Chapter 45 - The Point of No Return
With the instant teleportation ability of Sloth, it didn’t take long at all for Jae to reach the edge of the Cursed Zone, encountering various infected creatures as he went.
Arriving at the end of the dead forest also meant running into the one thing keeping it all contained.
“Hmm...”
Inspecting the mystical barrier that encased the entire area in a golden hemisphere, Jae immediately realised something.
It’s not exactly magic, but... Something different. On a fundamental level, it doesn’t feel the same as magic energy or mana, but its presence feels strangely big... Is this ‘divinity’?
Holy magic was something Aphy had not taught Jae, with one of the reasons being that it functioned differently compared to any other kind of magic; rather than magic energy absorbed by the body and processed into mana, holy magic instead used something called “divinity” as a resource―an esoteric form of energy that, as far as people knew, could only be obtained through religious deeds like prayer or other ‘divine practice’.
Divinity was undoubtedly separate from both Fighting Spirit―or aura―and magic energy. Despite this, the usage of divinity was considered as holy “magic”.
Didn’t she say it was only considered as a type of magic because that’s how the System interprets it? In that case, wouldn’t the very foundational roots of it be similar to any other magic, if not the same? The only real difference is that it uses divinity instead of magic energy.
Of course, despite their fundamentals being the same, each form of magic had its own specialty that couldn’t be perfectly replicated by any other; that included holy magic’s property of ‘purification’.
“Wait. Wouldn’t that be the property of divinity instead? The purpose of holy magic is to transform that pure energy into multipurpose magic... Is that it?”
In the end, it didn’t really matter―Jae never expected to gain something like divinity in the first place, nor did he particularly care for it, especially since the System considered him Undead.
“...Wait. If I’m Undead...”
Curiously, he stretched his hand forward. Reaching for the translucent barrier like a radiant film, he got closer and closer until―
Zzt-!
“Ow!”
―Zapped by something, he reactively yoinked his hand away. Soon after, a frown descended upon his face.
“...It’s not imbued with lightning magic too, right? It felt like touching an electric fence, times one hundred...”
Of course, Jae knew it couldn’t be lightning magic, but divinity.
“Well, this is troubling... Didn’t Jiyeru mention something about a Saint in his call before? I guess divinity would be the best thing to suppress a cursed place like this, but... Damn.”
Since the barrier was so overwhelmingly large, Jae didn’t think it would be that hard to break open just a piece of it by force, but that would cause a whole heap of unnecessary trouble in itself. Then, he could only think about alternative means.
“I should have asked Jiyeru how he got in... Hm. Does Sloth work?”
Focusing on a spot just outside of the barrier, Jae activated Sloth, but...
“...Nothing. Of course.”
Since that didn’t work, and he couldn’t think of anything else to try that wasn’t just breaking the thing, Jae decided to walk around the edge as he contemplated.
Eventually, unable to come up with any new solutions, his idle train of thought moved into another topic entirely.
“Hey, Sloth. You up?”
[......]
“Guys, is he awake?”
[......]
[......]
[......]
“...Hey, I know not all of you are gone. I have a question, so do as I say for once.”
[And what might the question be?]
“Oh, Envy. Where are the others?”
[...Resting.]
“Is that right... Anyway, wake him up. I want to know something.”
[The Mimic will not be happy.]
“Should I care? Well, he’s given me a lot, so he can rest as much as he wants after. I just want to know one thing.”
[Alright.]
A few moments later, a groggy voice, evidently displeased, spoke.
[What do you want?]
Sloth’s mood was clearly not on the positive side, and Jae didn’t want to beat around the bush either, so he jumped right to the point.
“When I left the Dungeon, did you choose where I appeared? Or if not, did you know that I’d appear here?”
[...Does it matter?]
“Yes. Because, I know you weren’t there, but when I left the Pride Dungeon, Aphy intentionally selected a place for me to appear because she wanted me to help with something in that area, and that turned out to be saving Rena. So, I wondered if you chose this place on purpose too.”
[Why would I do that? I don’t care where you end up. Is that all?]
“Hey now. I’m not done. It’s just, I’m asking because it feels like too much of a coincidence. After all, out of anywhere in the entire world, I just happened to end up in this Cursed Zone, where, coincidentally, I met Jiyeru, Rena’s brother. Are you telling me to believe that it’s just a fortuitous twist of fate or something?”
[...So? What if that’s exactly it? I don’t know what you expect to gain from me admitting anything, but things just happen the way they happen. I wouldn’t think too deeply about it if you want to allow your mind some rest. I’m going now, so don’t disturb me again.]
“Hey... Really? That’s how it’s gonna be...? Tsk.”
Not expecting such an abrupt, one-sided outcome, Jae’s expression crumpled into one of dissatisfaction.
‘Don’t think too deeply about it’―How can I not? You only say that ‘cause you’re too much of a lazy bastard to bother in the first place... He is right, though. I don’t gain anything from stressing over it constantly, and even if I got an answer, it wouldn't change much.
Realising as much, he decided to change the subject and thought about something else that previously came to mind,
Earlier, Jiyeru spoke in Seronian. Even when he was on that call with Rena’s sister, I didn’t hear anything I couldn’t understand, meaning they weren’t speaking natively... I wonder why. Now that I think about it, I could’ve just asked, but I guess it doesn’t matter; it was probably just as an extra security measure or something. Perhaps to make sure no Demon who overheard them figured anything out...
There were a lot of things Jae could or should have asked Jiyeru, especially now that he was spending some time contemplating the things he didn’t know. But, well, he felt reluctant to go all the way back now.
Regardless, he found it impressive that two members of the Demon royalty were fluent enough in their human aggressor nation’s tongue to hold a fluid conversation, but perhaps it was for that very reason that it was to be expected.
“None of it really matters that much, anyway. I’ll be at the front door of the castle soon enough, and no doubt I’ll have even more questions to ask by then...”
When that time comes, the Demon Queen can answer everything herself... Well, hopefully.
“...Huh? Is that...? Oh, what the hell?”
After a while of mindless circling the barrier, Jae encountered something ominous.
A hole...?
In a seemingly random spot, the divine barrier had a hole―incredibly wide at about fifteen metres in diameter.
“...This is dangerous, right?”
Approaching the bizarre cavity, Jae stuck out his hand.
Zzt, Zzt...
Like before, it still reacted to his presence and tried to shock him.
“It’s not as intense, though... Hm. What happened for it to break like this...?”
I can’t imagine Jiyeru knows about it. But then again, I still don’t know how he even entered the barrier in the first place, unless he just walked in; since suppression barriers like these are far weaker on the outside, there was probably some kind of impact.
There was no telling for certain, and since only guesses could be made at this point, Jae quickly came to the conclusion that there was no point putting much thought into it―Besides, getting to the destination was more of a priority. Enhancing his body, he steeled his nerves and walked through the weakened barrier.
Zzzt, Zzt...!
“Ngh. Ow.”
The light zapping was soon over, and as Jae crossed the barrier easier and less painful than he was beginning to expect, he felt relieved. Further, the main objective of the barrier also seemed to be succeeding despite its noticeable flaw.
“It’s got a hole, but at least it seems to be keeping the miasma from leaking. I guess that’s good enough. Although, some of the stronger monsters might be able to escape... That might be bad. Well, if it’s only a curse and not something like an infection, then it should be fine for the most part.”
I’m sure there are people nearby to oversee the barrier’s safety, anyway... Just in case, I should be sure to avoid them.
Thinking this, Jae immediately activated Sneak and Mana Concealment. Although these two skills weren’t perfect by any means, and Sneak in particular wasn’t an especially high-tier skill, it was still better than nothing. Jumping atop the closest tall tree, Jae peered into the distance; the verdant forest already looked much cleaner than the environment of the Cursed Zone, and the difference was so striking that it made said curse seem even deadlier than Jae first thought.
Jiyeru mentioned something about it being related to the “Forbidden Continent”, whatever that is... It sounds curious, but I don’t have time for that.
“Now then. I moved anti-clockwise around the barrier from the south, so now it looks like I’m on the... South-eastern side. Oh, that’s the exact direction of the Demon Continent, right...? So, if I want to go to Bahgwud, I need to circle back around to the southern side and go straight from there.”
And so, he did just that. It didn’t take long thanks to Jae’s idea to use Sloth from the tips of the trees, and before he knew it, he was on the right track; now, the only thing left was to travel in a straight line south until he arrived at Bahgwud Village.
“Let’s not waste any time, then.”
I can’t keep a princess waiting, after all, can I?
Thus, without hesitation, Jae set off, the picturesque image of Bahgwud’s peaceful panorama flashing briefly in his mind.
Jae knew it ever since he first looked over the cliff behind the Seronian Royal Palace, but it only hit him now just how incredibly vast the Plaentic region truly was.
Briefly put, it took a few days before a plume of smoke became visible in the sky, even with Sloth―Of course, this is due to the skill’s substantial mana usage requirement for teleportation, which Jae had to wait to recharge multiple times even with his unparalleled capacity.
Still, finally, he made it, and he knew it as soon as he spotted those columns of smoke rising into the bright blue air; presumably from house chimneys.
“Phew...”
Catching even this minor glimpse of the village’s existence filled him with great relief that Rena, Gadeun, and everyone was doing well, even if he didn’t know or had forgotten their names.
In fact, Jae didn’t realise it but a subtle smile was just starting to form on his face. It had been a while since he talked to anyone that was a real person―the last being Jiyeru―and now, he was looking forward to having even just a short conversation again.
Ordinarily, Jae didn’t think he would experience such loneliness; perhaps he had just gotten sick of the voices, or perhaps he had simply grown bored of travelling for days at a time with no way to entertain himself outside of mindlessly casting spells to practise basic magic.
Either way, he could forget all about it once he sees some familiar faces.
Sensing the scant magic energy of some of the village’s residents, Jae was glad to find out they were in fact still there, although there seemed to be fewer than he remembered.
Moreover, the closer he approached, the stronger the strange, acrid smell tickling his nose grew. Somehow, it smelled like a bonfire. Jae recalled the pillars of smoke he saw in the sky.
Crash-!
The sounds of something akin to wood being chopped flowed, but somehow felt strangely disturbing.
And then, the surging heat in his face, whose source couldn’t be determined between his own fluster as his heartbeat raced or a rising temperature in the atmosphere.
“......”
Whatever the reality was, it was inevitable for these few things to compound and create a greater beast in his mind.
No...
The uncertainty of whether to be worried or not only resulted in solidified anxiousness and the hastening of his steps.
It can’t be. Don’t tell me...!
Hurriedly, he moved, and just like he wished, he soon stepped foot on village grounds.
That’s right.
The village in the boonies; practically forgotten by the rest of society and that only served as a hiding spot and a place for wandering adventurers to dump their unwanted belongings.
The tranquil, pleasant village grounds that was once peaceful to the point of being dull...
Fwoaaaaar...!
Unmistakably, the Bahgwud Village before his eyes.
“Graaaaoooowwwhhh...!!”
"Hyaaaakh...!?"
―It was burning to the ground.
Meanwhile, in an unnamed valley.
“Oi, this should be far enough.”
Neighh~!
Suddenly calling out and pulling the reins on his horse, Ryan came to a halt. Taken by surprise, it took them a moment, but Nicholas and Kaitlyn hastily followed suit. Calming down her mount that freaked out for a moment at the sudden pull, the latter sighed.
“Woah~! There, there, boy, it’s okay... Really, Ryan? We’re stopping here?”
“For today.”
“Why? We’re in the middle of--”
“Bumfuck nowhere. Yeah.”
“R-right... So, how come?”
“That is why.” Jumping down from his horse, he gestured to the barren rock valley around them. “Look around you n’ think about it; no one’s comin’ all the way out here, and ‘sides, we’re plenty far away from the city.”
“I suppose I can’t argue with that... I just didn’t expect to be doing it already.”
After hearing his reasoning, the other two also got down from their horses. Quietly nodding his head, Ryan approached the valley wall, placed his hand on the flat yet rough surface, and let out a simple incantation.
“Dig.”
As he cast the elementary-tier earth magic spell, a sizable hole was carved out in the wall of the valley almost instantaneously. Then, he cast it again... And again, and again, and again until a whole room was created. Impressed at the efficient performance, Nicholas whistled.
“Wow. Does it not take a lot of MP to use the spell so much?”
Wiping the quickly accumulating sweat off his brow, Ryan turned to him. “If you weren’t such a talentless pig, you could’ve been helpin’ me here.”
“Eh. I don’t know, I think supporting you guys in other ways suits me more. I don’t wanna get all tuckered out like that, y’know?”
“Yeah. That’s why you’re gonna pass me the potions we brought. Else, I’ll make you sweat regardless.”
“Oh, right. Blue is for MP, yeah? Here you go, oh great one.”
“Cheers, slave. Gulp, gulp...”
“My goodness... Can’t you boys be a bit more serious...?”
““Huh?””
“...Nevermind.”
Since Ryan was the only one of the three who was talented in magic, only he could work on it, but thanks to their stockpile of mana restore potions, the job was soon completed nevertheless.
“Aight. Bring ‘em in.”
At his signal, Kaitlyn and Nicholas led the three horses into the shade of the expanded cavern to rest. Giving the cave some “windows” for improved air circulation, “door” for security, and some magic lights with another elementary-tier spell, “Illuminate”, the group’s temporary home was now more or less complete.
“The time’s coming up to about noon now... I wonder if anyone noticed yet...?”
At Kaitlyn’s mutter, the two boys glanced at each other.
“Probably not, right? When was the last time we spoke to anyone or attracted attention?”
“You don’t need to stand out for people to notice when you’re gone. I’m sure some people will figure it out quickly. Like Amy.”
“Oh, I guess so... But, knowing her, she probably knew what was going on even before we left. After all, she has eyes practically all over the palace, doesn’t she?”
“That’s right... I would imagine Ashley to also find out rather early, too. She’s been very fixated on Ryan’s promise recently.”
“Oi. Did I ever say it was a promise?”
“Oh, did you not? Either way, Ashley seemed pretty certain that you would...”
“So? When was the last time I didn’t scam someone with a request?”
“...Wow. You know, you’re right, but you sound like a complete scumbag when the words come out of your own mouth.”
“I don’t remember ever claimin’ to not be scum. If someone knows me and still chooses to believe me, ain’t it their fault if they get scammed? That’s what it looks like to me.”
Having pointless conversation as they each sorted through the magic bags and prepared all the necessary materials while Ryan dug out a second, slightly smaller chamber, time passed fairly quickly. Finally, as the sun began to descend over the horizon and the light of the world dimmed, all the components were gathered.
“Aight. From now on, you shut your traps ‘til I say otherwise.”
Having been told in advance that Ryan would require utmost concentration for the next part, the two nodded their heads obediently and went to their sleeping bags to rest. Knowing that he would wake them up at his own discretion if he needed anything, there was no need for them to speak unnecessarily.
Now, Ryan picked up the first item―a piece of highest-quality enchanted chalk―got down on his knees and began to draw. With the scroll containing the blueprint to the Hero Summoning Ritual by his side, there was no room for error and he could get down to business without worry.
As he mustered one-hundred per cent focus, passing memories of when he was studying the ritual floated by the back of his mind.
When the class was summoned, the summoning circle was placed on the ceiling of the room. As there was a red carpet beneath them when they woke up, one might ordinarily assume that that magic circle was all there was―but that would be incorrect.
As this ritual blueprint describes, there must also be a second magic circle on the floor mirroring the one above. In their case, it must have been hidden beneath the carpet.
Ryan also realised something else as he studied the blueprint. That is, knowledge vital to his future career as a magician, related to the Great Sage, and even something that denotes how to achieve the impossible.
See, ordinary magic circles are single-layered. Naturally, this is because they are flat, two dimensional ‘drawings’.
Because the vast majority of magic circles were designed with the sense that they were two dimensional, they are relatively insular, and cannot mix with other magic circles not incorporated into the initial design and merely connected, or else one would be overridden by the other.
Simply put, if one were to draw two separate magic circles on top of each other and power it, neither would function because they have both lost their shape as a magic circle.
The magic circle used in the Hero Summoning Ritual, on the other hand, is different.
Somehow, it seems to incorporate the varying designs of several different kinds of magic circles within a single, fluid diagram.
At first glance, it looks like a regular magic circle, albeit a complicated, highly advanced one.
At second glance, it appears to be a messy amalgamation of many diverse magic circles mixed into one, and therefore fully redundant.
And at the one hundredth glance, Ryan realised that it truly did make sense.
But only after the revelation that what he was looking at was only one half of the picture; the moment he realised the magic circle belonging on the floor and the magic circle belonging on the ceiling were in fact two halves of the same magic circle, it all came together.
Two incredibly complex pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly despite the laws of everything stating otherwise.
It was only possible because the whole ‘magic circle’ was not two dimensional, but rather split and cast over three dimensions.
Finishing drawing the outline and the tough shapes with the basic enchanted chalk, next came the variety―filling each half of the magic circle with dozens of engraved runic characters.
Of course, each character had to be engraved with different knives crafted from specific materials and so delicately as to not screw up the result by so much as a centimetre; or else the whole thing would have to be scrapped and redone by scratch.
This process, quite naturally, took several times longer than the first phase of drawing the outline, and the most frustrating part was having to engrave such precise characters on the ceiling without messing up.
Nevertheless, the process was eventually completed, and by that time, party members Kaitlyn and Nicholas had already awoken from their slumber.
Watching over Ryan’s shoulder quietly, they waited with bated breaths for the whole thing to be over.
Somehow, they were even tenser than he was, despite Ryan having been awake for over 24 hours at this point.
If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that the summoning circle didn’t have to be nearly as big as it was when the class was summoned.
After all, there would only be one “victim” this time, not an entire class of people.
Thanks to that, the amount of required magic energy to power the thing would be drastically reduced. Not that it wouldn’t be a significant amount, though; as if to prove it, Ryan set-up almost fifty different high-quality mana crystals in precise placements around both halves of the circle.
Since they acted just like batteries would in a technological device, they had to be properly connected to the rest of the circuit so that no power was lost.
In the end, the summoning circle had filled the entirety of the second chamber he had dug out, and it took well over the better half of a day to complete, but it was done.
“Ah, fuck... Finally...”
Falling on his back, Ryan closed his eyes and took a moment to gather himself. He had spent a prolonged time in utmost concentration, using multiple skills to maintain that state; the sudden return to normality could have some severe side-effects if he wasn’t careful, so he had to take it slow.
“Hey, you feeling alright...? Drink this.”
Crouching by his side, Kaitlyn held out a flask of stamina recovery potion. Not saying a word, Ryan snatched it from her hands and emptied the contents down his throat as if he hadn’t drank anything in days.
“Pah-! Wow, these things work quick, huh?”
Having rapidly regained his energy, he sat up.
“Well, it is a high-grade potion that costs a lot of gold... I assume everything is ready?”
“Pretty much. Just gotta power it up.”
“What about specifying the target? How can we be sure that we’re summoning the right person?”
“Oi, don’t get your panties in a twist and just trust the process, ‘kay? I already sorted that part out.”
“I’m just expressing my concerns, and I feel like it’s a valid worry to have. If we simply imitated the same summoning circle used by the palace, wouldn’t it produce the same result?”
“That’s why it ain’t the same. The target is indicated with these runes; there’s a lotta them ‘cause it takes a lotta specification to narrow the target down to one person. Doin’ that also takes a hell of a lot more energy than if it were to summon, say, five people at random.”
“Really? So, the specification itself is very heavy on magic energy consumption... Is there no way to use that Unique Skill of yours to lighten the load?”
“That’s exactly what I did; with Dimensional Contact, the link between any summonin’ circle I make and the target I’m contactin’ is strengthened, meanin’ it takes way less energy to summon them. That’s why it’s enough to use a circle this small.”
“This small? It’s pretty big even at this scale, no...? Besides, I would have thought that a larger circle would require a proportional amount of magic energy, but is that wrong?”
“Well, kinda. It ain’t the size of the magic circle that determines the magic energy usage, but the runes used; the number of runes, type of runes, materials used to engrave them, yada yada... It’s a whole lotta bullshit, really, but when you get into the deep of it, it turns out to not be that different from maths.”
The simplest way Ryan could explain it was to compare it to basic algebra, but since he didn’t have the luxury to go into a full, in-depth tutor session, he decided to save it for another time.
“Maths... I see.”
“Anyways, we’ve gotta get a move on before they start sendin’ search parties or bounties out. Let’s just do it and get outta here.”
Kneeling just outside the magic circle, Ryan placed his hands atop the closest mana crystal. As he began to inject mana at a steady rate, the energy flowed smoothly around the circuit, producing a mesmerising glow as it all connected together.
Each of the runic characters, filled with pure magic energy from the various crystals, radiated lights of myriad hues, dyeing the walls of the rocky chamber with kaleidoscopic images and flooding the room with flourishing colour.
Soon after, invisible threads of white magic seemed to materialise, stretching from floor to roof and tying both halves of the ritual circle.
This mystical scene lasted for but a few seconds before the white glow grew; it intensified and exploded until it was as if the whole world was painted white.
Ryan, Kaitlyn and Nicholas’ senses were all skewed.
They couldn’t see the space in front of them, and, unable to even hear their own thoughts, what felt like hours passed in an instant within this white void.
Confused, frightened, but undoubtedly in awe at the spectacle before them, they could only stare forward as the blinding light gradually began to dissipate.
There, as the light faded, a silhouette came into view that turned into a person.
All of a sudden, silence dominated the cave. With all the magical lights dispersed, Kaitlyn and Nicholas’ wide-eyed gazes welcomed the newcomer, and Ryan rose to his feet to do the same.
“Hey~”
“......”
With a toothy grin as cheeky as normal, he addressed the startled girl before him.
“...Ryan? Where is this? Did you really...!?”
“Hah. Welcome to your new home, sweetheart. There’s no goin’ back now.”
The girl who crossed the point of no return, Amelia Rannuel―Her expression instantly freezing over, she looked Ryan dead in the eyes and asked.
“Where is my boyfriend?”
