Side Story Chapter 3

Two Camus walked through an empty void.

Behind them, the expressionless face of Vikir could be seen.

The Abyss of Magic.

Gas, dust, and star clusters drifted through the void, receding into the distance behind theam.

Camus on that side spoke.

“The mana wheel here seems to play the same role as the wheel of a ship.”

“I see. Mana is like fuel. We can inject it through the mana wheel.”

Camus on this side answered.

The two geniuses worked together as if they were one body.

It was only natural since they were one and the same.

Vikir asked.

“…… Is it something that comes naturally to you as you travel through this space? I don’t understand anything.”

But there was no answer from the two Camus.

“I see. All the mysteries of Magic that I’ve been wondering about for so long are here, complete with equations, answers, and the process of solving them. This is, this is amazing!”

“Yes, it was! Time flows differently depending on the motion of an object, and since spatial and temporal mana coexist in all beings, it was necessary to analyze the mana of both factors simultaneously to reduce the error in the formula!”

“The magic circles are also subject to both space and time and the moment the balance between these two forces is disturbed, even the same magic circles will have slight errors, which is why the Full Revival Magic always fails… I overlooked the relativity of space and time.”

“This is heaven! This is an ocean of information! Every speck of dust that floats by is the truth that every mage has longed for all their lives!”

The women were busy feeling and analyzing the countless particles floating through the Abyss of Magic.

The realization of truth.

It was something that was only possible for the most eccentric of the eccentrics who dwelled in the maddening depths of the Magic Abyss, so it was understandably incomprehensible to Vikir.

“……I don’t know what that is.”

When you don’t know something, it’s always better to meekly accept help from someone who does.

They’ll get you at least halfway there.

Vikir decided to keep quiet and follow the two Camus.

The two Camus were still talking to each other as they moved forward in their spirit form.

“The ‘Abyss of Magic’ is similar to the ‘Ring of Reincarnation’. They’re all just abstract names for the ultimate manifestation.”

“If I can combine the formulas I’ve gained from my travels here, I’ll no longer be dreaming of perfecting the ‘Full Revival Magic’.”

“That’s right, If that happens, I will have the opportunity to meet Master.”

“You keep saying Master, Master, why do you follow Delegate Snake so closely? He was the one who signed the contract with the 8th Corpse to become King of the Dead?”

“Not in my world. He was a benefactor who gave his life for me. The reason we are here today is all thanks to the research results he left behind.”

“…… So, Snake did that? I don’t believe it.”

“So who do you think was the contractor to the 8th Corpse in the world I came from? House Morg, for the record.”

“Hmm. There’s someone else in House Morg who would make such a stupid contract? I can’t believe it.”

The two Camus were getting to understand each other through their conversations.

The occasional argument or bickering escalated, but Vikir, who was behind them, mediated, so there wasn’t much of a ruckus.

Soon, they were traveling deep into the Abyss of Magic.

A never-ending road of paradoxes.

They reached the midpoint between the starting point and the ending point.

After that, they reach a new midpoint between the midpoint and the endpoint.

After that, they again reach a new midpoint between the midpoint and the endpoint.

After that, they reach a new midpoint between the midpoint and the endpoint again and again.

After that, they go again and again and again and again…….

An endless hell full of nothingness and emptiness.

Beings trapped in the myriad of fleeting moments that exist between dots and points.

But despite this, they were still hopeful.

“I’ve already thought a lot about what kind of infinity comes from taking a finite number and adding it an infinite number of times.”

“You mentioned the division between the observable and the unobservable, right?”

“Yes. That infinity has a sequence. I just don’t know if it’s very clear.”

Vikir nodded at Camu’s words.

Then.

As they traveled on, they came across something strange.

It was the shattered body of a demon.

Floating in the cold void, the demon’s head opened its eyes.

[……I don’t know if there’s another one that will make it this far. Are they descendants of ‘him’?]

“You are Baal, aren’t you?”

Camus on this side asked.

Camus on that side and Vikir instinctively prepared for battle as soon as they saw Baal.

The being called Baal spoke in a lonely voice.

[Do you know my name?]

“I know. I suffered to death for the war your men caused.”

[All I left behind there is a shell, an illusion. The real me has been trapped here, lost in thought for a long time.]

Baal thought, remembering a time so long ago that it was no longer clear to Baal exactly when.

‘And when the last moment of your life comes, come to this place.’

And as the voice of ‘him’ echoed in Baal’s mind, Baal realized.

[……And so it was. A milestone. Was this my role.]

Baal laughed in disbelief.

Baal turned to Vikir and Camus in front of it and said in resignation.

[Just by traveling here, you will get what you want].

“…….”

[But even after you get what you want, you will have no choice but to return here again].

“…….”

[Because that’s what ‘he’ wants].

Those were Baal’s last words.

“Demon kills.”

Then Vikir drew his nine teeth in the air.

Camus on that side, also rolled nine mana circles, weaving flames of fire.

…kwakwakwakwang!

Baal was destroyed.

Demon Lord who ultimately failed to become a demon god, ended up turning into red dust and floating in a space full of nothingness.

“But what is meant by a milestone?”

“……We’ve destroyed it, so it doesn’t matter now. Let’s go.”

Vikir and Camus continued onward.

Just then.

For the first time in their lives, they encountered a crisis.

Tsutsutsutsutsuts……

The size of the mana ring gradually became smaller and smaller, and the amount of mana being injected began to decrease.

“Hmph. It’s difficult to increase the number of mana rings with my current level of cultivation.”

Camus on that side clenched her fists tightly in frustration.

Then.

Tsk-.

A hand touched her shoulder.

Camus on this side looked up and gave her a complex glare.

Finally, she opened her mouth.

“Ever since the fall of mankind, I have lived without trusting anyone.”

The sincerity in her voice is palpable.

“But right now. I can’t help but trust others. It’s funny how I’ve come to rely on others……….”

Just then, Camus on that side tapped Camus on this side on the shoulder.

“It’s no one else.”

“…….”

“I am you, and you are me.”

“…….”

“And we are us.”

Camus looked at herself and smiled broadly.

“We can do this.”

Then Camus grinned back.

“Who said anything, there’s no disputing that.”

“Am. There’s no question about it.”

“But I guess we have a different opinion on this one. Is it a difference in the environment in which we lived?”

“……?”

A puzzled look from Camus on that side.

Puck.

Camus on this side stretched out her hands.

Camus on that side and Vikir stumble forward, their backs against the wall.

At the same time.

paaaas!

Camus on this side begins to draw in all of her mana.

Camus on that side immediately realized what she was about to do.

“What!? What are you doing now……!”

“If you were really me, you’d know what I’m about to do.”

“…….”

“If you know, don’t hesitate and take it. I don’t want to waste my energy.”

Camus on this side put all her strength into Vikir and Camus on that side and pushed them forward.

Then, she moves backward like an adjunct propellant that has finished its job and is falling away.

With one more strong thrust, Camus and Vikir shoot forward in the blink of an eye.

As they receded into the distance, Camus on this side said.

“Full Revival Magic. If you can’t figure it out, don’t come back.”

“…….”

Camus on that side eyes reddened.

But tears didn’t flow.

For her next words.

“And. Did you say Vikir?”

“…….”

“You can always come back to me if you feel you’re in danger.”

Camus on this side glared at Vikir.

Seeing this, Camus on that side became furious.

“How dare you flirt with my husband!”

“I’m you, you’re me, we’re us, so he’s our husband~ hohoho~”

She hasn’t laughed this hard in years, maybe decades.

Until the end, Camus on this side said something mixed with a deep laugh that you couldn’t tell if she was joking or serious, and then she was buried beyond the darkness of the abyss.

Soon, only Vikir and Camus on that side were left alone in the vast void.

How much time had passed?

“…… Shall we go then?”

“……Yes.”

The two continued to move forward, across the shrinking horizon of time and beyond the bounds of perception.

Something pierced the darkness into their vision.

“Indeed. Is this a scene that can be seen in the Abyss of Magic?”

“Wow, this is huge.”

They had arrived at the ‘Reservoir of the Magic Abyss’.

It was a cloud that contained 140 trillion times more water than all the water on Earth combined.

jjeoeog-

A fish so huge it could swallow a star leaped over the waves crashing against the cloud’s surface.

It carried countless tiny babies on the tips of its fins.

Vikir and Camus continued to push forward through the clouds.

Soon, they came face to face with a black hole thousands of times larger than the sun.

It was a point of gravity that greedily sucked in everything around it.

“…… Is this the main body of the Magic Abyss?”

“It looks like it, for one thing, it’s ridiculously large.”

But they decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.

“Hmm. There’s no way the main body of the Magic Abyss is this small.”

“It could be. It’s big, but not as big as I thought it would be. Maybe it’s a trap.”

They decided to walk right past the giant hole in front of them.

The slightest turn and an unfathomable amount of time passed.

Vikir and Camus passed by the wandering stars buried in the darkness of the void.

Some of them were moaning, with eyes, noses, and mouths.

“Perhaps they were once beings traveling here, like us.”

“If we linger, we could end up like them. Let’s go.”

Vikir and Camus continued to roll their mana wheels, moving forward.

Paas-

It’s getting brighter and brighter.

No, not brighter, but hotter.

A giant fireball was coming their way.

But it wasn’t that big, so Vikir and Camus were able to easily avoid it.

“That must have been a very long snake once.”

“It must have shrunk in length as it aged.”

The two continued to move forward.

And then.

A disk-shaped orb of darkness appeared before them.

Chunks of cold lead floated around it.

hududug- hududug- hududug-

The solidified lead masses move toward Vikir and Camus as if pulled by gravity.

Vikir pulls out his sword and begins to slash at the flying lead.

Camus, meanwhile, is using her fire and skewers to fend off the lead.

As they cleared the shower of lead, Vikir and Camus faced each other.

Huge pillars rise like the five fingers of the Creator.

-All things are born from the Abyss of Magic and return to the Abyss of Magic.

-One day, when the stars move, a door will open to a new level and all things will come to their inevitable end.

And the moment they saw the words written on it, Vikir and Camus felt a shock like being struck by lightning.

Chalalalalalag-

Countless letters combine in their minds.

Black letters on white drawing paper, form a giant library.

“……Yes, I get it! I get it now! The Full Revival Magic! I’ve found what Master and I were lacking, and now I can revive everyone!”

Camus frantically began to draw magic circles in the air with her hands.

Meanwhile, Vikir was using all his strength to remove the lead from the surrounding area.

And then.

paas-

Vikir and Camus’ bodies erupted with light.

They had gained all that they had hoped to gain from the Magic Abyss.

The purpose of the ritual had been accomplished.

* * *

“…….”

Vikir opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was.

“What, did you come back right away?”

It was Camus.

Vikir asked her.

“How much time has passed?”

“I don’t know, I just woke up. Didn’t we wake up at the same time?”

Vikir was silent.

Surely a long time had passed since he had parted ways with Camus on this side.

But if even that epic amount of time had been just a fleeting, barely perceptible moment in reality…….

Then.

“It’s only been about eleven minutes since we’ve been in the Magic Abyss, 666 seconds to be exact.”

Camus beside him spoke up.

She glanced at her pocket watch, which she had set before unleashing the full revival magic circle.

“I never realized the relativity of time could be so extreme. This is the Abyss of Magic.”

“But I don’t think I can go twice.”

“Really? I’m sure I can go again as many times as I want.”

Vikir and Camus looked at each other and smirked.

Just then.

“What is this place, Dark Side? Why am I here……?”

A familiar voice came from behind the stone pillar.

Instantly, Vikir and Camus looked up.

Tears began to form in Camus’ eyes.

“Aaah…….”

The person struggling there was none other than Morg Snake, Camus’ master.

“I’m sure I resisted the devil’s temptation and went on a mana rampage……, but how come I’m still alive…… huh!”

Snake stood there dumbfounded, only to be startled by Camus hugging his back.

“Young, Young Lady? How did you get here…….”

“Now is not the time!”

Camus decided to put off her emotional reunion with Snake.

She quickly looked back at Vikir and called out.

“Husband, let’s get out of here!”

Morg Snake’s revival told her that the Full Revival Magic had been successful.

“…….”

Vikir nodded, too.

With a rare look of excitement on her face.

And then.

…bang!

The door to the Dark Side burst open.

Vikir and Camus stepped out into the blinding sunlight.

And then. The gates opened.

The sight before them was something new.