novelraw Chapter 141 : Chapter 141
Chapter 141 : Chapter 141
Chapter 141. A Flashing Idea (2)
The massive transition magic circle Noemi drew was completed, emitting a blue light.
The coordinates were deep in the western mountains, at the habitat of the ‘Moonlight-infused Steelwood’ that the dwarf artisan had informed us of.
Without hesitation, Noemi, Anonymous, and I stepped onto the magic circle.
“Here we go!”
With Noemi’s shout, my vision briefly turned white, and the next moment we were standing in the middle of a strange forest filled with deep greenery and the damp smell of earth.
Around us, giant steelwood trees that must have been hundreds of years old soared densely towards the sky.
“This is the place.”
I quickly scanned my surroundings to confirm that it was the area the dwarf artisan had described.
Then, I gave Anonymous a look.
As soon as she received my signal, she began to concentrate on expanding her subspace, just as we had agreed beforehand.
“Alright, shall we begin.”
Anonymous closed her two eyes and slowly spread her arms.
An unimaginable amount of magic power began to flow from her body like waves.
That magic power spread out like a huge invisible net, enveloping the entire forest area we were targeting.
The trees, the ground, the rocks, and even the air within it.
“Huuup!”
Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and her slender body began to tremble slightly.
Putting an entire ‘space’ into her mental world, a dimension different from simply putting in a person, was a huge burden and a first attempt even for her, the queen of dragons.
It was a tense moment that made even me, who was watching, swallow dryly.
Finally, it was the moment she brought her arms together in front of her chest with a low groan.
Paaat-!
The lush forest and land that had been spread out before our eyes just until now vanished in an instant, as if it were a mirage.
That wasn't all.
Anonymous, who had contained that huge space in her subspace, she herself also disappeared from that spot without a trace.
“No way…….”
I heard Noemi, who was standing next to me, gasp.
Before my eyes, there was only a vaguely unnatural ‘empty space’ left where the forest had been just a moment ago.
‘Success!’
I cheered inwardly.
Anonymous had disappeared, but I knew she wasn't completely gone.
Her existence would now remain at the very spot she had just been standing, not as a physical form, but as a kind of ‘coordinate’ or ‘trace of existence’.
And Noemi's transition magic would be able to move that very ‘coordinate’.
“Noemi! Now! Get ready to go back!”
At my shout, Noemi nodded with a tense expression.
With trembling hands, she began to draw a huge transition magic circle on the ground once again.
The destination was the easternmost coastal village.
A deserted outskirts area we had decided on beforehand.
The magic circle was completed, but Noemi hesitated to activate the magic.
A sense of uncertain anxiety was evident in her eyes.
“Dad… is this really possible? Master Anonymous isn't here right now. Can we really move Master and that entire forest with just these coordinates?”
“If my calculations are correct, it's possible. And you can do it, Noemi.”
I looked into her eyes and instilled confidence in her.
“I told Anonymous beforehand. To release the subspace when she counts to exactly 100. So don't worry, and activate the magic right now!”
At my encouragement, Noemi took a deep breath and finally shot her magic power into the magic circle.
Her body was once again engulfed in a blue light and disappeared.
Now, all that was left was to wait.
As promised, I began to slowly count on the deserted coastal cliff of the easternmost village.
Around me, Rude, Number 1, and a few dwarf artisans and elf guards were watching me with bated breath.
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three…….
Time passed, and the last number came out of my mouth.
“...Ninety-nine, one hundred!”
The moment the count ended.
A miracle happened.
Kwarurururung-!
With a tremendous spatial distortion phenomenon as if the world were being created anew, a huge forest suddenly appeared in the empty space in front of us that had been empty just a moment ago.
The entire lush forest area, filled with hundreds of years old steelwood trees, spread out on the coastal cliff in an instant, as if a picture had been overlaid.
I even felt a vibration as if the ground was slightly sinking under the weight of the suddenly appeared forest.
And on the edge of that forest, stood Anonymous, looking slightly pale but still dignified, with Noemi.
“Wh-what is this…….”
“Wh-what am I seeing right now?”
“No way…….”
Everyone who was watching that sight stood with their mouths agape, speechless.
Rude looked back and forth between the forest and Anonymous with eyes full of awe, and even the elves couldn't hide their surprise.The dwarves began to cheer that the best timber they had had been delivered right before their eyes.
“Uahaha! As expected, the Hero's scale is different!”
“This is it! This is it!”
Only then could I finally smile with satisfaction.
A method that was unimaginable.
But it had finally become a reality.
Now, the final preparations to head to Reubungwo were complete.
***
Of course, just because we brought the timber didn't mean everything was over.
It would take a long time to process this and turn it into ships.
There was nothing I, who was not an artisan, could do here.
‘I can leave the shipbuilding to the dwarves and elves.’
So I busied myself with other things.
That is, investing in the future, fostering talent.
Especially Douglas Junior, who was showing remarkable growth.
He needed intensive management.
The sound of clashing swords echoed in the training ground today as well.
“Keuk!”
Douglas Junior barely parried the sword I swung and stepped back.
A faint but clear blue aura was shimmering on his blade.
‘As expected of the next generation's hero. To have already awakened the sense of Aura Sword.’
Whether he had realized something after seeing the hero's sword energy I had shown him as a joke a while ago, he had entered the threshold of the Aura Sword at an astonishing speed.
Of course, he was still far from my level, a mere newborn chick, but his potential was certain.
“Don't focus the aura too much on the tip of the sword! The power will be doubled if you connect it naturally with the flow of magic power throughout your body!”
I pointed out his immature aura management and swung my sword again.
He was flustered but desperately tried to follow my advice.
It was rewarding to teach him, as he was a kid who understood ten things when taught one.
I thought it wouldn't be bad to raise such a talented disciple.
Meanwhile, there were those who were watching the two of them from a corner of the training ground.
Adel and Alvarez.
Adel was watching the spar between her father and Douglas Junior seriously, as if not to miss a single scene, holding her breath.
The sight of Douglas swinging a sword shrouded in a blue aura was truly surprising.
To awaken the Aura Sword at that age, it was no ordinary talent.
‘Perhaps he really is the hero of the next generation after my father.’
Just as Iris was designated as the next generation's saintess through some revelation, she thought that he might have been born with such a destiny.
But in a corner of her heart, the remnants of the complex emotions she had felt a while ago still remained.
Then, Alvarez, who was standing next to her, asked in a low voice.
His expression was hard to read as always, but his tone seemed to be mixed with a subtle emotion.
“That's amazing. To be able to use the Aura Sword already. Do you like him?”
Adel hesitated for a moment at Alvarez's sudden question, but she soon shook her head firmly.
“It's true that I was a little concerned at first. But not anymore.”
“Not anymore?”
“Yes. Now I just see him as a good junior, and my father's talented disciple. Nothing more, nothing less.”
She had clearly sorted out her own feelings.
The discomfort she felt when she saw him was probably not jealousy or affection, but a slight sense of competition towards a talented junior who might catch up to her, mixed with a feeling of self-pity for herself.
Adel did not miss the fact that Alvarez's expression brightened very slightly, but clearly, after hearing her answer.
A feeling of relief or joy, she couldn't tell which, was also evident in his voice.
“I see. That's a relief.”
Adel looked at Alvarez for a moment, then turned her gaze back to Douglas Junior, who was concentrating on his training again.
But Adel didn't know that someone else was watching this scene from the opposite side.
The source of the gaze was Noemi.
With her arms crossed, she was staring intently at Douglas Junior's every move, as if she were a hawk.
Every time his sword shone, Noemi would let out an exclamation of admiration without realizing it, and when she thought Frank was pushing Douglas too hard, she would frown.
‘As expected of Douglas! To have reached that level already! The person I picked is different.’
Then, suddenly.
Noemi glanced at Adel and Alvarez, then quickly frowned and burned with a sense of competition.
‘My sister is definitely after Douglas too. But I will never lose him! Douglas is mine!’
Did Noemi know?
That Adel had given up on him.
That she no longer saw him as an object of affection.
But unless it was conveyed in words, it was impossible for a person to know another's thoughts.
***
Three months had already passed since we settled in the easternmost coastal village.
In that time, the seemingly impossible shipbuilding was finally completed.
It was the result of the dwarves' marvelous technical skills, the elves' delicate magic enchantment.
And the dedicated efforts of the soldiers and artisans who had arrived one after another from Lumen Fortis and various other places.
In the harbor, about a hundred sturdy and majestic ships, which seemed sufficient to cross the cursed strait, were now waiting for their departure.
Also, the elite soldiers of Lumen Fortis who had set out by land and sea, and the support troops dispatched from each allied nation on the continent, had all finished gathering here.
Humans, elves, dwarves, even some dragonkin and demons. And even monsters like vampires.
The allied army, composed of various races, boasted a stronger majesty than ever before.
I stood on the deck of the largest flagship and looked at the soldiers and ships that filled the harbor.
Finally, all preparations were complete.
I put strength into my voice and shouted to all who had gathered.
“Everyone! You have waited a long time!”
My voice echoed throughout the harbor through magic amplification.
The gazes of countless soldiers turned to me at once.
“For the past three months, we have finally completed the preparations that seemed impossible! The ships to cross the rough sea that bound our feet are ready here, and warriors from all over the world are with us!”
I clenched my fists and shouted.
“Now, there is only one thing left for us! To defeat the primordial evil that threatens our world, Primus, beyond that sea! There is no more time to hesitate. The time for the decisive battle is waiting for us! Let's lead this final war to victory with me!”
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
As soon as my speech ended, the cheers of the soldiers filling the harbor pierced the sky.
In their eyes, a resolute will and a burning fighting spirit were blazing instead of fear.
Seeing them clenching their fists and encouraging each other, I foresaw victory in this war.
But even in that fervent heat, a small regret remained in a corner of my heart.
‘Iris couldn't join us in the end.’
She, who had declared that she would remain in the dungeon, had not yet returned.
She must be fighting a battle with herself deep in the dungeon by now.
But I wasn't too worried.
With Noemi's transition magic, she could join us here whenever she wanted.
‘I hope she clears all one hundred floors and returns even stronger.’
I inwardly wished for my daughter's good fortune in war and finally gave the order to set sail.
“All aboard! Raise the anchors! The target is the eastern island, Reubungwo!”
Countless soldiers began to board the ships in an orderly fashion.
With the flagship I was on at the head, about a hundred ships slowly began to leave the harbor and head towards the vast ocean.
I stood at the very front of the ship and looked at the eastern horizon.
The ‘Tear of the Sea God’ hanging around my neck swayed gently in the cool sea breeze.
It looked like an ordinary piece of wood, but this small magic device would safely guide us to our destination beyond the cursed strait.
Beyond that, the beginning and end of everything awaits.
The final battle.
And at its end, there will be the future of this world.