"Can you send word to wherever Master is staying?”

"It’s possible, but…”

The princess trailed off.

"She probably won’t answer. We’ve tried contacting Lady Dercia countless times already, and nothing ever came of it.”

"Even so, please try one more time.”

Under normal circumstances, persuading Master through proper means would’ve been the correct approach.

But the situation had changed. Perhaps seeing the determination in my expression, Sharmia simply smiled faintly and nodded.

"Understood. If we receive any reply at all, I’ll inform you immediately.”

"Thank you.”

The moment I left the imperial palace and headed toward the place Linmel told me to wait at, Nightchaser poked her head out from inside the cup.

"Emptiness, huh…I’ve never heard of a world like that before…”

"You don’t know it?”

"At least not in the world I came from. It’s not something to worry about too much. Worlds are constantly being born, after all.”

Come to think of it, she had fallen for my lie when I claimed to be the Outer God of deep-sea creatures.

Still, Nightchaser hummed thoughtfully, as though something bothered her.

"Hmm…but it’s strange that Great Void discarded her.”

"What do you mean?”

"You said Great Void is randomly devouring Fallen worlds right now, didn’t you? Then what do you think his objective is?”

"He said he wanted to return the world to its primordial state.”

"Obviously. But in that primordial world, there wouldn’t be any gods besides himself.”

Nightchaser gave a dark, mocking smile.

"His desire is overflowing so blatantly it’s almost embarrassing. He wants every last fragment of existence to fall under his dominion. He wants to be the sole being in existence. That’s the wish every god carries somewhere in their heart.”

"That’s disgusting. But what does that have to do with this?”

"You still don’t get it? I’m saying it’s strange that someone with that kind of desire didn’t devour your friend.”

"...?"

The word "devour" sent a chill down my spine, making me frown, but Nightchaser continued calmly as if there was nothing strange about it.

"Why are you surprised? It’s something you have to do as well. A Fallen is a world without an Outer God. Treasure without an owner. A fortune waiting for whoever reaches out and claims it. If you truly intend to wage war against Great Void, then you’ll have to devour them too. Judging by your state, you’ve already done it to a few.”

"..."

"When you go back, there’s definitely a reason Great Void didn’t subjugate your friend. He wouldn’t feel threatened by a mere human who isn’t even an Outer God. Thinking about it that way, leaving her alone instead of kicking a hornet’s nest might actually be…”

"No."

I cut Nightchaser off firmly before she could continue steering the conversation where she wanted.

"This is something I have to do.”

I didn’t feel guilty.

I had needed to descend into the Abyssal Sea. It was the only path available to me.

But I did feel responsible.

If Elisia, who had already been quite fragile, had fallen because she believed I was dead, then the one who caused it was undeniably me.

"I’m going to find Elisia. And if there’s any way to save her from her state, then I’ll save her.”

"And if you can’t? That seems far more likely.”

Nightchaser snorted and looked me up and down.

"What? Are you going to put her down peacefully?”

"If I can’t save her, then I’ll find a way to make it possible.”

"...Are you playing word games with me?”

"I’m serious."

If I were the kind of person who gave up just because something seemed impossible, then I should’ve hanged myself the instant I fell into the Abyssal Sea.

Nightchaser studied my eyes for a moment before making a face like she’d bitten into a bitter bug and slipped back into the cup.

"You’re still human, huh. I’ve learned something I didn’t want to know.”

"That’s supposed to be an insult, right? Because honestly, I’m pretty happy to hear that.”

After exchanging that light banter, I returned to the palace where I’d parted ways with Linmel and waited for a bit. Before long, Linmel appeared again with an expression as calm as if nothing had happened at all.

"...Linmel?”

"Hm?"

Of course, it wasn’t true that nothing had happened. There were faint blood splatters on the gauntlet portion of her armor.

But the moment Linmel casually waved her hand, the blood vanished completely, leaving the metal gleaming as though it had just been polished.

I decided it would be better for my mental health not to ask questions.

"I just came back from meeting with the princess. Sorry for heading off first. She called for me.”

"Ah, I see. That’s okay! Really, it’s fine, but you didn’t talk to the other Knights, right?”

“? No."

"Whew, that’s a relief…”

"...Why?"

"Well, I wanted to introduce you to them first.”

Come to think of it, maybe I should let everyone know I’d returned.

Well, I suppose that could wait. There were more urgent matters.

"Let’s save the introductions for later. I need to meet Elisia first, so I’m heading to the old capital.”

"..."

At those words, Linmel’s face tightened with something close to worry.

"...Jern. That witch, Elisia, is probably very different from the one you remember.”

"That doesn’t matter.”

If we were talking about change, then I was the one who’d changed the most.

After all, I’d gone from human to demi-god. Compared to that, a wizard becoming a Fallen hardly seemed shocking anymore.

However, Linmel shook her head softly, as though that wasn’t what she meant at all.

"To be honest, I don’t really want you meeting the Witch of Emptiness.”

"You think I’ll lose to Elisia?”

"No, you’re the greatest wizard in the world, Jern. You won't lose to that witch.”

"Th-thanks?”

Even though I technically wasn’t a wizard anymore.

"It’s just…I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m really afraid that that might happen.”

"...?"

What was that supposed to mean?

While I tilted my head in confusion, Linmel seemed to make up her mind and nodded firmly.

"I’m coming with you too. That’s okay, right?”

"Are you sure it’s okay? Aren’t you a Knight Commander? Shouldn’t you have a ton of work to do?”

"No problem! Master will probably handle the paperwork for me.”

So Carose was still around. Then maybe things really would be fine.

After answering confidently, Linmel immediately dragged over two horses from nearby and handed me one of the reins.

"Let’s hurry. We can’t let Master catch us.”

"...?? Didn’t you just say Carose was covering your work?”

"Yeah. Why?”

"You did tell her to cover for you while you were gone, right…?”

"There’s no way she’d allow me to leave if I asked properly. She really hates it when I go out.”

"Then what do you mean by ‘she’ll handle the paperwork'?”

At that question, Linmel answered without a shred of hesitation.

"If I’m gone, somebody has to do it, right? So Master probably will.”

"..."

I looked at the dignified, grown-up Linmel.

A beautiful Knight who would draw anyone’s attention at first glance.

"Ah, something's coming. Let’s go!”

...Though apparently her inside hadn’t changed all that much.

*t*t*

The journey to the capital took about three days.

If I’d used my authority, or if Linmel had simply carried me while running, we could've arrived far faster. But since we had no idea where Great Void’s agents might be hiding, we wanted to avoid attracting attention as much as possible.

And during that trip—I finally understood what people meant when they said the world had been overturned.

"They mean that…literally.”

Linmel gazed calmly at the mountains hanging in the sky, already accustomed to the sight.

Quite literally—dozens of mountains had been inverted. Their bases began somewhere in the heavens, while their sharp peaks pointed downward into the earth.

They looked like gigantic funnels stabbed into the world. I stared speechlessly at the surreal sight while Linmel looked out over the flat plains around us.

"That mountain range used to stand right here. Then one day it got sucked up into the sky.”

"...Sucked up into the sky?”

"Yeah. And it wasn’t just mountains."

Linmel pointed elsewhere. There stood a pillar of blue.

Only after extending my Tide Sense to examine it did I realize what it actually was.

-Shhhaaaa...

It was a river pouring endlessly from the heavens.

An impossible waterfall, or maybe a pillar of water rising upward from the ground. I couldn’t even begin to understand where that much water was coming from, and while I stared in horror, Linmel let out a quiet sigh.

"After you disappeared, we fortified the capital thoroughly. Defenses capable of repelling any enemy. Enough food stockpiled to survive for years. Anyone would’ve thought it was an impregnable fortress. I thought so too—until a volcano got pulled into the sky.”

"..."

"Burning rocks rained down endlessly. Sulfur and magma fell from above, destroying buildings and people alike. Thankfully, the princess foresaw it somehow and prepared evacuation routes ahead of time, so casualties were minimized.”

—In other words…

Even with Sharmia’s regression ability, preventing the disaster entirely had been impossible.

Well, it made sense. Even if one knew it was coming, how exactly was one supposed to stop sulfur from falling out of the sky?

"But the damage wasn’t minor.”

Linmel’s expression darkened slightly as she lowered her head atop the horse.

"After that happened, people scattered.”

She didn’t elaborate much, but it was more than enough for me to picture the situation.

If the capital, fortified so perfectly that everyone believed it would withstand anything, was suddenly annihilated by meteors and burning rain falling from the heavens…

Then even the staunchest atheist would conclude they had incurred the wrath of a god.

Not that they’d exactly be wrong.

"Even so, the princess managed to gather together the remaining soldiers and civilians. If the same thing happened again, we’d probably escape faster now. But how long can we keep running? We can fight strong enemies all we want, but nobody knows how to fight against lava falling from the sky.”

"There’s no need to run anymore.”

I reassured Linmel while patting her slumped shoulder.

"It’s not like I spent 5 years doing nothing. I’ll drag down that bastard playing games up in the sky personally. Once I do, I’ll leave the beating to you.”

"...Yeah, got it! If that’s all, then leave it to me!”

Watching Linmel instantly perk back up as though she hadn’t been depressed at all…

The capital finally entered the range of my Tide Sense.

"...Hm?"

"Huh?"

The capital—looked more intact than expected.

I’d imagined volcanic stone hardened from lava, collapsed buildings, and a city reduced to ruins. Instead, there wasn’t even a trace of fire damage. It looked exactly like the capital I remembered.

When I glanced at Linmel, even she, whose eyesight had long surpassed human limits, looked confused.

"What? It was still in ruins when I left. Did somebody rebuild it? No. That shouldn’t be possible…”

"Wait a second.”

I stopped Linmel and examined the capital more closely with my Tide Sense.

There truly wasn’t a single noticeable difference. It was exactly how I remembered it.

"Ah, no, not exactly.”

Linmel narrowed her eyes and voiced the opposite conclusion from mine.

"That shop had gone out of business. And that fountain was demolished before, but it's back now…Whoever rebuilt this must’ve used old maps or something.”

A strange unease crept over me. This time, I tried extending my Tide Sense toward the library.

"What the—”

Something blocked the flow completely.

I frowned. Of course, if I really wanted to force my way through, I could.

But doing so would require revealing part of my authority as an Outer God. And with eyes potentially watching from the sky, that wasn’t a good idea. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Left with no choice, I began slowly trying to dismantle the obstruction when Nightchaser, who had remained completely silent inside my pocket for the past three days, suddenly poked her head out.

"Turn back.”

"What?"

"Good grief…so that’s what it is. Right. That's how this place was made.”

Her face twisted into a mixture of contempt, disgust, and shock as she stared toward the capital.

"Now I finally understand why Great Void spat it back out. Anyone who devoured that would lose more than they gained.”

"Stop talking in riddles and tell me everything you know."

I yanked Nightchaser out with my right hand, holding her up by the back of her neck while she still wore Linmel’s appearance.

Dangling helplessly, Nightchaser merely shrugged and answered.

"I was mistaken. This thing called Emptiness already existed back in my era. It just didn’t have a name yet.”

"...What?"

"That’s not a world at all. It’s simply the absence of one. An empty space. Pure emptiness.”

Nighchaser glared at the capital as she spat the words out.

"I don’t know what exactly it is you’re trying to save, but if you intend to go in there, then you’d better prepare yourself.”

"Prepare for what?”

"To assimilate with that emptiness. Especially for an incomplete demi-god like you.”

"..."

Only then did I finally understand why Great Void had neither devoured nor killed Elisia.

"It’s a trap.”

"Yeah, you idiot.”

—That bastard already knew I would come to save Elisia.

He knew all of this.