Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: A Being that Transcends Time (4)
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1.
A moment later.
"So, you went to the Great Sages because you wanted to know about this note, but even they couldn't give you an answer?"
I nod.
"And then they told you flat out that if you came to me, I'd have the answers?"
I nod again.
Whether it was because her mind had cleared from the unexpected shock, or she'd finally come to her senses, Time's Transcendent Diavela was responding to my questions with surprising composure and sincerity.
I couldn't help but wonder how a person could change so drastically in such a short time, and at the same time, I felt a twinge of guilt.
This was unavoidable.
Any man—or anyone who's ever been a man—would feel a bit of remorse after doing something like that, no matter what the other person had done up to that point.
Plus, wasn't shattering her worse than just cutting her? She must have endured it because her body was so sturdy...
And for the first time, I felt a pang of guilt over my own actions.
"I see. So that's what led to my little mishap."
"...You could see it that way."
I answer for now.
If I hadn't come here, she never would have crossed paths with a lunatic like me, so it wasn't wrong to say she wouldn't have suffered that accident.
Whatever the case, it had nothing to do with me anymore.
What was done was done; no amount of regret would change it.
"Anyway, I only have one question for you. That place the note points to—what exactly is it? Can you tell me?"
Now, let's get to the point.
The issue was whether she could actually answer about the note's contents.
'As far as I know, the only things the Great Sages can't answer are knowledge from other worlds or anything related to Transcendent Cresia.'
The Great Sages, who supposedly knew everything about the world.
Even they sometimes couldn't provide answers. This world balanced things out by imposing restrictions on the strongest beings.
Knowledge from other worlds was restricted to prevent chaos from external technology, and as for Transcendent Cresia, they truly didn't know.
Because of her role in creating the 'world,' she was deemed outside its boundaries, so the Great Sages couldn't access information about her, according to the setting document.
But how do I remember all this?
Even if I loved digging into the settings, there's no way I could memorize every single detail...
"To answer your question: yes, I can."
Ah, I'll think about that later.
It wasn't important right now.
"Then tell me. After everything you've put me through just to hear it, I'm tempted to tear you apart."
"Hmm, before that, let me ask you something. The one who sent this note... an elf, perhaps?"
"...? Probably. From what I know, it took the form of an elf."
"An elf? How could an elf..."
For a moment, her expression clouded with thought.
Indeed, 'that one' was an elf, as far as I remembered.
No other race could perform long-range archery like that without special magical enhancements, and my memories confirmed it was an elf.
Though, not a pure-blooded one, perhaps.
But why ask about that? Was there some important reason?
"What's that about?"
"Nothing. I just didn't expect any of those who used this script to still be around. It's the script I used when I wrote love letters to Cresia long ago..."
Ah, figures.
I'd thought she was seriously pondering something profound, but I was the fool.
I'd momentarily forgotten she was just a lecherous god who should only emerge once every thousand years—or better yet, one per universe.
"Anyway, our homeland—the land of the forgotten mother—refers to the first world Cresia ever created."
"...The first world she created?"
"Yes. Cresia created the primordial world and split it into four. In terms of the current timeline, roughly the human realm, demon realm, heavenly realm, and spirit realm."
"I know that. But didn't the primordial world divide into those four and vanish? So how can it be waiting for me there?"
"That's the key point."
-Snap!
She winked at me and snapped her fingers.
Seeing it made my stomach churn.
I nearly vomited but held it in.
"...Cut the disgusting act. I'm not in the mood for your games—"
-Crackle!
But apparently, it wasn't just a meaningless gesture.
Suddenly, the prison-like surroundings shifted as bright particles gathered around us, transforming into what resembled a grand castle.
-Boom! Thud!
The bars vanished, and the materials around us reconfigured into new textures and shapes.
And at some point, she disappeared too.
'This isn't teleportation.'
It was bewildering.
No such ability existed in Novel Online's settings.
The closest was the transcendents' authorities, but hers was 'time,' not 'space.' How could she do this?
'She reconfigured the surrounding space itself. That's probably Transcendent Cresia's authority... But how?'
I tense up.
If she attacked with something like this, my current abilities wouldn't stand a chance.
Where was she now?
If I didn't at least pinpoint her location, she could end me before I could counter.
"No need to worry, little demon. Your looks are tempting, sure... but I don't devour messengers from my child."
"...!"
Her voice echoed from all directions.
"Where are you?! Where the hell are you? Is this magic?!"
I spun around, shouting.
But all I saw was the unfamiliar castle scenery. Her voice was clear, yet she was invisible.
"Exactly. This is magic—the power you mortals use, which I created and taught you to prepare for the calamity to come."
"!"
-Boom!
"How about now? Feel like a god yet?"
There she stood, right in front of me.
"You did all this just to change clothes?"
"Precisely. Showing you my bare form might be too stimulating—you'd fall for me at first sight."
"...You're full of crap."
"You can't know if it's crap without trying it."
Her appearance had changed dramatically.
Moments ago, she'd been half-naked in just pants, but now she wore attire fit for a god from myth.
Combined with her muscular build and signature golden hair, she truly resembled the chief deity from those tales.
Probably inspired by that god.
"And it's not just for changing clothes, little demon. I'm going through quite the hassle to show you what you want to know."
-Thud!
"Ugh...!"
The surroundings shook violently again.
"The sky?"
This time, the castle view shifted to the open sky.
Thankfully, we didn't fall; we hovered in place. No wind or sky-like sensations meant it was an illusion, not reality.
"What you're seeing now is the primordial world. In other words, this is the past. I shouldn't show it, but you amuse me, so I'll make an exception."
Diavela smirked as she spoke.
"Even so, it's not actual time travel—just observation."
"You're the Transcendent of Time. You could go to the past whenever you wanted."
Observation meant rewinding to view the past without entering that timeline.
Impressive, sure, but a true transcendent of time could jump timelines at will.
Why settle for observation...?
"...Can't. If I did, not only would the me on this timeline sense us, but the other transcendents too. History wouldn't change, but we'd be in danger."
Ah, yeah, that was off-putting.
Diavela here was fine, but who knew how the other two would react to me.
They might attack on sight.
If so... yeah, that'd be risky.
Better to be content with just seeing it.
"Hmm, so this is the primordial world..."
I looked down for a glimpse.
No dense buildings or anything.
It was the primitive era, after all.
'Pretty high up.'
Irrespective, it was so high that falling would mean certain death.
Though I'd survived similar heights before, so maybe just a sore butt.
Fortunately, the view below was clear even from here.
"See that?"
"What?"
"Hmm, the red glow in the center of that blue mountain range."
"Blue mountain range? ...Yeah, I see it."
I focused my vision on the 'mountain range' as she said.
A massive circular range, with a blood-red glow emanating from its heart.
Quite the distance away.
"That's where Cresia first created this world—the center of it all."
"...! You mean that's...?"
"Yes, your hunch is right. That's the forgotten homeland you're seeking, the land of the world's mother, Cresia."
I zoomed in further.
The red glow came from a massive brazier ablaze in that spot.
And tending its flames was a woman with white silver hair...
Who was she?
"...It's been ages since I last saw Cresia. She looks even more beautiful in her youth."
"That's Cresia? The transcendent?!"
"Indeed."
This was a rare sight.
Information on the Transcendent of Space was scarce even in Novel Online.
I'd assumed female for convenience since gender was ambiguous, and luckily, she was.
'The clothes in the Exile Tower must've been hers.'
Diavela at least had an illustration, but Cresia only had a voice cameo in-game and minimal settings info.
No art, no descriptions.
She looks familiar, though. Like someone I've seen before, but who...?
"Anyway, that's the place you're looking for. But there's a big problem."
...Big problem?
"What kind of problem? The landscape suggests it's in the human realm now. Even with continental shifts over time, it shouldn't be hard to find."
I questioned her claim of a problem.
It was probably tens of billions of years ago.
Finding that spot in the present would be tough, and verifying it even tougher.
Still, with effort, it could be done.
Teleport coordinates don't change with time; memorizing them now would let me locate it later, even without teleporting.
"If it just deformed, that'd be fine—at least it still exists."
"What do you mean?"
"...That place no longer exists in the human realm or any of the other three worlds."
"What?"
That changed everything.
"When Cresia divided the world, she discarded that spot into the world's rifts. You can't reach it without entering those rifts directly."
"The world's rifts..."
World's rifts: gaps occasionally forming between realms like the demon realm, heavenly realm, human realm, and spirit realm.
Twilight Forest was a prime example.
A place even transcendents couldn't find—similar to this.
Impossible without knowing the location.
Or wandering the rifts endlessly, or using a connected portal.
As if such a portal existed.
In short, a place I couldn't reach.
"Hmm, wait. Actually, you might be able to find it."
"Really?"
But apparently not entirely.
I turned to Diavela.
Findable?
"Yes. After I died, Cresia created spaces to prepare for Delatros coming for her, but that place wasn't one of them."
She nodded.
"But you said it's in the world's rifts. Even entering them, finding it would be..."
-Rustle
"Take this."
"What's this?"
Next, she handed me something.
Nothing special—a necklace glowing red.
⚔ ITEM ⚔ 『Spatial Crystal』 ※ Unknown
※ A necklace made from a soulstone.
I had no idea what abilities it held.
Just that it was a pretty red necklace made from a soulstone.
"It's Cresia's necklace. I swiped it from her ages ago. With it, you should be able to find the place. Delatros, that idiot, even killed me trying to steal it back, but he failed. Heh..."
"...Didn't you just say you stole it?"
"It's fine, it's fine! Cresia knew but never punished me. Still, don't lose it. If it falls into her hands—"
-Slash!
"Don't worry, I won't lose it. But why'd you stop mid-sentence?"
I was examining the necklace when Diavela abruptly trailed off.
"Hey, why aren't you answering—"
I looked up, wondering why she'd gone quiet.
-Drip
Suddenly, red liquid trickled from the necklace.
"...?!"
Tracing it back, it flowed from the hand holding the necklace—her hand.
Red blood dripped to the floor, evaporating into the air before it hit.
'She's... gone?'
Yes.
She'd vanished, leaving only the wrist gripping the necklace.
Cleanly severed, as if space itself had sliced away everything but the wrist.
A bad feeling crept in.
'No way.'
I glanced down, just in case. Toward that forgotten homeland.
"Kuh!"
"..."
There, she stared back at me.
The god who created this world.
The Transcendent of Space, Cresia.
And her red eyes gleamed with unmistakable killing intent toward me.