The internal exploration went smoothly.
Due to the setting of this place being an ancient ruin, the monsters had also been struck by the ancient times and only undead appeared. Since I had brought the same “talisman that emits holy light” I had used before, whatever came out posed no threat at all.
The only difficult part here was finding my way.
The maze-like passages had such a malicious structure that even a small mistake in navigation would make me loop back to the same place over and over. Once I lost my way, it wasn’t easy to get back on track.
However, since I had memorized the entire route, it wasn’t a problem at all.
As I went deeper inside, I finally saw the door to the last room.
An undead, acting as the gatekeeper, blocked the way, but even this…
If I break this, the apocalypse ending will be removed.
But beyond that, I didn’t know any of the details.
In the game, the only explanation was that breaking this would prevent the apocalypse, and there was no further information, so it couldn’t be helped.
It was unsettling, and I had a lot of questions, but there was only one thing I needed to do right now.
Breaking the altar.
As long as this altar existed, the possibility of the apocalypse ending remained open, so I couldn’t leave it alone.
As I got closer to break the altar… suddenly, a system window appeared in front of me.
[This action may attract their attention. Do you really want to proceed?]
It was a sentence that had never appeared in the game before.
Attract their attention? Who exactly are ‘they’?
I couldn’t tell whether 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 drawing attention would be a good thing.
So what should I do? Should I just leave it as it is and go?
‘That, too, feels unsettling in its own way.’
Once this thing triggers, there’s no time to react—no matter what, the apocalypse would come.
Even though the probability of it happening is extremely low, isn’t it a bit too much that there’s no sign, and I can’t stop it? I’ve even been in the position where I personally experienced that slim chance. Even with a low probability, I couldn’t relax.
So, my hesitation didn’t last long.
“No matter what, I need to deal with this.”
I didn’t know who “they” were, but they didn’t seem more dangerous than the immediate possibility of the apocalypse right in front of me.
Even if they turned out to be more dangerous than I thought, the responsibility would fall on my future self.
Thinking that, I drew my sword.
Of course, using a sword to break something isn’t ideal, but I didn’t mind because I had a trick up my sleeve.
This was originally a trick I had planned to use when breaking the magic stone in the grand banquet hall… Anyway, it’s a grappling technique that can be used for breaking objects.
The method is simple. Rush toward the object you want to break with the momentum to collide, and at the right moment, use both evasion and parrying simultaneously.
“Ughh!”
Whoooom!
Then, the parry hits the still object and drastically reduces its durability.
In the game, the technique was designed for specific objects…
I hadn’t used it before since there wasn’t really anything I wanted to break.
Anyway, after using the trick, cracks appeared on the altar, and it started to split apart.
It wasn’t particularly durable, so after just one hit, it was nearly destroyed, and then I just kicked it to break it.
I may not have grown, but my basic strength is good. If I could just increase my stats, I’d be grinding away like crazy to level up.
‘But I don’t have to grind, so maybe it’s a win.’
Even if I regretted it, nothing would change, so I decided to just think that way and move on.
Growth and grinding… In any case, after breaking all the altars, one problem was solved…
‘Should I head back now?’
It took several hours just to get here.
I spent some time dealing with the undead that appeared along the way, and the map was so vast to begin with.
Still, the good news is that once I broke the altars, the path back became a straight line.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-
The outside of the room is noisy. I assumed it was the sound of the structure changing, so I decided to just wait quietly.
[The apocalypse has been prevented.]
[They are beginning to take an interest in you.]
The sound stopped with that unnerving system message.
When I opened the door, I saw that the path had indeed become a straight line.
‘Maybe I should’ve opened it before it ended.’
I should’ve at least watched how the structure changed. It’s a bit too late to be curious now.
Thanks to that, I was safe, but the regret couldn’t be helped.
If Seria had been here, she would’ve opened the door first and checked, just to see the reaction too.
…Where did Seria come from all of a sudden?
Am I tired? I’m having all sorts of thoughts. I should just go back and sleep.
The imperial dinner is, as expected, luxurious.
But even with such a lavish meal before him, today’s emperor barely ate, just picking at his food, and upon seeing this, the empress seemed to notice something and smiled softly.
“Have you decided to accept it? That child.”
“…I don’t feel like eating anyway, so don’t bring that kid up.”
“Hehe, is it really that bad?”
“It’s because they’re trying to take our Seria! How could I be happy about that!”
“Then, aside from that child, do you have someone else in mind who might be a better match?”
At the empress’s words, the emperor closed his mouth, then, looking somewhat awkward, he finally put some food into his mouth.
In a voice as small as an ant’s crawl, he answered.
“I… I never thought about keeping her with me for life…”
“You can’t live like that. I can’t bear to see my daughter living alone.”
A father, whose daughter is still in her prime, and a mother, who is at least somewhat realistic.
Their conversation, though cold in tone, was warm in content.
Having roughly guessed the situation from their conversation, the older brothers began to whisper, so Seria had to focus solely on her meal in silence.
If Rudion himself had been there, he would have acted confidently, but instead, his strangely timid nature came out when he wasn’t around.
The conversation then shifted to the broken magic stone, and it seemed that the imperial family had decided to handle the matter internally.
Since it had been dealt with by an outsider, if things went wrong, the situation could become complicated.
Rudion, not looking for any personal gain from this incident, would likely agree to handle it this way.
“That seems like the best course of action. Rudion would prefer it this way too, rather than getting caught up in unnecessary trouble.”
Having said that, the emperor frowned again, and the empress smiled contentedly. Had I said something wrong? As Seria was pondering, the empress began teasing her.
“Are you already close enough to make such important decisions on his behalf? But you shouldn’t be too forceful, you know.”
“Ah, no! I haven’t been forceful at all…”
Every time she had some free time, she’d drag him around to places she wanted to go.
But wasn’t that a bit too mild to say I’d been forceful?
…Oh, right. Lately, it had been fun to make things awkward, so I’d teased him on purpose.
Still, well, anyway. I haven’t been forceful.
Besides, I’m not dealing with someone who can just be controlled by me.
With that self-justification, I regained my composure. The empress was still wearing a satisfied smile, but I pretended not to notice.
After the meal, Seria returned to her room and threw herself onto the bed.
Lying on the soft bed, staring up at the ceiling, she reached out for a book as usual, but nothing was in her hand.
“…Right. I lent it out.”
The book that should have been on the shelf was still lent to him.
It didn’t really matter. The bookshelf in the room was filled with so many books that she could just grab any one and read it.
But for some reason, she didn’t feel like doing that, so she just relaxed and let her body go limp.
…I actually used the magic I read about in books today.
She began to recall the magic she had used earlier.
No matter how many times she thought about it, it felt thrilling. She never imagined she could use the magic from the books so quickly.
The magic that pierced through the demon’s abdomen, the one that severed its neck.
All of it was based on theories she had read in the books.
Magic and stars. Recognizing the connection between them, she had summoned the magic of the universe, drawing power from countless stars, not from the surrounding magical energy.
Magical energy imbued with the power of stars is far more difficult to control than the commonly used magic.
However, it holds immense utility, allowing for applications that would be impossible with ordinary magic.
But is it really possible to summon such power from such a vast distance?
If you were to ask that, the only answer would be that it’s impossible.
But what is magic? Isn’t magic about making the impossible possible?
Even if it sounds like a child’s stubborn reasoning, that’s exactly what magic is.
The more illogical it seems, the more extraordinary the magic—it’s only natural, right?
Of course, the reason this incredible feat was possible was entirely thanks to the favorability rewards.
The “Concept Manifestation” skill obtained as part of this reward allowed her to turn any concept she envisioned into a manifestation.
However, using it wasn’t an easy task.
Although the name sounded grand, to actually use it required vast amounts of magical knowledge, creativity to deeply and profoundly imagine specific concepts, and an exceptional level of magic control to manipulate magical power freely.
So, if…
If, in the Journey of the Stars series, the theoretical content hadn’t been filled to the brim,
If Seria hadn’t been a genius with an extraordinary magical talent who could fully understand and make it her own,
If Seria hadn’t had such a deep passion for using it in the first place…
“Concept Manifestation” probably wouldn’t have been able to reach its full potential, barely improving her magic efficiency.
‘I just liked someone… Is it really okay to receive all of this?’
Without realizing it, Seria thought the favorability reward had simply granted her an unbelievable power.
Does she even know? In the original story, she used the techniques from the Journey of the Stars series without needing any favorability rewards.
She’d developed and used the techniques on her own at some point. The favorability boost only gave her a little nudge in that direction.
Well, as they say, it’s better to take the good when it comes. At least she got to use it sooner than expected…
The familiar blue window and messages appeared before her.
[The target has successfully changed the future.]
[Congratulations! Due to the change in the future, your dedicated stats will grow.]
[There is another alternate future. The growth stats will be adjusted.]
[Current time stat: 3]
“Ah…”
She had finally done it. She had stopped the apocalypse.
The “alternate future” must be referring to the event where she destroyed the magic stone today.
For some reason, a wave of overwhelming emotion surged through her.
But on the other hand, there was a bittersweet feeling. She had done it all alone—did that mean she wasn’t really needed?
Thinking about that, she recalled the incident where she had defeated the demon.
She could have done it by herself, but she had held back for the sake of his experience.
That wasn’t quite the relationship of partners; it was more like that of a mentor and disciple.
Am I just a burden?
For a moment, she felt down at the thought.
But then, she quickly realized it wasn’t the time to be wrapped up in those feelings.
Wait a minute. If I succeeded, that means he’ll be back soon.
But what if he got hurt and hadn’t returned yet?
The worry over him made her feel the urge to go check on him.
She tried to get up from the bed, but… suddenly, more messages appeared, stopping her in her tracks.
[The time stat has reached 3. Related knowledge is now granted.]
[Warning: This comes with considerable pain.]
That was enough to catch her off guard.
“Huh?”
Zzziing—
Before she could even properly grasp the situation, pain overwhelmed her, as if to force her understanding through experience.
Without any permission, a crushing headache hit her, and she began to moan in agony.
“Ugh… Uhh…?!”
Despite the overwhelming pain, the fact that she desperately held back from screaming to avoid making the situation worse was nothing short of remarkable.
In the end, she couldn’t confirm if Rudion had returned safely.
The blinding headache took over as she clutched her head, rolling around in agony, and eventually, she passed out.
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