The fortress perched atop the slowly approaching cliff.
The ship carrying Aslan gradually neared the harbor beneath the fortress, a structure formed by some geometric combination.
By its side, an imperial ship escorted Aslan’s vessel, while the artificially conjured mana winds gently drew the ship into the harbor.
The looming fortress truly seemed to carry on its back a distant world.
Hoo, the fortress howled fiercely in the blowing wind.
The ship slowly docked towards the port, facing a landscape of the ancient empire that had turned white and lifeless.
Such visual shocks approached the traveling party moment by moment, and Aslan gazed up at the distant world hanging above it all.
The distant world.
The trace left by the Veil of Mercy that brought about the fall of the ancient empire.
The place where the power of the Veil of Mercy still lingered.
That distant world was typically an impenetrable space.
Typically, it was.
As Astrid had said, the power spread by the Veil of Mercy could only be neutralized by immense mana or divine power.
And the fortress designed for such neutralization was the very one now before them—the Fortress of the Empire’s Legacy.
Finally, as the ship docked, a figure cloaked in green ascended onto the deck.
Judging by their appearance, this Green-clad individual seemed to hold considerable rank, likely a manager or commander of the fortress. However, upon stepping aboard, they immediately bowed deeply to someone on the ship, recognizing that the person before them was no ordinary being.
That non-ordinary being, Resham, maintained a curt attitude toward the bowing figure in green.
Honors like meeting the First Sword of the Empire or mentions of the Emperor seeking them were exchanged alongside trivial tales devoid of any real substance.
Listening to these exchanges, Aslan felt confident in having chosen to travel with Resham, as entering the Fortress of the Empire’s Legacy was usually no easy task.
Managing the sole passage between the southern and northern continents, the fortress typically required strict surveillance and complex procedures to enter.
Even in the game Eternal Dominion, speed runners often found attacking and passing through the fortress to be the fastest way—such was its difficulty.
Yet, with the presence of Resham, the watcher, all the cumbersome processes could be bypassed.
Given Aslan’s limited remaining lifespan, it was indeed the right decision.
As Aslan watched the fortress manager meticulously jotting notes on parchment in response to Resham’s brief answers, they fully grasped the situation.
Even the subsequent questioning was straightforward.
“Resham-sama’s presence…”
“He is the de facto ruler of the Northern Continent and my escort.”
“…I see. Understood. Then please follow me.”
The fortress manager casually accepted this, giving the impression that they would have let anyone pass regardless of what was said. While some members of the group looked skeptical, neither Resham nor the manager added further comments and disembarked from the ship.
Naturally, the rest of the group followed.
The scene revealed upon disembarking was quite remarkable.
Firstly, the ground was often frozen solid, so much so that it appeared more blue than white, lacking signs of life in the barren wasteland.
With fixed chunks of sky and fragments of citadels contributing to an unreal atmosphere, the fortress itself stood out as the only tangible element, spanning across the cliff and the harbor.
It was as if they had stepped into a dream—an unrealistic fortress.
This was the Fortress of the Empire’s Legacy.
While the fortress retained a semblance of reality, resting on the cliff and harbor, the group marveled at the surreal sight, each member displaying different expressions.
“This is…?”
Angie was clearly astonished.
Phey remained indifferent, while Tiamat shivered, complaining about the cold.
“Brother, you’re exaggerating too much.”
“I’m bigger than you, so naturally I feel colder!”
Leaving Tiamat’s muttering behind, the group followed Resham and the manager. The procession wasn’t long when Angie suddenly asked Aslan,
“Why are we here? Can we only pass through here?”
“Yes, you can only pass through here. Our fortress is special.”
But it wasn’t Aslan who answered; it was the cunning-looking Green-clad fortress manager.
“Why is it special?”
When Angie asked, the manager smiled as they led the way.
“Because it houses cutting-edge facilities maintained solely by the Empire, allowing us to bypass the power spread by the Veil of Mercy.”
Though fully grown, Angie still lacked general knowledge, and she tilted her head, seemingly unimpressed by the explanation, asking,
“What’s so special about it?”
Despite the audacious question, the manager didn’t show any irritation.
“Do you know that the power spread by the Veil of Mercy can only be neutralized by mana and divine power?”
“Oh, yeah, someone explained it to me.”
“Then the explanation will be simple. The great wizards of the Empire, particularly the ancestors who laid the foundation for the current Imperial Tower of Magic, knew this and sought out the most powerful Lesser Divinity still remaining.”
“The most powerful Lesser Divinity…?”
Taking Angie’s question as affirmation, the fortress manager nodded with a smile.
“It was the most harmonious yet powerful Lesser Divinity to humans. He was the Warrior God.”
The Warrior God—the originator of the regimen once used by Aslan.
As Aslan recalled this, the fortress manager continued.
“We asked the Warrior God to open the veil, and the Warrior God Himself pierced through the thick barrier.”
An unknown fact even to Aslan within the game. Listening intently, the manager placed a hand on their chest and spoke, almost moved by their own words.
“Of course, due to the repercussions of this extraordinary feat, the Divine passed away. Yet, His remains continue to maintain this passage, and we assist by channeling vast amounts of mana and management.”
“Ah… definitely special.”
“That’s right. It’s nothing short of a miracle.”
Indeed, as the manager proudly stated, maintaining a passage by sacrificing an entire Lesser Divinity was certainly miraculous and unique.
Whether his words were true or not remained uncertain.
“Since we mentioned it, can we go through right away?”
As Aslan seemed convinced, Resham addressed the manager,
“Really, aren’t we going without resting?”
To which Tiamat responded.
Glancing irritably at Tiamat, Resham bluntly replied,
“You keep saying you’re cold. Let’s move on then.”
“Huh? What?”
“The Fortress of the Empire’s Legacy gets colder at night. We should pass through while it’s still daytime.”
“But… wouldn’t it be better to rest for a day since it’ll be cold?”
“You’ll freeze to death overnight. And I don’t intend to cast magic on someone who wishes to die.”
Muttering complaints, Tiamat grumbled something about curses, prompting Aslan to pat their slumping shoulders.
“Resham-sama is right. It’ll be better to pass through quickly now.”
“That’s correct. It would be better to proceed now. Coincidentally, we’ve just completed maintenance on the passage, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”
With both the manager and Aslan supporting Resham’s suggestion, Tiamat reluctantly slumped but did not dare refuse.
Once Tiamat fell silent, the manager politely inclined their head to Resham.
“We can proceed immediately, Watcher-sama.”
“Then let’s do that… Immediately…”
“What about the ship?”
Interrupting during Resham’s instructions was Lumel. Aslan answered on their behalf.
“I already told them to resupply and return immediately.”
“That’s… rather quick. Did you expect this?”
As Richard’s puzzled remark suggested, Aslan had anticipated this outcome.
There weren’t many side quests to handle at the Fortress of the Empire’s Legacy anyway.
As Aslan nodded, Richard became intrigued, and Angie turned her gaze from Aslan to the manager.
“So, are we heading to that passage now?”
“Yes.”
The manager smiled awkwardly in reply, and Angie wore a curious expression.
“Well, let’s hurry then.”
With no objections, the group proceeded directly to the passage.
“I thought we’d at least get to see around the fortress.”
As Richard’s comment implied, the group bypassed the fortress entirely, taking a route beside it along the frozen waterway leading to some tunnel.
A few soldiers they encountered along the way naturally offered to escort them, and soon enough, they reached a certain passage.
A strange bluish light flowed through the tunnel.
Actually, calling it a tunnel might be misleading.
It resembled a mountain tunnel filled densely with fog-like substances, creating a landscape akin to carving a path through such a misty mountain.
The group entered this space.
As they did, the manager greeted them grandly.
“Welcome to the Rift Between Worlds.”
The term perfectly described the place.
A massive tunnel wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side stretched endlessly forward, its pale walls faintly shimmering with a bluish hue.
Though familiar to Aslan who had been here several times before, it was astonishing to most of the group.
The walls of the tunnel were not made of ice or stone but of the frozen remnants of the ancient empire, suspended in time.
These remnants themselves were a mystery.
“Is that… a person?”
Angie exclaimed in shock.
“It is a person,” Resham confirmed succinctly, adding certainty.
All around the tunnel, enveloped in a cosmic death, things were frozen in time like objects in a photograph.
There were people, magically advanced carriages, plants and animals, architectural ruins, and even sunlight frozen mid-fall.
This smothering, frozen spacetime surrounded the tunnel.
This was the Rift Between Worlds.
And all that separated the rift and the frozen spacetime was a mere iron fence.
“Wow… it’s beautiful. This…”
As Angie reached out to touch the spreading white vapor along the fence, Aslan started to dissuade her, but the fortress manager panicked and shouted,
“Don’t touch it! If you do, your soul will freeze and die!”
“Whoa, it’s super dangerous!”
Startled, Angie quickly withdrew her hand as the manager sighed heavily.
“Of course, it’s dangerous. We barely managed to create this passage after all. Still, it’s fortunate you stopped before touching it.”
At the manager’s words, the group collectively glanced around.
The spreading white vapor over the iron fence, the cosmic death, the power spread by the Veil of Mercy—all filled the place with a chill capable of freezing souls upon contact. As tension rippled across the group’s faces, Angie suddenly asked,
“If it’s that dangerous, isn’t crossing it also risky? Could it suddenly collapse? Is it really safe?”
This was a natural question for Angie, but to the fortress manager and the escorting soldiers, it wasn’t quite so obvious.
The manager, who initially chuckled, and the outright laughing soldiers drew a disgruntled look from Angie, prompting the manager to shake their head.
“It won’t happen. The Warrior God was the strongest Lesser Divinity, and this passage is a road He created by burning His own life force. This passage is maintained by the magical nation of Polaina Duchy pouring an entire year’s worth of magic power into it, so there will be no issues with this passage, and there haven’t been any so far.”
Their laughter stemmed from unwavering confidence.
A kind of confidence that carried its own persuasive weight.
Scratching her cheek, Angie muttered, “Then it must be safe,” and others in the group who harbored similar concerns relaxed.
To Aslan, the information was nothing new, so he simply laughed it off, while Resham took a step forward to resume the journey—but—
Crack.
“Hm?”
Crack, crack-crack.
Suddenly, everyone froze at the sound.
As everyone held their breath and halted, the surroundings violently shook.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
An unexpected earthquake.
The sudden quake resonated throughout the tunnel, reverberating in all directions, causing the iron fences to tremble violently.
Clang, clang-clang!
Trembling so much they snapped, the iron fences allowed the overwhelming cold beyond them to spill over.
Bang, crash-crash!
Fragments of the ancient empire, frozen in time, began to fall.
Boom, ka-boom-kaboom!
The sudden disaster mirrored the concern Angie had voiced moments earlier, prompting her to reflexively shout,
“It’s supposed to be safe!”
“Uh, uh… this isn’t supposed to happen?”
The visibly flustered manager reacted as if witnessing something unprecedented since the heavens collapsed.
Realizing this event was not only absent from the game but also never occurred in Geladridion, Aslan observed the collapsing space and clicked his tongue lowly before shouting,
“Everyone, run!”
Soon, remnants of the ancient empire began raining down from all sides into the tunnel.
