Chapter 231: Ruin (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 231: Ruin (1)
Alon stared blankly ahead.
The world he was looking at remained unchanged.
An ashen sky where nothing but dust was visible.
The earth cracked and crumbled into powder with every step, as if to declare that the very birth of new life was impossible here.
Alon gazed upon a landscape that suited the words 'a ruined world' better than anything else.
"Whew—"
Forcing himself to suppress the rising confusion, he regained his composure and looked around to assess the current situation.
"Where on earth is this...?"
Line frowned as she looked around, seemingly unable to comprehend the sight. She reached down toward the ground.
Watching the soil in her hand scatter like ash, Alon continued his train of thought.
Is this the place where we were attacked by the Hungry Ghost just a moment ago?
Alon immediately shook his head.
Clearly, it was not.
The place where he had encountered the Hungry Ghost was in the middle of a sun-drenched desert, not this ruined land where everything blew away into nothingness with a single step.
Then, had the world changed like this in the brief time Alon, Line, and Penia had entered the Strange Gate to deal with the Hungry Ghost?
That, too, was an impossible story.
Unless a comet the size of Earth had struck the continent of Psychedelia or some other cataclysmic event had occurred in that instant.
It was practically correct to assume the probability of a world falling into ruin so quickly was zero.
And as far as Alon knew, nothing like this had ever happened in Psychedelia.
"Whew—"
After taking a deep breath, Alon calmly surveyed his surroundings.
First of all, it’s a bit different from the Mental World I saw when I met Kailas.
When he first saw this landscape, it was so similar to the scenery of the Mental World that he wondered if they were there. However, looking closer, the feeling was slightly different.
Though the fundamental essence seems similar.
Alon turned his head.
Penia was making "aua-aua" sounds as if she were lagging, and Line’s face was contorted with distress.
"Line."
"Yes, Godfather."
"Do you happen to know what’s going on?"
"..."
At Alon's question, Line slowly shook her head.
"...I'm sorry, Godfather. This kind of landscape isn't exactly in the Library. Likewise, I don't think there's any way to know about this phenomenon right now."
Hearing her somber voice, Alon realized without difficulty that knowledge regarding this Strange Gate phenomenon was likely locked away in the Forbidden Zone.
"It can't be helped. Don't worry too much about it."
"Yes..."
Alon then looked at Penia.
Penia was clutching her head, groaning as if her brain were spinning in circles. Her brow was deeply furrowed, as if she were lost in intense thought.
"...Do you have any idea what happened?"
At Alon's question, Penia let out a groan.
"The problem isn't that I don't have any ideas; it's that I have too many..."
"...Too many?"
"Yes... Haa—"
Muttering, "Wait a second, let me organize my thoughts," Penia fell into contemplation for a while.
Soon, as if she had finished sorting it out, she spoke.
"First, to give you the conclusion, this isn't the desert we were in."
"I expected as much, but then where is this?"
"There are quite a few theories about that."
Penia paused for a moment before beginning her explanation.
"As you know, Marquis, we collapsed the space-time of the Strange Gate to blast the Hungry Ghost beyond it, right?"
"Right."
"And we did that using your magic."
"Yes."
"...My guess is that a problem occurred during that process. It was all well and good to collapse space-time and push the Hungry Ghost in, but—"
"We, who were inside the Strange Gate, were also affected?"
Penia nodded.
"As of now, there's no more certain guess than that. However, while it's certain we were affected, it's hard to deduce exactly how that influence manifested for us."
"That's why you said you had many ideas."
"Yes. First of all, because space-time was affected."
"If what you're saying is true, could we be in an entirely different dimension right now?"
Penia groaned, unable to answer easily. Then, she cautiously shook her head.
"...No, probably not. If it were the Hungry Ghost, whose body would have already been torn into thousands of pieces, maybe, but..."
"Then?"
"If we're considering possibilities, we might have dropped into a different timeline. But even that is an incredibly slim possibility."
Penia cleared her throat and explained further.
"According to the Magic Tower's research results, a Strange Gate is ultimately a space created when space-time is distorted due to a specific problem. In other words, even if it's heterogeneous, it's an 'already created' space."
"...And?"
"If the space-time were unstable, like when you broke it using magic, it might be different, but since it's a space that has already been formed, the probability of falling into a different timeline is slim."
Penia added that this was, of course, assuming the Magic Tower's research was correct.
"...Then ultimately, you're saying there's a high probability that this is just a different location."
"Right. Though it wasn't what we intended, the Strange Gate acted as a sort of passage—hm?"
While talking to Alon, she seemed to recall something and cautiously stroked her chin.
"Strange Gate, acting as a passage... If I research this well, could I study teleportation...? If that happens, the achievement alone is one thing, but the money would be at least—"
She muttered to herself, her eyes suddenly widening.
"...Then, hehe, I'll become the pioneer of space magic that even Azir couldn't become—"
She began to let out a sinister laugh, seemingly lost in a very happy fantasy.
And then.
"Marquis! First, let's quickly find out where this is."
She urged Alon, suddenly full of motivation.
"...Can we not go back through that Strange Gate—?"
Alon, who was about to move, let out a low exclamation in spite of himself.
The Strange Gate, which had been emitting a vivid light until just a moment ago, had vanished.
"It's gone."
"It was only temporarily twisted by magic, after all."
"Does that mean if we had stayed inside, we would have returned to where we were?"
"Not necessarily. Once it's been distorted, there's a high probability it became anomalous. Even if we had stayed inside, nothing good would have happened."
Penia further explained that in the worst-case scenario, the anomalous Strange Gate itself could have been sucked into space-time, leaving them in a state similar to the Hungry Ghost.
"...In the end, the point is that we have to investigate."
"Exactly."
"Then, let's start moving for now."
Leaving the vanished Strange Gate behind, Alon stepped forward into the ruined world.
* * *
Without knowing where they were, Alon had set his course south and walked for a full day.
He thought as he looked at the continuous scenery.
Where on earth is this?
The numerous theories that had scrambled through Alon's head for the past day had been discarded.
No matter how much he searched his memory, Alon had never seen a place with this kind of scenery while playing the game.
Therefore, after a full day of agonizing, Alon finally reached the most rational conclusion from his perspective.
And that was.
That this place was not the Eastern Continent where the United Kingdoms were located, but rather the Empire's side.
The Empire.
A place one could not go in the game Psychedelia that Alon played.
And the setting for the game Calypsophobia, made by the same developer.
As far as Alon knew, Calypsophobia had a much bleaker atmosphere than Psychedelia, with many more gore-filled or cruel narratives and developments.
Of course, since he had been so engrossed in Psychedelia, he hadn't played it himself, but he possessed at least that much information.
...If the atmosphere is several times darker than Psychedelia, it wouldn't be strange for a place like this to exist.
With those thoughts, Alon began to form a plan.
If this really is the Empire, I might be able to pick up some artifacts. Even if I didn't play the game, I know where the good artifacts are.
In the Psychedelia community, artifacts from Calypsophobia were often posted under titles like "Items that would be OP if obtained in Psychedelia."
Thanks to that, he roughly knew the locations of artifacts useful for mages.
Obtaining them would certainly be a help.
Just as Alon was lost in thought.
"Marquis! Look over there!"
Penia shouted loudly.
"...That's—"
"It's smoke. There must be a house!"
Following her voice, Alon looked ahead and confirmed the rising smoke, just as she said.
"Let's go see."
"Yes, Godfather."
Without hesitation, Alon moved toward the place Penia pointed out, with Line following.
Eventually.
Alon reached the edge of a cliff where he could look down at the source of the smoke—
"..."
The moment he looked down, he had no choice but to fall silent.
It wasn't just Alon.
"...Huh?"
Penia, who had been happily dragging Alon along, was the same.
"..."
And Line, who had walked beside him and looked down, was no different.
Everyone was forced into silence.
Because there.
"...What is that?"
A one-sided slaughter was taking place.
Countless demi-humans, their arms bound, were fleeing desperately.
And humans—no, things wearing the masks of humans—were brutally massacring them as if they were toys.
"..."
The scene reflected in Alon's eyes.
* * *
The Colony, where the hot sun usually shone, was filled with dark clouds, unlike its usual self.
The reason was the rainy season, which visited the Colony only once a year.
Despite the overcast sky.
"♬♪-♩"
Seolrang, with her back to that sky, didn't care at all and was wagging her tail gently.
The one who had lifted her spirits was none other than Alon.
A few weeks ago, she had heard the news that Alon had departed from the desert.
In other words, Alon would be arriving at the Colony in just a little while longer.
Because of this, Seolrang had been in a very good mood lately.
What should I do when Mentor arrives—?
Her tail wagged even more vigorously.
Usually, Seolrang didn't particularly enjoy the act of thinking with her head, but this time was different.
Hmm—when Mentor comes, should we go to that restaurant in the East this time? We haven't been able to go together because of various things, but I'm sure Mentor will like it.
Just the thought of it caused the corners of Seolrang's mouth to slowly curve upward.
After that, should we stop by the ruins in the West for a bit? Even if there's nothing much to observe there, they say the scenery is beautiful at night when it overlaps with the Milky Way—Mentor will definitely love it, right?
Her tail, which usually hung limp and motionless, was now swaying as if fluttering in a spring breeze.
Right, we should go on a trip too. Where should we go? Since I want to stay with Mentor for as long as possible, should we travel to the border? Or to a place I've always wanted to go? Hmm—where would be good—?
Just thinking of Alon made her ears perk up toward the sky.
Even though it was gradually getting darker, making the inside of the office feel gloomy and dim as if it were night.
In contrast, Seolrang's lips curled up more and more, showing a bright smile.
While she was humming to herself, lost in happy fantasies.
Seolrang suddenly heard the sound of the door and easily guessed who it was.
"Li—me?"
"Seolrang-nim..."
"Hmm? What is it—?"
Seolrang drawled lazily.
However.
"...I have something to tell you."
At Lime's voice, which was uncharacteristically stiff.
Snap—
Seolrang stopped her humming and finally turned around.
She soon saw Lime's face.
A serious face, heavily clouded with shadow.
"...What's wrong?"
Seolrang asked.
But Lime only moved her lips, unable to answer easily.
"What's. Wrong?"
Seolrang asked once more.
"Marquis Palatio..."
Lime finally opened her lips—
"Has passed away, it is said."
She said, then bowed her head.
Soon.
Drip—patter—patter—
Amidst the sound of raindrops that had begun to fall heavily.
"What...?"
Seolrang's voice escaped.
A precarious voice, as if it might break at any moment.