383. The Full Details

“They failed, and the world will end.”

The room fell eerily silent as I finished. I leant back on my chair, having said my piece. Helena Warshade, Orgaf, Lofus, and Alder all remained quiet as I glanced between them. They were all Elite Ranked adventurers. Each of them above Level 150. They were used to dealing with disasters to a certain extent. Even something like the invasion of the Netherworld was something they could comprehend.

But something of this scale? This magnitude? They had never heard of it before. They couldn’t parse it. I knew they couldn’t. I waited for it to settle in— for them to finally understand the gravity of it all. I crossed my legs, waiting, until finally, someone spoke up.

“Good one!”

Lofus the Broken Berserker of Behrein guffawed. She walked up to me and slapped me on my shoulder.

“Even I couldn’t come up with something as ridiculously absurd as that. The end of the world? Hah, seriously, good one.”

Alder laughed uneasily with her as she continued her boisterous laughter. Helena Warshade didn’t react, but it wasn’t like the other times she was apathetic— this time she looked like she was in deep thought. And Orgaf just peered into me with a frown.

I stood up and met Lofus’ eyes.

“I’m not joking.”

“Hah— good one. But it’s not as funny anymore. You should stop.”

“But I’m being serious.”

I crossed my arms, starting to get annoyed. Lofus’ laughter slowed. Alder shifted in the background. The Broken Berserk of Behrein loomed over me with a dark look in her eyes.

“I said: you should stop.”

“And I said: I’m being serious.”

I looked at the Level 157 [Warrior]. She was the size of a Cyclops— which was to say, not that large since I could transform to that size too. Size didn’t matter. What mattered was how strong we were… and, uh, she was probably stronger than me since I didn’t have [Divine Essence] to even out the playing field.

I mean, I still thought I could take her. Maybe. But it would be risky— especially if her second Class was above Level 150. It would probably be smarter for me to just run if she attacked me. And while that was an unreasonable fear over a disagreement with anyone else, this was someone who was called the Broken Berserker. I could tell Lofus was already getting angry, and she’d have attacked me if Orgaf didn’t speak up.

“That’s enough, Lofus. Let her speak.”

“Seriously? You’re believing this nonsense, Orgaf?”

Lofus looked over at him as she waved her bulky arms around.

“That’s bullshit. There’s no way any of that is true. The end of the world? The Kobolds being right in… anything? Fuck off with that.”

I rolled my eyes.

“You guys asked me to tell you everything, and now you’re rejecting it just because you didn’t like what I have to say? If you don’t want me to say anything, I can go, you know?”

I gestured towards the barred doorway. It looked like a regular doorway with a lock on it, but a barrier was protecting it and keeping anyone from entering the room. Lofus’ brows snapped together. She opened her mouth.

“Then maybe you should—”

“No.”

Helena Warshade spoke over her. The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy strode forward as Lofus backed up. She wore a dark gaze, and when she came to a halt, she somehow towered over me despite barely being Daniel’s height. She was larger than life— like I was under some sort of illusion spell. But I knew that wasn’t the case. It was some kind of aura. And her words were clear.

“Salvos, Liberator of the Plaguelands, Secely’s Sentinel, and Death of the Destroyer— can you tell me with absolute certainty that what you say before me is the truth, nothing but the truth, and only the truth? That it will be upheld even under scrutiny and questioning?”

“Of course.”

I grinned at her challengingly. I gestured at her.

“Go ahead, ask me any question you’d like. I’ll give you an answer.”

“I see.”

Helena Warshade looked up slightly. I waited, but she didn’t have any questions. Not at the moment, at least. She was still taking it in. And both Alder and Lofus still looked dubious— although the latter more than the former. It was Orgaf who was the first to interrogate me.

“I’ve been to the Kobold lands before. Beyond the Plaguelands, to the heart of their home. I’ve stolen from Unarith, slinked through the shadows of Navith, and even gotten as far as to Xavis.”

He pushed himself off the wall and spoke curiously more than suspiciously.

“I have seen their culture. I have heard them espouse their beliefs. They praise their Old Gods and condemn our entire Species as sinners that can never be forgiven. And now— now you tell me that they believe the world is ending. Maybe you think what you’re saying is true. But… why should we believe them?”

He wasn’t dubious of me. Unlike Lofus, he actually believed that I wasn’t messing around. However, what he didn’t trust were the Kobolds’ words. Still, I waved a hand dismissively.

“Because it’s true, of course. Helena herself has seen the corruption with her own two eyes. It distorts and destroys the world. Just one look at it and you know it is unnatural. It is not something that belongs to the Nexeus.”

I glanced over at the Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy, smiling innocently.

“I mean, has anyone here seen Helena Warshade tremble in fear over a mere Wyvern? No? Well, I have. And that’s because it wasn’t just a Wyvern. It was corrupted. It tore apart the fabric of reality in a way even the greatest [Space Mage] can’t possibly imagine. And that was not even a true piece of corruption.”

All heads in the room turned to Helena Warshade. She didn’t look at them, but she didn’t shift back defensively either. All she did was stand there, nodding slowly.

“Was I terrified? Perhaps.”

She inhaled deeply and stood up straight, uncaring of any judgment others cast on her.

“I know not what I felt at that moment, just that it was not something that should belong in this world. It was not a feeling I had ever felt before.”

“See?”

I winked at Lofus— much to her chagrin— before turning back to Orgaf.

“The corruption is real. The Apocalypse is real. The end of the world is happening, ever so slowly.”

Orgaf placed a hand on his chin, mulling over what I said. Finally, he seemed to accept it.

“Very well.”

“But if the corruption is real, what causes it? What exactly is causing this Apocalypse?”

Alder finally piped up after being mostly silent for a while. He spoke apprehensively, and he didn’t approach me intimidatingly like the other Elites had been. He seemed to be more laid back— or more nervous about the whole matter. I couldn’t tell.

I turned to him, a smirk on my face.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Of course. If the world really is ending, we need to know the root cause of it. Perhaps we could stop it. Put an end to this corruption.”

“Well…”

I responded to his hopeful speech with some hesitation. I scratched the back of my head as I turned to face him.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes.”

He leaned forward, listening carefully. I sighed.

“The Kobolds claim that it is you… we Humans who are causing this. That is why they call you sinners. That is why they invaded the Human lands.”

“What?”

Alder’s eyes widened. Lofus raised her voice, pointing at me accusingly.

“What a load of—”

“Wait.”

I cut her off, bringing up a finger. The Broken Berserker of Bherein paused. I cocked my head.

“Let me finish.”

Her lips twisted into a scowl. She stepped back.

“Fine.”

“Alright.”

I clapped my hands together and spread my arms wide.

“So, the Kobolds blame Humankind. But not exactly you guys in specific. It’s more like… they blame the summoning rituals that tear through the fabric of space. The [Heroes] that are summoned throughout the ages. The Demons brought forth by [Cultists] and idiots. And the Spirits.”

I glanced over at Alder. He blinked a few times.

“What…?”

“Yep. They think [Summoners] are responsible for damaging the world. Destroying it. Creating the corruption that Helena saw.”

I pointed vaguely in the direction of Catark. The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy narrowed her eyes. Both Lofus and Orgaf just glanced at each other, puzzled. Alder, however, didn’t take it so well.

“T-that’s impossible! Spirit summoning is an ancient sacred art. A pact forged between the Spirit Lord and the Immortal King Alexander. You can’t possibly be saying that it has… has been—”

He tried to work his jaw. He was in complete disbelief. But Helena herself closed her eyes.

“I recall a research paper that was recently published by a respected professor of Mavos Academy that seemed to postulate this very same thing. That the damage caused by Spirit summoning, though harmless individually, have throughout history had a significant impact on the thin fabric of space.”

“That’s…”

Alder bit his lip, stopping himself from interrupting the second highest-leveled [Mage] in the world. I furrowed my brows in thought for a moment, then I snapped my fingers excitedly.

“Oh! You mean by Professor Isais?”

Helena paused. She studied my expression before speaking carefully.

“Yes… Professor Isais of Mavos Academy. I take it he was your lecturer on space magic?”

“He was! So he really did research into it, huh?”

I remembered when my dad showed up in my classroom and gave him a quick lesson on space magic. It seemed like Professor Isais actually listened to what Sal had to say in the end— after getting embarrassed in front of his class, of course.

Helena Warshade nodded.

“Unfortunately, not very many [Space Mages] have been able to validate his claims, especially during these tumultuous times where the threat of a full-scale Demon invasion of the Human lands is in everybody’s minds. A cursory look at the findings have been rather alarming, even if it is all still unconfirmed.”

Alder glanced between me and the Archmage. He buried his head in his hands.

“Is this for real…? I’ve been… all this time…”

I shrugged and spoke over him.

“Well, that doesn’t matter anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

The Augur Elder looked at me, still wide-eyed. I wagged a finger and spoke in a lecturing tone.

“Because the real ones responsible for tearing down the fabric of spacetime in the Nexeus wasn’t even you Humans anyway. It was the Worldwalkers of old.”

“World…walkers?”

Alder mouthed the word, his confusion only growing. Helena Warshade just pursed her lips. They were the only ones who could even understand what I was saying, and they were both clearly lost.

“Worldwalkers. Planeshoppers. Realityskippers. Whatever you want to call them. People from other worlds— like [Heroes], except they can move about worlds on their own. Like a Fairy, but for outside of the Nexeus, I guess. And they came to the Nexus in abundance. They were the ones who caused the corruption to form in the first place.”

Lofus looked absolutely lost— slightly angry, but only keeping her cool partly because of Helena Warshade and partly because she was just too confused to get upset. Orgaf took it all in silently, even if he had a few questions visible on his face. Alder himself massaged his temples and took a seat.

“A [Hero] that can travel between worlds… Fairy but for beyond the Nexeus…”

“You do realize what you’re implying, right?”

Helena Warshade fixed her gaze onto me.

“These Worldwalkers you speak of— they had to be greater than even the Immortal King Alexander. The greatest Human to have ever lived.”

“Yep.”

I answered nonchalantly. She gritted her teeth.

“And they used to be plentiful. So plentiful that they are the ones responsible for causing this Apocalypse?”

“Uh-huh.”

I agreed with her happily. The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy opened her mouth— and sighed.

“And how long ago was this?”

“Fifty thousand years ago, at the least.”

“How many of them were there?”

“Enough that this is a problem now.”

“What did they do here?”

“Dunno.”

“Where did they all go?”

“Dunno.”

“How do we fix this?”

“Dunno—”

“I need an answer, Salvos.”

She was getting more and more exasperated with each non-answer I gave. Helena Warshade looked up at me. I saw the face she made— that of frustration. Not out of disbelief or confusion. She wasn’t like Alder who was still trying to take it in. She had parsed it all. And she wanted a solution. One which I couldn’t give.

I sighed, sitting back down once more.

“This is why I don’t like dealing with complicated things…”

I crossed my legs and made myself comfortable. Helena Warshade just stared at me, and I spoke dismissively.

“What should we do about it? Isn’t it obvious?”

I raised my head and beamed.

“Nothing. We do absolutely nothing.”

“What…?”

Alder’s jaw dropped. Lofus crossed her arms, huffing.

“Hmph, it’s obvious she’s making all this up at this point. Just ignore her.

Orgaf himself stepped forward, protesting.

“Salvos, even I think something has to be done about this.”

“Alright.”

I looked at him, still smiling.

“Then tell me— what can we do?”

He hesitated. The Elite [Rogue] shuffled his feet, and I answered for him.

“That’s right: the answer is that we can’t do anything about it. Not me. Not you. Not anyone who’s below Level 200, at least.”

Then I cocked my head back, considering my words for a moment.

“And I don’t even think someone who’s above Level 200 can do anything about it. It is what it is. Might as well try to survive and get stronger. Maybe try to find a solution to it in the future. But as of right now?”

I looked between each Elite. I saw their reactions. The way their previously distinct reactions of confusion, anger, and whatever all melded into the same single one: the fear of what was to come.

“You guys do whatever you want. Try to find a solution to it. I won’t do anything about it, though. I’ll just do what I’ve always been doing.”

They didn’t say a word in response to that. All the Elites— even Lofus— remained quiet, in thought. It was like they were still trying to process this. It reminded me of my companions when they first found out about the Apocalypse. Just utter shock. They were all still trying to find a solution where there was none. All of them except for one.

It was Helena Warshade who spoke up. She was different from the rest. Her demeanor— her posture— it all reminded me of Xidra. That of acceptance. Someone who identified that this was a problem with no simple solution, and was simply acting to the best of her abilities.

“I see.”

She turned around and walked towards the doorway. The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy brought a hand up— touching the symbols floating in the air in preparation to deactivate her barrier.

“This is my final and only question for you, Salvos. Then, you may take your leave.”

“What is it?”

I asked the question even though I knew what it was going to be. I closed my eyes, waiting for it.

“How do you know all this?”

Helena Warshade asked the obvious question. I cracked an eye open, looking up at her as she looked back at me expectantly.

How did I know all this? If I could answer honestly, I would tell her. I would tell her about everything I’d been through that led to me finding out about… everything. From the Kobolds to Lily and the Fairies to my dad. Because, as much as they thought I didn’t listen, I did. I heard every word they said. I remembered it all, even if I didn’t care for most of it.

But it wasn’t stupidity that led to me brushing it off. I just thought that I had no reason to worry about it. After all, the world had been around for a long time before I was born, why would it suddenly end so soon after I came into existence?

Sure, it was a problem. But… not one I was concerned with right now. All I cared about at this moment were my companions. About my own safety.

And I couldn’t reveal the truth to Helena Warshade. Not without putting myself in danger. So, I sighed and stood up.

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that.”

That was all I said. Lofus sputtered something from behind. I ignored it. Helena Warshade just met my gaze. She nodded.

“I expected that.”

With that, she lowered the barrier and let me out of the room.