Chapter 46. Time to Reap (1)
Gordon struggled, screamed, and thrashed within Shane’s Inner World, but the fate awaiting the shabby old man did not change.
The Inner World.
No matter how thoroughly one had mastered the handling of souls—
No.
Precisely because Gordon himself was a Black Mage and Blood Mage who manipulated souls, he understood the ending awaiting him better than anyone.
By nature, the brighter a soul shone, the more it drew other faint lights toward itself so that they could all grow stronger together.
A dark soul, however, possessed the opposite nature.
It devoured the souls of others.
How many souls had Gordon himself dragged into his filthy, hideous soul and turned into nourishment?
But Shane’s soul was fundamentally different.
A soul darker and deeper than even a bottomless abyss possessed a power that not even Gordon could resist.
‘H-How?!’
Only after gazing into those unfathomable depths did Gordon finally recognize the true nature of the darkness Shane carried within himself.
The Corruption of Essence that Gordon had recently been researching.
His research sought to draw the power of emotions inherent within every person to their absolute limit, then contaminate them with a negative power.
And the result he had been seeking—
Was standing directly before him.
‘N-No. No!!’
That realization drove Gordon even further into madness.
Who in the world was this man?
How had he already brought into existence the result Gordon himself had been developing and researching?
Even at the brink of disappearance, Gordon remained a scholar, an Alchemist, and a Mage.
The fact that he would perish without ever uncovering the truth brought him a terror greater than death itself.
And eventually—
Annihilation.
Gordon sensed an ending even more horrific than those suffered by the countless Test Subjects whose souls he had toyed with until now.
The irresistible will of an absolute existence began breaking Gordon’s soul apart piece by piece.
No matter how desperately he searched, there was nowhere to escape.
‘GRAAAAAAGH──!’
In the end, after a final pathetic struggle befitting his shabby appearance—
Gordon was completely annihilated.
There would be no mistake like the one that had occurred with the Dark Spirit before.
After confirming that not even the smallest residue of Gordon’s soul remained, Shane closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
The old man’s death was not merely the death of another villain.
Until Nameless completely revealed itself to the human world, Gordon had been one of the Organization’s greatest collaborators.
His death was equivalent to driving an enormous stake into the plans of an Organization that had been flawless in Shane’s previous life.
Shane savored the exhilaration that realization brought and recalled how everything had begun.
It had started with his little game with Auston.
Until then, Shane had believed this was still the time to quietly gather strength for his eventual confrontation with Nameless.
He had not intended to make any major moves.
But he wanted to maintain his connection with Auston, who would later become one of the Organization’s greatest obstacles, and began considering what kind of result might satisfy him.
Most major incidents during this period were connected to Nameless.
And since Shane himself had spent years within the Organization, nearly every significant event he remembered inevitably led back to them in some way.
That was where the plan began.
In truth, calling it a plan might have been too generous.
It had been closer to a fantasy.
Everything depended upon probability.
He used the Dragon Heart to attract Raviata’s attention.
No one in the world desired that object more desperately than Raviata, so Shane judged that there was a high probability she would approach him.
Shane himself also wanted something from the Mezaia Great Forest.
If Raviata came, obtaining it would become considerably easier.
And that was not all.
Once he began thinking about the Mezaia Great Forest, his thoughts naturally reached Gordon, the worst Alchemist humanity would face during this period.
According to Shane’s memories, Gordon’s research was not yet complete at this point.
Shane judged that even his current self possessed enough means to kill him.
In the end, every step had depended upon probability.
And yet Shane had overcome every one of those odds and obtained exactly the result he wanted.
“Phew.”
“Grrr…… Master.”
Shane opened his eyes, saw the Dark Spirit standing beside him, and rose to his feet.
“……You command a rather unusual spirit, Shane.”
“Yes.”
James’s gaze clearly demanded an explanation without words.
Shane saw no reason to provide one.
Instead, he turned toward the Dark Spirit.
“What happened to his corpse?”
“I left only the shell behind, Master.”
“I see.”
Having now confirmed even the fate of Dominic of the Imperial Guard Knight Order, Shane finally looked toward James.
“For now, let us return to the expedition.”
“……Very well.”
Whatever questions James might have had—
It was time to return and confirm how everything had ended.
—
“You are the first humans I have ever invited here in the entire history of the Elves.”
At Priscilla’s words, the expedition members stared at her blankly.
Aside from Shane and Raviata, most of them—regardless of age or gender—could not help becoming dazed by her beautiful appearance and sweet voice.
“Hey. Could you stop using that damned voice on the people who just helped you?”
Raviata immediately complained.
Priscilla looked dejected.
“That is rather cruel.”
“As if this is the first time I’ve seen you pointy-ears do strange things with your voices.”
“It is unfortunate that you noticed, but I suppose there is nothing I can do.”
Priscilla removed the Mana from her voice.
Elves were well aware that their appearances ranked among the finest of all races.
And they knew how to use that fact.
By infusing their voices with Mana, they could reduce another person’s hostility toward them.
The effect was not absolute.
But if one did not know about it beforehand, it was remarkably easy to fall under its influence.
“Ahem. In any case, welcome to the Mezaia Great Forest, humans.”
Priscilla smiled naturally and continued.
“First, before we begin our discussion, allow me to express my gratitude to all of you.”
She placed one hand over her chest and bowed her head.
The gesture was so graceful that the word noble naturally came to mind.
After a moment, she raised her head and began explaining their current circumstances.
“Ever since humanity’s god, Akasha, sealed us within the Mezaia Great Forest, we have been under attack by the organization you fought against. They avoided the World Tree’s notice and established their own territory here. Then, as though abducting our sleeping Elves were not enough, they even subjected them to biological experiments.”
Behind her stood Elves with violet skin, their heads lowered.
“They may have changed so greatly that they are now very different from ordinary Elves, but that does not change the fact that they are still our family. You saved those children as well.”
And that was not all.
The expedition had even purified the contaminated Dragon Heart, allowing them to tear out the roots Nameless had planted within the Great Forest.
“For that reason, I swear upon the name of Priscilla, Queen of the Elves.”
Priscilla looked over the humans before her.
“I acknowledge the humans standing before me.”
“……!”
“……!!”
Every member of the expedition stared at her with wide eyes.
For humanity—
Those words signified that they had cleared their third Cradle.
What kind of repercussions would follow?
No one could possibly predict their scale.
—
Fundamentally, humanity possessed two methods of conquering a Cradle.
The first was to repeatedly defeat the leader of the Ruling Race belonging to that Cradle.
No one knew how many victories were required.
The First Cradle had ended after four defeats.
The Second Cradle had required seven.
Countless Mages had researched the reason behind that difference, yet no one had ever uncovered the secret.
The second method—
Was to receive acknowledgment from the leader of the Ruling Race.
Until now, this method had never succeeded.
Humanity only knew such a method existed because rumors claimed that Akasha himself had once said so.
Even then, modern humanity had concluded that it was effectively impossible.
Every Demi-Human and monster sealed within Cradles and dungeons displayed extreme hostility toward humans.
The reason was simple.
“Because he made us this way.”
Priscilla’s voice brushed softly against Shane’s ears.
Shane listened without expression and merely nodded.
After the expedition decided to rest here for some time, Shane had arranged a private conversation with Priscilla.
“Your god, Akasha, sealed many different races within the places you now call Cradles.”
Akasha’s Great Seal meant one thing above all else.
The Stagnation of Time.
Any place affected by Akasha’s Great Seal became subject to the Repetition of Time.
Those within did not age.
Even if they died, they returned to life after enough time passed.
All growth ceased.
They could not leave the dungeon.
That was why it was both a curse and a seal.
They did not age.
They did not remain dead.
Yet they could not even lose themselves to madness.
Because time repeated, both physical and mental growth came to a halt.
With growth stopped, they could not truly learn.
They could not bear children and restore the prosperity of their race.
And so they had existed for hundreds of years within stagnant time.
Even now, countless sealed races had no understanding of how much time had passed since their imprisonment.
That was precisely why Nameless had been an object of terror to Priscilla.
Within this endlessly repeating seal—
The Dark Elves the Organization abducted and experimented upon had not returned to their original state.
“In that sense, your appearance was like hope itself to us Elves.”
Priscilla had noticed the humans from the very moment the expedition began.
Nearly the entire Mezaia Great Forest existed beneath her gaze.
Yet she had been unable to simply drive the expedition away.
Because Nameless was still here.
If Priscilla left her position, she had no way of knowing how many more of her people the Organization might abduct.
“That is why I am even more grateful.”
Priscilla smiled as she spoke.
This time, Shane shook his head.
“We did not work for free. Any assistance I offer you from now on will be the same. And this will not be the last threat your people face from humans.”
“Most likely not.”
After Shane explained how the world beyond the Great Forest had changed, Priscilla quietly nodded.
Elves were fundamentally famous for their isolationist nature.
They despised intrusions into their territory.
That had been true even in ancient times.
If anything—
The environment of the ancient era had forced Elves to become even more isolationist.
Far too many powerful races had existed then.
It was an age where even the slightest moment of carelessness could result in the extinction of one’s entire race.
But now—
Things were different.
The Elves would undoubtedly remain isolationist to some degree, but……
“Very well. Shall we discuss it?”
Priscilla smiled.
“The opening of our homeland, the Mezaia Great Forest.”
At those words—
Astronomical amounts of potential profit immediately began appearing inside Shane’s mind.
