Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Abraxas
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Abraxas.
Havel, facing Kaal the space sorcerer, wore a slightly displeased expression.
A reaction that suggested he had known his identity from the very start.
Perhaps as a space sorcerer, he had sensed something off about him.
Or maybe he truly had known all along.
No way to tell for sure, but one thing was clear: Kaal was no ordinary guy.
'Whichever it is...'
He could just pry it out of him right here.
With that decided, Havel took the initiative.
"Yeah, I came from outside."
Havel pulled out a classroom chair and sat down with a relaxed air.
With Havel answering so openly, Kaal's face stiffened.
A reaction like he never expected such a straightforward admission.
In a worst-case scenario, Havel could be treated like a dimensional entity.
But he had already revealed his true nature to the head of the special dimensional entity task force beforehand.
For Havel, there was no reason to hide it.
"I answered your question, so now it's my turn to ask."
Havel seized control of the conversation while Kaal was still frozen.
If you're going to ask, you should expect to answer too.
"Abraxas, why do you keep opening and closing those dimensional gates?"
Havel saw Kaal as the key to clearing this floor.
But he didn't know how that key worked.
So he planned to find out now.
"......"
Kaal fell silent for a moment.
Havel caught the meaning in his eyes.
It was a look asking why he should answer that.
But Havel had picked up on a few things from his reaction too.
"You're carrying some unsolved problem, aren't you?"
"......What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Because you knew I was approaching and still didn't run."
Kaal had been hiding his presence on purpose all this time.
The fact that no one had spotted him in six years of activity was proof.
That meant he had always wanted to keep his identity hidden from the start.
But today...
His identity had been exposed through Havel.
An elementary school fourth-grader that no one could have imagined.
If Kaal had wanted to, he could have fled long ago.
He had that kind of power, and he'd managed it until now.
But today, he hadn't run. He had confronted Havel directly.
That was when Havel realized it.
There had to be a reason Kaal hadn't fled.
And it was something only someone who could see through his true nature could solve.
"......"
Kaal shut his mouth, caught off guard by how quickly Havel had pieced it together.
"I don't know what it is you want."
Havel couldn't know what problem Kaal carried.
He was just an outsider who had suddenly ended up here.
"But I can solve it."
He had that kind of power.
A primal force capable, in a sense, of achieving anything.
Hearing Havel's confident words, Kaal's lips twitched.
He wanted to snap back that Havel didn't know anything, that he was arrogant.
But the aura emanating from Havel gradually silenced him.
"I'll etch the proof right into your eyes."
Calamity energy poured from Havel, surging wildly on its own.
That calamity energy began to shake even the space Kaal had set up.
"What."
Disbelief flashed in Kaal's eyes. He hadn't expected this level.
Havel's mere release of calamity had warped the space.
"If that's not enough..."
Havel slowly raised his hand.
Dawn light began gathering toward it.
Kaal felt like his eyes might go blind.
"...want me to cleave the world in half to prove it?"
It wasn't bravado.
Havel could do it.
The dawn light in his hand grew even stronger.
In moments, it would slice through space and reach the outside world.
"O-okay, stop! Stop it!"
Kaal hurriedly stopped Havel.
How recklessly unstoppable could this guy be?
He never imagined he'd threaten to split the world just to show off.
At Kaal's plea, Havel lightly shook his hand.
The dawn light vanished in an instant.
Kaal felt his heart drop for a second.
Then he slumped in his chair and let out a long sigh.
"I just wanted to get a read on you, not deal with someone this bullheaded..."
"I'm the gentlemanly type."
"Gentlemen don't do that."
Kaal sighed deeply again.
Then he glanced at Havel.
"You're a kid, huh. Suits you. Not your real form anyway."
Havel looked down at his body.
Then he shrugged too.
As if I care.
"You're no different, are you?"
Kaal looked like a fourth-grader too.
Nothing new there.
But Kaal narrowed his eyes.
"I'm eleven this year."
"Eleven-year-olds don't talk like that."
Havel clearly remembered the elementary kids he'd seen earlier.
Even at rank 8, their intellectual level was immature and similar.
Yet Kaal spoke like a full-grown adult.
"That's... sigh, it's a long story."
He rubbed his forehead with a pained expression.
Like he was wondering where to start.
"We've got time."
Go ahead and explain it all, Havel prompted, but Kaal shook his head.
"No, we don't."
No time?
Was it that urgent?
Just as Havel thought he'd have to push harder...
"Lunch break's almost over."
Havel froze.
He stared at Kaal, wondering if he was serious.
Kaal waved his textbook.
"I told you, I'm eleven. We've got sixth period today. Wait outside."
Classes had to be attended.
Kaal shooed Havel out with his hand.
Havel briefly considered splitting the school in half.
But since Kaal was cooperating, he decided to wait.
Havel pushed his chair back and stood.
Then he turned to Kaal.
"So, when exactly is this sixth period?"
Now it was Kaal's turn to be shocked.
He looked at Havel like he couldn't believe it.
Havel's eyes narrowed sharply.
He felt pretty wronged too.
How many times had he seen that look today?
"Don't assume your culture matches ours."
The crows didn't even speak his language.
These guys spoke it, but somehow conversation still fell flat.
* * *
Sixth period at the elementary school.
After classes ended, Kaal appeared before Havel, bookbag slung over his shoulder.
Kaal had relayed their prior conversation to Freddy and Daris.
"I don't know what Abraxas wants, but I'm asking you."
Freddy had left the conversation with Kaal to Havel.
As Havel thought, Kaal had the power to escape anytime.
If he wanted a one-on-one talk at that point, they could step aside willingly.
"Just, if possible, ask if he can tell us what's going on."
Freddy had no intention of exploiting Kaal's power.
He had seen countless horrors in the long war against dimensional entities.
But it was always Abraxas—Kaal—who ultimately ended those horrors.
If he hadn't consistently closed the dimensional gates until now...
The damage would have been far worse, with countless casualties.
The public rumored Abraxas was the one opening them.
But Freddy, who had been on the front lines, knew better.
He was the true hero who had steadily closed them to this day.
"If there's anything we can help with, we'll do it no matter what."
The whole city owed Abraxas a debt.
So Freddy smiled kindly.
"Gotta show some adult maturity to an eleven-year-old sometimes."
Having received Abraxas's help countless times during the wars...
He seemed to have built up a deep sense of inner camaraderie.
Havel saw Freddy meant no harm and agreed.
Passing on the info wasn't hard.
"You made it."
Havel said to Kaal, who glanced around.
"Where are the agents who brought you?"
"I had them step out."
"They must trust you a lot."
Havel let out a dry chuckle at that.
Sorry, but they hadn't had time to build trust.
"They just don't want to piss you off."
Kaal stared off into the distance for a moment.
"Sounds like that old man."
Seems Kaal recognized Freddy too.
Made sense—he'd been on the front lines, so they'd crossed paths plenty.
"Follow me. There's a good spot to talk."
Havel followed Kaal as instructed.
The place Kaal led him to was a fast-food joint.
The fast-food place was packed with people, buzzing noisily.
Maybe that's why.
No one inside paid attention to the two kids' conversation.
Not even if it was about the world's secrets.
Kids' stories were full of wild imaginings anyway.
"Being a kid has its perks sometimes. No one suspects a thing, no matter what."
Kaal grinned, munching on fries.
Despite claiming to be eleven...
To Havel, he didn't seem eleven at all.
"Feels off because it doesn't match your age?"
Kaal picked up on Havel's thoughts.
"People say adulthood starts at twenty.
Humans need at least twenty years to mature."
He gave a subtle smile.
"Dogs reach adulthood in two years. That's like eighteen human years—way shorter."
Physical age, based on dogs' short lifespans.
"Of course, that's down to genetic and species differences."
Kaal tapped his temple with a finger.
"In my case, I'm a mutant even among humans."
A mutant whose brain developed far faster than peers.
That's how Kaal described himself.
"More precisely, we just look human on the outside. Different species, really.
All the agents—no, ability users—spread across this world, including me."
"That ties into the story ahead?"
"Yeah."
Not just chit-chat—Kaal finished his fries.
"Simple reason I called ability users mutants or another species."
Kaal's finger pointed to the window outside.
"When dimensional gates open."
More precisely, at the sky beyond the window.
"Dimensional parasites leak out from there."
And then came the absurd claim from Kaal's mouth.
"Those infected by the parasites change species—they become ability users."
The origin of ability users' powers.
Dimensional parasites.