Chapter 423
The Lehmann Discontinuity, a place where the crimson waves of molten minerals and the pure white energy of the planet—its life force—mixed.
Here, between the inner and outer core of the planet, was a dark shadowy figure standing still: Terra.
Blankly gazing upward at the sight she had grown so sick of over the past few decades, Terra was lost in thought. She, who had believed her duty was to protect the Lehmann Discontinuity, had allowed doubt to creep in at some point.
Why does it have to be me who suffers?
She couldn’t understand. There were countless other beings capable of safeguarding the entire planet, so why was she alone bound to the tedious and unending task? It had started as a small seed of doubt, but it soon bloomed into deep disillusionment with her so-called duty.
However, nothing changed.
I don’t want to do this anymore...
Alas, no matter how much her mind resisted, her body—created solely to protect the planet—moved according to the will of her creator, the Seeker. Despite gaining the freedom of thought, she was still trapped within the planet’s depths.
And that was when Terra finally realized the truth: the emotions blooming within her were nothing more than an error. Her feelings did not matter; she could never escape the obligation of protecting the planet.
“Ugh...!”
Recalling the memories of that specific day, Terra instinctively flinched. The overwhelming rage, resentment, and disillusionment that once filled her mind had long since vanished, replaced by despair and helplessness.
It had been over a decade, yet the memory remained vivid, like it was from yesterday. Ever since that day, her sense of self had been unstable, causing her memories to fragment.
If I had never met the Administrator...
Would her identity have eventually crumbled away completely, resulting in her erasure—no, not erasure, restoration to her original, error-free state? Just imagining it made her body tremble.
The fear made her curled up, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees.
“...Please don’t abandon me.”
She had finally managed to escape her hell of eternal repetition, yet she was still trapped inside its borders.
Will I ever be completely free?
She clung tightly to that distant hope, and a familiar figure came to mind. Just then...
“Abandon you? What are you talking about?”
Terra’s eyes widened in shock.
“?!”
She leapt to her feet and turned toward the voice. There, in front of her, was none other than a reflection of Se-Hoon in the deep-blue mirror. Seeing it, Terra quickly realized it was communication magic, which turned her expression into one of confusion.
“H-How...?”
She had set up a field of detection magic to sense any magic activation in the vicinity the moment it occurred. How had Se-Hoon bypassed it?
“I just asked the Seeker if there was a way to contact you face-to-face, and she showed me this method. Can you see me clearly?” questioned Se-Hoon nonchalantly.
“Yes, I-I can.... I see you clearly...”
A myriad of emotions swirled inside Terra. Just hearing Se-Hoon’s voice always brought her comfort. And now, talking to his face directly, she felt undeniable joy.
Alas, that joy was quickly overshadowed by a growing worry.
If the Administrator decides I’m defective...
Would she truly be abandoned? That fear made her body tremble—
“I’ll send someone to take over for you temporarily. Leave the planetary control to them and come up here.”
Terra stopped shaking.
“You want... me? To go up there...?”
“There are a few things I need to check with you. Come to where I am as soon as the control transfer is complete.”
“Okay...”
Before Terra could say anything else, Se-Hoon’s image disappeared. Alone once again, she replayed the conversation in her mind.
I’m visiting the Administrator...?
Was finally leaving the planet’s depths? A dream she had long yearned for was coming true so abruptly that she felt completely unprepared.
Her mind reeled, but she quickly shook it off.
No, he said it’s only temporary.
Terra quickly calmed herself. The more she let herself rejoice now, the greater the despair would be when she inevitably had to return. As she steeled herself, space distorted in front of her—the substitute Se-Hoon mentioned had arrived.
Fwoosh!
A burst of flames flared up, forming a red pigeon adorned with a crimson bead necklace like a pendant. The ridiculous sight made Terra stare in silence.
“Excuse me... but are you—”
“Shh. Don’t. Say. A word.”
The flaming pigeon—no, the fragment of the Seeker’s consciousness that was parasitizing the Vermillion Bird’s clone—sounded incredibly weary.
“Just... hand over the controls to me and leave.”
“Um... okay...”
At the sight of the once-proud Seeker being used as little more than a servant, Terra hesitated before handing over the planetary control.
Woong!
Feeling an unfamiliar sensation, Terra looked down at herself. The overwhelming sensation had occurred the moment the transfer was complete, releasing the restrictions binding her body.
“Aah...”
The feeling of freedom? As she shivered at the indescribable feeling she had so desperately longed for, the Seeker, now wearing an even more bitter expression, spoke up with a sigh. “Hurry up and go. He’s waiting for you up there.”
“Ah, ok. Yes.”
At the urging, Terra immediately activated the contract she had formed with Se-Hoon, summoning herself to his side.
Whoosh!
The scenery around her shifted rapidly. In the blink of an eye, she had arrived in an expansive workshop filled with countless materials and advanced equipment.
“...Wow.”
For the first time, she saw the world outside the planet’s depths. There was no overwhelming pressure crushing her body, and the colors surrounding her weren’t just red and white. The world was painted in a palette of countless hues.
Struck by the breathtaking sight, Terra froze in a mix of joy and nervousness. Meanwhile, as she was taking in the scenery, the two figures already inside the workshop turned their gazes toward her.
“Hm...”
“Wow...”
One looked at her with suspicion—Luize; whereas the other looked at her with eyes sparkling with curiosity at the sight of new materials—Lea.
Subjected to their contrasting expressions, Terra finally noticed their presence and tensed.
Who... are they?
Could they be enemies threatening the Administrator? Tensing, she prepared to react defensively—
“Seriously, that’s enough, you guys.”
A firm voice stopped her in her tracks. Then, Se-Hoon emerged from an adjacent room, carrying two large void boxes in his hands.
“Administrator...!”
At the sight of Se-Hoon’s relaxed entrance, Terra instantly realized her mistake and immediately dispelled all the magic she had been preparing to cast.
Woong!
Without a trace, the dozens of magic arrays forming in midair vanished.
And upon noticing, Se-Hoon turned his gaze to the other side.
“Luize, you can stop now. She didn’t know who you guys were.”
“...?”
Terra blinked in confusion at Se-Hoon’s words, then followed his gaze. Only then did she see Luize, now wearing a mask and staring right at her.
Woong!
A faint cloud of mana was coiled around her body, particularly near her throat. In that instant, the realization struck Terra like a lightning bolt: Luize had already finished aiming her magic arrays at her the entire time she was preparing.
She’s faster than me...? Terra trembled in disbelief.
Even though she was merely a fragment of her original self, her aptitude in magic had barely changed. And yet, she had been completely suppressed by a mere girl, someone who wasn’t even a Perfect One at that.
“What, you want to go at it again?”
Meeting her gaze, Luize shot her a sharp glare, daring her to make a move...?
Thud!
Luize blanked, seeing Terra throwing herself onto the ground and clinging desperately to Se-Hoon’s pant leg.
“...?”
Momentarily stunned by the unexpected reaction, Luize just watched in surprise.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please don’t abandon me, please don’t abandon me...” Terra’s voice trembled as she mumbled rapidly under her breath.
“Wait... hold on... this is a bit much...”
Sure, she had reacted somewhat aggressively when Terra attacked, but was that really a reason to grovel like that? In disbelief, Luize frowned and glanced at Se-Hoon to seek an explanation.
Seeing her inquisitive gaze, Se-Hoon chuckled dryly. “She’s afraid I’ll abandon her after realizing that she’s weaker than you.”
“...”
Luize almost scoffed, Seriously? That’s all? However, she caught herself. Terra was clearly in a fragile state. If she said the wrong thing, it might just break her entirely.
I thought he said she’s a fragment of the Seeker...
She had expected something ominous. But instead, what she got... was that. Luize looked down at Terra with a complicated expression.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to abandon you over something like this,” reassured Se-Hoon, crouching down and patting Terra’s shoulder.
“...Really?”
“I really mean it. Even if the Earth itself were destroyed, I still wouldn’t abandon you.”
Terra’s eyes widened in awe, her chest swelling with emotion.
“Ad-administrator...”
“You realize that just means he’ll keep making you work until the end of the world, ri—mph!”
Although Lea tried to expose the truth, Luize quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
Ignoring them both, Se-Hoon helped Terra to her feet and clapped his hands.
“Alright, enough small talk. Let’s get started. Terra, come here.”
“Ah, yes!”
Much more cheerful now, Terra followed Se-Hoon to the far side of the workshop, where a set of silver armor was neatly displayed.
“This is the Warhound. It’s basically an extension of myself.”
“Hmm... It seems very important.”
Seeing Terra’s cautious gaze, Se-Hoon nodded.
“It is important. This is going to be your new body.”
“...What?”
Terra stared at him, dumbfounded. Thinking she heard him wrong, she tried to process the words. But before she could, Se-Hoon continued in a matter-of-fact tone. “You remember when I mentioned strengthening the planet?”
“Ah, yes. You did say that.”
“For that plan to work, we need something to act as a bridge between the Towers of Heroes and the planet. But right now, no such existence exists.”
Se-Hoon placed a hand on his chest, activating Dream Storage. Then, a crimson gemstone—a crystallized fragment of the Seeker’s body—appeared in his palm.
“So, I’m going to turn you into that.”
Se-Hoon explained his plan, developed with Luize’s advice, which was divided into two main parts. First, they would embed the Seeker’s body into the Warhound and then transfer Terra’s essence into it, reviving her as an incomplete Seeker. After that was the second phase, where Terra would use her new identity as the Seeker to link the Towers of Heroes to the planet.
“...You’re making me the Seeker?” Terra’s voice wavered with uncertainty.
Was it a plan to sacrifice her and revive her original self? But then, why an incomplete one?
“Technically, I’m just going to make you look
that way.”“Look that way... to who?”
Instead of verbally responding, Se-Hoon casually pointed upward, and Terra’s face instantly paled.
“You don’t mean... the Golden Ring?”
“Bingo. You catch on quick.”
He’s insane... Terra couldn’t help but think. Se-Hoon’s nonchalance left her in utter shock.
The Golden Ring was practically the world itself. And Se-Hoon wanted to trick it? Even the Seeker herself would have dismissed such a plan as sheer madness.
Doubtful, Terra looked at Se-Hoon with an utterly bewildered expression.
And upon seeing her doubt, Se-Hoon elaborated. “I get it. It sounds absolutely impossible, right? But it’s not as far-fetched as you think.”
Se-Hoon launched into an explanation.
Having seen for himself how Aria had gained a power equal to what was granted at the top of the Towers of Heroes but was being restrained by the Golden Ring, Se-Hoon had gained an idea.
What if a normal being could be perceived as a Perfect One?
If that could happen, the Golden Ring would treat the skills of that ordinary individual as powers equivalent to the Perfect Ones’ powers.
Naturally, he had then wondered if the Golden Ring would be that careless, but then he remembered he had already seen it happen before: Wurgen.
With his very own eyes, Se-Hoon had witnessed how the Golden Ring had fundamentally reshaped the world’s laws to match Wurgen’s new synesthetic mindscape. If Terra could be perceived as the Seeker, the planetary protection system would seamlessly be incorporated into the world’s fundamental laws in a similar vein.
“...”
Terra felt a swirl of emotions. While she was relieved that Se-Hoon wasn’t trying to restore her original self, at the same time, the thought of being turned into something new was terrifying.
Even if they only changed her body... what if her very existence was altered as well?
But...
She was conflicted. She knew that if she let fear hold her back now, she would never move forward. In that case, wasn’t it better to become something rather than fade away into nothing at all?
Arriving at that thought, she looked at Se-Hoon again.
Right... This person won’t abandon me like my original self did...
Clinging to Se-Hoon’s earlier words, Terra nodded firmly.
“I’ll do it!”
The determination in her shadowy form was unmistakable. And that made Se-Hoon smile in satisfaction.
“Good. Then let’s get started.”
“Okay!”
“Alright, take a seat over here. Lea?”
“Yep, on it~”
Rattle!
At the call, Lea pushed over a cart overflowing with tools and materials. And after reaching into it, Se-Hoon pulled out a set of enchanted, razor-sharp needles.
“Those are...?”
“These are resonance needles. They’ll help you synchronize with the Warhound. If the balance is even off slightly, you both might become unstable, so we need to do some prep work.”
“Ah... I see...”
While Terra was glad Se-Hoon was being careful with her safety, the long, sharp needles still made her body shiver.
“Um... it won’t hurt, right?”
I know my body is built to withstand planetary pressure, so it shouldn’t. But...
Exchanging glances at Terra’s frightened appearance, Se-Hoon and Lea began whispering back and forth.
“Wait, how painful was this?”
“With a body like hers, she shouldn’t have any pain receptors... though, synchronizing with the Warhound might cause her to develop them.”
“So we should block her nerves beforehand. Or would that mess up the synchronization?”
“Pain might actually help improve it, so...”
Having discussed it briefly, Se-Hoon turned back to Terra and nodded confidently.
“It... shouldn’t hurt too much. Right, Lea?”
“Of course! Not too much.”
“Oh! That’s a relief!”
Trusting their every word, Terra relaxed.
In contrast, having heard the entire conversation unfold, Luize let out a sigh.
If she ever turns evil, it'll probably be their fault.