Chapter 242: The Passageway

The passageway, originally made for dragons to come and go, had to be modified so that humans could also use it.

It sounds easy, but in reality, it was a situation where no one could guarantee how long it would actually take.

That’s why we needed to gather everyone with even a little magical knowledge.

No, even that wouldn’t be enough.

Ordinary knowledge would be useless.

It might even just get in the way.

We needed someone who, even if they couldn’t follow Hio and Freya’s line of sight, could immediately understand their thoughts and divide up the roles.

And well, where would you find someone like that?

At least, there was no one among the living. The only one was a single ghost.

Using the transcendent skill, Dimension Transfer, I brought Furnel to the Dragon’s Temple.

There was a bit of a struggle getting the ghost out, who had been holed up in the Tower of Mages for years without leaving.

‘This place…… is the Dragon’s Temple?’

As soon as I brought him out, he was gaping in awe.

‘What an immense scale. To see with my own eyes the Dragon’s Temple, which in my lifetime was only passed down as a legend.’

“Weren’t you already dead in your ‘lifetime’?”

‘Hoo…… Can this truly be a building left abandoned for over a thousand years? Oh! I see! The entire wall surface is imbued with magical power!’

“If you were going to be this happy about it……”

When I went to get Furnel, he was saying things like he’d die with the tower, or if I was going, to go alone, throwing a real tantrum.

I wondered if he was really a ghost over a thousand years old.

‘Hehe, if you’d told me we were going to the Dragon’s Temple first, I would have followed you barefoot. You have no sense, do you? Hehehe.’

Even if Furnel seemed this frivolous, his level of magical theory was extraordinary.

For years, holed up in the Tower of Mages, he had immersed himself in theoretical research in every accessible area.

Even Hio, who wielded absolute comprehension based on his divine authority, still sought Furnel’s opinion to this degree.

Just because he understood things didn’t mean he knew all the unrelated theories.

‘Hmm…… This must be the place with the passageway you mentioned.’

The place where Freya found traces of the passageway was just an empty corridor deep inside the Red Dragon’s Temple, a place of no particular significance.

The reason for suspecting and investigating such an ambiguous space was simple.

Because it was the only place within the temple, clean and tidy even after a thousand years, that bore traces of a struggle.

No, not traces of a struggle, but traces of a desperate flailing.

The mark of a dragon’s claw having scratched the temple wall just once.

As if it had thrashed in agony, suffering alone.

‘Frankly, I don’t sense anything. Telling me to see it from a dragon’s perspective or whatever, I don’t understand that either.’

When discussing magic, Furnel is always serious.

“So, tell me what you saw. I’ll give my opinion as far as I know…….”

But Freya, who had returned in the form of an emerald-green girl, was not like that.

Whether she found Furnel, staring into empty space and speaking seriously, cute or fascinating.

She secretly approached from behind and started poking at him.

“Cute!”

It seemed she did find him cute.

His small size that fit perfectly in her hand, and his unnecessarily large, bright eyes.

Even though it was a Specter’s body, Freya, now a complete dragon, could touch that form without difficulty, so it wasn’t too surprising.

What was surprising, rather, was…

‘Um…… Dragon, if you could please let go of my hand…….’

That Furnel was intimidated by Freya.

“Cute!”

‘…..Thank you, but if you squeeze too hard, my form might break…….’

From when Freya was a Piece of the Dragon until she entered Aerial’s main body.

Having seen it all with Hio, it was curious that he was still intimidated, but I figured it was possible since he was from an era when dragons weren’t just legends.

Think about it—a person from a generation that feared and revered dragons, now with his body held in that dragon’s grasp.

It must be frightening.

“Okay. Sorry, ghost.”

‘Ah, no, it’s fine. Then, about the passageway…….’

And so, the heated research on the passageway by the three mages… no, one ghost, one god, and one dragon, began.

***

After Furnel joined, the research quickly gained speed.

Starting from a clue as small as a fingernail, Freya alone figured out how to open the passageway.

And after that, the three put their heads together and discovered quite a lot through their research.

For example, hypotheses about what would happen if one passed through the passageway without transforming into the body of an ordinary knight.

“First, we need to reduce the concealment of the passageway. Unlike back then, we’re not infiltrating secretly.”

‘That’s right. The concealment is taking up too many circle inscriptions.’

“We need to work on widening the passageway in the space freed up by reducing the inscriptions. We should make it so at least tens of thousands can pass through in one move, shouldn’t we?”

“It should be at least that much. We need to increase its capacity.”

‘Don’t worry about that. If we widen the entrance, that should solve it.’

“Are you sure?”

‘Not entirely sure.’

We could set up many such hypotheses, but we couldn’t actually be certain of any of them.

The reason was that we couldn’t test them.

Because the moment the passageway was truly opened, it would connect to the Abyss.

The moment it connected, Kreutzvalt would also immediately notice this fact.

Then the two worlds would become linked.

Just as we could cross from here to the Abyss, the Abyss could also turn its attention here.

Perhaps Kreutzvalt already knew this and was waiting.

Just as the Ancient Dragon Tribe was defeated by the passageway they themselves created, there was no guarantee Kreutzvalt wouldn’t do the same.

He might not have the power to wipe out the entire dragon race in one fell swoop like the previous Master of the Abyss, but it would still be a power humanity had never experienced.

We always had to be cautious.

‘What’s the point of just presenting theory after theory? We can’t actually test it, so we can’t be sure.’

“The fact that we can’t test it is a big issue.”

“What should we do?”

The rapid pace of the research slowed.

This wouldn’t do.

The Empire was moving under the premise that the passageway could be used.

Plans were already being drawn up, and the preparations were likely quite advanced.

To meet the timeline, we had to find a method immediately.

“……There’s no other way.”

Thanks to Furnel joining, we were able to establish numerous transformation theories.

All we needed was to verify them.

“Seems like we’re reaching our limit now, right?”

As I slowly got up and asked, Furnel and Freya nodded simultaneously.

It didn’t look like anything more would come out.

“I can’t think of anything else either.”

The temple floor and walls, glowing with a faint red light, were densely covered with the fruits of our labor so far.

The crystallization of theories we had squeezed out of our minds in just about four days.

A giant magic circle completed by gathering dozens of theories and hypotheses.

All possible theories and hypotheses had been presented.

Then it was time to use the card I had been saving.

‘The divine authority ‘Drisella’s Breath of Origin’ is activated.’

The now-familiar sense of omnipotence envelops my body.

‘You have acquired the ‘Source of Mana’.’

‘While the divine authority lasts, you hold authority over mana.’

To wield the source of mana.

‘You have acquired ‘Understanding of Mana’.’

‘While the divine authority lasts, you possess comprehension of all phenomena caused by mana.’

To understand mana.

‘You have comprehended ‘Drisella’s Breath’.’

‘While the divine authority lasts, you can use ‘Drisella’s Breath’.’

A divine authority that allows one to hold infinite mana within the body as breath.

“…….”

The giant magic circle, densely filling the vast space from the floor up.

The crystallization of theory created by three people over four days.

Hio’s violet gaze sweeps over the ground at his feet.

Then, the figures of Freya and Furnel, standing a little distance away, grow distant.

The temple walls, glowing faintly red, also fade far away.

Only the magic circle inscribed there slowly rises and is laid out before Hio.

All that remains in the universe is the magic circle and the violet gaze of the absolute being examining it.

“…….”

“…Indeed.”

That was enough.

To find and understand the problems and solutions, merely looking was sufficient.

So, he pulls his gaze away from the magic circle.

Simultaneously, his vision rapidly transforms as if his soul is being sucked away.

The universe disappears, stars streak past as if vanishing, and before he knows it, he is back inside the Red Dragon’s Temple.

The magic circle that had seemed to float in mid-air was now, as if it had always been there, inscribed on the walls and floor.

Furnel and Freya were also still looking at Hio.

‘So, how is it? Did you find the problems?’

Furnel asks urgently, and Freya swallows nervously.

Nodding towards them.

‘The divine authority ‘Drisella’s Breath of Origin’ is canceled.’

He plops down onto the floor right there.

This was the reason he had saved the divine authority until the end.

The intense feeling of exhaustion that comes after using a divine authority.

If it lasted long, it could continue all day, which would have hindered proper research.

Hio’s rank was still insufficient to recklessly abuse Drisella’s divine authority.

Even if he used the divine authority on empty space without a specific target like the magic circle, he couldn’t just whip up a modified magic circle.

Drisella’s divine authority was ‘comprehension,’ not ‘creation.’

“……If you’re tired, just sit. Don’t force yourself to get up.”

Regarda said, supporting Hio as he tried to get up, but Hio shook his head sideways to indicate he was fine.

“I found a few areas that need correction. I have to change them right away before I forget.”

‘That means……..’

Everyone present, including Regarda, understood the meaning of those words.

Thus, with expressions that grew even more solemn.

They nod a little more slowly, a little more heavily.

“The passageway will be completed soon.”

The encounter with Kreutzvalt was imminent.

It meant the real war with the entire Abyss was about to begin.

A war that might perhaps be the last.

***

A week had already passed since Vitalianus, who had gone on the reconnaissance mission, returned with the information that he had found the passageway on the 3rd floor.

The plans, discussed in daily meetings, were now taking clear shape, and the promised troops from various nations began gathering towards the Empire.

By that point, the term ‘expeditionary force’ seemed insufficient.

Thus, the name ‘Continental Alliance’ was born.

Even though the Empire’s forces made up the majority, they willingly created the name ‘Continental Alliance.’

It was to give other nations a plausible cause and sense of pride.

There was also the intention to prevent them from taking advantage of the Empire with its main forces largely depleted, but regardless, it was a historic moment marking the birth of the first massive legion under the name ‘Continental Alliance.’

The key figures of each nation, waving flags symbolizing their countries, began entering the capital one after another.

From a high place in the Imperial Castle, Sylvia, who was watching this, softly opened her mouth in a whisper.

“Still no contact?”

The answer that came to that small voice.

It was Vitalianus.

“He will come soon. Please don’t worry too much.”

Even with Vitalianus’s answer, Sylvia’s brow, still furrowed, showed no sign of easing.

She was anxious.

Having worked tirelessly day and night, the broad framework of the operation was set, and the troop deployments were roughly finished. Yet, the most crucial information hadn’t arrived.

“The mage will definitely stop here first once the passageway is complete.”

‘What if some unforeseen variable had arisen, causing trouble?’

‘What if he was in danger?’

That worry was greater than anything else.

“If it’s Hio, of course he would do that. But the fact that there’s still no news makes me uneasy.”

“I know……..”

But as if to make that worry pointless, a purple thread of light appeared between Sylvia and Vitalianus.

Knowing what it was, color returned to both their faces.

“Hio!”

As expected.

The one who appeared, parting the purple space, was Hio.

Even though it was the Emperor’s office, spacious enough to be considered one of the largest in the Imperial Castle, Hio’s black wings spread out so wide they seemed to fill it and more.

Sylvia approached with a bright smile, but…

“We need to prepare and leave immediately.”

Hio spoke gravely the moment he appeared.

“To the deepest part of the Gran Dina Mountains.”

Simultaneously, Sylvia’s expression also sank deeply.