The Birth of Death Territory

"I've roughly cleaned up the site."

The corpses of the Chinese hunters had been gathered to one side. On the other lay the weapons and items they had used. The haul outnumbered the hunters from the uninhabited island raid; the items alone ran well past a hundred.

"We'll just gather them for now."

I would ask the support team to sort everything later. Counting them one by one would be a nightmare.

"Great Lord. We must collect the ones we took down individually as well, if you please."

"I'll give you ten Death Warriors."

"Thank you kindly! Loyalty, loyalty!"

Zaug pressed a hand theatrically to his forehead in salute and strode out with exaggerated dignity.

"Collecting the dead is labor in itself."

"We'll stash them in the Death Blacksmith."

The Pit of Malice and the Death Space no longer had much free room. While escorting the two blacksmiths, we had stockpiled several high-quality monster corpses. The Death Blacksmith's total capacity was six tons; three of those tons were already filled with forge equipment and by-products. Whether we could haul every last item and corpse remained an open question.

"If we can't, we'll just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠call the support team."

Throwing anything away would be a waste. I intended to take every single item with us.

"My lord. What will you do with this land?"

"Leave it empty."

"It is a hard-won strategic point. A pity to abandon it."

"Without a dimensional barrier, the ground is worthless."

The Chinese hunters had met the same end as the Climbing King Ma Sok. Cut off from reinforcements and struck from both flanks, they had collapsed in short order. It had only been possible because I had prepared the ground beforehand with Trismegistus. Still, holding isolated ground for long was never easy.

"I'll need to inform the officer in charge at Hyunmoo Base."

"There's a chance the government will ask for the territory to be ceded, isn't there?"

"Managing two bases at once won't be simple."

Hyunmoo Base had a gate that linked back to our country. This basin outpost, by contrast, might stop monster regeneration thanks to its dimensional barrier, but it had no supply line whatsoever. Holding it would demand heavy investment.

"Hostile nations will want this foothold simply to keep your country in check."

"Ours has no need of it."

Smash the Gaia Former and the matter would end there. Whether Superhuman Bureau Headquarters, reeling from catastrophic losses, would even try to redevelop the basin was anyone's guess. Once I told the government, they would run periodic patrols. That would be enough.

"So this is the rumored barrier generator."

Megus seemed uninterested in politics; he was already examining the Gaia Former. A cylindrical structure braced by three legs. The powerful mana waves it emitted soaked into the earth and suppressed the Cross Gate's influence.

Thanks to Golden Rule and Origin of Magic, I could glimpse the operating principle—though only in broad strokes, not the expert details.

"It isn't pure alchemy."

Excitement rang plain in Megus's thoughts.

"What you called science—the technology your world built on its own."

"Close enough."

Compressing all of science into the single word "technology" felt a little crude, but I lacked a better explanation, so I let it stand.

"A new vision that blends scientific technology with alchemy. That is why analysis is no simple matter."

"You're having the time of your life."

"A technique this old man never saw in life—how could I not rejoice!"

The light in Megus's eyes burned denser still.

"Master. What say you we take this machine with us!"

"No."

"Why not!!"

"Look at it. It clearly weighs more than six tons."

The cylindrical machine was the size of a three-story house. Even carved from stone it would have been heavy; made of metal, it had to run to dozens of tons at least.

"Then leave it here and study it in place?"

"China won't sit quietly and watch."

To eliminate future trouble, the dimensional-barrier generator had to be destroyed. Megus dropped to his knees and planted both palms on the ground.

"Nooooo!"

The posture reeked of pure despair. Honestly. Maybe I should ask permission for him to tour the Gaia Former at Hyunmoo Base instead. Being the base's most critical security facility, approval would not come easily.

I stepped past the crushed Megus and approached the Gaia Former. A structure worth more than a trillion won. Smashing it felt wasteful, but there was no choice. It was simply too massive to haul away; I would have to break it into pieces—

Huh?

What?

Wiiiiing!

The Gaia Former resonated with my mana wavelength.

"What is this even saying."

I reread the system alerts several times. They were clearly written in plain language, yet somehow refused to make sense.

"Ah. So that's how it is."

"Indeed. Now I understand."

Ingrid and Megus both hummed and nodded as if everything were obvious.

"Don't you think a little explanation is in order?"

"The Death Blacksmith is a pocket dimension bound to you, Master."

"That much I know."

"And this machine possesses the function of interfering with dimensional structure."

"Transfer ownership to Master and the pocket dimension can be expanded."

Hmm. The explanation only bred more questions.

"So basically, transplanting it is good."

"As expected of Master! You've grasped it perfectly!"

Bullshit. I understood nothing.

Still, better this way. Using it to upgrade the Death Blacksmith beat smashing the thing to scrap.

"It will bring Master no harm."

"Fine. I'll trust you."

The structure that had filled the center of the outpost vanished in an instant. Amazing, even with the system's help. A metal mass weighing dozens of tons at the least evaporated between one blink and the next.

In its place, a soft click of meshing gears sounded by my ear.

Swallowing a single machine had ballooned both capacity and floor space.

"Whoa..."

My jaw hung open. At this rate, couldn't we scoop up every Chinese hunter corpse and piece of gear?

Even my exclamations dried up. It had said "first." So one expansion was not the end of it?

"Ahem. Ahem."

Megus kept clearing his throat.

"Something stuck in your throat?"

"Could you send this old man back into the Death Blacksmith?"

The blue light in his eyes flared fiercely.

"Old man. Finish your duties first."

Isra stretched out a hand.

Duties?

"Would it not be best to conceal the fall of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this outpost as long as possible?"

"Ah. Right."

"I intend to leak false intelligence using the enemy's own equipment."

Whoa. That was even possible?

"This old man is a grand alchemist. Such a task is trivial."

I knew the old man was impressive, but he had work to do and wanted to run off for a hobby?

"The Death Blacksmith comes later."

"Aaaargh! No! Why must you do this!!"

"Old man. Fulfill your duty as a retainer."

"Gyaaaaah!"

Without Isra's reminder I would have missed it. Whew. From an angle Megus could not see, I flashed Isra a solid thumbs-up only she would notice.

"Haha. Advising my lord and speaking hard truths is the First Sword's foremost duty."

"Damn chivalry!! This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠old man will remember this."

"You wish to learn the posture of loyalty toward our lord? Most commendable."

"Kiiiii!"

Megus's whole body trembled. He looked rather happy about it, actually.

The mana circuits laid through the communication gear fell into Megus's grasp. The ultimate of alchemy. Creating something from nothing was impossible, yet interfering with already-configured equipment and rewriting it as desired was entirely within reach. A truly terrifying ability. In this age of magic-science that had begun with the Great Cataclysm, Megus's versatility might as well be infinite—more than enough to offset the fact that his direct combat power was zero.

"I've finished gathering all the corpses, if you please."

"Good work."

"But, Great Lord..."

Zaug rolled his eyes left and right.

"You. Did you cause another incident?"

"Please. I'm not the sort who causes incidents like a certain lord."

"And which lord might that be?"

Killing intent edged Isra's voice.

"Eep. I know nothing of the sort."

"Hmmm..."

"Anyway, Great Lord. I found something interesting I missed earlier."

Something interesting, was it.

"This isn't about the outpost itself, is it?"

"Correct, if you please."

His voice quivered with excitement. What had he found to sound like that?

"Speak."

"There appears to be an ancient ruin in the vicinity."

After Megus sent the false signal through the relay, we followed Zaug's lead toward the ancient ruin. Isra wore a distinctly sulky expression.

"Thief."

"Why do you say that, my lady?"

"You failed to discover it during a full week of searching."

"That I did."

"Is there no chance it is a trap?"

Oh. Sharp.

"Your humble servant only found it after the mana wavelength vanished, if you please."

He meant the dimensional barrier.

"There is logic to it. If the mechanisms of an ancient ruin and a dimensional barrier happened to mesh, such a thing could occur."

"Quite the knowledgeable junior, aren't you."

"Do not place this old man in the same category as a thief."

"Trying to slip away alone, are we?"

Listening to my retainers chatter, we soon reached the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠destination. Even with the dimensional barrier nullified, concealment magic circles still operated along the mountain folds, so we met no monsters.

"Here it is!"

Zaug flung both arms wide and announced it proudly. A tunnel I had not noticed before now sat in the cliff face.

"A dungeon-style construction, it seems."

"I have heard it is a workshop-building method favored by witches. Never before have I seen one that still retains its function."

Both retainers showed open interest. Isra, however, stared fixedly at the entrance with a blank face.

"Sir. What are you thinking so hard about?"

Ingrid glanced over as well and let out a soft snort of laughter.

"Iron skull. Scared?"

Even a light taunt drew no reply. The air grew awkward. From that expressionless face I could not guess what thoughts moved behind it. After a long silence, Isra finally parted her lips.

"My lord. I have something to say."

"What is it? You're making me nervous."

"The architectural style of that ancient ruin seems familiar to my eyes."

A beat late, the meaning of her words struck me.

"You mean the world where you were born in your previous life?"

"Correct. It is a style I beheld in my own world."