Chapter 442: Heavenly Mandate (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 442: Heavenly Mandate (1)
Six hours before the communication.
Lucas, Head of the Odelia Special Intelligence Department, finally received the report he had been waiting for.
"Suspicious activity has been detected at Oskal Lake in southwestern Odelia. Despite consistent rainfall, the water level has dropped noticeably, and an unusual number of fish have been found dead for unknown reasons. Furthermore, the surrounding flora—usually renowned as one of Odelia's most stunning scenic landmarks—is withering away. Field reports suggest the phenomena closely resembles the famine that struck the Hector Kingdom."
It was undeniably suspicious.
Roman Dmitry had given Lucas a special order to locate the passage to the Demon Realm, but scouring the vast expanse of Odelia had proven to be a monumental struggle. A considerable amount of time had already passed. While his previous efforts had ended in failure, this new piece of intelligence triggered Lucas's instincts.
There is no effect without a cause. There is definitely something here.
He hurried his steps.
Mobilizing search personnel and mages for a field operation, he swiftly arrived at Oskal Lake.
"Begin the operation."
"Understood."
The search method was drastic.
Since they had no way of knowing how the passage to the Demon Realm might be hidden, they didn't bother sending in divers. Instead, mages were deployed to temporarily clear the water from specific sections of the lake. They weren't evaporating it; rather, they used magic to condense and push the water aside, securing enough space to inspect the lakebed before letting the water flow back.
If the passage to the Demon Realm is hidden in Oskal Lake, it makes perfect sense why we struggled so much to find it.
An enormous amount of manpower and budget had been poured into this mission. Honestly, given how much time had passed, they should have seen some results by now. The growing frustration of failing to find even a single trace of the Demon Realm had been weighing heavily on him. Even the priests' divine abilities had yielded nothing. Because of this, Lucas had recently begun to doubt his own competence. But if the passage was resting at the bottom of Oskal Lake, it was only natural they had missed it.
Oskal. A lake so deep and vast that its first discoverers had mistaken it for an ocean.
Lucas watched the operation with anxious eyes.
With the water level already so low that Oskal's former glory had faded, the mages' work didn't take long. A few hours later, the lakebed was finally revealed.
However, when the personnel who had been eagerly anticipating a result actually saw the bottom, their eyes widened. They gasped in horror.
"Ah..."
"My God..."
The lakebed was stained pitch-black.
The surging dark mana clearly indicated the passage to the Demon Realm they had been so desperately searching for. But the problem was its sheer scale.
The darkness had swallowed the entire floor of the lake.
Faced with a scale that defied common sense, even Lucas was left utterly speechless.
*
Immediately after the report, the leadership was summoned.
Representatives from various nations—not just Dmitry—gathered, and Lucas briefed them under everyone's watchful eyes.
"...After deploying priests to analyze the dark mana, we have confirmed that it is indeed a passage connected to the Demon Realm. The problem is its scale. If the passage is large enough to stain the entire bottom of Oskal Lake, the moment it fully connects, it will not only trigger an assimilation with the Demon Realm, but millions of demonic creatures could cross over into the Earthly World in a frighteningly short span of time."
"Millions?!"
"How could they have prepared such a force in secret?"
It was devastating news.
Seeing several figures unable to hide their distress, Lucas added, "It is highly likely that Alexander had been secretly securing this passage to the Demon Realm all along. When he died, his magical power weakened, causing the dark mana to leak out. That is how we were able to detect these anomalies and pinpoint its location. However, it is impossible to close the passage now. Since it has already completely anchored itself to the Earthly World, our only option is to prepare for the disaster that will pour through it."
That left them with a binary choice: cross over into the Demon Realm to eliminate the root of the evil, or wait for the enemies to pour through the passage.
A peaceful resolution did not exist.
Edwin Hector spoke up. "...If the passage to the Demon Realm opens, does this assimilation mean they will be able to fight at their full strength?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Your Majesty. The disaster has now become a reality. If the catastrophe descending upon this world is unavoidable, then, as you mentioned before, launching a preemptive strike on the Demon Realm is the only viable option. I have witnessed the people of Hector suffer under the influence of dark mana. If we fight the demonic creatures on human soil, even if we emerge victorious, we will not be able to truly rejoice in that victory."
He chose the former.
It was a bold decision. If dark mana flooded the Earthly World due to assimilation, it would undoubtedly trigger disasters like the famine that had plagued Hector. Edwin Hector feared such a scenario. Since war was inevitable anyway, he believed they had to protect the lands of humanity at all costs.
Several people nodded.
They agreed with Edwin Hector's perspective, but not everyone in the room was in favor. Although the conclusion of the previous meeting had leaned toward conquering the Demon Realm, Chris voiced his opposition now that the true scale of the passage had been revealed.
"I must disagree. The scale of this passage suggests that the enemy's forces may far exceed our expectations. The Demon Realm is uncharted territory. If we step into a domain familiar only to them, humanity might face an irreversible catastrophe. Even if we must endure sacrifices, we should fight on our own soil. If we prepare for the enemy's assault in advance, we can preserve our lives, even if the dark mana causes severe environmental damage."
"I understand your point," Edwin replied. "But what happened in Hector was a disaster too devastating to simply endure."
"Is there any other way?" Chris countered. "Sacrifice is inevitable in war. I know that crossing over to the Demon Realm and winning there would be the ideal outcome, but securing victory in the first place is what matters most."
A heated debate ensued.
Edwin Hector and Chris, along with their respective supporters, clashed over their opinions, fiercely arguing the validity of their stances. Neither side was unreasonable.
As a prince of Hector who had experienced a devastating famine firsthand, Edwin Hector naturally advocated for a direct offensive. On the other hand, Chris's argument to play it safe and repel the attack defensively was highly rational.
Ultimately, the choice lay with Roman Dmitry.
Everyone knew this debate would end the moment he made his decision.
*
Roman Dmitry spoke.
"I do not believe either opinion is wrong. However, we need to consider what is truly necessary for us."
All eyes turned to him. The people who had been fiercely debating fell silent, hanging on Roman Dmitry's every word.
"Since learning of the Demon Realm's existence, I have looked back on the history of the continent. The threat of the Demon Realm is a recurring event. Whenever its influence affected the Earthly World, a hero always emerged to resolve the crisis and leave their name in history. Let me ask you: what do you feel when you look at this repeating cycle?"
No one answered. Sensing Roman Dmitry's underlying point, they knew there was no need to reply.
"A repeating history means that humanity has never once solved the root of the problem. If we merely defend against the Demon Realm's attack on the Earthly World, do you believe humanity will be guaranteed absolute peace? No. Peace will only be temporary. As history proves, the threat of the Demon Realm will inevitably return."
This was not mere speculation; he was presenting history as evidence. The continent's chronicles, which periodically mentioned the Demon Realm, clearly pointed to the fundamental problem.
"To achieve absolute peace, we must pull out the problem by its roots. Of course, with a single defensive victory, we might secure peace for as long as we live. But in the vast flow of time beyond our comprehension, the threat of the Demon Realm will surely rise again. If so, when do you think is the right time to strike? Is it now, when the Salamander Continent is unified and I, Roman Dmitry, am here? Or do you believe some distant, uncertain future is the right time to solve this problem?"
He delivered a clear message. The existence of the Demon Realm was humanity's ultimate task.
If they had to resolve it eventually, there was no better time than the present. The Salamander Continent had been unified under the Dmitry Empire. Though no one knew how the continent's political landscape might shift in the future, right now, they could march forward toward a single, unified goal.
And above all, Roman Dmitry was here.
No further explanation was needed.
While repeating history always spoke of the birth of a new hero, there would absolutely never be another being capable of replacing Roman Dmitry. He was one of a kind. The reason figures like Edwin Hector spoke of conquering the Demon Realm without hesitation stemmed from their profound trust in the man standing before them.
Roman had posed the question. While showing his support for Edwin Hector's stance, he gave the others ample time to reflect.
Eventually, Chris spoke.
"My thinking was short-sighted. If we consider the distant future and not just the present, there is no better time to root out this fundamental problem than now, while Your Majesty rules the world. Please place me at the vanguard. I will exterminate the demons of the Demon Realm alongside you."
"Please place us at the vanguard!"
"Let us lead the charge!"
Their wills aligned. Those who had previously opposed the idea now bowed their heads in unison, fully supporting Roman Dmitry's decision.
It was decided.
The conquest of the Demon Realm—an unprecedented, truly revolutionary decision in the history of the continent.
*
Now that their direction was set, they had to discuss the specifics of how to execute the conquest.
"Allow me to present my findings."
A man dressed in priestly robes spoke. It was Neumann, a priest of the Luna Kingdom. Prior to the discovery of the passage, Neumann and the other priests of Luna had been assigned a single mission.
"To conquer the Demon Realm, we first need a way to cross over. Fortunately, the passage is large enough to accommodate the forces we have in mind. However, to perform a spatial transfer of this magnitude, we must temporarily tear open a rift in space using a massive quantity of mana stones and the prayers of our priests. The problem is time. If a spatial rift is maintained for too long, there is no telling what kind of chaos it might cause. Therefore, the window to open the gate must be extremely brief. We plan to open the gate only twice: once when we first enter the Demon Realm, and once when we return. This means sending reinforcements midway will be impossible. If the conquest fails, the moment we open the gate for the second time, the Earthly World will be forced to face the entities of the Demon Realm head-on."
It was a massive gamble.
If they failed, any surviving remnants of humanity would curse this choice. After all, humans would be the ones opening the dimensional rift that the denizens of the Demon Realm had been desperately trying to force open, essentially inviting the end of the world.
Yet, they accepted this perilous plan. Because Roman Dmitry was with them, they were willing to risk their lives despite knowing how reckless it was.
The man who made the impossible possible. A living legend.
Now was the perfect time. If even he could not achieve this, they believed humanity would eventually be swept away by catastrophe anyway.
Roman Dmitry spoke.
"The conquest of the Demon Realm will be executed in fifteen days. Since we do not know what plans the enemy is preparing, we cannot afford to waste time. I will deliver the preparation guidelines to each nation by the end of today. Once all preparations are complete, we will break this repeating cycle of evil once and for—"
It happened then.
Right as he was issuing his orders, Neumann suddenly began to tremble violently. As if having a seizure, his shaking grew increasingly intense.
The startled onlookers watched in shock, and Roman Dmitry paused his speech to observe the situation.
This was not normal. It was not a mere physical ailment; the priest was engulfed in an immense torrent of mana.
At that moment—
Flash!
Rumble!
A pillar of light shot down from the ceiling.
Neumann opened his eyes. They had turned completely white. When he spoke, it was in a genderless, echoing voice entirely different from his own.
"I, Neumann, shall now deliver the will of God."
God.
The people gasped in horror. This was undoubtedly a divine descent—a god possessing Neumann's body.
*
Neumann—no, the God—spoke.
"Each dimension is strictly separated. For you humans to cross dimensions is an act that violates the laws of this world. If you force this plan forward, humanity must pay a corresponding price."
Flash!
Brilliant light flared out.
While the others remained in the physical room, Roman Dmitry's consciousness alone was pulled into another dimension.
A space of pure white.
There stood a god. Though the entity had no discernible form, there was no doubt regarding its divine nature.
"Roman Dmitry. Or rather, the being known as Baek Joong-hyuk. You must not carry out what you believe to be right. The price humanity must pay is you. Although this world has found peace because of you, the moment you attempt to conquer the Demon Realm, humanity will lose your existence."
His ears rang. Amidst the overwhelming situation, the God revealed the stark truth.
"The moment you cross over into the Demon Realm, you, like Alexander, will become an existence that tears rifts in the dimensions."
Which meant... he would no longer be able to exist in this world.