Chapter 32: (an unknown era) 1,999,999 Years Before Zero : I hope Pangea gets a happy ending!!!

"Cough, cough... cough... achoo!"

The sound of coughing kept repeating from Ryu, whose eyes were watery and red. The cold wind blew across his entire body, searching for gaps between his four layers of clothing that were now beginning to be pierced.

Laughter followed from behind Ryu. There, Van was squatting while leaning against the ship’s mast, smoking his cigarette.

"Good grief... it’s already been one month and you’re still not used to it? I even wanted to give you a few cartons as a farewell gift."

Ryu turned around and looked at Van, who was squatting in yellow shorts and a white T-shirt even though the same cold wind was hitting both of them.

Ryu tried taking another drag from his cigarette before throwing it away.

"No need... I don’t like it."

Van held back the laughter that was about to escape.

"Pffft... says the person who finishes one pack of cigarettes a day."

Ryu inhaled the air even though his nose was blocked with mucus. He wiped his constantly runny nose.

"How much farther? I can’t take it anymore..." Ryu looked down at the ship’s deck. There, hundreds of elves together with dwarves and beastmen were huddled together because of the cold, while the blue ocean with millions of floating ice chunks could be seen beneath the flying wooden ship.

Van let out a sigh and took one last drag from his cigarette before putting it out.

He stood beside Ryu while looking ahead, where there was nothing but the sea and floating ice.

"I deliberately dragged this out so you wouldn’t miss me later... but if you’ve already reached your limit... let’s stop here."

Ryu looked at Van with a pale expression, his nose red, his breath coming out as white mist.

"You crazy human, was that really your only reason for making us suffer by escorting you this far?"

Ryu raised his hand and closed his eyes. Instantly, the giant sail connected to the ship’s mast stopped fluttering, and the ship came to a halt.

Weak cheers could be heard from below.

Van and Ryu jumped down onto the deck, where hundreds of figures from various races were beginning to stand.

From inside the control room, Kalula, Bartaz, Bong, Dorn, Cheetah, and Elena stepped outside, their bodies looking slightly larger because of their layered clothes.

Kalula’s lips trembled slightly, and white mist escaped from his mouth as he spoke.

"What’s wrong? We still can’t see land..."

Van shrugged while yawning, pointing at Ryu beside him with his thumb.

"This is far enough... Ryu can’t take it anymore."

Kalula blinked several times. He opened and closed his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Instead, the crowd of different races that had been weak and exhausted suddenly erupted like a mob.

"You damned human!! You said you wanted us to escort you, but only this far?!"

"You should’ve said that from the beginning, bastard!! We could’ve frozen to death before getting back!!"

"He’s really crazy..."

Van chuckled while raising both hands apologetically.

Elena stepped toward Van, her smile looking crooked.

"So this is where we part...? You really don’t want to come with us first?"

Van nodded several times with a faint smile.

"Yeah... I’ve already said it dozens of times. I’ll stay here for now and watch that gate of hell... well, if you want to visit, just come."

Dorn clicked his tongue after hearing that.

"You think creating that portal is easy?"

Van shrugged while chuckling.

"Then make it now so you can all leave sooner..."

Dorn stroked his beard and shouted to the hundreds of other races and everyone on the deck.

"Let’s do it now!! Everyone!!"

Van blinked several times. His gray eyes widened as he watched what happened next.

A large bucket was placed among them, while they took turns cutting the palms of their hands to gather their blood into one container.

Van frowned, his face slightly grimacing at the sight.

"Seriously? That’s how you open the portal?"

Kalula turned toward Van while walking to the bucket and slicing his own hand as if nothing had happened.

"So what?"

Van swallowed and scratched his forehead that wasn’t itchy.

"That’s a bit excessive... I mean, doesn’t your lord open the portal?"

Kalula nodded several times. He walked back toward Van, leaving behind the bucket that was becoming surrounded by more and more people.

"He does..." Kalula took out a glass bottle from his jacket pocket and shook it to show Van. Inside was a clear liquid that looked just like ordinary water. "This is our lord’s blood... he gave it to us through droplets from stalactites inside a cave..."

Van narrowed his eyes to look at the clear liquid that looked exactly like water.

"Are you sure that’s blood? It looks just like normal water..."

Kalula shrugged.

"Our lord said it’s his blood... why? Doesn’t it make sense? After all, we managed to get here, didn’t we? Does blood dripping from stalactites make sense?"

Van rubbed his chin while combing back his golden hair that had become cold after being blown by the freezing wind again and again.

"I’ve seen so many miraculous things... you really are fantasy races..."

Thousands of figures from various races finally finished offering a little of their blood. Kalula dropped a single drop of the clear liquid into the bucket full of blood. Then he lifted it, and his lips moved, chanting a spell that no one could hear.

He walked to the edge of the deck and poured the blood into the sea filled with floating ice fragments of all shapes.

Van stood at the edge of the ship not far from Kalula, curious about the portal connecting two worlds. He even prepared his camera to preserve the miraculous moment.

The blood that touched the cold seawater slowly dissolved. The already wavy sea became increasingly violent.

The seawater trembled. Slowly, a small whirlpool appeared where the blood had dissolved. It grew larger and larger, swallowing the floating ice around it.

The whirlpool kept expanding until it became far larger than the wooden ship carrying thousands of passengers.

Van whistled while the sound of camera shutters continuously clicked, becoming the background sound of the portal connecting two worlds.

The whirlpool finally stopped growing. Van then switched his camera to a Polaroid camera and took a selfie with the giant whirlpool behind him.

A shrill voice called out to Van. It was Cheetah.

"Hey!! Hurry up and drop the Artium!!"

Van clicked his tongue because he had been interrupted while taking a selfie. He hung the camera around his neck and floated a short distance away from the ship.

Orange light burst from his right hand. From nothingness, an Artium as large as a hill slowly appeared, immediately falling into the sea and being dragged toward the center of the whirlpool.

"Shit!"

Van kept doing it until the eighth Artium disappeared into the whirlpool.

He returned to the ship while pointing toward the whirlpool.

"Hey! Is that really enough?"

Kalula chuckled, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah. If the Artium gets lost, you’ll have to replace it."

Van stared at Kalula expressionlessly while Kalula laughed.

"They’ll all arrive safely, don’t worry..." Kalula spread both arms. "Now get off the ship... we’re going in."

Van blinked several times as the cold wind grew stronger, striking the ship that now floated above the whirlpool.

Van tapped his camera several times. Seeing that, Kalula sighed and simply nodded once.

Van then created an ice clone while standing in front of it, with Kalula and Elena on either side of him. Beside Kalula and Elena stood Bartaz, Cheetah, Dorn, and Ryu, while Bong stood behind them.

The camera shutter clicked once.

Van smiled faintly and held up all ten fingers.

"Ten more times should be fine, right? Come on, let’s try a few more poses—"

Van’s words were cut off when Elena suddenly hugged him. Her thick winter jacket made her body feel soft.

Elena didn’t say anything. She simply buried her face and rubbed her cheek against Van’s white T-shirt.

Van swallowed. He only patted Elena’s shoulder, but she refused to let go until Ryu forcefully pulled her away.

Ryu also hugged Van and whispered into his ear.

"Where are the cigarettes? Give me the raspberry and mint ones..."

Van chuckled. He pinched the air, and three carts filled with all kinds of cigarettes appeared.

Ryu immediately let go of Van and started checking the cigarettes like an elf who had become addicted.

Van’s body was then lifted as Bong hugged him tightly without saying a word. Van blinked several times as Bong’s ear smashed into his face.

Dorn chuckled at the sight.

"Bong wants to know if all his storage scrolls have been filled."

Van sighed, patting Bong’s shoulder because he couldn’t reach his back.

"You damned elf and elephant! You only come to me when you want something!"

Bong finally released Van and stepped aside, his huge body no longer blocking Dorn, who stretched out his hand.

Van clenched his fist and raised it, making Dorn sigh.

The two of them bumped fists.

"Thank you for making our work easier. We only needed one year to gather all of that."

Van nodded several times while the sound of rough breathing came from Bartaz, who looked down at Van because of their height difference.

"We should’ve fought as our farewell... a fight without powers, of course."

Van clicked his tongue and sneered.

"Without potentials? No way... I don’t want to fight an angry bull without my potentials."

Bartaz smiled faintly, clenched his fist, and raised it. They also bumped fists.

"Thank you."

Van nodded once. He also quickly bumped fists with Cheetah because he could no longer endure the shrill voice.

Van then looked at the final figure. Reflected in his gray eyes was Kalula.

Kalula walked toward him and hugged Van briefly while whispering.

"Thank you. Truly. Do you really not want to come with us for a while?"

Van chuckled, his gray eyes slightly watery.

"So you’re just like Elena, huh? Are you going to propose to me too?"

Kalula didn’t answer. He simply breathed against Van’s neck, making him feel ticklish.

The cheers of thousands of other races echoed as they all shouted different things, their voices overlapping one another.

Van walked toward them and quickly took selfies with them while the cold wind continued howling.

Van laughed loudly, giving them plenty of snacks until the ship’s deck was filled with carts.

Van then turned his gaze toward Kalula, Elena, Bartaz, Dorn, Bong, Cheetah, and Ryu standing not far away.

He smiled faintly and nodded once.

"Thank you for being my first formidable opponents... I learned a lot. I hope you all win your war. I hope you all survive the Great Event... and if you can, please come here... I’ll need your advice."

The seven of them didn’t answer. They simply smiled while Ryu finally began humming.

The wind blew against the ship’s sails. Slowly, the wooden ship descended with all the other races aboard, except for Van, who floated in the air, watching the ship he had stood on drift farther and farther away.

Van’s breathing grew heavier. His lips trembled as he watched the stern of the ship slowly disappear into the whirlpool.

Van shouted one last time. He didn’t know whether his voice would reach them or not.

"I PRAY FOR ALL OF YOU!! MAY PANGEA REACH A HAPPY ENDING!! VISIT OFTEN IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!! COME ANYTIME!!"

Van’s body trembled. Tears escaped his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

"I... I’LL STILL BE ALIVE TWO MILLION YEARS FROM NOW!!!"