Chapter 54

Wow. That’s intense.

Actually, the jellyfish’s attack itself wasn’t that impressive.

The warning signs were too obvious, and if you just paid attention to the angle of the tentacles, you could easily predict and dodge it.

But none of the survivors reacted to it.

Even Orwell, who’s been through a lot, couldn’t even do something as simple as shielding the dwarf and dodging.

Of course, that’s understandable. Each of that jellyfish’s tentacles had a strong mental corruption ability.

I could probably handle it.

If I just focus.

But overcoming a mental attack while dodging beams is a whole different story.

Individually, the difficulty isn’t much, but the moment you add the condition of “simultaneously,” it becomes a dangerous technique.

I want to give them some praise.

When I actually clapped a little, the tentacle that was heading this way turned in the opposite direction, as if moved by my gesture.

Manners, huh.

“Orwell. Choose.”

I looked at the terrified survivors and Orwell, who was gritting his teeth, and held out my hand.

This is what negotiation is all about.

When faced with death, anyone will make the right choice.

Like a plant following the light, they’ll grab the hand that’s offered to them immediately.

“Nah. I’ll just kill them myself.”

And I usually don’t give the other party a choice in situations like this.

Betrayal is only fatal when the stakes are similar.

If I’m confident that no matter what they do, they can’t reach me.

I prefer to get results by showing kindness.

That way, they see me as a savior.

Whoosh. I kicked off the ground and leaped into the sky.

A white light was already streaming from the dagger I had somehow grabbed.

Whether divinity works or not doesn’t matter.

Because I’m here.

Including all the life forms in this world, I am absolute.

No one has ever surpassed me.

Lately, I haven’t even felt the threat of death.

The days of lowering my stance, being cautious, and shrinking back are long gone.

After going through all that, here’s the result.

Swish-

A smooth, clear trajectory of light falling downward.

The red jellyfish, shattered like a dream, disappearing.

As the light faded, everyone looked this way.

All of them, frozen with expressions of disbelief like NPCs, staring at me.

As expected, it’s boring.

It’s good that the battles are easy, but sometimes I miss the old days.

With a vague sense of regret, I looked beyond the scattered fragments of the jellyfish.

“You should come out now, right?”

In response to my words, the world, shaped like a small jellyfish, replied.

[Wait a little longer, human. I have something prepared for you.]

*

In a world where gravity goes haywire at any moment, a small base made using dragon’s magic power symbolized survival.

When I entered it, I surprisingly felt a warm sensation.

“How is it? Not bad, right?”

“It’s amazing.”

“…It’s a base made by combining things that those who were sucked in had. Back when this didn’t exist, we were just waiting to die.”

“You must be grateful for this dragon, from your perspective.”

“Right. Should I say thanks for dying… Not really a fun thing to say.”

After a brief pause, Orwell expressed his gratitude to me.

He bowed his head, thanking me for saving the survivors and himself.

He apologized for misunderstanding.

“Apologies are fine, but let’s get to what we need to do first. We don’t have much time.”

If we drag this out any longer, Miho might come looking for us here.

No joke, seriously.

She might really do that.

That’s not good in many ways.

It’s not good for Miho’s safety or my plans.

I hurriedly asked Orwell about the method of dimensional travel.

“Dimensional travel, despite its grandiose name, has quite a few methods.”

The explanation that started with that preface didn’t end until two hours later.

Broadly speaking, it can be summarized like this.

Using warp gates is one.

Sending a mental body through connected dimensional power is two.

Being banished by the dimension is three.

Among these, if you use the third method well, you can travel to the desired dimension.

Because dimensions, while seemingly randomly distributed, are actually arranged according to a specific order. So, if you know the coordinates of the current dimension and the dimension you want to move to, you can calculate the specific point where you need to be banished, and if you’re banished from there, you can go to the dimension at the desired coordinates…

“Phew.”

That’s disgustingly long.

Alright, let’s get to the point.

“How do you get banished?”

“The world is thoroughly rational. Like a machine. So, if you understand the algorithm, inducing banishment is simple.”

The key is to threaten the world.

The most certain way is to destroy a dimensional stone, but in almost all dimensions, dimensional stones are heavily protected, so it’s not easy.

“This is a calculator I made.”

Orwell showed his wrist and tapped it a few times.

Then, a wave spread out, covering the area before disappearing.

The range was roughly 10 kilometers.

As Orwell pointed out, when I placed my finger on the terminal on his wrist, I started to see new things.

A grid-covered land.

Some parts were red, some were blue.

When I asked about this, Orwell added a brief explanation.

“The red parts are points to ascend to higher worlds. The blue parts are points to descend to lower worlds. It’s binary, but this is all the functionality I need.”

Orwell’s gaze stayed on the red points.

Is he trying to go up?

It seems he has a reason.

“…Do you believe in the theory of Ideas?”

At that moment, Belva, who had been quietly listening, muttered softly.

Idea. At that word, Orwell’s body twitched, and he turned sharply to look at Belva.

I know about Ideas too.

Because Belva told me.

The first dimension.

The highest upper world where the origins of all things are recorded.

Even if people die, records don’t disappear.

Now I understood Belva’s question.

“You’re planning to save them. Your family.”

“…Yes. I don’t know how many years it will take, but I will ascend.”

Somehow, it felt strange.

The relic Orwell was handling had a vicious curse that required souls as a price.

It was an easy curse to notice, so I wondered if he really didn’t know…

“Is that possible?”

Not sarcastic, but pure curiosity.

Ascending dimensions is never easy.

The higher the dimension, the more unimaginable enemies and beings will pour out.

From what I see, Orwell was too weak to overcome that.

Scratch. Scratch.

Sharpening the dull blade of the knife, Orwell fell silent for a moment.

Then slowly opened his mouth.

“It doesn’t matter. I never cared about the possibility in the first place…”

He said he would do anything if he could see his dead children again.

It’s the kind of story I can’t relate to.

I nodded vaguely and moved on.

I moved to lean against the dragon’s corpse and organized the information I had heard so far.

Somehow, it feels like the puzzle is coming together, the picture vaguely visible.

Let’s think.

Why did the world invite me here?

It must have been aware of the difference in strength between itself and me.

That there’s no way to win through normal means.

But the world called me here.

It said to come in and all that.

At first, I thought it was summoning enemies that my Divine Power couldn’t affect to deal with me.

Actually, that seemed like a pretty plausible method, but it doesn’t feel right.

Did it call me just for that?

It’s not sealing my divinity, it just doesn’t work.

All my stats and abilities remain intact.

In the end, it must know better than anyone that I will win.

Then why?

Let’s think again.

It feels like falling neatly into the opponent’s trap, like in a game of Go.

Maybe I’m missing something, no, I’m definitely missing something.

Thoughts are swaying in my head.

What am I missing?

I can’t figure out the opponent’s plan.

First, let’s check the cards the opponent is holding again.

The environment that neutralizes my divinity.

This is certain.

It’s obvious that they’re planning something based on this.

But it’s unsettling that even if my divinity is neutralized, it doesn’t really change the outcome.

Next is banishment.

I was unsure when I first heard the explanation, but now I remember.

The world has tried to banish me a few times.

A sensation like something pushing my body out.

That must be banishment.

But, I could resist it with just Dimension Power, without even needing to raise my Divine Power.

And since my Divine Power isn’t completely sealed now, even if used in this environment, it wouldn’t work on me.

“Sigh.”

This is giving me a headache.

I can’t figure it out.

I exhaled deeply and lay back.

“……?”

Then suddenly, I noticed that the shape of the space had changed significantly.

Everything floating in the air was being combined by some will, like Magneto handling metal.

The gaps in space closing tightly.

As soon as I noticed, I asked Orwell.

“Is banishment only applicable to living beings?”

Orwell shook her head.

There’s no limit to what can be banished.

“Really?”

The judgment was quick.

I immediately grabbed Belva and Noah and threw them towards the remaining gap in space.

I can survive falling anywhere.

But they can’t.

After confirming that the two had safely escaped through the gap, I looked at Orwell.

Her Relic was shining brightly.

“Is this the precursor to banishment…?”

Orwell muttered, seemingly flustered.

At the same time, cheers erupted.

“We’re free! We can leave this place now!”

“Ah… Ruye, were you watching…!”

The remaining survivors.

Unlike me, they had no power to resist banishment, nor any reason to.

Some even shed tears of joy and prayed to their gods.

Soon, the survivors disappeared one by one.

In an instant, silence fell.

Finally, Orwell, standing at the red point, looked at me.

She gave a bitter smile and fiddled with the Relic around her neck.

“I never thought it would come to this. Banishing everything, including all the energy contained within, would be an act that damages the dimension itself······.”

Then she bowed her head slightly and apologized to me.

“From start to finish, I only showed you the bad side. I’m sorry.”

Then, as she faded away, she gave me one last greeting.

I quietly watched that scene.

And there was no one left.

As if I had been alone from the beginning.

I whispered softly into the void.

“…So this was your plan.”

[Your value has always been survival. As you wished, you will never die.]

Kwaaaang─!

Then, the space itself shattered and collapsed.

It seems I was properly banished.

Clearing the debris, I stepped outside.

[…Yo? Can you hear me?!]

Through Divine Power, Belva’s urgent voice pierced my ears.

“Yeah. I can hear you.”

[Ah… That’s a relief. Do you know what’s happening now?]

“I know that too.”

[…Wait a bit. I’ll try to find a way. By the way, can you tell me what kind of dimension it is?]

An unfamiliar dimension. Me, left alone.

Belva’s voice coming through.

With a strong sense of déjà vu, I briefly described what I saw.

“There’s nothing here.”

A planet with endless white sandy beaches.

And besides that, nothing else.

[Nothing at all?]

“Yeah. Nothing.”

I looked down.

Grains slipped through the gaps between my toes.

I picked some up and chewed.

No taste, just a gritty texture.

“Really, there’s nothing.”

Under a pitch-black sky, a white sandy beach.

A single human left alone in between.

Staring blankly down.

The sand was so white, it looked like scattered bones.

I was stepping on a white world, as if death had solidified.