Chapter 161

The fish-people scattered and fled in all directions.

After that, an eerily peaceful dive continued.

-We’re at the 8-kilometer depth mark.

Even though they were under Gyeolli’s protection, coming down this deep made even the 5th Circle mages look a little uncomfortable. They had practically covered themselves with magical devices prepared for underwater combat, but the physical and psychological pressure of 8 kilometers underwater was tremendous.

The only consolation was the lighting from the submarines carrying the rear guard behind us.

“Whoooooa!”

Right about then, a breathtaking vista began that instantly swept away all the suffocating feelings. From the pitch-black depths of the ocean like outer space, a dim light rose up. Gates, stairs, wherever dimensions twisted—the appearance of ancient ruins that invariably existed in such places.

Whether it had been built as an underwater city from the beginning, the city naturally extended its branches into the water like seaweed or an octopus. Long corridors swayed here and there following the currents without any supporting pillars, and massive buildings moved slowly up and down.

Had it been deliberately suppressing its presence until now? Once observed, the city’s previously faint light suddenly became brilliant. Every road, every corridor, every building lit up with colorful illuminations like a festival scene, and a glowing dome that seemed to mark the city’s boundaries suddenly appeared and spread before us.

-An underwater city? Good heavens! This is the city that was managed by the administrative ego Mister Nemo!

Nadia’s voice struck my ears.

-Attempting to connect to the underwater city via emergency channel. Connecting… I can’t connect. It’s completely blocked! I couldn’t find Mister Nemo in the Shadow Library either… Don’t tell me that mister… died?

Had she been quite close to the ego called Nemo? Nadia’s voice trembled with anxiety.

Seriously, instead of being cold and rational, these egos are all showing nothing but emotional instability…

“Calm down, Nadia. Anyway, you’re saying you can’t sense the ego called Nemo, right? Then in the worst-case scenario, it’s possible the enemies have seized control of the underwater city’s systems?”

That would be no ordinary matter.

I clearly remember how terrifyingly destructive the defense system of just Arsenal #7 was. But if the underwater city’s systems were to turn hostile against us?

It couldn’t help but be a chilling possibility.

-If there really is an entity called an Outer God behind Ragnarok, it’s not impossible. Don’t hesitate to use <Sanctuary Declaration> if necessary.

Fortunately, we also had the protection of Floating Island equivalent to the underwater city. I felt we could at least prevent being helplessly overwhelmed.

Even so,

My hair stands on end.

Heat rises feverishly despite the ice-cold seawater.

‘Right. What I feared wasn’t those fish-people.’

The tremendous forces Beatrice had revealed hadn’t shown even a glimpse yet, and the power hidden behind them… remained completely unimaginable.

Even the Magic Emperor with his indescribable power hadn’t directly subjugated Ragnarok. There might be some secret weapon somewhere here that had stopped his advance.

-This is strange, though. I’m not detecting any life signs at all.

Nadia’s voice broke my reverie.

Come to think of it, that’s right. The city was brightly lit, but there was no trace of presence anywhere. Realizing this fact sent a chill down my spine.

No one blocking our path?

Is it a trap? What’s lurking up ahead?

I gazed down at the underwater city intently.

Even my eyes, which could read magical power and mana, couldn’t detect anything.

[Magic Eye]

Even using [Magic Eye] was the same. Just an empty city.

“Sis.”

“I don’t… see anything special either.”

Yuria looked around and came to the same conclusion.

Strange?

It really can’t be completely empty… What’s going on?

“Hmm… This is an unexpected development. Should we retreat for now?”

Wizard of Refinement Oh Si-jin asked cautiously.

I shook my head.

“We have to go in. If we can’t break through now, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to break through later.”

Not knowing the Outer God’s plans, time wasn’t on our side.

Of course, I have no intention of sticking my head into a tiger’s den completely blind.

* * *

In the deep sea, about 5 kilometers north of the underwater city.

Wizards, calamities, and fish-people were gathered, preparing for battle against Pathfinder.

“Report the situation.”

At the skull-masked elder’s command, a senior inquisitor in dark red robes quickly responded.

“Yes. We’ve used the underwater city’s barrier to conceal the presence of ‘Deep Sea Calamity – Solaris.’ As the Prophet prophesied, the enemies haven’t noticed the calamity’s ambush.”

“Hehe. The barrier protects humans from calamities, but they never dreamed the barrier would hide a calamity from them instead.”

“Yes. And you said that ‘Deep Sea Calamity – Solaris’ is the perfect counter to the <Saíl> spell that Pathfinder’s brat uses.”

“That’s right. And?”

“Yes. The underwater city’s defense system is also perfectly prepared. As the Prophet prophesied, the moment ‘Deep Sea Calamity – Solaris’ crushes them, the defense system will activate and turn them all into sea dust.”

“Excellent. Then we just need to step in and finish off any who try to escape. Not a single one will live to see sunlight again.”

“Everything will flow according to the prophecy.”

“Yes. Just as it always has.”

The skull-masked elder wiggled his fingers as if unable to contain his excitement.

“Come, come, hurry and charge in, you vermin.”

His eyes pierced through the deep sea’s darkness and fixed on Pathfinder floating above the distant underwater city.

But then?

“Huh? Are those bastards pulling back their forces now?”

“Ah! One of them is diving solo into the underwater city! It looks like the brat called Baek Jun-woo!”

“Hmm… He’s going ahead to try using <Saíl> first? He’s using his little brain. But that won’t stop the promised destruction. Come, it’s festival time! All forces prepare for assault!”

“Ready!”

At the command, formations aligned with military precision. A bizarre army of mixed humans, calamities, and fish-people stretched in the deep sea.

Whether human or monster, their faces all wore sneers.

* * *

While looking down at the empty underwater city, Wizard of Debt Shilo de Medissa slyly asked.

“But didn’t you say Ragnarok has something called Mimir’s Well? The treasure that reveals the future… Then shouldn’t we assume our tactics are already exposed?”

The mystical well that supposedly gives answers about past, present, and future. The ominous well presumed to be a gateway connected to the Outer God.

Shilo de Medissa seems reluctant to enter the underwater city.

But in my opinion, ‘Mimir’s Well’ is all talk and no substance.

“Mimir’s Well? That’s not reason enough to fear Ragnarok.”

“Hmm… I acknowledge you’re much stronger than I expected. But don’t you understand how terrifying it is to be able to know the future?”

Shilo de Medissa looked down at me with contemptuous eyes. But I replied without even looking at him.

“As long as I’m here, they can’t read our future.”

Without realizing it, a sneer crosses my lips.

As the master of [Simulation], I can state with certainty.

They absolutely, absolutely cannot know.

‘Just as I can’t fully know them, they can’t completely figure me out either.’

Mimir’s Well isn’t even in my calculations of variables to begin with.

We’ll see when we face them.

Ignoring the grumbling Shilo de Medissa, I calmly assessed my current power.

My current level is 6th Circle 5-star.

The insights from the recent forum laid the groundwork, but I haven’t ascended to 7th Circle yet. Also, due to insufficient systematic study of Ki-blood magic, I haven’t reached 6-star either. However, I’m confident I can overwhelm 7th Circle in combat.

‘My memorized spells are… sufficient too.’

Currently, my third Circle has exactly nineteen teeth. That means my memorized spell limit is also nineteen. It’s much more than before, but considering that ordinary 6th Circle wizards have nearly thirty memorize slots, it’s quite lacking. It’s a disadvantage from developing both Circle and Ki-blood simultaneously… but for me, it wasn’t really a meaningful disadvantage.

[5-Chain Spatial Leap] X 3

[Time Reversal] X 5

[Time Acceleration] X 1

[Magic Eye] X 2

[Wish] X 2

<Rainbow Shield> X 2

<Sunrise> X 2

<God-Slaying Lightning> X 2

Nineteen memorized spells packed tight. With five [Time Reversal] spells among them… I shouldn’t run out of spells.

There shouldn’t be any situation where I’d die either.

I looked down at the underwater city again.

Still nothing visible. But… I have the best detection spell available.

I made up my mind. I’ll use one [Time Reversal] right here, right now!

I squeezed out all my magical power and manifested my gift.

The target is the entire ocean before my eyes!

[Simulation]

Conditional Load: 7,658,550 Jun-woo: Deep Sea Calamity – Solaris (706,057 Jun-woo), Underwater City (6,347,440 Jun-woo), Nadia (703,707 Jun-woo), Baek Jun-woo (1 Jun-woo), Miscellaneous Environment (1,355 Jun-woo)

Simulation Capacity: 10,175,377 simuls

Time Limit: 1 minute 18 seconds.

Ha!

I knew it.

Though invisible to my eyes and undetectable by [Magic Eye], something was hidden in the deep sea. ‘Deep Sea Calamity – Solaris.’ An opponent with a conditional load of 700,000 Jun-woo. A calamity equivalent to a 7th Circle wizard.

I thoroughly analyze the opponent through [Simulation].

“Now, Nadia. Support my cognitive abilities. I’ll figure out everything about that monster and the underwater city within a minute.”

-Understood!

I haven’t achieved 7th Circle yet. But I’ve laid the groundwork.

What that means is… while I can’t create a magical neural network with my power alone, I can borrow cognitive abilities like Nadia’s.

Nadia’s cognitive abilities, while far short of divine level, could be called ‘god-like.’

In the [Simulation], Baek Jun-woo charges toward the underwater city. ‘Deep Sea Calamity – Solaris’ attacks Baek Jun-woo. I observe this from a third-person perspective and analyze everything before my eyes together with Nadia.

I was able to figure out their plan before even a minute passed.

‘Immeasurably massive size. A deep sea calamity that parasitizes seawater itself and endlessly proliferates to grow its body…’

‘Solaris’ was a calamity perfectly optimized to counter <Saíl>. Even if part of its body was hit by <Saíl>, it could just cut off that part and proliferate again.

So,

I wore another sneer inwardly.

‘Mimir’s Well, you say?’

How naive.

Seeing the future ultimately means observing the Akashic Records in some way. But observing the Akashic Records is something I can do too. If they read me, then I read them as well.

What happens when prophecy clashes with prophecy?

‘I don’t know about other things, but it won’t go according to your plan.’

[Simulation End]

I had my answer. To deal with ‘Solaris,’ I needed violence extensive enough to shatter three or four underwater cities at once.

Crack-.

[Time Reversal]

I instantly shook off the recoil from using my gift to its limit and shouted.

“Everyone fall back! Keep over a kilometer distance and deploy defensive spells!”

Everyone retreats in perfect formation. Seeing the properly distanced battle line, I extended my right arm.

‘Didn’t think I’d use this so soon?’

Actually, prophecy through the Akashic Records has many flaws.

The clash of prophecies I mentioned earlier,

And one more thing…

Events not yet recorded in the Akashic Records also twist the results of prophecy.

Events not yet recorded…

For instance, a spell being demonstrated for the first time in the world.

[Traaaansportaaation!]

An object that had been peacefully sleeping in the cube’s dimensional workshop crossed dimensions and was grasped in my hand.

I hurled my body toward the calamity hiding among the underwater city below.

No doubt about it.

This single strike will leave a new record in the Akashic Records!