Chapter 426
Sleesia showed no interest in the rules of this world; her sole fixation was on Davey. Her purpose was clear - to settle the score with him for trapping her kind, the Abyss Princess Urd, in a dimensional rift, causing her slow demise.
Armed with the astonishing power of dimensional leap, Sleesia had followed Davey's trail to this place, seemingly unconcerned about the nature of the location. She wandered around, searching for Davey and acting on her own whims. Despite her ability to distinguish between dimensions, finding him specifically proved to be a challenging task.
[What are you going to do?]
"What am I going to do? Her goal is straightforward. If she becomes aware of our presence, she'll come after us."
For Sleesia, the flow of this world and its power dynamics were of no concern. She blindly sought to kill Davey without understanding the place she had crossed over to. Once she located him, she would undoubtedly come straight for him.
[But she's not moving at all.]
"She's not moving, you say?" A wry smile crossed Davey's face. "No, she will undoubtedly come."
Indeed, the remaining crucial factors were how long Davey and Aeria could remain in this place and Sleesia's current state. Although this world did not follow the same time dynamics as the Yurgian continent, where time was reduced with power exertion, Davey had already experienced instances of extensive time usage.
Thus, in this world, such extended time consumption was relatively meaningless. Would Goddess Freyja have committed such an action without giving it any thought?
- Balance maintenance with minimal intervention. Once achieved, application of Metamorphosis stacks irrespective of Davey O’Rowane’s physical condition, acquisition of genetic information from Shane Scrift.
Without a word, Davey clicked on that item, and additional elements appeared as if on a notepad.
- Under the name of the goddess, extend the stay of Davey O’Rowane and Aeria El Lyndis in the twisted parallel line by a small amount.
- Under the name of the goddess, conceal the existence of Davey O’Rowane and Aeria El Lyndis from the inhabitants of the parallel world.
That was a solid backup in its way. The fight between the rigid rules of the closed world and the somewhat flexible influence of the gods was quite intriguing. However, even Goddess Freyja was unable to extend the limit of his intervention. This meant the limit of the weakened divine influence was apparent.
Thankfully, he no longer had to worry about time or whether anyone would recognize him through illusion magic. Davey wiped Aeria's sweaty forehead with a soft cloth as she lay on a makeshift bed in the barracks left in the demon outpost, slowly lifting her onto his back. He then calmly left the barracks.
The villagers who had been captured here had already left. Their presence would not have been helpful.
"Megalodria."
Eventually, Davey opened the card and summoned the king of mythical beasts, Megalodria.
[The erosion of that woman will continue to gnaw at me without a contractor, human.]
"I know. That's why I've prepared a solution."
It could be assumed that Urd's power belonged to erosion or domination. The Abyss Princesses each possessed their unique power. If Sleesia had space-related powers, then Urd had the power of erosion. They each ruled different areas. Sleesia's space movement was impressive, but Urd's erosion ability was strong enough to erode Megalodria, even without a contractor.
[A solution?]
"Yes. I'm going to introduce the genetic information of your original contractor into my body, creating the characteristics of a summoner."
[You and I... Are we going to make a contract?]
"Yes."
‘You're from another dimension. There's no reason or justification for the rules of this world to restrain you, as you are not a parallel line that shouldn't exist. Especially since summons aren't entities that freely move around dimensions,’ thought Davey.
[...]
"What's with that doubtful look?"
As Davey asked Megalodria, whose eyes were filled with suspicion, Megalodria quickly turned his head away.
[I don't understand what you're saying.]
"So, are you going to do it or not? The contract."
[Long after Shane's death, the kings of mythical beasts had each been safeguarding and regulating their domains in the world. However, it seems like that's no longer happening. While it hasn't reached total ruin, it would take hundreds to thousands of years to regain its former glory.]
"So?"
[I don’t want that to happen to other places as well. As far as I know, you are the only being who could oppose those monstrous women. But I can’t understand what you are saying. You talked about inserting genes. And I don’t know about now, but your physical body in the original world was not strong enough to handle my power.]
Davey scratched his ear, irritated by his worry. "Ah, I'll handle that part. So, are you going to do it or not?"
The answer was, of course, predetermined. Davey picked up Aeria and handed her over to him. Megalodria, who silently took the unconscious girl, looked down at Aeria in his arms and quietly asked.
[What are you going to do?]
"I'm going to stir up a scene here. When I'm done, you'll leave this place."
"I might be needed."
At his worry, Davey let out a snicker. "I need your power? Sorry, but I don't need it at all."
As Davey spoke calmly and began to gather momentum, Megalodria fell silent.
Sleesia could not accurately pinpoint Davey’s location. But what if he told her he was here?
[Reversed 9th Circle]
[Earthquake]
[Great Upheaval]
With a deafening boom, a massive wave of power began to engulf the area around Davey. He wanted Sleesia to experience Odin's special terrain-altering magic firsthand.
The ground rumbled as if a snake's tail moved on its own, and a tremendous crack burst forth, causing red magma to overflow. Even those on the other side of the continent with a sensitive sense of perception would feel the overwhelming mana and realize what he was up to. The splitting ground spewed magma, distorting and changing the terrain rapidly.
Davey had reversed a simple earthquake spell, maximizing its effect by infusing an enormous amount of mana. It was like turning a 3rd Circle fireball spell into a catastrophic meteorite on judgment day, transforming into a white nova. And now, with the power of a 5th Circle earthquake, the impact was bound to be even greater.
As he watched the once tranquil plains transform into a nightmarish landscape, Davey calmly waited for Sleesia to appear.
[This is absurd! What kind of crazy thing are you doing?]
"Oh, just wait. She'll come out on her own."
There was no doubt in his mind that she would show up.
"About 10 seconds."
Taking a short breath, Davey began to leisurely count down from 10.
‘9, 8, 7...’
"3, 2, 1."
All that could be heard was the sound of the ground being destroyed.
[I'm sorry to tell you this, but that life form called Sleesia isn't moving. She seems to think of this incident as some sort of amusement.]
"That crazy woman?"
‘She had displayed a readiness to take the bait at any moment, but is she backing off now out of fear?’
The disappointing outcome made Davey frown.
The Observer who seemed to taunt Davey remarked, [You've just destroyed the terrain for nothing, we won't be able to do anything here for hundreds of years. Ah, what a waste, such a waste. It seems like nothing is happening.]
Megalodria, who had been observing from a distance, also looked at Davey questioningly.
Silently raking up the ground, Davey suddenly clapped his hands. In a flash, the hell-like cracks that had swallowed up hundreds, if not tens of kilometers, began to close simultaneously.
With a great rumble, the crevices that had caused destruction disappeared as if they had never existed, and Davey turned around to climb onto Megalodria's back. He said, "Now that I've drawn the aggro here, that stupid woman will think I'm still in this place. Let's go. It's done, it's natural."
[…]
"What's the matter?"
* * *
Davey had expected Sleesia to confront him immediately, considering how she treated the situation like a game. He suspected that Astaroth might be the reason behind Sleesia's behavior, as once he left, Astaroth seemed eager to use Sleesia's dominating powers for his own benefit.
This made Davey slightly suspicious. He couldn't help but wonder why the Princess of the Abyss showed no reaction upon seeing Perserque. Unlike the other abyssal entities who approached Perserque with reverence, addressing her as their queen or mother, all of the Abyss Princesses, including Sleesia, Urd, and even Verdandi, appeared indifferent.
It was perplexing, especially since Perserque had ascended to the throne of Dark Lord. However, in the original world, Perserque was just a regular demon, not a Dark Lord.
"Is there some kind of power struggle happening among them?" he pondered, recalling Urd's mention of something similar.
[What do you plan to do?]
Davey pondered, deciding there was no need to save his strength in dealing with Sleesia.
Given the exceptional circumstances with the demons and Davey’s limit of intervention, Sleesia was basically hiding behind the demons.
"If she won't come out, I'll have to draw her out," Davey said.
[She considers this a war game. Because of that, the demons began to be controlled by something she planted... Damn it!]
That was when it happened. A sense of urgency crept into the voice of the Observer.
[She's torn space apart. She's started to use the demons to raid the Western Continent! It's where the resistance and survivors have gathered!]
The official resistance had vanished, leaving only a small guerrilla warfare group to continue the fight. If this remaining resistance was also wiped out, humanity would face complete annihilation. This indicated that the efforts to maintain balance had failed.
‘Is this happening because she truly considers this a game? Or does she know something?’
"Has she started the march?" Davey asked.
[Her spatial transition ability is beyond imagination!! If we're late, they'll all die!]
If it was the West, that was where the resistance was located, and where Davey had sent the villagers using the Black Dragons.
[If we intercept them in the middle, we might be able to stop them. But the moment we use our power to affect the demons...]
"What's the problem?" Davey asked, to which the Observer sighed.