Book 2: Chapter 375
After the Great Medium finished her story, silence fell in the room for a long time.
One thing was clear, everyone in the room was experiencing immense shock.
But among them, the person who was the most shocked and confused was Iris.
‘I… that man…’
She didn’t even know what to think.
The first thing Iris did was deny it. It couldn’t be true.
She had never been infatuated with anyone before. From the start, she was the type of person who couldn’t fall in love with another person. In addition, Lukas’ appearance was in no way her type. Then what was her type of man? In the first place, had there ever been a time when she’d felt anything for a man just because he was handsome?
“Hey.”
Anastasia called out to Iris.
Fanning her face with her hand, Iris turned to her.
“What?”
“Your… face is red.”
Iris flinched slightly and bit her lip.
In her heart, she wanted to smack Anastasia’s mouth, but she held it in because she knew it would just be further acknowledgement of her agitation.
“…I can’t accept it.”
The conclusion that escaped her lips was natural.
But Iris turned her head to look at another person.
“I have to see it for myself. Peran, where is that man now?”
“…”
“Peran?”
“Ah, yes.”
Peran came to his senses. Nevertheless, his gaze was dull as if his mind was elsewhere.
Perhaps Iris wasn’t actually the most surprised among them.
“Where is Lukas now?”
“…the room. He should be waiting in the room. Should I call him?”
“Please.”
Peran slowly got up from his seat and left the room.
It felt like his chest was being squeezed and his throat was dry.
‘…Lukas.’
Lukas Trowman.
Another hero who had existed 4,000 years ago.
The story was truly hard to believe.
In fact, even two of the heroes that represented the Era of Light had completely forgotten about him. Even after the Great Medium had finished her explanation, they found it hard to believe what she said.
Then what?
Did Peran Jun believe everything the Great Medium had said?
The fact that Frey Blake was actually Lukas Trowman?
“…”
He didn’t know.
In the first place, Frey did not reveal his true identity to him 10 years ago.
That wasn’t all.
Frey, no. Lukas never stopped moving after he separated from Peran. Without hesitation, he ran forward, covered in wounds.
He fought Apostles, Demigods, Apocalypses, and finally Lord.
…And in all of that fighting.
He hadn’t asked Peran for help, not once.
Crunch.
He clenched his fist. Without realising it, his footsteps became heavier.
He could understand.
10 years ago, Peran Jun was weak. He was just a 6-star Wizard. Considering his age, it was a great achievement, but he knew that against Demigods, he was no different from a bug.
So even if Lukas asked Peran for help and he agreed, he would have been of no help in the war.
He knew that.
He knew it, but…
Was that really all?
Had Lukas really not reached out to Peran just because he was weak?
A question suddenly appeared in his mind.
Lukas, did Lukas really consider him a friend?
According to the Great Medium, Lukas’ true friends were the four heroes from 4,000 years ago.
The Black Witch, Great Sage, Sword King, and Magic Warrior King.
Compared to him?
Peran had never considered himself lacking when compared to others. But when he was compared to the great heroes of the past, he humbly accepted it.
“…”
Peran shook his head.
Now wasn’t the time to think about that.
Instead, it was what the Great Medium had said at the end that was more important.
…Diablo.
Currently, apart from the Great Medium, he was the only being that remembered the existence of ‘Lukas Trowman’.
If they killed him, then Lukas’ existence would disappear for good.
Was Lukas expecting such an end?
“…”
Peran’s hand, which he had stretched to grab the doorknob, paused.
Then he lifted it to touch his face.
Was he angry now, or was he disappointed?
And if he was disappointed, in who?
In Lukas? Or himself?
“…”
He couldn’t open the door.
Suddenly, his body stiffened.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
He flinched at the sudden voice.
Without him realising it, Nix had appeared behind him. Perhaps she had followed Peran as he left the room, but he had been so distracted that he hadn’t even noticed.
“…I’ll open it.”
As he said that, Peran changed his expression. He didn’t want to show such a face anymore.
“Huu.”
He took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
There was no response.
Thinking that maybe the sound had been too quiet, he knocked on the door again, louder this time.
And yet, there was still no response.
“Lukas?”
Even after calling his name, he didn’t receive an answer.
He was filled with indescribable anxiety.
Peran exchanged glances with Nix for a moment before opening the door suddenly.
The inside of the room, which was soon revealed, was empty.
In other words, Lukas was nowhere in sight.
“Nix.”
“…I’ll check the area.”
With those words, Nix’s figure disappeared.
Suppressing his anxiety, Peran combed the room. But he couldn’t find any traces. As if Lukas had evaporated, the room was no different from when he’d left not so long ago.
Except for one thing.
Except for what he’d assumed to be the shell of the black box on the table.
* * *
It was possible for those who became Absolutes to leave their home universe and enter other universes.
However, there was a universe that they had to go to before they could begin their rescue effort.
Everyone in that universe was an Absolute. Therefore when considering the level and tolerance of that universe, it could be called the best in the Three Thousand Worlds.
A world where every being was an Absolute.
Commonly called [Apex Universe].
When Lukas had first gone there in the past, he had met a senior Absolute who taught new Absolutes the basics.
The [Senior] had explained a lot of things to him.
And it was from that senior that he’d first heard about ‘that world’.
-At first, it was just an assumption.
In his usual, languid tone, the senior spoke.
-Imagine if a being was completely forgotten without even any trace of them in literature. What would happen then? If every trace of a being in a universe were to disappear.
-What do you mean?
The senior was one of the few beings that Lukas spoke politely to.
This was for three reasons.
Firstly, the senior was very strong. Even Lukas, who later became a Lord, had no chance of victory.
Secondly, the senior didn’t tolerate informal speech. In particular, when he was spoken to informally by a rookie Absolute that had just stepped into the Apex universe, he would beat the party in question until the word politeness was engraved into their skulls.
And the most important reason.
Lukas acknowledged that he had many things to learn from and admired about the senior.
-When you become an Absolute capable of using external force, it doesn’t matter if no one remembers you. As long as you don’t lose yourself, you will be able to maintain your presence in any universe. However, that is different for the vast majority of mortals. For them, others must be aware of the fact that they exist. Only then can they ‘exist’.
Now that he thought about it, the senior must have known.
That the moment one became an Absolute, they would be forgotten by everyone in their home universe.
-Does that mean that as long as someone ‘discovers’ them, it would be possible for them to exist?
-Right. However, there must be worlds that no one remembers, countless beings that have been forgotten. Even I have personally witnessed the destruction of tens of thousands of universes and cannot remember them all.
-Isn’t there someone who would remember everything?
-You’re talking about God.
Lukas nodded.
God.
It was said that everything in the multiverse was recorded in the void records that he read and recorded, the akashic records.
The senior’s lips curled into a smile.
-Everything that exists has a capacity and a limit. You should know as well. What god is.
-…
-Omnipotent, the saying that anything is possible for him was false from the start. In the first place, those words are contradictory.
He was right.
The God that Lukas knew had never been omnipotent.
Instead, he gave him a strong human feeling, as if he had similar emotions.
God knew how to joke, he sometimes trailed off at the end of his sentences, and he sometimes used a conceited tone.
-That’s why it was just an assumption at first. If there were beings that even God forgot, would they disappear completely? Would there still be any traces of them in the Three Thousand Worlds?
-…
-It didn’t take long to figure out it wasn’t just an assumption.
-What do you mean?
-The capacity never decreased.
-…capacity?
It was a statement that he couldn’t easily understand.
-Let’s say there are 1,000 universes. And let’s say that each universe occupies a space value of 1. One day, the universes from 1 to 100 disappeared. If that occurred then you’d get 100 free spaces by subtracting 900 from 1,000. But that isn’t the case. The total capacity value did not decrease at all.
-…
-If you fill a cup with water then throw out half, you will create a certain amount of free space in the cup. But would the thrown water disappear? It wouldn’t. There isn’t just space inside the cup. If you think of the cup as one universe, and the space outside of the cup as the entire multiverse…
-…throughout the history of the multiverse, nothing ‘disappeared’.
The senior nodded.
-Everything that seemed to have disappeared simply entered a space that Absolutes are unable to observe.
-…that space.
-The trashcan of the multiverse, the world after extinction. There are many names for it. My friends and I just call it something simpler.
The senior’s voice was like a whisper, barely audible as it drifted into his ears.
-The Imaginary World. (TL: Or fictitious world)
* * *
“…”
Lukas slowly sat up.
His head throbbed. It wasn’t a headache. Instead, it felt like his forehead had been scratched. He could also feel an itchy sensation in his clothes. This texture… was it sand?
He laid his hand on the ground, and as expected, he felt sand. After all, it was sand that had burrowed into his clothes.
…He had just been in his room. And he’d heard God’s voice…
He tried to remember the last thing he heard.
‘You need to disappear completely.’
Right. That was clearly what he said.
He wanted him to disappear? What did that mean?
“Wow! You’re finally awake!”
He was awakened from his thoughts by a lively voice.
When he looked up, he saw a woman looking down at him with her head tilted to the side.
“…who are you?”
“That’s what I want to ask! Who are you, uncle?”
It was a voice that didn’t have any vigilance. Lukas got to his feet.
“Lukas.”
“I didn’t ask for your name!”
She covered her mouth and giggled.
Lukas looked around.
It was a familiar sight, but he wasn’t quite used to it.
But there were two things that were distinctly different from his last visits to this place.
Firstly, it didn’t feel like he was dreaming. At that time, it had felt a bit unstable. It felt like he was holding on to a rope that was slowly breaking. ‘I can’t stay in this place long’, that was the feeling he got.
But it was different now. No matter how he looked at it, it felt real.
And secondly, he couldn’t see any signs of Kasajin, who was always with him when he woke up.
“Ah! Uncle! Be careful!”
Along with that urgent cry, he was suddenly covered by a shadow.
That meant that something had appeared above him.
Lukas looked up and soon stiffened.
“…!”
Where did it come from?
A monster with wide jaws.
That looked like something which would normally be seen in water.
It had a bizarre appearance.
Inside its jagged toothed mouth filled with teeth the size of Lukas’ forearm, was another mouth.
Lukas paled in an instant, and his body reacted instinctually.
His arm stretched out almost like it had a mind of its own.
Fwoosh!
And soon after, a giant flame erupted from his palm. The strength of the flames was astounding.
In an instant, the entire body of the creature which was covered in thick hide was burnt to ashes. The monster, which had likely been tens of metres in length, had become nothing more than a small pile of ashes in the blink of an eye.
“Wow~!”
A voice that seemed to be filled with shock or admiration sounded from behind him.
But Lukas couldn’t help but be more surprised than she was.
Silently, he began to inspect his body.
And he realised.
His broken mana room had been fixed.