Celestial Net.
The inescapable web of the sky.
Those who witnessed the scene all thought of this word.
“What on earth happened…?”
They had clearly seen with their own eyes.
But seeing and understanding were completely different matters.
In the blink of an eye, the man swung his sword, and whoosh, the radiant light filled his line of sight.
They understood that much.
But after the light vanished, the sight of the scattered undead legions on the plain was utterly incomprehensible.
“Did that happen with just one sword?”
They’d never heard or seen anything like it.
To obliterate thousands of undead in such a manner, even a whole fleet of allied airships bombardment wouldn’t suffice.
No one in the world possessed such power alone.
Not a murderer, not the Frost Duchess, not even the Vice Commander of the Sacred Knights could achieve that.
The farmers just stood there in a daze, dropping their weapons one by one.
A sense of relief was replaced first by awe.
“Captain of the Guards.”
“Yes?!”
“Send the gathered letters to the Priestess. Then she’ll confirm the list and reward everyone gathered here greatly.”
“Yes!”
The captain stiffened at the man’s orders.
He didn’t know who this was, but judging by his talk, he seemed to be an executive of the alliance.
“I’ll send everything to the allied command!”
“Allied command? What’s that?”
“What?”
However, the captain responded in disbelief to the man’s next line.
How could he not know about the alliance?
Was he someone who just fell from the sky today?
“The alliance is…”
Still puzzled, the captain began to explain everything in detail.
Even a newborn baby knew about the current situation, but it seemed the man knew nothing about the last two years.
After a long explanation, the man fell silent, as if organizing his thoughts.
His face seemed to be a whirlwind of emotions.
It looked like he was struggling with something.
“So that’s how it is… I understand for now.”
“Yes. I’m glad it helped. Um, can I ask for your name?”
“My name, huh.”
The man grinned wickedly, petting the girl’s head beside him as he said, “Tell them. Michael Jackson has returned.”
“…?”
Then, the man vanished.
As if he had urgent business to attend to.
A little time passed.
Suddenly, a massive airship appeared in the sky, boasting an overwhelming presence.
On the ground, the Frost Duchess and the murderer arrived mounted.
“What the…?”
The witch’s mouth fell open as she landed.
When she had heard that the farmer army was stalling for time, she thought it was doomed to annihilation.
But upon arrival, she found it was the undead legions that were wiped out.
A surprise attack meant to gather all forces to break the siege.
The thought that the defenses could be breached and the whole world could fall to the undead was shattered in an instant.
“What happened?”
“Well… someone appeared and swept away the undead with an unusual technique…”
It sounded strange, but it wasn’t wrong.
As a result, both the witch and Transylvania were left gaping.
That one person did all this?
It was nonsensical, yet the atmosphere didn’t allow for jokes.
“Who was it? Who?!”
“Uh? Um… Who was it? I feel like I heard the name…”
“What’s going on? Doesn’t anyone remember that person’s name?”
“I heard it too, but strangely, I can’t remember…”
Yerina’s expression stiffened.
It was like they were all feigning amnesia in a coordinated effort.
“…That would be me.”
“Huh?!”
But at that moment, Yerina felt something touch her shoulder and jumped back, pulling out her sword.
Yet, looking back, there was nothing there, just the startled people falling on their butts.
“What’s wrong, Frost Duchess?”
“Nothing…”
She felt annoyed.
An endlessly irritating sensation.
It felt as if she had forgotten something she shouldn’t have.
*
“What on earth is going on…?”
How long had it been?
I realized after arriving in the current world that two years and three months had passed since I vanished into the gap of dimensions.
The first thing I discovered upon arrival was my grave.
A tombstone stuck next to the dead World Tree.
One of the inscriptions read:
“I couldn’t take what was left behind, so come back and reclaim it.”
I immediately understood what this meant.
It was the story of the Magic Sword I had given to Yulia.
I had vowed to return alive and reclaim that sword.
After breaking the tombstone and retrieving the Magic Sword, an emergency had suddenly occurred, leading to my encounter with the undead legion.
But most astonishing of all was that the undead legion was still alive…
“Still, aren’t I overwhelmed with nostalgia.”
The bright sun after a long time.
The green pastures.
The moment I arrived, I couldn’t help but shed tears.
After asking the people and confirming it, it turned out that a lot had changed in the current world over the past two years.
It seemed an international organization called the alliance had formed.
It was established mainly by the Holy Kingdom, Petenburg, and Palana, uniting forces worldwide to counter Draken.
While participation rates were low and most countries were half-heartedly involved, the dominance of major powers like the Holy Kingdom, Petenburg, Palana, and Elvenguard was already immense.
That was only natural, given that the main heroines and Mia were in charge of those countries.
“The Holy Kingdom is a bit unexpected.”
Among all this, it was odd that the Holy Kingdom was actively participating in the alliance.
Even though the Priestess had considerable power, it couldn’t compare to the authority of the Goddess in Elvenguard.
This meant the Pope was supporting the alliance…
“Wait, maybe it’s not that surprising.”
Thinking back, the entities that had suffered the most at the hands of Draken and his minions were Elvenguard and the Holy Kingdom next.
Due to the Great Demon, the mayor of Cologne was dead.
Kali, resurrected by Luna, wreaked havoc in Cologne as well.
The Hameln Cathedral suffered losses right after its completion.
So, one could see why they’d want to hunt down Draken with fire in their eyes.
Now that it had been revealed that Draken existed in one world, to uphold the awe of the one true God, they had to eradicate Draken.
“Are they stabilizing the situation?”
Looking back, I saw a massive airship protecting the sky.
Perhaps they deemed it dangerous to be exposed for long, as it smoothly became invisible within the barrier.
On the ground, Yulia was silently pulling down her hat and signaling for a response.
If you just isolate this scene, anyone would see her as the charming admiral,
No one would think of her as a nervous introvert stumbling over her words.
“…Not going?”
Mi Jeong poked my waist.
I wanted to go.
But I knew well that I couldn’t.
“If I return after uploading a ton of death flags, wouldn’t everyone be confused?”
“…”
“This is just a joke…”
As they say, resurrecting is the most disruptive thing at a funeral, but everyone would have likely been eagerly waiting for my return.
Because of that, I gritted my teeth and worked hard to come back.
And finally, I returned.
To see their faces once more.
And to keep my promise…
But at this moment, I was unable to keep that promise.
The reason was utterly ridiculous.
“Hey, mister!”
I called over a passing farmer.
“Yes. What can I help you with?”
“I’m just asking for directions. Is this the right way to Cologne?”
“Yes, it is. But who are you…?”
“I’m Yoo Jin.”
“Excuse me? Who?”
“Yoo Jin. Yoo Jin.”
“Yes? Huh? Uh… Who was I talking to just now?”
The farmer, scratching his head mid-conversation, walked away.
It was as if I became invisible.
Until I mentioned my name, we could communicate normally,
But the moment I said my name, I turned into a transparent being in this place.
No, precisely the moment “I” was recognized, I became invisible.
They could no longer see me, and all memories of meeting me vanished.
I had just tapped Yerina’s shoulder to speak…
But in her case, maybe because she knew me already, she seemed to not recognize me at all.
Immediately, her memory of our encounter vanished,
And her mind activated a defense mechanism to minimize contradictions based on the time gap.
Yerina and the people around here would never catch on to who I was.
“Profile.”
[Username: X X]
[Age: XX years old]
[Data is corrupted.]
My existence was erased in the current world.
