A room filled with furniture crafted by the hands of a master.
In an office where a false sense of dignity hung heavy, a man asked again in a tone of confusion.
“You’re saying the condition for Dimension Rebirth was discovered on the War Field of Orcutas, in the level 4 field?”
“That’s right.”
The one who answered that question was none other than Count Mordenain Albert.
He was the current lord of Blackout.
“What on earth… What kind of situation is unfolding this season?”
“And what good would it do asking me that?”
Who else was he supposed to ask, if not you?
That retort rose up to the man’s throat, but he barely managed to swallow it back.
Though the count wore a kindly smile, he was the very man who had recently turned Blackout into a bloodbath.
In layman’s terms, within Blackout, he held a status second only to that of an emperor.
“Then… let me try to summarize the situation. Nine months ago, during the Black Forest raid, an entity known as the ‘Fairy Queen’ that was previously unknown was discovered. The one who dealt with it was the White Whale Mercenary Group.”
After that, the one behind the collapse of Zenkhar Magic Tower whose leader Shylock had earned the title of “King” was revealed.
The group responsible? Again, it was the White Whale Mercenary Group, and it had been the work of a single mage.
Was that all?
Though it was never made public, a crisis involving Dimension Rebirth had occurred in Silent City when the Heavenly Church made its appearance.
To add to the shock, it was reported that a bishop-level figure from the Ariklotus Church had joined forces with the Heavenly Church.
Fortunately, that crisis had been resolved thanks to the actions of a certain mercenary group.
The name of that group? Once again, the White Whale Mercenary Group.
And now—
A previously unknown Dimension Rebirth phenomenon had occurred on the War Field of Orkutas.
“How long has it even been since the incident in Silent City ended, and now this…? But was the issue on Orkutas’s War Field resolved?”
“Well, isn’t that why I’m able to sit here chatting with you in peace like this?”
“Good heavens… Who on earth was it? Who managed to stop a Dimension Rebirth on their own?”
“I heard Professor Schneider of the Issus Society, the Unexplored Lands Development Unit, and lastly, the White Whale Mercenary Group were involved. The details should be in the report I handed over to you.”
“The White Whale Mercenary Group? Them again?”
At this point, the man couldn’t help but wonder if the White Whale Mercenary Group were somehow the root cause behind all these incidents.
Of course, it was nothing more than a baseless suspicion with no evidence whatsoever.
“It’s quite astonishing. The mercenary group’s mage-leader only stepped into Blackout for the first time this year, and look at everything that’s happened since. Can you believe it?”
“Good heavens…”
Of course, Blackout had always been a place of unpredictability, but wasn’t this going too far?
“Th-Then, where is that White Whale Mercenary Group now…?”
Although the Issus Society hadn’t made any official announcements yet, the world remained quiet for the moment.
But the moment they went public with this incident, the world would be in an uproar.
It would be the right move to attempt contact with them, even now.
“They’ve gone missing.”
“Huh?”
“Orc Lord Hargon. Right after resolving that Dimension Rebirth, their traces vanished without a single clue.”
“You don’t mean… together with that Orc Lord?”
“Who knows. I don’t know that far.”
Having said that much, the count turned his gaze away from the man, as if he had nothing more to say.
“In any case, make sure to relay the relevant information properly.”
“Ah… Don’t worry about that part.”
The man, having quickly regained his composure, gathered the documents handed to him by Count Mordenain and hurried out of the room.
He had to deliver the news to the Imperial Palace as soon as possible.
Once the messenger from the Imperial Palace had left, Count Mordenain, now alone, sank into his chair.
“The White Whale Mercenary Group, huh…”
That audacious mage’s face resurfaced in his mind.
Did he truly die?
For some reason, it didn’t seem likely.
Perhaps this is just my wishful thinking.
Either way, they had stirred up enough incidents to pique his interest.
“Whatever the case, they really caused a major stir. If they return, how will the world receive them?”
***
Swoooosh—
Heavy rain poured down.
A man cloaked in an oil-treated robe from head to toe pushed through the downpour and arrived at a small, solitary cabin nestled in the forest.
Thump, thud, thump, thump.
After several knocks, the door opened.
“You’ve come.”
A woman with black hair and golden eyes greeted him.
It was Jun and Maya, who had been reported missing.
“Yeah. How’s Aiden doing?”
“He still hasn’t regained consciousness.”
“Haah. What on earth happened…”
Right after the death of Orc Lord Hargon—
The one who had stolen the soul of the Black Whale had dragged the group down like a water ghost, and they had awoken in an unfamiliar forest.
Jun, Maya, and Eleanor had all regained their senses without issue.
Only Aiden had yet to open his eyes.
“Eleanor. Have you figured anything out?”
“Same as before. His soul is still trembling, unstable.”
“Haah… This just got a lot more complicated.”
Jun took off his robe, scratched his head irritably, and looked out the window.
A forest blanketed in a pale purple mist stretched before him.
It had already been four days since Jun and his group had fallen into this place.
And this place was――
“Where the hell are we, anyway?”
It was a field even Jun himself didn’t recognize.
***
The biggest problem at the moment was undoubtedly Aiden’s condition.
During the moment when the Black Whale which had been consumed by the Orc Lord swallowed the group, Aiden had been at the very front.
“As far as I know, for a soul to become this unstable, the cases are extremely rare.”
Eleanor explained and Jun asked her in return,
“What do you mean by rare?”
“He must have come face-to-face with some immense being and suffered a mental shock. You could call it a form of trauma.”
“Was the Black Whale’s soul really that immense?”
“No, not exactly…”
Eleanor ran her hand along her black bandages as she spoke.
“I didn’t get a clear look, but when that black whale calf swallowed us… I sensed something. Something familiar.”
“Familiar… to you?”
At that, something immediately came to Jun’s mind.
“An Outer God?”
“That’s right. It was him.”
“They said the Orc Lord had become entangled with an Outer God in the past, which bound his soul to the underworld. And right before he died, he tried to drag us down with him like a vengeful spirit. If that’s the case…”
“Even if just for a moment, Aiden must’ve come face-to-face with an Outer God. He was right at the front, after all.”
“…This is complicated. Is there a way to treat him?”
To that question, Eleanor shook her head.
“Time might help… but this isn’t a common case, so I can’t say for sure. On the contrary, he might never return even with time…or he could lose his mind completely.”
“Hoo…”
With a sigh, Jun turned his gaze to Maya.
“Maya. How are you holding up?”
“Other than feeling a little drained, I’m fine.”
“You look a bit worn out yourself. Are you okay?”
Eleanor looked at Jun with a deeply worried expression.
“I can still manage, for now.”
As he said that, Jun leaned his body back against the worn-out chair as if lying down on it.
Then, once again, he glanced around the dusty interior of the cabin.
It was clean.
Even when he looked into the air, all he could see was dust floating aimlessly in the still air.
How long has it been since I last saw a sight like this?
Back in the days of being “Lee Jeong-jun”, this had been an everyday scene.
But for Jun, it now felt nothing but unfamiliar.
The magic that always hovered around him… was nowhere to be seen.
In this field of unknown origin—
Magic didn’t exist.
“Hoo. Alright, let’s try to piece this together.”
Over the past four days, Jun had figured out a few things about this field.
First.
Magic didn’t flow here.
He still didn’t know why. But it felt different from the silent plains where the Black Whale had been.
In the quiet plains, magic hadn’t stayed because the Black Whale devoured it.
But here, magic itself couldn’t be sensed at all.
Second.
Rain fell constantly at random times, and the area was filled with an unknown purple mist.
No matter how many times he tried to recall it using his [Excellent Memory], he couldn’t remember encountering a field like this.
Even in the memories of his past life, there was absolutely nothing useful to draw from.
Third.
The area around them was entirely forested, yet they had discovered what looked like an artificially made and once-used road.
However, they hadn’t checked to see what lay at the end of that road.
And lastly. Fourth.
“Why isn’t that thing disappearing?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure.”
The one who responded to Jun’s comment was Eleanor.
The two of them were staring at something outside the window.
It was the corpse of a monster with dark purplish skin. Its face was twisted into a grotesque form, as if horrible blisters had bubbled up all over it in death.
So, the fourth piece of information they had discovered… was that the corpse of the dead monster wasn’t dispersing into particles; it remained intact.
“Should I go and dissect it or something?”
When Jun spoke with uncertainty, Eleanor shrugged and replied.
“It’s probably best not to get too close, if possible.”
“Still, we can’t just sit around doing nothing, can we?”
“That may be true, but still…”
At the moment, the group couldn’t bring themselves to move so easily.
The biggest issue was that Aiden had yet to wake up.
If they left the cabin and accidentally drew the monster’s attention, they would have to flee with Aiden who couldn’t even move.
That wasn’t exactly a good option.
“Maya. Let’s go check it out.”
“Understood.”
Since Maya was skilled in dissection, they decided to rely on her expertise.
Around the monster with purple skin, traces of the recent battle still remained vividly clear.
Depressions in the ground, several trees knocked over and leaning to one side, and so on.
They had first encountered the purple-skinned monster around the time they discovered the cabin.
It was only after wandering the forest for two days that they found the cabin. The creature had been lurking near it.
“Be careful. Something might still pop out from inside.”
“There are no life signs. The soul has completely vanished.”
“Hmm…”
Without hesitation, Maya began dissecting the creature.
She slit open its belly and carefully spread it apart to avoid damaging the internal organs.
“The insides are decaying.”
“What about the heart?”
“No movement.”
“Shall we cut it open?”
At Jun’s suggestion, Maya sliced the creature’s heart without hesitation.
From within it—
“…A cylinder?”
A cylinder filled with a bluish energy popped out.
That familiar hue was the color of mana.
“Oh.”
“It’s disappearing.”
When they pulled out the cylinder filled with mana, the creature’s corpse disintegrated into particles and vanished.
“So this was the reason it hadn’t disappeared…”
“That thing’s filled with mana, right?”
“Yeah. And it’s incredibly condensed mana.”
“…But is it even possible for mana to be liquefied like this?”
“No. That never happens.”
In the case of mana potions, they were designed to guide mana to accumulate inside the body, but they themselves weren’t made of mana.
“What on earth is this? What happened here?”
“How would I know?”
Maya shrugged disinterestedly and trudged off toward the cabin.
“What’s that?”
“It’s liquefied mana.”
“Mana, huh… it’s extremely condensed, isn’t it?”
Feeling the mana inside the cylinder, Eleanor tilted her head in curiosity.
“Highly condensed liquid mana… Do you know something about it?”
Jun gave a faint nod to Eleanor’s question.
“Ancient alchemists. This is one of their creations.”
“…Alchemists?”
“Yeah. And the places where traces of them are usually found…”
The level 5 field was the most likely location.
“Damn. No wonder it was so damn strong.”
Jun frowned as he looked at the spot where the now-vanished creature had once lain.
They had suddenly fallen into the level 5 field. Something that wasn’t even part of the plan.
Leave a Reply