Chapter 71

“You’ll be the only existence that can travel between cracks.”

Quilbion kept his ears open while flipping through the sorcery book Winte had created. The book he’d seen ad nauseam in Al Terua’s room.

“Nark will be both the starting point and the solution to all problems. It’s different from mana, but it’s a power mana responds to.”

“And so?”

“First, start with sorcery. There’s nothing better than sorcery for understanding nark.”

“Sorcery—I do know it. You taught me directly too.”

Since removing the curse that woman had left on him, his nark had moved freely. Quilbion used sorcery for the first time in ages.

The art of Sitpin Yellow Form.

He conjured a flame that wasn’t hot at his fingertips.

The small flame the size of a fingernail gradually increased in volume. The flame’s size grew to the size of a fist.

He wiggled his fingers. The flame rose into the sky and drew a circle.

“There aren’t many I can do without talismans though.”

The flame dancing in the air fell into his palm.

Even in deep darkness, he could identify everything based on his sixth sense. The small flame had become useless.

“How much nark did you pour in?”

Winte asked.

“I used it like I used to. I don’t know the exact amount or anything.”

“Keep injecting it.”

He shrugged his shoulders and let the nark flow. The unknown power that responded to his will moved to the flame.

“You can see the flow of mana, right?”

“Yes, I can see it.”

“Keep observing.”

The flame’s size gradually grew. When it grew large enough to hide an adult man, he asked again.

“Should I keep going?”

“Keep going. The more that sorcery’s volume increases, the more the amount of nark it uses doubles.”

He lightly flicked his wrist and sent the flame skyward. Nark continued moving to the flame floating in the air.

About an hour passed like that.

A bright blue sphere about 50 meters in diameter floated leisurely in the sky.

“The size doesn’t seem to grow any larger.”

Winte looked at Quilbion.

“An inexhaustible well. Nark keeps flowing in from outside. This place and the cracks are clearly severed, yet somehow you’re drawing nark.”

Not here, but there.

In the cracks lived another me. Countless Quilbions must be living their respective lives even at this very moment.

The nark they possessed was transcending the Designer’s providence and crossing into reality.

The question of ‘how’ was unnecessary.

Who would know what even the Designer didn’t know?

He had to focus on grasping and utilizing the phenomenon that had occurred.

“Wait a moment. I’m starting to feel overwhelmed.”

His head spun. The smoothly flowing nark also dried up rapidly.

When he dispersed the sorcery, the massive flame vanished in an instant.

The surroundings that had been bright as midday darkened.

“The amount you can release at once is unfortunate, but your endurance is outstanding. More than anything, the amount of nark you’re drawing keeps increasing.”

“When I first fiddled with talismans, I did get tired quickly.”

“Right. Even then, you were bringing nark from outside. You were already interfering with the cracks from that point.”

Winte seemed extremely delighted by this situation. His smile was as deep as when he drank deeply fragrant coffee.

“If I manage to find Twella…… could I also bring her out from that place?”

“If it had been before I discovered you as a peculiarity, I would have said it was impossible. But you’re clearly traveling between cracks. Though it’s only your mental entity, perhaps someday even your body could cross over?”

“How unusual for you to say something hopeful.”

“Because it’s enjoyable when possibilities remain.”

Quilbion looked at Winte.

“I’m curious about one thing—just how old are you?”

“I was already created before you lot existed.”

“You’ve really lived a damn long time.”

“I’ve lived long. That’s why I need things to enjoy.”

Quilbion pulled a bright red sorcery book from the bookshelf. He tried to open it, but the pages wouldn’t separate. It was like tightly clamped clam shells.

Quilbion squinted while examining the book front and back, then recalled an old method of perception on the off chance.

The discernment eye.

Different from sixth sense—an eye used solely to distinguish nark.

He could see a wriggling centipede over the red sorcery book. The centipede with bright blue legs was tightly wrapping the red book with its long body.

Where the mouth was located was the book’s upper left corner. When he brought his finger close, it raised its blue head and shook its long antennae mercilessly.

He had a premonition that touching it would be a headache. Seeing that his sixth sense remained silent, it didn’t seem life-threatening.

He gently waved his index finger above the centipede’s head. The creature that had only been shaking its antennae suddenly lifted its head and tried to bite his index finger.

Snap!

A loud sound came from the creature’s jaw.

“There’s a fierce friend here asserting that this is its home—can I remove it?”

Quilbion asked while shaking the sorcery book.

“Try it.”

“Now that you say it like that, I’m getting anxious again. It is okay, right?”

“I said try it.”

That look of dying from amusement—Quilbion didn’t hide his displeased expression as he grabbed the centipede’s head.

The centipede head held between thumb and index finger made a bizarre sound. It sounded like scraping metal, or like glass being scraped.

It was definitely an unpleasant sound.

He could put pressure on it and burst the head as is, but the concept of ‘curse’ bothered him.

The nark ‘that woman’ had left on his eyes was also a curse. A power that clung stubbornly and turned a person’s insides upside down.

Quilbion gently pulled the centipede’s head. The resisting creature released the book it had been gripping with its legs and raised its long body.

He matched eye level with the centipede. Its four pairs of small eyes glistened like oil floating on water.

“Let me see the book. I’ll return it after looking. Okay?”

He wondered if the strange life form woven from nark would understand, but the centipede soon dropped from the book and wrapped around Quilbion’s arm.

A not very pleasant texture was transmitted from his arm.

The centipede, satisfied with its temporary home, drooped its head and became docile.

He briefly wondered what would happen if he tossed it as food for the hawk, but he didn’t put it into action.

Because it wouldn’t be good if it ate it and got sick.

The clamped pages opened smoothly.

There was yellowed paper with a single blue dot stamped on it. The dot’s size was about a thumbnail, but someone had spilled water on it and it had spread.

The next page and the page after that were no different. Paper and a blue dot. That was all.

Naked eye, sixth sense, discernment eye.

Even using all available means of identification, nothing changed.

What is this?

“Is this children’s scribbles?”

“You should ask the owner, why ask me?”

Winte was enjoying coffee while sitting in a chair suspended in midair.

Owner. His gaze naturally moved to the centipede wrapped around his forearm.

“You must be the owner?”

He tapped the head. The antennae that had been spread lazily perked up.

“I want to see the contents inside.”

He brought the book to his forearm. The centipede unwrapped its body from his forearm and climbed onto the book.

What was it trying to show?

He waited for quite a while.

The centipede lay on the book blankly like a broken mechanical doll.

“You’re not doing anything?”

When he tapped the body, the centipede suddenly raised its head. It seemed to be throwing a tantrum.

“……I’m asking just in case, but can you talk?”

The centipede’s antennae shook twice left and right. The centipede that had twisted its body climbed back onto his forearm.

It raised its head stiffly, and below it he could see a pointed jaw and mouth. The snout wriggled disgustingly.

That appearance was like a baby hawk whining for food.

“Ah, food?”

What do centipedes eat? Should he mash up an apple and give it?

After pondering briefly, he gathered the nark flowing through his body at his index finger. The thinly released nark flowed into the centipede’s mouth.

The glossy centipede body took on a murky blue light. The centipede was sucked into the blue dot on the yellowed paper.

Smoke rose from the dot that had been faintly spreading. The blue smoke drew various patterns in the air.

Incomprehensible patterns filled the air.

He could see layered triangles and overlapping squares.

He had absolutely no idea what each one meant.

The shapes filling his retina suddenly crumbled and transformed into a single sphere.

The sphere slowly descended and positioned itself before Quilbion’s mouth.

When he glanced down slightly, the centipede that had disappeared was raising its head brightly while moving its mouth.

It definitely seemed to mean eat it.

His sixth sense was quiet.

That must mean he wouldn’t die from eating it.

He put the sphere smaller than his fist in his mouth in one bite. His eyes twitched at the unfamiliar foreign substance filling his mouth.

Should he melt and swallow it or chew and swallow it?

The pondering was brief—the sphere melted away.

He could feel it going down his esophagus.

And an hour passed.

There was no change whatsoever.

He opened the red book again. The blue dot stamped on the page had disappeared.

“Did the sorcery lose its effect?”

It was when he was about to reach for another book, knowing he wouldn’t get help even if he asked Winte.

His back tingled.

Was he bitten by a bug?

This time a signal came from his thigh.

Faint pain occurred simultaneously in multiple places.

What was going on?

He tried to open his mouth while looking up at Winte in the sky.

His lips wouldn’t separate.

As if sewn with invisible thread, only his jaw would open while his lips stuck together and just twitched.

“Mmph! Mmm!”

It was when he made muffled sounds.

His body bent. Strength suddenly left his waist.

His shoulders grew heavy. It felt like someone was pressing down from above.

He became stuck flat to the floor.

He tried to lift his head, but for some reason strength wouldn’t enter.

Scritch scritch.

Centipede leg sounds came from all directions. He rolled his eyes. Before his eyes, a centipede with blue legs was spinning round and round.

The antennae raised toward the sky looked like a prayer offered to god.

Riiip!

The skin on his back was splitting.

There was no pain. His sixth sense remained docile as ever.

Quilbion strained with all his might to pull down his chin. He had to confirm what was happening to his body.

And what he saw was:

Blue legs that had pierced through the tattered skin.

Centipede legs were sprouting from his body.

That wasn’t all.

The arm that should have been attached to his shoulder fell off with a thunk and melted flabbily.

Centipede legs also protruded from the severed area.

“Mmmph!”

He clearly realized what was happening.

His body was changing into a centipede.

The centipede that had been the book’s owner still watched Quilbion with its antennae raised.

Damn it!

Was it sorcery that turned humans into centipedes?

Time passed along with tingling pain.

His body moved. Quilbion could instinctively know how to use the dozens of pairs of legs that had sprouted long.

Winte sitting in the sky was still only enjoying his coffee.

That damned bastard.

He raised his body. His body, which must be at least 10 meters long, stood upright.

“How does it feel to finish your transformation?”

He wanted to spew curses, but no voice came out.

“There’s a saying I like. Hearing a hundred times is inferior to seeing once. And seeing a hundred times is inferior to doing once.”

He swung his body and struck at Winte.

His body that reached the chair was blocked by a transparent membrane and bounced away.

“There are three ways to learn sorcery. First, read and learn documented information like acquiring general knowledge. Second, swallow sorcery that’s been kindly implemented. The last is……”

Winte continued with a faint smile.

“Rest a bit. You’ll get dizzy.”

The moment he heard those words, his vision spun.

Quilbion’s massive body thudded onto the rooftop.

The collapsed Quilbion looked at the small centipede before his eyes.

The centipede lifting its body and bobbing left and right as if delighted.

This really sucks.

Quilbion wriggled his dozens of pairs of legs and lost consciousness.