World Keeper - Chapter 1246: They’re Coming With Me
Lifre’s announcement spread like a wildfire among the online community. Within a week, there were runic scholars commenting on it. Lifre had not only provided a new, story-based system to the world. What she had done was far deeper than that. Lifre rewrote the basic definition of a rune and applied that to the magical laws of every world.
What really baffled most of the scholars was the fact that the effect of the rune didn’t change when used in conjunction with other runes. This new definition only applied when the rune was used on its own. As if there was a small system that had been established to intercept that rune before it could be processed by the world’s natural magic.
Regardless of how she did it, the new story system was widely used by civilians in various territories. It might not have been very useful for a combatant, or anyone in a specialized field of study. However, for most people, this gave them the feeling as if they could live out a dream of being a Keeper themselves.
After all, most people had no idea what it was like to really be a Keeper. They didn’t understand the market, or the points system. Many had realized the existence of other Keepers through the various invasions that had struck the realm throughout history, but the logic behind it was beyond what most could understand.
Thus, when someone who had a personal connection with the Keeper released a system that allowed someone to essentially create their own fictional universe, many jumped to the conclusion that this was what it was like to be a Keeper. Of course, while there were many that believed this, there were more who understood that this made no sense.
After all, the Keeper was actively living within his world, something that they couldn’t do with the new system that Lifre had established. Secondly, there was no method for them to attack other users of the new story system, or even interact with other stories at all. If Lifre had intended to completely reproduce the Keeper’s methods, she would have surely included something like that in.
Regardless of whether or not this was how the Keeper viewed the world, the fact remained that there were many people using this new story system for their own entertainment. They could navigate through their story in a three-dimensional environment, as if they were spectating within a game.
Some people even discovered some hidden features within this story system, such as the ability to export their story through a spell contained within the user interface. Doing so created a small, blue crystal, which others could interact with to view the saved story.
Galahan looked deeply at the blue crystal between his fingers, a knowing smile on his face. He could already see great potential within this new system, integrating it with his own creative practices. As a script writer and director, he often used his divine power to aid in his process.
In fact, many of the features of this new spell mirrored his own methods quite heavily. By combining his divine powers with this new ‘Story’ spell, he could drastically reduce the amount of energy needed for each film he produced. If he was able to use the Script domain to take a more direct control of the story, it could completely change how his business operated.
With a small smile, he closed his eyes, focusing inwardly to begin remapping his divine circuits. It had been a while since he released his last big project, so he was looking forward to what he would make next.
Blank sat within his office, leaning forward against his desk, his eyes closed. Lifre’s use of her Origin powers to create a new system for everyone to freely use was… inspiring to say the least. Although he had created the new virtual reality enjoyed by people of every universe, he had never thought of using his powers like that.
It was only when he actually tried it that he realized the complexity involved. First, if he wanted to replicate this feat, he would need to have runic magic within his inner universe. Unfortunately, his own magic type was binary magic, which he was a natural expert in.
It was possible for him to still create something similar through a different method, but it wouldn’t be easy. Most importantly, he recognized the method that she used, which essentially transformed the ‘Story’ rune into an entirely different rune when used on its own. This rune, which should have been a personal creation of Lifre, was no doubt invented within her inner universe as a complex spell.
For Blank to do the same thing, he would need to use his binary magic to contain a complex magical sequence within an easily drawn shape, and make a system within his inner universe where drawing that shape triggered the spell. While possible, it was not within the realm of plausibility.
Is there anything that I can learn from this, then? He thought to himself. The act of using an action to trigger a game wouldn’t be hard. In fact, he could assign the game itself as a form of skill triggered by performing whatever action he wanted. Unfortunately, creating a ‘game designer’ skill similar to how Lifre had created her own power wasn’t really useful for him.
Anyone that had the freedom to enjoy games or the knowledge to create them likely already had their own Virtual Reality gear. Thus, this would be a minor convenience at best, not worth the effort to create it.
As he was thinking about this, Blank’s eyes suddenly widened, and he looked up into the air. A small smile spread across his face as he felt a familiar energy within the void.
I couldn’t help but smile warmly, looking at the message that appeared in front of me. It was the message that I had long waited for, informing me of the results of the invasion. Given the amount of information we had on our target, and that we sent our most powerful forces, it was only natural that we would emerge victorious.
The only way that Sanction would be able to get out of this defeat would be if our team got unlucky with their landing point, or if he ran out the clock. Clearly, neither of those situations had occurred, though I would need to get the full briefing from Tsubaki later.
For now, I did not immediately accept Sanction’s worlds, despite the message appearing in front of me. Technically speaking, I had a day to decide, but what that truly meant was that I had a day to prepare.
Closing my eyes, I sent a message to Chelsea. The results are in. How long do you need to prepare for the new universes to appear?
To my surprise, Chelsea’s response was almost instant. We’re ready anytime. The integration process will be slower and more chaotic, but there’s nothing that we can do about that. For your safety, I would suggest returning to the Admin Room for now. We know that Sanction has at least twenty Origins within his realm, and there could be a large number that try to go after your head.
I hesitated for a moment upon hearing that, before ultimately nodding my head. Although I felt that I was fairly safe in Olympus, I understood that there was no need to take pointless risks. With a thought, I returned to the Admin Room, before sending another message, this one to Lifre.
Please head into the void. We’re about to welcome back Tsubaki and the others, and there is a chance that there will be hostile elements involved. We’ll need you to work with Chelsea on defense.
You got it, boss! Lifre responded in an excited tone, clearly eager to see the others return. Meanwhile, I took a look at Sanction’s world, seeing it frozen at the moment of the Keeper’s death. Lena and Tsubaki were the only ones directly fighting the Keeper within his tower, while Julia, Philia, Dana, and Priscilla stood with several members of the World Tree Guild outside, defending against multiple Origins and armies of high-level combatants.
Clearly, the final stretch of this fight had been hard on them. The moment time resumed, they would be in immediate danger. Aurivy, will you be able to help out there, once we’re ready? I asked hesitantly, knowing that there were powerful enough forces that perhaps even a member of the Greater Pantheon wouldn’t be able to extract them.
Aurivy appeared next to me in a flash, a look of worry on her face. “I don’t know. There’s an Origin of Travel, as well as a nine-domain god focusing on transportation, and another focused on sealing. I might not be able to pull them out in time.”
I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see Terra standing there with a small smile. “Let my little one handle getting them out.” She said, arms crossed beneath her bust.
I couldn’t help but blink. “Your incarnation? What do you want her to do?”
“I just told her the situation, and she’s standing by. Rivy, can you send her in once Dale accepts the worlds?” She asked, and Aurivy nodded her head.
“That won’t be a problem. They should have the blockades set up to only prevent people from leaving, that way they can get more reinforcements. Sending troops in to protect them shouldn’t be hard.” She said with a firm tone, and Terra nodded her head.
“Alright, let’s do it, then.” She said with a calm smile.
Dana grunted, thrown back by a blast of energy from the fifth-ranked Origin, the Master of Light. She could feel her inner universe struggling to repair itself after every strike, mustering her own darkness to spread across the field, only for it to be dispelled by the opponent. Even when she created a darkness meant to counter light, it was balanced by a similar light meant to consume darkness.
Julia had her apocalyptic sword floating by her side, serving as a deterrent for anyone hoping to strike at her directly. Meanwhile, thick roots lashed up from the ground, striking at groups of soldiers.
Next to her, Philia was focusing intently, constructing grand turrets around the tower. Every time one was destroyed, another appeared in a different location. Were it not for Priscilla’s army of Named Ones, she would have been overrun trying to keep the large crowds under control.
Still, the situation was looking unfavorable, and it was only getting worse by the moment. They couldn’t tell how the battles were faring inside the tower, and only knew that they needed to buy as much time as they possibly could.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed between the warring forces, revealing itself to be a redheaded felyn hugging a book close to her chest. Her eyes were half-lidded, ears flat against her head, and she looked at both sides of the battlefield. “Why would she bring me here…” She spoke aloud, just as a beam of golden energy shot at her from the Master of Light.
The beam pierced cleanly through the felyn’s head, leaving a thick hole. However, rather than blood, or even energy seeping out of the hole, there was… paper? Her head unraveled into a bundle of paper, slowly reforming as she turned to look at the one that fired the attack. “That… was rude.”
For a moment, the battlefield seemed to pause around her, and she opened the book that she hugged against her chest. “The armies of heaven and hell met once more upon the land of men. But this time, they met not as mortal foes, but in an alliance to protect what mattered most…”
As she spoke, the sound of pages turning filled the air. A great book opened in the sky, and an army of angels charged forth in a burst of holy light. From the ground, flaming cracks opened up, seeming to form words. And from these words, horrific devils crawled forth.
The enemy gods and Origins launched attacks to seal or destroy these angels and demons, before discovering something that chilled them to their core. As soon as they used a power once, it seemed to be sealed, unable to be used again in a short duration. Even the Master of Light couldn’t release the same power again, and found that the source of light he drew from within his inner universe had quietly vanished, unraveling into countless sheets of glowing paper.
With their most familiar attacks immediately locked away, panic quickly set in among the crowd. Many of them turned to flee, seeing the shift in the odds, while others began to release their strongest moves. The latter group focused their attacks on this newcomer, hoping to wipe her out and recover their lost powers.
However, the powers that they unleashed on her merely shattered her body into the same paper that she had shown earlier. The Extreme God of Sealing, who had mastered nine domains, quickly caught sight of the problem. “This isn’t her real body! She’s hiding somewhere else!”
“No?” The felyn tilted her head curiously at those words, even as her lower half was still reforming. “This is me. I think? It’s hard to say. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m taking them back with me.” She pointed one hand lazily at Dana’s group, who were able to get a moment to breathe thanks to the army of angels and demons storming the city. “Don’t get in my way, or I’ll make you disappear.”
After she said that, she turned to walk back towards Dana and the others, seeming to disregard the diminishing number of attacks being thrown at her body. “Let’s go back.” She said in a tired tone.
Dana blinked, looking at Terra’s incarnation in astonishment. She had briefly met this incarnation before, and spent a little bit of time around her. However, she didn’t realize how strong she could be in a battle. Of course Terra would guide her incarnation to be completely broken… She thought to herself with a wry smile.
Seeing how Terra’s incarnation negated the attacks of the enemy, Dana felt like she understood what was happening. As soon as the attacks targeted Terra or any of her allies, they became a part of her ‘Story’. After that, she made the power quite literally a story in itself, tying it with her domain via ‘Fate’. Finally, she erased the ‘Inspiration’ for the story, essentially deleting it from its core.
Such a combination of powers wouldn’t work against a physical combatant, but it was a horrifying power against gods and Origins. As for how Terra herself withstood those attacks, Dana wasn’t sure. Given the paper aesthetic, she could only assume that Terra’s incarnation had turned her own essence into a story in some manner.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
