Chapter 31. Why the Undead Appeared on Earth.
Chapter 31. Why the Undead Appeared on Earth.
"Ah, Mister!!! Sihu's coming with that skeleton...!"
"Eek! Unnie, do you think Oppa got possessed or something?"
"Have you two only known Sihu for a day or two? If that guy's been beaten, then everything's already over anyway."
As the distance between me and my people shrank, they gripped their weapons so tightly their knuckles went white, and the soldiers rested their fingers on their triggers.
"The situation is over. Everyone, lower your weapons."
They all stared at the lich flying along behind me, looking at me as if they needed an explanation for what was going on.
'How should I explain this...? Will this guy be able to speak Earth languages...?'
While I was still thinking, the lich's bones creaked and he used mana to project a voice.
"C-Can you hear me? Humans."
'What? What I'm hearing is Korean, but it doesn't feel like he's using translation magic...'
"Uh, Unnie... that skeleton is speaking Korean!!"
"A pleasure. My name is 'Ramorcas Therion'. What are the names of those who follow the 'Disaster'?"
Hearing incredibly fluent(?) Korean, my whole party was dumbfounded.
"Ahem, I was told this continent used this language. Was my information incorrect?"
I sighed and briefly introduced the people I lived with. I told him that Earth had no mana or monsters, so they were simply shocked to encounter a being like him who could speak a human language for the first time.
"Gahahahaha!!! To think I'd get to see the 'Disaster' crew in another world."
And when the lich declared he would be following me, my companions urgently tried to stop me, but the lich pulled a small orb out of his own subspace and handed it to me.
"I know exactly what you're all worried about. So then, how about I entrust the core of my Origin to the 'Disaster' here? Wouldn't that settle things?"
"Why are you leaving this with me? I could just smash this on a whim."
"No, if you were of a mind to do that, I would have been dead long ago. And isn't my Origin in the hands of the 'Disaster' the safest place in any world? Hahaha!!!"
It was then that Jia, who had been listening to our conversation, hesitated and spoke up.
"Mister... Skeleton? If you look like that, other people are going to be terrified..."
"Keuheuheu... if you are the 'Disaster's people, feel free to call me 'Terion'. And if my outer appearance is the problem, don't worry. For a wraith like me, bodily transformation is a simple matter."
Immediately after, his body shrank down, transforming into a small skeleton-shaped doll draped in a tiny robe.
"Will this do?"
Jia still looked a little uncertain, but she nodded.
* * * * * * * *
The combat team members returned to the ward office and knocked six times as previously arranged before rejoining the group.
Then I informed them the threat was over, and I gathered separately the people who knew about Titan. I told them where Terion came from and what kind of being he was.
"Oh my, so you're saying this gentleman came from the same Titan as Sihu?"
"Ho ho, ma'am. We're simply from the same place, in a manner of speaking."
'He looks like a toy doll a kid would play with, so hearing him talk like that is really hard to get used to...'
"Excuse me... Terion-nim, I have something I'd like to ask."
Perhaps because he already knew Terion's true nature, Seo Ji-hoon asked very politely.
"Why... why was it exactly that you killed those humans...?"
"What are you talking about? Though I may have fallen, I was once a king of a nation. I do not recklessly kill the people of other countries."
He said that the faintly diffused evil energy made him think this was a dimension familiar to the dead. So he had ordered the intelligent zombies to bring the humans to him 'politely.' And although he called it familiar, evil energy—that negative aura—is harmful to humans, so it was essentially a plan to kill two birds with one stone: recovering himself and removing the evil energy.
"In human terms, I believe it's called a library? They will be resting safely in the basement of that place."
"But... the building there...!"
"Do not worry. I, too, am one who once reached the extremes of the Demonic Arts. Naturally, I left a protective barrier there for their safety."
"Then what were you trying to do by gathering the zombies?"
"I did not gather them. As they are dead, it was a natural phenomenon—they were drawn to the evil energy."
"If that's the case, is it possible for you to deal with the zombies on Earth?"
"Impossible."
Terion stated flatly.
"I heard this dimension had no mana. I was told it was a dimension where highly advanced technology developed. If the dead were created by technology, there should be no mana. Yet it exists."
He continued explaining without pause. Typically, undead are created by external curses or magic; rarely, strong individuals die with such deep grudges that they manifest spontaneously.
"Naturally, since they died in agony, bitten and torn apart so brutally, those grudges would...!"
"In that case, what grudge did the very first humans to become undead hold?"
"Well, they too must have been murdered or wrongfully..."
"All of them, and not just one or two? I heard information travels very fast in this dimension. Have you ever heard news that many people were murdered or wrongfully killed?"
"..."
"To be honest, I felt many strange things when I arrived in this dimension. Why the mana is so faint and why most of it is composed of evil energy. And this is merely my speculation, but..."
And he kept explaining his thoughts. He said that in humans who couldn't accept mana, it probably ran rampant inside their bodies until the energy encroached on their brains—hence the extreme violence. And the Awakened were those who could accept mana better and therefore contain it within their bodies.
"Th-then what about the ordinary people who aren't Awakened but are still fine...!"
"To give you an analogy, the ones who turned into undead had an allergic reaction to mana—they reacted more sensitively than ordinary people. Does that help you understand?"
"Wait, Terion. When I was on Titan, nothing like this ever happened."
"To be precise, there were always those who fell ill from mana rampages. But unlike here, that world is naturally accustomed to mana, so it's easily treatable."
In the past, there were diseases that spread widely and killed countless people. Smallpox, the Black Death, scurvy—diseases that once terrorized humanity are now perfectly curable thanks to the passage of time and medical advances. So, if we apply that same logic to mana, now that mana has only just appeared...
"I predict it is because mana has only recently spread to this dimension, so humans have not had the time to develop 'immunity' and adapt."
"Of course, the reason for the undead appearing on Earth is purely my own speculation, so don't dwell on it too much."
"Then what in the world is the System?"
"The System? What do you mean by that?"
At that, Seo Ji-hoon began explaining the System, the phenomenon currently occurring on Earth.
"Ridiculous. It just makes humans stronger so easily, without training or anything? I've never even heard of such a convenient thing."
"In that case... there's one last thing I truly want to ask."
Without a word, Terion stared at Seo Ji-hoon.
"Just how... why in the world did something like mana appear on this Earth?"
As if it was a little difficult to discuss, or perhaps he was checking if it was all right to speak, he kept glancing at me as he talked.
"Again, this is truly and purely my speculation, but I believe it may be an event caused when you, 'Disaster', crossed over to Titan."
"Th-that's a lie...! You're saying it's because of you?!"
"Rather, it might be a stroke of luck. I once read many books to delve into the Demonic Arts, and as far as I knew, there wasn't a single dimension without mana. For mana to take root... do you call it 'terraforming' in your language?"
"In that case, truly all life could have died. The star would return to its primordial state, and only after the mana settled stably would it grow again. On the other hand, because the 'Disaster' crossed over and injected mana little by little through a dimensional rift, humans could still survive."
'This all happened because I crossed over? Then what was the reason I went to Titan in the first place?'
"In short, none of this is your fault. If an earthquake or a tsunami happens, is it someone's fault? It's simply an accident."
Perhaps because he had lived for a very long time, he could sense my emotions shaking and was trying to calm me down. He's a surprisingly kind skeleton.
"And thanks to the rift, mana is being supplied stably, so the dimension won't revert to its primordial state."
'In any case, this whole situation was destined to happen eventually.'
"And this isn't about the undead, but... like me, there's a possibility that others have already crossed over or will cross over."
"..."
"To be precise, they too will be swept up in the rift and cross over into this place. It's fine if they're a race friendly to you, but if they're hostile..."
The Mage Tower, the Martial God faction, and a considerable number of the Demonkin and the Seraphkin are entities hostile to me. Not all of them, but I completely crushed their vested interests, so they don't hold any good feelings toward me.
"Of course, it won't be a common occurrence. And even if they do cross over, in my case, I was asleep from the shock and only recently awakened. So they likely won't be in perfect condition either."
'So zombies are no longer the only problem... There's a chance that beings could cross over because of dimensional rifts...'
"Terion, how much time has passed since I disappeared?"
"I didn't count precisely, but it seems about 50 suns have crossed the sky."
"50 days...???"
'The fact that there's barely a difference since I arrived here... does that mean the flow of time became synchronized starting from my return?'
"Right. I didn't live keeping precise track of the date either, but I have a rough grasp of how much time has passed."
"I'm not saying I don't believe you. When I lived on Titan for about 900 years and came back, only about two months had passed here."
"Then perhaps the flow of time has only now aligned. All dimensions flow almost identically based on the great frame of mana. It's likely that space-time was distorted only during the crossing of a being like you, and it has stabilized now."
"So, you're saying that now, ever since I returned to Earth, time flows identically on that side and this side?"
"Precisely."
"Haa... I see. Then let's wrap up the meeting here for today. So many things hit me all at once that my head is killing me."