The Choice of Possibility (1)

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

The girl spoke softly, her lips barely moving.

Behind her stretched a vast plain, dotted with patches of dense grass and the occasional wild animal darting by.

Whoosh…

It was a scene reminiscent of looking out the window of a high-speed train on Earth.

The faint sound of wind brushing past her ears was similar to the noise heard when a car window is slightly cracked open on the highway.

All these phenomena were occurring because the group, including the white-eyed seer, was moving at a speed several times faster than riding a horse.

“Whether meeting you is the right choice. If so, when should that meeting take place? And what direction will the rift in fate take as a result of that meeting…”

Her voice trailed off, yet her pure white eyes remained bright.

The halo of light behind her continued to twist and distort reality.

Dalen naturally recalled a few hours earlier.

After losing their horses to an imperial army attack, the question arose of how they could reach the labyrinth city in time. The girl had answered simply.

“It’s not too far. Shall we walk?”

Instead of seeking horses from fleeing merchants or nearby villages, she suggested they walk on foot.

It seemed absurd, considering it would take a full day on horseback to reach Falcion, but as she began to summon the halo of light, the group’s perspective changed entirely.

“By individually accelerating each timeline and distorting the concept of time for the journey, it can be done. There might be mild side effects, like muscle soreness from walking for days without rest.”

As soon as she said this, the halo enveloped the group in a hazy veil.

The result was that they were now traversing the vast plain at a speed dozens of times faster than before.

“Ho… separating the concept of timelines for each object and twisting them like this… Tommy, do you understand?”

“Yes, Master. It’s a method I never even considered. It’s astonishing.”

Low murmurs and incomprehensible discussions came from behind.

Valentino, the priest, had been closely observing the veil surrounding them since they set off.

The domain achieved by Felber upon reaching the fifth rank also involved manipulating timelines, an extraordinary power.

With that ability, he had even reversed the timeline of the azure dragon, Cheongrin. This opportunity could provide much inspiration for future endeavors.

Though the way the white-eyed seer manipulated time felt different, the rarity of time-related abilities meant it would be a valuable inspiration for them as well.

“Huff, huff…”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… huff, perfectly fine. Anyway, as I was saying…”

The problem was that the one using this power was on the verge of collapse.

It wasn’t due to the limits of the time-manipulating technique, but simply the frailty of her body, which was quite absurd.

She had mentioned that muscle soreness was a minor side effect, yet she was the one struggling the most.

The girl’s breathing grew more labored, her face increasingly pale.

Unable to watch any longer, Dalen finally chuckled and hoisted the girl over his shoulder.

“W-what are you doing!”

“Thanks to you, we’re traveling comfortably and quickly. Consider it a taxi fare.”

“A taxi… what’s that?”

“It’s like a carriage and horse made of steel.”

It wasn’t wrong to call it a taxi fare.

Thanks to the seer’s ability to foresee and manipulate timelines, the group had shortened a journey that would take a full day on horseback to just a few hours.

Without her, it was uncertain whether they could have even found horses.

In the chaos of war, there were no proper villages nearby, and merchants on the run would likely keep their horses for themselves.

“Thank you.”

The girl soon stopped struggling, took a deep breath, and continued speaking slowly.

“Anyway… you are a being that twists the flow. In every place you’ve passed, the river of fate has twisted and overflowed. I had no way of knowing if meeting you was the right thing to do.”

“But you came anyway.”

“I was only able to decide recently. It was when you sent the master of the Palace of Destruction back to his hell from the distant north.”

Though not at full volume, the seer’s voice had a strange resonance.

Her voice echoed across the vast plain, like a hum in an empty room.

“Though he chose to fall for a reckless descent, he was still the herald of the end. The fact that you killed him meant that you, as a variable, were moving with a clear purpose.”

“You sure talk in circles. You’re saying that since I killed an evil god, I’m on your side, right?”

“Let’s say I saw the possibility of avoiding a predetermined end.”

“Same difference.”

A small sigh. A quiet laugh.

He could feel the girl shaking her head behind him.

“Still, I can finally be sure now. That decision was the right one.”

“Why?”

“Vizalina Yoscov. The last queen of the northern continent entrusted her power to you.”

A faint chill seeped from the gap in the scabbard with a small gesture.

The power of Charina, engraved on the holy sword, responded gently to the seer’s authority.

“Considering she lived barely thirty years, her talent was comparable to the founders of Falcion. Yet, on the river of fate, she was like a candle in the wind.”

”…”

“Flickering precariously, her fate dramatically diverged at every juncture. But it was the first time she ever entrusted her power to someone else.”

“You seem to know Charina well.”

“Dalen, I know everyone well.”

The girl smiled.

“The only ones I don’t know are those from outside this world.”

“You mean the evil gods?”

“No. They are ultimately byproducts of this world, unable to escape fate.”

“Feels like I’m talking to a fortune teller.”

“I don’t predict the future, Dalen. I merely observe.”

Isn’t that the same thing? Dalen scratched his head and kept walking.

The group was now walking along the bronze city walls.

After crossing the Lycanth River, they headed south along the eastern side of the city.

They passed refugees streaming out through the northern gate and saw the tense guards on the eastern district walls, still untouched by attack.

‘Status window.’

―――――――

Name: Dalen

Level: 43

[Strength: 61] [Dexterity: 58] [Stamina: 52]

[Senses: 51] [Intelligence: 56] [Magic: 57]

Skills: Dehama’s Armored Combat (D), Night Vision (E), Leap (E), Flame Arrow (D), Lapantella’s Crushing Sword (C), Hegaleus’s Flame Rain (C), Shooting Lightning (D), Curse Ward’s Seal (D), Leredonara’s Secret Sword (B), Sacred Fire’s Ember (C), Crimson Dragon’s Blood (A), Key to the Gates of Hell (C), Ackerman’s Construction Method (C), Filz’s Wind Barrier (C), Fire Spear Technique (D), Living Roots (D), Rapid Germination (D), Lulia’s Spring Water (C), Soul Extraction (B), Prayer of Healing (D), Skadi’s Tidal Wave (B), Kasmar’s Red Wind (B), Sandstorm Dynasty’s Bullet (B), Dragon Bone Processing (B)

*Unique Skills (22)

――――――――

As silence lingered, Dalen naturally opened his status window.

After Sissela’s death, he had acquired three corpses. He had inherited their abilities before setting out, but he hadn’t yet distributed the attributes gained from leveling up.

‘Speaking of which, I should start researching the B-grade skills I’ve acquired recently.’

One of the two qualifications of the sixth rank, the miracle of twisting mysteries into one’s own power.

Through a blacksmith’s training based on Leredonara’s Secret Sword, Dalen had finally succeeded in grasping that qualification.

With the dragon blood steadily syncing with the spear, he felt confident that he could develop it into a unique skill given the right opportunity.

Even excluding those two skills and Dragon Bone Processing, there were still four B-grade skills, including the Sandstorm Dynasty’s Bullet.

‘Even though I’ve been busy, if I don’t make time, I’ll be swept away.’

Simply inheriting characters raised beyond the monitor and expecting to perfectly prevent the impending doom was sheer arrogance.

Only by constantly honing himself, despite the lack of time, had he managed to cross countless lines of death and reach this point.

Possibility isn’t a convenient tool that ends once discovered.

It’s only meaningful when the seed sprouts, grows, and eventually bears new fruit.

Considering the transcendent character’s abilities he would soon inherit, it would be wise to elevate Soul Extraction by at least one more level.

‘Come to think of it… I still don’t know why the vampires haven’t moved yet.’

In the normal flow of the game, the Vampire War should have erupted before the Empire declared a holy war.

The Empire’s half-hearted expansion policy caused chaos, and the unexpected eruption of that chaos was the Vampire War.

It wasn’t until the vampire count, who had been silent for four hundred years, advanced to the capital’s doorstep that the Empire shed its lukewarm and arrogant attitude and declared a holy war.

“Of course, that’s just the surface of things. In reality, it’s a cunning ploy by malevolent deities trying to sow chaos across the continent by exploiting the power struggle between the state and religion…”

Still, it’s strange how everything seems so out of order.

Ever since I landed in this world, I’ve had this nagging feeling that something’s seriously amiss.

A chill runs down my spine, snapping me back to full alertness after the chaotic battles in the north had left me momentarily lax.

But that’s a concern for after the siege is over. Dalen set aside his thoughts and allocated his remaining skill points to stamina.

“Hmm?”

A sudden movement on his shoulder. Moments later, slender fingers tapped his back.

“What is it?”

“Well, just now, your aura seemed to change…”

”…”

Damn it. Can they really see the slight increase in my stats that clearly?

It seems there’s a reason they’re called a Seer. Dalen shook his head, responding nonchalantly.

“Seeing the future must be exhausting. You start seeing things when you’re a bit tired.”

“What? Seeing things? Are you doubting my vision?”

“It’s fine. They say everyone gets like that with age. If you’ve lived a thousand years, it’s actually a bit late.”

“What on earth are you talking about…!”

The Seer was left speechless. Dalen chuckled softly and gently set her down from his shoulder, half-dazed.

After a long detour around the vast labyrinthine city, the bronze walls of the southern district came into view in the distance.

Boom. Rumble…

Smoke billowed, and the distant echoes of explosions reached them.

Arrows rained down, and cannon fire roared. Ladders and siege towers leaned against the walls. Screams and shouts filled the air. Spells flashed like lightning through the dawn.

“We’re here.”

And cutting through it all, the sharp scent of death.

The battlefield was right before them.