A Guide for Mortals Traveling in Parallel Worlds (5)

  As soon as Arisha heard that the same cracks and vibrations that appeared together with Evan’s disappearance had reemerged, she jumped to her feet.

  “Evan’s coming!”


  “What!?”


  Shine, who was outside, rushed in. Arisha threw a teacup at him to quiet him and pressed the communicator for a report.

  “Paul, it’s certainly not a monster, is it?”


  [Yes, it’s not like the Mana World’s crack. It’s the crack we saw then!]

  “Okay, let me know if things change. I’ll be right there.”


  [Yes!]

  Arisha cut off communication and immediately shouted to Shine.

  “Call everyone!”


  “I’ve already done that!”


  The moment Shine said so with an unnecessarily refreshing smile, a huge shadow cast over the building of Astray’s headquarters, vibrating and roaring.

  [Kyooooooooooooooo!]

  It was Serena’s dragon: Gnar. Arisha glanced at Shine with thin eyes.

  “Shine…?”


  “No, last time I tried it, it was noisy, but it was effective…”


  The members of the Astray rushed out in unison. Serena was already riding on Gnar’s back, flapping her legs in the air.

  “Oppa is coming! Let’s pick him up!”


  “We’re not sure if it’s Evan yet, you idiot!”


  “No. My gut and the child in my stomach are telling me that he’s coming!”


  “Shut up, shut up!”


  Arisha, who was unnecessarily angry at the mention of her child, shouted, but it wasn’t uncommon these days, so everyone ignored it and climbed onto Gnar’s back one by one. Arisha also rode Gnar, but there were more people than usual. Looking closely, Belois was riding on the dragon’s back with Redine.

  “Uh, uh, mother?”


  “I’ll have to go with you this time.”


  “Then, is it really, Evan…?”


  Arisha’s eyes shook. Redine just patted her shoulder and laughed.

  “Everyone, get ready for battle and climb. This time, with the idea of fighting the Devil!”


  “All aboard, all aboard!”


  As well as the existing Astray members, Save and Renail, who didn’t usually act with them, and Enoch, who had been focusing on missionary work in Sherden to spread the name of the unnamed god these days, joined them. The same was true of the rookie party.

  “This is a large number.”


  “We might encounter the Devil.”


  “…You shouldn’t think too lightly of the Devil.”


  Mirole replied in a cold voice to the murmur of the members.

  “And what we’re dealing with is…maybe it’s not the Devil.”


  “Mirole, tell me more about it now.”


  “I’m sorry, I don’t know everything about the seal, so I can’t tell you. But there is one thing I’m sure of,” Mirole, with a groping look at her past, unraveled a fragment of what she had experienced.

  “He had sealed it because he couldn’t deal with the actual Devil.”


  “It’s not like the Master. He could’ve just crushed the Devil.”


  “…Maybe you’ll understand soon.”


  Then Gnar raced forward with a powerful cry. When Redine was thinking about Evan, staring blankly at the fast-changing landscape under her eyes, she held onto Arisha.

  “Arisha, can you communicate with Bernard?”


  “Oh, yeah. Should I call him, too?”


  “That’d be great.”


  It was going to be a big rally. Arisha smiled bitterly and put Bernard on the line, and he responded immediately.

  [He’s coming, I get it. Here we go. Let’s go to the Eternal Glacier.]

  “Yes, I’ll be waiting.”


  The communication was cut off. Indeed, it was understandable that his daughter, Eir, put him in a hurry to react, as she was believed to have been transferred to the Demon Realm with Elizabeth.

  “Is there anyone else I need to call?”


  “Well, I’d like to speak to Louise.”


  “Yes, I’ll put you through.”


  Arisha immediately connected Louise and handed over the communicator to Redine. Accepting it, she responded suddenly.

  “Is Ctheasil over there?”


  [Yes, yes! I’ll move on right away!]

  Redine thought still, listening to the voice of Empress Louise, who she stumped. It was a lot of fun to have a famous son. Ctheasil soon responded to the communication. They were on standby, too.

  [Oh, uhm…Redine…?]

  The same was true of Ctheasil, who was stumped. Of course, the reason was different from Louise’s. Redine talked to her with a vague feeling of nostalgia.

  “Ctheasil, you have a clan rune, right? You’re the one in charge of the Magic Circle.”


  [Yes…but why are you asking?]

  “Get ready. Make sure you can activate it immediately when I give you the signal.”


  [Oh, okay! …Uhmm, Redine. She’s the sister of our founder, Naz…]

  “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”


  The communication was cut off. She put the communicator in her arms and looked up. Mirole was staring at her still.

  “What’s wrong, Mirole?”


  “No, I was measuring the degree of release of the seal by looking at you.”


  “It’s soon.”


  Redine declared with a mysterious smile.

  “It’s going to be released soon.”


  “…”


  Soon the image of the Eternal Glacier came into their view. However, somehow, the Eternal Glacier was showing a different side to what they knew. The site, covered with white snow and ice, let out a freezing chill. A magical storm was sweeping over the land.

  “The Devil…”


  Seeing it, Mirole bit her lips and murmured. Redine shook her head firmly.

  “Everything is just a foreshadow. Did you say your name was Enoch?”


  “Uh, are you looking for me?”


  Enoch felt embarrassed by the strange appearance of the Marquis’s wife, who suddenly became the leader of the group. Still, he immediately responded because he traveled through the continent as a free priest and wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I’d like you to clean up the Dark Magic with your divine power. Is that possible?”


  “Nothing is impossible with the power of the unnamed god! It’s just that I won’t be able to use my energy later.”


  “Don’t worry about that. I’d like to put aside what I can now.”


  “I see!”


  Enoch immediately rose from the dragon’s back, posed, and spread out divine power. Surprisingly, as his divine power descended to earth, it was greatly amplified, creating a purple tidal wave that engulfed the earth’s magic.

  “Wow, Enoch, when did you grow like that?”


  “No, it’s not my power. You should try it. As the priest of the same unnamed God.”


  “That God should have a name by now.”


  Save laughed at him, but obediently followed him to create his magic. When he used the lightest technique as a test, it was endlessly amplified in the air, and it wiped out the earth’s magic and dissipated.

  “This…”


  “Sacred Field.”


  Enoch convinced, murmured in bewilderment.

  “How come this place has become an unnamed sanctuary of the unnamed god…?”


  “Isn’t it because Evan disappeared from here?”


  “No, it wasn’t like this when he just disappeared. It’s like…”


  It has been quite a while since the relation between the unnamed god and Evan was established. Enoch shed tears quietly, feeling the sanctuary stretching enough to cover the entire glacier.

  “Maybe it’s not just once that…”


  “We’ve arrived.”


  [Cuuuuuuue!]

  Gnar, who found a small crack in the air, landed with a cute voice. Paul welcomed them as he guarded the rift.

  “I think something’s about to come out from the inside!”


  “We’re here, too!”


  On the other hand, Bernard and Illoin were flying in…surprisingly, they were riding dragons.

  “Dragon!?”


  “A Fairy Dragon that protects the Forest…Mother must’ve given it to you.”


  [Quuueeeee!?]

  Gnar was amazed at the appearance of a living dragon other than himself and tried to approach it, but soon realized that the dragon’s body was dead. Only an overwhelming number of spirits crawled into the dragon’s body and moved as if they were one.

  “There was a history like this in the Ancient Forest…”


  “She made it.”


  Mirole looked over the spirit dragon, nodding at Illoin’s downsized stomach while they jumped off the dragon’s back.

  “Illoin, did you have the baby?”


  “Thank you for your concern, Mirole. I gave birth to a cute boy. I couldn’t bring him here, so I left him to the forest fairies.”


  “I’ll be able to see him soon.”


  “Yes, I’d love for you to. Eir…will be able to come back, right?”


  “Of course.”


  Mirole nodded firmly, and Illoin leaned into Bernard’s arms, apparently relieved.

  “That’s good; I’m so glad…”


  “I told you not to worry, Illoin. Let’s just clean up the Devil and think about going back to Alon with Eir.”


  Arisha, who was staring at the two, suddenly recalled one fact. Eir must have disappeared with Elizabeth. Was it just because it’s dangerous that Redine didn’t bring Elizabeth’s mother, Miriam? Then, feeling her gaze, Redine looked back at Arisha with a slightly sad smile.

  “Elizabeth will come back safely. I believe in Evan.”


  “…Yes.”


  Clever Arisha immediately recognized the hidden meaning of her words. Elizabeth was going through a different crucible than Eir. And Evan held the key to solving it. At that time, the light emitted by the cracks became thicker. Once again, the atmosphere was hit by a magical storm.

  “Everyone ready for battle! I don’t know what’s coming out of it!”


  “Get ready for battle!”


  All the members of the Astray Knights grabbed their weapons nervously. Then, a fine woman’s legs protruded from the crack as the members were getting ready to show off their skills.

  “Oh, my God, that’s a big welcome. How have you all been?”


  “Aria?”


  Aria came out of the crack alone, and then it closed in vain.

  “Why is Aria coming out from there?”


  “Miraseul’s Necklace?”


  “Oh, Aria! What about Evan!? You have met Evan, haven’t you?!”


  “Everyone’s here. That’s a good thing. There’s Illoin, and there’s Bernard. Then I’ll open it right away.”


  Aria sent a gesture to those who rushed excitedly to calm down and touched Miraseul’s necklace. Then a gate opened in the air, and Eir jumped out from inside.

  “…Eir!?”


  “Mom!”


  Eir, who discovered Illoin, ran to her with a dizzying smile and immediately held her in her arms. Illoin couldn’t help but feel confused while hugging her tightly.

  “It’s like…why did you get so big? You’re a lady now, aren’t you?”


  “I came back from the Demon Realm.”


  Rose, who crawled out of Eir’s hair, pouted her lips.

  “Eir has grown a lot in the Demon Realm. I’m sure she’s a lot stronger than you, Illoin.”


  “That’s because of you!”


  “Uh, um…sorry.”


  Rose admitted it! Illoin threw a fit again, but Bernard, who tried to stop it, motioned to Rose. Rose raised her body in the air and fell into Bernard’s arms, as Eir did.

  “Good job, Rose.”


  “I missed you so much, Bernard…”


  “I can’t even hit you.”


  It wasn’t just Eir and Rose that came out of the gate—starting with Leo and his son Lian, humans and dwarves that they’ve never seen before appeared one after another.

  “Oh, I can feel his strength as soon as I get out.”


  “But the overall concentration of magic is a little lighter. I was expecting it, though.”


  “So where is he? Can I see him soon?”


  “What, what, who are they?”


  People who expected Evan’s appearance were confused. Recognizing the energy flowing from their bodies, Enoch and Save sprang to their feet.

  “Are you priests who serve him?”


  “Oh, my, there were so many comrades!”


  “Oh, here we go again.”


  Renail sighed and touched his forehead. They recognized Evan’s divine power and immediately hugged each other with a deep smile. It was entirely thanks to him that they could join the pack even though they had no idea at all.

  And, for the last time. Inside the gate, a breathtakingly beautiful witch appeared. Her sky-blue eyes without a blur were very impressive, and she was deeply saddened.

  “…”


  “…”


  Arisha, Belois, and Serena instinctively saw through and narrowed their eyes. She looked around calmly, facing hostility towards her for no reason, and suddenly opened her eyes wide.

  “Uh…Arpa?”


  “I don’t know who it is.”


  Redine answered with a bright and thick expression.

  “Welcome, new daughter-in-law candidate.”


  Sharay, who felt like she was hit, couldn’t get her act together. Who could have expected her sister to be the mother of the man she loved?

  It was a situation more tragic than a Korean morning drama!