The internal exploration went smoothly.
Due to the setting of this place being ancient ruins, only undead monsters appeared, as the demon race got a taste of ancient times. With the “talisman that emits holy light” I had brought from before, nothing that popped out posed any threat at all.
The only difficult part here was finding the way.
The passageways twisted and turned, making it easy to get lost and end up going in circles, making it hard to retrace your steps.
But for someone who had memorized the entire route, it was no problem at all.
After going deeper for some time, I finally spotted the door to the last chamber.
Though an undead acting as a gatekeeper stood in my way, it surrendered to my item power, allowing me to enter without any delay.
Once inside, I found a large altar firmly planted in the center.
“What on earth is this altar for?”
Destroying this would eliminate the apocalypse ending.
But beyond that, I had no clue about any details.
In the game, the only explanation was that breaking it would stop the apocalypse; no other information was provided, so there was nothing I could do.
It felt uneasy, and I had many questions, but there was only one thing I needed to do right now.
Break the altar.
As long as this altar existed, the possibility of the apocalypse ending was open, so I couldn’t leave it be.
So, as I approached to break the altar… BAM suddenly a system window popped up before my eyes.
[This action may attract their attention. Will you really execute it?]
This was a line that had never appeared in the game before.
Attracting their attention? Who on earth are “they”?
I couldn’t tell if this was due to a change in difficulty or because this place wasn’t part of the game.
I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem like attracting attention would do me any good.
So what should I do? Just leave this as it is and go?
“That seems a bit unsettling too.”
If it blows up, there’s no time to react. That’s just sheer bull with a capital B!
Even if they claimed the chance of that happening was extremely low, isn’t it a bit much that I can’t do anything about it with zero signs?
I even found myself as a victim of that low probability. How could I ever feel safe?
For that reason, I didn’t ponder for long.
“No matter what, I need to deal with this.”
Whoever they are, they don’t seem more dangerous than the looming possibility of an apocalypse right in front of me.
If they turn out to be more dangerous than I thought, the responsibility falls on my future self.
With that thought, I drew my sword.
Using a sword to break something isn’t exactly suitable, but I’ve got a trick up my sleeve, so it’s all good.
Originally, I had planned to use this trick when breaking the magical stone in the grand hall… anyway, it’s a technique I can use on any destructible object.
The method is simple. Dash at the object I want to break with the intent to smash it, then at just the right moment, use both evasion and parry at the same time.
“Hyah!”
BOOM!
As I did, I hit the still object with a parry that drastically reduced its durability.
Although this technique was said to only work on fixed objects in the game, upon secretly experimenting, I found I could use it on any structure here.
I hadn’t particularly wanted to break anything before, so I had never tried it.
Regardless, using that technique caused cracks to start forming on the altar, and since it wasn’t very durable, it was on the verge of breaking after just one hit. After that, I kicked it to shatter it completely.
Even though I couldn’t grow, my base strength is still decent. If I could just raise my actual stats, I could grind to grow so much.
“Maybe it’s a win since I don’t have to grind.”
It wouldn’t change anything to feel regret, so I just decided to think that way and moved on.
Having shattered the altar, I felt relieved thinking one problem was solved.
“Now should I head back?”
It took me several hours just to make it here.
Dealing with the undead appearing now and then took some time too, not to mention the vast scale of the map.
Nonetheless, the good news is that breaking the altar turned the path back into a straight line.
RUMBLE-
There was a commotion beyond the door. Figuring it was the sound of the structure changing, I decided to wait patiently.
[You have prevented the apocalypse.]
[They have begun to take interest in you.]
A system window that made me uneasy faded away, and I opened the door to reveal a genuinely straight path.
“I should have opened it before it ended.”
I should have watched how the structure changed. Too late for curiosity struck me.
Thanks to that, I was safe, but feeling regret was unavoidable.
If Seria were here, she would’ve opened the door first to see. Just to watch my reaction too.
“…Since when did Seria come into this?”
Am I tired? Why am I getting random thoughts? I should just go back and get some sleep.
///
Dinner at the Royal Palace was, of course, luxurious.
However, in front of such a lavish meal, today’s Emperor absentmindedly picked at his food, prompting the Empress to smile knowingly.
“Have you accepted that child?”
“…I have no appetite, so don’t bring that brat up.”
“Hehe, is it something to dislike so much?”
“It means I might lose our Seria! How can I be happy about that!”
“Then, do you have someone else in mind who’d be better for her?”
At the Empress’ words, the Emperor closed his mouth, hesitated, and then finally took a proper bite of his food.
In a voice barely louder than an ant’s crawl, he replied.
“I never… intended to live with anyone else….”
“You can’t live like that. I can’t bear to see my daughter live as a spinster.”
The father, who was still in the prime years of his daughter’s beauty, and the mother, trying to face reality.
The tone of their conversation might have been cool, but the content was undeniably warm.
As the brothers silently speculated on the duo’s dialogue, Seria had to focus on her meal in silence.
If Rudion had been here, he would have stood tall, but his absence made for a rather timid atmosphere.
The conversation also turned to the subject of the broken magical stone, which seemed to be handled internally within the palace.
Since it was an issue resolved by an outsider’s intervention, it could complicate matters if mishandled.
Rudion probably didn’t want any personal awards from this, so he’d agree to let it be handled this way.
“That seems reasonable. Rudion would rather not deal with any unnecessary trouble.”
That’s what I said, but the Emperor wore an unsatisfied expression, while the Empress smiled with satisfaction.
Did I say something wrong? As Seria contemplated, the Empress began teasing her.
“You’re already such close friends to the point of making major decisions for him? But don’t swing your baton too much, alright?”
“Ah, no! I’ve never swung a baton… I haven’t…!”
“…I see?”
“I haven’t!”
Every time she got the chance, she dragged him around to places she wanted to go.
But to call that swinging a baton seemed a bit much, right?
…Oh, right. Lately, she’d taken pleasure in teasing him simply because it was fun.
Anyway, no, she never swung it around. It’s not like he could be easily led just because she wanted to.
With that moment of self-rationalization, she came back to her senses. The Empress was still smiling indulgently, but Seria pretended not to notice.
After the meal, Seria threw herself onto her bed.
Lying on the plush bed and looking at the ceiling, she reached out for a book as usual, yet nothing grabbed her hand.
“Oh right. I lent it to him.”
The book she should have had there was lent to him.
It didn’t really matter. The bookshelf in her room was packed with many books, so she could pick any of them to read.
But for some reason, she had no inclination to do so and just completely slumped down.
“…I’ve directly used the magic I read in a book.”
She reflected on the spells she had employed today.
No matter how many times she recalled it, it sent a thrill down her spine. She’d never thought she’d be able to use the spells she’d only seen in books so readily.
The spells that pierced the demon race’s abdomen, severed their necks.
All were based on the theories she had seen in those books.
Magic and stars. Understanding the relationship between them and calling upon the magic of the universe, the countless powers of stars.
The magic holding the power of stars is much harder to manage than the usual magic.
However, it has immense utility and allows for uses that are impossible with ordinary magic, which is a large advantage.
But is it really possible to draw something from that far away?
If you ask me, I can only say it’s impossible.
But what is magic? Is it not making the impossible possible?
It might sound childish, but that’s what magic is.
It’s only natural that the more nonsensical it is, the more extraordinary the magic!
Of course, all of this was possible thanks to the reward for favorability.
The “Concept Manifestation” obtained this time literally allows one to turn their conceptual thoughts into reality.
However, utilizing it is not an easy task.
Though it has a flashy name, many things are required such as excessive magical knowledge, and the ability to conceive a particular concept deeply, and profound creativity in handling magic.
So, if,
If the theoretical content from the Journey of the Stars series hadn’t been crammed in, or
If Seria didn’t have the genius-level magical talent to understand and make it her own, or
If she hadn’t had a deep passionate admiration for using it in the first place,
Then “Manifestation of Concepts” would not have displayed its strength and would have just barely improved magic utility.
“I just liked someone, but is it okay to receive so much power?”
Without realizing it, Seria thought she was given an absurd ability purely because of the favorability reward.
Does she even know? In the original story, she realized and utilized the techniques from the Journey of the Stars series without any rewards for favorability.
That it was just a little nudge to reinforce the techs she may have developed on her own someday.
Well, for the sake of good, she got to use it sooner, so there’s no harm in that, right?
Just then, the ceiling suddenly went dark.
The familiar blue window and symbols appeared before her.
[The subject has successfully changed the future.]
[Congratulations! Due to the changes in the future, your personal stats will grow.]
[Another altered future exists. Growth stats will be corrected.]
[Current time coefficient: 3]
“Ah….”
In the end, she did it! She stopped the apocalypse.
The altered future must refer to the act of breaking the magical stone today.
For some reason, she felt overwhelmed.
But on the other hand, it was bittersweet. Having accomplished everything on her own made her feel somewhat unnecessary.
Thinking about this made her recall how she had captured the demon race just the other day.
She could’ve handled it alone, yet she graciously stepped back for the sake of her partner.
That felt more like a master-apprentice relationship than that of true partners.
“Am I a hindrance?”
With that fleeting thought, she momentarily felt gloomy. But then thought that this wasn’t the time to wallow in such thoughts.
“Wait. If I succeeded, does that mean they’re coming back soon?”
What if they’ve come back hurt?
The worry made her feel the urge to check on them.
So she tried to get up from the bed when… suddenly, more messages blocked her from doing so.
[The time coefficient has reached 3. Related knowledge is granted.]
[Be cautious. It comes with significant pain.]
That was enough to startle her momentarily.
“Huh?”
DING!
Understanding came only from experiencing it firsthand as the pain washed over her before she could even grasp the situation.
With no permission, a hammering pain struck her head, and she began to whimper.
“Ugh. Ugh?!”
Even in that situation, holding back her screams to avoid escalating matters was something worthy of admiration.
Eventually, she could not verify whether Rudion had returned safely.
As her head smashed with agonizing pain, she struggled and collapsed, losing consciousness.
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