, there is a top secret laboratory which could only be entered by a few scientific researchers and wizards trusted by Yekaterina.

That place was filled with magic science and technology which Yekaterina had deemed to be either too dangerous to be exposed or too early for the public to know.

Currently, there were 5 people gathered in that very room. It was Taylor, Seol Jungyeon, Lacanthal, Smiling Shadow, and Yekaterina herself.

“Shadow. How’s the cover-up story about these corpses progressing?”

“We are saying that they are disappearing by themselves after death.”

“So, the media control is done?”

“Yes. We made an announcement that it was the work of the anti-mage group who were dissatisfied by the existence of magicians. We also stated that we would respond positively.”

“You did a great job. If they ask you about otherworlders, please avoid it as much as you can.”

“I will do that.”

In addition to being stealthy, Smiling Shadow was very good at manipulating the scene of an incident. Changing computer evidence or CCTV recordings, even disposing of the body without anyone noticing, it was all nothing for him. 

It hasn’t happened yet, but if a situation arises in which Another League has to get their hands dirty, Smiling Shadow’s skills would play a pivotal role.

Yekaterina took a deep breath and looked at the four preserved corpses in front of her; They were all Unidentified Otherworld Races. All of them also had the same exact DNA as the one that Yoo Seodam had defeated back in Iran.

Yekaterina thought of something which people would have thought at least once in their life at the moment. Why do humans have five fingers? What if there are more fingers? How about less? Wouldn’t that be good? Why only two arms and two hands? Wouldn’t it be nice to have more? Why do we not have any tail? Why don’t we have wings when it’s convenient to travel if we have one?

Why?

Why?

Why?

The human race is incomplete and weak. They have fragile skin which can be torn by even a piece of paper. And even just a small hole in the body could put their life at risk.

However, the strange otherworlder in front of Yekaterina was different. They were perfect. No word other than perfect could ever describe them. There was not a single cell in their body which was useless. All the bones in their body had a reason for their existence and their skin and other organs were so strong, it was to the point that they could survive in any extreme environment. Looking at how perfect they were, Yekaterina assumed that they must have been born with the strength of at least an A rank or higher.

“No race would have dared to use the word ‘perfect’ unless they were ‘Dragon’, the most supreme race.” When Lacanthal, the only otherworlder amongst the five, opened his mouth, Taylor’s gaze changed into that of curiosity.

“Dragon? Do they really exist?”

“They do. However, they are beyond the common sense of races like us.”

“Sorry? Didn’t Lacanthal’s race have the technology to move between dimensions? How can you say they are beyond even your races’ common sense?”

“We indeed have that technology. However, it was only possible because we had developed this particular field of magic technology to the limit. But… Dragons were creatures which were capable of dimensional movement and time travel from the moment they were born.”

“I can’t believe it…'”

“A dragon is simply a being like that. They can easily travel into another world through sheer willpower. They can go back in time whenever they want, and they can even create new races and worlds.”

“To think such a nonsensical existence exists…” Yekaterina swallowed her saliva. She herself had the blood of a different race called ‘witch’ running through her veins. It was an outstanding race which could be called the evolution of humans. Without any cumbersome emotions, their thought process was concise and quick. However, even for them, who were born with magic, it was almost impossible to travel between dimensions.

“Well, dragons don’t show up all the time. On the contrary, if a dragon appeared in a particular world, it could be said that that world is ruined.”

“Why is that?”

“When a dragon comes, it means that an event which could not be resolved had occurred in that world. For example, destruction of the world.” Lacanthal said in a somber tone while meeting Yekaterina’s gaze.

“…”

When Yekaterina, Taylor as well as Seol Jungyeon lost their words, Lacanthal smiled.

“You guys took my nonsense too seriously. Anyway, from that point of view, these races are not perfect.”

“Why is that?”

“Look at that anatomical data. Even though they look perfect at the first glance, all the shortcomings of human beings in their body have been forcefully fixed. Let’s say it like this, if you humans are old pots with holes in them, then these guys are the same old pots but only with the holes being patched with anything nearby with which they could cover the hole.”

“Huh?”

When Yekaterina thought about it more, she realized that Lacanthal’s words were indeed true.

The otherworlders’ corpses in front of her were simply another version of a human whose flawed body parts that everyone thought were imperfect, inconvenient or lacking were perfectly fixed.

That’s it. They were nothing more, nothing less.

“To conclude, these bizarre races are not naturally created nor divinely crafted.” Lacanthal laughed.

“…Then, are you saying that they were born by the hands of an intelligent creature like us?”

“It should be the case. I don’t think God would have created such a clumsy rag.”

A race which was close to perfection, but ended up being a defect because it was just a clumsy perfection..

Who the hell created these races?

Why are they so obsessed with being ‘perfect’?

And, most importantly.

“…why did they come from the inside of the Hell Gate?” Yekaterina frowned.

Hell Gate, what kind of existence resides inside?

What kind of technology and magic was used to create a new race that was close to perfection?

In this situation where the more you know, the more you don’t know, what should they do?

“Well, we have found out everything we could find out. By dissecting that body here, I don’t think we’ll get any more information.”

“Then, what should we do?”

“Why are you asking me?” Lacanthal shrugged. “Isn’t there someone who has a better understanding than me in this field? So, we have to wait for him to come.”

At his words, Yekaterina nodded her head with a slightly dark expression. It had already been three months since Yoo Seodam was dispatched to another world.

‘When will you return?’

*

In the Vivienda Continent, a world where magic had been developed to the limit, only one empire ruled the world.

‘Magic exists solely for the sake of humanity.’

With Archmage Rinekal at the forefront, the early magic civilization developed explosively and became the foundation of the Vivienda Empire. Over time, it ruled over ten continents, controlled over a thousand aerial islands, colonized all five moons, and spread the magical civilization to other planets which were inhabited by fairies.

At that point, under the sky, or even above the sky, there was no race which did not use magic. It was the era where magic was used by everyone and was everyone’s daily routine.

Thanks to her ancestor, Archmage Rinekal, Aracelli Rinekal was living in such a great generation. Everything was peaceful. She thought that there would be no more threat to her world since she had defeated the magician’s natural enemies, ‘demons’.

Even when she left her world, Vivienda Empire was still flourishing with its great magic civilization.

However,

“AHH…”

WIiiing-!! WIiiing-!!

-Magican detected. Magician detected.

-Eliminating the magician.

-Eliminate all magicians!!!

A horrifying and eerie voice rang out from the gigantic mass of machinery that covered half the sky above Aracelli.

Whiinnng-!!

Suddenly, a flash of light flashed from the gigantic mass of machinery and hit the ground. The ground, which was hit by it, was instantly charred and overturned.

-Successfully eliminating the magician.

-MKM409 will now return to HQ.

After a while, the gigantic machine disappeared into the sky. It was only then Aracelli realized that something strange had happened in her hometown.

‘The moons!!!’ Aracelli closed and rubbed her eyes a few times to make sure she was not mistaken. After all, unlike what she remembered before, the five moons were now covered with some kind of bizarre machinery. And, in that machine, a certain huge ‘eye’ was rolling around as if watching the ground.

It was not magic nor the technique of the demons. It was a technology which she might have thought of as something that only existed in fantasy novels if she never went to another world with Yoo Seodam. 

The true identity of those technologies was…

Science.

However, no matter how hard she thought about it, it didn’t make any sense, since in this world, the existence of science was merely treated as a superstition. After all, it was a world where science did not exist in the first place.

“Why did this happen…?”

In midsummer night of August 31, Year 709 of Rinekal calendar, Aracelli witnessed her hometown being destroyed by science.

*

The moment I opened my eyes, the blue sky filled my vision. On a planet with an ozone layer, even if you stare at the sun with your bare eyes, your body is strong enough to not get affected by it. But nevertheless, it was always unpleasant to make eye contact with the sun as soon as you opened your eyes.

“By the way… Ouch… This trip was bumpier than usual, wasn’t it? Originally, we would have arrived the moment I closed my eyes and opened it again.”

<It seems like it was due to the selection process of the most suitable place and time for hunting the protagonist.>

“Hm? Is everything okay now?”

<Yes, it is. However, I estimated that we have slightly deviated from the original time zone.>

“Is that even possible?”

<In order to move between dimensions, we have to consume probability to not only move time, but to also penetrate both dimensions. However, when we moved earlier, the amount of probability in your body was only enough to do one…>

“Summarize please.”

<The probability you gained from hunting the last protagonist is only enough to move between dimensions, not moving through timeline…>

“Ah… Okay.”

A panoramic view of a dazzling city fills my field of vision. Magical civilizations specialized in beauty, therefore a lot of colorful buildings floated in the sky as if it was a decoration. Around it, a huge flying vehicle passed through the air with an advertising hologram on its side. As an icing on the cake, fireworks of myriad colors were decorating the skys shot from a palace which was built upside down from the clouds. 

Fantastic scenery that could not have been imagined on a gray earth was now unfolding here.

“Is this a magic civilization?”

The world where magic had developed to its limit was in truth similar to art itself.

How beautiful can it be?

How can we make this world more beautiful?

It was as if the people lived here thinking only about the ‘beauty’ not the ‘magic’.

“By the way, where is Aracelli?”

Unfortunately, this time around, I couldn’t move together with Aracelli due to the probability, so we were separated just like usual. But for some reason I couldn’t feel Aracelli’s aura at all.

<…it seems like she did not exist in this time zone.>

“No, wait. What do you mean?”

<Perhaps she arrived in her original timezone… Which was in the future.>

“Huh???”

Wait, that was totally unexpected.

“Well, then, how far into the future did she go?”

<Probably…>

The system thought about it for a while, and then printed the current date right in front of me.

[August 31, Year 597 of Rinekal Calendar]

As I read it, the system continued to answer my question in a subdued voice.

<… She moves 100 years into the future. Since she was originally part of this world, she couldn’t follow you through time.>

“WHAT!?!?!?!? 100 years?”

That’s three times more time than I’ve ever lived.

“Then… how can we meet?”

My mind went blank.