The Foreigner on the Periphery

Princess Yuria regained consciousness to a stinging scent. Someone pulled away the damp cloth that had been pressed beneath her nose. The stimulant's side effects pounded the back of her head with a heavy ache, but it was swiftly forgotten as an incomparable agony washed over her. It was an excruciating pain, like dozens of hammers crushing her lower half in a steady rhythm, much like waves crashing against a beach.

"...!"

Yuria's mouth, which had opened to scream, snapped shut as astonishment filled her eyes. Her blurry vision cleared to reveal an unexpected face.

She spoke in a cracked voice.

"Kasana?!"

It was the royal family's second child, who had left for another dimension to convalesce when they were young. Her younger sister, whom she hadn't seen in decades, stood right there.

Yuria trembled.

"Kasana, if I'm seeing you... I see. I must be dead."

Despair and resignation seeped into her tone.

"What nonsense is this clueless fool spouting?"

Kasana cut her off, her tone dripping with unconcealed contempt. Yuria was momentarily struck speechless before she contorted her face against another wave of pain. Watching her older sister, Princess Kasana let out a shallow sigh, reflecting on just how fitting the nickname "Clueless Fool" was—the very moniker she had bestowed upon Yuria in their youth.

"You aren't dead. But you really might die if things keep up like this, so pull yourself together and focus."

"I'm not dead?! But how are you..."

"I returned to our country a long time ago."

"What?!"

Yuria shouted, only for her body to go rigid from the pain once again. Only after the agony receded could she collect herself and examine her surroundings.

"Where is this?"

"It's the base of the secret society that serves the Shutan Royal Family."

"...!"

A flood of questions poured out after that, but her younger sister remained silent. She did not want to distract her older sister any further, as Yuria had already begun her premature spawning. Though Yuria was a traitorous sinner, she was still her own flesh and blood, and the King had already ordered that her life be saved.

Only after the spawning was barely, safely completed did Kasana explain everything that had happened to the limp and exhausted Yuria.

"I never left to stay in one place and convalesce to begin with. My mission was to find a faction we could ally with... so that our race could reclaim its freedom. I joined up with the Shutan men who had been covertly dispatched to other dimensions as alien laborers, and we operated together. The expenses were covered by the Shutan Royal Family's slush funds and the secret society's support."

Yuria briefly forgot even her post-spawning pains, listening to the story with her mouth hanging wide open.

"Then, we eventually met an immigration broker who offered to help us."

He promised to arrange a mass immigration to Earth if they granted him a few favors, and the crucial mission of fulfilling those terms was entrusted to their youngest sibling, Vermi.

It troubled them that the broker was Kavite, an Ancient Race that made up the upper echelons of the Committee, but on the other hand, their status meant their lobbying power was reliable.

In the end, Vermi departed, ostensibly under the pretext of a merger and acquisition of an Earth alchemy company, but secretly to carry out the covert mission the broker had requested.

Her eyes wide at this unimaginable tale, Yuria cried out.

"...Why in the world! Why was such an important matter carried out while keeping only me in the dark!"

At that, Kasana let out a scoff. Yuria saw the utterly dumbfounded expression etched onto her younger sister's face. Blade-like words that she had held back while the woman was spawning now danced on Kasana's tongue.

"Has the pain clouded your mind, or do you just conveniently forget things when they work against you? How could you possibly do what we did? You, someone who can't even get near a Terminal. Even if you tried to stow away, you would have been caught the moment you stepped onto a Jump Ship."

"..."

Furthermore, there was a more important reason why the King's eldest daughter had been thoroughly excluded from this plan.

"Our goal is to leave the Gelanco dimension. To escape this miserable fate where our women are treated as livestock laying golden eggs, and our men are forced to leave their homeland to live almost their entire lives as alien laborers. Yet you tried to side with the very humans who caused this disaster!"

She could not deny it.

It was a widely known fact that Yuria was the foremost member of the Pro-Human Faction within the Shutan Royal Family.

"Mother regrets sending you to study in the human kingdom to this day. To think you knew exactly how miserably our race lives, yet you still returned with your head stuffed full of those rotten ideologies! And no matter how much Mother tried to persuade you, you never even pretended to listen. So in the end... she gave up on sharing this secret with you!"

She glared at Yuria with a cold expression, her words biting.

"Do you really think it's normal for other races to interfere with us getting married and bearing children in the first place? Before trying to compete with your own sisters for the right to marry, shouldn't you have thought about smashing and overthrowing such a system? If you don't have the power to do so, you should at least run away!"

Yuria was at a loss for words.

"And did you think that staging a coup would make you the King and let you bear children? That's ridiculous. You think the humans would just leave a powerful Supernatural Ability User like you alone?"

"...What?"

"The signs are already showing among the men. The more outstanding the Supernatural Ability User, the more frequently their submitted marriage proposals conveniently disappear mid-process. The humans loathe the idea of our physically superior descendants inheriting powerful Supernatural Abilities as well. That trickery is targeting male Supernatural Ability Users for now, but do you think the women will be safe forever?!"

Yuria felt a dizzying wave of vertigo, as if the world she had built in her mind—the very foundation of her perception and values—was completely collapsing. A mental shock battered her, mingling with the physical pain of her contorted body settling back into place. It was a tempest that felt like it would crush Yuria whole.

Right at that moment.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

"What is that sound?"

Unlike Yuria, whose mind had grown hazy once more, Kasana noticed the suspicious noise. It was not a sound that belonged in this deep forest. A heavy vibration carried right through the walls.

"Could it be?!"

Kasana's face stiffened.

   *

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

"Damn it!"

The Shutan people, who had been in a state of unrest due to the incident report coming over the Radio, quickly stopped their conversations and looked across the night sky. Naturally, the gazes of Del and the rest of the 'alien' party turned in the same direction.

"Dammit!"

A squadron of rotary-wing aircraft was approaching over the horizon. Judging by their models, they didn't belong to Shutan.

Flash!

Beneath the propeller blades continuously beating the air, a bright beam of light sliced through the darkness and poured down. The searchlight illuminated the Shutans and aliens confronting each other in the middle of the forest.

Someone observing the ground from inside the aircraft spoke up.

"Identification complete. It's the Shutan King!"

They were the humans who had gone to pick up Princess Yuria, only to fail and track the trail all the way here. The helicopter-like machines they rode were powered by antiquated fuel entirely unrelated to Magic. It was the transport they had prepared to fly the Princess all the way to the Sanctuary.

The reason they had managed to follow them this far was simple. Just as Del had tracked the traces of frozen mana, the humans had mobilized a Supernatural Ability User with a similar power. Though slower than Del, their direction hadn't been wrong, and following the Princess's trajectory made running into this group inevitable.

The human sitting in the cockpit smiled.

"Excellent. To think things would work out this well!"

Their fundamental goal in turning Princess Yuria to their side from the start had been to locate the Shutan King. The humans had promised her that once they figured out the King's whereabouts, they would safely subdue him without a scratch, and then support a bloodless coup to place Yuria on the throne.

The humans had fed her exactly what she wanted to hear, and she had believed exactly what she wanted to believe.

And now, having discovered the Shutan King in an unexpected location, the humans' plans did not change. A command went out over the Radio to the entire squadron. The voice was resolute.

"Fire!"

It did not matter that an unidentified group was mixed into the crowd on the ground, or that some among them appeared to be a human-like race.

For the greater cause, minor sacrifices were unavoidable.

Swoosh!

The aircraft rained artillery fire down upon the ground. Because there was no mana-condensing Supernatural Ability User present, the mages were also free to unleash their spells without hesitation.

Blazing streaks sliced through the night. The darkness rippled in the heat, and in an instant, the forest lit up as bright as day. The humans in the aircraft braced themselves for the massive shockwave that would surely shake the atmosphere next.

"...?!"

An eerie silence.

"What the?!"

There was no expected explosion, no earth-shattering aftermath. The commander's eyes widened as he peered down.

The first thing that caught his eye was the Dragon that had suddenly appeared. Its body was smaller than what he had seen in the media, but its appearance was undoubtedly that of a dragon. Had the Dragon done something?

Yet the Dragon was merely staring up at the sky in an awkward posture. They hadn't managed to see the Dragon swallow back the flames it had been gathering in its mouth. Gripping the Polymorph Magic Tool that he had startledly detached from his body moments ago, Ha Eunseong wore a bewildered expression.

Meanwhile, the Shutans who had braced themselves for death were equally dazed.

Only two people realized what had just happened. One of them, the priest, marveled out loud.

"Princess, you did this!"

Del was staring at the sky with a firm expression. Rage flickered in her eyes.

The power she had just unleashed halted the artillery shells in mid-air and extinguished the Magic. Her body was in terrible shape, but this much was a breeze.

"How dare you!"

Since childhood, Del had constantly been criticized for lacking an important virtue of Endelion: the mindset of cherishing oneself. However, she was merely lacking in it—that didn't mean she was entirely devoid of such a natural defense mechanism.

Tentacle creatures valued their own safety above all else, feeling immense terror in the face of life-threatening danger. As one of those creatures, Del felt extreme fury at what had just transpired.

And the Princess of Endelion did not hesitate to express that fury through action.

Fwoosh!

A single tentacle burst forth from her back like an explosion. Most people couldn't even track its intense and elegant movements properly. Unfurling it like a spool of thread into the night sky, Del swung it in a massive arc.

The elastic recoil tore through the air.

Swish!

Just a single stroke.

It was merely a single swing.

The moment the long tentacle connected to her back sliced horizontally across the night sky, the witnesses felt a sensation as if space itself was twisting along that line. The smooth, flexible, blue-gray pillar moved in a way that seemed to mock the very concept of speed.

---!

Only then did the explosion the humans in the aircraft had been anticipating finally begin to ring out.

However, contrary to their expectations, the source of the noise was not the ground.

Kaboom! Bang!

Kaaa-boom!

Accompanied by sporadic flashes of light, the aircraft in the night sky began to blow up one after another. Debris rained down alongside showers of sparks, leaving trails everywhere.

Meanwhile, the very moment she swung her tentacle, Del had already turned her body to face the Shutan King. Having lost all interest in the blazing heat spreading across the sky, she asked a question. Her voice was clear enough to pierce straight through the explosions.

The Princess of Endelion asked this without even retracting her tentacle.

"..."

Not daring to even harbor the thought of defiance, the Shutan King confessed the truth. Once again, Del's response was swift.

"Yumtus."

"...Y-yes!"

"Where was his planned next destination?"

While Del had been unconscious, Minjun had already informed Yumtus of their next destination. Upon hearing the answer, Del nodded.

"We have to jump to that dimension immediately. Like I said, our location was compromised a long time ago, and now that Cain has revealed himself 'like that'... it's only a matter of time before the backup forces arrive."

Cain. She had blurted out Minjun's past alias in her haste, but Yumtus understood her perfectly.

"What about the avatar?"

Del replied, her complexion growing even darker.

"We have to go get him. Right this instant."

   *

A short while later, the Princess, the priest, and the Dragon appeared in the sky above the humans' kingdom.

"Oh my god!"

Before they had arrived here, the Ancient Race's dimensional Jump Ship and Mothership, which had been retreating, was swallowed by a vortex that had followed them all the way to this kingdom. The vessel, deep in preparation for a jump, was helplessly crushed beneath it, and Todd was swept up in the tempest alongside the shattering debris of the ship. After spinning round and round for a long while like that, his soul and body were ground down together.

In other words, Todd no longer existed as an individual entity within this dimension.

The shadow monster, which had taken the form of a black vortex back when the situation here was broadcast over the Radio, had now stopped its swirling motions. This was because Minjun had ceased the process of crushing souls and bodies to manufacture new monsters.

Even so, the shadow monster did not disappear.

Right now, what 'she' was dealing with was...

"Dammit! Attack! Attack it!"

"Oh Gods, why have you brought such a calamity upon us...!"

"It's no use! No spell is enough... Aaargh!"

Those standing before the monster were humans.

The shadow monster had emerged by completely crushing the Terminal in the human capital. And a Jump Terminal was classified as a vital piece of infrastructure and a top-tier strategic zone in any nation.

When an unidentified monster instantly flattened such a location, the human army launched a retaliatory strike and capital defense operation according to protocol. They poured a fierce counterattack into the monster.

And the monster's response was...

Kyaaaaaah!

The darkness, having earlier collapsed from its vortex storm form, was now boiling like lava. The surging darkness crushed the city under its heavy, mud-like weight, scattering and devouring everything in all directions like scalding steam. It vaporized the tanks and fighter jets mobilized by the humans, absorbing the artillery shells and Magic they unleashed.

Fissures formed in the capital's earth, and black lava erupted from within them, swelling up like a mountain.

Standing tall at the center of the boiling shadow, the monster vomited a mist of blood from its eyes, nose, and mouth, spewing hatred at everything in its sight.

Seeing that, Del instinctively realized it.

The monster was taking revenge on those who attacked it.

It was returning hostility for the hostility directed at it.

'Such... meaningless revenge!'

Del scowled. Once again, without realizing it, she shouted his old name.

=Cain, stop! We need to jump to the next dimension right now!=

She attempted to pierce through the shadow monster and transmit her voice to Minjun inside. However, something continuously blocked and deflected her attempts midway. It felt as though the world had been split in two, with that darkness acting as the boundary.

Her mind raced. What condition was Minjun even in? Caught in confusion, she persistently tried to establish communication with the inside of the shadow.

Meanwhile.

"...Mister."

"Yes?"

Ha Eunseong, who had returned to his Dragon body, looked at the priest. Yumtus was swapping out the hemostatic pads on his forehead with practiced hands, looking accustomed to the task. The cloth was so heavy with blood that one might worry he would collapse from massive blood loss.

Ha Eunseong shifted his gaze. He watched the giant monster that had encroached upon the humans' capital, and the darkness it was spreading in every direction.

It was on a massive scale that could not even be compared to the scene he had witnessed at the Sanctuary of Shutan earlier. Just looking at it made his body shrink back. His Dragon instincts urged him to get away from that monster immediately. Ironically, at the same time, they advised him to submit to the one who commanded that monster.

The Dragon asked in an overwhelmed voice.

"Is the agent... really a 'god'?"

He knew the priest worshipped Minjun as a divine entity. But until now, he had just brushed it off as incomprehensible religious fanaticism and hadn't thought deeply about it.

But having witnessed the spectacle unfolding below, Ha Eunseong asked the question earnestly.

Who exactly was Ye Minjun?

"Hahaha."

Laughing warmly, Yumtus answered.

"Of course he is. He is a god. Can you not see it now? A god is personally punishing the mortals."

Ha Eunseong couldn't comprehend it.

"...Why?"

"Because of the 'evil' they have committed, naturally."

Evil?

"God gifted humans with free will. The right to choose for themselves whether to draw closer to goodness or to drift further away from it. It seems those below used that right to drift away from goodness, to commit evil."

Ha Eunseong recalled hearing a similar concept from Minjun. That headache-inducing discourse about free will and whatnot. Just like back then, he thought it was an incredibly bizarre notion right now.

"Then from the start... God shouldn't have given them this free will crap or whatever it is. Why let people do bad things? Why even give them the excuse to do it in the first place?"

"Because He loves us."

Ha Eunseong wanted to sigh.

"That baseless talk about love again..."

"You cannot discuss God without including love. Because He loves us, God granted humans free will. The freedom to accept His love, or to reject it."

Ha Eunseong decided to ask again for what would truly be the last time.

"Why?"

"If we did not have the right to freely reject the love God bestows—if we simply had to understand His intent to love us and submit to His act of loving us... wouldn't such love essentially be rape?"

"Enough!"

That final word didn't come from Ha Eunseong. Del interrupted their conversation and spoke.

"It's no use. My voice isn't reaching him. We need to jump right now."

"What?! Just like this?"

The Princess replied to the Dragon's question.

"No, of course not like this."

With those words, the Princess's body was enveloped in light.

"...!"

The next moment.

The humans evacuating to escape the darkness sweeping through the city like a tsunami came to a grim realization: the hell they were bound to experience today hadn't even truly reached its climax yet.

What they witnessed in the night sky was a scene that brought about such a despairing certainty.

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