Chapter 629: Anomalies
Denerth Sect Spaceship
Orithyia Galaxy
September 4th
Year 1054
The journey aboard the spaceship had turned into a surprisingly relaxing experience for Arthur and Evan.
To their delight, the staff had been more than accommodating, providing them with a collection of entertaining games from Denerth Prime.
Arthur and Evan figured it was just a perk of being linked to Jamie and the Sect Master ordering for them to be treated nicely. No point in questioning it too much. They just focused on the new games.
The days drifted by with them switching between playing these games and visiting Artemisia and Beatrix’s room.
More often than not, they would also find Crim and Hibiki there, despite having their rooms near their sect members.
The lure? Beatrix’s surprisingly good cooking skills.
One day, Arthur dramatically slumped over the table after sampling a meal Beatrix had whipped up. He looked at Evan as though he’d just been dealt a fatal blow.
"She can cook, Beatrix can actually cook. What else have I been wrong about in life?"
Arthur muttered in disbelief and Evan raised an eyebrow, feigning deep thought.
"So... she’s actually a girl?"
Beatrix, spatula in hand and its end dripping with hot oil, turned on them with fury in her eyes.
"Excuse me?!"
She chased them around the room, brandishing the spatula as Arthur and Evan tried to dodge her swings, laughing the whole way.
These playful antics filled much of their time on the journey, a comfortable routine of banter and shared meals that made the trip more enjoyable.
On the fourth day, Arthur and Evan made their usual trek toward Artemisia and Beatrix’s room, expecting another round of casual conversations, some games, and maybe even more cooking.
They bumped into Crim and Hibiki along the way.
"Hey, how have you guys been? How’s the trip so far?"
Arthur said, waving casually as they met in the hall and Crim, her golden hair slightly tousled, shrugged.
"It’s been relaxing. I didn’t expect this much downtime like this, to be honest."
Hibiki, the succubus girl, smiled.
"Same here. I thought we’d be in constant preparation for the Secret Realm, but instead, I’ve been eating more of Beatrix’s food than I should probably admit."
"Beatrix knows how to reel people in with her cooking, huh?"
Evan chuckled a response and the two girls, or rather, young women (Crim, 19) (Hibiki, 20) agreed.
As they exchanged casual remarks, Arthur suddenly glanced out of a nearby window. His expression turned blank and he went silent. The others noticed and stopped talking, turning to see what had caught his attention but saw nothing besides the usual view of stars.
Moments later, Artemisia and Beatrix joined them, fresh from their room. Beatrix, noticing Arthur’s serious expression, tilted her head and asked.
"Arthur, what’s wrong?"
Arthur didn’t respond immediately. His eyes remained glued to the view outside the ship, scanning the distant stars. Finally, he muttered.
"The Cosmic energy concentration outside... it’s off the charts. Where the hell did Jamie plan for us to go? It’s been like this for days."
His words puzzled Crim and Hibiki, who exchanged confused glances with Crim posing a question.
"Cosmic energy? What is he talking about?"
Hibiki looked equally baffled, however, Artemisia, Beatrix, and Evan knew better.
They knew of the existence of Cosmic Energy—an imperceptible omnipresent force woven into the fabric of the universe and they knew both Arthur and Jamie could manipulate it.
For Arthur to say its concentration was increasing meant something significant was happening.
Beatrix frowned and glanced out the window.
"So, we’re headed somewhere that’s been steeped in Cosmic energy... for days?"
Arthur nodded silently, still staring out the window. He pressed his hand against the glass, slowly walking down the corridor as if drawn by an invisible force.
After about 100 meters, he stopped in place, his expression changing once more.
"The concentration is increasing, the further we move, the higher it gets. The Space around us is also fragile."
Artemisia, her brow furrowed in concern, stepped forward and asked.
"Is that bad?"
Arthur turned to her, his face contemplative.
"It depends. Cosmic energy concentrations can vary greatly in different places. Take Aidos, for example. It’s a prime world, so the Cosmic energy there is naturally high."
He paused, his voice growing more serious.
"But this... The concentration outside makes Aidos feel like a bottle of water compared to a tank."
Crim and Hibiki exchanged uncertain glances, still trying to grasp the significance of Cosmic energy while Arthur glanced once more.
"Even with my Sub-Cosmic Superiority... I doubt I can withstand this level of concentration for long."
For a brief moment, a troubling thought crossed Arthur’s mind: Had they left the galaxy entirely?
Without hesitating, he opened his Cosmic Teleporter, allowing it to check their current galactic coordinates.
To his relief, the coordinates indicated that they were still within the Orithyia Galaxy.
"Oh well. Maybe I’m just overthinking things. I’ll check the star map I picked up earlier."
Arthur said, waving off his previous concerns and Beatrix raised an eyebrow at his words.
"Star map? From where?"
"A few days ago, while we were with Jamie, I saw one of the star maps being delivered to the ship. So, naturally, I picked it up."
When Arthur said this, Artemisia tilted her head, curious.
"And you just kept it?"
"Well, I meant to put it back, but then you guys called me over saying you’d found a new arcade game, and I totally forgot I was still holding the map. By the time I realized I still had it, it was too late.
But hey, they had like a dozen others."
Evan shook his head, laughing under his breath as he heard Arthur’s response.
"Only you would end up accidentally keeping a star map of all things."
"It turned out to be useful, didn’t it?"
Arthur shrugged, unbothered as he pulled the map from his subspace and activated it. A projection of the galaxy sprang to life, glittering above them. Stars and planetary systems spun in the vast three-dimensional array, all contained within a transparent sphere of light.
Evan looked at the intricate display, intrigued.
"So... how do you read it?"
"It’s pretty simple."
Arthur infused his magic power into the map, and with a pulse of energy, the map scanned the surrounding space. The projection began to adjust itself, triangulating their current position within the galaxy based on their location.
"This pulse lets the map measure where we are in relation to the stars around us. And once it finds our coordinates, it updates the route the spaceship is following."
Arthur pointed at a glowing line on the star map, which snaked through various stars and celestial bodies.
"This line here is the route we’re supposed to be following. Our destination is somewhere within this area."
Evan, watching the shimmering path closely, asked.
"So, where are we right now?"
"It should show up any second...now!"
Arthur snapped his fingers and their current location blinked into view.
As the image solidified, everyone fell silent. The projected path was clearly being ignored as their current location was veering off the intended route.
Beatrix broke the silence, her tone uncertain.
"Arthur, are you sure this map was meant for us?"
Arthur turned the map toward her, showing a label etched on the bottom that said ’Secret Realm 4 (Special Event). 1st to 4th September, Year 1054.’
"We left on the 1st, and today’s the 4th."
Crim muttered their timeline under her breath and the others nodded in agreement.
Arthur studied the map more closely, and his expression darkened.
"It looks like we deviated from the original path about two days ago."
When he said this, Evan’s eyes narrowed as he recalled something. Turning to Arthur, he asked.
"Arthur, you said you noticed the Cosmic energy increase a couple of days ago, right? How long ago, exactly?"
Arthur paused, scratching his hair as he used his time powers to rewind through his memories until the exact moment came into focus.
"It was around 46 hours ago, to be exact."
He looked up and locked eyes with Evan. At that moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them.
They’d deviated 48 hours ago, and the Cosmic Energy Concentration started spiking 46 hours ago?
Something was off. Seriously off.
Arthur closed the star map, his gaze now fixed ahead, in the direction of the ship’s bridge.
"Evan, come with me. We’re heading to the bridge."
Without another word, the two of them strode off and it didn’t take long for them to reach the bridge of the ship.
However, when they entered the area, it was only Arthur who was visible. One of the crew members spotted him and immediately addressed Arthur with a tone of respect.
"Huh? Lord Vaughn? What brings you to this section of the ship?"
Arthur, keeping his voice casual, replied.
"Just curious, really. We’ve been moving for four days now, and I wanted to know how far we are from our final destination."
"Oh, no problem, Lord Vaughn. We’re quite close to our final destination."
The crewman smiled and responded but Arthur didn’t stop moving forward, heading towards the bridge and the crewman rushed over, clearly flustered.
"Is there anything else you need, Lord Vaughn?"
"Yeah, I want to speak with the Captain."
Arthur responded without stopping and the crewman responded quickly, sweat beginning to bead on his brow.
"Ah, Lord Vaughn, please wait a moment! I can call the captain for you."
Arthur gave a polite smile, but his steps didn’t slow.
"No need. I’d prefer to speak to him myself."
"No, no, really! You are an esteemed guest. The captain should come to you."
The crewman insisted, his voice wavering slightly, blocking Arthur’s path. Finally, Arthur stopped and stared at the man in silence.
He didn’t narrow his eyes or try to intimidate him, but the pressure that his eerily calm gaze gave was heavy.
Just then, the door to the bridge slid open, and another crew member stepped out, their expression freezing the moment they saw Arthur.
Their wide eyes betrayed a mix of shock and fear as they instinctively tried to shut the door behind them.
However, the door seemed to catch on something, pausing for a fraction of a second before finally closing.
The crew member’s confusion deepened as they glanced around, seeing nothing that could’ve blocked the door.
Arthur, unfazed, raised an eyebrow, glancing from the door back to the crewman.
"So, are you going to let me speak to the captain, or not?"
The second crew member stammered upon hearing his request
"Y-you want to speak to the captain?"
Arthur acted like he didn’t find the man’s reaction fishy and just kept speaking politely.
"Yes. I was wondering about our location. You see, I have what’s supposed to be the star map for this journey, but it seems we’re no longer following that path."
The moment Arthur mentioned the deviation, the crewman visibly flinched. His surprise was evident.
’Come on, can you be any more obvious?’
[IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE]
