บท 91: Chapter 91: Extra Hand
Atropos-san…
I visited the Moirae sisters right after settling things with everyone. Just as I had expected, she didn't last long. She died two weeks after I went into a coma.
Although, it isn't much of a problem. Her remains are buried in the adventurers' graveyard. As long as a speck of her ashes remains, I would be able to resurrect her.
That's what I usually did to change the trajectory of my world. Just because I was weak back then doesn't mean I couldn't do something to change the future.
Halting my thoughts, I focused on the silver-haired woman in front of me.
Alfia The Silence.
In Gekai, she has one of the highest talents ever recorded. She excels both in physical and magic combat. She is a well-versed magic swordsman that has a unique skill set in comparison to the mages whom I met before.
I daresay, she's even more talented than Lady Riveria.
Her only problem was that she has a curse… or rather, an illness. She fights under that state. Although, she managed to turn it into something akin to a Binding Vow. In exchange for her lifespan, she experiences an all-around gain in her statuses.
Key word, lifespan.
In a sense, she is similar to Atropos-san.
"Who are you..?" She asked with a surprised look.
"A magician."
I spoke while the suit opened up. A simple [Wardrobe] was all it took to change to my magician's uniform.
"You… How could you…"
"Become this strong?"
"..."
Despite not saying anything, her intentions are clear enough. Seeing her startled expression is quite refreshing.
"I believe you'll notice this sooner or later. I will say it now." I paused before continuing, "I came from another world."
*****
For a long time, Alfia has been interested in Nobu. His feats are one thing. He did many impossible things one after another. His greatest one so far was him defeating the cursed spirit on par with level eight monsters.
It is simply inconceivable that someone could do such a thing. The division between levels couldn't be easily bypassed. Only "Limits Off" could do such miracles.
Nevertheless, she didn't expect him to fall into comatose six months ago. It was said to be the result of an experiment, but she has doubts about it.
What she didn't expect, however, is his appearance on the forty-ninth floor. The moment she noticed him, an overwhelming pressure went off. It was something akin to the Black Dragon's coercion that day.
'How..?'
Many questions ran atop her head. It was purely unexplainable that someone this strong appeared only now. They were aware of the School District Headmaster's strength, yet Nobu could be easily compared to him.
Even, he could match Hera Familia's strongest—Empress.
"I came from another world."
"...What?"
His response left her dumbfounded.
"I am a magician from another world."
For a moment, Alfia was reminded of the theories related to that matter. Since Tenkai exists on another plain, it is not impossible to encounter other worlds. However, they were preoccupied enough with the Black Dragon that they couldn't assign too much manpower to it.
"Perhaps you could recognize the magicka I used before."
"...It is indeed something out of this world."
Riveria might not be able to fully notice their uniqueness, but Alfia could. She is the crowned incarnation of talent itself. Seeing it once was enough to see the subtle differences it has in contrast to Gekai's magic.
Simply, it is comparing a well-refined piece of art to an adequate line art, more so when it was Nobu who utilized them.
"How did you know it was me?" She asked. "You arrived here in order to make this interaction possible, no?"
"Precisely." Nobu replied. "I am aware of your current state. Being turned into a Creature and suffering from your curse…"
Hearing his words, Alfia fell silent. She couldn't fathom how far-reaching his 'future vision' is.
"I might as well tell this in advance. From this moment onwards, we were supposed to do everything to prepare against the Black Dragon's inevitable descent. To be precise, it could happen three to four years later."
Nobu gave her some glimpse of the world he saw. He pointed out the power-up the Black Dragon received—that it'll be more terrifying than before.
"I would agree to your plans and assist Orario in becoming stronger. However, things wouldn't turn out like that easily."
Nobu stopped at that point. Telling her of the bleak future he saw might affect her adversely.
"What happened beyond that point? You have seen it, haven't you? The ending."
Surprisingly, Alfia was able to notice these points from his words.
"Indeed. What I saw at that time was… dreadful." He added. "Your nephew grew up to be a hero… which is what the world needed."
"...Bell?"
Nobu nodded at her inquiring words.
"He became the final hero who fought against the Black Dragon. As for the outcome, I am not able to glimpse upon it."
After that, Alfia processed the information given by him. Many doubts sprang on her mind at the same time.
For example…
"Why did you tell this to me?"
Nobu looked at her silently. His thoughts remained unknown to Alfia. His fully-activated [Mana Furnace] added another sense of solemnity at this moment.
"You already died for your beliefs once. Wasn't it enough proof you could be trusted?" He said.
"But of course, it doesn't excuse you of the things you had done in the past."
Alfia was one of the main players for the Great Feud that occurred five years ago. She helped Erebus, Evilus' head, to cause as much chaos as possible in Orario—all to plant a sense of danger and turn themselves into experience bags who would propel the current generation of adventurers.
That incident was the main reason why Ottar, Finn, Gareth, and Riveria leveled up to their current status. Out of everyone, only Zald, Alfia, and a select few survived. Empress died due to the miasma and direct attacks from the One-eyed Back Dragon.
In the end, the survivors decided to plan this attack along with Evilus to make full use of their dying selves.
"Your decision was understandable… but it isn't just for the people whom you have killed, be it directly or indirectly."
Nobu's golden pupils glowed dimly. Both his beliefs as [Nobu] and [Galahad] converged at this moment. Neither of them could excuse an evil thing.
"Then again, it's that dragon's fault."
Crack-!
The ground cracked at the mention of the black dragon. Nobu involuntarily recalled the silhouette of the dragon who sent Hephaestus back to Tenkai… or perhaps she wasn't even able to return at all.
Its current level made Nobu doubt as to whether it could affect divinities or not.
Due to the suffocating pressure, the dungeon was on the verge of creating another Juggernaut.
Seeing this, Nobu withdrew it.
Alfia marveled at the fine control he had over his power. She wasn't even affected by it despite their proximity.
Looking at her, he asked:
"To atone for your sins or simply for the sake of this world… would you join me in this battle?"
She was momentarily stunned before she came back to her senses. Her high processing speed wasn't even necessary for her to decide. Nobu is far stronger than her and has an aura of solemnity and nobility akin to a knight's.
Simply put, he wouldn't go back on his words.
"...I will."
*****
After that meeting, I descended to the deeper floors. I fought several monsters with only my semi-opened [Mana Furnace] yet it was a breeze. The inhuman state it places me in could endure the high temperature on this floor. If my arm was cut off, I could simply reattach it. If I was burnt to a crisp, I could recover in a few seconds.
With this level, I far surpassed most magicians in my world. I don't want to be overconfident, but the ranks of Magisters might only be a few steps away from me.
That reminds me…
'Mahito.'
There was a personification of fear of death called "Mahito". He is a special-grade curse that could manipulate a person's soul with a touch. He could turn them straight into cursed spirits as he wills it.
He is also the one responsible for Nanami-san's death in the third iteration. I was helpless against his means.
But, if it was now, I might be able to match him.
For a moment, the will to return to my world rose up. I couldn't wait to screw up everything in Kenjaku's palms; or take revenge on that bastard ancient red dragon.
"Fu…"
I cleared my mind. I noticed these thoughts became more frequent the moment I woke up. It is completely different from my position as the passive one. With the power to change things actively, I am slowly becoming careless.
Fortunately, I noticed it now.
'I'll wait a while longer. My cheat has a problem along with Galahad…'
Unsurprisingly, I found out that I couldn't absorb energy as of now. I couldn't reach Galahad nor the 'thoughts' that activated my chances.
Now that I knew it was not that simple, I wanted to explore it further.
'I shouldn't become impulsive…'
In the first place, I am somewhat aware of my limits through my three or so years of experiences. I dove to the seventy-ninth floor alone only with my [Mana Furnace].
While engrossing myself in this thought, I strolled the streets of Orario. The flashes of those memories came less often. I am able to easily extricate myself from my memories completely unlike before.
It must be the effect of [Pure Heart]. I know Galahad has an unshakeable mental fortress, and the only moment I felt it shake was during one of my vague memories.
For some reason, it was more of…anger?
'I really need to revisit our previous world…'
I grew curious about that other world. Magic based on the amount of miracles present in an era. It is inversely proportional to the progress of civilization. When people believe less in the supernatural, it grows weaker; thus magicians' powers grow weaker as well.
As for Camelot…
It had thirteen knights along with her highness. I believe they could defeat the Black Dragon and the ancient red dragon without much struggle.
'There's also him…'
The enigmatic and inhumane court magus, Merlin. I could recall he viewed Galahad as a sort of interesting specimen before concluding that I am heartless.
"Sirius?"
"Anya-san?"
I came across an acquaintance. A woman with short-brown hair and a pair of cat ears and a tail greeted me.
"So that's really you, nya! How did you change drastically, nya?!"
Her familiar habit of adding those words resounded in my ears.
"Things happen." I smiled as I replied. "Did you head out to buy something for the hostess? It's still your shift, I believe."
"Sharp as always, nya! They need some stuff, so I headed out, nya."
"I see. If that's the case…"
I pulled out a bag of valis from my pocket. They were part of the ones I kept as cash for some expenses. They total around several thousand valis.
"It's my treat. This should make up for my months of absence, no?"
"But Sirius—"
"We could keep it a secret between us. You can keep the money you originally have for the future expenses of the hostess."
With several words of convincing, I succeeded in making Anya-san accept those valis.
Seeing her rush away from my position, I thought of the good times I had in Gekai.
"To protect…"
*****
In a pruned timeline where external forces don't exist, humanity struggled to exist. The lone organization who made it possible is currently fighting against the King of Mages in a desperate attempt to prevent humanity from being wiped out.
The huge ring of white light on the sky is a constant reminder of why they are fighting.
Its current head, Romani Archiman, is the man responsible for providing support from the back.
"London… America… and… Jerusalem."
The orange-haired man sighed at the mention of a familiar place.
"Things could change but not these…"
SHEBA could only predict the locations of the next singularities. Even, it couldn't reach the seventh singularity, hence planning for it becomes quite useless. Nevertheless, Romani archived the data belonging to the future singularities the last master would face.
"Hm..?"
For a moment, everything on his screen became jumbled text. It instantly roused him from his sleepiness and started debugging it.
"Romani-san, it's an influx of information from SHEBA!"
"...Yeah. We couldn't handle this amount easily…"
Romani encountered one of the events that he originally imagined with his overthinking.
When things could go wrong, it goes wrong.
Granted it was the first time he experienced this, but he skillfully maneuvered through some points and stopped most of the connections from SHEBA.
As of now, it is the thing that always goes wrong in Chaldea—from the inaccurate predictions outside the common era to the changing details it gives them in several singularities.
Fortunately, they were able to deal with it.
"What is this..?"
Romani couldn't help but notice a certain line of syntaxes.
"Summoning… Saint..?"
At first glance, it seemed as if something tried to summon a Heroic Spirit on the level of a Saint. However, there exists deeper meaning to it and Romani thinks along that line.
"Just who could be..?"
The servant from a decade ago flashed in his mind. He was the servant responsible for the pseudo-success of the Demi-servant experiment, in which he promptly stopped.
"If it's on the same level as him…"
Romani ended up overthinking all night long.
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