SWNOVELXO Chapter 461
Liche was completely taken aback by my words, her eyes wide with shock as she repeated my statement.
“We’re closing the gate?”
“It’s simple math. We couldn’t stop the gate from opening. So, the next best thing is to close it again. Like picking up food that fell on the ground within three seconds—same logic.”
It was true that the gate had opened.
But just because the gate opened didn’t mean the transfer would start immediately. There was about a ten-minute window before the transfer would fully complete.
If we could close the gate within that time, we could prevent the collapse of the dimension.
The fact that the world hadn’t collapsed yet, even with the gate open, was proof of that.
“Wait, picking up food from the ground is a bit… Hold on, you said we failed to stop the gate from opening!? Can you explain that part in more detail, Kurt!?”
“Sorry, but I’ll explain it to you slowly later.”
The others, who had been frozen in time by the wraith’s spell, were confused by the sudden conversation between me and Liche. Unfortunately, there was no time to explain the situation to them one by one.
Thankfully, Liche, the only one among us who understood the situation, was also our most skilled mage. She quickly grasped what I was trying to say and nodded.
Even though the situation was dire, our hope wasn’t completely crushed.
“Then our top priority is figuring out how to close the gate. Kurt, do you know how to close it?”
“Nope. That’s something you, the mage, should figure out.”
“…Huh? But didn’t you just confidently say there was a way?”
“Well, I’m just a layman when it comes to magic. I gave you the idea, so it’s up to the expert to make it happen. Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
“Of course not! Just because I’m a mage doesn’t mean I know how to stop a magic I’ve never seen before!”
“Wow, so being a mage doesn’t mean you can just throw any magic-related problem at them and expect them to solve it. This is an unexpected variable.”
“…You don’t have any other plans, do you?”
“Nope.”
Liche’s face turned pale.
…And just like that, our hope was crushed.
Then Mari, who had been listening to our conversation, raised her hand and asked me.
“Wait, if that’s the case, why don’t we just ask that ancient mage? The fact that we’re out of the time stop means we defeated them, right?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Huh? Did you kill them…?”
“No. The Black Tentacle took them.”
“What!? Did I hear that right? Black Tentacle!? Why is there suddenly a Black Tentacle!? What the heck happened while we were frozen!? Explain it to me!”
“Sorry, but I’ll explain it to you slowly later.”
Mari, who had barely managed to regain her composure at the mention of the Black Tentacle, was thrown back into confusion. Unfortunately, there was no time to explain the situation to her one by one.
“If that’s the case, we should’ve just knelt down and begged the Black Tentacle to close the gate for us.”
“No. There’s definitely a way.”
Liche not knowing how to close the gate was an unexpected hurdle, but that didn’t mean we had no way to close it.
The Black Tentacle’s reaction clearly hinted that there was a way for us to stop the gate. So, we definitely had the answer. We just hadn’t realized it yet.
This wasn’t about deducing the conclusion from reasoning. It was about deriving the reasoning from the conclusion.
Think about it.
The Spine Empire, the wraith, time stop, combat, the gate, prognostication.
….
“…!”
I suddenly looked up and stared at Lakia.
“Lakia. In the future you saw, we definitely closed the gate and prevented this world’s dimension from being torn apart, right?”
“Huh!? Kurt! What do you mean by the dimension being torn apart!? Wasn’t that gate just forcibly transferring all races except humans and beastkin to another dimension!? Please explain!”
“Sorry, but I’ll explain it to you slowly later.”
Mari was now almost in a state of delirium, but unfortunately, there was no time to explain the situation to her one by one.
Ignoring the confused Mari, I asked Lakia, and she nodded in response.
“That’s right. I definitely saw a future where we closed the gate and thwarted his plans through prognostication. But I can’t tell you how we closed the gate. Unfortunately, the future I saw was just a series of disjointed scenes, so I don’t know the exact process.”
I figured as much.
If she had known the method through prognostication, Liche and I wouldn’t have been racking our brains earlier.
“My future prognostication doesn’t work like that. If there’s a future where a problem is solved, I can see that future, but I can’t see the process of solving it. The method to solve the problem always has to be figured out on our own. If I were to peek into a future where the problem is solved and then solve it, the future where I figure out the solution would disappear, and without that, the future where the problem is solved wouldn’t exist either. It’s like a child being born without parents.”
In the end, even Lakia’s answers didn’t give us a solution. The only thing that became clear was that the answer was already within us. We just hadn’t realized it yet.
…Wait! To foresee a future where the problem is solved, the process of solving it must be included?
“Wait. Lakia. One last question. In the future you saw, did we absolutely have to fight the ancient empire’s mage?”
“Yes. For some reason, in every scene where I saw a future of saving the world, we were always fighting him.”
“…I see.”
Thinking about it, it was strange.
We didn’t ultimately win the battle against the wraith.
But the wraith was devoured by the Black Tentacle the moment the gate opened.
So, what was the point of us fighting the wraith?
If the wraith was destined to self-destruct anyway, there was no reason for us to stop it. We could’ve just waited for the wraith to open the gate and then closed it after the wraith disappeared.
But if fighting the wraith was necessary in the future where we closed the gate, then there must have been something in that battle that was essential to closing the gate.
The wraith wasn’t some final boss blocking our path.
In the end, the wraith’s interference was just a meaningless MacGuffin.
A stage prop dressed up to look important.
Like a tasteless decorative petal served alongside the main dish.
That was the essence of the battle with the wraith.
What was truly important was the key given to us during that battle.
The new facts we learned from the battle with the wraith.
That he had a time-stop magic artifact.
The contact with the Black Tentacle.
And the fact that Liche was the last royal descendant of the ancient empire.
“The final key is Liche! It was you all along!”
“Huh? Me!?”
Among those, the one truth that could only be obtained through the battle with the wraith.
That was Liche’s lineage.
The fact that the wraith had a time-stop artifact? That was already written in an old notebook. The only unexpected part was that he had it embedded in his body.
The contact with the Black Tentacle? That was information we couldn’t have known unless we were in the same place as the wraith, but the Black Tentacle had no intention of helping us.
So, the only thing left was Liche’s lineage.
The meaning of that battle was simply for the wraith to be hit by Liche’s lineage magic, which would awaken her to the fact that she was the last descendant of the Dragnity royal family.
“Liche! Chant your lineage magic at the gate!”
“Lineage magic?”
“Yes. The gate magic the wraith used was based on the Dragnity Empire’s magic. If that magic retained the Dragnity Empire’s security protocols, it would have granted control over the gate exclusively to the Dragnity Empire’s high nobles and royals. And you are the last remaining royal of the Dragnity Empire. Your authority is definitely higher than the wraith’s.”
As one piece of the puzzle fell into place, the reason why it was the correct answer became clear, and my thoughts quickly turned into certainty.
“Wait, wait, wait! Liche is a royal of the ancient empire!? What does that even mean!? Please explain!”
“Sorry, but I’ll explain it to you slowly later.”
As usual, Mari demanded an explanation, but unfortunately, there was no time to explain the situation to her one by one.
“Did something really happen while we were under the time-stop spell!?”
“Wait! Mari! Time-stop spell!? What’s that!? We were just fighting the wraith, and now he’s gone, and you’re saying all these incomprehensible things! What’s even going on!!”
“Ah, sorry, Karina. I’ll explain it to you slowly later. Unfortunately, there’s no time to explain the situation right now.”
“This is too much!”
Leaving the confused group behind, Liche stretched her hand toward the gate and began chanting the royal lineage magic.