Chapter 440: The Other Dimension
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Helcrown was floating about in a very unique dimension. It was impossible to tell up from down, left from right. The gloomy darkness harkens back to outer space, but it was not as dark as the void. A faint light was radiating from somewhere, but no one knew exactly where.
There was a brief loss of gravity as Helcrown made the jump, and it was quickly restored by the massive gravity spell matrix beneath the city. The spell matrix was only hastily created when the city first disappeared into the other dimension. Thankfully, the mages were no slouch and it was their diligence that prevent the city from losing gravitational control all together. The casualties would have been staggering if not for them.
"So... This is the other dimension?" Y'zaks looked on curiously as he stood on the tower complex. "The space has some sort of energy within, and some stray radiation... seems like space, but there's many other things as well."
"We were thrown her during the dimensional storm." Y'lisabet strained her neck as she looked up to her mountain sized dad. It sure was difficult for the little demon to speak to her father. "There was only a thin layer of atmosphere outside, so we almost lost our air supply. Thankfully the warning spells noticed the change in air currents and thought we were under the attack of the forbidden 'Void Hell' attack, and thus deploying the barrier at moment's notice. I wouldn't dare to imagine the number of dead if it wasn't for that."
"Then the elves and dark elves worked together to create a greenhouse of sorts, and that ensured our supply of breathable air." Zadamor had also made his way to the terrace and joined the conversation. "That also temporary solved our food supply issues. With the supplies in reserve, we did not had to worry too much about it. The first three months was spent trying to figure out how do we survive in this other dimension. We had to be vigilant against air leakage, measured the radiation, made sure that we recycled everything possible and to guide the city against colliding into any foreign objects. We then finally found a way to leave the place. Thankfully, my lord, you had been studying the mysteries of space, and we were able to adapt to the living conditions here."
"Only the Demon King's Army could survive here." Y'zaks smiled. "Aside from us, who would have thought of living in outer space?"
Hao Ren was still thinking about the demonic host back on the Shattered Plains. He looked up towards Y'zaks. "Say... you think those fools we left behind had started fighting already?"
As he said, Hao Ren felt a sense of schadenfreude; he also never thought that a 'good-natured' guy like Y'zaks could be such a scheming bastard. He had purposely engaged in worthless banter with Serathon and Banuklaak to buy time, until the Allied Army had arrived. The moment the two armies see each other, he coolly turned around and left the two parties to fight it out. What a bastard...
It was no wonder why Y'zaks could run rampant for hundreds of years. Anyone with just brawn, even with space age technology would've been overthrown long ago. It seems like he used very underhanded move available to him during his reign. Any king worth his salt would have kept a few daggers hidden for when it matters most; although most of us would simply just call it repression.
But Y'zaks unexpectedly shook his head. "No, Serathon is a smart guy. He can't tell how much power we have, and now he have this puzzle on why Helcrown could appear and disappear at will, so he would conserve his strength, and avoid combat with the Allied Army. As for the Allied Army... hmm... two out of the six present are scheming bastards as well, so they would not fight. Of course, there's no telling how much damage the retreat would inflict, as both had to guard against each other."
"Meh, that sucks." Hao Ren sighed.
"Well, I don't care if they want to fight or not." Y'zaks shrugged. "I've no interest in those land crawlers anymore."
As he finished, Y'zaks returned into his human form and left the terrace. "Feel free to do whatever you want. I'll go back to the generator room. I'm still worried about that ball thing."
Lily heard it was free-and-easy now, and with a cheer she jumped down from the tower. "I'm going on an adventure AWOOOO~~~~~"
Vivian immediately facepalmed before taking flight. "I'll look after that idiot."
Wuyue looked around here. The Siren had half the mind to explore the wondrous city, but she still wanted to enjoy the scenery on the tower. After demurring for a bit she waved at Hao Ren, "Mr Landlord, get me a tub of water, I'll soak with Lil Pea here to enjoy the view."
Hao Ren then pulled out a huge tub of water for Wuyue to soak herself. He also threw Lil Pea into the tub to let the little rascal have her fun. He then mumbled, "Why does this feel like I'm rearing fishes, and need to change the water every now and then.... Keep an eye on Lil Pea, don't let her chew a hole in the tub!"
Hao Ren noticed that something was staring at him as he spoke and he turned around to look at the source of the stare. It was Y'lisabet. The little demon did not tag along with her dad, but instead stayed behind to observe the group of strangers. The bratty demon stood just about two meters away from Hao Ren as she stared at him, almost as if she was measuring the latter. Curiosity beamed through the crimson eyes of hers.
While the girl staring at him was indeed a cute little doll, but Hao Ren was uncomfortable with the intense gaze, and broke the silence. "There's something on me?"
Y'lisabet waved as she touched her little intricate horn, her eyes still locked onto Hao Ren. "So..I should be calling you uncle?"
Hao Ren was confused. "Ugh... if go by age I'm definitely not as long lived as you... but based on seniority.... Y'zaks would probably have you call me that."
"Oh, I'll call you uncle then." The little demon's expression was serious. She took a couple of steps closer towards H ao Ren. "So Papa was at your place all this while?"
Hao Ren nodded. He felt that the little demon was rather bashful with her questions. "Just ask what you want to ask. I'm close with your dad. You don't have to treat me like an outsider."
"Papa had changed a lot since he came back." Y'lisabet nodded, her face serious. "He was much more serious back then, and he rarely smiled, and he was... scary. But it was different this time around. Why it because he was with you?"
Guess apples indeed do not drop far from the tree, the little demon's intuition was indeed keen. Looking at the serious little demon, Hao Ren thought hard on how to explain what happened to Y'zaks. His empire, spanning hundreds of years, collapsed, the awe-inspiring knowledge of the metaverse, the sense of gratification when he first stepped into space, and his life on Earth. These were not something that you could summarise in a few words. He sighed resignedly. "Well, your papa was at the height of his career before his untimely..."
Before he could finish his sentence he felt a slap on his back. Turning back, the visage of a pouting Lanina was staring down on him. The thing that had hit him was Lanina's whip-like tail. "What nonsense are you talking about? That's so inauspicious!"
Seems like the translation module had also translated what he meant to say literally!
Hao Ren coughed drily. "Uh, right. So your papa ran out of budget before he could complete his great work... or something like that. It was something of an upheaval for him, so a change is natural. You don't have to worry, he is still your papa. His main motivation to come back here was to look for you."
"I know." Y'lisabet nodded grimly. "And I feel that the papa now is much better. You said you plan to bring everyone here away? To where papa was living? Can you?"
Hao Ren gave a hearty laugh as he patted his chest. "Don't you worry. I'm a specialist in mass migration. I even handled one on a scale much bigger than this, without a hitch I might add!"
As Hao Ren finished, his gut churned. Talk is cheap, how do he even begin writing this report. While he did indeed successfully moved three billion Aerym Elves the other time, but even he was too embarrassed to bring up that underhanded tactic he used. He would need to find another excuse, or that insane Goddess would have him hauled away to ward off another disaster in her desperation. Given her neurotic tendencies, that was not out of the question!
Y'lisabet by then was in awe of Hao Ren. With her beloved papa's assurance, she was rather trusting of the 'weird human uncle' before her. In fact, she looking at him much more favourably right now.
But Hao Ren did not know that at all. He was still cracking his head on how to bullsh... uh no, write his report.
Helcrown was still floating in the empty void, but it was not stationary. In fact, it was floating towards a specific direction. The technicians had found a place in the void that they could set foot on, and left a mark on it. The floating city was now headed that way. During the rather uneventful transit, Y'lisabet bugged Hao Ren to tell her more about the stories of the other worlds. Wuyue had made a sculpture out of water as entertainment. Lanina squatted by the tub as she carefully put her tail into the tub. She was fishing.
Lil Pea leapt at every opportunity to grab on Lanina's tail. She was being fished.
Seems like everyone was at least occupied with something.
And finally, something appeared in the gloomy void.
Debris of various size appeared before the city, seems like some sort of space debris. Y'lisabet squinted and pointed towards a silhouette before them. "Aha! We've reached the point!"