At Dion’s cremation site, Atron was no longer there. But Sudirja realized something.
An equation—he could also sense something—
The remaining Manneon particles. Clearly, it was the trace of magic.
“He performed multiversal teleportation magic,” Sudirja muttered.
William, staring at the formula drawn on the ground, tried to calculate it. Then he realized something.
“Nomagoroto-LinioOmega 4B, isn’t this the coordinate of our homeworld?” William asked.
Sudirja knew about it—it was a coordinate of reality. He had read about it before in a book written by a certain scholar, long before he obtained the Quantum Phase Tube.
“You’re right. This coordinate leads to our homeworld—more precisely, to an alternate universe of our world,” Sudirja added.
But the people from the Lindru temple didn’t understand any of this. One of them asked for an explanation.
“lord, forgive me, but could you explain what that means?” one of the Lindru temple guards requested.
“I’ll simplify it. This formula produces a world coordinate. This world, in my opinion, has the coordinate Magoroto-LishedeOmega 5F,” Sudirja explained.
“We still don’t understand,” another Lindru temple guard continued.
“The first part defines the laws of physics, both quantum and cosmic. ‘Magoroto’ means this world has physical laws that include magic within them, as well as cosmic laws where planets orbit a star called the sun. LishedeOmega indicates the position of this universe within ten physical dimensions—‘lished’ meaning this world lies in a position resembling a thread, while ‘omega’ comes from one type of infinite set, known as the omega set, in the homeworld of the shadow existers. The number 5 refers to the dimensional layers of the reality thread that governs the physics of this world, and F is the civilization rank—that is the level of civilization of this world,” William explained.
“We still don’t understand,” the Lindru guard said, staring blankly at William. Because of this, he decided not to explain everything—just a part of it.
Seeing that they still didn’t understand, William had no choice but to make his explanation brief.
“Alright, I’ll only explain part of it so it’s easier to grasp,” William sighed. “In our world, there is already a theory about the levels of civilization. Since this world doesn’t have such a system, we created a simple ranking system to help the indigenous people understand. The levels go from the lowest to the highest as follows: Civilization rank F (the iron age up to the point where energy can be generated, but still very limited), rank E (able to utilize a small continent to generate energy), rank D (able to utilize a large continent to generate energy), rank C (able to utilize one planet to generate energy), rank B (able to utilize one solar system to generate energy), rank A (able to utilize one galaxy to generate energy), rank S (able to utilize multiple galaxies to generate energy), and the highest, rank S+ (able to utilize the entire multiverse to generate energy).”
“F? Is our civilization really that low?” one of the Lindru temple guards asked.
“That is the fact. In our world, we shadow existers are at rank C—we already utilize one planet to generate energy,” William answered.
“Then this magic is multiversal teleportation magic?” the Lindru guard asked.
“Correct. He will appear in a world completely different from this one. The world Atron targeted is the time Nexus of the shadow existers’ homeworld,” Sudirja explained.
“Terrifying,” the Lindru guard muttered.
Sudirja grew suspicious—perhaps something had driven Atron to resort to such an extreme act. That was what he thought.
“Set this aside for now. Let me ask you all—did any of you make Atron uncomfortable?” Sudirja asked, staring seriously at the people of the Lindru temple.
The Lindru temple guards fell silent. They couldn’t answer. Of course, they were afraid—afraid of the consequences. Above all, they feared the death penalty, though Sudirja would not do that.
“I’ll ask one more time!” Sudirja barked. “Did any of you make Atron uncomfortable, driving him to cast such dangerous magic!?”
Still unable to muster the courage to respond, fear began to grip them more tightly.
“Don't remain silent! Answer me!” Sudirja roared.
They remained shaken, but one of them finally tried to muster the courage. He was ready to accept the death penalty, for he knew it was his sin.
“We all once abused him…” one of the Lindru guards whispered.
“Is that true!?” Sudirja demanded.
They all nodded. They knew there was no hiding it anymore. The only choice was to confess.
“What was the reason!?” Sudirja pressed.
“Because he is the seal of Sidran Gasra,” the guard answered.
“It is true he is the seal of Sidran Gasra, but he and Sidran Gasra are clearly different,” Sudirja rebuked.
“B-but we f-feared Sidran Gasra m-might control his body,” the guard stammered, trying to justify himself.
“So you are belittling my ability in creating magic!?” Sudirja thundered.
They could only remain silent. They knew this was a harsh ultimatum from their king. If they insisted on making excuses, it would mean admitting the truth of his words—accepting the ultimatum of their king.
“I know you were worried. But regardless, abuse cannot be justified. How would you feel if it had been done to you?” Sudirja asked.
“But he is the seal of Sidran Gasr—”
“Yes, he is indeed the seal of Sidran Gasra. But that alone makes it clear he and Sidran Gasra are different. He is a human—a human equal to Sidran Gasra in terms of power,” Sudirja explained.
“But, Your Majesty—”
“He is only equal to Sidran Gasra in power. Mentally, he is no more than an ordinary child,” Sudirja interrupted. “Do you understand now?”
They could no longer seek justification, and they had to brace themselves for the consequences of their actions. They were terrified, but they knew they had to accept it regardless.
Yet, even after waiting for some time, Sudirja, their king, said nothing about punishment.
They saw what he did instead—Sudirja erased the formula on the ground. He slashed and scraped the soil with his sword until not a single trace of the formula remained.
They saw no sign their king would impose punishment, but still, they were deeply afraid. Until one of them gathered the courage to speak.
“Your Majesty,” one of the Lindru guards called out.
“What is it?” Sudirja asked.
“Will Your Majesty sentence us to death?” the guard asked.
Sudirja was puzzled by the guard’s behavior. But as he looked at the one who spoke, he could clearly see the depth of fear in his posture.
And it wasn’t just one of them. All the Lindru temple guards were the same. From their stances, two contrasting things were visible: fear and courage.
“Why do you say that?” Sudirja asked.
“B-because we have committed a mistake,” the guard stammered.
“Why should I execute you,” Sudirja continued, “if you promise never to do it again? Then there is no need for punishment.”
Upon hearing this, the two contrasting feelings vanished. Replaced by relief. They were grateful—they would not be executed.
“Then what about the next leader of the Lindru temple?” a sudden voice spoke. Sudirja knew it belonged to his alter—William.
“You’re right, the temple leader is no more,” Sudirja pondered, then turned to the Lindru temple guards. “It seems I must take back my words—you will still receive punishment.”
Instantly, the faces of the Lindru temple guards turned pale. Fear overtook them again, sweat dripping down their foreheads.
“We are ready to face execution, Your Majesty,” one guard said, trembling and staring at the ground.
“The punishment is not death. But you are forbidden from becoming the temple leader or even a deputy,” Sudirja declared.
Suddenly, Arga appeared in the middle of Sudirja and the Lindru guards. Clearly, it was not the real Arga—only a clone.
“What is it, Arga?” Sudirja asked.
“A report from one of the royal guards, my brother-in-law and my king,” Arga replied.
“What is it?” Sudirja asked.
“Something strange has happened in a certain village,” Arga answered.
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