Chapter 85 – Temple of the Dragon (6)

“Another dimension?”

The party also knew the fact that Se-min had come from another dimension. Only Kubar raised his eyebrows in surprise, and everyone focused on his next words.

“He crossed dimensions and came to our world. There was no being who could stand against him. If he had harbored evil intentions, the fate of our world would have been different, but…”

Skara lifted his cup and drank tea.

“Fortunately, he had no interest in such things. His mind was filled with curiosity about the unknown and a yearning for a higher state. That is why he traveled through dimensions, seeking the next stage.”

Se-min fell into thought.

The power to travel through dimensions was not permitted even to the transcendents. Consuming an enormous amount of points to temporarily manifest was all they could do.

Yet, according to what Skara said, the legendary figure acted as if he could go anywhere he wished.

Nevertheless, Se-min was certain that he must have been a transcendent.

Se-min could not imagine such a being existing outside the Transcendent Network.

Perhaps if one’s member level rose extremely high, such authority would be granted. Or maybe he had an astronomical amount of points.

Kubar, who had been listening quietly, asked.

“Is it really possible to travel through dimensions like that?”

“Doesn’t Badurbarok do so as well?”

“That’s why I’m curious. How did Badurbarok and that legendary figure obtain the power to cross dimensions? And where did that being go?”

“I do not know that either.”

Skara tapped his own head.

“But if I were to deduce… we might make a hypothesis about what the source of that power is.”

“What is that hypothesis?”

“That being, the one who called himself Cheonma, possessed a mysterious treasure.”

“A treasure?”

“What did he call it again…”

Skara tapped the table as he spoke.

“He called it the Primordial Core.”

Se-min felt a strange sensation.

Skara certainly looked older than them, but even so, he could not have lived long enough to have met the legendary figure in person. Yet, his way of speaking felt as if he were explaining from his own memories.

“The Primordial Core?”

“He said that thanks to it, he obtained the power to cross dimensions.”

“What is it like?”

“I do not know well either. Since he said it was inside him, it might be the crystallization of some kind of energy.”

“The Primordial Core…”

“At any rate, that human saved us trolls from a crisis and left to meet the fourth race. He said he would cross over to another dimension again afterward. I do not know exactly what happened after that.”

“What did he do with the fourth race?”

“I do not know, either.”

Se-min thought about that, then suddenly looked back at his companions. Having lost interest in the topic, they were focusing on eating their food.

Indeed, to them, things like the history of the trolls and ancient figures would not be very important matters.

But to Se-min himself, it was different.

Having crossed dimensions, and handling the power of the universe like that, was information that could not be easily brushed aside.

Se-min stared at Skara.

Why did he suddenly bring up such a story?

“The power you use resembles him. The universe is nested in it. A distant scenery that we can neither know nor understand.”

Cosmic Style.

Se-min nodded.

Somehow, he felt like he understood now.

The things he had doubted were all falling into place. The tangled thoughts in Se-min’s head found their proper positions and clicked together.

Se-min said as he scooped the braised meat dish made by Skara into his own bowl.

“Thank you for the good words.”

“The old story was long. Now, I am curious about the journey you all have walked, so would you tell me?”

Instead of Se-min, Shozen stepped forward and began to explain their journey.

The gladiatorial combat in Sargassonia, the incident where Kaorak led demonic beasts to invade the city, and the event where Se-min became the champion there, received the recognition of the Throne, and became Emperor.

Hearing all of this through someone else’s mouth, Se-min realized anew that his past days had been full of ups and downs.

Incidents and power struggles that Se-min had not known about were also coming out of Shozen’s mouth.

Though they had not been executed, things like assassination plots against Se-min and conspiracies against Germanos had also been prepared.

“Well, as a result, it was fortunate that they were not executed. Since we almost lost Your Majesty.”

Shozen said with a grin toward Se-min. Se-min raised his middle finger.

Shozen’s story continued. They went through the Wolf Tribe, made Calpacino the Goblin Lord, and appointed the war chief of the Orcs.

Now it was the Island of Trolls.

Once they met the fourth race, their journey would also run toward its end.

“You have gone through a lot of trouble.”

Skara said.

“You have accomplished many things that ordinary people could not even imagine. On behalf of everyone, I express my gratitude for your hard work.”

“Not at all.”

“You will continue to walk a difficult path in the future. One that is far more arduous than what you have walked so far.”

Skara brought dessert. It was warm tea and sweet cake.

Since it was a sweet taste they had not felt in a long time, Se-min’s party requested seconds several times. Skara served the food as they asked, as if there were no limit.

“Emperor. Let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes.”

“How far will you go?”

Se-min coughed while drinking tea.

“Th-that, could you be a bit more specific… I’m weak to Zen dialogues. What does ‘how far’ mean? Does it mean physical distance, an ethical barrier, or perhaps you’re talking about a vision, things like…”

“I mean that which you first thought of.”

“What I thought of?”

Se-min thought deeply. At the words asking how far he intended to go.

He thought of ‘that.’

And that included physical distance, psychological barriers, and even the future ahead.

Se-min ended up laughing.

Since his answer was as comprehensive as Skara’s question, he had no right to blame Skara’s Zen dialogue.

Se-min answered.

And as he answered that, Se-min became certain of the identity of the unidentified being who was said to have visited this world.

***

They continued to move forward.

The islands were scattered like a net. Crossing an island, another island appeared. They advanced from island to island.

They could not stop by every island, so they just visited the islands they felt drawn to and had conversations.

Not a single one of the trolls was ordinary.

Everyone harbored their own wisdom, so each time they conversed, they came to realize new facts.

“Do not lie. There is no way that is true!”

“You shouldn’t do that. If you try to believe only what you want to believe, you end up losing the truth. This is a clear fact.”

“There is no way the Elder Orc would…”

Trolls even possessed strange knowledge, and there was also one who informed them of the hidden history of the Orcs.

According to this troll, the first Elder Orc, Ilgar, had a habit of eating boogers and was teased for it.

Now, since he led the practitioners from an absolute position, there was no way to know if he secretly ate boogers, but it was said that such a sight was often witnessed until he established the fortress and subdued other races.

Se-min comforted him.

“Hey, Kubar. I’ll ask Ilgar next time I meet him.”

“Do not do that.”

“What does it matter? ‘Ilgar, do you eat boogers?’ I can just ask like that.”

“D-do not make things difficult for him.”

“Hey, it could happen. Are you ashamed of Ilgar? Huh? Are you ashamed of a friend who eats boogers?”

“Shut up…”

Like that, after hearing the secrets of each race, they moved forward again.

For reference, according to that troll, Goblin Lords spouted all kinds of promises to get votes, but did not keep their pledges after actually becoming Lord, so the Lord election was teased by other races as a liar selection contest.

“Probably. The world is full of cowardly goblins.”

Kaorak coolly agreed.

They moved toward the center of Hesse Island while listening to various stories.

Gradually, the size of the houses grew.

Mansions that were incomparably higher and larger than Muraka’s house, which they had first encountered, appeared. They were well-woven from natural building materials like rock and wood, making them look sturdier than most Orc fortresses.

They eventually reached the Island of the Sage.

“It’s small.”

“Indeed.”

The Island of the Sage, located at the center of Hesse Island, was small. It was to the extent that the island was filled with a single small house.

“Could the inside be wide like the Elder Orc’s fortress?”

“We’ll know when we go.”

Se-min’s party rowed their canoes and docked one by one.

Since there was no room to step on the island, Se-min landed first and knocked on the door of the troll sage’s house.

“Is anyone there?”

There was no answer.

“Hello.”

Se-min kept knocking on the door, then gently grabbed the doorknob and pushed.

The door opened.

Inside the house, a troll was sitting with his back to Se-min.

“Are you the troll sage?”

“…”

He did not answer. Se-min was unable to approach closer because of the mysterious atmosphere emanating from his back and stopped in his tracks.

The others disembarked from the canoes in turn.

“Is that person the troll sage?”

Se-min was not the only one who felt that atmosphere.

Everyone carefully clasped their hands toward the troll. Somehow, they felt that they had to behave politely.

Se-min spoke again.

“Sage. I am Lee Se-min, the Emperor of humanity. I am gathering the five races to stand against Badurbarok.”

Only then did the troll move.

The chair began to spin just like that. The long ears characteristic of trolls came into view, and his profile began to be revealed.

At that moment, Se-min felt as if time had stopped.

If a minimum unit of time existed, it felt as though the troll’s face was changing in each of those microscopic instants.

At first, he saw Muraka in him.

He became Skara again. He became the swordsmanship-obsessed troll, and a master of shamanism appeared as well.

The faces of the trolls who had informed them of the hidden history of each race, the trolls who had discussed the flora and fauna existing in the world, and the trolls who knew all kinds of miscellaneous things, from how to brew alcohol to how to trim a beard well, kept passing by.

Soon, when they faced each other head-on.

Se-min could not distinguish who the troll in front of him was.

He possessed the faces of all the trolls Se-min had seen.

The Sage said.

“State what you desire.”

He spoke, now taking the form of the ferryman.

Se-min realized.

He felt like he also knew what the countless larger and smaller islands of Hesse Island, stretching out, meant.

They were connected. The mysterious knowledge that each possessed flowed along the water currents and stopped here. The Sage was the one who encompassed all of it.

He was an individual, yet not an individual.

The sum total of the knowledge possessed by the trolls.

Se-min looked into the Sage’s eyes.

Then, countless pieces of information were inputted into his head. Se-min came to understand the will of the trolls through his eyes.

Se-min did not need to persuade them.

The trolls had been waiting for him from the very beginning.

Because they were wiser than anyone, they foresaw that an Emperor who would wage the final war against Badurbarok would appear. And they also knew that only then would there truly be a chance of winning a war that staked the fate of the world.

The reason the trolls did not join the previous Emperor’s war was that they knew well that the war would end in defeat.

The defeat would drive the world to ruin, but only within that ruin could the hope of killing Badurbarok sprout again.

“What I want is…”

The black island, Hesse.

A place that gave illusions to those who desired illusions, and hostility to those who desired hostility.

They were ready to give Se-min what he desired.

Because in the first place, they desired the same thing as Se-min.

“It is the same as what you desire.”

“State what it is.”

“The death of Badurbarok.”

The troll sage rose from his seat.

He looked back at Se-min’s party. And he nodded.

“I will help.”

With those words, the mansion shook.

Se-min’s party sank to the ground. However, the troll sage stood upright in his place.

“By this decision, all futures have turned into chaos. The fixed destiny has lost its way. New things will rise in the world.”

He said.

“And the future will open up amidst chaos.”

The troll sage extended his hand to Se-min. Se-min held that hand.

The two shook hands.

It was different from the goblins or Orcs.

The trolls had been waiting for the coming war for a very long time.

All of this might have been decided after his grandmaster met the trolls.