Chapter 287

“A conditional... approval?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“I don’t know how you know about Pangaea’s existence, but I can tell you have no idea about the resources and effort required to activate it.” Grandis stared at him with his grey eyes and asked, “Do you know what Pangaea is?”

Seong-Hwi recalled an incident in his past life. Haema Sanguis had killed Una, the Fifth Fiend, and Echion had invaded Redeo after they had lost their leader. Echion’s justification had been that Redeo had illegally occupied territory that belonged to the dimension of Echion.

A worldwide war broke out throughout all the dragon territories, and Redeo was powerless to stop them without their leader. Then, Grandis intervened using physical means.

He split the territories apart like a cookie, Seong-Hwi thought.

Grandis had separated only the territories that Redeo still had left, switching them with a wasteland in the northeastern region of the first and second zones. Because of that, Redeo could no longer remain a mainstream faction, but their survival had been guaranteed.

“It is an artifact of the dimension Gigas, which can move continents,” Seong-Hwi replied.

“So, you know,” Grandis said as he outstretched his right hand.

A spherical object resembling a globe appeared over his palm. Tectonic plates of various sizes and shapes, resembling puzzle pieces, were repeatedly gathering and scattering.

“Wow, so that’s Pangaea!” Bafor shouted.

“It’s smaller than I expected,” Irura remarked.

“Is that really it?” Elementum mumbled.

“Then what conditions do you think are required to write that kind of history? Check for yourself,” Grandis said as he threw Pangaea, and Seong-Hwi caught it with both hands.

[Pangaea (Artifact)

Rank: S(99)

Description: An artifact with the gravitational force of the dimension Gigas indwelling it. It can lift designated continents and switch their locations with other continents. Failure to fulfill the condition reflects the gravitational force on the caster.

Condition: A body that can endure the gravitational force of the dimension Gigas and the causality necessary to switch continents.

Skill: Ultima]

...

[Activate Artifact Skill: Ultima?]

[Your body cannot endure the gravitational force of the dimension Gigas.]

[Penalty: Death]

[Insufficient causality stored within Desire.]

[Penalty: Death of the Star]

Seong-Hwi was lost for words after checking the Akasha Messages.

Grandis stared at him, amused by his reaction, and asked, “What do you think? Not as easy as you expected, right?”

“What in the...” Seong-Hwi trailed off.

“Seong-Hwi?” Bafor called.

Seong-Hwi handed Bafor Pangaea without a word. Bafor gasped with widened eyes, then passed it to Irura as if it were a ticking time bomb.

“O-O Mother Tree!” Irura shouted in shock and passed Pangaea to Elementum, who frowned and passed it to Taidzu.

“What kind of fucking artifact is this?!” Taidzu cursed and passed Pangaea to Chiron like a basketball.

“Why are you all so—NEIGHHH!” Chiron whinnied, lifting his front legs.

“Ahaha, give it here,” Grandis said as he outstretched his hand, and Pangaea floated back into his hand. “To be honest with you, I was planning on denying your request until I arrived here. Not only does it consume large amounts of causality, but it is also taxing on my body.”

Seong-Hwi nodded and thought, I would guess Grandis is the only one in the Mirror World who can activate this artifact.

“However, I changed my mind once I saw this place. Various races, gathering and thriving as they work together,” Grandis mumbled as his grey eyes became hazy as if he were dreaming.

“Does that mean...” Seong-Hwi trailed off as he licked his lips.

“I will activate Pangaea for you if you accept a few conditions.” Grandis extended his log-like fingers and said, “First, Underground must actively participate in the war against the Chaos and do their best to reclaim the nescius.”

“Well... Of course.”

“Second, I will take your share of the Bloodstream Stone Piece. I need it to replenish the causality that I will consume.”

Seong-Hwi’s expression stiffened once Grandis demanded they hand over the greatest spoil of their war. He pulled out the piece of the red gem from his pocket.

[Bloodstream Stone Piece (1/3)

Description: A piece of the Bloodstream Stone that holds the past, present, and future of the race Vampire. It contains an enormous amount of causality.]

[Causality stored within the Bloodstream Stone Piece cannot be used for 20 days due to overload.]

They had planned to use it to enhance Underground’s combat power, but it was not as important as making Together happen. However, it was still an incredible shame.

“Are you all... okay with that?” Seong-Hwi asked the other leaders of Underground.

“Well, it can’t be helped,” Bafor said.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Elementum said.

“It’s okay,” Irura said.

“Heh, I don’t even have the right to use that, so I have no say in it,” Taidzu said.

Once everyone agreed, Seong-Hwi turned to Grandis and said, “You can have it.”

“Good. Lastly, I would like you to assist me,” Grandis said.

“Pardon?”

“To be more exact, with the duties of the Sēmen. Judicium is about to keel over from overwork. There have been too many incidents occurring worldwide lately.” Grandis shook his head with a smile and continued, “I would prefer to make you a consul and put you to work—”

“I cannot do that,” Seong-Hwi interjected.

“I knew you would say that. You are similar to Lee Kang-San, after all. It would be better to give you a temporary position, I suppose. Ahaha! Let us discuss this again after I have Judicium make a list of priority incidents. They won’t be too difficult. So, how about it? Do you accept these three conditions?”

Seong-Hwi looked at the members of Underground one by one, and they each nodded in silence. They knew that Together was a necessity. If they did not make it happen, Underground could not display its full power as a confederation. Hence, there was only one answer.

“We accept.”

***

“In that case, designate the territories that you wish to relocate within the twenty days it will take for the Bloodstream Stone Piece’s overloaded state to be undone,” Grandis said.

“Understood,” Seong-Hwi replied.

“Well, then. I will be heading down. I wish to look around this city. Besides, I’m afraid I will bring this building down if I put my weight on it. Haha!”

Grandis floated down from the observatory with his legs still crossed. A momentary silence filled the observatory, and it took a while for breaths to fill the void that the massive entity had made.

“Seong-Hwi! Irura! Brother Bafor!” Taidzu shouted, breaking the silence first as he approached them with his arms wide. “I heard you had gone on quite the rampage.”

“Hah, I barely did anything. It was all Seong-Hwi,” Bafor said.

“Ahaha! That’s Seong-Hwi, for you! I would expect nothing less from our Underground’s action commander!”

“Our Underground? Does that mean what I think it means, Master Taidzu?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“I am not simply Taidzu anymore. My name is Taidzu Solho Abkai!”

“You’ve become the Abkai! Then have the other four tribes been unified?”

“Yes. The Blade, Hawk, Wind, Sun, and Tusk tribes have all been unified! I shall introduce you to the tribe chiefs if you give me some of your time in the future,” Taidzu said confidently.

“That sounds great.”

Seong-Hwi clenched his fists and thought, We’ve gained a powerful ally!

The World Ranker Taidzu had become the patriarch of the orcs and relayed his intentions to join Underground.

Every single orc warrior is a master of hand-to-hand combat! With them, we’ll be—huh?

As Seong-Hwi was thinking about the addition of orcs to their forces, he noticed a centaur with red hair and eyes glancing at him from behind Taidzu.

“Who is that behind you?” he asked, pretending not to know who the centaur was despite having seen him once back in Fortitudo.

“Oh, perfect timing. What are you doing over there, Chiron? Come this way,” Taidzu said.

Chiron approached as he cleared his throat, pretending as if it couldn’t be helped.

“He is the general of Arimaspi, Chiron the Sagittarius. He made his way here without rest to join Underground!” Taidzu introduced.

“Ahem. Look, Taidzu. I wouldn’t say without rest... and I still haven’t decided on joining—”

Seong-Hwi grabbed Chiron’s hands before he finished talking and greeted, “It is an honor to meet you. I have heard of your masterful skills with the bow that allow you to shoot an arrow from one end of the plain to the other.”

“H-huh? Who told you that?”

“A centaur named Ibiso did. Was he wrong?”

Chiron, noticing doubts forming in Seong-Hwi’s black eyes, quickly snorted and placed his hands on his waist.

“He most definitely was not! I am the greatest archer in the Mirror World! Ahaha! You must be Cheon Seong-Hwi. I have heard of your recent exploits. It is nice to meet you. Congratulations on becoming a World Ranker.”

“Haha, thank you very much. Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Lord Bafor,” Seong-Hwi said, not letting Chiron recover from the storm of introductions.

“It is nice to meet you, Chiron. Hm? What is with your bow?!” Bafor greeted, then shouted as he pointed at the bow at Chiron’s waist.

“Oh, this is—”

“Tsk, tsk. It’s too old. Not something the legendary archer of the plains should be using. Let’s pick a day, and I will make you a good bow.”

Chiron’s eyes widened. “A bow made by the Steel King? Neighhh!”

“Ahaha! Brother Bafor is very generous. He has also made weapons for all our orc warriors,” Taidzu said.

“Is that true?”

“Of course! You know how excellent dwarven items are. Our power has practically doubled.”

“Haha, you flatter me too much, my brother,” Bafor remarked.

“Not at all, Brother Bafor! Are you suggesting you gave us useless weapons?”

“Man, you’re not even letting me be humble, are you? Well, I couldn’t spare my efforts since we’ve entered a blood pact, so I went all out. Haha!”

“I would expect nothing less from you, Brother Bafor! Hahaha!”

The gears in Chiron’s head turned busily as he listened to the hearty conversation between Bafor and Taidzu.

A cavalry equipped with dwarven items! Amazing! Most of all, there are... five Recorders! He thought as he assessed the gap in power between him and each individual by their aura. The Steel King and Elementum are off the table. I would have trouble against Taidzu in close quarters. I could take that elf in the back. As for this human...

Chiron stared at Seong-Hwi intently, but was swept by doubt.

I... have no idea. The mana I feel from him is on par with mine, or below, but... I can’t be assured of my victory. Are his stats low, but he has high caliber?

However, one needed high stats to record exceptional histories, which would then lead to heightened caliber. Chiron couldn’t comprehend the contradictory information.

In any case... Now that Fortitudo, our only ally, has entered Underground, I suppose Arimaspi should as well.

It would be a different story if he were fine with rotting in the southern plains for the rest of his life, but he was a rather ambitious man.

“We of Arimaspi would also like to enter Underground. I guarantee our mobility will be of use to you,” Chiron said respectfully once he had completed his calculations.

“The Union accepts you,” Seong-Hwi said with a smile.

“Fortitudo and Arimaspi have always been brothers,” Taidzu said.

“Faber also welcomes a new blood pact,” Bafor said.

“Viridis feels the same way. The elves would love to discuss archery with the centaurs,” Irura said.

The four members then turned to Elementum, standing alone in the corner.

She turned her head toward the window and mumbled, “Do as you will.”

“Ahaha! This day marks the birth of a confederation among orcs, humans, dwarves, elves, spirits, and centaurs!” Taidzu shouted joyfully.

“There is one more race,” Seong-Hwi remarked.

“Hm?”

“What do you mean?”

The remainder of the people besides Bafor and Irura stared at Seong-Hwi in confusion.

“Oi, Gilder! Come in!” Seong-Hwi shouted toward the observatory entrance.

Footsteps going up the stairs grew closer, and a bald man entered the observatory.

“It is an honor to meet you, leaders of Underground. My name is Gilder Roy.”

“Isn’t that a human? Unless he’s an octopus,” Taidzu said once he saw Gilder.

“And this is—”

As Gilder was about to introduce someone, Echo, who had been hiding behind his head, appeared as she raised her arms.

“I’m Echo!” she shouted.

“A... fairy?” Taidzu asked, his eyes widened once he saw the small, blonde fairy with golden eyes and twenty-four wings.

“A fairy?! Gasp! Look here, Cheon Seong-Hwi. Fairies are the dragons’ subordinate race!” Chiron shouted, his expression hardened.

“Eek!” Echo hid behind Gilder once she realized the atmosphere wasn’t welcoming.

“You son of a...” Gilder mumbled as he glared at Chiron.

Just then, Seong-Hwi approached him before he had even realized it, grabbing Echo and bringing her forward.

“Kyaah! Second Knight!”

“Don’t hide, Echo,” Seong-Hwi said.

“Second... Knight?” Echo mumbled, freezing as she looked into Seong-Hwi’s cold black eyes, unlike his usual warm gaze.

“We haven’t held the coronation yet, but you are the Fairy Queen. You are the leader of the Vindicta Resistance.”

“Oi, Seong-Hwi. Echo is—”

“Echo is not a child, Gilder. No, she mustn’t be a child. Don’t project Dryas onto her,” Seong-Hwi interrupted.

Gilder bit his lip.

Seong-Hwi turned to Echo again and asked, “What are you?”

“I-I’m... Echo...” Echo mumbled.

“What is an Echo?”

“Echo is... umm...”

Echo’s golden eyes trembled intensely as if a storm was blowing.

Why is the Second Knight... doing this to me? Echo wondered, hurt by her Second Knight’s attitude.

She was about to tear up, intimidated by the various gazes of those waiting for her answer.

“What do you live for? What do you want? Who are you?”

She continued to be bombarded with questions.

I... I’m... Echo. Echo, who had always been waiting. Echo, who became happy after meeting those who had been waiting for me. E-everyone!

Once driven to her limit by Seong-Hwi, Echo began to hear kind voices echoing inside her head.

“Lady Echo! We’ve been waiting for you!”

“You are our hope!”

“Finally! At last!”

“Our queen!”

She heard the voices of those who had been waiting for her. If anything else, she did not want to disappoint them.

“E-Echo is... Echo! Everyone’s Echo!” Echo shouted, and an iridescent light flashed from her wings.

“This is...”

“Harmony Force, the fairies’ secondary force.”

“Such... immense potential.”

Their gazes changed after realizing Echo’s dormant powers and potential.

“Echo,” Gilder mumbled as he gripped the Queen’s Crown, resonating with Echo’s Harmony Force.

He believed they should hold the coronation as soon as possible.

“Do you want to enter Underground, Echo?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“I do!” Echo shouted as she clenched her fists.

“Why?”

“I want to protect my loved ones! I’m going to defeat the bad dragons! Please let Echo—I mean, the Vindicta Resistance into Underground, everyone!” Echo shouted as she bowed in tears.

After a momentary silence, she heard the familiar, warm voice say, “Great job.”

Echo raised her head to see the smiling Seong-Hwi.

“S-Second Knight... Waaahh!”

“Hah, you’re a harsh one, Seong-Hwi,” Bafor said.

“I agree. You had already decided to accept them,” Irura added.

“It would have been meaningless if Echo hadn’t said it herself,” Seong-Hwi said with a smile. He then turned to Elementum, Taidzu, and Chiron. “Lord Bafor, Master Irura, and I have already accepted them. First, what do you say, Master Elementum?”

“I have a debt... to repay to the fairies,” Elementum said with her arms crossed.

She flicked her index finger, creating a breeze that wiped Echo’s tears.

“Master Chiron? Master Taidzu?” Seong-Hwi asked.

Chiron remained silent.

“Huuu, you haven’t changed. You sure know how to surprise an orc,” Taidzu said as he wrapped his arm around the silent Chiron. “The more forces we have, the better. I’m all for it.”

“Ahem... Judging someone’s entry despite having just entered myself is quite embarrassing. I also accept.”

Echo flew toward Taidzu and Chiron and kissed them on their foreheads.

“Yay! Thank you very much, Mister Horse! Mister Orc!”

“Ahem.”

“Ahaha!”

They rubbed their foreheads with awkward smiles.

“And... Pretty unnie!” Echo shouted as she flew toward Elementum.

“I’m not your—”

Echo kissed Elementum on her forehead before she could finish. The three people could have stopped Echo if they wanted to, but did not.

Echo has... a mysterious power that lowers people’s guards. Is it thanks to her innate Harmony Force? Seong-Hwi wondered, smiling as he stared at Echo.

“With that... we have a confederation of seven races. Let us use these seven pillars as the foundation to build a house that will never fall.”

***

My home is not a place; it is people.

Lois McMaster Bujold