Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1227 - 1227: The Fading Seal [Monthly Bonus 1]

Encircling the sealed rift was a cylindrical curtain of sky-blue light composed of spatial and temporal law energies.

“It’s so faint you can barely tell there’s blue in it. The first layer of the seal is close to breaking,” Evan said as he walked around the cylinder, inspecting it.

“Yes. Give or take about a decade,” Artemisia replied.

“So I’ve only got ten more years, huh?” Evan asked.

“Yes. The closer the seal gets to breaking, the faster it deteriorates. Accounting for that acceleration, you have about that much time left.”

Evan heaved an exasperated sigh at the words of the goddess.

“It would’ve been nice if, after this seal breaks, we could just slap another one on it for another thousand years.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible, and Evan understood that better than anyone on the planet.

The reason resealing the rift wasn’t an option was because the moment it broke open, there would be no way Ginaroad or Beatrix on the other side wouldn’t use their Authorities to prevent it from being sealed again.

The last time, Arlan Maddox, together with the other Six Heroes, managed to seal the rift only because Beatrix’s attention hadn’t been focused there, so she couldn’t block their attempt.

Artemisia had provided the distraction that kept Beatrix occupied, but even so, the residual Authority Beatrix had left behind when she widened the rift a thousand years ago was enough to prevent it from ever being permanently closed, which was why sealing it had been the only option.

As a Prime World, Aidos should’ve been capable of repairing a tear in its spatial fabric after a thousand years, but even now the rift remained, straining against its restraints and ready to open the moment the seal collapsed, all because of Beatrix’s Authority that had acted upon it at the time of its creation.

“We wouldn’t have had to deal with all this if those seven idiots hadn’t…” Evan trailed off, pressing his fingers to his temple in frustration.

“Regardless of what they did, Beatrix would’ve found a way to send her son to invade this planet. It was only a matter of time,” Artemisia said.

“Yeah. Right. She still thinks you killed her parents and wants you dead too.”

Artemisia didn’t respond to that. Instead, she said, “Since I’m here, I might as well inform you. I plan to run maintenance and system updates on your system tomorrow. From about a week from now, until further notice, I’ll be completely unavailable.”

“Huh? Why?” Evan asked, raising a brow.

“It’s related to Arthur’s presence. He wants me to handle something for him, and the EOTD is involved as well.

As such, the three of us will be occupied and won’t be anywhere near the galaxy. There’s a non-zero chance whatever Arthur has us do might take us outside the universe entirely.”

That reminded Evan of what he’d recently learned, that Arthur Vaughn, his friend from 10,000 years in the past, and the Eternal of Time and Destruction weren’t the same person, despite how long he’d believed they were.

He still struggled to process that, because in every observable way, they appeared identical in behaviour, speech, and the attributes of their power.

Considering that the EOTD always concealed his face behind a mosaic sensor, Evan suspected that they likely looked the same as well and that the concealment existed to prevent him from discovering this.

Ironically, Evan’s assumption was correct.

“I see. So I shouldn’t try calling you because you won’t be around,” Evan said, nodding in understanding.

“Before you leave, you might as well set up a waypoint for me so I can move between the Alpha, Beta, and Dark Continents whenever I want. I’m planning to buy property on the Beta Continent next week, so I’d like to travel between there and my house in Gerfast freely.”

Evan had already booked a cruise ship that would cross the Divider Ocean, pass through the Zeraxes Archipelago, and head to the Beta Continent.

Artemisia was aware of this and, naturally, questioned his choice of transport. “What’s the point of taking the ship? You could get there in about 10 minutes, even if you flew at a relatively slow speed.”

“Two reasons, Artemisia,” Evan responded, holding up two fingers. “You made the game. Did you forget the events that happen on the ocean?”

Using Hologram Creation, he projected an image of a young woman in her early twenties and continued speaking.

“There’s the assassination attempt on the Fourth Princess of the Aelum Kingdom, and the issue facing the Zeraxes Archipelago.”

“I want to use that to make the Pirate Queen indebted to me. Not just her, I want her entire archipelago indebted to me.

If I’m going to put in that much effort, I might as well acquire an island nation while I’m at it.”

“Is this part of your international influence plan?” Artemisia asked.

“Yeah. My ties to the Great Western Empire limit me in certain scenarios, so I want land of my own.

And it just so happens this archipelago is about to face a threat that could wipe it off the planet.

They don’t know how to handle it, but I do, and it’s actually simple.

Unfortunately, this planet lacks enough Transcendents and individuals with the Pseudo-Authorities required to deal with it.

But thanks to Beatrix sending me thousands of years back and me remembering I was once the strongest godslayer King in the universe, I now have access to one of my original powers.”

Evan opened his palm as he spoke, and a small prismatic flame ignited within it.

“Mesarthim, huh?” Artemisia said.

At present, Mesarthim wasn’t merely on the level of a Unique Series Skill but a Pseudo-Authority, a remnant of the Origin Core that had formed in Evan’s soul when Arthur, during their battle against Bewússtsein, used his Scales of Balance to temporarily elevate Evan’s power to the Deity Level.

“Be careful,” Artemisia warned. “The Demonic Hand won’t follow the original script from Aidos Online to the letter.”

“I know. Ferrid knows I’m aware of their plans, and he’ll adjust accordingly. Since I know he knows I’m aware, I have to adjust too. And my first adjustment…”

Evan trailed off, turning his gaze toward the Divider Ocean. “Is Part 1 of Phase 5 of my plans for Aidos: Sea Chronicles.”

◇　◇　◇

The Zeraxes Archipelago stretched across the dark waters of the Divider Ocean like a scattered string of jewels, the waves reflecting the faint light of the nearly full moon as it cast a silver sheen across the ocean.

Perched atop the highest hill of Zara, the central hub of the archipelago, was a fortress, its stone walls illuminated by lanterns lining the battlements as it overlooked the harbour that housed the main fleet of the Pirate Queen who ruled the island.

The harbour was bustling with activity despite the hour nearing midnight, with ships anchored in place and their decks crowded with crew members moving cargo, inspecting arriving vessels from the Alpha and Beta continents, and managing the constant comings and goings of the port.

Because of the magic-powered street lights lining the harbour, the entire area was as visible as it would’ve been under broad daylight.

Watching all this activity from the balcony of the fortress high on the hill was the Pirate Queen herself, Zara Dredgesea.

She was a striking woman who stood close to 180cm tall, with long, glossy black hair and piercing blue almond-shaped eyes, her physique lean yet muscular, and her skin unmarred by any blemish or scar, contrary to what most would expect from a battle-hardened, iron-fisted ruler bearing a title like ‘Pirate Queen’.

Her outfit consisted of a simple pair of trousers tucked into boots and a buttoned-up shirt with voluminous sleeves, the cuffs left undone.

At first glance, no one would’ve guessed she was over 170 years old, as she appeared no older than her late twenties.

She held a pen in her hand, tapping it repeatedly against the balcony frame while she watched the harbour in silence.

She stayed there for an indeterminate amount of time until a knock on the office door behind her drew her attention.

Zara turned and walked back inside as she spoke. “Come in.”

The door opened, and one of her Pirate Lord subordinates, a Legendary Level existence, stepped in and bowed.

“Have you finished the inspection?” Zara asked.

“Yes, Boss,” the man replied. “We’ve completed the inspection. The route is clear.”

“That’s good. Continue running routine inspections daily. The cruise liner is departing the Alpha Continent next week, and considering it’s that ship, they should reach our waters within the month. That’s more than enough time for anything that could go wrong to go wrong.”

The ominous tone in her voice and the choice of her words caused the Pirate Lord’s eyes to narrow slightly.

The cruiser that travelled from the Alpha to the Beta Continent and back passed this route twice each year, during the first and last quarters, and her islands had long served as stops for intercontinental cruises like this.

Given that they had once been independent nations before she conquered them roughly a century ago, the islands of Zeraxes possessed numerous and varied tourist attractions, drawing wealthy passengers from these cruises who disembarked to enjoy the sights, purchase souvenirs, and pay for the experiences offered there.

This generated substantial profit for her archipelago, further increasing her wealth and influence.

Zara made sure the cruise encountered as few issues as possible, not only because of the revenue, but because the affluent passengers often included nobles from Alpha, Beta, and even Dark Continental nations.

If anything were to happen to them within her waters, it could draw the ire of their home countries.

For ordinary small nations, that might not have posed much of a problem, but when dealing with moderately powerful nations or World Powers, the stakes were higher and required careful supervision.

Because of this, Zara’s Pirate Lords thoroughly inspected the routes the cruises would follow and the islands scheduled as stops, making sure the journeys through Zeraxes’ waters carried minimal danger.

These bi-annual inspections had long since become routine for her Pirate Lords, but Zara had never spoken about them in such an ominous tone.

The last time the Pirate Lord remembered her sounding like this was 50 years ago, when the cruises first began, and she was still working to earn the trust of the coastal powers of the Beta continent.

Back then, she’d struggled to attract wealthy travellers because of her reputation as the Pirate Queen, even though she hadn’t engaged in any significant piracy for decades, choosing instead to safeguard her business agreements and deal with smaller pirate crews that tried to disrupt her territory.

However, the words she’d just spoken, “enough time for anything that could go wrong to go wrong”, carried weight.

The Pirate Lord immediately understood that something was weighing on her mind, and after stepping closer, he asked, “Boss, is something bothering you?”

Zara took her seat in the office chair, tapping her pen lightly against the desk as she turned her eyes toward the balcony and the harbour beyond it.

“Yes, there are things that concern me,” she said. “The amount of magical power I can sense from that underwater dungeon is rising. I’ll need to examine it myself soon.

And besides that…”

She paused, her gaze moving from the harbour toward the Alpha Continent in the distance, muttering, “Somehow, I have this stinking feeling that this particular cruise is going to bring trouble to us.”