Chapter 211 : Chapter 211
Chapter 211 - Tornava Continent (12)
The old man was just as flabbergasted as I was.
"Ho! Memory erasure! Then surely..."
"Yes. The memory of the quest you received has also been erased. To be precise, it is as if you have no memory at all since arriving in Tornava."
"Then the fact that I am wearing this cursed rabbit hat and eating carrots three times a day is also...?"
"Yes. Today was not the first time."
Even by a rough calculation, it must have been well over a month.
"Those damn bastards!"
Still, the old man's level of character cultivation was remarkable. Unlike Heo Jeong-ah, who would have immediately made a fuss about decapitating the rabbits, he trembled for a moment and soon regained his composure.
"Then what about my quest? Is there no way to find out forever?"
I replied with a smile instead of words.
"Wait, did you find out?"
"Fortunately, before erasing the memories, those rabbits check the quests of us Earthlings."
"Oh! What a relief! A truly great relief!"
If they had not, the method of returning to Earth would have remained an eternal mystery. When I told him what his quest was, he let out a sigh of relief.
"I believe you will do well from now on."
"I was on the verge of becoming a lost child of the Abyss again, but I have incurred another debt to you."
"Speaking of that debt, I will give you an opportunity to repay it soon."
I had something in mind: joining me in the demonic realm.
"I will follow whatever you request!"
"What if I ask you to teach me the Taeseong Sword Style?"
"That... well, that is a bit...!"
In any case, his tendency to make promises without a plan was no different from Heo Jeong-ah's.
"Let us discuss that later. Heo Jeong-ah is also here in Tornava."
"What? My Jeong-ah?"
The old man's face turned pale instantly.
"She left a day before I did."
"Why on earth is she here!"
"She set out immediately, saying she had to save her great-uncle."
"Ho ho!"
The old man sighed deeply, looking full of self-reproach.
"Relax your expression. She is doing fine."
"Then, does that mean you have met our Jeong-ah as well?"
"She also received a quest that is quite formidable. So..."
"I must go at once!"
Heo Jeong-ah's quest was to hunt a Kraken. If the old man were with her, the difficulty would become much easier.
"Jeong-ah is currently heading to the Turtle tribe village to perform her quest. If you hurry, you should arrive at a similar time."
"Then I must head there first! I will give you a proper thank you on Earth!"
The old man looked as if he were ready to dash off right this second.
"Are you going to go out like that and wear a rabbit hat again?"
"Oh! That is right!"
This was the village of the Rabbit tribe. No matter how much of a Sword Master he was, he would be helpless if he did not know the Rabbit tribe's method of memory erasure.
"What you must watch out for are the rabbits' ears."
However, if one was properly prepared against memory erasure, the Rabbit tribe members were merely the weakest beings in Tornava.
They were cowardly and possessed little martial power. Now, it was time for me to go meet the chieftain.
***
"Outworlder! Why, why are you doing this! Why on earth!"
SMACK!
"Save me!"
Even the chieftain was no different.
After I grabbed both of his ears and gave him a few slaps, his mental state had already crumbled.
He had long since wet himself, and if I hit him a few more times, he might start begging on his hands and knees.
"You know your sins are great, don't you?"
"I, I don't know! I don't know what you are talking about."
"Your innate ability."
"I, I don't know!"
SMACK!
"Aaaagh!"
"The sin of mocking Earthlings while erasing their memories."
At my words, his eyes darted frantically in all directions.
"H-how did you..."
"Let us start with a few more hits."
"Outworlder! Stop, calm down and listen to me first!"
The chieftain clasped his hands together and pleaded with me.
As soon as I raised my hand, he immediately began rubbing his palms together.
His reaction did not deviate from my expectations at all.
"Please don't hit me! I will tell you everything!"
"You have one chance."
"I understand! So please, just put that hand down!"
However, I did not think he would make good use of this opportunity.
He likely could not even guess how much I already knew.
As expected, the chieftain only tried to use his petty tricks.
SMACK!
SMACK!
"You said you received a revelation. Start with that story."
"Damn it! Which bastard told you even that!"
"Why? Did you think you would be any different?"
"..."
The chieftain could not continue.
He understood the meaning of my words immediately.
"Wait! Please, just a moment!"
In the end, the chieftain wet himself once more.
"Thinking about it, it would be more beneficial to talk without being hit, wouldn't it?"
"Shit!"
"Watch your language."
Finally, the chieftain began to tell me the truth.
Although the Rabbit tribe was physically weak, they could communicate with a transcendent being in Tornava.
'That transcendent being must be the Abyss.'
It seemed they began to communicate with the Abyss around the time they gained the innate ability of memory erasure.
"Not long ago, I climbed to the mountain peak and received a solemn command from Him. To ensure that the outworlders can never leave Tornava!"
"Why?"
"I do not know exactly either. He always leaves only metaphorical messages."
"Then, tell me the message exactly as you received it."
The chieftain's answer was incredibly abstruse. It was to rectify the law of causality.
'The law of causality? What on earth does that mean?'
However, there was nothing more I could learn from the chieftain.
Except for the fact that one needed the Rabbit tribe's holy item to climb the mountain peak and receive a revelation.
"Hand it over."
"S-surely you aren't asking for our holy item now?"
"You said it is needed to receive a revelation at the mountain peak."
"Outworlder! What on earth are you trying to do!"
I had intended to seize the Rabbit tribe's holy item anyway. Now, there was simply one more reason for it.
"You're going to give it up anyway, so just hand it over."
The chieftain squeezed his eyes shut with a look of total resignation.
If not for the racial trait of being extremely cowardly, a tribe's holy item is something that could not be obtained even with a sword at one's throat.
Looking at it this way, the harmony of the Abyss was truly mysterious.
There was always a way to resolve things somehow.
"I will count to three. One."
"I'll give it! I'll give it to you!"
Tears welled up in the chieftain's eyes.
A moment later, an old staff came into my hands.
With this, I had collected two holy items.
The remaining one would not be difficult to acquire once I returned to the Monkey tribe village.
The quest in Tornava was finally nearing its end.
However, one task as important as the quest remained: finding out the reason for the strange phenomena occurring across the Abyss recently.
I only hoped that I could find the answer by climbing the mountain peak.
***
Bisio's Staff. I headed toward the mountain peak holding the Rabbit tribe's holy item.
My friend! Do you also feel it?
I nodded at the Holy Sword's question. A mysterious power was currently swirling within the staff. It was a quality of power completely different from mana.
"As expected, the being the Rabbit tribe serves was the Abyss."
I wonder if it would be better to just turn back! A being that wields power different from mana could be dangerous, even for you, my friend!
In truth, the harmony displayed by the Abyss was not something that could be blocked by human strength.
Just as I could never cut the sun no matter how much I reached the pinnacle of the sword, the Abyss was a presence like Mother Nature itself. In a way, I was climbing the mountain to oppose the will of the Abyss.
"I do not think the Abyss is that petty."
What do you mean?
"The Abyss has always been neutral toward all beings, including humans. Even if I am opposing the will of the Abyss, I do not think that neutrality will change."
That is also just your guess.
That was true, of course, but I did not want to back down here.
"Bastian, you know me well."
Of course! That damn stubbornness!
Having lived through two lives, I had never once retreated by submitting to something.
There was no reason for it to be different even if that something was the Abyss.
As I drew closer to the mountain peak, the power dwelling in Bisio's Staff grew stronger and stronger.
Something was clearly about to happen. Despite the Holy Sword's dissuasion, I finally reached the summit.
Now there is no turning back.
As soon as I stepped onto the mountain peak, a wind whipped up, and a massive cloud of dust began to cover everything.
Of course, this was not a natural phenomenon.
It was certainly not a harmony created by mana.
I continued to walk forward.
A giant stone monument standing tall in the center of the summit began to reveal itself through the dust.
I could tell this was the Stone of Revelation the chieftain had mentioned.
I took one step after another toward the monument.
Bisio's Staff was already vibrating violently, independent of my will.
BANG!
As I struck the staff toward the monument, the dust settled, and a sudden silence fell over the mountain peak that had been violently fluctuating.
Then, a message from the Abyss was suddenly transmitted.
[You have been identified as an outworlder of Tornava.]
[Outworlders cannot receive revelations.]
It was unexpected that I could not communicate simply because I was an outworlder.
'Is it really going to end this anticlimactically?'
My primary purpose for coming to Tornava was to save the old man, Heo Gyeong-woo. But if it ended with just that, the disconnection between Earth and the Abyss would inevitably continue. Many Earthlings in other dimensions through the Abyss were still unable to return.
My friend! It is for the better! If the Abyss had intervened directly with you...
However, before the Holy Sword could finish speaking, an unexpected message followed.
[The possibility of quest completion has been detected from you.]
[Clear Probability: 99%]
[Appropriate measures are required to prevent the collapse of the law of causality.]
I could not know exactly what the meaning of these words was.
However, I could at least tell that the Abyss did not want anyone to clear the quest right now.
My friend! It seems something unusual is about to happen!
What if I had not climbed this mountain?
And what if I had not struck this monument with the staff?
If so, would I have been able to clear the quest safely by just collecting the three holy items without being hindered by the Abyss like this?
I could not know the answer for now.
HUMMMM!
A portal appeared in the sky.
It seemed something was going to emerge from there.
Of course, it could not be a simple monster. The Abyss would know full well the power I currently possessed.
Since it said appropriate measures would be taken, there was a high chance that something beyond my expectations would jump out.
"Bastian. I take back what I said earlier."
What do you mean!
"The part about thinking the Abyss wouldn't be petty."
I never thought it would directly sabotage a quest in this manner.