Chapter 218
“….”
Why is Edel here…?
I blinked at the unexpected appearance of someone I hadn’t thought of.
“It’s been a while!”
“…Has it?”
Half-dazed, I responded, and Edel waved her hand with a delighted expression, as if greeting an old friend.
Though Edel and I weren’t exactly estranged, we weren’t close enough to greet each other this warmly either.
Despite calling her incompetent, I didn’t wish for her to lose her mind, so I asked with concern.
“…Did you eat something strange?”
But even with my reaction, the bright expression on Edel’s face didn’t fade.
“Seeing you here means my message reached you properly.”
“That was sent by you?”
“Of course. Who else would’ve sent it but me, through my angel?”
“Angel…?”
Wait, what?
“Are you sure you didn’t mean a corpse? It didn’t look alive no matter how I saw it.”
“Well….”
Edel trailed off, as if she didn’t want to go into detail.
“That’s how it turned out.”
“…I don’t know what you mean by ‘that’s how it turned out,’ but fine. What’s going on here?”
“I was just about to explain. But…”
Edel’s eyes scanned the surroundings.
Following her gaze, I looked around too.
Edel must have dealt with the Dimensional Creature’s core body because the scattered fragments and blood on the ground had disappeared.
However, the aftermath it left behind hadn’t been completely erased, leaving the surface still in a chaotic state.
Among the crowds gathered below, many were looking up at us.
‘Well, of course they would.’
First, a massive arm bursts out of the sky and gets sliced into pieces, then a radiant woman emerges from the black curtain, and now we’re standing midair having a conversation like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
From an Earthling’s perspective, it would be strange if they weren’t dumbfounded watching such surreal events unfold.
I felt a little weird saying “Earthlings” as if I wasn’t one of them, but what can you do? It’s the truth.
“—Shall we move somewhere else?”
This didn’t seem like the right place for a conversation.
Still enveloped in radiant light, Edel made the suggestion, and I nodded.
_
Thus, we arrived at a building belonging to Demoninus.
As soon as Edel entered the office, she collapsed into a chair and let out a deep sigh.
“Hoo….”
“So—”
“Wait, wait. I know you’re curious, but let me catch my breath first.”
“…?”
Do gods need to breathe?
That thought crossed my mind briefly, but I didn’t question Edel’s words.
After a short but not too long pause, Edel, who had been steadying her breathing, began to speak.
“I went outside the dimension.”
“I figured as much.”
When Edel first appeared, I was too surprised to think clearly for a moment.
But after some reflection, there was no other reason why Edel would have come out from there.
The most plausible scenario had been “to stop an enemy invasion,” but if that had been the case, there would have been no need for her to cross the barrier.
“Was this what you were trying to tell me during our last call?”
“It’s slightly different, but it’s related.”
If it’s related, does that mean she was trying to leave some kind of final message?
I didn’t think so, but a small part of me couldn’t help considering the possibility.
“Were you just tired of being stuck here and wanted some fresh air?”
At my comment, Edel let out a small laugh.
It wasn’t meant as a joke, though.
“I went to scout the Dimensional Creatures. You know, there’s that saying: ‘Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll never be defeated in a hundred battles.’ After getting beaten last time, I realized I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. To be honest, I always thought this way, but I hadn’t been able to convince the other administrators.”
“…? Scout?”
I wasn’t questioning the value of reconnaissance.
Understanding the enemy’s movements is critical.
Especially in life-and-death wars, knowing the enemy’s forces, strategies, and weapons allows you to minimize your own losses and deal maximum damage to the enemy.
So I wasn’t questioning the importance of reconnaissance itself.
“Why would Edel be the one to do it?”
In the hierarchy, Edel’s position is akin to a vice-captain in a knight order. In all my life, I’ve never seen a vice-captain march into enemy territory to gather intelligence—
“…Ahem.”
—Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it’s not so strange.
Whether you’re a vice-captain or a regular knight, life is life, isn’t it?
A vice-captain is naturally stronger than a regular knight, and it’s only logical that scouting enemy territory is dangerous.
If a kind-hearted vice-captain worried about their knights’ safety and decided to take on the mission personally… that might explain things.
“Hmm, now that makes sense.”
“What were you so lost in thought about just now?”
“…Nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”
Edel narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously before finally relaxing her furrowed brows.
“I know the risks were high. But the only ones capable of withstanding the dimensional vortex are the administrators or me. And I couldn’t just dump the responsibility on the administrators, could I?”
“Well… if that’s your reason.”
“You accepted that explanation quicker than I expected.”
“This isn’t an interrogation.”
I had been curious about why someone of Edel’s stature would take on such a task personally, not looking to accuse or question her.
Accepting her explanation was only natural, and I replied nonchalantly before turning the question back to her.
“So, did you learn anything?”
“Oh, I did.”
“…Wait, really?”
Of course, reconnaissance doesn’t always guarantee gathering enemy information.
Enemies understand the importance of keeping their secrets, going to great lengths to conceal them.
To obtain valuable intelligence, one would often have to take significant risks rather than just observing from a safe distance.
‘If it were that easy, anyone could do it.’
Because of that, I hadn’t expected much when Edel claimed to have scouted enemy territory.
But here she was, confidently stating that she’d uncovered something, and I couldn’t help but be surprised.
Whether she noticed my skeptical gaze or not, Edel spoke matter-of-factly.
“I always thought something was off. Even if no one knew of their existence, how could they break through the wall I built and invade my world so easily? …Am I really that insignificant?”
I take back what I said about her being matter-of-fact.
Her voice carried an intensity that belied the calmness of her words.
It was an intensity that made me pause in silence before feigning ignorance and steering the conversation elsewhere.
“Finding their base couldn’t have been easy.”
Perhaps the effort she put in had been worth it because her reply came devoid of any lingering emotions.
“It wasn’t easy. But come on, it’s me we’re talking about. I’ve fought those creatures for what feels like an eternity. If I couldn’t manage this, I’d bring shame to the name Edel. Honestly, I probably know more about them than their own mothers do.”
“…Uh.”
Was that a diss or not?
Her statement left me baffled, and my expression must’ve reflected that.
Regardless, Edel continued her story.
“Do you know where I ended up while chasing their traces? A dimension. One that was so utterly destroyed it didn’t even have protective walls left.”
“Could you even call that a dimension? It’s like calling a house with no roof or walls a house.”
“Well, even a place like that can still be a home if it holds memories, don’t you think?”
“Is that so?”
“What do you mean ‘is that so’? I was just saying. Don’t take it seriously.”
I’d humored her, matching her tone, only to be met with her dismissive response. Naturally, my reply came out curt.
“…We already suspected they’d have a base. From what you’ve told me so far, it doesn’t sound like you found anything groundbreaking.”
“As I mentioned before, the dimensional walls don’t just block external intrusions. They also keep the internal energy from leaking out. And they serve other functions as well. Without those walls…”
“So, it’s like a house without a roof or walls?”
I repeated my earlier analogy.
Sure, you could tell from the remaining frame that it had been a house.
But how many people would still consider it a house now?
“If you were the homeowner, what would you do? Just leave it as is?”
“Are you insane?”
“Exactly. Moving to another house might be ideal, but if that’s not an option, you’d have to repair it. So what does it mean if the house hasn’t been repaired?”
Even though she was the one asking the question, Edel didn’t wait for me to answer.
“Either the homeowner isn’t in a position to repair it or… there’s no homeowner.”
“Wait a second. For that theory to be correct, you’d need to be certain it’s their base. What if they just settled in a dimension they consumed?”
“Don’t worry about that. If you’d seen it yourself, you’d have known instantly. ‘Ah, this must be their base,’ you’d think.”
“…Hmm. I don’t fully get it, but fine.”
“Good attitude.”
“….”
I couldn’t let that slide.
Her tone was patronizing, like she was talking to a child, and I shot her a sharp glare.
But I quickly relaxed my gaze, realizing there was too much to discuss and think about. Picking fights over every little thing wouldn’t get us anywhere.
“So, to summarize…”
I organized my thoughts based on what Edel had said.
“There’s some issue with the god managing their dimension, and their invasion of other dimensions is related to that?”
“If only it were just that.”
Edel’s response wasn’t a confirmation or denial.
Her ambiguous reply annoyed me, and I almost snapped at her.
But before I could, she spoke again, and her words left me utterly baffled.
“They devoured their god.”
—
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