Chapter Season 2 741

Peran, Yang In-hyun, and the Red Knight.

The Giant Reconnaissance Party had finally been decided. Futurix left first to attend to other business, while Harun seemed intent on looking around Mount Hua since he was already there. He also said he had something to discuss with someone named Elder Heo, who had accompanied them for a time.

Just before leaving with Elder Heo, Harun spoke.

“I do not believe our predecessor’s policy was wrong.”

It was obvious whom he meant by their predecessor.

The previous Beginning Wizard, Mark Trowman. He had been one of the few beings who knew of Destruction in advance. Moreover, he and the Exile, who had played a decisive role in creating the Half King, were likely the only two who had even prepared countermeasures against it.

“The world is vast. And I defined a mage as one capable of accepting the true nature of things exactly as they are. In other words, a mage must view the world from a broader perspective, but such training is little different from advanced spiritual cultivation. The more you try to embrace, the harder it becomes to discern right from wrong. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Not really.”

“It means that the closer you come to the truth, the more of your humanity you lose.”

Harun’s voice was solemn. Peran’s master was always solemn by nature, but this time it felt distinctly different.

Peran did not know why, but he felt that this was the most important lesson Harun had ever given him.

“Self-Righteousness is precisely the path we must pursue. It is the beam of a lighthouse barely visible through a storm, a single ray of moonlight shining through the branches of a dark forest. Only by holding on to your Self-Righteousness can you avoid losing yourself.”

“I’m sorry, Master. I don’t quite understand what you mean...”

“You need not understand now. There is no set time for teaching, but understanding comes in its own time.”

Harun smiled gently as he spoke.

“I hope you return unharmed, Peran.”

“...Yes.”

Peran’s chest suddenly tightened, but he forced himself not to show it and nodded.

“I promise I will.”

Their target was the giant in the west, the Fourth Destruction. It was the one Yang In-hyun had encountered.

There was no need to pinpoint the Fourth Destruction’s location. From anywhere in the world, one only had to keep heading west to encounter it eventually.

Yang In-hyun unfolded a map.

Though calling it a map was almost laughable. Most of the broad sheet of drawing paper was blank. It seemed to have been drawn around the King’s Castle, the Magic Planet, and Mount Hua, but Peran could tell it was not professionally made.

“I drew it.”

Yang In-hyun briefly revealed the map’s origin.

Peran praised himself for having the restraint not to snicker and nodded.

“The King’s Castle, where the Half King resides, stands at the exact center of the world. The two giants appear to be advancing slowly toward it from opposite ends.”

That was something Peran naturally already knew. Rather than sharing information, Yang In-hyun seemed to be reaffirming what they both understood.

“About a month has passed since the giants appeared. So far, they have trampled roughly one-sixth of the Unified World. In other words, they have continued destroying the world without deviating in the slightest from the speed of advance we first observed.”

“Yes. At this rate, exactly five months from now, the two giants will have destroyed the world and be standing before the King’s Castle.”

But why had he suddenly brought that up...?

Peran gave him a questioning look, and Yang In-hyun replied.

“I simply wanted to confirm it.”

“Mm. I see.”

“Let us return to the subject. This is the route we will take.”

Yang In-hyun’s finger landed directly below the Magic Planet, naturally indicating south. Peran tilted his head.

“Is there something there?”

“Michael.”

“Ah!”

As commander of the Southeast Army, Peran was familiar with the Unified World’s key figures. If one traced Michael’s origins, he even hailed from the same world as Peran. The fact that he was the same being as Lord, the Demigod who had tried to rule the world, was troubling... but what mattered now was not that uncomfortable truth. It was his Authority.

“His Authority over Space. Do you intend to use it to travel near the giant?”

“Not directly beside it. We will travel to a point about five days away.”

Naturally, those five days were not based on Yang In-hyun’s travel speed, but on the giant’s rate of advance. It meant that even if they stayed still, the giant would reach them in five days, and that time would grow correspondingly shorter if they closed the distance themselves.

“Is there a reason for that?”

“I asked Michael for his help before as well, then approached the giant on foot from some distance away. At the time, I began about ten days away.”

“Why?”

“...”

Yang In-hyun, who had answered every question without hesitation until then, paused for the first time. He folded the map, looked at Peran, and abruptly changed the subject.

“You seem to have a good relationship with your master.”

“What? Ah, yes.”

“I have a disciple as well.”

“I see.”

“In fact, I considered bringing him with me this time.”

“...”

The conversation felt strangely disjointed.

Peran sensed that this was because Yang In-hyun himself had not properly organized what he wanted to say. It was unexpected. Even a man like him sometimes struggled to find his way.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I regarded him as my disciple, but it seems he feels differently. Apparently, I have yet to earn his acknowledgment.”

“Ah...”

That was unexpected too.

Of course, Peran could hardly judge a man he had only just met, but the Yang In-hyun he had seen seemed far removed from a terrible master. Was the disciple the troublesome one?

“You and the current Beginning Wizard appeared to have an ideal master-disciple relationship.”

“...Do we?”

“Was I mistaken?”

Yang In-hyun asked when Peran gave him an ambiguous look.

“No, not exactly... But to borrow my master’s words, it is the master, not the disciple, who guides a master-disciple relationship.”

“What does that mean?”

“He says a disciple will inevitably seem inept in the eyes of their master. Everything they do looks clumsy, and there is always more they must be taught. Even when the disciple occasionally does something endearing, the master still finds it hard to look upon them fondly, so how could anyone become a master without an extraordinary amount of patience?”

“Mm.”

“And since the master must pass their most secret knowledge on to that irksome fool, the first thing they need is generosity as vast as the sea. A foolish disciple frustrates them and earns their dislike, while an intelligent disciple inspires jealousy and earns their dislike. So the second thing they need is the composure not to reveal their emotions.”

“That is a rather self-centered view.”

“Well, that is one of the qualities of a mage from the Magic Planet.”

Peran did not know why he was repeating the sophistry Harun occasionally spouted, but somehow, he felt these were words Yang In-hyun needed to hear.

“So how a disciple treats their master depends entirely on the master’s patience. If our relationship appears ideal to you, sir, then that is surely because my master is remarkable.”

“I see. You mean I must devote more care to becoming a master worthy of respect.”

Yang In-hyun seemed to be taking the words more seriously than expected, so Peran could not help adding something.

“...Mm. My master is more rational than anyone, but he occasionally indulges in sophistry. Please take his words with a grain of salt.”

Yang In-hyun laughed silently, then spoke in a low voice.

“You asked why I started from a point ten days away. The reason is simple. I had never had the leisure to look around the world before. Perhaps I simply wanted to wander at an easy pace. Foolish, is it not? The world has already been destroyed.”

“...”

“Peran, I have a mission more important to me than death. I must complete the Everlasting Plum Sword and find my reason for living.”

Yang In-hyun spoke with a faint smile.

“If the situation becomes so dire that we cannot exchange even a single word, remember what I just told you.”

After stopping at the ‘Underground City’ where Michael resided, they used his Authority to travel to a location five days away from the giant.

They arrived on a plain that was little different from a wasteland, its ground cracked as though it had suffered an extreme drought. All manner of ominous things drifted through the hazy sky. To Peran, they looked sometimes like ashes and sometimes like winged demons. He felt a strange aversion to observing them more closely and looked away.

Taking his eyes off the sky, Peran asked a short question.

“Did you pass through this place as well, sir?”

“It would seem so.”

It was an ambiguous answer.

“What do you mean?”

“It was not like this the last time I came. This was a forest with a stream flowing through lush greenery...”

“What?”

The place could hardly support a single weed, let alone lush vegetation. Even by the most generous estimate, less than two weeks had passed since Yang In-hyun came through here. Could a forest with a running stream become a wasteland in such a short time?

Feeling inexplicably uneasy, Peran muttered.

“Could you be mistaken?”

“No.”

Yang In-hyun calmly surveyed their surroundings as he spoke.

“Before, it was only a theory, but now I am certain. The giant’s influence does not extend solely to the places it has already trampled. It appears to affect the path ahead of it in advance as well.”

“Ah.”

“From what I can tell, the giant’s influence becomes visible to the naked eye at a distance of roughly five days. Of course, changes like these cannot happen all at once, so it must already be exerting some subtle influence over a wider area.”

“...We had no idea when we observed it.”

Yang In-hyun nodded.

“That is one of the giant’s defining traits. How does it feel to experience it firsthand?”

“Honestly, I’m afraid.”

Yang In-hyun gazed farther into the distance.

“You will grow even more afraid from here on.”

“What do you mean?”

“For now, let us walk a little farther.”

Yang In-hyun took the lead. He seemed to be in something of a hurry. It had to be Peran’s imagination. If he truly wished to hurry, there would have been no reason to begin five days away.

The group continued along the empty, desolate road for some time.

No conversation passed between them. Yang In-hyun was taciturn to begin with, and the Red Knight was even more so. Peran was neither particularly outgoing nor withdrawn, but the oppressive atmosphere made it hard for him to speak.

How long had they been walking?

Yang In-hyun suddenly stopped.

“Sir?”

“From this point on, stay more alert.”

Was there something nearby?

Peran narrowed his eyes and surveyed every direction, but he could see nothing in particular.

“That is not what he means.”

Just then, he heard a stern voice.

“Do not look with your eyes. Listen, mage.”

The words came not from Yang In-hyun, but from the Red Knight. Her distinctive ears were noticeably perked up. Peran stared at her face for a moment, then nodded.

Following her advice, he began to listen more closely.

...

...

...Thump...

A faint, indistinct sound came from somewhere unimaginably far away.

The more closely he listened, the clearer it became. Before he knew it, Peran had even closed his eyes in concentration.

And then...

THOOOOM!

“...!”

It sounded as though an explosive had detonated right beside his ear.

Goosebumps rose across his entire body, while all the strength holding him upright drained away.

The chill nearly made his mind go blank.

A distant boom, like the rumble of thunder and lightning, or perhaps something even greater.

It was not difficult for Peran to recognize the sound.

It was the sound of the giant’s footsteps.

*****

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