Chapter 234
[Month 3 Day 27 Year 609]
After arriving several years in the future at the same spot where I had a fierce battle with the protagonist Partellian, the first thing I did was contact Aracelli.
“Aracelli, can you hear me?”
-Yes, Professor. I just arrived.
“Oh? Didn’t you leave earlier than me?”
-It’s because we are moving from a different time zone, Professor. On top of it, in the 709th year, something happened, so I spent a few hours doing other things.
Few hours? I really felt that only a brief moment had passed.
“Is that so? What happened? Your voice sounds tired…”
Then, the figures of Aracelli and Empress Sahar appeared in a form of whitish fog before his eyes. Both of them had a somewhat pale impression painted on their faces.
– A problem broke out in the year 709.
“If it’s a problem, don’t tell me…”
-It was as you thought, Professor. The restrictions on their time travel were almost gone because they had an almost infinite energy source.
“What? How is that possible?”
Aracelli mumbled something for a moment, then transferred some of her memories about the Valley of Sleeping Heart to me.
In the deepest part of that place, where all the energy empowering the technology in this world comes from, a phenomenon quite similar to the ones I had experienced at Hell Gate back then has been discovered.
“That!!!!”
-···As expected. That’s a part of Hell Gate, right?
It’s not just similar; it is the exact same structure as those terrible things which had something that stimulates the instinctive fear within humans that I remembered. That overwhelming sense of intimidation it possesses made me feel infinitely smaller.
-How can you survive in a place like that…?
“Well…”
Come to think of it, it’s a relief that I’m not mentally ill after surviving that place. Even though I had lived in that place for years, just glancing at it for a moment made me nauseous.
In fact, considering that most of the hunters who went to Hell Gate suffered mental illness or died while suffering from anxiety, I think I was on the very lucky side.
“By the way, how the hell did Vivienda have a part of Hell Gate? It should only exist on Earth…”
– I don’t know either. However, in that place, I found a passage which was connected to another dimension. Science has not yet discovered spatial science, so I’m sure it was made by someone else… I have no idea who it is though.
There were only three people in this place who had the skill and knowledge about dimension. And science of this world somehow had still not touched that subject yet.
-Currently, the space was in a passive state, so it should be fine. but if we leave it as is, androids will constantly visit you from the future and disturb Professor. So, we decided to solve this case.
“How will you solve it?”
-About that…
Aracelli looked into Sahar’s eyes and smiled before speaking.
-We are going to destroy that power plant.
“What!?!?? That’s dangerous! I can take care of it from the past, so just stay still!”
– No, that’s impossible.
-….
“What do you mean by impossible?”
Sahar said in a slightly subdued voice.
-The energy flowing from a place called Hell Gate is getting stronger. Perhaps sooner or later, more androids will go into the past. There is a high possibility that it will detect your time travel destination and follow you precisely to your destination, Professor.
“I’m really going crazy…”
I scratched my head and grimaced. But no matter how long I think, I can’t think of a possible way. In fact, back in 607, because of the android’s interference, the history could not be changed.
If such interference becomes more and more severe, this mission will surely fail.
“If there’s no other way, I beg you two to be as careful as possible. Just sneak in and destroy it. Don’t try to do anything else. You are a dimension traveler, Empress Sahar is a time traveler. So, if the two of you work together, you should be able to do it, right?”
-That’s natural!
-Professor is running around sweating blood for my world, so I should never fail.
Then Aracelli and Sahar laughed awkwardly.
-Before we go, let me tell you about the history of the year 609.
“Ah yeah. Tell me what happened.”
-Actually, there are no major incidents in that year. However, a decisive event occurs in that year.
“A decisive event?”
-Yes. A girl is murdered by a mysterious monster.
“Why is that a decisive event?”
Empress Sahar closed the book loudly to the point it made a thud sound. Then she said,
-That girl is the great Archmage Elaim, someone who led the future human race to victory.
“Pardon?”
-Science has been defeated by magic once. And at that time, she was the third Archmage to ever appear in this world, and said to have inherited the will of the Great Archmage Aracelli Rinekal.
At that point, Aracelli coughed loudly. Apparently, she was embarrassed to be called a Great Archmage.
-Elaim said that she taught herself by reading the books that Aracelli left behind. She also said that she inherited all Aracelli beliefs and magic to protect the world.
And, Elaim finally broke science and rose to victory.
-But the problem is… their time travel ability…
“Don’t tell me….”
-That’s right.. As soon as those people realized defeat was inevitable, they went back to the past. They killed little Elaim to change the future.
“I’m going crazy, really.”
It’s so complicated. I’m going crazy.
-You understand now? Your role is to protect Elaim. I am almost certain that the androids will keep coming at you until they sort things out, so it’s probably best to run away.
“How long do I have to run away?”
-Until we destroy the power plant.
-Their time travel is different from ours. It’s like riding a rope to the past. However, if the energy source to supply the passage of time disappears…
“You mean that all androids will be forced to return?”
-Yes.
Aracelli and Empress Sahar, who had spoken up to that point, suddenly looked back. It seemed like something had happened in their timeframe.
-Anyway, we’ll go now. We don’t have time.
– I wish you good luck. After this is over, I’ll give you a big hug.
-Yes? Wait, I-
Aracelli tried to say something, but before she could finish, they both disappeared like a mist. Apparently, time travel was done via Empress Sahar’s powers, so Aracelli had no choice but to obey her.
“Uh-huh, to think it’s an escort mission….”
Escort missions were actually the hardest mission for F-rank hunters. This is because, most hunter at that level will have difficulty responding to a suprise assassination attempt.
However, back when I was still F rank hunter, I had no choice but to learn to do anything I could to survive another day, from using complicated devices or just simply roll around in the dirt to kill a single monster. Thus, from that experience, I had done quite a lot of escort missions.
However,
“I have never guarded someone from a cutting-edge mechanical monster.”
Well, it will work somehow.
Like it has always been.
*
Sohyangchon was a quiet secluded village where the harmonious mountain birds could be heard almost every time. In that place, the scenery was breathtaking and the air was pure and refreshing.
Not all settlements in Vivienda were a bustling city just because they were called the magic empire. There are still rural areas like Sohyangchon, and there are quite a lot of its citizens who are not magicians.
Elaim too, was not a magician. She was nothing but a simple and ordinary country girl. Because of her pretty appearance, she was very popular amongst the village’s youth; they were all vying for her. But of course, she had no interest in them at all.
‘I will go to the city and become a magician! And I will meet and marry a wonderful man!’
However, she was worried about her freckles and her red hair to be able to do that. On top of it, she was also resentful to her parents who told her to stop dreaming such nonsense dreams and just focus on farming.
Today, Elaim, who like always, escaped from her farming duty without her parent’s knowledge, lay down in an abandoned hut in the field and enjoyed her leisure time reading.
Her parents didn’t like reading much, so she had to create a secret place like this to avoid getting caught reading books.
“Hummmmm~”
The book she was currently reading while humming was none other than a biography book. In this small town, there were magic books too, but they were all stored in the village head’s personal library, so Elaim couldn’t take them and read them. For that reason, whenever she had time, she always read the biography about Archmage Aracelli Rinekal.
She was a mysterious hero who suddenly disappeared from the face of the world after pushing back the demon army of hell that appeared 100 years ago, dyeing the sky red.
Even though a long time had passed, her stories were still constantly sung by the bards, being performed in musical drama, and her mannequins as well as statues modeled after her were constantly being built.
In this world, when the name ‘Aracelli’ was added to anything, it will without fail create a positive image, so the name Aracelli is the most popular name in the present generation. But that too will make a funny complication when two friends have the same name.
It was such a common name, but Elaim sometimes hoped that her own name was Aracelli…
“Elaim! Elaim! Are you here?”
“Uughhhhh!”
At her father’s cry outside her, she lifted her head like a meerkat deceived by an eagle. She hurriedly tried to hide the books, but unfortunately, it was already too late.
Her father slammed the hut door open and came in.
“…Ah, Dad. All this, I will explain.”
“….”
Her father sighed as he looked at the books littering the old hut. As Elaim bowed her head in apology, her father came and stroked her hair.
“… I’m going to the city soon, and I think I’ll need a porter.”
“Yes? Yes?”
Elaim thought that she’d be scolded, so she was confused at her father’s words.
When Elaim raised her head while processing the words, her father looked at her and smiled.
“I’m thinking of buying the porter something they wanted… If there is anyone around you who wants something, could you introduce them to me?”
“Ah…”
City and what she wants to have.
It was everything Elaim had longed for so far.
Elaim jumped into her father’s embrace.
“Dad, thank you so much!”
“There there… So, let’s work hard today. By the way, can you please keep it a secret from your mother?”
“Yes! Absolutely!” Elaim smiled and nodded her head vigorously.
When the two finished chatting and were about to leave the hut,
Kwang-!!!
The wall of the hut collapsed. Then, a black silhouette came in.
“Ahh!”
“Ugh…!!”
Her vision was obscured by the dust. She couldn’t even move because of the surprise. Thankfully, her father immediately grabbed her, placed her in her corner, and raised his scythe toward the intruder.
“Who are you? What is your purpose!”
Then, from the dust, someone, or something appeared.
Kiikk-!! Kiikk-!!
It’s eyes emitted light as red as blood and with every move, an eerie scrape of a metal was heard. Its body was covered with black iron.
“Ju…Just what…”
-Target found. Removing it.
Its identity was… Android.
The android saw Elaim’s hiding place at once, and began to approach it in stride.
“This bastard dares to!!!!”
Elaine’s father ran with all his might and swung his scythe. However, in front of the approaching attack, the android didn’t even move.
Kaaaang-!!
When the sickle touched the android’s head, the sickle shattered. It sent chills down Elaim father’s guts, afterall, modern scythe was made of state-of-the-art alloys which should never break in any way.
“!!!!!”
In retaliation, the android swung its fis toward Elaim’s father, without even responding. He was hit in the stomach and thrown into the corner of the hut.
Unable to utter a single word, Elaim’s father slumped over, unconscious. Meanwhile, Elaim covered her mouth with her trembling hand.
“Ack… uh…!”
Gi-ing-!! Gi-i-ing-!!
Standing in front of Elaim, the android stretched out its hand towards her head. When she saw a strange light emanating from its palm, she sensed her death approaching her.
‘Ju-just like this….’
At that moment, the wall across her shattered, and a man jumped in and smashed the android’s head.
Kang-!!
The android, which was unbothered when his father attacked it with his scythe, turned to the side.
“Whoa… Even though I ran as hard as I could and even stole the latest sports wagon, I was almost late…”
(T/N Sports wagon. The equivalent of a sports car.)
(E/N: Do you think they have F1 races with sports wagons?)
(P/N Imagine a grand prix for wagons)
The man then spoke to Elaim.
“Elaim, right?”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes…”
“First, you have to get out of here-”
Whoong-!! Pang-!!
As Yoo Seodam was about to say something to her, the android got up and kicked the hut debris at him.
“Damn it. We’ll talk later. Just wear this. You won’t be hurt by any shock by wearing it.”
As Yoo Seodam took off her coat and threw it, Elaim grabbed it tightly. Then, thinking of her father lying in her corner, she crawled towards him.
“Ah, Dad…!”
“Ugh…”
Fortunately, her father was still breathing. Without hesitation, Elaim wrapped the coat around her father’s body.
Paang-!!
At that moment, a laser was fired from the android’s palm, and it brushed past Elaim’s ear.
“HIIIIKKK…!”
If the aim had been a little more precise, she would have died by now. Thankfully, just before it shot, Yoo Seodam hit the android’s hand to disrupt its aim.
“You idiot kid! Why are you giving what I told you to wear to someone else!!!”
“H-H-He is my father…”
“For god’s sake!!.”
Hearing her reason, Yoo Seodam couldn’t say anything else.
Whing-!!
Yoo Seodam blocked the fist swung by the android with his fist too. His physical ability was now at a level that allows him to wrestle with a robot. However, if he knows that if he keeps this any longer, he’ll soon be pushed into the corner.
After kicking the android in the stomach as hard as he could, he pulled out an etheric blade and pretended to wield it. At his stance, the android retreated and tried to evade.
However, rather than swinging it, Yoo Seodam stepped on the ground. At that time, the earth magic prepared by the flowerpot was activated, creating a huge steel wall between them.
Taking advantage of the momentarily blinded android, Yoo Seodam aimed his Winchester towards the wall.
Taang-!!
A volley of bullets blasted past the steel walls, before hitting the android’s head. After that, Yoo Seodam quickly ran towards Elaim and shouted.
“Get down!!!”
Rumble-!!
The hut shook violently.
‘Keuk…!’
Ngiiinnngg-!!
Elaim’s ears rang and her vision kept shaking as her consciousness slipped away.
‘For now, let’s get out of her…. Ela… Grip…’
Someone shouted, but she couldn’t understand it properly.
‘E…’
In the end, Elaim, who fell to the floor, couldn’t do anything but capture the image of the man who was screaming at her.
‘Well… For now, sleep comfortably.’
Eventually, silence melted into her world.
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