Chapter 220

A golden bird that had flown in through the wide-open window delivered its voice.

-This is Yuria, the Wizard of Thousand Books. Can you hear me? Are you all alive? Please respond.

Ah… it’s sister’s voice. Even though seven years have passed, it doesn’t seem to have changed at all.

Tris trembled beside me.

I’m this happy to hear it, so how must Tris feel after enduring seven years of hell?

“I knew it! I knew sis was alive! Ha, haha! It was the same seven years ago. The message magic warning of genesis’s beginning also started from sis! Now she’s the one announcing the end too! Hahaha!”

Tris’s voice had grown about three times louder as she chattered away, tears glistening in her eyes. I got excited and shouted along with her.

“Let’s send a reply right away!”

“Of course! But…”

Tris, who had been jumping around with joy, suddenly looked gloomy.

“I still can’t use message spells…”

What’s this about now?

“I mentioned it earlier… the old spells don’t work because the Akashic Records have been rewritten. To use them, I’d have to completely redevelop them from scratch…”

I narrowed my eyes and examined Beatrice. Dense Ki-blood and a fairly developed magical neural network. A proud 7th Step Grand Wizard can’t use a simple message spell?

“Don’t look at me like that. Sister’s the monster for successfully casting message magic right away. Everyone’s like this. They can’t use any spells except ones closely connected to their gift or ones they’ve been gradually adjusting while using daily.”

Tris avoided my gaze and made excuses, looking embarrassed.

Really? So you can’t use magic properly?

Somehow I felt like teasing her…

Actually, I hadn’t figured out the situation properly.

Whether <Samantha> was really alive, or why exactly the world responds to my words—I had no clues to find out.

No matter how much I called for her, Samantha wouldn’t appear or convey her voice.

But there was one clear fact. This world responds to my words. And the keyword was <Samantha>.

“Samantha. My daughter. Will you tell everyone that we’re safe? Will you let them know our location?”

Whoooosh—

A breeze swirled around us and flew off into the distance.

Tris watched this scene with a dumbfounded expression before asking me.

“What, what was that? Did it actually work?”

She grabbed my sleeve and asked again.

“That’s going to be delivered properly, right?!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“How would I know? I didn’t cast a spell. Well… I’m just trusting that <Samantha> delivered it well…”

Whoooosh—

Another breeze blew. The ground shifted slightly. As if telling me to trust only in her.

“Ha, I don’t know if it’s you or me who’s lost their magic…”

Tris was overcome with self-doubt as she alternately looked up at the sky where the wind had flown and down at the shifting ground below.

That sight amused me and I chuckled, but soon I yawned. Even though I just woke up, I’m sleepy again. This drowsy feeling is really something I haven’t experienced in a long time…

Unable to control my drooping eyelids, I lay back down on the bed. Tris still stood by the window, alternately looking at the ground and sky.

“What should I call this? It’s not magic… it’s not spirit arts either… divine law? Sacred spells? Being favored by the world? What is it? Is <Samantha> really alive?”

Listening to her dazed murmuring, I drifted off to sleep.

As I fell asleep, I thought,

‘Samantha. Where are you? If you’re alive, don’t just hint around the edges like this and appear before me… Let’s see your face and talk. Okay?’

And when I opened my eyes again, I was in a dream in pitch-black darkness. Just like in [Simulation].

<Samantha> walked out through the darkness.

I was so happy I shouted at the top of my voice.

“Samantha? You really were alive? I knew you were alive!”

But she didn’t answer. She just smiled happily.

“Samantha?”

No matter how much I called, she remained silent, just staring at me endlessly with that expression, until after a long while she finally spoke.

Whether she heard my question or not, she only said what she wanted to say.

[You’ll need to adapt. Many things have changed and are still changing.]

“Wait, let’s talk about us for a moment.”

[From now on, everything will become precedent. Based on what’s recorded during this period, everything will evolve. It’s the age of mythology. In this world that’s still completely empty… what music is, what magic is, what laws are—people will record these things. They’ll think of it as ‘discovery,’ but it’s actually ‘invention.’ I haven’t defined anything.]

I shut my mouth.

There were many emotions I wanted to pour out to <Samantha>—regret, gratitude, worry—but I was afraid that if I poured out my words, I might miss what she was trying to say, so I swallowed the voices trying to spill out.

<Samantha> smiled.

Ever since she was born into this world as a god, I had always been inside her… so this was probably the first time we faced each other like this.

Kid. Who did you take after to become so pretty?

Her clearly shining eyes went from round to half-moon to crescent-shaped, and she spoke with a bright smile.

[And I’ll always be there with you. Even if it might only be at the level of the subconscious, like the old magical powers… no, I’ll be there with much more influence than them. Whenever someone… especially father calls my name, I’ll be there.]

Ah…

I suddenly understood.

Why the world reacts whenever I call <Samantha>’s name.

Come to think of it, it was the same before. The dead gods, shattered into pieces. Even their remains, the magical powers, would rush over without considering the consequences when reminded of old memories.

But <Samantha> said she was in a better situation than that.

It’s like being in a vegetative state… so she can only appear in dreams like this and can’t freely converse even within them… but anyway, she can react more sensitively.

Whenever someone calls her name, whenever I call her, her scattered soul and magical power condense slightly and gather in that place.

“Then… if I keep calling your name, maybe someday you could wake up completely?”

If that’s the case, I should pray and call <Samantha> those three syllables day and night.

[I don’t know how the world will turn out. So father. Since even gods don’t know, go ahead and do whatever you want—tell your friends that too. If you button the first button wrong, you can just go around in a circle and redo it, right? No matter how wrong things go, the world will definitely adapt to it, because I made it that way. Don’t be afraid and create this world.]

The answer was ambiguous.

Was this <Samantha>’s response to my question? Or did <Samantha> just say what she wanted to say, and it coincidentally matched up?

I couldn’t be certain either way, but this felt like her answer to me.

I wanted to believe that.

<Samantha> doesn’t know either.

But if I keep calling her, maybe her scattered pieces will keep condensing and condensing until she finally becomes whole again.

I decided to believe that.

“I understand. I’ll call you. Until you wake up. Many times. As many times as it takes…”

As I was making that resolution, <Samantha>’s face gradually became blurry before me.

Without realizing it, I reached out to try to catch her, and with a blink, I found myself on the bed.

Outside the window, it was already dark.

On the desolate plain, Beatrice was practicing with her fellow mages, torches blazing.

“When lightning strikes, when dry forests rub against each other, you are born. Your surroundings are hot. Hot and bright. Bloom… bloom… Ah, come on! Bloom!”

It was a funny scene. A 7th Step Archwizard struggling and failing to create a single fireball. But I couldn’t laugh right now. I let out a low sigh.

“Ah… this is it. What <Samantha> was talking about in the dream.”

[From now on, everything will become precedent. Based on what’s recorded during this period, everything will evolve. It’s the age of mythology.]

From now on, everything had to be invented anew. Even magic to create a single fireball.

I slowly walked over and stood next to Tris. Tris jumped in surprise.

“Ah, ah… you’re awake? Uh… uh… I’m practicing, so don’t look!”

I patted the embarrassed girl’s head and kindly taught her.

“Forget the old magic.”

“Huh?”

“Back then, you just had to move your Circle as accurately as possible according to what was predetermined, right? Now it’s different. Feel it. With your magical neural network. This world. And think about what fire is in this world. What it should become. You’re creating that fire. There’s no predetermined answer.”

Tris’s eyes became dreamy. As if she was impressed by my advice.

“That, that’s…”

With shaking eyes, she said.

“What kind of… bullshit is that?”

What?

Tris was staring at me with wide eyes.

That cute face looked at me as if I was talking nonsense, making me both embarrassed and happy, so I scolded her.

“Agh! If you’re 8th Step, you should at least be able to sense mana even if you can’t see it! Frustrating. So frustrating! What were you doing for seven years that you couldn’t even reach 8th Step?”

Tris flared up and protested.

“I did reach 8th Step, you know!”

“You’re 7th Step though?”

“That, that’s because! I got demoted because I suffered too much! The situation wasn’t one where I could maintain my covenant!”

Ugh.

That was quite a sharp comment.

An 8th Step Grand Wizard unable to maintain her covenant… just how terrible must that situation have been?

“I, I couldn’t keep my covenant. Everyone else… sob…”

Tris finally started tearing up.

“Cough… cough…”

The mages around Tris quietly turned their backs. They didn’t look at Tris crying.

“Eh? The Saint of Ending Times is crying?”

“Be quiet, rookie. Don’t you know how much the Saint missed her companions? Shut your mouth.”

The surrounding mages didn’t blame me for making Tris cry. Instead, they looked at me with subtle gazes, hoping I would comfort her.

That young age, that tearful child… she had to lead her group without showing blood or tears. And now, meeting me after so long, she became a crybaby again like in the old days?

Sniff, sniff.

Tris, crying over something trivial—it’s the right moment. Even though she’s not that small anymore, looking at her like this, I can still see traces of that white-haired little kid from before.

I slowly approached and hugged her.

“Waaah…”

Actually, any excuse would have been fine. She just wanted to cry, and I lent her a shoulder to cry on.

“Everyone… everyone’s doing well, right? Like you? Sniff…”

“Yeah. They’re doing well.”

“But… it must have hurt a lot?”

“It probably hurt. But now they can cry freely. Like you…”

Patting her back, I thought of Yuria.

Did she go through this too? Did she have to bear so much pain like this?

What about Monggu? Fel? Pan-Dalus? Hwi Someong? Where is everyone now…

Then,

A breeze blew. Cool and clear.

Voices riding the wind rustled softly in our ears.

“Ah… you’re alive.”

“Ahh, master is alive too.”

“Hehe. I can learn magic from teacher again. Hehe.”

“Phew… Baek Jun-woo. Did you end this tiresome genesis? …I miss you.”

The voices had traveled so far that they weren’t clearly audible. Sandy, gritty voices. It was hard to make out who each one was… but somehow they carried nostalgic emotions.

I wished they were clearer… but even these faint voices made my heart swell.

There was no need to wonder why we could hear such voices.

‘Thank you. Samantha.’

Either someone called her name. Or she heard my heart wondering about everyone’s safety. Either way… this miracle gave a different kind of feeling than magic.

Tris, who had been sniffling, looked up at me.

“These voices…!”

Our eyes met and smiles spread across our faces.

“Yeah. Seems like everyone’s somehow alive and well.”

A bright smile bloomed on Tris’s face.

The breeze kept blowing cool, and the night sky sparkled with stars. All the starlight seemed to shine down on this place. It felt like the night was getting brighter and brighter, not darker.

…No. It wasn’t just a feeling—it really was happening. Stars twinkling like magic. Voices full of longing still whispering in our ears at this very moment.

I looked up at the sky as if enchanted by something.

By then, I might have already had some premonition.

That’s probably why I wasn’t surprised when the sound of flapping wings filled the air and a huge shadow covered the night sky.

“Hey! Crybaby! Are you crying again?”

An S-rank calamity dragon flapped its wings in the sky.

One of the three dragons I had tamed in the past. And standing proudly on that dragon’s head with her dark blue hair streaming was Yuria.

“S-sis? How, how did you get here?”

Tris’s eyes went wide.

Yuria smiled at Tris, then looked at me.

The dragon slowly descended.

The massive body that had seemed large enough to block the sky gradually shrank to about the size of a large tent.

Without rough winds or ground tremors, the dragon landed and lay flat with its head pressed to the ground.

Yuria came down slowly, stepping down the dragon’s head like stairs. Standing on its snout, she faced me.

Her cheeks were flushed red with joy.

“What kind of magic did you use? Your location suddenly came to mind. What spell was that?”

Yuria immediately asked the question, then shook her head as if that wasn’t the point. She reached out her hand and said.

“Welcome back.”

Gruffly, she hugged me to her chest.

But actually, her hands were trembling, and I could clearly feel her heart pounding rapidly in her soft chest.

“Really… welcome back.”

I couldn’t see her face since she was holding my head in her arms.

But her voice was shaking… she was probably crying.

Somehow feeling reassured, I closed my eyes.

“Yeah. I’m back.”

That’s what I answered.

Somehow I felt optimistic.

We could make a good fresh start.

Just like meeting Tris, just like meeting Yuria, we’d meet everyone again.

Crossing this vast world that <Samantha> and I created together,

Under new skies,

One by one, one by one, we’d be reunited.