Chapter 146 – The Rift

A new gate had appeared in Pyongyang, connected to the Land of the Divine Tree.

Naturally, it was a significant and concerning event, but for now, the priority was to bring the hero and the saintess back.

Leaving the shattered battlefield behind, we headed to Daejeon.

We traveled by hovercraft from Gunsan Port, up the Geum River to Sejong City.

With the demon army’s stronghold in Seoul destroyed and the advance force that had pushed down to the Nakdong River now reaching Busan, we were able to safely return to Daejeon.

The Daejeon expedition base, which had been renovated into a safe zone and turned into the expeditionary force headquarters, was much more fortified than before. However, the atmosphere at the Daejeon base was as bad as expected.

The U.S. forces, whose homeland had been devastated, were considering withdrawal, and the expeditionary force, having learned that the newly sent hero had given the Demon King an opening with his grand magic, was busy pointing fingers and assigning blame.

The weakness of the allied forces, formed by the collaboration of multiple nations, had been exposed.

When everyone was on the brink of destruction or when we were winning, there were no issues. But in a situation where each country faced no immediate danger, division was inevitable.

“The operation was led by the Empire. Most of the hero’s party sent to the Demon King were Imperial soldiers.”

“Are you saying that now? You sent a few knights as a decoy, and now the Empire is the one suffering the most!”

“Did anyone force you? That grand operation ended up helping the Demon King, and now you have the nerve to speak?”

Even as we reported, nobles and advisors from the Empire and other kingdoms were busy blaming each other.

In such a situation, it was hard to expect a warm welcome.

But it didn’t matter.

After all, my job was to return the hero and the saintess to the Empire.

If they could receive proper training and fight the Demon King, that would be enough.

That’s what I thought, but things didn’t go as planned.

Upon arriving in Daejeon, the hero and the saintess stubbornly refused to cross the gate.

“I won’t go back. I haven’t even had a proper fight with the Demon King. If I return like this, I’ll feel guilty towards those who died fighting alongside me.”

The hero gave a heroic reason, but the young saintess was different.

“I won’t go back. Everyone is trying to kill me. If I go back, I’ll die.”

The saintess clung to the hero’s arm, her face filled with fear.

It was a ridiculous sight, but it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

The allied forces, or rather the Imperial family, had sent the hero and the saintess to the Demon King without proper training.

The party that went with them wasn’t a proper hero’s party but a hastily assembled group of mages and knights.

Even as a third party, I could see that the newly formed hero’s party had issues.

Moreover, upon hearing of their failure, they immediately resorted to nuclear strikes.

This was no different from admitting that the allied forces and the U.S. had used the hero’s party as bait.

Furthermore, the saintess wasn’t a commoner but an Imperial princess.

Using a princess as bait was no different from saying they wanted to kill her for political reasons.

If that was the case, it might be difficult for her to safely return to the Imperial capital.

It was a regrettable situation, but I had no intention of helping further.

I had done my part, more than enough.

The rest was up to the hero to solve.

I had gone through all this trouble to distance myself from the higher-ups, and I had no reason to jump back into the fray.

That’s what I thought, but things didn’t go as I expected.

The hero latched onto me.

“I heard that you were supposed to be the hero, sir. They said you were from this world, so I became the hero instead.”

“I’m still lacking. I need to learn more swordsmanship.”

“If you’re a hero candidate, you must remember your past life, right? Aren’t you from the same world as me?”

The hero refused to cross the gate and instead followed me around, asking questions.

People’s eyes followed us, and I needed to find a way to avoid their gazes.

But those gazes didn’t last long.

Because even bigger events kept happening.

These events weren’t as shocking as the satellites falling and destroying countless cities and military bases, but for some, they were just as horrifying.

As I was considering escaping to Jeju Island to avoid the hero, I was summoned by the expeditionary force commander, Count Richard.

Although the falling satellites had turned many cities into wastelands and wiped out most of this world’s military power, the expeditionary force in Daejeon remained largely unchanged.

The main reason was that no satellites had fallen in Daejeon, but for the expeditionary forces from Ea, the destruction of this world didn’t feel real.

Having come to this world and seen it completely devastated by the Demon King, the destruction of other cities by satellites didn’t resonate with them.

So, they took the news from Ea more seriously.

Summoned by the commander, I met the count in his room. The nobleman, usually composed, looked pale as he explained the situation.

“The gate connecting Ea to the Land of the Divine Tree has stopped working.”

On the day the satellites fell and a new gate appeared in Pyongyang, the gate connecting Ea to the Land of the Divine Tree ceased to function.

“A new gate appeared in Pyongyang, and the gate in Ea stopped working? That gate was supposed to be a replica, a new gate.”

The gate here in Daejeon was also created by mages who had studied the Demon King’s gate.

The gate here was made by mages, so the Demon King couldn’t interfere with it like before.

Unless… Could it be?

“We’ve been using the gate the demon army used.”

Instead of the nobleman, Zahina spoke up.

“What? You’ve been using that gate all this time?”

At my words, Zahina shook her head slightly, but the nobleman seemed confused by my reaction.

“That gate was abandoned by the demon army, and we’ve been using it without any issues. There was no reason not to use a functioning gate.”

“But now there’s a problem.”

“Yes, so we need to find a solution.”

I sighed at the nobleman’s words.

After traveling with Zahina, I had forgotten how frustrating it was to talk to other nobles.

“Isn’t there a magic circle that’s stopped? Can’t the mages recreate it?”

“The mages say they can’t recreate it because there’s no target pointing to the Land of the Divine Tree.”

The answers to my questions were equally frustrating.

They didn’t replicate the gate, didn’t create a backup target, what exactly had they been doing?

The more I talked, the more it felt like I was eating sweet potatoes endlessly.

So, my words came out harsher.

“Unfortunate as it is, I don’t see how this concerns us.”

Despite my harsh tone, the count didn’t get angry.

Instead, he turned to look at a man standing in the corner.

David, who had been standing in the corner, stepped forward.

“Strange phenomena have been observed in the cities and military bases where the satellites fell.”

He placed a tablet on the table and showed us a series of photos.

They weren’t satellite images but photos taken by people at the crash sites.

Large craters and destroyed cities.

And above the craters, shimmering rifts.

Rifts?

“These are photos of meteor craters from the satellites that fell recently. We barely managed to receive them through surviving communication satellites.”

Photos of destroyed LA, Washington, and New York all showed rifts within the meteor craters.

“Unfortunately, the informants who took these photos are no longer reachable. They must have been turned into undead.”

As I looked at the photos while listening to David’s explanation, the count spoke up.

“The mages say these are dimensional rifts. The satellites, wrapped in mana, struck the ground and created weak points in the dimension. They say it’s also because of the Demon King’s actions, but that’s beyond my knowledge.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Entities that shouldn’t exist in our world have been spotted near the rifts. Walking flowers, rolling stones, and people with long ears.”

“Were there children of the Divine Tree?”

“Yes. An informant in the U.S. found a zombified child of the Divine Tree near the New York meteor crater.”

As the count spoke, David displayed a photo on the screen.

A walking corpse with gray skin. A zombie.

But unlike other zombies, this one had long ears.

“That’s definitely our kind.”

Zahina didn’t need to confirm it.

Its appearance and clothing clearly identified it as a noble.

In the photo, the zombified noble walked through the destroyed streets of New York.

Dimensional rifts where the satellites had fallen, and a zombified noble appearing in New York.

I began to understand why the count had summoned us.

“You want us to go to New York and check if the rift is truly connected to the Land of the Divine Tree?”

“Exactly. Frankly, we hope you can cross through the rift to the Land of the Divine Tree and become the target for a new gate.”

It wasn’t just about checking.

Just as we had stayed behind to become the target for this dimension when the Demon King destroyed the gate, this time the nobles wanted us to become their target.

“No matter how I think about it, you’re the only ones who can do this.”

Well, the count wasn’t wrong.

Even I couldn’t think of anyone else to send.

We had experience, and our party included the daughter of the Divine Tree.

We also had Yerim, a member of this world’s party, and though the count didn’t know it, I had memories of a past life, so going to the U.S. wouldn’t be a problem.

Being separated from the hero’s party wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t eager to jump into danger.

My magic pouch was filled with gold, so there was no reason to risk my life.

If I had to choose between going to a zombie-infested U.S. after the satellites fell or escaping to Jeju Island, I’d rather go to Jeju.

Just as I was about to refuse, David pushed the tablet towards me.

Instead of the zombified noble, another photo appeared on the screen.

A photo of an underground vault filled with gold bars.

“This is the underground vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. There are 6,000 tons of gold bars inside that couldn’t be retrieved.”

David showed me the photo of the gold and continued.

“This is a request from the U.S. government. They want you to safely transport the bonds, securities, and gold from the New York vault to a secure location. The U.S. government won’t mind some losses during the process.”

At David’s words, I closed my mouth, which had been about to refuse.

Unlike the nobles, the Americans knew exactly what I wanted.