Chapter 131

“Y-you...”

Forgetting she was even on a battlefield, Ruen stared at Woojin, her voice trembling.

“It's been a while.”

Riding on Fensir's back toward the border of the central continent, Woojin had thought of all sorts of greetings. Yet the words he finally said to her could hardly have been simpler.

“What on earth happened to you?! You suddenly disappeared the day Camilla went wild... Do you have any idea how shocked we all were?!”

Ruen shouted at him. Surprise had given way to worry, and now, after all those emotions had swept through her, what remained was resentment toward him.

“You just...! You disappeared out of nowhere! You really scared us!!!”

THUD!!!

With a cry choked by tears, she drove her fist into Woojin's chest.

“... Urk.”

For a moment, he couldn't breathe.

Thirty years had changed her beyond comparison with her former self. Feeling the gulf between them anew, Woojin seized her fist firmly, certain he couldn't afford to take a second hit.

“Sorry.”

His action brought a bewildered look to Ruen's face.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I don't think this is the time.”

BZZZZ...

As the raining lightning gradually subsided, the surviving monsters were cautiously closing in.

“I-I'm sorry!!”

Ruen hastily pulled her hand away and grabbed her bow.

“We have a lot to talk about, but let's clear this place out first.”

Woojin slowly drew his sword as well, watching the monsters. Perhaps because of Fensir's lightning, they weren't charging in as readily as before.

“I hear Irurin's setting up a magic circle to connect the continents. How much longer does she need?”

“About an hour.”

Woojin nodded at Ruen's answer.

“I'll hold the front. Cover me.”

“W-will you be all right? Demonkin aren't ordinary monsters. Every single one is on par with the Ratan you fought, Khan.”

“I'll be fine.”

In contrast to her worry, Woojin answered confidently.

“I've gained something here, too.”

Woojin blurred out of sight in a flash.

“...!!”

Startled, Ruen hurried after him.

BOOOM!!!

Dodging the demonkin's attacks, Woojin swung his sword.

THUD...!

PATTER...!!

With every movement of his blade, the demonkin's arms and legs were sheared off without resistance.

‘How...’

Thirty years might have passed, but Ruen could hardly believe what Woojin had achieved.

‘How could he have changed so much...’

He looked exactly the same, but his swordsmanship was entirely different. Back then, it had been powerful but utterly crude, lacking the precision to draw out its full strength.

Now, however, he was different.

‘What is that swordsmanship?’

Captivated, she couldn't take her eyes off it for a while.

“Ruen!!!”

At Woojin's shout, she hastily drew her bow.

SHRIIING!!!

An immensely powerful arrow flew past Woojin, seeming to rip the air apart rather than merely cut through it.

[“KIEEEEK!!!”]

The single arrow pierced no fewer than three monsters before burying itself in the ground, where it quivered as though it still had power to spare.

‘Mighty Bow...?’

It was an ordinary basic archer skill. In her hands, however, Mighty Bow became something special.

Not to be outdone, Woojin held his sword horizontally and took his stance.

CLICK.

Sliding his sword back into its sheath, he drew it with all his strength in a horizontal slash.

Martial Resolve—First Sword.

Army Breaker, the swordsmanship Aswell had conceived while hunting Fenrir, comprised five sword forms. Woojin had condensed those into three.

This was the first sword born of that process.

As he slashed, Woojin hurtled forward, cleanly cutting through the monsters in his path.

CRACK.

The moment he stopped after dashing several meters, a dull sound came from the wrist holding his sword.

“...”

Woojin's cheek twitched. A throbbing pain spread through his wrist.

‘Did I crack a bone?’

Bending his wrist sent a sharp pain through it. Behind him lay five demonkin, each cleaved in two.

“... My body's not keeping up.”

Ironically, although he had created this swordsmanship himself, Woojin's body was still woefully inadequate to wield it.

‘Well, the swordsmanship Martial Resolve is based on was created from the Sword Emperor's insights, after all.’

Aswell had fashioned his swordsmanship to suit his own honed physique. He had already been over level 90 when Woojin met him in the game, so by the time he created the style, he must have reached an even higher level of attainment.

Naturally, Woojin's swordsmanship, distilled from the very essence of Aswell's, could only demand even more.

“Don't worry!”

The Water Petal Crown on Setsuna's head shone, and the pain in his wrist vanished.

“Thanks. Looks like I'll need to make some adjustments. I'll be counting on you a few more times.”

“Ugh... I meant you shouldn't do anything that makes you need my help!”

Woojin chuckled at her words and began swinging his sword at the demonkin.

[“GRAAAAH!!”]

With Fensir joining the fray, Woojin began swiftly dispatching the oncoming demonkin. Individually weaker than the elven soldiers, the demonkin had held the advantage through sheer numbers, but...

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!!!

Fensir's showers of lightning and Setsuna's barrage rapidly thinned their ranks.

SHUNK!!

When the final monster was slain...

WAAAAAH!!

WAAAH!!

Every soldier in the elven army burst into cheers. As though rewarding their victory, dazzling waves of gold began flowing from the magic circle in the distance.

BZZT...!

BZZZZT...!!

The golden light pouring from the magic circle began disrupting the waves surrounding the central continent. Soon, the white mist dividing it from the Dark Forest slowly dissolved in the light.

“At last...”

Visibly tense, Ruen watched the mist fade. When the fog that had made the edge of the Dark Forest look like a sheer drop finally vanished, what appeared in its place was, astonishingly, perfectly ordinary level ground.

‘... Were the central continent and the Dark Forest connected all along?’

It was a shocking revelation. Apparently, the elves were learning this for the first time too; murmurs rose all around him.

“A nasty trick, wasn't it? They created portals and made us utterly convinced the continents were separate.”

A woman appeared before the clamoring elven army. Pulling back the reddish-brown robe covering her head, she looked at Woojin.

“Why don't you age? I'm jealous.”

Unlike Woojin, who had agonized over a greeting, hers was unmistakably true to character.

“Irurin.”

The little girl who hadn't even reached his chest now stood eye to eye with him. Wrinkles marked the face that had once been so youthful. Yet they weren't merely signs of passing years. Her mana had deepened with every new wrinkle—no, far more than that.

“Wow...”

Setsuna stared wide-eyed, apparently recognizing Irurin's attainment.

“Are you all right where Camilla rammed you?”

She rested a hand on Woojin's cheek. Thirty years had passed, yet she spoke calmly, as though it had happened only moments ago.

“You've grown so much.”

“Heh.”

Irurin laughed as she stroked his cheek.

“That's just the sort of greeting I'd expect from you.”

She was no longer the young girl Woojin had known. Now nearing fifty, she was the one looking at him with tender affection.

“You look as though time has stood still... but I suppose it's passed for you too, Khan.”

She looked at Setsuna.

“You hatched the egg. Finding the materials can't have been easy.”

“It was surprisingly easy. In my world, anyway.”

Woojin smiled wryly.

GRRRR...

Dark clouds began gathering, rumbling like a growling monster.

“We have a lot to talk about. Things I want to ask you, and things I want to tell you.”

Woojin nodded.

On the day the two severed continents were joined, those who had lived in separate worlds met again.

* * *

“... A way back?”

As befitted a mage's tent, the interior was piled high with books and all manner of experimental equipment.

“Yes. Finding one is actually part of why I came here.”

Woojin suddenly wondered whether he ought to be speaking so casually to Irurin now that she was older than him.

“I think you already know the answer. Sarbandin and Camilla. What they have in common is that they both possess a god's power.”

She led Woojin to a table.

“You'll probably need that power to return to your original world.”

“That's what I think, too. It's also why I came to see Camilla.”

At that, silence fell over the tent. Irurin looked at Ruen beside her, her gaze asking her to speak in her place.

“... Khan. I'm sorry to have to tell you this...”

“What is it?”

“Camilla is gone.”

“... What? What do you mean, gone? You said you were going to make Ratan's laboratory into Camilla's home.”

Ruen couldn't hide her discomfort at Woojin's urgent questions.

“That was thirty years ago.”

She let out a quiet sigh.

“A lot has happened here while you were gone. The demons pushed beyond the central continent and took over the Dark Forest. We lost so much.”

There was no need to ask again. Camilla... was dead.

“Fensir's too young to have fully awakened his power.”

And Kelduan's Egg hadn't even hatched yet.

“Are there any Primordial Sacred Spirits left?”

Woojin asked them in despair.

“I'm sorry, but apart from Fensir, there are no living Primordial Sacred Spirits in this world.”

The answer he received went beyond despair.

“In fact, we only learned today that Fensir was alive. The central continent and the Dark Forest have been cut off from one another all this time...”

“Then there's... no way back?”

“That's not true.”

Unlike the despairing Woojin, Irurin remained calm.

“What you need is power beyond human limits. And you already have someone who can wield that power more skillfully than anyone.”

“... I do?”

She pointed at Setsuna.

“I can sense Camilla's scent on her. Has she ever used a Sacred Spirit's abilities?”

At Irurin's question, Woojin turned to Setsuna in surprise. Just as she said, Setsuna could indeed use Sacred Spirit skills.

“She was created in our world, but she was born in yours, Khan. With her help... perhaps our worlds could be connected.”

Woojin gulped, unconsciously swallowing as Irurin's answer filled him with tension.

“The worlds... connected.”

Hadn't he worked tirelessly to find a way to travel to and from the other world? If Irurin was right, perhaps he would no longer have to live in fear of suddenly being sent there or being trapped there forever.

“What do we need to do?”

“We'll have to start finding out. Researching a Sacred Spirit's power isn't something we can accomplish in a day or two.”

“But... I have a reason I need to get back quickly.”

He answered with Ruen in mind.

“Don't be too hasty. Time probably passes differently here than in your world.”

Irurin's voice remained calm.

“If time in your world passed faster than it does here, you couldn't have returned looking the way you do now.”

As she said, only a few dozen days had passed in the game, while thirty years had gone by here.

“How about this? I'll start researching a way to send you back. In exchange... would you help us while I do?”

“... Help you? What would I have to do?”

“Hmm... Save the world?”

“Me? That's ridiculous.”