The Opportunity
It had already been a full week since I came here. Unlike the initial panic, surprisingly enough, nothing of any real concern had happened so far.
“Bianca. Food.”
“Y-yes…! Is there, um, something specific you want?”
“Water.”
Srrk—
“No, no. Don’t take anything off…”
The meals weren’t exactly a lavish spread of every delicacy under the sun, but Bianca’s subspace magic let us pull out almost any ingredient we wanted, and her precise fire magic handled the cooking to perfection. She had even somehow created a working plumbing system; the bathroom was surprisingly comfortable. The only real issue was how Bianca would casually follow me in whenever I went to wash. Other than that, life was uneventful. In our free time we chatted or played board games. Of course, I had yet to win a single match against her.
As expected of a mage. Her mind really is on another level.
“Hehe… Ian, you’re s-such a loser…”
Thwack.
“Ow… that hurts…”
Maybe it was because we spent every waking hour glued to each other, but our relationship had grown close enough that I could flick her forehead without a second thought.
The problem is…
As these days blurred together in endless repetition, I suddenly realized I had zero purpose here. Back when I served the Barhen family I at least had duties, but now I was nothing more than a complete freeloader. Without familiar work to occupy me, my body itched with restless energy.
…Has the slave mentality sunk that deep into my bones?
Having been accustomed to constant labor in my previous life, my body felt strangely heavy and listless. Just two days ago, driven by sheer boredom, I had asked Bianca if there was anything I could do for her, only to receive the same answer as always.
“Y-you don’t have to do a-anything, Ian… Just staying by my side is enough…”
She truly never assigned me a single task. A life without any stimulation whatsoever. Even though only a week had passed, it felt like an eternity.
Has my brain finally started to rot?
The truth was that the week leading up to this had been an unrelenting series of extremes. Now that I had a moment of peace, I couldn’t shake the feeling that death might still be lurking around the corner. Whenever the boredom grew too heavy and I casually mentioned “going outside,” Bianca would panic and desperately talk me out of it.
So my primary duties had become stroking Bianca’s hair and observing the world beyond our walls. Today, through the small window, another group of adorable creatures had gathered—rabbits, squirrels, birds, and more. Simply watching them huddle together in the field filled me with unexpected warmth.
…If only the scene that followed hadn’t existed.
No matter how many times I see it, I still can’t get used to this.
The animals clustered in one spot suddenly began to split apart all at once.
Crack.
This time they weren’t simply copying their own forms. They were attempting far more extreme mutations—rabbit heads on squirrel bodies, rabbit torsos sprouting bird wings. It looked as though they were deliberately mixing the traits of every creature present to create new replicas.
Normally they produced exact duplicates of themselves, but occasionally they crafted these bizarre “chimeras” by blending the characteristics of nearby lifeforms.
Is this real-time genetic manipulation? Even if that’s the case, manifesting genetic traits just by looking at a target should be impossible…
In my old world, scientists would have called it absurd even if you slapped them across the face. What fascinated me more was that no matter how many times they divided, the original kept its original shape.
From constant observation, I had noticed a pattern. When the original created clones, its body would swell to grotesque proportions, yet the moment the splitting ended, it instantly returned to normal. That alone was disturbing enough, but the clones themselves were even worse.
If living things split endlessly across a wide plain, the field should have been overrun in no time. The reason it wasn’t was simple.
After a short while the misshapen clones would bloat, their bodies turning lumpy, until—
Boom!
They exploded. The clones lived only a brief time before bursting apart. The sight of blood and organs scattering everywhere was grotesque at first, but after repeated exposure it had become almost routine.
Their lifespan seems extremely short…
Was there some kind of restriction preventing the clones from surviving long? Since this place had never been normal to begin with, trying to understand it with ordinary logic was pointless.
Before long, the creatures that had finished splitting scattered in different directions as if following some unspoken agreement.
Seeing them like this, they don’t seem completely devoid of intelligence…
After existing here for eons, perhaps they had developed their own crude form of wisdom.
According to Bianca, this Rift of the Continent had existed since the dawn of time. From the distant ancient era until now… exactly what had taken place here?
If the law of this place is that outside creatures trigger replication…
What would happen if I stepped outside?
An unbearable curiosity welled up inside me.
As I continued staring out the window, Bianca approached with a sullen pout, clearly unhappy.
“I-Ian…!”
“Hm?”
“I-I told you not to look outside! If you stare too often you might get eroded by the law.”
She rushed over as though angry and promptly covered my eyes with her hands.
“Understood.”
Truthfully, I hadn’t planned on watching the outside world too frequently anyway. Whatever “erosion by the law” meant, it didn’t sound pleasant.
Besides, there’s only so much I can learn by looking.
No matter how comfortable this life was, I had no intention of spending the rest of my days here with Bianca. That was why I intended to seize any chance to slip outside without her noticing.
Bianca and I spent nearly every waking moment together, but there were still a few times during the day when we had to separate. One of those moments was when she used the bathroom.
In the beginning she had genuinely suggested coming in with me. I remembered frantically waving my hands in horror at the idea.
This is the perfect opportunity.
Since Bianca was currently occupied in the bathroom, I decided to use the moment to attempt a brief “outing.”
I stood before the wooden door and swallowed hard. The world outside was completely unknown. This would be my first time setting foot in it.
Heart pounding with a mix of tension and curiosity, I gripped the handle and turned it with force.
Creak—
“…Huh?”
Fuck?
The handle refused to budge, as if it were merely decorative. No matter how hard I pushed, it wouldn’t move. Instead—
Creeeeak—
The sound of another door opening came from behind me. A familiar yet chilling voice drifted from the bathroom.
“…Ian? What are you doing?”
On the outskirts of the Forest of Nightmares, Serena frowned at the sight of the half-burned woods.
“Just what the hell has that woman been doing?”
Philia beside her also furrowed her brow, eyes closed in concentration. She was pouring every ounce of her power into sensing Ian’s location, yet…
“I don’t know what trick Bianca used, but the trace ends here.”
The tracking magic placed on Ian had been severed at this very spot. Just as Philia opened her mouth to speak again—
Boom—
The earth across the entire continent began to tremble. It felt as though the ground itself was screaming. The vibration lasted only a moment before stopping. To beings who had already reached the transcendent realm, it posed no threat, but that wasn’t what mattered.
“This can’t be…”
Philia’s eyes widened in shock as she turned her gaze south—directly toward the World Tree.
“The World Tree has fallen…?”
Serena’s voice was equally hollow. “Aela. That damn elf supremacist actually let the World Tree fall?”
The World Tree was no mere giant plant. It was one of the pillars holding up the very weight of the continent. The expression was not metaphorical. If something had happened to it…
Philia urged Serena forward, racing deeper into the forest.
“There’s no time. We must find Ian and leave immediately. Otherwise…”
She left the rest unsaid. The implication was too ominous.
…The gods may descend.
When catastrophe struck the continent, the gods dwelling in the heavens and the demons slumbering beneath the earth would both make their appearance. The time until total destruction was now frighteningly short.
The man gazed upward, sensing something amiss. The clear blue sky suddenly darkened as a thunderstorm descended. From within the ashen clouds, a colossal voice boomed.
—So you are the bastard who has been running wild in this realm like a madman?
—Where is my precious granddaughter? She should still be alive.
—Return Behemoth to me, and I shall personally forgive your insolence.
The god who ruled over thunder—Kwahrot—possessed a naturally belligerent nature, yet he did not attack immediately. Instead he asked with caution.
“Who knows.”
The thunder god’s voice grew sharper.
—This is your final warning.
All the lightning across the continent compressed into a single devastating mass that gathered in Kwahrot’s grasp. A single strike from it could shatter the continent multiple times over.
“…This will be my first time cutting lightning.”
Even with a god standing before him, the man lifted his familiar sword without a trace of fear.