Chapter 244
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: Lesson 47. Twist upon Twist - 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lower dimensions were nothing more than playgrounds, training grounds, factories, or mines for the higher dimensions.
The humans of the lower dimensions were their toys, teaching aids, parts, or miners.
From the moment they were born, an unbeatable giant loomed far above them, gazing down.
Every time those beings playfully stomped their feet, thousands or tens of thousands of humans died like insects.
An inescapable order, a cage they could never flee.
They couldn't even despair.
Because from birth, they were never granted hope in the first place, so they had no right to lose it.
"...This power."
Even in such a world, miracles sometimes occurred.
"Y-Your Highness. That magic power... could it be that you've been chosen by a Constellation?!"
"No, this is my power. ...Our power."
Katro El Phasis's existence was one such miracle.
In a world where even decent ability users couldn't be born due to the low mana density, he had been gifted with an innate authority that amplified power for those who believed in him.
"If you lack strength, I'll give it to you. If you have no future, I'll grant you one. Come to me. Here, Katro El Phasis declares the formation of the Liberation Army!"
"Mana... mana is dwelling within me!"
"Unbelievable... I can fight now...!"
"Follow His Highness. Katro El Phasis will give us tomorrow!"
The boy prince of a small kingdom swept away by the whims of higher-dimensional beings had forsaken everything he should have enjoyed at his age and instead shouldered the wills of countless people.
He united those who could only be tossed about like reeds without their own will, forging them into legions, repelled monsters to carve out territory.
He rescued those under higher-dimensional rule, bolstered weapons and forces, drove back monsters, and collapsed dungeons.
Over several hard-fought years, he barely built an environment where humans could survive――
――only for it all to end in a single monster wave.
"Ha, hahaha."
The higher dimensions didn't even bother to move directly to crush the pesky insect rampaging around.
They merely administered poison.
A drug that artificially triggered a monster wave, turning humans with mana below a certain level into monsters without proper resistance.
Humans who had awakened to resistance and could no longer be livestock were neatly exterminated in one go.
How he survived that hell... he didn't even want to think about it.
"――Right."
He decided to die.
No matter how hard they tried, no matter how they resisted, there was no way to defy them.
There was no method to overturn the established order――
Struggling futilely felt idiotic.
That's when he learned of the dimension pirates.
More precisely, his world, discarded wholesale by the monster wave, was visited by an Exodus ship wondering if there might be anything left to plunder.
"Trying to die? What a waste after surviving so spectacularly."
"Spectacularly...?"
"Hey... you're glaring at the wrong level."
"Then who?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was about to tell you. Come with me, and we'll give those bastards a taste of their own medicine."
The man who called himself the captain, Quiran Luchato, was a pervert who loved spouting corny lines that were hard to even listen to, all with what he thought was his coolest face.
But he was strong, and the organization he belonged to possessed forces rivaling the higher dimensions.
For Katro, who had nothing left but hatred for dimension rulers too vast to even identify individually, Exodus felt like destiny.
"You're just my type. So, let's get specific. To hit them where it hurts, we need to know who the enemy is, right?"
"The enemy."
"Yeah. Not the idiots born into privilege who swing around powers they don't even understand. The culprits who made the world like this, who split dimensions, who manipulate the Constellations."
"Who are they?"
"Union."
Quiran pointed to the distinctive emblem on his clothing as he spoke.
He later learned that Quiran was a dropout from Union Academy.
"We will dismantle Union and restore everything to its rightful state. You'll be the vanguard of that grand operation."
Not long after, Katro was selected by Union via the Lower Dimension Special Admission track.
Even as a lower dimension, it was only natural for someone who had united and commanded an entire dimension's humans to catch Union's eye.
Upon enrolling in Union, Katro pretended to be incompetent to avoid attention drawn by his exceptional innate ability.
Few other Special Admission students had such a firm grasp on their own powers.
To blend in with them―― he had no choice but to package his personality.
For someone whose world had been destroyed after drawing higher-dimensional notice, it was the obvious choice.
...Though now, he thought even that packaging had been a bit excessive.
Directly mingling with higher-dimensional humans at Union made him realize his thoughts, and Exodus's resolve, were far from wrong.
Even face-to-face as individuals, they never evaluated lower-dimensional humans fairly.
Treating them as tools without personality was commonplace; they even recoiled at sharing the same space.
If the world were one without dimensional barriers, they probably couldn't discriminate so naturally.
It was all Union's fault for dividing dimensions and altering mana densities.
"Don't think cooperating with you makes me your comrade."
"Of course, we understand. Thank you for your cooperation, Professor."
"Then let's get moving, senior. So our comrades can infiltrate the tower safely this year too――."
Union had quite a few Exodus collaborators.
They helped Exodus strike teams slip into Babel Tower under the Chancellor's nose.
They tested other lower-dimensional students in their own ways, arranging recruitment into Exodus.
Katro drew closer, step by step, to his goal.
It went quite smoothly.
Until Ban Yu-won appeared.
"I was planning to test him lightly and recruit, but he counterattacked and killed you? Why the rush?!"
"Calm down, senior. It's tragic a comrade died, but... fortunately, he was the weakest among them. The rest successfully infiltrated and are scouting the tower's rear."
"Fortunately? 'Fortunately the weakest'? Are you saying you used him as a sacrifice?!"
"Senior Katro."
Woo Hyeol-rin was a junior selected via Lower Dimension Special Admission like him, and also an Exodus member.
Unlike Katro, who avoided standing out, Woo Hyeol-rin brazenly displayed his power and clashed with him in every way.
He had a habit of justifying anything to achieve his goals.
His ability, Geass, suited his personality perfectly.
"Calm down. The dead won't return anyway. What matters now is how we handle them―― Rebellion."
"...Right. If we can use them, we should. Let's observe a bit more, then... make contact."
"I can't step forward prominently. As you know, I'm focused on other matters."
Reading the faint flush of desire on Woo Hyeol-rin's cold face, Katro replied gloomily.
"I pray you safely claim the fairy princess for yourself."
"It's to dismantle Crimson Spear's plans. For the fairy race's future too. If making Mira suffer briefly saves her, I'll do anything."
"Don't react so sensitively. ...I just thought it's convenient for a Constellation to personally curse humans for its contractor."
"Still suspicious of Purgatory's Graveyard? He doesn't side with Exodus, but he's firmly on my side."
The conversation they had then turned out to be lies from start to finish, revealed later when Ban Yu-won intervened and took Mira.
The incident where Woo Hyeol-rin and other Exodus members clearly antagonized Rebellion―― amid various clashes, Exodus ultimately branded Rebellion enemies.
Too friendly with higher-dimensional figures despite the common lower-dimensional ground, Ban Yu-won stood against them on equal footing unlike Exodus; he was an irritating obstacle.
Moreover, he was overly aligned with Union Academy.
Considering Exodus's goals, he was someone they could never join.
Thus, Katro met Ban Yu-won with clear intent.
But the moment those eyes took him in.
The gaze that pierced everything touched the fragments of authority shimmering beyond Katro's pathetic mask.
He knew then he could never win against Ban Yu-won.
'Ambiguous, huh? Perfectly fits my current situation.'
Staring blankly through the barrier at the Exodus fleet surrounding the spaceship, poised to cross the dimensional wall, Katro smiled bitterly.
'I knew I'd lose in a fight, so I tried twisting the plan somehow. If his side had struck first, we wouldn't be in direct confrontation like this. But I couldn't betray Exodus outright or say it openly. He got frustrated that I wouldn't get it, but I was the frustrated one.'
He never imagined Ban Yu-won knew everything and led them to this point.
Perhaps even structuring the club competition this way to lure Exodus out was his will?
If so, Katro's judgment that day―― that he couldn't win―― had been spot on.
"The moment you act with hostility, it's over for you."
Woo Hyeol-rin declared coldly, gripping the purple chains.
The chains around Katro's neck yanked taut but clanged against the barrier Ban Yu-won had set midway.
'The authority activated, reversing all contract conditions. Betraying Ban Yu-won empowered Woo Hyeol-rin and shackled Yu-won. ...If I'd reclaimed the talismans beforehand, I could have prevented my comrades' weakening.'
The talismans distributed to all club members, infused with Katro's power, contained curses that reversed upon activation, suppressing their abilities instead of amplifying them against the enemy.
Of course, Ire's intervention was unexpected, but she alone couldn't turn the tide.
He'd contacted Exodus immediately upon confirming her participation, but the rift between Ban Yu-won and the organization had already grown too severe for her presence to halt.
This was the result.
'Allies and enemies combined... who knows how many will die... Damn, damn it!'
Katro bit his lip hard.
Trapped in the barrier, he could no longer influence either side.
Ambiguous.
Ban Yu-won's word struck him anew.
"Oh..."
Meanwhile, Ban Yu-won eyed Woo Hyeol-rin, gleaming as if discerning the threads of authority linking dozens of Exodus ships.
"Impressive. So as long as conditions are met, it can exert influence this widespread."
"Admit you 'didn't expect this.' You're like the higher-dimensional pigs. You anticipated our identity but underestimated us."
"No, I expected it. Just didn't think you'd extend that authority across the entire fleet."
Ban Yu-won clapped, then spread his palms wide.
Golden concept threads spilled out like yarn.
"Ten won't cut it. Let's go with thirty. Origin Sword's amplification should manage."
"Don't move!"
"Nope."
Concepts from Yu-won Palace tangled wildly with the released concepts, forming something familiar.
[Amplification], [Curse], [Judgment], and [Dominance] intertwined complexly.
Finally, Ban Yu-won's unique martial art, Origin Sword, which read and controlled all concepts, rearranged them, vastly expanding the authority's domain in an instant.
Woo Hyeol-rin, grasping the nature of the central power, widened his eyes.
"――?! No, impossible."
"Chain Reversal."
Thirty [Concept Conversions] were consumed.
All that had been reversed flipped back to their rightful states.
Gripping the golden chains now in his hand, Ban Yu-won declared boldly.
"I now set the penalty for breaking the contract. And digest it simultaneously as Chain Reversal's offering."
"Impossible!"
"Got the gist?"
―Kwaaaaang!
The Exodus fleet exploded under friendly fire from the allied fleet's mana barrage.
Ban Yu-won shrugged.
"Now, kill each other."
Hearing the fireworks signaling the execution's start, Katro bowed his head once more.
It seemed only his allies would be the ones dying.