[So you were there. That's fortunate...]
"Huh? Whoaah?"
[Ugh, I thought I'd have a little more time, but any more is…..]
"Huuuh!?"
[Yu IlHan, soon, my]
And the voice disconnected there. Yu IlHan stood there, confused, and tapped his cheeks. Mystic asked.
[What are you doing, master?]
"So you couldn't hear that."
[I did; it was definitely the voice of that angel that was with you before.]
If he had heard it alone, he might have dismissed it as his own illusion from longing, but it seemed that even Orochi had heard it.
[There was another angel?]
"Well, yes. There was."
There was no doubt about it. The calm and cold voice definitely belonged to Erta. He couldn't forget that voice. The hearty... actually, not so hearty, but still good – ally had been with him from the beginning of the Great Cataclysm until just a few years ago!
The problem was how to transmit her voice to Yu IlHan, who was inside the barrier created by the Hourglass of Eternity.
"A recorded file?"
[It was live.]
Orochi immediately retorted to Yu IlHan's words. However, he only pouted and replied.
"But unless she's inside the barrier, that is impossible. The time inside the Hourglass of Eternity cannot be recognized outside the barrier. No, actually, there is a trace that Erta left within the Hourglass of Eternity; did she use that?"
[Nothing would come out of asking me.]
Yu IlHan thought about that, but nothing came out of it. He did not know why she could transmit her voice to him, nor why she did so, but once the barrier was dispelled and he went outside, he would probably find out.
"Good, let's finish it off quick and find out what's happening outside."
[So everything ends in work?]
In any case, he felt a little better after hearing Erta's voice. He shouldn't judge from the voice alone, but it seemed that she was still doing well. Moreover, since she had sought Yu IlHan out first, he would meet her sooner or later. Thinking about that, he subconsciously smiled.
[So, what was that just now?]
Mystic was full of questions, but no one answered her. Yu IlHan only took out new 4th-class magic stones. Tens of them.
"Good, I should add some functionalities while I'm at it."
[Master has it good, enjoying such a life. A certain someone died immediately after birth.]
"To set an alarm function on the entirety of the formation..."
Time would flow rapidly when Yu IlHan was absorbed in something. One hundred 4th-class magic stones disappeared, one thousand more, and ten thousand more. During that time, the magic formation was being altered at its very foundation.
"It'll become a mess once the barrier opens."
"Yeah, they would immediately realize at that moment. They wouldn't be able to do anything, though. The ancient elves were quite capable."
"And you're even better?"
"Of course." Replied Yu IlHan, feeling Liera's presence behind his back. Of course, one of his hands was still on the ground, and the other was pulling mana out of the magic stone.
"And the battle training?"
"I finished it for now and let them rest. But why are they so good? Especially the elves. They had tremendously high skills for their level."
"It's because they struggled to survive amidst dragons until now... But finished? Why did you finish it?"
Liera smacked Yu IlHan on the back of the head because he never turned around, even though she had been here before speaking.
"There's only a day left before the barrier dissipates. They can only go against higher existences if they recover their full conditions!"
"It's already that time?"
"You really are something. You were like that this entire time?"
"I didn't even feel the flow of time, honestly..."
Yu IlHan finally realized that he had been in contact with the magic formation for quite a long time. He checked on the magic formation for now, and it seemed that he would be able to finish within the allocated time.
"Okay, then you go rest too, Liera. I'll finish this off."
"...Shouldn't you be saying that you want to rest with me?"
"I'm sorry about that."
Of course, as long as Yu IlHan had work left to do, Liera had to give up on the brief romantic night before the battle. It was her own fault for falling for him despite knowing that. However, she was past the point of no return because she still thought his figure was cool.
"I'm going to rest. You shall regret missing this opportunity."
"Oh wait, Liera, Erta gave me a message over the barrier; is that possible?"
"Erta did?"
Yu IlHan didn't even let Liera put up her pride as a woman and changed topics. However, because his new topic was unexpected, Liera still participated obediently.
"Earth had already lost its connection to Heaven. But now that you've activated the Hourglass of Eternity here in Dareu, perhaps that was transmitted to Erta. If there is an artifact that activates the moment the Hourglass of Eternity does, then it's not actually impossible.....But."
"Hm?"
Liera's voice whispered into Yu IlHan's ears.
"Did Erta say something to you? Be honest with me."
"Not much. She only said it's fortunate or whatnot. Perhaps there's a limit to the message, but it was soon disconnected."
"Fortunate, fortunate, she said. Ufu, it won't be so 'fortunate' soon."
Liera's face wore a dark smile, as if foreshadowing. It was a smirk that did not fit her usual bright self!
"Fufu, it's quite exciting to imagine Erta's crying face."
"Don't bully her."
"You'll probably bully her the most though."
"Why would I bully her?"
"Something like that. You'll probably be in the dark for all of eternity."
"I cannot understand what you're saying."
To the dense Yu IlHan, realizing the truth from all those clues was impossible. Liera stopped speaking and went away.
Perhaps she was still not used to her lower-existence body, and she had to rest after the two weeks of unending battle. In fact, even if Yu IlHan assaulted her first, she would have to refuse. Of course, not that this made Yu IlHan any less bad...
"IlHan."
"Yeah?"
Yu IlHan finally raised his head to see Liera. She approached him and kissed his lips like a bird pecking at food. He widened his eyes but soon after relaxed them.
"I feel energized now."
"That's good."
Although it was not the passionate romance she wanted, it was probably good in itself – as Liera grew happier with Yu IlHan's smile, she decided to let him go for today.
Yu IlHan returned to work, and Liera went into the Flying Fortress to rest her tired body. And before the day passed, Yu IlHan finally finished modifying the magic formation.
18 minutes prior to the barrier's dispelling time.
"That was close."
"If I had more time and funds... I'm frustrated."
"You crammed in so many new functions; what else can there be!?"
The ancient elves did indeed install a magic formation difficult to find in any other world, and the time that the magic formation had experienced bestowed it history and power to heighten it further.
However, the magic formation prior to Yu IlHan's tinkering, compared to the magic formation after Yu IlHan's modifications, differed overwhelmingly. If the former was the 3rd-class Yu IlHan, the latter could be called the 4th-class Yu IlHan!
First, the already fast activation time was further shortened, and the mana ripples in the activation sequence were reduced to a minimum to increase efficiency and secrecy. The magic formation also sensed any non-ally beings that tried to come into contact with it and relayed their location to Yu IlHan. To top it off, he set a debuff to limit the activation of movement-class skills and magic.
To sum up, just as the Heaven's Army and the Destruction Demon Army were tremendously strong in their own territories and had an easy time defending against invaders, Yu IlHan had also acquired near-complete control over Dareu!
"Although it's still lacking... I'll be satisfied with this for now."
"So you really don't stop anywhere. Auh."
"Don't make weird moaning sounds and focus on control."
"It's not as easy as you say it is!"
Na YuNa, who now had to control two holy regions after the Guardian fortress was designated one, had become very sensitive. Even in the face of Liera's glare, she did not let go of Yu IlHan's hand. Though she would have to, since the barrier would be dispelled at any moment.
"Your Majesty, is everything over now?"
"The preparation for the beginning has ended."
Yu IlHan lightly replied to Paté before looking around at the elves and wolfkin. He nodded lightly.
"From now on, it is our turn. It will be our turn until the very end."
"Understood!"
"We'll make it happen!"
Although the time was short, they had undergone training where they were squeezed them to their limits, and the pressure was as if they had already wiped out several higher existences. Yu IlHan laughed and turned around before taking a short breath.
Now, he really had to kill higher existences with them. He had the confidence to.
"You're alright now too, are you not, Miss YuNa?'
"I can't help it since there's no time. Tch."
Na YuNa let go of Yu IlHan's hand as if she couldn't help it. It seemed she wasn't lying when she said it was difficult, as she immediately furrowed her brow, but the flow of mana in the Flying Fortress and the Guardian Fortress remained stable.
"Good, then."
Although it had been some time since he had acquired the Hourglass of Eternity, he had never been as tense as he was this time. Where was this nervousness coming from? Anxiety? Excitement? Fear? If not that, then expectation?
'Good, I want to become a higher existence by the end of this war.'
He had no plans to join the Heaven's Army, or the Destruction Demon Army or the Garden of Sunset. Yu IlHan wanted to become a higher existence independently, through his own potential.
It's probably nothing – even Chaos Will from Earth had done it, so there was no reason why Yu IlHan couldn't. Yu IlHan dispelled the barrier after setting a grand objective that would put anyone in shock.
And time started flowing again.
"...?"
"Your Majesty?"
The elves, who were waiting in fear, looked for him.
"Why is nothing changing?"
"I thought all of them would attack us, whether it's the Destruction Demon Army or the Garden of Sunset."
"What nonsense are you saying?"
Yu IlHan replied to them while searching for an area with the fewest higher existences.
"Concealment is cast over all of us. Not to mention higher existences, even their grandpas won't find us."
"..."
"I said this is our turn, right? How long are you going to hide in fear? We're going to be the ones invading this time, and beating them up. Okay?"
"U, understood!"
Although he was still unsatisfied with their mental education, he couldn't help it. They would be able to come to themselves once they actually fought higher existences, so he immediately….
"Huh?"
However, Yu IlHan stopped midway through the activation. Although it was very far away, he could feel something moving in a straight line towards them.
As Yu IlHan had mentioned just now, they were under concealment, so no one should be able to find their locations….. if there was one, there's…
Erta.
He turned around to Liera, but now that she was no longer an angel, she didn't seem to have found her yet. Yu IlHan thought about what to do for a moment, but decided to wait.
The wait was not long. As Dareu had ascended into the realm of higher worlds, any higher existences could utilize their full powers without holding back.
"Huh."
Liera soon noticed and voiced out. Her face contained confusion.
"Sheesh, how hurried can she be!?"
"Perhaps the Heaven's Army may already be here in Dareu. What we saw may be just the tip of the iceberg."
Erta soon showed herself below the clouds. Not accompanied by any other angels, she alone was flying here with a pair of white wings.
[Liera!]
Shouted Erta. Her expression was twisted, like that of an orc whose food was taken away.
[I'll kill you!]
"Dammit, she's an enemy after all?"
He didn't want to have Erta as his enemy! – Yu IlHan bit his lips, and when he was about to take out his spear, Liera shook her head.
"Nah, she's on our side."
"...Huh? She just said 'I'll kill you', no?"
[Lieraaaaaaaaaaaaa!]
"...There's something like that."
Erta's rage, which seemed to fill the world with anger, and Liera's bitter smile.
Yu IlHan only tilted his head in confusion.