Hermit Wizard

1. 1. 1. 1. Savior or Destroyer (10)

The voice that flowed from the Dragon Emperor’s mouth was bizarre.

The Dragon Emperor’s voice, which transformed into a human being, was mixed with a metallic tone that couldn’t be made by an ordinary humanoid creature’s vocal cord. I didn’t know what kind of species he was, but he exchanged voices with a priest who was in a deal with him. The priest was probably under Gramiel’s control.

“What are you doing in this dimension? Are you looking for a dimension to migrate because you judged that the dimension you originally lived in is hopeless?”

She whispered and continued in a relaxed tone.

“If so, I would advise you. This isn’t a favorable environment for a human wizard to live in, especially if it is a unique entity with strong power like you.”

Gramiel, reflected in the black, gray eyes, gave a distorted smile.

“There are too many dragons in this dimension. Moreover, you are already exposed to the Dragon Emperor. If you say you are moving to this place, they have no choice but to stay alert. You’re threatening enough to the dragon kind here.”

I kept those words in my head and quietly calculated a way.

Gramiel succeeded in contacting me in an unexpected way. However, that would be her limit. The other person that the Dragon Emperor used the power of exchange wasn’t Gramiel, but an unknown priest in that world. There was no way for Gramiel to impart her power directly to that world currently.

In the end, the thing I had to watch out for was the dragon in front of me, the Dragon Emperor with the natural power of that world.

Mrs. Pearl, who was observing the confrontation, whispered to me.

“I don’t know what kind of trick it is, but it doesn’t feel good.”

I nodded, and I stared at the opponent in front of me.

“How did you know my location?”

A strange voice followed.

“You, you used your hand to Carraderina very quickly. I don’t know what you’ve done with her body or where you’ve locked it up. My control didn’t work at all. So, I had to use a very cumbersome method. I sent some more ascetics to Earth so that humans couldn’t notice it. Because I couldn’t move my body myself.”

Her voice was infused with hostile feelings.

“And we used search magic to track you down.”

… What?

“Nonsense.”

I shook my head and denied it. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded unless I had tracking magic on my body. I quickly concentrated my body with Mana just in case, but I couldn’t find any signs.

“Even if you’re a Truth- Seeker, you can’t find me so easily. How do you do it without having enough body pieces to identify me?”

“Certainly, there are too many humans in that dimension. Seven billion… It’s overwhelming. It’s not easy to find one of them. So, I gave up on creating search magic for you. It was impossible with the ability of the ascetics I sent, but unlike so many humans, I knew there was only one kind in the world.”

Unpleasant ridicule was buried in the voice of a priest controlled by Gramiel.

“I’m talking about the Song of Chaos, the fragment of its body that the damn guy has attached to you, Child.”

“… Damn it.”

She meant Maru that even at that moment was tightly attached to the bare skin of my chest.

“It’s difficult to find a specific individual among so many humans. However, the magic of finding that ‘horrible race’ that has only one in that world is not that difficult. Moreover, I recently learned a peculiar and powerful Mana pattern unique to that race that can never be confused. Unless it hides itself, it can be found easily.”

The ‘horrible species’ must’ve meant the original kind of Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker, the Song of Chaos. Did Maru that was derived from its body, also had the same characteristics?

“The monsters who erased information about their race from the Akashic Records… Older, more powerful, more exclusive, and incomprehensible than any other race. Their Mana patterns were originally information that I couldn’t even know, but… not long ago, thanks to Song of Chaos that happily wrapped me around with its tentacles and threw me away, I was able to engrave the pattern very clearly on my body!”

Anger was coming out of her voice.

In the end, it meant that she tracked down Maru and found my destination, damn it!

I talked to Maru in my mind. ‘Hey, man. From now on, hide your Mana when you don’t need it!’

It then replied by ringing the air around, hiding its body inside my chest. “… What are you talking about?”

Did it not know how to do it? I gritted my teeth, thinking about making an artifact and attaching it to my body until I taught it.

The metallic voice of the other person continued.

“Fortunately, there’s a dragon in this world that I can make a deal with. I was going to talk to you using this guy’s help, but looking at the situation, you’re ready to come here one day, even if I don’t do anything.”

That was why they had been waiting for a favorable environment. It looked good.

After contacting Gramiel, the Dragon Emperor probably kept quiet on my track. Currently, I didn’t kill the dragons, so instead of actively intervening, he waited until his turn came. At that moment, I stepped into the trap myself.

“You’re quite persistent. What do you want to say after finding me so far? If it’s the same offer, I’ll reject it. What? Am I supposed to believe and go to that dimension?”

I was worried. If I opened the Channel there to the place where the Song of Chaos was, would it intervene like that day?

I carefully prepared to open the Channel just in case. I thought it would be better to prepare to open the door immediately in case of an emergency, even if the dimensions weren’t connected immediately.

However, when the Mana began to be driven toward my chest, the blades of white light flew silently in the darkness of the forest.

“… This!”

In an instant, there were swords of light as long as my hand around Mrs. Pearl and me. They were vibrating with a hum and surrounding us. The Dragon Emperor, who was only mediating, intervened. He opened his mind to convey the meaning.

=I must’ve expressed my intention through the first will, mustn’t I? Don’t open the Channel recklessly. I roughly heard what you could do.=

That was how the rumor was going around, damn it.

As I lamented inwardly, I figured out the timing of Dragon Emperor’s magic and the design of the Mana that built it, and I realized something…

Mrs. Pearl and I seemed to had entered a kind of magical realm unfolded by the Dragon Emperor without being aware of it.

It was only then that I could notice when the Dragon Emperor used the magic associated with that space. All surrounding environments were already set in a direction favorable to the Dragon Emperor. He grasped information more sensitively than anyone else in this space and easily drew and used Mana, and on the contrary, he prevented me from building a spell. It was the same level of an advantage as when I was in my house.

It would’ve taken quite a while to prepare, even though he was the Dragon Emperor. That was how long he had been waiting to see me.

I whispered to Mrs. Pearl.

“… For now, don’t use your strength and wait.”

She nodded. I rolled my eyes and looked at my surroundings.

The probability of escaping alone was approximately 60 to 70 percent. If it was difficult to build a new spell, I could use the artifacts I had already made.

However, the probability of running away safely with Mrs. Pearl was almost zero percent. I thought about it for a while and then decided to get along with the other person’s conversation. There were quite a few elixirs, so I thought it would be successful if I took Mrs. Pearl with only her breath.

“… Okay. I got it. Let me ask Gramiel again. So, what do you want? If you’re trying to use this Dragon Emperor and drag me away, I’ll take the damage and try to get it right.”

I connected the words.

“And I assure you, Dragon Emperor. If I start to run wild, even you won’t be able to deal with me easily. You’re going to see a lot of blood. I don’t know what the price of a deal is, but I’m sure it will be an unfavorable business from the moment you hit me.”

The Dragon Emperor nodded and expressed affirmation.

=I have already heard what abilities you have. If you respond to the conversation quietly, that won’t happen, and… seeing that you’ve broken through my detection barriers to this point, the level of your pure magic is surprising. Who the hell taught you? Are you a dragon’s disciple?=

Instead of answering the question, I waited for Gramiel’s answer. She then spoke by borrowing the Dragon Emperor’s mouth.

“All I want today is a conversation. Now, in that sense, I have something to check first… Do you know why the Song of Chaos is keeping an eye on you?”

Why was she talking about something else? I frowned upon hearing it.

The reason why Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker paid attention to me…

At first, it seemed to be because of curiosity. That guy was delighted to learn that the Truth-Seeker who evolved from a dragon left a Channel on my chest, but I knew its attitude had changed slightly over time. Perhaps it was from the point when I accepted and succeeded in its request to catch Heart Fishes that had fled to Earth.

“The thing is for sure… it seemed to pay attention to my soul.”

“Yes, that’s right. The Song of Chaos has once looked deep into your mind. That’s why I think it was able to take a closer look at your soul. Then I realized for sure. it got more clear and substantive information than the moment it first saw you.”

Gramiel said, “I haven’t been able to see deep into your soul that much, so far, but the Song of Chaos has. Your soul is already high enough to cross beyond the wall.”

It certainly did say that.

“… So?”

Gramiel laughed once again.

“Actually, this is close to a contradiction. However, it’s really like this. Your very existence is against our common sense. In other words, the Song of Chaos opened its eyes to new possibilities because of one mortal named you.”

She continued with a whisper.

“Crossing the wall is the first evolution of the soul. Still, you haven’t evolved, and you’re already close to the Transcendental state, and the same goes for the power you have. I don’t know about your world, but it’s hard to find a person with power that surpasses you among Transcendentals in the world under my jurisdiction., and you haven’t even crossed the wall yet!”

Gramiel giggled.

“Then, what if you grow up like this? Being a Truth-Seeker is the second evolution of the soul. What if you continue to grow and increase your soul value like you are now? Wouldn’t it be possible to become a person close to the Truth-Seeker without the second evolution? Of course, there is a very high possibility that your life will run out before that, but if someone helps you, the story can be different. What if that person helps you to continue training and growing without your life coming to an end? Imagine it, isn’t it fun?”

Her words didn’t stop.

“Here, the Song of Chaos came up with an idea. If so, what’s the next step?”

No way. What was it trying to say?

“Maybe that’s too much for you. But it might be possible for us, the Truth-Seekers. You already have the ability to correspond to or exceed the next level of Transcendental without soul evolution. I don’t know why this is possible. The Song of Chaos is trying to find the answer. Why?”

“… No way, to apply to itself?”

“Correct, Child.”

But why?

Why did it care about that?

“It’s the Song of Chaos’ trick to find out your secret and copy it. To find a way to become a god without the final evolution of the soul, the third evolution.”

“Why on Earth? Is that necessary? It can just follow the original way of becoming a god.”

“Truth-Seekers are those who prepare for the final choice. To be a god, you have to stand at the last crossroads. I think the Song of Chaos wants to be a god without going through that stage.”

It was a keyword that I heard many times through the Silver Forest’s Truth-seeker, so I asked.

“What the hell would be that last choice?”

“It is a rite of passage that may make you lose a lot of things that have been built up in the aftermath of that choice. Congratulations, every mortal here. After listening to this, you become one of the best people in the universe who knows this information without being a Truth-Seeker.”

Gramiel stared at us through the dark gray eyes.

“The Truth-Seekers must choose before becoming a god. The choice of whether or not to eat the world that they have pampered and nurtured, and the ring of reincarnation that is the root of the world!”