Chapter 83

Chapter 83, Entry

We reached a conclusion.

In the end, we decided to investigate what had happened at the exhibition in greater depth.

To do that, we first had to enter False Utopia, where the exhibition hall was located.

That was the problem.

“Arlin, could we use teleportation magic or something?”

“I've recently learned teleportation, but infiltrating a spatial-type Mystery like False Utopia is impossible with magic alone.”

“So it won't work.”

Arlin, a capable mage who could deal with most situations, firmly declared that moving there through magic was impossible.

According to her, entering a spatial Mystery by force required a Mystery specialized in intrusion.

But even after checking every Mystery possessed by me and my companions, we didn't have anything like that.

Things suddenly looked bleak.

“Then do we have to give up like this?”

We had more than enough determination, but we lacked the ability.

We had been stopped before we could even begin.

There didn't seem to be any solution.

Just as the determination burning inside us began to fade and reality started replacing our ideals, Bias suddenly raised her hand high.

Everyone looked at her.

“I think I have a way!”

After saying that, Bias rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a crumpled bundle of paper.

It was made from several thin sheets that had been crushed together.

Bias carefully flattened them one by one with her small fingers.

When about half of them had been unfolded, I realized what they were.

Black sheets of paper with [Invitation] written across them in golden cursive.

They were invitations to the Mystery Protection Association's exhibition.

And there wasn't just one.

There seemed to be at least three.

Where had she gotten those?

“Where did you get those?”

At my surprised question, Bias smiled brightly and pointed toward the Mimic sitting beside her.

When Bias stroked its lid, the Mimic stuck out its tongue and panted like a puppy.

It seemed extremely attached to her.

“The Mimic gave them to me earlier, when Dad went to meet Aunt Hwa-ryeon!”

“All three of them?”

“Yes!”

I took one of the invitations from Bias and examined it.

The texture of the paper and the contents were identical to the invitation I had seen before.

No matter how I looked at it, this was a genuine invitation.

All three of them were real.

The more I thought about it, the stranger it became.

The Mimic hadn't spat out just one, but three invitations at once.

That meant the Swallowing Mimic connected to it had swallowed three invitations together.

Could the Swallowing Mimic somehow be located inside the Mystery Protection Association's headquarters?

I couldn't know yet.

We could investigate that later.

I vigorously stroked Bias's head in gratitude, then distributed the invitations among my companions.

One invitation could transport three people at once.

Three invitations were more than enough to move our entire group.

After a short discussion, we decided Arlin and Hwa-ryeon would use one invitation, while Lee Yeonhee and I would use another.

Bias wouldn't be much help in combat, and Eriel needed to remain here to maintain the Inner World.

In terms of actual combat personnel, nothing had changed from when we fought the Company or the Order.

They were very familiar members.

“There isn't much time left before the exhibition ends. Let's prepare quickly and gather here again.”

There was only about an hour remaining before the exhibition ended, so we finished our preparations as quickly as possible and gathered again.

After making a rough plan, we immediately tore the invitations.

My body became covered in white light.

The same happened to Lee Yeonhee, who was holding my hand.

I could also see Hwa-ryeon and Arlin beside us being enveloped in light.

And once again, we entered False Utopia.

“It's the same as before.”

“It is. Let's head to the exhibition hall quickly.”

We opened our eyes on the same wide-open plain as before.

Other than the clouds being in slightly different positions, it was exactly the same place.

The exhibition hall was still faintly visible beyond the horizon.

We quickly headed toward it.

The beautiful natural scenery surrounding us remained unchanged, but none of us were distracted by it.

Unlike before, we had a purpose.

“We're here. Arlin, please scan the area.”

“There are around twenty people inside the exhibition hall. Ten of them are gathered in one place. And... I'm sensing an especially powerful presence among them.”

Arlin poured even more mana and concentration into identifying the source of that powerful presence.

Blue energy surged around her strongly enough to become visible to the naked eye.

A short while later, she opened her eyes.

“...The source is probably the Eye of Ra. I can't be certain, but the energy is coming from an object with the exact same shape as the Eye of Ra.”

Arlin's detection magic was closer to radar.

Unlike physically sensing something, she couldn't perceive things like color or texture.

What she could detect were life-signs and the shapes of the surroundings.

The principle behind the spell was to release mana and use it to scan the area, similar to how bats emitted sound waves to detect obstacles.

Because of that, while the range was enormous, detailed detection was difficult.

We would have to confirm with our own eyes whether what she sensed really was the Eye of Ra.

“Then let's make that our destination. There must be a reason ten people are gathered there. Arlin, please lead the way.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

She had given up her sight so she could sense mana more precisely.

Thanks to her detection magic, she could perceive the shapes of her surroundings in detail, so there was no danger of her walking into obstacles.

Even with her eyes closed, Arlin moved without difficulty.

Her mind drew the shortest route, and her feet followed it.

“I don't see anyone else.”

I carefully looked around while following her.

There wasn't a single person in sight.

Not even a strand of hair.

This was getting extreme.

Even setting aside the Association members who had disappeared earlier, there were far too few people.

Come to think of it, Arlin had said there were only around twenty people left here.

I remembered there being roughly forty people invited to the exhibition.

That meant about half of them had left False Utopia during the hour we spent back in the Inner World.

In other words, around twenty people had died.

I wondered what had happened.

We would probably find out soon.

Following Arlin's guidance, we passed through the first exhibition hall and arrived at the second.

The second hall was a dizzying space covered entirely in glass, making it difficult to tell directions apart.

It was also the area filled with various light-related Mysteries.

Hwa-ryeon moved around for a while, then apparently became irritated and raised her sword.

Red energy surged thickly along the blade pointing toward the sky.

She had poured a large amount of internal energy into it.

The internal energy clinging to the blade writhed like jelly.

Then, the moment Hwa-ryeon took her stance, it hardened into something sharp and solid like a carved blade.

It looked as though another layer of red steel had grown over the sword.

She swung.

A red line was carved through the air.

That red line reflected across the countless mirrors surrounding us.

In an instant, it looked as though hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of red lines were pouring down from every direction like rain.

Then, the mirrors began to break one by one.

First one shattered.

Then two.

The number of breaking mirrors and the speed of destruction increased.

Four mirrors shattered.

Eight mirrors were torn apart.

The numbers kept rising as the pace accelerated.

The ringing sound of breaking glass overlapped again and again until it became an ear-piercing roar.

Craaaaash!

Everyone covered their ears.

Arlin surrounded us with a blue protective barrier to keep any glass fragments from flying toward us.

“Haa.”

When Hwa-ryeon finally exhaled deeply and lowered her sword, her reflection was nowhere to be seen.

Every mirror had been shattered.

Only then did Hwa-ryeon smile in satisfaction and walk forward.

Arlin shot her a look that clearly said brute force, then resumed leading us.

Soon, we arrived at the third hall.

Just as the first hall had been themed around stone and the second around light, the third hall was themed around elements.

Here, elements didn't mean chemical elements.

It meant the kind of elemental attributes you would see in a game.

Fire, water, ice, electricity, grass, wind, lightning.

Red, blue, white, yellow, green, light green, deep blue.

Countless colorful objects modeled after natural elements glowed from every direction.

It was quite dizzying.

Hwa-ryeon frowned and said her eyes hurt.

Arlin remained quietly indifferent.

Lee Yeonhee silently followed behind me.

That was where Arlin stopped leading us.

She released mana and spoke.

“They're just ahead. A battle may break out, so prepare yourselves thoroughly.”

At those words, each of us began warming up.

That alone created quite a spectacular scene.