Chapter 132

“Save them... What do you mean?”

Irurin unfolded the map on the table.

“Thanks to you, Khan, we were able to end a battle that lasted over ten days. We barely managed to repel the demonkin and complete the magic circle connecting us to the central continent, but our situation is still dire.”

TAP.

She placed a gargoyle-shaped piece on the map.

“The demons themselves haven't even made a move yet.”

All they had fought were mutant monsters created by the demons.

“This is the demons' base.”

“That's...”

Woojin frowned slightly. The piece stood on Lower Heaven, the capital of the Kingdom of Brian—the kingdom known as the Holy Kingdom among the five great kingdoms, and the former home of Charlo, the Knight of Glory.

“So they settled there just to flaunt it.”

The demons' petty tactics left Woojin speechless.

“They see us as nothing more than entertainment. That's why they only sent demonkin while we were building the magic circle to the central continent.”

They didn't want to break the few toys they had left too easily. It was infuriating, but there was nothing to be done. Irurin assessed the situation dispassionately.

“They're probably waiting for us to cross over to the central continent.”

“And?”

“The fact that they're underestimating us could actually become a weapon for us.”

“What are you planning?”

“Our top priority is to establish a new base on the central continent.”

She moved the elven army's flag diagonally upward from the magic circle's location, across the border of the central continent.

“A labyrinth that even demons can't enter easily.”

Seeing where the piece stood, Woojin cast her a sidelong glance.

“... Kaisha's tomb?”

“That's right. We intend to establish our new base here.”

“Has the labyrinth here been cleared?”

“No. When the Dragon Hunter killed the dragons, all the places imbued with their power were destroyed.”

'So there are other places connected to dragons besides the labyrinth.'

“Then what about the burial chamber inside?”

“The burial chamber can never be opened. Opening it requires the Black Dragon's key... and that vanished when the dragon died, too.”

“... Is that so?”

Woojin nodded, his expression tense.

“After you disappeared, Khan, we found this in Ratan's laboratory.”

She took a small orb from inside her clothes.

“What is it?”

“It's called Vandarius's Tear.”

“Vandarius...?”

Woojin remembered that the Labyrinth Tower was called Vandarius's Tower in the other world.

“Does it have something to do with the tower?”

“Something like that. The researchers who once studied the tower said it was like a tree—a vast dungeon formed when a seed took root.”

“A tree...”

“And after the tower appeared, orbs like this were scattered throughout the world.”

HUM...

The orb emitted a faint light, seemingly reacting to Irurin's mana.

“The orbs were absorbed into the ground like seeds, creating more dungeons.”

“They created dungeons...?”

“Yes. When a dungeon forms, a rift occurs, creating an entirely new space. That's why some people have another name for these.”

“... Rift Stones.”

Irurin looked at Woojin in surprise.

“You even know about that?”

“Well, there's someone studying rifts where I come from, too.”

“True... You did say the place you come from is like our world's past.”

She nodded.

“We're planning to use the Rift Stone to create a new dungeon in Kaisha's tomb.”

She held up two fingers.

“When a new dungeon is created, the Rift Stone chooses a suitable boss for it.”

“You don't mean...”

“Yes. I'll become its boss.”

“Isn't that too dangerous? I've never heard of a human becoming a dungeon boss.”

“Neither have I. But it's a way to protect the people who are left.”

She seemed to have already made up her mind.

“I'll turn Kaisha's tomb into an even deeper labyrinth. It will become both a place where we can fight the demons and a new home for humanity.”

“... What about the island of the Northern Wall? That last stronghold the Lion King was supposedly building.”

She shook her head at Woojin's question.

“We couldn't find it.”

“Not in thirty years? Why? I heard there was even a map showing its location.”

“There was. But every search came up empty.”

Woojin swallowed hard without realizing it at her words. Had they been chasing something that didn't exist, like a mirage?

“It takes three days for a Rift Stone to take root and activate a dungeon. We have to hold off the demons' attacks during that time.”

“So that's what you need my help with.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Aside from the defenders guarding the magic circle, the rest of our troops will have to bring in the survivors of our people from the rear.”

“And we'll take as few people as possible to the labyrinth so the demons won't notice.”

“Who will be going?”

Ruen pointed to herself.

“Irurin, myself, Goun, and you, Khan. Four of us.”

“Brings back memories.”

His words reminded everyone of their expedition into Ratan's laboratory.

“I'm here too!!”

Setsuna shot her hand into the air and shouted. Her high-pitched voice seemed to lighten the rather heavy mood.

“Your Majesty. The escort unit is ready. They say they can depart as soon as you give permission.”

“I'll be there shortly.”

The tent flap had opened, and a soldier of the elven army reported to Ruen.

“Please carry on talking for a moment.”

Ruen left the tent, leaving the two of them behind.

“Have you happened to see my grandfather?”

Irurin asked casually as she put away the map, pretending it was of no great importance. But Woojin could hear the faint tremor in her voice.

“... Aswell Balan?”

“Yes. You mentioned it back then, didn't you? Thirty years have passed in our world since then... but looking at you, Khan, it seems as though time has almost stopped in yours.”

“That's right. Only about a month has passed at most.”

Watching Irurin wait for an answer, Woojin's thoughts grew tangled.

“Of course he knows him. Master was taught by the Sword Emperor—mmph, mmmph...”

“Everyone on the continent knows the Sword Emperor. I've seen him from a distance myself.”

“When?”

“The Antarian Federation looks like it's about to go to war.”

“Ah... So it's around that time.”

Irurin nodded, apparently having worked out roughly where Woojin was in the timeline. Then she seemed to want to say something, but shook her head and fell silent.

“Why? You don't just know of him, Master. You even trained under the Sword Emperor.”

Setsuna asked him in a voice too quiet for Irurin to hear.

“The Aswell in this world has been dead for a long time. I don't want to upset her needlessly.”

If Irurin learned of Woojin's connection to him, she would try to change Aswell's future, even knowing it was another world.

[“For everything you gain here, you will lose something in your own world.”]

Nissen's words in the elven forest continued to weigh on his mind.

'If she reveals the past to change Aswell's future, and by some chance the same thing happens to her as Nissen...'

Nissen had vanished after telling him about the past. As though it were the price for revealing it.

'I can't put her in danger when I still don't know for sure.'

“Irurin. Did anything bad happen to you after you gave me this ring?”

“Oh my, you still have that ring?”

“Of course.”

Irurin caressed the [Wolf Ring] Woojin handed her, as though revisiting old memories.

“Plenty of bad things happened.”

She smiled bitterly.

“In the thirty years since you left, we traveled to so many places. To escape the demons, to find the remaining elves, and... to obtain weapons to fight them.”

Her dark expression showed just how much had happened during those years. But that wasn't what Woojin was asking.

“Actually... before I came here, I met the person guarding the fairies' forest.”

He told her about his conversations with Nissen.

“Equivalent exchange and causality...”

She nodded, both surprised and seemingly understanding.

“Everyone who's told me about the future has died, for one reason or another.”

Raoul and Nissen. Though the causes differed, both had disappeared before his eyes.

“So that's why you asked. You were worried about me?”

“... Of course.”

Irurin chuckled at his answer.

“Fortunately, nothing happened to me personally. Perhaps I was lucky.”

She handed the ring back to Woojin as she spoke.

“Perhaps it was all right because the matter of Fenrir's Den hadn't happened either in your world or in this one.”

“... That could be.”

“We should be careful from now on. Revealing the future is a kind of taboo. If what you say is true, Khan, breaking it could cost someone their life.”

Woojin nodded.

“We'll need to learn little by little... just how far these rules extend. What about the others? Have Goun or Ruen ever told you anything?”

“No. Though there are things I've figured out myself from talking to them.”

Things about Mana Vessel Disease, or the unexplored regions he'd seen on Goun's map.

“Could the difference be whether they're aware of it? This is difficult.”

“Well, it's certainly something to be careful about, but I don't intend to let it keep me cowering forever.”

“... Then?”

“Like you just said, if it's something that hasn't happened either where I am or here... wouldn't it be all right to alter it, whether it's the past or the future?”

“In theory, yes... but would there be anything like that? Your world is the past, after all. Everything there should already have happened here.”

“No. There is something. Something you just mentioned, in fact.”

“... What?”

“The burial chamber in the tomb. You said it's never been opened, right?”

“Don't tell me... Has the burial chamber been opened in your world?”

“No. We haven't opened it in my world either. Never mind the burial chamber—even the labyrinth hasn't been cleared yet.”

“Even the labyrinth hasn't been cleared... It really is the past.”

Irurin looked at him as though that confirmed her expectations.

“But the fact that it hasn't been cleared also means the labyrinth hasn't lost its power.”

TAP.

He took out the burial chamber key he had received from Bensina.

“Which means this can still exist, too.”

Woojin looked at her, his eyes gleaming.

“Don't tell me that's...”

“That's right. The key to the burial chamber.”

“...!!”

“We may live in the past and future respectively, but our worlds aren't completely identical.”

She couldn't hide her astonishment.

“My world has already changed because of this one. So... now it's my turn to change this world.”

He pushed the burial chamber key toward her.

“The Black Dragon told me that a Dragon Knight's arms and armor lie inside the burial chamber. If we can open it, wouldn't that help you?”

“Of course it would!!” Irurin cried.

“We're talking about a dragon's treasures, not just anything!”

It was the first time he had seen her so excited.

“If we can get them, we might be able to turn the tide of the war!”

She cried out, clutching the key tightly in both hands.

“I'm glad.”

Feeling as though he were seeing her younger self again, Woojin couldn't help but smile.

Even if using this key brought him new problems...

'It doesn't matter.'

Because in this dying world, he could see a tiny glimmer of hope.