The events that led him to this room were beyond his understanding, and it started after he appeared in the middle of Mountain Range Rovero.
Arthur did not know how he met Gaia, but he could guess that Rexus had something to do with it. After all, the Spirits Sovereign also retained the memories of their meeting in this timeline, but the previous Arthur had no way of telling.
There was a different life for Arthur Silvera in this world, and judging by how he looked, it was nonexistent because his Jerano Student ID said he was Alexie Linan in this world too.
"I am Alexie, once again," smiled Arthur as he stared at himself, naked in the middle of nowhere. "However, if I want to fit into this timeline, I need to understand what happened to me."
This timeline did not have a fallen Ellen, who betrayed him to help her mother. Arthur needed to make sure that Ellen never needed to fall into the darkness to save her mother.
His plan was extensive, and the person he chose as his proxy was not his alter self but Oriole. The clubmate was the best person to influence this timeline properly until Arthur fully awakens his memories of the previous timeline.
Arthur was the sole person who retained all of his memories, to their smallest details, from the previous timeline. There were others that he chose to know of what happened, but the rest were incapable of fathoming nor accepting a drastic change like this.
"I hope they would understand my reasons," muttered Arthur with sadness as the wind blew the ashes over the land. "The Rise of the Creator, huh?" he smiled as he remembered what Gaia said to him.
His current state was not how he thought he would return to Earth, but it was the ideal outcome. The calamities expected the timeline to go as expected, where Arthur would surrender his powers.
"What a diabolic plan," laughed Arthur as he took the first step after returning. "I somehow managed to break free, but now, I am in a world that I know nothing about."
Arthur was not worried, but the fact that the timelines merged made him unable to tell the outcome. However, his scattered memories ensured that Arthur would walk the path of runes until he met Gaia.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt[An artifact has activated inside your subspace.]
A notification appeared before him, and Arthur decided that it was time to wear clothes. As he wore Jerano's uniform, he savored the feeling of wearing clothes with his own two arms.
Then, Arthur took out the ring that was lighting up with runes. It was given to him by Jerano to communicate with others, among other functions. But unfortunately, the dialer was a name that he could barely remember.
"Julia Vinera," read Arthur with a frown. "Ah, yes. Julia is the youngest rune-master in this world. I remember hating her for siding with that pig, but now it's just laughable."
Arthur watched the lights go off as the call ended, and he was relieved. Then, a message popped up.
"Answer, or you are fired."
Arthur blinked his eyes with confusion and watched as she called again. It seems he did have other reasons to hate her. After a sigh, Arthur answered the call.
"Alexie," she said with displeasure. "Are you sick of the runes department and want to be expelled? I tried to reach you for days!"
"I had a different project to work on," answered Arthur flatly. "Tell me, what do you need?"
"...you dare act disrespectfully?" she seemed taken aback by his answer, and Arthur realized that his manners changed during his trip in Alka. "I need you here in an hour. Come over to my room."
After that, she closed the call. Arthur was confused about why she would even call him when he was nothing but a delivery man in the logistics department.
This proved that this timeline was different, and Julia was somehow his superior here. Therefore, although Arthur didn't know he wouldn't have the memories of this life, he still had a lifeline to facilitate his transmigration.
Arthur looked for Oriole's name in his contacts and opened the profile, and it took him a moment to see the changes. This ring can dial people outside of Jerano, but Oriole was registered in the ring as a student.
"It seems you used the knowledge I gave you well," smiled Arthur with pride. "And this also means that he knows enough about me. However, does he know that I am Arthur Silvera?"
Nonetheless, Arthur called him, but Oriole did no answer. Then, after a few attempts, Arthur gave up and decided to head back to Jerano for now before he ruined anything.
However, the first thing he needed to do was go back to Kera. So, Arthur went back to the city using the train, even though he could teleport there because he needed time to stabilize the merge.
As he reached the city's periphery, Arthur stared at it with amazement. Of course, his city was not large, but seeing it doing so well after witnessing its destruction made the current scene breathtaking.
He witnessed the same scene after awakening when his blood boiled for adventure. Arthur was full of ambitions to find his father and bring him back at that time.
Now, however, things cannot be more different. His aspirations to find his father turned into the fear of ever meeting him. Arthur did not know if he hated his father, but he did not want to see that man anymore.
The train rolled on the rails as Arthur looked inside at the tired adventures. Mountain Range Rovero was still the safe bet of adventurers, even though a portion of it has disappeared. Furthermore, there was no undead here anymore since Ellen was behind that.
Arthur stared at the screen inside, which was showing a news broadcast. The reporter was one he knew from before, and he was known for the giant mole on his chin.
"We are here today again with none other than the great researcher, Alfredo Erza, who once again claims that there is life in Alka."
The words made Arthur snap his eyes in surprise. Alka's name and situation were unknown to the public, but this seems to have changed in this world.
"Ahem," smiled the old researcher. "Almost a year ago, the Great Epiphany descended on our world, carrying knowledge and scenes that we never knew. Among the many geniuses who awakened these memories, a lot of them report seeing scenes from a different world that is less advanced than ours and far more brutal."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"And in your latest study, you gathered statements from the geniuses, correct?" asked the report with fascination.
"Indeed," nodded Alfredo. "The truth was nothing but a rumor before after the Great Epiphany, but now, we have evidence to believe that there is indeed civilizations behind the gates."
"And how come we never came to meet any of them?"
"This originates from the location of the dungeons and the gates themselves in Alka. It seems the dungeons are in areas that are fraught from monsters and far away from those civilizations."
"That is horrible," the reporter backed away. "We are separated from our brothers by armies of monsters?"
"Haha," laughed Alfredo as he leaned forward on the table. "You see, great audience, the real monsters are not those behind the gates, but the humans on the other side. Civilizations lead to war, which raises the question of whether we need to prepare for dimensional war."
Those on the train seemed numb to the news, and some of them were even asleep. Arthur stared at the screen with amazement, wondering how humans could destroy themselves given a chance.
There were powers in Alka that not even Arthur dared to underestimate, including the calamity vessels. However, it seems his merging the memories, known as the Great Epiphany, became a warning about civilizations in the other world.
"This world is different than before," sighed Arthur as he watched the train enter the station. "And it seems that I caused a lot of these changes."
Arthur got off the train, and he walked toward the portal. His feet stopped as he turned to look in the direction of his home, wondering if he would find his family there.
However, Arthur did not feel like he could see them now, and not to mention that Julia was texting him continuously about coming over. That was why he opened his ring and entered the chatroom with Oren, and he found that his brother had sent him a picture.
It was a picture taken by Selena for the two of them, and Oren was panicking about how Selena held him closely. Arthur blinked his eyes because he saw them holding hands, too, which meant the two of them were together.
"It seems that he is doing fine," muttered Arthur with a smile.. "I will meet the two of you later, but I need to know who I am in this world first."