Release that Witch

“Do not worry about your companions. They have only gone somewhere else.”

The Oracle seemed to see his puzzlement and volunteered an answer.

“Somewhere… else?”

“That’s right. This is also one of my abilities—creating illusions, misdirection, and make self-cognitive beings realize that they are heading towards destruction without realizing it,” Epsilon explained. “Of course, I didn’t really do so. I merely made them take the wrong path during a fork. At this moment, what they see is them, together with you, being locked in battle with large numbers of Fallen Evils rushing over to stop them.”

“Are you trying to tell me that they are in fact very safe?”

Surprisingly, she nodded. “Not only so, I have already arranged a perfect ending for your companions. The Fallen Evils and the Oracle will finally be defeated. The phenomenon and Erosion will disappear as a result. They would be exhausted from the battle, but smile happily while leaning against the walls, enjoying the pleasure of victory.”

When Roland imagined a group of people flailing their arms in an empty room, to the point of exhaustion and lying down in smiles, he felt the hair on his back stand.

He wasn’t sure about the rest, but he knew Fei Yuhan and Valkries very well. Not only did they have outstanding willpower, but they were also very sharp. Yet, under Epsilon’s abilities, they had failed to put up any bit of resistance.

Wrong… It isn’t only the two of them. I didn’t even notice it. There was just something wrong about the whole matter. According to past experiences, the abilities of an Oracle were ineffective against him.

With this in mind, Roland’s wariness instantly reached an extreme.

“And then?”

“There will not be anything after that. The entire world will come to an end, be it the Realm of Mind or beyond it. Everything will start from the beginning. But compared to reality, they would vanish in happiness and not suffer any pain. That is my benevol—”

Without waiting for her to finish her sentence, Roland took action.

He leaped up, crossing over the nearly twenty-meter gap separating the passageway from the platform, flying straight for the Oracle and punching out! Attacking suddenly while the enemy was droning on was something he had used several times to great effect!

The surging powers in his body responded to his will. With a huge boom, a surging wave swept across the platform, cracking the railings, operating apparatuses, and robotic arms. They tumbled down to the storage level and produced a series of dull thuds.

Even Roland was shocked by the might of that one strike.

He knew that absorbing the magic power cores would strengthen him, but he never expected that unknowingly, his body had already reached such a formidable level.

However, his fist did not experience the tactile feeling he expected.

Epsilon seemed to disperse like a bubble before materializing behind him.

“How does it feel becoming stronger? The gift I sent you is still pretty good, isn’t it?”

Roland was first startled before he came to a realization what she truly meant.

“Wait, that astrolabe was mailed by you?”

He had once requested the Association to investigate the source of the delivery, but it was ultimately fruitless. Be it the identity system or monitors, they all indicated that the deliverer only existed for a moment. Any checks prior and after to the delivery resulted in a conclusion that the person had vanished. Now, thinking back to Epsilon’s ability, everything made sense.

“It’s called Gamma, also an Oracle,” Epsilon calmly said, as though she wasn’t talking about her companion, but “something” completely unrelated to her.

Roland was shocked for the first time. After confirming that he had not heard wrong, he asked in disbelief, “… why?”

“Because I wish to know the answer, an answer only God knows.” Her voice seemed to drift off. “Do you now understand? I have no feelings of animosity towards you. To head to the Divine Domain, one needs the help of the Dream World to realize it. On this goal, we are on the same page at the very least.”

With the abrupt twists and turns, Roland was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Do you not believe me? The world wouldn’t lie to you.” Epsilon spread out her arms and said, “I didn’t summon the rift to isolate you from the world like Delta, but you still failed to see through my illusion. That is proof. It’s because I do not have any feelings of animosity that the Dream World isn’t ostracizing my abilities.”

“… You are actually someone on Lan’s side?”

This was the only possibility which Roland could come up with. After all, Lan had mentioned before that there were more than one betraying Oracle.

“I do not know how she explained it to you, so I’m unable to precisely answer this question.” Epsilon extended two of her fingers. “If you are asking if I’m on the same side as her, the conclusion is ‘no.’ Before coming here, I did not have any memories regarding Lan. Even in Prism City, I was the one who killed her with my own hands.”

Roland could not help but raise his brows.

“Or perhaps you are asking if she shares the same goal as me.” She lowered one finger and said, “The conclusion is similarly ‘no.’ The reason for me doing this is of my own beliefs, and it has nothing to do with her. You can imagine it to be that I’m helping you.”

“And the way to help me is to destroy this world?” Roland sneered.

“You’re wrong. The one destroying the world isn’t me, but God.” Epsilon shook her head. “In order to avoid misunderstandings, I’ll say it directly. You should have noticed the changes outside. That barrier that blankets the sky can temporarily stop the burgeoning of the Dream World, so as to prevent it from touching the Divine Domain. Otherwise, even with Oracles present, God will not hesitate to destroy everything that has been built up here to date. In fact, you have absorbed an excessive numbers of magic power cores recently, and you are just a sliver short. If I didn’t guess wrong, Lan was supposed to monitor the expansion of your Dream World, but she died at my hands. Hence, no one told you what it means to ‘simultaneously’ reach the Origin of Magic.”

She even knows this!

“But this barrier cuts off my connection with the outer world. Are you also capable of controlling the real world?”

“No, but at the very least, I know that you have already opened up the path to the Bottomless Land. What follows is just a matter of time,” Epsilon said slowly. “You probably can guess the means of how I received this information. That’s right. The content discussed by your Martialist Association and Design Bureau of Graycastle would all be reported to Headquarters, and therefore, reach me.”

And that includes the Glory of the Sun project as well as the feedback of the various weapons… Roland came to a realization. Epsilon had used these snippets to reconstruct the entire scene of the outside world.

“Have you never considered that my unconsciousness would result in an accident?”

“That is also an unknown factor. But I do not have a better choice—only when you enter the Realm of Mind will the world be activated. Therefore, it will have to trap you within,” Epsilon explained patiently. “Thankfully, we do not need to keep waiting. The domain after a severed contact will automatically change the flow of time. As long as you wish for it, it wouldn’t be difficult to make the time it takes to blink an eye equal to a day.”

Roland instantly widened his eyes, not daring to close it for even a second, afraid that centuries would have passed in the outside world when he awoke again.

“Don’t worry. The thing you are worrying about won’t happen.” She curled her lips and showed a smile for the first time. “The barrier needs magic power to maintain. Even if all the cores in this store is expended, only half a month would pass when converting it to the outside world’s time… And that would also be the final deadline.”