◈ Episode 492. The Foundation (8)

Me, Lee Hoyeol.

After a decade or two of inactivity, I thought I had experienced many things that other players have not. I’ve never seen a message like this before.

‘……Self-destruct?’

I would have suspected the obvious.

What if the opponent was a demon-type monster?

Damn it, I wouldn’t have even snorted.

But the scene was telling.

Moreover.

The slow disappearance of worlds behind me weighed heavily. That the battle was indeed over. Yugweed, the Fused Intelligence, its unwavering body, like a mountain of rock, is beginning to crumble.

I can see it better now that we’re closer.

“Lee, Chief Lee?”

Bensch William.

His voice trails off, and he raises a finger. I know you don’t have to point, Senior Bensch. I do, and so does everyone in this room.

hudeudeudeug.

Upper body, lower body, I couldn’t tell where.

All at once, they shattered and collapsed.

Without offering any resistance.

“What the hell……?”

Someone’s voice blurred for a moment.

Then, all eyes are on me.

I recognize the look in their eyes from the moment I first announced my reversal magic.

It’s similar to the way you looked at me back then.

‘You seem to be looking to me for an explanation…….’

Well, I don’t know everything.

This {Nature} power, the power of nature blessed by the First World Tree. I’ve seriously thought about it……. It seemed like I was making a mistake.

I’ve experienced it once.

‘On the Arcana Continent.’

Even if I borrowed the power of the World Tree and unlocked my Nature Abilities.

I wouldn’t be able to surpass the power of the Spirit Kings.

Then so be it.

‘So that’s what you meant.’

I opened my mouth, recalling the flashed message.

“Self-destruction, destroy yourself.”

I glanced at the dispersing Fused Intelligence and continued.

“This is your pride, Yugweed.”

*

Oried shouted.

“What are you doing this for, to give it up now? How have you become less useful than the girl who knew nothing? Well, enough, get out of my consciousness now!”

The Fused Intelligence is not named for nothing.

Yugweed and Oried.

The consciousnesses of two beings fused together.

If the Fused Intelligence Body were to turn to dust and disappear, the consciousnesses of both entities would be lost forever.

“I’m sorry. Such words are hurtful, Oried. I’m already suffering the scars of the passing years, great and small, and to have an old woman like this tell me that youth is better.”

The Gentle Giant.

The old giant’s slyness has returned.

Yugweed no longer wavered.

She had seen it.

She smiled.

‘Because I want a different ending for you.’

It was at this moment that Yugweed remembered his fellow former Elder Mages, Karimzeva the Fire Dragon, and Senios the Ice Cap. If things had gone according to Oried’s will…….

She could have met a similar fate to yours.

‘It would have been different depending on the severity of Chief Lee’s disposition.’

If Chief Lee shows mercy, I’ll meet a fate like Senios, and if he doesn’t, I won’t even be left with a body, like Karimzeva.

‘In that sense, I’m going to make a last push.’

But shouldn’t I have the last word?

Thanks to shared consciousness.

Oried’s voice changed as she realized what she meant.

“One last push? Don’t sound so weak, Yugweed.”

Her voice grew falsely lean.

There was no trace of her earlier rampage.

Her voice is sweetly whispered, as if she’s trying to soothe a child.

But all Yugweed could do was smile weakly.

“I’m sorry, but I’m too old for that kind of sugar-coating.”

“……you.”

“And you know it, don’t you, Oried?”

Yugweed spoke, not the least bit intimidated by the Earth Spirit King who glared at her as if to kill her. And the words cut to the heart of Oried.

“That I, too, lost my innocence long ago.”

“……!”

Not like the other spirits who had kept their innocence.

Oried had made a pact with Yugweed that should not have been made.

Yugweed finished nonchalantly.

“So you’d better stop thinking about it.”

Nothing would change my decision.

At the same time.

Things began to fall apart in earnest.

The Fused Intelligence Body.

The space of consciousness where two people coexist.

Kugugugung.

A chunk of rock crashed down on Oried’s head.

If she didn’t dodge quickly.

It was big enough to crush her to death.

Oried cried out.

“Are you serious? You’re going to give up like this?”

I nodded.

“……Truth! Yeah, what about the truth you were after?!”

shaking head.

“And now you’re going to give it up without a second thought……? Even if you go crazy, you’re crazy, and even if you’re dyed, you’re dyed! What broke you so much, reversal magic? Pride? You don’t really believe in the transformation of the Shadow Mercenaries, do you?”

……Hmm.

Shadow Mercenaries.

The word made Yugweed pause for a moment.

But then she shook her head.

You can’t reverse the passage of time, after all, Chief Lee.

“Perhaps it’s my age. I’m sure some of you will be disappointed, but to be honest with you……. It was decades ago, so my memory and my vendetta have faded. I don’t care what they do now, so I guess it’s okay.”

Puff.

“Aa…….”

Oried slumped back in her seat, her dignity forgotten at that point.

Self-destruction was the word.

The space of consciousness continued to collapse.

At this rate, Yugweed and Oried would die.

Their consciousnesses would be lost in the wreckage of the Fused Intelligence.

That was the ending Yugweed hoped for.

“The time has come for me to meet my end as an Earth Mage.”

A burning flame does not age.

Neither does an unmeltable ice cap.

But the earth is different.

Yugweed looked at the golem, the crumbling Fused Intelligence.

It was not unlike a chunk of rock being carved away by the winds, and the chips would soon be reduced to dust. It was naturally turning to dirt.

Yugweed chanted.

“From giant to dirt. Let’s see, it’s time for the Foundation.”

Sssssssss.

As expected.

The Fused Intelligence reverted to dust.

At the same time.

Their consciousness began to blur.

Still, Yugweed held on until the last moment.

‘I don’t know what the outcome will be…….’

The Incomplete Prototype Rift.

A rift that should have been closed by the self-destruction of the Fused Intelligence. The Fused Intelligence that had turned to dust had connected two completely different worlds into a single land.

Yugweed spat out a laugh.

“I think you guys will be able to handle it well.”

Chief Lee, Marcelo, Matisse.

And even Senior Bensch.

It was a moment when Yugweed thought of the future of the Magic Tower.

A voice pierced her consciousness.

-“This is your pride, Yugweed.”

Pride.

Thank you for recognizing that, Chief Lee.

Yugweed uttered her last words.

Yes, this is it.

Not as the incompetent elder mage of the Magic Tower.

My final words as the chosen one, the earth mage.

“So feel free to envy me all you want, Senios.”

*

Fading away like a lie.

The Fused Intelligence that destroyed the Arcana continent and Seoul.

What was the best I could have done, I ask myself.

‘……If only I were a little stronger.’

Early on, I opened up my {Nature} stats earlier, and if I had been more skillful with [Blessing of the First World Tree]. I might have been able to reach a better ending.

But was that really the pride of Yugweed?

I opened my mouth.

“I honor your pride.”

The system that never lies has declared itself ‘self-destructed’.

It was safe to assume that the collapse of the Fused Intelligence was Yugweed’s will.

Was there any evidence that it wasn’t Oried’s doing?

Yes, there is. Unlike before, the Fused Intelligence were cowering and turning to dust, fearful of causing damage to their surroundings.

Soon, its vision flickered.

[The Fused Intelligence Yugweed changes.]

[The Prototype Rift changes.]

[A new field appears between two completely different worlds.]

The monster that appeared has disappeared.

The rift should have been cleared and disappeared.

The prototype rift remained in place.

That’s not all.

I’ve used magic to peer inside.

A group of adept mages chattered.

“……there, over there, beyond that, isn’t that the Arcana continent?”

“Miss Jibril, I see it! It is indeed the Arcana Continent!”

“Hush, try to be quiet, Linne!”

“Heub!”

The Adept Mage who noticed my gaze quickly covered her mouth, but she didn’t need to. The players, as well as the senior mages, seemed to understand what the Prototype Rift was doing.

Baek Yiseol muttered in disbelief.

“Could it be that the rift connecting the Arcana Continent and reality hasn’t disappeared, and a new field has emerged as the fallen Fused Intelligence form a new field……?”

Sinhwa Guild Master.

At the same time, as a top-tier player, your reasoning skills are good.

I was thinking the same thing.

This is what Yugweed calls the Magic Tower.

And her last legacy to reality and the Arcana continent.

A series of flickering visions.

[The influence of a completely different world is conveyed.]

The players are the ones surprised by the message.

As expected, the closest player.

Baek Yiseol is now exclaiming in disbelief.

” ……Buffs? Did they say they’re being applied on the Arcana continent?!”

The Arcana continent and Seoul, the capital of South Korea, are connected.

Of course.

Not to mention the many buffs that are triggered on the Arcana continent.

[The Arcana Continent will sing its legend from now on. The cold winds that blew across Arcana have ceased, and the frozen lands thaw and tremble with life. : Increases experience gained by 50%]

[The spirits of the universe rejoice in the reversed entropy; their playfulness has warped the causality of the Arcana Continent, and no one would blame them. : Item drop rate increased by 50%]

[The pure-blooded mage race, the Twilight Descendants, scatter violet magic across the Arcana Continent. The Arcana continent’s magic concentration becomes denser. The prelude to the Great Mage Era begins. : Increase magic manifestation by 30%]…….

Also, the most recent buff that came to mind.

[The ‘Age of Purity’ arrives on the Arcana continent.]

It meant that it was valid for realities beyond the Arcana Continent.

“……How should we take this, Chief Lee?”

Bellier Yusia, senior of the Healing School.

She asks me cautiously. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t imagine the aftermath of this either. For every positive, there will be a negative.

For example.

‘Raymon Sean.’

It’s safe to say that the Anomaly he was seeking was partially realized. But that wasn’t my immediate concern, because yes, I had other things to worry about.

Because I am as innocent as a child.

Curiosity is also childlike.

Beings that make their presence felt beyond the prototype rift.

Peeking.

Countless spirits poke their heads into reality.

Spirits in their natural state are visible to the naked eye?

The one who was most surprised by the phenomenon was Senior Spirit Magic, Feiyan.

“Eh, eeeeehhh?”

I’m afraid you’ll have to rip up all your books on spirits, Feiyan.

But don’t be too hard on yourself.

No matter what, your fate is better than mine.

Suddenly, the gazes of the spirits that had been wandering around reality turned toward me.

“!!!”

Yes, spirits.

Your tears were wasted.

I am alive and well.

I was going to say something, just in case you thought I was like this…….

“Uh, how……?”

I don’t know if you know my complicated feelings.

The spirits rushed toward me.

Among them were Spirit Kings who were extraordinary in appearance.

The entire landscape spreads across the airwaves.

What does that mean?

[Your legend resonates in two completely different worlds.]

……What does it mean that the illusion has been accelerated!