Chapter 381
Chapter 381
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 381
Chapter Title: 2-3. World of Crimson and White (1)
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The moment I passed through the rift.
A sensation about seven times crappier than spatial translocation engulfed me.
Dizziness like a ghost caressing my inner ear made nausea surge up.
"Ugh."
I barely managed to lift my head.
About 500 meters away, I spotted a rift identical to the one I'd entered.
The rest of the space was dyed pure white.
It wasn't that far.
But the instant I took a step forward, I understood why Sarante had said no one else could enter the rift.
"Argh, what the fuck?"
It felt like I'd been thrown naked into the deep ocean.
The pressure on my body was exploding outward.
Squinting my eyes, I could see particles finer than dust swirling through the space.
Bright red nosebleed trickled down past my philtrum.
"Not bad."
It felt similar to being hit by telekinetic magic.
Those particles were probably the catalyst for the magic.
My bones and joints were creaking.
If I were an ordinary person, I'd have been crushed like a jellyfish the moment I stepped into the rift.
To wield magic like this even without being present in person—Akasha was quite the monster, apparently.
"Still, it's just magic."
I gripped the hilt and drew my sword.
The moment the blade arced, sword aura whirled like fluid liquid and shot forward.
The particles vanished, clearing a path straight to the rift.
It looked like a tunnel of blood had formed.
"Hup!"
I had no patience for more annoyances.
I took a deep breath, and my thighs swelled.
My heel slammed roughly into the ground.
My body shot out like a bullet, reaching the rift in an instant.
Glancing back, I saw the rift I'd entered through.
Beyond the shattered space, the midnight forest flickered hazily.
"......"
It was a fleeting moment, but all sorts of thoughts flooded my mind.
Honestly, even in this situation, I couldn't shake the doubts.
What if all this was just a dream?
What if Sarante, who entrusted me with the future, was a mischievous ghost in disguise?
It just didn't make sense.
Suddenly appearing and rambling about the future and parallel worlds.
'Well, me dying and coming back to life doesn't make sense either.'
Still, it didn't take long to steel my resolve.
Lately, I'd been forgetting more often.
That I was living a second life. The breath of the Grand General as she kissed me, the dry touch of her lips rubbing against mine, the sharp bloody scent that came with the bead, and the sight of Nimbutton when I opened my eyes.
Thinking about it, bearing the fate of the world wasn't even new to me.
- I've decided to bet on you.
I resolved to think as positively as possible.
Lately, I'd been suffering from delusions.
About the abandoned ones.
About the survival of a world where Adeshan had vanished, a world I wasn't even sure existed.
But it turned out those delusions were reality.
And I'd been given the right to intervene in that world.
If anything, I could call myself lucky.
Most people with these symptoms ended up in restraints or treated as madmen until they died.
"Alright."
The guy who's tasted meat knows its flavor.
That short yet long deliberation ended.
Instead of braking by stabbing my sword into the ground, I closed my eyes.
A flash burst as I passed through the rift, blinding my vision.
The light faded quickly.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Pure white sand was rushing past beneath me.
"What the hell is this?"
Surprisingly, I was still flying.
Judging by my insane speed, I'd kicked off the ground pretty hard.
I wanted a stable landing, but I was too close to the surface now.
My altitude was dropping steadily—it felt just like a glider attempting to land on a runway.
Hm.
Screwed up.
By the time I could make out the shape of individual grains of sand.
"Graaak!"
My face slammed into the sand.
My unbalanced body bounced roughly.
I rolled twenty-three times before losing momentum and stopping.
"Ptoo! Ptui! Talk about bad luck!"
I sprang up like I'd been ejected.
Every time I spat or blew my nose, sand came out mixed in.
The sparkling white stuff looked like jewels—pretty my ass; I wanted to melt it all down into glass.
"Wait. This..."
It hit me while I was emptying my coat pockets.
A sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind.
I'd definitely seen this sand before.
Pale grains, devoid of any life, like the pallid corpse left after a vampire fed.
Right beside me, waves crashed against the shore.
I turned my head, and my body froze solid.
"Holy. Shit."
A blood-red sea stretched along the white sand beach.
The sky meeting the horizon was the same white as the sand.
The crimson sea was unsettlingly transparent, letting me peer clearly into depths that weren't too deep.
'Why's there nothing?'
That very emptiness amplified the eeriness.
The underwater world, which should teem with life, held absolutely nothing.
No fish, no coral, not even the most common shellfish.
Just a few pale rocks protruding like drowned ghosts.
Even as my body stiffened, my hands kept frantically brushing sand off my coat.
The intensifying déjà vu solidified into certainty.
I'd seen this scenery before.
"......Has it already ended?"
Crunch.
Something snapped in my mouth.
I'd witnessed this scene on the day I settled things with Abel.
We'd clashed inside a dimensional rift and ended up crashing onto some nameless planet.
A place where the sea was red and the land white, just like here.
Abel had called it the planet's death sentence, inflicted by the giant race.
'I didn't think it'd really end up like this.'
Figuring out the situation wasn't hard.
Sarante had only said it was a parallel world after the Grand General died, but how long after was uncertain.
Judging by the landscape, quite a bit of time had passed.
Nebula Klazie's plan had fully succeeded, reaching its conclusion.
"What a dogshit ending."
A deep breath steadied me a bit.
I needed to get moving.
My goal was to destroy the rifts scattered across the world and take down Akasha.
The first rift to smash was obvious.
Turning back, I saw the flashy mark of my landing.
"......No broken neck? Impressive."
I could plant crops right in the gouged sand.
At the end of the furrow, the rift I'd come through flickered with white light.
I approached the rift, sword in hand.
This was my last chance to dismiss it all as a dream, but I didn't hesitate.
My slash cut the air.
The mana particles collapsed, and the rift began to seal.
"No big deal."
It took only a few seconds.
The wound in space healed without a trace.
I swung my hand through where the rift had been to check.
Nothing.
No more running away now.
As I prepared to get serious, one question popped up.
'How the hell do I even know where the rifts are?'
This was a serious problem.
Forget the size of the parallel world—there was no way to detect where rifts had formed.
If my friends were here, it'd be much easier, but unfortunately, it was just me.
"If only Citana or Asel were here."
A sigh escaped me.
Guess I'd have to go primitive.
Walk until I spot a rift.
It wasn't entirely aimless, though.
Akasha's goal was summoning the giants and Nebula Klazie, so rifts were likely where their energy lingered.
Once I smashed one and interrogated, I'd roughly pinpoint the others.
"Alright. Let's start."
Clap!
I clapped my hands to psych myself up.
No one to cheer me on felt a bit lonely, but oh well.
A hero's path is lonely by nature.
I was about to head along the shoreline when—
"Something's over there to the west."
"Holy fuck, you scared me!"
A girl's voice suddenly echoed.
I yelped like a little girl from the shock.
I reflexively drew my sword.
Looking around, I saw nothing but the failed dye job of sea and land.
As I caught my ragged breath—
"Why so jumpy? I've been with you the whole time."
The same voice spoke again.
Very close.
Looking toward the source, my eyes went wide.
The drawn blade trembled faintly.
"Lin...!"
"Finally showing your true colors, huh? Just the two of us in a secluded spot like this. Older girls are the best, right?"
I'd completely forgotten.
The voice belonged to my sword.
More precisely, the ghost dwelling in my sword (she hates being called that).
The holy sword's spirit, Lin.
"You okay?"
"Hungry. Slice something up for me."
"No, I mean... doesn't your body feel like it's disintegrating, or your consciousness fading...?"
"Nope. I'm fine."
Lin's voice was as nonchalant as ever.
Suddenly, my chest swelled with emotion.
I wasn't alone.
"Good to know. Fuck, am I glad to see you."
"......Your attitude's winning me over today. Keep treating me this precious all the time."
Silly laughter kept bubbling up.
As I stroked the hilt, Lin purred like a pleased cat.
Suddenly recalling our earlier talk, I snapped my fingers.
"Oh yeah, what was that about the west?"
"Yeah. No idea what, but it pisses me off. I wanna chop it right now."
"Bald bastards? Sounds good. Let's check it out."
Lin rarely showed killing intent so proactively.
Seemed like my trusty holy sword had caught a whiff of something.
I dashed in the direction her blade tip pointed.
"Where would this be in the original world? Can't get a read."
"Dunno. Don't like it. How'd we end up here?"
"Long story, but... nothing else to do, so I'll tell you."
I recounted the whole saga to Lin.
My sole companion here responded with endless "Mm-hmms," listening intently.
Each step kicked up white sand jauntily.
Glancing back occasionally, I saw my footprints pooled with seawater, stained red.
After dozens of "Mm-hmms"—
"Found it."
"Mm?"
For the first time, a different response.
Almost simultaneously, a familiar yet loathsome sensation hit me.
My gaze shifted to the sea and locked there.
"What the hell is that?"
My brow furrowed.
Lin was growling now like a starving beast.
Amid the crimson horizon, pure white sea mist shimmered.
Like a cumulus cloud descended to earth.
Its interior sparkled like star sand—undeniably Nebula Klazie's trace.
"A hand?"
But what caught mine and Lin's eyes wasn't their mana.
Something massive flickered whitely within the thick fog.
Soon enough, I realized it was someone's hand.
A gigantic hand piercing up through the sea.
"It's alive?"
Lin tilted her head.
The hand didn't move.
I wanted to make out details, but it was too far to confirm from here.
"We'll know when we get there."
Best to check it out directly.
Pretty far, but I'd manage somehow.
Kwaaaang!
I gathered strength in my legs and leaped toward the sea.
"Your power's improved."
"What, now you notice?"
Lin marveled.
The beach receded rapidly.
With all curses lifted, I could leap at Zephyr-level if I wanted.
Though lately, I hadn't needed to push this hard.
Reconstruction kept me busy, but it was a peaceful era now.
'Creepy.'
Beneath my feet, the red sea rippled.
The sunlightless depths were opaque crimson.
Probably nothing there, but visually, a giant tentacle bursting out wouldn't surprise me.
Soon, the mist swallowed me.
"Never thought I'd see this again."
My brow furrowed involuntarily.
Inside the sea mist felt like a darkroom with a planetarium running.
Nebula Klazie's mana twinkled everywhere.
My grip tightened on the sword.
"What? Gonna slash?"
I answered Lin's question by squeezing the hilt harder.
No stench or poison, but I just hated the sight of it.
"Good. Let's do it."
Lin giggled.
The blade shot out trailing a red tail, carving a massive circle.
The moment the sword returned to position—
Shwaaaaak—!
The thick fog split left and right.
A timely wind blew.
The gaseous mass, spanning a 1km radius, began dispersing upward and downward.
The hand hidden by the veil revealed itself.
It was closer than I thought—I'd nearly reached it.
Suddenly, my eyes narrowed.
"......An altar?"
The gigantic hand wasn't from a living creature.