Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: The Final Plan
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Claire and Yulia immediately went to Anton, who was guarding the hole, and pressed him for answers.
Anton was at a loss.
“That’s not the case. Safety has already been secured. Please don’t worry too much and just wait.”
If too many people went in, it could create dangers that weren’t there before, so Anton calmly tried to reassure them.
Anton was just as flustered. Eonia was letting out screams of that magnitude.
Perhaps because the hole had been opened, he was hearing even more intense hallucinations than the last time he had visited this place.
Unable to stand it any longer, Olaf stepped in to mediate.
“Mr. Anton, if it’s that safe, wouldn’t it be okay to let a few people in? Everyone will calm down once we confirm Als is safe.”
“Hmm….”
“Bisceta is here too, isn’t she? If she came, it must really not be dangerous. We just need to verify that.”
Anton looked to Yoris, the one in charge. Yoris ambiguously shook his head.
“We’ve secured immediate safety, but I don’t want to cause any further issues just in case. Sir Wade said he’d come out before noon, so how about we wait?”
It was a perfectly reasonable argument, so they calmed down for the moment.
Just then, soldiers from the search party came up for lunch.
Olaf’s eyes lit up as he asked them about the stability.
The soldiers glanced at Yoris before speaking.
“The ground and ceiling are both solid. No toxic substances either. As long as we don’t recklessly touch anything, it should be fine.”
“Did you hear that? They say it’s okay!”
Yoris didn’t budge. For him, who followed protocol to the letter, Wade’s orders came first.
“Now that we know it’s that safe, isn’t it fine?”
It’s safe, so let us in. It’s safe, so wait patiently.
Both sides had valid points.
If Eonia hadn’t been screaming and thrashing about, Olaf would have gone along with it.
‘No choice. This Yoris guy is resolute!’
Olaf gave up and shook his head, but then—
“Hmm, in that case, what if I give the order? Would you still refuse?”
“Princess Melodiana!? We heard you were coming, but….”
“Heh.”
Melodiana smiled at Estelle as if to say leave it to her, then turned to Yoris.
“I’m interested in elven relics too. If it’s that safe, it should be fine for me to go in as well.”
“T-That is….”
Melodiana was royalty. Her status far outranked Als, who was merely a guest.
Only then did Anton sigh and chime in.
“Yoris, it should be okay.”
“…Understood. Then please, only a limited number enter.”
And so, the selected group consisted of his friend Melodiana, Estelle, and Iliya as their escort.
The three began descending into the hole with the officers’ assistance.
The book left behind by the elves.
I was listening intently to what Bisceta was reading aloud.
—We were disappointed in this world. In the end, complete coexistence with humans, as proclaimed by the Lord God, proved impossible. As their numbers grew, humans became arrogant and selfish. As if they thought themselves the only intelligent beings, they rejected other races. We tried to hold onto hope through exchanges with the unified nation of Pensilon, but they attempted to kidnap us elves instead. We decided to abandon all hope for this world.
Abandon hope for this world?
Coexistence with humans as proclaimed by the Lord God?
There were several keywords that caught my attention.
—Some elders reflected that our own attitude might have been the problem. That we had locked ourselves in the birdcage of the Kurabel Holy Kingdom from the start, with no intention of coexisting with humans. It wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t entirely right either. The pureblood elves of the Florand tribe, who had advocated active coexistence with humans and split off independently, came begging for help. Saying they were fed up. We decided to enact our final plan.
The final plan. Those words echoed in my ears.
—The power of the Division Barrier established by the Lord God was absolute. Within this barrier, pure mana was extremely weakened. Even simple magic was difficult, and accumulating mana was nearly impossible. After centuries of research, we finally realized one thing. The deeper underground we went, the weaker the Division Barrier’s influence became. So we built this training ground deep underground and began cultivating mana there.
Bisceta, who was reading this part, tilted her head.
“The Division Barrier….”
“So this place was a training ground.”
The elves had trained their magic here. For the final plan they spoke of.
‘The final plan…?’
As I pondered that keyword, there was a commotion from behind.
“Melodiana!? Why are you….”
Estelle and Master Iliya were there too. Yoris, who was guiding them, let out a deep sigh and explained the situation.
“Oh dear, Eonia…. Got it. Tell them I’m safe.”
“Yes.”
Yoris headed back up to the surface.
I told the three not to leave the safe zone, then returned to Bisceta.
The three began looking around on their own.
*
*
*
The atmosphere on the surface was tense.
Because Eonia’s screams kept growing louder.
She thrashed about as if refusing to let something take over her body.
Unable to bear it, Lisitea tried to take her and leave the area. It helped that Yoris had just confirmed Als’s safety.
But then—
Drip! The voice Eonia had been hearing suddenly cut off.
“Ah…!?”
Eonia’s mind cleared, but she felt even greater unease instead.
She thought that if the voice wasn’t targeting her anymore, it had switched to someone else.
“Sir Als!”
Eonia jumped into the hole. Ymir sensed the danger and followed right behind.
Yoris couldn’t do anything as the two plunged in so quickly.
The group fell into chaos at the sight.
Gaspar moved first. When Ymir went in, he followed.
“Damn it, I don’t know! I’m going in too!”
Olaf followed him, and the rest of the group headed toward the underground ruins.
Sophia, curious about the ruins herself, slipped in with Gunter.
The only ones left on the surface were Lutger and Anton.
Lutger judged that a few needed to stay above ground, and Anton agreed.
*
*
*
The book seemed like a sort of log, as it wasn’t very long.
Bisceta and I had already reached the latter half.
—The time had finally come. We were on the verge of executing the final plan. We didn’t know how the Division Barrier’s power would react, so failure was certainly possible. I’m not sure if this method was truly right. But we believed it was the only way. We carried out the plan the moment the Florand tribe elves arrived. But they made a request. In case any other kin remaining on the continent came, they asked us to leave a message here.
Kin meant other elves, or those who carried elven blood.
It made me think of Eonia.
‘No way, the voices she heard were…?’
Bisceta seemed to think the same, as she read the next part quickly.
—We accepted their request and decided to cast a spell with compulsion. Those who carry elven blood, follow our voices. This place is where mana naturally recovers through the ley lines. In time, you too will be able to follow us. I shall now reveal that spell.
That was when it happened.
“Sir Als!”
It was Eonia. Trailing behind her like sausages on a string were the others.
“What…. Why is everyone here!?”
“Young master, are you alright!”
“You too, Ymir! I told you I’m fine! You guys are such worrywarts.”
Just then, Bisceta frowned and turned to Lisitea.
“Lisitea, you said you were from the Florand tribe, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Are you mixed with elven blood?”
Lisitea shook her head.
“I’ve never heard anything like that from my parents.”
Bisceta breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Hold on.’
Someone mixed with elven blood? That brought another person to mind.
The girl who had suffered from a cursed disease due to her strongly manifested elven blood.
Sure enough, Master Iliya shouted.
“Als! Something’s wrong! Estelle suddenly…!”
Estelle was trembling violently. Unlike Eonia, she wasn’t strong enough to resist the voice’s power.
She began repeating the voice echoing in her head verbatim.
“Yukrasia… Pelriptin…!”
It sounded like some kind of incantation.
As she muttered the spell, the surroundings hummed and began to glow. At the same time, strange patterns started forming in what I had thought was an empty central space.
‘This is… a magic circle!?’
I shouted immediately.
“Everyone, get out of here now!”
But it was too late.
Our feet felt as heavy as lead, as if caught by the magic circle.
“Kyaaah!”
“What is this!”
It was pandemonium.
Hearing the commotion, Anton rushed down from outside. He had practically leaped down without using the stairs, at tremendous speed.
“What in the world…!?”
Anton tried to reach me, but some barrier formed by the spell prevented him from approaching.
“Haat!”
He drew his weapon and struck the barrier with a clang! But it was no use.
I made the best judgment call.
“Everyone, grab the hand of the nearest person! Hug if you have to!”
Following my instructions, those nearby struggled to move their feet and clasped hands.
Ymir and Eo tried to reach me, but the distance was too great.
“Eo! Take care of Bisceta! Ymir, you too….”
But there was no one suitable near Ymir. Same for me. Ymir and I reached out to each other, but we were too far.
Gaspar gritted his teeth and tried to get to Ymir, but with a zap! he vanished alone.
One by one, they disappeared in flashes of light.
I wanted to memorize who went where, but there was something more important.
Lutger had arrived too, staring with wide eyes.
I said to the two of them.
“We’ll definitely come back. Take care of things until then. Anton, Lutger…!”
And with a zap! my vision went white.
*
*
*
It felt like riding an amusement park ride.
My body floated, my stomach churned. All I could see was a kaleidoscope of colors.
Finally, the colors faded.
Thud! I landed on the ground.
“Heave! Heave! Heave!”
I fought back the nausea and looked around.
Trees and a blue sky. No signs of my companions.
‘Where… is this?’
My first thought was the Western peoples’ territory.
The trees around me were species I’d never seen before. The birdsong was unfamiliar too.
I pieced together the fragments so far to interpret the situation.
—The ominous background of Eonia, a conditionally recruitable character.
—The New Continent mentioned in the final volume of the magic research log.
—The existence at the world’s end from the research log and the Division Barrier from the elves’ log.
—The elves’ sudden disappearance.
—The abrupt spatial transfer.
There was only one conclusion. In game terms, this was it.
I had entered the DLC area.
Eonia had been the key to that DLC.
“How could this….”
I hadn’t completely failed to anticipate this situation. That’s why I had warned everyone. But I never dreamed Estelle would be the trigger.
The timing was just rotten.
For now, I decided to deal with the immediate situation.
I was worried about the others, but I had to take care of myself first.
Fortunately, I had my weapons. A sword at my left waist, and I must have subconsciously grabbed the spear too.
‘First, I need to figure out where this is.’
I wasn’t curious about the nation. More broadly—whether this was the same planet, the same timeline.
If mere instants for me meant centuries had passed in the original world, that would be trouble.
To check, I set up camp and waited for nightfall.
Once night deepened, I observed the stars.
“Phew!”
I let out a sigh of relief.
I had memorized constellations to navigate.
Observing them, this seemed to be the same planet.
‘It could even be the same continent.’
It might really be the Western peoples’ domain.
If so, return was possible.
As I spun such hopeful thoughts, that presence revealed itself.
A chill ran down my spine, making me shudder.
Killing intent that raised goosebumps.
At first, I thought it was human. Beasts’ killing intent had a distinct feral quality, easy to distinguish.
But this killing intent was so dense and pure.
That’s why I thought human.
“Grrr…!”
“Ah…!?”
No words came out.
A beast the size of a car. No, could I even call it a beast?
I’d never seen such a creature.
A lion-like head on an elephant-like body. A monstrous thing. Its teeth reeked of foul blood.
“Monster…?”
That term fit.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on!”
I drew my sword and spear to face its hostility.
“Groooar!”
It roared and charged at me.